Veron arrived at a recently abandoned camp. There were corpses and meat of demon beasts, and some other disgusting things.
"Elf, I think you're lost in the forest, aren't you?", a cold pig-like voice resounded. He was Harruga, followed by 14 of his other henchmen.
They drew out their cold weapons, ready to butcher this elf in front of them.
'15 of them, and one at the enlightenment realm.', Veron scoffed. Only a radiant knight, the peak of the knighthood realm, could threaten him.
Such a low realm was comparable only to a master wizard and Veron had long surpassed that.
"Save me the trouble and tell me who your client is. If I'm in the mood, I might spare your lives as well.", he threatened.
The greenhorns mocked him and laughed at his joke.
"This guy is funny! Kill him!", Harruga ordered.
Veron narrowed his eyes, 'Then so be it! Quivering Wave!'
Before the greenhorns could take a step, a strong vibration echoed, pulverizing their limbs into nothingness.
Even Harruga wasn't spared of it, widening his eyes in utter disbelief.
The battle was over before it even started.
He was horrified after realizing that Veron didn't conjure any magic circle before attacking.
'A-a grandmaster magus…! I-is he alongside those young people?'
Veron slowly approached Harruga, tapping his left hand with the other hand. It was nothing short of a time-ticking bomb to Harruga.
He pissed himself and shook in place.
"Spa-spare me, elf! I will tell you who our client is! I-I mean it.", Harruga pleaded.
Veron used his index finger to touch the pig's forehead.
"Zukov Peldante."
Harruga's heart slightly beat at the mention of his name.
"Wha-?!"
Veron smiled and channeled his mana.
Another vibration resonated, pulverizing Harruga's head before he could react. Veron protected his clothes using a wind barrier from being splashed by blood.
"A beat is all I need.", Veron softly declared and stood up. He has experienced such things all his life and today wasn't any different.
The beat of realization and remembrance.
Harruga met Zukov at some point, otherwise, Veron wouldn't have felt it from Harruga's heart.
"I think things are good from here. I should get Haera and meet that returning merchant caravan. We'll prepare a surprise for Zukov later."
…
Jinmu stared at his system panel. Loot prompts filled his screen.
'I thought I could only harvest from my kills? Or maybe this rule only applies to students of the Heavenly Magic Academy.'
He mused, plastering a grin on his face.
There was a lot of good stuff here, including some purple and blue magic crystals, materials, and raw food.
'I remember that senior going into this particular location earlier.'
Jinmu followed, to his surprise again, looted another group of greenhorn corpses and received plentiful rewards.
He didn't linger any longer and continued on his hunt of elite demon beasts. The rewards will be utilized later. For now, finishing the hunting task was more important.
Due to how large the Dark Forest was, it was populated with a variety of demon beasts. Therefore, the four students continued on their task and massacred without care.
At the same time, Veron told Haera that there was no longer any need to worry about the kids. He persuaded her to meet the returning merchant caravan who were on their way back from the sandmen region.
Indeed, a merchant caravan arrived. However, the coincidences stunned Haera for this merchant caravan was no one but Aurpiel's.
This merchant caravan not only met Haera in that elven village but they were recently hired by Wyn Qinric, the Elven Emporium's Nirulva City manager.
Aurpiel originally cursed the mysterious man, thinking that the person's reaction of selling his demon beast materials at a lowly price was uncalled for. When he arrived at the Elven Emporium to sell what he bought from Eluard, he was shocked to see Wyn inviting him to the office and discussing business.
Wyn told him that he also received a similar set of demon beast materials from someone a few days ago. Aurpiel realized the opportunity and told Wyn everything he knew.
The two arrived at an agreement and established a partnership.
Wyn then ordered them to go to the sandmen region but the guards rejected their entrance and had no choice but to return profitless.
"Hello, Miss Haera. It's good to meet you again here in the-, wait, why are you in the Dark Forest today?", the merchant man was bewildered.
This place was no-mans-land. For Haera to appear here, she must have some reasons to do so.
"Sir Aurpiel, I was about to ask you the same thing as well.", Haera replied.
"Hmm…", Aurpiel glanced at the man beside Haera. This person was unfamiliar but he was exuding a powerful feeling.
