Almost the very next second after Kash called out the warning, the entire Sea Thorn Squad moved.
They were all veteran Adventurers who had gained Profession Levels, and their reactions were extremely fast.
The formation, which had loosened slightly after they had just returned to the ground from the trees, instantly tightened.
With the squad's Spellcaster, Mint, at the center, the group contracted inward into something close to a "back-to-back" formation, while still leaving enough room to fight.
Xia Nan, Veris, and Kash each took responsibility for one sector, their gazes covering the full three hundred and sixty degrees around them.
After all, the squad had not been formed for long, and two of its members were newcomers who had only just joined. They had not had enough time to mesh, so naturally, there was no way their coordination could be especially tacit.
In such a sudden situation, being able to react like this was already quite good.
Xia Nan gripped the Beheading Longsword tightly in both hands, leaving part of his attention on guard against the side and the teammates behind him.
His pitch-black eyes stared into the deep night ahead, where mist drifted everywhere, while he focused his will and Perception on any possible danger within it.
If Kash's scent bait really worked, then after all this time, in the Thin Mist Forest at night, it was impossible for there to be no movement at all.
That left them with only two possibilities.
First, Kash really had bought a defective product, and the bait had failed to take effect.
But considering the extremely dense rotten, fishy stench that still filled the air, rushing straight from his nostrils to the top of his skull, It did not seem like it had failed no matter how he looked at it.