Wolf Pack

The cold moonlight spilled across the sand, casting a silver glow, and in this desolate night, several figures were racing northeast at high speed, as if pursued by a flood of beasts.

"Hey, Uncle Luo Luoji, why are we running with them? What if we get dragged into this?" Xuan Ye panted, struggling to keep pace with the group as he spoke, his voice dry.

As soon as he opened his mouth, he swallowed a few grains of sand kicked up by the sprint. It was only because the Mage Apprentice riding the Small Carpet was limited in speed that Xuan Ye and the other Senior Knight Attendants could barely keep up. All of this was because Luo Luoji had abandoned quite a few precious materials in his panic—well, his life mattered more, and at least the most valuable Magic Cores could be carried on his person.

"Are you kidding? If a Professional Rank expert really noticed us, running or not wouldn't matter. What we need to do now is get back to Stanrosai City and report before he figures it out. With the City Lord's Mansion, the temple's power, and the Mage Lord's Mage Tower, even a Professional Rank expert wouldn't dare attack lightly." Luo Luoji's reply seemed somewhat off-topic, leaving Xuan Ye confused about how this related to them running together.

"Idiot, haven't you noticed that sickly guy constantly chanting? It's a spell to disrupt our aura. If we split up, do you want to take the blame for them?" Seeing Xuan Ye's lack of comprehension, Luo Luoji lowered his voice. The once-respected apprentice alchemist had instantly become "that sickly guy" in his mouth, leaving Xuan Ye speechless. Damn, everyone here had so many schemes—couldn't they just have some fun? Out of all these people, only that axe-wielding guy seemed decent. Sure, he was a goofball, but dealing with a goofball meant you wouldn't get sold out and still be counting the money. Well, even if you got sold in some other way, it didn't matter.

But running was exhausting, and keeping up with them was even more tiring.

Watching Dean, who sat on the Small Carpet murmuring incantations and occasionally sprinkling some powder, Xuan Ye's eyes flickered with envy. What a cool mount—though it wasn't as fast as his full sprint, it didn't require any effort, making it far superior for long-distance travel. A mere apprentice, not even at the Professional Rank, theoretically on par with himself, had such a nice toy, showing just how capable mages were.

Thinking this, Xuan Ye forced his already tired body to speed up a few steps, sidling up to Dean's carpet and putting on a fawning tone: "That's amazing! Even a Professional Rank mage can be fooled. So impressive!"

His over-the-top acting and syrupy flattery nearly made Dean break his chant. After forcing himself to finish the incantation and sprinkle something like exorcism powder, Dean shot Xuan Ye an exasperated look. "That guy's a Professional Rank. Obviously, that ordinary Wraith wasn't his core contracted spirit—maybe he didn't even sign a contract, just used 'Control Undead' temporarily. He'll have plenty of time before he notices, and my disruption only stretches that time a bit longer." With that, he steadied himself, seemingly ready to start another Disruption Spell.

Xuan Ye put on an exaggerated expression of enlightenment, his flattery dripping with false admiration. "Wow, you know so much! Come on, let's have a heart-to-heart!" Without waiting for Dean's reaction, he lunged at the Small Carpet. Why waste his legs when he could hitch a ride? As for the heart-to-heart, he had no idea what to say—he'd just chat about nothing.

But...

Thud

A dull sound rang out as the Small Carpet, which had been floating half a meter off the ground, collapsed onto the sand without any resistance when Xuan Ye pounced, sending both him and Dean tumbling to the ground. Covered in sand, Xuan Ye didn't care much—he was already a mess from the run—but Dean's once-pristine robe was now wrinkled and dirty.

Watching the Small Carpet struggle beneath him, unable to lift off, Xuan Ye's forehead broke out in a sweat. He'd thought it was a bus, but it turned out to be a bicycle—a single-seater at that. How unreliable...

Meeting Dean's furious gaze, as if he were preparing some nasty curse, Xuan Ye could only mutter weakly, "Accident, accident."

"A mage's flying alchemy tool must be linked with Spiritual Power to become one with the user. It's a personal transport for mages, and most can't carry passengers." Ye Man, the axe-wielding guy Xuan Ye had considered tolerable company, delivered the cold truth from the side. Even this guy, whom Xuan Ye had pegged as a husky, knew that—and he'd made such a mistake. It made his bald head flush red.