Also, it seems like they were close as well.
"We were supposed to go to the Sandmen region to trade but the guards forbid us from entering. Even some human refugees were thrown out forcibly as well."
Aurpiel noticed the glare coming from Veron and Haera and quickly continued, "Well, they reasoned that someone from the Oriental Oceanic Empire poisoned all the water reserves there."
The pressuring aura retreated, calming Aurpiel's heart.
If that was the case then the sandmen have reason to not let them in. The desert was a thirst-inducing environment and one wouldn't be able to hold their urge to drink at the sight of a water resource.
Forbidding living beings like them who needed water to survive was a good call. It prevented accidents of water poisoning that might implicate the relationship of the sandmen to the other factions.
Veron approached them but was blocked by Aurpiel's guards.
"Wait, he is my uncle. He has something to tell you, Sir Aurpiel. In fact, this matter is very important.", Haera implied.
The caravan was confused, not until Veron explained to them what happened.
"Sir, you mean General Zukov wanted to capture us to interrogate us about what happened after meeting Miss Haera?", Aurpiel asked in a fearful tone.
"No, not about miss Haera. He wants to know about that mysterious man you met on the way. If I remember, you pointed to him after meeting Haera, right?", Veron corrected.
Aurpiel nodded.
"Zukov has men everywhere. If he wants to get to the bottom of things, he will have his way with them.", Veron sighed.
He didn't know if it was Haera's mistake or Aurpiel's, but they needed to do something about General Zukov before he worsens the situation.
Although capturing the caravan might not yield him direct results because they have no clue about Eluard either, General Zukov can take them as his hostages and force them to do his bidding.
He will then use the caravan to entrap the mysterious man the next time they meet somewhere and General Zukov might even use immoral methods in the process.
"I see. So what does this sir plan to do?", Aurpiel asked. Despite the strong adversary they were facing, Veron's aura seethed the stress in their minds.
"We'll wait for Zukov to arrive here this evening or tomorrow evening.", Veron calmly replied, "His pride's impatience will force him to go here. No need to worry about it."
As for Zukov bringing additional forces, that wasn't possible. He wanted to stay out of the empress' radar.
The group further discussed the plan and prepared for Zukov's arrival.
…
Two days passed after that encounter.
The four students finally finished their special weekly task.
Hunting 2,500 elite demon beasts weren't easy, yet it fulfilled the thirst for battle and improvement in the students.
Olivia was now on the verge of ascending into the realm of an adept wizard. She had been battling a lot of strong elite demon beasts and it helped her a lot.
The lightning element wasn't hurting her anymore, nor was her ice element chilling her. It was a sign that her body was getting acquainted with the magical elements.
One more step and she can utilize a technique called the partial magical metamorphosis. It was a concept where a wizard uses their magical elements to enhance their bodies, strengthening them in many ways.
Emi felt the same. The natural environment of the Dark Forest comforted her the longer she stayed here. She could also feel her surroundings at a distance of 5 meters.
Moreover, she developed confidence in her capabilities as a new magical cultivator. Being able to kill demon beasts alone proved that she was a competent student chosen by the academy master.
When she rested, however, she would sneak her way to Jinmu and tried to observe his actions.
Unfortunately, her target was senior brother Jinmu.
Every time he noticed Emi approaching, he would set up a trap to which the clumsy little girl would trip it off. After catching her, Jinmu nagged her for slacking.
Because of this, she was unable to verify her assumptions that there was something wrong with Jinmu's magic root.
Meanwhile, Lucan developed a strange effect in his magic root.
[ Sequential Mana Restoration ]
[ Due to your extensive efforts, your magic root developed a new special effect. Temporarily increases mana restoration speed by 5% every time you cast a spell. Lasts for 5 seconds after the last spell casted. ]
He was elated after seeing its description. The restoration effect extended the number of spells he casted before he exhausted himself.
Finished with their task, the four of them gathered with Jinmu in the lead.
It was already nighttime and the Dark Forest was very dark. Continuing to hunt here wasn't a good option.
"Alright, I assume that everyone is finished with the special task…", he was about to continue speaking when he heard the winds rustle nearby.
Before any of them could react, a hand suddenly reached out to Emi.
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