Chapter 103: A Surprise Attack
Soon enough, three days had gone by and there was still no sight of the Alpine Barbarians at all. On the contrary, they met a number of wild and magical beasts that were of different sizes. Mia was given the job to fight off relatively small and harmless beasts like young wild boars, small-sized panthers and so on. But if it was big beasts like big black bears or Lupin Horror 1 , then the rest of the team would take turn to fend them off.
During the process, Mia’s innate capability inadvertently entered the Advanced Level without her even realizing it. In fact, back in the academy before the holiday started, she was already touching the threshold of the Advanced Level and after a little bit of training, it was natural for her to breakthrough to the next level. Still, the girl was a little muddle-headed so she still had not realized it yet.
As for Baiyi, the moment he could feel a rush of strength pouring into his body, he immediately caught on to it. He rejoiced in secret at the stroke of luck. Now that his strength had suddenly improved at such a critical moment, it was undeniable that it would be a great help during their trip.
This is a good start, he thought to himself. He was in no hurry to tell Mia. He would prefer her to discover the changes in her body on her own.
And could any of you guess what she used her first Advanced Level spell on? She used it on a snow white rabbit that she caught using the Imprisonment Spell. It was a spell that she had learnt from Baiyi not too long ago.
Unlike Baiyi who could not help but rolled his eyes secretly, Mia was very excited over her catch, it was as if she had just accomplished something huge in her life. Hugging the small rabbit in her arms, she rubbed her face against the fluffy fur of the rabbit from time to time. With her eyes closed in contentment, she kept repeating, “Awww… It’s so fluffy and cute!”
Who knew, that night, when Mia was sleeping, the ungrateful rabbit quickly took the opportunity to escape and even though Baiyi noticed that, he did not bother to recapture the rabbit. The moment she woke up the next day and realized that her pet bunny was gone, she searched high and low for it but she still could not find it. Dismayed, she threw herself into Tisdale’s arms and bawled her eyes out, at the same time, rubbing her face against Tisdale’s chest
Isn’t it better to hug your Sis Tisdale instead? That wild rabbit is so unhygienic and it’s almost impossible to domesticate! I really don’t understand why you like it so much in the first place. If you really want to find someone to snuggle up to, just go hug your Sis ‘big bunny’ Tisdale! Baiyi mused to himself.
As he was lost in his thoughts watching the two of them, a hand that belonged to Big Brother Zhang patted his shoulder suddennly.
“Master Hope, we’re intae oor fifth day richt noo but we still dinnae see any sign o’ th’ Alpine Barbarian. Dae we still need tae continue th’ journey?”
“Of course!” Baiyi looked up to the sky and took out a map from his pouch. “Why, are you in any rush?”
“Well, na, nae really…” Big Brother Zhang quickly shook his head. In truth, in the past few days, the three brothers had managed to bag a lot of valuable things for themselves. They were the ones who took care of all the beasts that appeared during the journey and so all of the valuable things had been gathered by them. Although it had been agreed upon that they would split the items after they had complete the mission but clearly, the rest of the team were not really interested in such meager items.
“A’m just worried aboot la.s.sy Undine. Wae we manage tae reach her in time?” He added again. Since he had bagged so many, he wanted to do his best to complete the mission.
“Don’t worry. Don’t be so hasty. Haven’t you heard of the saying, ‘the longest way round is the shortest way home’? Sometimes we have to be patient to get the best result,” Baiyi said confidently. He took out a pendant embossed with a golden yellow gemstone that was glowing with a faint dim light. Although the l.u.s.tre appeared to be a little weak, it was still glowing continuously.
It was the Life pendant. The pendant would change color according to Undine’s condition. It was a common accessory that was used by rich children when they went for an adventure to let their family know about their state of health. That was also how Undine’s family knew that she was still alive.
From the condition of the pendant, it seemed like so far Undine was still in a stable state, albeit a little weak. Baiyi had no clue whether it was because she was under the influence of some poison or maybe she had already been ravished by the barbarians but still, she would be at least alive for quite a while more and similar to the Caveman’s deductions, she was most likely used as the price for the Warrior Gala.
“We still have time. If everything goes well, we’ll be entering their territory today,” Baiyi rea.s.sured. Placing the pendant back into the pouch, he raised his head once again, staring at the black spots in the sky and watched them disappear in a flash.
“Let’s go! We won’t have many obstacles today,” Baiyi made an odd statement.
At first, Big Brother Zhang did not understand his meaning and it was until the team had continued their journey forward, pa.s.sing through small lakes and walking along the spring river that was flowing down from the mountains, that he began to notice that something was really off.
Why is it so quiet today? Other than the few birds and small animals that scurried away when they approached, not a single beast could be seen at all. The youngest brother who was looking out from the trees also climbed back down to the ground and told the team, “Th’ surrounding is clear, wait, actually, tis tae clear! Tis so clear that it doesn’t seem lik’ we’re in th’ middle o’ th’ Eol Mountains at a’l. A-A think we’ve traivelt intae a large beast…., wait a minute, na! It could be mair than that! Itmust be th’ habitat o’ sum magical beasts or something! FUD! Don’t tell me tis th’ legendary Behemoth’s territory!”
