A little under half a sandglass later.
Reilo quickly chose his hired mercenaries and began the first journey of his life.
"Uncle Luo Ji, please lead the way for us on this trip."
Reilo politely addressed the older man.
He was a middle-aged Fighter with a few white whiskers. What caught the eye was that, for some unknown reason, half his face had been horribly disfigured. It looked as though some terrifying Magical Beast had licked it, its sharp tongue barbs easily scraping away half the skin and leaving him with a fearsome appearance.
"Mm."
Uncle Luo Ji wasn't much of a talker, and gave off a steady impression. Like the dark, heavy sword at his waist, he simply led the way in silence.
For some reason, Reilo felt a trace of his father in the older man—the air of a jungle hunter.
"Qiu Hei!"
Meanwhile.
At the clear call of the girl with the ponytail, a majestic black-furred dog poked its head over a dirt mound in the distance. It then raced over at an astonishing speed. Its perfectly built body showed explosive strength as it leaped through the air from seven or eight meters away, landing beside the girl in an instant and licking her arm nonstop.
Reilo drew a deep breath at the sight.
Prompt: Juvenile Black Flame Wolf.
It was actually a Black Flame Wolf. Though still a juvenile, it possessed a strength that ordinary people could never easily contend with!
He remembered how, earlier, when he'd been choosing mercenaries at the entrance to the Mercenary Association, a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old girl named Lulu had jumped out with a Black Flame Wolf. Reilo had nearly gaped.
This was an E-rank mercenary?
Though he didn't know why, Reilo had immediately chosen her as his hired mercenary.
"Giggle! Stop it, Qiu Hei! We're on a mission!"
Lulu laughed and playfully ran alongside the Black Flame Wolf. The girl vaulted onto its back, and before long they had caught up with Reilo.
"Lulu, why are you an E-rank mercenary? Don't any mercenary groups want you?"
Reilo couldn't help asking out of curiosity.
The girl stuck out her tongue and said quietly, "I don't want to join someone else's mercenary group. I want to start my own!"
"Huh?"
Reilo turned his head and stared at the girl in astonishment.
As she recalled the past, the cheerful face that usually showed two dimples when she smiled gradually grew a little downcast.
"I trained in martial arts with my grandfather in the snowy mountains from the time I was little. Later, Grandpa passed away and left me a sword called Frost Creation. It was his keepsake, and it meant a lot to me. But then... I lost it!"
Lulu pouted, looking hurt and sad.
"Then I remembered that, when Grandpa was still alive, an organization called 'Curse' tried to steal Frost Creation! So I came to Saint Grand Fort, hoping to build my own mercenary group, find the Curse organization, and get Frost Creation back. But the people at the Mercenary Association told me that starting a D-rank mercenary group required ten gold coins as a deposit..."
Frost Creation?
He had no idea what kind of sword it was.
Listening to Lulu recount her story felt like hearing a legendary tale. It even involved a mysterious organization.
"How much money are you still short?"
Lulu gazed at Reilo, wide-eyed and pleading. "I only have thirty-five silver coins."
"Ahem, ahem, ahem."
Reilo didn't know what to say. Wasn't this exactly like him two months ago, when he'd been trying to find a school?
Lulu suddenly said, "A D-rank mercenary group needs at least four members. Big Brother Reilo, when I've saved enough gold, will you join my group? You can be our chief mage!"
"Uh... heh, heh, heh."
Reilo laughed awkwardly in reply.
Among the many human duchies, the six great duchies were the most powerful.
Of those six, the Grand Duchy and the Xilan Duchy were the foremost rivals, and the two countries' wars had almost never stopped.
For that very reason, although scholars from the Grand Natural Academy and the Xilan Natural Academy learned from each other in their academic pursuits, they were also natural competitors. The hostility between their royal families had spread into every corner of life between the two nations, including the Mercenary Association, the gladiator arenas, and the merchant companies!
The Furnace Mountains should have been a Holy Land where the two nations' beginner students gathered natural specimens. But because of their hostility, the mountains had been shrouded in shadow for centuries, as though some terrible, man-eating monster lurked in the darkness, watching them.
Night fell.
With Uncle Luo Ji, an experienced mercenary, along with Lulu and Qiu Hei, the night passed peacefully.
By noon the next day, the three finally reached the edge of the Furnace Mountains.
The mountain peaks were covered in snow, stretching endlessly into the distance!
Farther away, an active volcano belched thick smoke and rumbled ominously. It seemed ready to erupt at any moment and bring catastrophic destruction. It had been like this for decades.
There was no denying that climbing a mountain was hard work.
Before long, Reilo was panting and sweating heavily, each step painfully difficult.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a brief rest.
He looked at Uncle Luo Ji steadily making his way ahead, then at Lulu, who was hopping along and playing with Qiu Hei as they climbed. Seeing how full of energy they both were, Reilo couldn't help feeling a little wistful.
Not every scholar was as physically frail as he was.
On the one hand, Reilo's constitution was poor even compared to others his age because of an innate condition. On the other, many scholars who studied Evolution's Profound Meaning and the mysteries of the human body had physiques so strong that they even surpassed Fighters of the same rank. That was precisely why these scholars could rely on their overwhelming strength to easily defeat Fighters with extensive combat experience and Battle Qi.
"If you're tired, take a break."
Uncle Luo Ji noticed the state of the mage who had hired him and stopped, speaking calmly.
"Okay."
Reilo replied.
Looking at Reilo's youthful face, Uncle Luo Ji, who rarely spoke, suddenly sighed.
"Ah, the biggest drawback for Fighters is that if they don't break through while they're at their peak, their strength gradually declines as they age. They never get another chance. It's not like you mages, who grow stronger the older you get."
"Hm?"
As Reilo rested, he listened to Uncle Luo Ji's sigh without much thought. He glanced casually at a tender green sprout beneath a nearby crevice, and a Star Core prompt appeared before his eyes!
Prompt: Peiying Plant discovered.
"Peiying Plant?"
It was an herb used to make Infant's Cry, according to Basic Pharmacology. The drug caused victims to hallucinate the sound of a baby crying. It wasn't especially potent, but it was colorless and odorless, making it easy to poison someone without their noticing.
An unexpected find! Reilo forgot about resting. Still panting, he took a small shovel for digging up plant specimens from his Space Box and began excavating the sprout growing in the crevice.
"What are you doing?"
Lulu, who had caught up while running and playing, watched Reilo curiously. This was her first time getting so close to a real mage, and she was quite curious.
Luo Ji also frowned. He couldn't see what was special about this ordinary-looking grass, and could only think that mages were truly mysterious.
A little while later.
Woof! Woof! Woof!
When Reilo dug up the Peiying Plant, Lulu cried out in alarm. Even Qiu Hei barked uneasily, wagging its tail as it backed away from Reilo and put some distance between them.
The roots of the plant in Reilo's hand writhed like countless tiny worms, instinctively curling toward his palm. The sight was truly horrifying!
But Reilo didn't react at all. He grinned with delight, pried the tendrils off his hand, and put the plant into a specially made wooden box.
Lulu's eyes widened.
"What the hell is that?"
Reilo dusted off his hands and said cheerfully, "I got lucky. It's a magical plant. I should be able to sell it for a few silver coins."
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
Just as Reilo finished explaining, a powerful tremor erupted from the volcano in the distance. The deafening rumble made the three, who had already climbed halfway up the mountain, look over. The column of smoke from Furnace Volcano had grown somewhat thicker.
They had expected this sort of thing. The volcano had behaved this way for decades, so they paid it no mind and continued climbing.