Ambush

The forest was vast, and despite the mercenaries' increased pace, they couldn't make it out before nightfall, forcing them to set up camp.

Tents were erected, and a fire was soon lit, with the mercenaries sitting around it, chewing on dry rations.

"Ryan, is this your first time as a leader?" Gagnor asked.

"Pretty much. I rarely take on the role of leader," Ryan said. "After all, a leader usually needs to stand firmly in front of everyone, and as a rogue, I'm best at hiding in corners and running fast."

He paused before adding, "So, once we get to Presto Fortress, I'll probably go back to intelligence work. As for the leader of this squad, the mercenary group will most likely assign a warrior to take on that role."

John said, "What about me?"

Ryan laughed. "You're too young. Mercenary squad leaders are usually level four or even five warriors. But you have Saint Michael's Vigilance. As long as you reach level four, you'll definitely be able to be a leader."

John suddenly sighed. "Actually, I could have been selected for the Holy Knight reserves, but I still have a node of Elemental Holy Name, and the Church thinks I'm not pure enough."

Marcus looked a bit puzzled. "Couldn't you just not tell them? The Church wouldn't hold a 'purity examination ritual' just for you, would they?"

John said, "I didn't know that back then. I thought they were really going to give me a purity examination... Oh well, it's because I'm a fisherman's son. The priest in the fishing village and my father only told me to be honest."

The conversation paused for a moment.

John changed the subject. "Captain Ryan, who was behind the two attacks you encountered here? That Viscount Uris or whatever?"

Ryan shook his head. "The first time was the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Group, the second time was a High Troll."

"There are High Trolls here?"

"You're saying you escaped from a High Troll?" Several surprised voices rang out.

Ryan said, "High Trolls aren't as strong as you think. They're much stronger than ordinary Trolls, but not very bright. They're only slightly smarter than Goblins."

"We won't run into a High Troll, will we..."

"It's not entirely impossible. That guy came from somewhere and is wandering around this forest. I heard he even worked as a highway robber for a while near a bridge north of Driftwood Town, tearing apart several travelers heading north," Ryan added. "But we have several hundred people, and Vice-Captain Cassandra is here, so there's absolutely nothing to worry about."

"How much longer until we reach the castle?"

"Soon. And if nothing goes wrong, the castle should be sending someone to meet us."

Night deepened.

The mercenaries went to sleep one after another. Gagnor's squad was assigned as one of the night watch squads, responsible for nighttime security.

This was mainly thanks to Ryan, since he was the most familiar with the area.

Gagnor wasn't a formal combatant, but he didn't go to sleep either. Instead, he sat in front of the fire, modifying arrows.

The arrows bought from Barto's Smithy all had normal fletching. To better utilize the Swift Breeze effect, he needed to modify them all into the style of Fletched Arrows.

It wasn't until the second half of the night that Gagnor, having completed the modification work, decided to get some sleep.

However, just as he was about to crawl into his tent, an accident suddenly occurred.

"Whoosh—"

"Swish—"

Several sounds of air being pierced came from the dark forest.

At the same time, John held up his shield and moved sideways, protecting Sheldon the Priest behind him in time.

Immediately afterward, a slightly glowing short spear howled over with astonishing force, directly piercing through the shield and John's chest!

Some other arrows shot in various directions.

"Enemy attack!"

The mercenaries woke up in alarm, and battle was about to break out.

Sheldon the Priest obviously had no combat experience. After watching John get pierced by the short spear, he was stunned on the spot, not reacting for a full second.

Fortunately, Gagnor rushed over, dragged him and John into a corner, and shouted, "Quickly use your magic, he's going to die!"

John, pierced through the chest by the short spear, only coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood before losing consciousness. A large amount of blood flowed from his chest, instantly staining his upper clothes red.

Gagnor quickly took out several Healing Stones, crushed them into powder, and sprinkled them on John's wound.

Sheldon the Priest also reacted, his face pale as he began to chant a spell, his hands glowing with Holy Light, pressed against John's chest.

As the Healing Stone and Holy Light spell took effect, the bleeding was finally gradually stopped, but John still looked like he was in a precarious state, lying motionless with his eyes closed, his face devoid of color.

"Clang!" A stray arrow flew over and was blocked by the steel chainmail on Gagnor's body.

Gagnor thought it was a close call, and had no time to pay attention to John anymore. He looked towards the direction of the arrow while nocking an arrow on his bow.

At this time, the night was deep, and the enemy was hiding in the dark. He could only see a vague outline.

But Gagnor didn't panic.

After leveling up to level three, the number of Swift Breeze clusters he could control simultaneously reached six, and the control distance was extended to six hundred meters.

From four clusters to six clusters, it didn't seem like a big improvement, but it actually brought about a qualitative change.

Gagnor attached six clusters of Swift Breeze to the arrow.

He drew back the Wolf-Sinew Bow.

"Swish—"

The bowstring twanged, and the arrow shot towards the figure lurking in the shadows.

The arrow wasn't particularly fast, and the figure in the darkness was prepared, easily sidestepping to let the arrow miss its mark.

The figure seemed to let out a disdainful snort.

But what the figure didn't know was that the arrow that had just flown past him hadn't fallen to the ground. Instead, it was slowly turning around, re-aiming at him from behind!

Gagnor had always wanted to use Swift Breeze to achieve a "returning arrow," but before leveling up to Tier 3, no matter how he tried, he just couldn't pull it off.

It wasn't until he reached Tier 3 and could control six clusters of Swift Breeze simultaneously that he realized the problem.

It took at least five clusters of Swift Breeze to fully control an arrow.

Of course, using five clusters of Swift Breeze to execute a returning arrow was still a bit of a strain. Therefore, to be on the safe side, Gagnor directly attached six clusters of Swift Breeze at once.

With the support of these six clusters of Swift Breeze, the returning arrow finally went from a concept to reality.

Whoosh—

The arrow, aimed from behind, shot out.

"Ah!" The unsuspecting figure immediately became the first victim of the returning arrow, crying out and falling to the ground.

At this moment, Cassandra had also made her move.

Flames ignited on the greatsword in her hands, and then, with a roar, her massive form leaped up, charging towards the figures swarming in the forest.

"Boom!"

An attacker standing in the front was instantly cleaved apart by the greatsword, the pieces of his body ignited by the flames and flying in all directions, immediately lighting up the forest.

"Wolf Hunt's whelps, your darkvision is useless now!" Cassandra shouted, swinging her greatsword and smashing another attacker in the process.

One update today.

Also, the book title has been changed to "Mercenary Chronicles."