Chapter 164: Invisible Foe

After resting for about ten days, both Sunier and Yalina’s injuries had gotten better. No matter how harmonious their life was now, they still had to leave. They should at least leave the Tarasha mountains instead of hanging about in the forest of holy animals all the time.

Before leaving, Han Jin and the others placed the dragon bone somewhere else and dug a pit to bury it. The trophies they had recently obtained, such as the dragon scales, dragon horns which were more than one meter in height, and the dragon tendons, had taken up almost all of the free space in Han Jin and Sunier’s space rings. Thus, they had to leave the dragon bones here after comparing their value.

Han Jin had intended to throw away the Treefolk so that the space could accommodate a few more bones, but the dragon bones were useless for him at present while the wooden giants made from Treefolk could always do them great favors; it may be able to save them or trap their enemies when they are in danger. After thinking about it twice, Han Jin gave up on this idea.

Moxinke felt that it was a pity. He didn’t know when they would come back. Even if they came back some days later, they might still be unable to take all of the dragon bones away. The fight between the Hydra and the dragon had brought them a real bargain. They might never encounter such things again for the rest of their lives.

The meat attached to the dragon bones had started to rot and stink, but Moxinke still cut off a section of tailbone regardless of the dissuasion from others.

After a busy day of preparation, they left the next morning.

In this world, besides coins which were considered as goods for equivalent exchange, there was something else which was much more valuable — time! As long as one worked hard enough, his time could be exchanged for everything, including coins. Thus, one should never look down upon the young, however inexperienced, poor or weak they are at present. No one can predict the future of the young, because they have plenty of time to change themselves.

The rookies all turned mature at a rapid speed through the experiences they had gotten from these past few days. Walking through the forest now, they no longer grumbled. Even if they accidentally fell down or were scratched by branches, they would not swear or feel depressed. Such minor setbacks were easily bearable to them.

To their surprise, the area around them became inexplicably busy. During the first three days, they met no one, but on the fourth day, they saw a mercenary team made up of seven members. On the fifth day, they met three groups of mercenaries, even one which was made up of more than thirty members. However, they traveled at a good distance away to avoid any contact.

This evening, Moxinke found a clean place for them to have a rest. Suddenly, Yalina walked toward Han Jin and sat down beside him. Though trust had been formed between them, they still were not that close to each other. Moxinke was stunned and so was Sunier. She opened her eyes wide, but Yalina’s words soon dispelled all their doubts.

“If a thief is walking around us, is he our enemy?” Yalina asked in a low voice.

“A thief? You mean there is a thief around us?” Reg asked with a warm smile as if he were talking about some pleasant events of the past.

None of them, even Moxinke, who was recognized as the most stupid one, glanced around.

“Yes.” Yalina nodded.

“How surprising! You are the first one to discover this!” Han Jin smiled.

It might be that his breath blew on Yalina’s face due to the close distance between them or because of the implied meaning of Han Jin’s words, but Yalina slightly flushed.

Thieves are most wretched professionals who can pose threats of different extents to other professionals, especially to magicians. Thus, thieves are also considered as invisible foes to magicians. They always sneakily approach their targets before launching sudden attacks, while magicians are weakest in terms of defensive ability and react slower compared to soldiers, hence easily assassinated.

As a supercilious magus, Yalina considered it as an unbearable shame to be injured twice by thieves. Thus, she formed a habit after recalling her painful experience. She would regularly release magic detection to search for possible enemies, even when she was eating, chatting, walking, thinking, or sleeping.

This might be overcautious, but she was determined to keep this radical way for the rest of her life!

“No one should sneakingly observe others in a forest of holy animals. That is a rule,” said Reg in a low voice. “Any violation of this rule is a signal of battle.”

“Got it.” Yalina clenched her magic wand.

“Don’t hurry. Look at me,” Han Jin slowly said. “Yes, just like this. Don’t move. Now, tell me where the thief is?”

“Well.”

“Where is he?”

“On my left. Almost over forty meters away from me.”

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“Can you see his face?” Moxinke curiously asked.

“No, but I can only see a blurry shadow.”

“Very well.” Han Jin laughed. “Now, you only need to control him and make him immovable. Leave the rest to us.”

