Tracking

Early the next morning, Li Si and the other four had breakfast at Tony Baron's castle. After sharing the fruit pudding Li Si had prepared in advance, they set out on today's mission.

For some reason, when Li Si put freshly cooked hot dishes into the Storage Ring and took them out to eat later, the flavor became somewhat strange. Cold foods like pudding and ice cream, however, were unaffected.

"Ah, let's go!" Ya Er, walking at the front of the group, declared energetically.

"Mm, let's do our best." Li Si nodded in agreement. The others showed little reaction; they had long since grown used to Ya Er being so spirited.

The group arrived at the place where they had discovered the Moon Spirit Leopard yesterday. Elena lightly leaped onto the boulder where the Moon Spirit Leopard had stood the previous night and began examining the area.

The other four also searched around with a spirit of participation, looking for any traces left behind by the Moon Spirit Leopard.

Once Elena had finished investigating and climbed down, everyone gathered around her.

"There are several claw marks on the boulder, and some of them aren't very fresh. That Moon Spirit Leopard probably frequents this place."

Elena spoke, then pointed east of the boulder.

"It left in this direction yesterday. Fortunately, some of its scent still lingers. I should be able to track it."

As the team's scout, Elena, an elven hunter, naturally had unique tracking methods that allowed her to locate targets in the wild.

Li Si remembered that elven hunters could use Animal Communication to obtain information from nearby small animals such as birds and rabbits.

After advancing to Legendary-level, they could even gain the divination spell Inquiry of Nature, allowing them to directly obtain the information they wanted from any living or nonliving entity, such as forests and rocks. Its effect was utterly broken.

The others found no useful information either, merely confirming that the surrounding vineyards had indeed been damaged by magical beasts.

The group followed Elena eastward. Li Si also cast Light Body Technique on everyone, making their movements more convenient and swift.

After tracking toward the eastern side of the territory for quite some time, nearly reaching the baron territory's border, Elena suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Arsen asked from behind her.

"Something's strange." Elena looked puzzled. "That Moon Spirit Leopard suddenly changed direction here. It practically turned around and headed toward the southern part of the territory."

After discussing it, they decided to keep following it for now, since they had no other clues and might find something new.

But strangely enough, the Moon Spirit Leopard's trail made another sharp turn in the south of the baron territory, heading toward the western side.

Good thing they had an elven hunter with them. Her investigative abilities far surpassed those of human hunters. Otherwise, they might truly have been unable to find this magical beast and wasted their time for nothing.

Because the traces left by the Moon Spirit Leopard were sparse and intermittent, Elena had to put in considerable effort. She even used Animal Communication several times to obtain information from nearby small animals. It was not until noon that she finally followed the trail to a small rocky hill west of Tony Baron Territory.

This was one of the few hills in the baron territory covered in rocks. It was less than a hundred meters tall, barren and with few trees or shrubs. The jagged gaps between the rocks offered many good hiding places.

The area was unsuitable for growing grapes, had no special mineral deposits, and was nearly ten kilometers from the town, so few residents of the territory ever came through here.

"Big Sister Elena, is this the place?" Ya Er asked.

"It should be. The Moon Spirit Leopard's scent is very strong here. This should be where it hides during the day."

Elena pointed at the stream flowing beside the hill. A clear paw print had been left on the damp ground by the water.

"It should have come here to drink. There's no mistake."

"Good." Arsen began assigning tasks.

"Elena, you and I will take the front. I'll leave the scouting to you. Watch for signs of the Moon Spirit Leopard, and don't let it ambush us from the shadows."

"Mm."

"Ya Er, you and Li Si will walk in the middle of the formation. Protect Li Si, and support the others when needed."

"Got it!"

"Li Si, cast Buff Spells and protective spells on everyone before we set out. Keep an eye on their duration, but most importantly, protect yourself!"

"Understood."

"Lunbos, you'll take the rear. Stay alert and watch our backs."

"I know."

"Finally, everyone must be careful. This Moon Spirit Leopard is extremely skilled at launching sneak attacks from the shadows."

Arsen gave one final warning, then prepared to head up the hill.

Everyone took out their weapons and held them at the ready. Elena put away her longbow and switched to a shortsword. In this sort of exploration, a longbow was not particularly useful.

Li Si also took out the Emerald Staff and held it in his hand, beginning to cast buff magic on everyone.

"Spirit Armor!"

"Minor Deflection Field!"

"Resist Energy Damage!"

"Bear's Fortitude, Cat's Grace, Ox's Strength, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom!"

"Precise Strike!"

After applying buffs and protective spells to everyone, Li Si let out a slight sigh of relief. Although a mage's buffs and protective effects could not compare to a priest's divine spells, this was already quite good for the Ya Er Adventurer Team, which previously had neither a mage nor a priest.

"Not bad, Li Si. I can clearly feel my strength has increased."

Li Si had not cast every buff spell on every person. After all, if he did that, his Mana Value would be drained before the battle even began.

On Lunbos, he cast Spirit Armor, Minor Deflection Field, Bear's Fortitude, and Ox's Strength.

On Elena and Arsen, he cast Spirit Armor, Precise Strike, Ox's Strength, and Cat's Grace.

As for Ya Er and himself, naturally, he piled on every spell he could. Li Si understood the art of working very well.

Arsen felt the effects of Li Si's buff spells and found them quite good. He tightened his grip on his longsword and said to the group,

"Move out."

The group formed a tight formation and slowly made their way up the hill, vigilantly observing their surroundings, especially the shadows where the Moon Spirit Leopard was most likely to hide.

Just as they slowly searched every corner of the hill, refusing to overlook any possible hiding place, Li Si, who had cast the third-circle spell Advanced Magic Warning on himself, suddenly sensed something. He raised his head and looked toward the source of the spiritual warning.

In the shadow behind a rock not far from the group, a pair of bright yellow eyes was staring fixedly at them.

That was the Moon Spirit Leopard!

Please keep reading, thanks, everyone!