Hunter's Mark

As firelight rose through the forest, the Gray Eagle Mercenaries gradually made out the attackers' figures.

There were probably several dozen attackers. They wore uniform outfits bearing the insignia of the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Group. Most were archers, and their leader was a blond man.

The blond man carried a battle-axe and had a short spear strapped to his back. The spear that had just pierced John, shield and all, had clearly been thrown by him.

Seeing Cassandra charge over, the man did not retreat. He charged forward as well. At the same time, his skin shifted between light and dark, rapidly sprouting numerous ochre scales until he looked almost like a dragonkin.

"Clang!" In the blink of an eye, Cassandra's greatsword and the blond man's battle-axe clashed several times with tremendous force. Although the blond man was a size smaller than Cassandra, his strength was nearly equal to hers.

While Cassandra was tied down, the Wolf Hunter attackers prepared to retreat while launching one final assault on the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group. Dozens of arrows flew in succession.

The Gray Hawk Mercenaries retaliated. Shield-bearing warriors charged at the front, and over a hundred men shouted as they stormed into the forest.

Gagnor was debating whether to charge in as well when a faint, strange sensation suddenly came over him.

Gained status: Hunter's Mark (Level 3)

"Damn!"

Gagnor cursed and instinctively threw himself sideways onto the ground. Hunter's Mark was a common skill among Level Three Hunters. Once marked, it meant a dangerous attack would arrive very soon.

"Whoosh—"

The instant he hit the ground, an arrow shot past and pierced straight through a tree behind him.

Cold sweat broke out on Gagnor's forehead. He quickly searched the area and soon spotted a Wolf Hunter Mercenary drawing a bow and aiming at him.

His thoughts raced. While preparing to dodge, he also drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at his opponent.

The two fired their arrows at the same time and simultaneously dodged.

"Whoosh—"

Shooting while dodging naturally made it impossible to aim well. Moreover, the other party was dodging at the same time. Thus, unsurprisingly, the Wolf Hunter Mercenary's arrow missed.

Gagnor's arrow also veered badly off course.

But he could correct its trajectory.

With a thought, he saw the arrow in midair abruptly turn around under the influence of Swift Breeze. After curving through the air, it shot toward the Wolf Hunter Mercenary once more!

The Wolf Hunter Mercenary's expression shifted slightly, as if he had sensed something, but it was too late.

"Whoosh!" The arrow viciously pierced through his throat.

Killed Level 3 human, experience +150

Elsewhere, the blond man from the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Group suddenly leaped backward. His hands, already transformed into dragon claws, plunged into the ground and violently heaved upward.

A huge chunk of earth and stone was flipped into the air.

"Boom!" Cassandra's burning greatsword arrived immediately after, cleaving the earth and stone into pieces.

At that moment, a Wolf Hunter Mercenary behind the blond man suddenly spread both arms. A vortex of air rapidly condensed.

"Boom—"

A howling gale poured out. The shattered earth and stone instantly turned into dust filling the sky, which was swept toward the Gray Hawk Mercenaries.

The Gray Hawk Mercenaries' advance slowed to a halt.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Wolf Hunter Mercenaries, who had long since prepared themselves, immediately retreated.

"Cassandra, I'm sure we'll have another chance to cross swords before long!" the blond man called out before making several leaps and disappearing into the pitch-black forest.

Some Gray Hawk Mercenaries wanted to pursue them.

Ryan immediately shouted to stop them. "Don't go! There are traps!"

The Gray Hawk Mercenaries who wanted to give chase were stopped, and the battle came to an end.

Cassandra gazed in the direction the Wolf Hunter Mercenaries had left. After a moment of silence, she lightly swung her greatsword several times.

At her movements, the flames on the greatsword and the surrounding trees went out one after another, and the forest sank back into the night.

Clearly, this had only been a probing and harassing attack. Altogether, both sides had lost just over twenty people, most of them Gray Eagle Mercenaries.

This was normal. The Gray Hawk Mercenary Group consisted mainly of cannon-fodder recruits. By comparison, the attackers from the Wolf Hunt Mercenary Group were clearly all official members, with a much higher average combat strength.

The Gray Hawk Mercenaries began cleaning up the battlefield.

Gagnor naturally refused to fall behind.

He first ran to the side of Returning Arrow's first victim, then let out a regretful sigh.

The man had been wearing chainmail, so Returning Arrow had not inflicted a fatal wound. Unfortunately, he had happened to lie directly in Cassandra's path as she charged forward and had been trampled to death by her.

As a result, Gagnor had missed out on the experience from killing him.

Seeing that Cassandra had no interest in the spoils and had already turned away, Gagnor did not hold back. He stripped the Wolf Hunter Mercenary of everything on him that was worth even a little money.

Then, while no one was paying attention, he used the cantrip "Gather Blood" to collect some blood.

Gather Blood could be used on himself or on others.

When used on himself, it spared him the pain of breaking his skin and directly caused the blood inside his body to seep out through his skin.

When used on others, the target first had to be rendered unable to resist. With corpses all around, resistance was naturally impossible. Gagnor quickly collected a large bottle of mixed blood from several people and stored it in the non-decaying compartment of his Storage Ring.

Then he went to the corpse of the second victim.

This time, he ran into some trouble.

"Why do you say he was the one who killed him?" a recruit with the unmistakable air of a street punk from Raven Street demanded.

Gagnor's expression darkened slightly as he pointed to the Fletched Arrows on the corpse. "I'm the only one who uses this kind of arrow."

The thug-like recruit froze. He stared at the Fletched Arrows for two seconds, clearly still unwilling to give up the chance to seize the spoils, but for the moment he did not know how to argue.

Fortunately, a long-haired young man in mage robes spoke from nearby. "I saw him kill the man with my own eyes. You don't even have a bow!"

With the mage's word carrying weight, the thug-like recruit could only slink away.

Gagnor then began looting the spoils.

A scroll caught his attention.

Item: Spell Scroll of Bow's Loyalty

Level: First Circle

Effect: Sacrifice a bow or crossbow to grant arrows greater power

Bow's Allegiance. Gagnor had noticed this scroll when purchasing supplies before the battle, but ultimately had not bought it.

He had heard that its power was considerable. However, using it once not only consumed a scroll but also sacrificed a bow, making the price somewhat steep. So he had not bought it.

After looting the spoils of two Wolf Hunter archers, however, Gagnor now had three bows. One of them was even somewhat better in quality than the Wolf-Sinew Bow, which made him want to find an opportunity to try Bow's Allegiance.

After putting away the spoils, Gagnor hesitated before walking over to the young mage who had spoken up for him. He thanked him first. "Thank you, mage. My name is Gagnor, and I'm a Level Two apothecary. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Gaye." The mage gave his name, looking somewhat surprised at the same time. "You're an apothecary?"

"Yes, but clearly, making Healing Stones wasn't the reason I joined the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group."

The two chatted briefly.

Then Gagnor changed the subject and asked politely, "Mage Gaye, I have a Hunter's Mark on me. Could you help remove it? Of course, I can pay."