Logan and Livia both sat down on rocks, trying to regain whatever energy they lost before searching for any creatures.
It didn’t take long before Derek appeared from the forest, looking extremely annoyed.
’’Why did you stop?’’ he asked, frowning. ’’You put me in serious danger by leaving me alone in the forest.’’
Logan stared at Derek in disbelief, unable to comprehend how someone could act like this.
’’We put you in danger?’’ Livia repeated coldly. ’’You are the one who ran off, completely ignoring our plan.’’
’’I found the plan a bit... slow,’’ Derek said arrogantly. ’’To win, I figured we needed a head start.’’
Glancing at Logan, he continued. ’’Especially since we are one member short compared to others.’’
Logan raised an eyebrow, leaning back slightly.
He waited patiently for Livia’s response, curious to see how she’d react.
Livia didn’t respond immediately.She stood up slowly, staring at Derek.
’’I’ll say this one last time,’’ Livia said coldly. ’’If you don’t follow the plan or act recklessly one more time—’’
She paused, stepping closer.
’’I’ll make sure your family hears exactly how you endangered an Imperial Church member in the field, and what kind of consequences that brings.’’
Derek froze, his arrogant smile slowly fading while he hesitated.
’’Alright,’’ he forced out after a long pause, clenching his fists tightly.
’’Good,’’ Livia said, turning to Logan. ’’We’ve wasted enough time.’’
’’Let’s start making our way over to the ice region.’’
Logan gave a nod, pleasantly surprised by how well Livia had handled it.
’We’d need to walk about 18 miles to reach the ice region, and another 30 to get to the specific mountain Livia’s aiming for,’ he thought, glancing at the first underground mountain in the distance.
He’d seen the plan Livia had made, carefully avoiding major areas like the blue wolf den in the center of the forest and the cave spider cavern near a long river.
Following his teammates, Logan pushed aside blue branches and vines while keeping his mana sight active to scan for any creatures.
He was amazed by the sheer size of the dungeon—the mana crystals in the ceiling were so high up that it almost looked like a real blue sky.
Despite being amazed by his surroundings, he stayed alert and kept his mana sight activated as they walked mile after mile.
’There are plenty of creatures lurking around, after all,’ he thought, focusing on the countless small sounds surrounding him.
Whether it was the rustling of leaves or the snap of a branch, Logan made sure to check each one.
Eventually, after walking two miles, he saw a green-colored mana dot in the distance, alarming him immediately.
’’There’s something up ahead,’’ he whispered after catching up to Livia and Derek.
Livia gave a small nod, coming to a halt without questioning him.Even Derek seemed to take it seriously, likely using some kind of detection technique himself.
’’It seems to have a plant-type mana,’’ Logan continued, narrowing his eyes. ’’What exactly it is, I couldn’t tell you.’’
’’That’s fine,’’ Livia said, giving a small nod. ’’This is good enough.’’
Activating a technique of her own, Livia raised her palm toward the foreign mana.
A blinding flash came from her hand as a bright white beam shot out, instantly burning through trees until a loud yelp echoed in the distance.
’’It’s a hit,’’ Livia said, gesturing for the others to move. ’’Let’s go now.’’
A small floating device lit up behind them, tracking their every move as they advanced.
Derek stood in the front, holding his spear in front of him, advancing through the wreckage Livia had left behind.
Jumping over a fallen tree, Derek finally got a clear view of the creature.
’’Pff.’’ He scoffed, shaking his head. ’’This is what you were so afraid of?’’
In front of him laid a wolf-like creature with blue-brown fur.
The wolf had a small hole burned through its mid-section, killing it on the spot.
Logan ignored Derek and moved closer, observing the creature.
’’It seems to be a blue wolf,’’ Livia remarked. ’’An E-rank youngling, from the looks of it.’’
Logan nodded, grabbing a small pocketknife to dig out its raw mana core.
’’Are we really going to take even the smallest cores?’’ Derek said loudly, shaking his head.
’’I suppose every dollar counts for the Mercer family.’’
Having dug out the core, Logan put it inside a small bag that sat around his waist.
’’Every core matters for our ranking,’’ Logan answered, not bothered by Derek’s insult. ’’Even if it’s just an E-rank.’’
Before they could continue arguing, they heard a loud roar from the forest.
’’The rest of the pack is here,’’ Livia said, her expression serious.
’’Great,’’ Derek remarked, smiling arrogantly. ’’Then we can start adding actual cores to our scores instead of this irrelevant one.’’
Logan ignored Derek completely as he stood up, activating his mana sight again to count the number.
He could see several mana signatures in the distance, each green in color and larger than the one he’d seen from the youngling.
’’At least 18 of them,’’ Logan said, grabbing his glaive off his back. ’’Most of them are D-ranks.’’
’The wolves are doable,’ he thought. ’But we have to hope that no other creatures join in and overwhelm us.’
Livia nodded, readying herself.
’’We don’t have a lot of time,’’ she said, grabbing hold of her rapier. ’’This is just a smaller pack. If the main group deeper in the forest is drawn out, we’ll be dealing with several C-ranks.’’
Just then, the first few green wolves jumped through the forest line.The wolves were around 6 feet tall, making them twice as tall as the youngling had been.
’I’ll save my Flaming Body technique unless it’s absolutely necessary,’ Logan thought, holding his glaive in front of him.
Logan no longer hesitated, giving a nod to his teammates.
Then, he jumped forward while sending mana threads into his glaive, lighting its edge up with a red color.
The nearest green wolf immediately noticed Logan and tried to jump back while growing long vines from its fur.
The vines shot towards Logan, trying to block him from getting closer.
At the same time, tree roots shot up from the ground, tangling around Logan’s leg.
’They have a terrain advantage,’ Logan thought, slashing through the root with his burning glaive. ’But I have the type advantage.’
Another wolf joined in against Logan, sending sharp thorn spikes flying through the air towards him.
Logan swung his glaive, sending a red flaming arc flying that ignited the spikes and disintegrated them moments before they reached him.
With one powerful jump, Logan pierced through the remaining vines, slicing off the first wolf’s head with ease thanks to his silver-grade weapon.
’That’s one down,’ Logan thought, spinning around.
He concentrated, sending another smaller but even more powerful arc towards the other wolf.
Vines shot up from the ground to block his flaming arc, but his flame was too hot, turning them into ashes.
The arc continued, leaving a deep wound inside the wolf’s stomach.
Logan no longer paid attention to the wolf as it was engulfed in flames.
At the same time, Derek and Livia had started fighting as well.
Livia quickly disposed of three wolves, sending concentrated light beams through parts of their bodies and finishing them off with her rapier.
Derek struggled slightly, fighting four wolves at once while having difficulty breaking through the vines with his earth affinity.
His affinity wasn’t suited for this terrain, but with a stone shield guarding his back, he quickly managed to drive his spear through one of the wolves’ skulls.
More wolves burst through the forest line, drawing Logan’s attention at once.
The remaining eight wolves split up, four heading towards Logan while another four headed for Livia.
’They sure are intelligent,’ he thought, seeing them work together efficiently while using mana abilities.
The four wolves immediately sprinted around Logan, surrounding him.
They manipulated the plant-like fur on their bodies, making it grow around him to trap him.
At the same time, Logan noticed small spikes forming along the vines everywhere around him.
He tensed as alarm bells rang in his head.