Trouble

After weighing the pros and cons again and again, Xuan Ye made his judgment. Even with the tiny bit of otherworldly survival experience he had accumulated so far, he still felt it would be best to keep the fact that he had encountered a second Wraith buried deep in his stomach.

Well, otherwise, he really had no way to explain it. The mysterious Database at the heart of his Soul Core was the greatest secret concerning his life and death. Xuan Ye himself had no idea how valuable this secret was, but he estimated that even the legendary gods might be interested in this thing.

"Hey, I didn't expect you guys to be pretty good."

After everything was over, Ye Man, who hadn't contributed much, looked at the somewhat dispirited members of the Scavenger Squad and spoke in a muffled voice that was unclear whether it was praise or mockery.

Although Ye Man was a Three-Star Professional Rank Warrior, and theoretically his ability in a head-on battle was no worse than that of a Three-Star Paladin, his methods of dealing damage were too limited. He had the attack power, but his range of application was far inferior to that of a Special Profession. Against a Wraith that was nearly immune to most physical attacks, all he could do was stand to the side holding a bottle of Holy Water and watch. The professionals had to handle it directly.

"Luckily, our Apprentice Ranger brother discovered it approaching in advance. Otherwise, if it had possessed the Wanderer and gotten close, I'm afraid even I wouldn't have been able to withstand the destruction caused by a surprise Mind Scream."

After taking a deep breath, Luo Luoji spoke with a lingering gasp, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. A hint of relief appeared on his face, which was covered in a thick beard.

He was a Guardian who had condensed his Professional Core within his Qi and Blood Inner Mansion, and he had also awakened the perfectly compatible Skin of Steel. His physical defenses were extraordinarily powerful. With preparation, even if he allowed a Senior Knight Attendant to attack him freely, it would probably leave no more than a few marks.

However, when it came to Spiritual Power, Guardians were only at an ordinary level. They lacked a knight's protection from firm faith, and the enhancement to their willpower could only be considered mediocre. They were rather weak against the Wraith's various attack methods.

On top of that, he was suppressed in rank. If he had really been ambushed at close range, the result would have been disastrous. At this moment, he was extremely glad that he had suddenly felt charitable and picked up that dried fish. Sure enough, doing good deeds brought rewards.

"Hmph. An Apprentice Ranger is only useful for this much. During a battle, all he can do is watch from the side. If there had been another one, he would only have dragged us down."

Blue-haired Aide clearly still had some anger in his heart and mocked him coldly.

"Haha, all that matters is that the mission is complete. Although Mind Scream isn't a fatal attack for them, once it's combined with a Wraith's unique Fear Art afterward, it can devour the fear buried deep in their hearts while they're affected by the scream, turning them into new Wanderers under its control. They still took quite a risk."

Dean was studying that scroll, while Aitiya was staring blankly at the moon. Ye Man, who had nothing to do, continued teasing the others out of boredom. Even this big fool knew about the characteristics of Wraiths.

Through some of his conversations, Xuan Ye once again confirmed the cause of the Wraith's death when it had attacked him. It had indeed died from its own stupidity. At the same time, Xuan Ye shook his head at the Axe Man, who was practically the only one among the four with whom he could communicate at present. Sigh, this young fellow is still too inexperienced. Although he's very strong, his mind is shallower than mine, so it's easy to draw out information I want. Staying with someone like this is much more rewarding.

Mixing with old, hardened roughnecks like Luo Luoji every day really made him realize from time to time that he was foolish and naive, making him look like a complete clown.

The other three members of the group—the research maniac Dean, the daydreaming maniac Aitiya, and Aide, who always wore the expression of a heaven-defying protagonist—were all difficult to approach. Only Ye Man, the Axe Man, was relatively easy to get along with.

Although he often did inexplicable things, such as catching a Sand Rat for a snack or sticking his head into a basin of water, making him look like a human husky, he was also the friendliest of them all.

