NOVEL NEXT Chapter 179: Soundwave
While the two of them moved unobstructed, Clyde's group had to fight against several Magic Beasts.
When they followed their trail, Van and Julia even noticed some One-Horned Magic Beasts lying on the ground.
Clyde and Harrison's group had only taken their core, horns, and hide, but not the flesh and bones.
At this time, Van noticed that their group was preparing to fight another Magic Beast.
"I guess there are a lot of them during the night." Julia muttered, referring to the number of Magic Beasts.
"That's true…" Van gently nodded.
"Alright... Let's keep this distance. I just want to make sure they're safe, but I don't want to interfere unless we must. Ahem… I mean, maybe we can also get some treasures if we appear right on time."
Van faintly smiled as he already guessed as much.
Julia wanted the treasured flower as well. No, to be exact, she wanted any type of treasure.
Since she was young, she always wanted to adventure and find hidden treasures, mysterious artifacts, and even experience something magical.
And just like that, the two of them silently blended into the darkness as they continued to watch the people risking everything to harvest the flower.
***
Still, their journey was quite long…
Because of that, Van would inform Julia whenever they passed through an area where their mission objectives were located.
At this time, Van crouched as he approached a dead tree.
With his Ocularis Lens activated, his sight was quite different… Even with the darkness, it didn't stop him from finding faint traces of mana, shape, or energy that he needed to find…
"This is a good area… There must be around here." He muttered.
As expected, his Lens soon gave him the response that he needed.
"There…"
It was hidden well because of the faint mana traces of the trunk covering it. It seemed that a Magic Bullet or similar spell had destroyed the trunk.
Because of the Zero-Circle Spell or the lingering Mana used by Clyde's group, his Lens took quite a lot more time to inspect the surroundings.
There must've been a huge battle around here.
He then motioned for Julia to crouch beside him.
"You have smaller hands. You can pick up three Honeycap Mushrooms below this trunk..." He muttered.
Julia's eyes lit up. "Really? Then let me… That's another 150 points."
Of course, Julia didn't use her hand. Instead, she just cast her Magic Hand and took the mushroom easily.
The two then continued on their way…
Soon, Van and Julia noticed another Magic Beast lying on the ground.
[ Magic Beast Remains Detected ]
[ Analyzing… ]
[ Magic Beast: One-Horned Magic Lesser Fangbear. ]
"I guess we're really in the deepest part now… This Fangbear wasn't in the formation about the Whistle Forest at all.
Vane then stepped forward and crouched next to the slumped beast.
There were deep slash marks marred its hide, clean and deliberate.
At this point, Clyde and Harrison's group was about 10 minutes away from them. They were keeping up, but they maintained a safe distance.
"The number of Magic Beasts they killed is getting larger. We might be closer to the location of that Flower now." Julia muttered, and Van had similar thoughts.
"That's true… I guess Mages weren't the only ones attracted to that Spiritual Kiss Flower."
As they moved deeper, more signs of battle could be seen—broken branches, scorched bark, and more corpses of magic beasts lay ahead, each killed in quick succession.
Still, with Van's Ocularis Lens, he could tell that Harrison and Clyde's team had clearly been ambushed by these Magic Beasts.
"Ahh… They must be fighting a difficult one." Julia suddenly said and Van nodded.
Apparently, Van also noticed the battle that was going on ahead of them.
[ Alert: Ongoing Combat Detected – Proximity 80 meters]
Five Hostiles Detected – Magic Beast Classification: One-Horned Brambleback
Ally Cluster Detected: Twenty Human Signatures, Five Wounded. ]
As expected of his Ocularis Lens which was meant for soldiers in a war, it was able to capture many details with its powerful scanning ability.
"Do you think they needed our help?" Julia suddenly asked.
In normal cases, Julia believed that the group of Apprentice Mages could deal with five One-Horned Magic Beasts.
However, they had obviously exhausted a lot of their resources already. They also spent a lot of their Mana.
Because of that, they weren't in the best condition to fight against five Magic Beasts!
"Probably… They're in trouble. Five Bramblebacks… They're not easy. One-horned beasts with those poisoned quills are terrifying. It's dark as well. They're even immune to some elemental types." Van pointed out.
"Mhmm… I guessed as much." Julia gently nodded.
"Still, going straight in will not help. We should try and flank instead. I can guide you."
***
A few moments later, they reached an elevated position overlooking a circular battle.
The five One-Horned Bramblebacks weren't that large. However, as quadrupedal creatures with bark-like armor plates and thorny growths protruding from their backs and shoulders, they were quite challenging to deal with…
Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~
The Bramblebacks then started releasing more poisoned quills!
The Apprentice Mages were able to block with their Mana Shields, but the Aura User Servants could only block a couple of strikes before being helpless.
They had to hide behind the trees or rocks or even behind their Masters if they wanted to survive.
Still, they didn't expect that these Bramblebacks would suddenly attack them with a soundwave!
Screeechh~
The surprise attack was effective, and soon, the Apprentices' Mana Barriers wobbled and finally shattered!
Clyde had taken a hit—his left shoulder bled heavily!
Thankfully, the Bramblebacks also stopped their attacks…
Unfortunately, these Magic Beasts were now rushing at them to feast on their bodies!
Harrison was also wounded, but he still gave a command to cast spells and block the rushing Magic Beasts! They haven't lost just yet!
He still had plans as long as they got into a formation.
However, one of the Apprentice Mages was already on the ground, unmoving.
This situation was not good!
At this time, Julia turned to Van…
"Can you save them?"
Julia didn't know why, but she felt that Van had an answer to almost everything.
"I can try…" Van replied with a helpless smile on his face.
He couldn't help but consider what Clyde and the others would think if they saw a slave saving them.