“Hae faith in me, everybadie. Mah intuition haes always bin very accurate. Ah now could sense a dangerous aura aroond us, just lik’ th’ feelin’ that ah got lest night! Hauld yer horses! Don’t tell me tis true!” A look of uneasiness could be seen creeping up on his face. Immediately, he looked at Baiyi with a pleading look while he gripped his pendant tightly, it was a self-made wolf’s fang pendant.
Last night, when he was sitting by the campfire, he was bragging to everyone that as long as he brought the pendant back to his village, the most beautiful girl would automatically offer herself up to him. When the fighter laughed at him for his lack of ambition and said that he should aim for someone as beautiful as Miss Undine, he casually retorted back, “Well, as lang as she’s as bonny 2as la.s.sy Tisdale then it’s fine.”
Within seconds, he felt a cold gaze on him as chills ran up his spine. It was as if a predator had marked him and he could lose his life at any moment. That night, he was so terrified that he quickly went to hide inside his tent and he did not come out until the sun was up. He had never thought that he would once again feel the same fear he felt the night before.
Baiyi was holding back his laughter at that point. He did not realize that his papa-wolf’s gaze was so terrifying and that it would work so well as a deterrent. Patting on the youngest brother’s shoulder, he chuckled, “Don’t you worry, kid. Be brave. If the village knew about this cowardly side of yours, I’m afraid the only one who would offer herself up to you would only be some middle-aged aunty, y’know?”
Then, still chuckling to himself, Baiyi walked up to the front and began to lead them, breaking the formation that they had been using for the past few days. Without even so much as a glance back, he waved his hand, signalling to the others to keep up.
“Let’s go! We need tae pat oor faith in him,” the second brother said as he patted the youngest brother’s shoulder. Seeing that his brother was still in doubt, Zhang Yiqi grabbed hold of his arm without any warning and started to drag him along while telling the rest of the group at the same time, “Actually, in thae few days, a’ve realized that Master Hope haes a muckle , i mean, much sharper perception than th’ three o’ us. Thare wur a few times that he was th’ first one tae discover th’ dangers ‘n’ so ah dae believe that he strongly knows what he’s dein’.”
The fighter nodded his head in agreement, he lifted up his tower s.h.i.+eld and ran in front to catch up to Baiyi so that he could march side by side with him. As a qualified Master Level defense fighter, his sense of duty would never allow him to let a sorcerer walk alone in front, even if it was just a mere Soul Armature.
Baiyi did not say anything. He continued to use his Mana to float the two girls as he silently led the group forward. From time to time, he would use his magic to clear the thorns and shrubs on the ground, until they finally walked out of a large bush and reached a flat terrain that had a thick forest in front of them. With no advanced notice, he stopped abruptly and raised his left hand to signal for the rest of the group to stop as well. His right hand reached out to lay across the fighter’s chest and blocked him from stepping into the thick forest.
“W-Wha…” Just as the defense fighter was about to open his mouth, two sharp weapons shot out from the thick forest, piercing the air with its sharp whistling noise. The fighter’s body reacted almost instantly. In a conditioned reflex, he took a step forward, with his waist and legs slightly bent, he released his Chi prowess in a burst and enveloped his whole body. Lifting his tower s.h.i.+eld high up, he stood in front of Baiyi protecting him from the attack.
Being a seasoned fighter, his vast experience had taught him to make that move, and it was the correct move in such a circ.u.mstance as well, the instance he heard the piercing sound. Just as he stood firmly on the ground, he felt a hand grabbing onto his waist belt before he was thrown violently aside.
Without warning, a powerful blow crashed on his tower s.h.i.+eld, the impact was so strong that it almost blew his s.h.i.+eld straight out of his hand. What followed was an ear-piercing metal sc.r.a.ping sound that quickly disappeared in less than a second. Still soaring in mid-air, he vaguely saw a black lightning flashed past just a few centimeters away from his face before hitting something with a dull thud behind him. Instantly, his face was in pain, caused by the high velocity of the lightning.
The whole process lasted only a few seconds. As he crashed onto the ground violently, he quickly took a look back and he saw an ordinary spear sticking onto the ground behind him, half of it was already deeply entrenched in the soil. Instinctively, he reached out to touch his face, a sticky wet substance could be felt on his fingertips. Shocked, he brought his hand in front of his face to have a clear look and he was astonished to find that it was actually blood.
The tower s.h.i.+eld that had blocked countless of deadly attacks was lying on the gra.s.s in front of him, with a smooth and sleek round hole on the left corner…
At that point, the fighter began to regain his senses. The enemy had just thrown a seemingly ordinary spear that had easily penetrated the st.u.r.dy s.h.i.+eld that he took pride in. The force of the velocity was so strong that it pierced through his Chi s.h.i.+eld and slashed a wound across his cheek.
Wait a minute, there were two weapons just now! Where’s the other spear?
A deep sense of fear suddenly enveloped the fighter’s body. He instantly looked at Baiyi’s direction and the scene in front of his eyes shocked him.
In Baiyi’s hand, the second spear was firmly gripped in his metal palms, the pommel was still quavering rapidly, giving off a buzzing noise.