In the mountain forest, a raging black flame surged, with the firelight devouring the silhouettes of the Goblins like tidal waves.
However, the surrounding trees were unharmed, only the leaves swayed gently in the heat wave.
Faintly, the intermittent screams of Goblins could be heard coming from afar.
Yet, the caravan's movement did not change at all, even the Chocobos were accustomed to it, their running steps remained steady, not chaotic in the slightest.
Clearly, such scenes were no longer unfamiliar to them.
The Fourteenth Princess sighed helplessly, then smiled, adjusted her posture, and leaned back in the seat to rest her eyes.
She did not let the caravan stop, after all, even if they ran for half a day at the current speed, the Hero could still catch up easily.
However, the Hero's words from earlier lingered in her mind, bringing a hint of unease to her heart.
'The Royal Capital Academy has already started classes, but strange things... there shouldn't be any.'
She silently recited in her heart, her vision sketching out the familiar street scenes of the capital in the darkness of her mind.
Recently, in order to make haste, they hardly stayed in the city for long, so she had not received any exact news from the capital for quite some time.
The thoughts interrupted by the Hero's sudden action resurfaced in her heart.
The truth of the missing Divine Knowledge Saintess had not yet been conveyed to her father, and without her suppression, the Black Gate feared it was already restless in the dark...
There were about two weeks until they returned to the capital; when that time came, will she still be able to see the bustling city from her memories? Latest content published on novel·fire·net
She intertwined her hands, gripping the Demon-locking Ring on her wrist, the cold touch calming her slightly.
"Thinking too much, I'm worrying unnecessarily again." The Princess chuckled softly, as if finding her own worries laughable.
She wasn't even a Professional, and there were so many legendary figures in the capital, as well as her father, and her outstanding elder brothers and sisters, even if something happened, it wouldn't be her place to resolve it.
Dusk gradually enveloped, twilight draping over the distant horizon. The captain of the caravan knocked on the window, reporting to the Fourteenth Princess, "Your Highness, we're not far from the next city. Shall we continue, or camp nearby first?"
The Fourteenth Princess came back from her reverie, replying calmly:
"Continue forward, if the Chocobos can still manage, a little night travel is fine."
Following the Fourteenth Princess's command, the Guards hung the lanterns, the Radiance of the Magic Stones illuminating the path, and the caravan continued under the night sky.
[The Hero's awareness of the capital's current situation (60+ activates Extrasensory Sensation, affecting the intensity of the capital's events, 105+ will cause city breach)]
D57+50=d57(50)+50=100
As the sky grew late, the weakening sunlight was obscured by dense foliage, only allowing a faint glow to sprinkle down through the gaps, casting a mottled pattern in the forest, yet unable to dispel the deepening shadows, adding to the dimness.
The Hero's steps were light, walking silently in the dark forest.
Unlike the tumultuous journey after leaving home, the two months traveling with the Fourteenth Princess could be considered quite peaceful.
As the Fourteenth Princess mentioned, although the Kingdom's power had a limited range, at least within the borders on the highways, the likelihood of incidents was very low.
Magic Creatures were not brainless beings, many of their wisdom even far surpassed humankind.
Therefore, as long as the city's Guards patrolled regularly, cleaning up the Magic Creatures around the roads, over time, the creatures naturally understood these roads were territories of humanity, learning to avoid them.
Even those Magic Creatures that fed on humans as assault targets, wouldn't brazenly charge directly onto the highways.
For this reason, to find those cunning Goblins hiding in the mountains and forests, the Hero had initially spent considerable effort.
In the past, when the Hero activated Extrasensory Sensation, a large amount of information would flood into her mind at once, analyzing everything around without filtering. As a result, after only a few uses, she would feel dizzy and even in pain.
But, practice makes perfect; after multiple uses, the Hero gradually became accustomed to that feeling, slowly able to sift through the complex information, and filter out the crucial parts while blocking other unnecessary data, thereby greatly reducing the burden.
Meanwhile, to hunt Goblins with less consumption and higher efficiency, the Hero also improved the few spells she learned.
While Bone-Attaching Flame was convenient for killing Goblins, it still required chanting and aiming, making it somewhat cumbersome to operate. But now, after the improvement, she only needed to grip the Finger Claw to ignite Black Flame, and with a light touch, a Goblin would be burned to death.
With the Hero's current Agility, she could fully ignite dozens of Goblins before they even reacted. More importantly, because it used the Finger Claw's own magic power reserves, this casting method almost didn't consume her magic power. Even the heat generated while burning Goblins could accelerate the Finger Claw's magic recovery.
The Black Flame also retained the advantages of the Bone-Attaching Flame itself. After the battle with the Goblin Nest, the Hero always worried that new Goblins would grow from the Goblin corpses, but with the Black Flame's burn, hardly even ashes would be left, completely eliminating any hidden dangers.
Therefore, although the Goblin hunts over these two months didn't bring her much experience, they greatly refined her combat skills and ability application.