"Heh, I tried that once too." Ye Man's subsequent chuckle and grin proved he was still a good teammate.

"Hmph! Are you sure you're not a spy sent by the enemy?" Blue-haired Aide sneered coldly.

Since it was his fault this time, Xuan Ye didn't bother retorting, merely apologizing sheepishly to Dean.

"Alright, alright. We've run this far, and I'm getting tired. Let's rest a bit. If he was going to chase us, he'd have caught up by now." Fortunately, Ye Man stepped in to break the tension, earning Xuan Ye's deep gratitude. He hadn't misjudged this guy.

The Paladin girl leading the group said nothing, just went back to staring into space. Honestly, Xuan Ye hadn't heard her speak once so far—was she mute? What a waste of a pretty face. Her personality was decent, kind-hearted, though her figure...

"Are you thinking something rude?" A crisp, ethereal but cold voice rang in his ears just as Xuan Ye, feeling a bit frustrated, started sizing up Aitiya with silent regret. He looked up to meet her clear, ruby-like eyes.

Though her tone held no anger, it inexplicably sent a chill down Xuan Ye's spine. Damn, he'd forgotten again—this little lady had already condensed her third core in the Perception Inner Mansion. Her perception was far stronger than his. Why did he have to look at her? But this time, he hadn't said anything out loud, just thought it. Was she that sensitive? Or had she been watching him all along?

So she wasn't mute. Her voice was actually quite nice—too bad~

Quickly averting his gaze from that slight curve, Xuan Ye had no intention of provoking her further. Though she was cold and a bit violent, overall, Xuan Ye's impression of this Paladin lady wasn't bad. It was just the psychological shadow from the Potion Bitch that made him instinctively afraid. But she probably had a pretty poor opinion of him.

Sigh. Out of this group of four, he'd already offended three. With his lack of social experience, it was all too easy to rub people the wrong way.

With the looming threat of "Professional Rank" hanging over them like a sword, even during their brief rest, everyone remained on high alert. They didn't even eat, only taking small sips of water, afraid it would slow them down.

Just as they finished a short break and Dean had cleaned up his Small Carpet, ready to set off again, Aitiya—who had earlier given Xuan Ye a clean shave—raised her hand in a stop gesture. As a Professional Rank expert who had opened her Perception Inner Mansion, her warning immediately put the whole team on alert.

"Did you find something?" Dean, floating back over on his Small Carpet, asked nervously. Though he had been casting disruption spells the whole way, he was still just an apprentice-level Spellcaster. If that Arch-Lich was nearby, he had no confidence he could fool him.

"It's a wolf pack."

Aitiya said in that unique, ethereal voice, without a hint of hesitation.

Though hearing it wasn't the Undead put everyone at ease for a moment, they quickly tensed up again. In the Desert of the Dead, there were two kinds of wolves: Sand Wolves and Azure Wolves. Relatively speaking, Azure Wolves were far more troublesome to deal with than Sand Wolves. Even the weakest among them out hunting would be at least a one-star Predator Rank, on par with a Professional Rank.

But the desert wasn't the Azure Wolf's main territory. Their numbers here were sparse, and forming a pack was difficult. Since Aitiya had said "wolf pack"...

"Azure Wolves. Twelve of them."

Yet the moment Aitiya finished speaking, their faces all turned grim. Running into an Azure Wolf pack? What kind of lottery odds were these?

After all, they had been running straight toward Stanrosai City the whole way. If there really were Azure Wolves nearby, Luo Luoji's Scavenger Squad, which often roamed this area, would have been wiped out long ago!

A pack of twelve was considered a small pack, but if every wolf in it was an Azure Wolf capable of matching a Professional Rank, then even the top three powers of Stanrosai City would have to deploy their own High-level Professional Experts cautiously before they could hope to handle such an opponent!

The Azure Wolf's main hunting grounds were the Riftwind Plains, further north of Stanrosai City. They only occasionally passed through and ventured deep into the desert to hunt. Most of the time, the ones encountered were lone wolves driven out of their packs. So what was this?

If they chalked it up to coincidence, that would be an insult to everyone's intelligence. They had just sensed a Professional Rank big shot moving in secret, and now they ran into this kind of troublesome interception—even a husky could make the connection.

Thanks to Zaca and Shisha for the tips.