"We're probably in serious trouble."

However, just as Xuan Ye was wondering whether he should exchange the chance to have the other party refine a potion for something else, Dean, who was sitting on his Small Carpet and studying the scroll, raised his head with a grave expression.

"Wraiths are born with the magic runes for the Fear Art and Mind Scream. They're one of the sources of our Human Race's study of fear-based spells. Most of the literature passed down from the Near Ancient era is about them. The magic rune for Fear Art has practically been studied to death, but the structure of the Fear Art rune inside this Wraith is extremely special. It isn't an innate rune possessed by any known Wraith. The number of uses of the AND Gate reaches forty-two, exceeding seventy percent of the total. In theory, this structure should be logically chaotic and unstable..."

When Dean launched into his professional expertise, everyone beside him understood nothing after the first half and felt as though they were listening to a heavenly tome. As he continued rambling, seemingly unwilling to stop until he had explained the entire transformation, Ye Man the Axe Man finally couldn't take it anymore and interrupted him.

"Speak human."

Even Xuan Ye, the only listener who had been enjoying himself, snapped back to reality. Uh, fine. Apart from meditation, he didn't have the slightest bit of magical knowledge. Even with the enormous amount of data in his possession, he couldn't understand what Dean was saying. But that didn't stop him from forcibly memorizing and storing the information. It might come in handy someday.

Dean also seemed to realize that he had gotten carried away at an inappropriate time. After being interrupted, he blushed slightly, then cleared his throat and spoke.

"Simply put, the master of this Wraith is an extraordinary figure with extremely profound attainments in necromancy. I'm afraid..."

At this point, a bitter smile appeared on Dean's face.

"Afraid of what?"

Xuan Ye cooperatively asked with curiosity.

"I'm afraid that the incident is backed by a Six-Star Professional Rank Arch-Lich. Not to mention us—even if our mentor took action, he might not return. We must request assistance from the academy."

After Xuan Ye asked, Dean still finished his words in a hoarse voice. Upon hearing the trouble he described, everyone except the Paladin girl who loved spacing out had a drastic change in expression.

Xuan Ye nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

What the hell is this?

Apart from that suicidal Wraith, any random Professional Rank whatever could easily leave him struggling between life and death. And now they were telling him that this matter was backed by a Six-Star Professional Rank Arch-Lich?

Are you kidding me?

There wasn't even a single Professional Rank expert in all of Stanrosai City!

A Professional Rank expert was already among the top fifty strongest people. The few Six-Star Professional Experts at the summit belonged exclusively to the three greatest powers! At most, one could also count that independent mage!

As for the so-called Professional Rank, it was the core sublimation that occurred after all six Inner Palaces—or all six Star Palaces in one's sea of spirit—had been completely opened and their cores condensed within the body of a Six-Star Professional Rank expert! It was an advanced stage that marked advancement into a veteran profession!

If a Professional Rank Ranger's normal attack had an effective range of a hundred meters, then a Professional Rank Ranger could casually strike over a distance measured in kilometers. Even a sniper rifle would have to step aside! They weren't in the same order of magnitude anymore. They were practically no longer human!

What was more, the person behind this was a Professional Rank mage, and a Necromancer at that. Dean's abilities as a Ninth-Grade Apprentice already made that obvious. At the same level, even a Special Profession would probably be easily crushed by a mage.

Moreover, this person clearly wasn't the "pacifist" Necromancer Luo Luoji had mentioned, who was skilled at treating plagues.

An expert like this would be invincible not only in Stanrosai City, but even if several nearby city-states were included!

He was probably one of the few strongest figures in the entire Central Domain of the Ronald Continent under Stanrosai's jurisdiction. Ten years ago, the four domains of Ronald had still each been a single nation!

Yet such a big shot had holed up in this godforsaken corner, carrying out some shady business, and had happened to leave traces that they discovered. This really was a story about getting screwed...