Chapter 2050: Slap in the Foot and Nose
Little did they know that the reason the monsters at the rear got redirected was because a certain metal-ice elementalist was causing chaos at the back.
He was on a killing spree, and the other monsters that avoided him redirected by a large angle, changing directions of approach. This made it seem like they were approaching the caravan from the side, instead.
Those ahead of them and surrounded by monsters saw that the rear was having a much lighter time. They were fewer in number, but their injuries were far less.
The monsters they were handling were fewer in number. They wondered if there were powerful people at the rear, but they saw their levels were average (and some below), and their attacks were nothing special. How could the proud mercenaries and guards up front accept it?
It so happened that Althea was relatively more visible to them because she was at a height, and Garan also appeared from the forest, leisurely walking over.
This immediately made people up front give the couple a bad look.
"You!" one of the leading mercenaries yelled. "Don’t you see the monsters are here?! We’re not paying you for nothing!"
Althea, currently on a branch, gave him a look. "We are working. Why do you think there are so few monsters here?"
The ones at the rear flinched, eyes widening as they realized something. A second later, they looked at the couple alternatively with eyes filled with a mix of complication and awe.
However, the ones up front were injured and hot-headed. They did not see the state of the rear at the beginning, either, so they just thought she was being sarcastic.
"SHUT UP, BITCH! WORK HARDER!" he bellowed. Unexpectedly, before he could splatter out another set of profanities, a massive wall of ice appeared in front of him, stabbing several monsters from below!
The scope was large, several meters in length and almost two meters in height and depth. Dozens of monsters lost their lives in the blink of an eye.
The screaming mercenary, due to his proximity, ended up being collateral damage and found his feet—his defense footwear had lost durability recently—stabbed through.
"AHHH!" the man screeched, pulling his feet up, but all he saw was blood.
Meanwhile, Althea also shot arrow after arrow, taking down several moving monsters that jumped over or went around the ice wall. They were all monsters near the annoying mercenary, as if to make sure he could see the murder happening.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Arrow after arrow fell, targeting a monster’s weak spot directly. Most of the monsters there were only around level 15, which was easy enough for Althea to one-shot as long as she used a skill or accurately hit a weakness, which she did, the entire time.
Amusingly, the screaming mercenary became collateral damage once again, with an arrow killing another monster coming from the side, ready to take a bite of the man.
This arrow seemingly saved his life, but it also cost him his nose.
The annoying mercenary couldn’t scream anymore.
A few people also noticed that several monsters couldn’t move well. The close-ranged fighters who went over to kill them noticed vines! Sturdy ones!
For monsters around level 15, they could barely move a muscle once they were held down by these vines! They had never had such easy kills!
It was then that they realized that there was a special wood elementalist in their ranks—and a very powerful one, at that.
Back when they applied for this mission, the couple simply stated their levels because that was all that was required. If they didn’t need to reveal their elementalist status to get the job, they simply wouldn’t.
After all, there was the precedent of the Metteo Town Lord. They’d rather not have to deal with those recruitment notices.
The couple’s show of power considerably lightened up the burden of another sector.
By the time the fight was over, everyone’s gazes towards the couple had become completely different.
...
The trip to Twinwave was long and would take several days. Their group was also big, so it might take a bit longer due to the number of mobs they’d attract. Even if they had beast-repelling potions, they were certainly not enough to use the entire way.
Fortunately, the nobles and the top merchants up front weren’t in too much of a rush. They were still careful not to encounter mobs that would be too troublesome.
They had a few days or so of peace when they passed through village zones, and most monster mobs were easy to deal with. With this, they saved up energy to deal with the new set of town-level monsters when they entered Twinwave Town’s area of influence.
Unsurprisingly, Garan and Althea were reassigned to guard near the front areas. There were elementalists among the mercenaries here, and there were also several powerhouses at level 30s.
Due to their age and due to the fact that they had originally been assigned at the rear, the people here weren’t particularly friendly to them either. The front and the rear ends of the caravan were actually far away, about a hundred meters or so, and people were too busy with their own fights, so they were unaware of what was happening on the other end.
After the couple’s show-off session a few days ago, several from the rear area wanted to befriend them. They certainly thanked them a lot. A neutral party also recognized the barbecue sauce and struck up conversation, so it could be said that the rest of that day was fairly peaceful and amicable for the couple.
However, they had been reassigned to unfamiliar people. The people here only heard that they were pretty good elementalists and were moved forward, and not much else.
The mercenaries and guards in front had different assignments than those at the rear, which was why they were also paid more (Garan and Althea would also get extra after the mission). One group would guard the clients up front, and another group would clear the way.
The clearing group had it the hardest. After all, they not only had to clear vegetation, they were also the vanguard against monsters up front. They also had to move significantly ahead of the group so they could even be surrounded.
Althea and Garan were assigned to this group.
Really, what could happen?