Yalina was still looking at Han Jin, but she suddenly waved the magic wand in her hand. A circle of glistening ice flashed across the grass. The thief was watching them quietly and did not expect his whereabouts to have been discovered. In the blink of an eye, the ice frog froze and sealed him in a thin layer of ice.

Sunier twisted her waist and pulled her longbow with a backhand. A black arrow shot out like lightning. Just when the thief had struggled out of the ice layer, the arrow pierced through his thigh.

He let out a shrill cry and fell onto ground, struggling to crawl toward the woods.

This confirmed Reg’s conjecture: the thief must have had some bad intentions as he was desperately trying to escape now.

Only after crawling forward for seven or eight meters did the thief see Moxinke who was going to give his waist a sudden kick. The thief was quick and fiercely reacted by dodging the kick with a roll and stabbing his dagger toward Moxinke’s thigh.

Generally, thieves would only stab their opponents’ throats or hearts. But this one was almost lying on the ground while his target was standing tall. The thigh was the best part he could reach.

Moxinke quickly stepped back, roared, and chopped his giant sword down on the thief’s head.

The thief revealed no fear towards the coming strike. With his left hand propped against the ground, his body pounced forward with the dagger thrusting toward Moxinke’s belly. He must have been prepared to die together with Moxinke by adopting this attack.

Moxinke was infuriated. He had practiced very hard these days after being stimulated by Han Jin’s rapid progress, but now, he could not even deal with a half-disabled thief. This was shameful! The thief quickly and forcefully attacked back, regardless of his own safety, while Moxinke tried to avoid killing his opponent. Thus, his fighting was constrained and he successively staggered back a few steps.

Just at this moment, a figure appeared out of nowhere and a cold light flashed in his hand. A dagger pierced through the thief’s ankle, pinning him firmly onto the ground.

The thief made a stuffy hum and his attack slowed down. Moxinke seized the opportunity and lifted up his giant sword, knocking the thief’s dagger into the air and heavily stepping down on his face.

Moxinke’s foot was a little bit wider, while the thief’s face was comparatively small. His face was completely covered by Moxinke’s boot and clung to the ground. The thief screamed in a weird voice. All of his teeth were kicked off, and his nose was distorted like muddy flesh. From the sunken nostrils, blood bubbles of all sizes were successively emitting out.

Moxinke once again gave a kick toward the thief’s heart. This time, the thief could not let out any sound, and his body curled up.

Moxinke bent over, grabbed the thief’s collar, and dragged him over to them. Different from the past when the young magicians would gather around to watch the fight, they were now all carefully watching around by dividing themselves into several groups.

Reg wiped off the bloodstains from his dagger and followed Moxinke without mocking him. There was no harm to a joke, but he should not praise himself in front of his companion.

“This guy is quite fierce,” Moxinke said with embarrassment.

Han Jin bent down. The thief had been unconscious and his face was badly mutilated. Reg also came and searched the thief, hoping to find some useful clues, however, except for a money bag which had only a few dozens of coins and a small box which contained some bottles of medicine-like stuff, there was nothing else on him. It seemed this thief was not rich at all.

Han Jin passed the bottles to Yalina, but she shook her head after a close look at them. She was unable to recognize what these medicines were either.

Cessacioun released an Art of Spring and washed the thief’s face clean. Though blood was still flowing out, they could now clearly see his face.

“This guy looks familiar!” Sunier suddenly shouted.

Han Jin was shocked. He cast a closer look at the thief, having the same feeling.

“I remember!” Sunier shouted again. “He was one of the members of the mercenary team we met yesterday! His left eyebrow is shorter than his right one. I silently laughed at him for this yesterday.”

“Yes, that’s him!” Yalina nodded. “I also noticed his eyebrows yesterday and found them funny.”

“It’s not good to make fun of other people’s appearance,” Han Jin said in a low voice. “If it’s true, then this guy must have been following us since yesterday. By the way, does your magic detection have a fixed detection range?”

Yalina was somewhat puzzled. Obviously, she was wondering why Han Jin had asked such a simple question. “I can detect magic sentries and pitfalls within fifty meters with my present magic power. If any thief gets close to me, I can see his shadow.”