Chapter 50

The four young people possessed solid foundations, and their mutual understanding and trust were exceptional. This allowed them to fully unleash their potential, enabling them to hold out for a long time even against an opponent far stronger than themselves.

However, this could not alter the disparity in strength between the two sides. As time passed and the spellcaster's power was continuously drained, their situation grew increasingly dire.

When the moon rose, they finally reached their limit.

"My mana is almost exhausted," the sweat-drenched priest suddenly said. "I can cast at most one or two more recovery spells; there's nothing more I can do."

By this time, the archer had long since run out of his carried arrows, relying entirely on picking up the shafts he had previously fired just to keep fighting.

As for the mage, being the youngest and weakest of the four, he had already depleted his mana. Exhausted, he lay sprawled on a tree, panting like an ox. The dizziness and headache brought on by mana depletion left him unable to even speak, and he could only offer a pathetic, miserable smile to show everyone that he absolutely lacked the strength to flee.

The warrior gave a wry smile and said, "Then let's do this: I'll cover the rear, and you two retreat. If there's a chance in the future, just kill this old bear to avenge us."

They were clearly so familiar with one another that they didn't even need to use names to know exactly who was being spoken of.

The priest was instantly incensed, shouting, "As a servant of the Lord of Glory, how could I ever abandon my companions and run? Do you look down on me that much!"

"It's just a temporary retreat," the warrior said with a forced smile, trying to persuade him. "In war, there are times to attack and times to retreat. I'm telling you to retreat because you have the confidence to lead our companions to safety. If you cover the rear and I retreat, I don't have that kind of confidence!"

The inarticulate priest was rendered speechless, yet he stubbornly shook his head, refusing to agree.

As the two sides argued, the giant bear would not wait patiently for them to finish their negotiations. Seeing that the enemies seemed distracted, it immediately increased the intensity of its assault, seizing the opening to launch a fierce attack. With a single blow, it sent the priest and his shield flying; cracks even appeared on the sturdy shield, and the priest himself began to cough violently, having been winded by the impact before he could properly brace himself.

"Oh no!" the warrior cried out in alarm. He hurriedly swung his longsword, hoping to draw the giant bear's attention and buy time for the archer to rescue the priest. But the giant bear had now unleashed a technique similar to a berserk state, its strength surging in the short term. It slammed its paws down in a violent pounce. Even though the warrior made a relatively appropriate response, using his shield to deflect the force of the blow at an angle, the remaining power was enough to make him lose his footing. He stumbled back several steps and finally, unable to steady himself, fell to the ground.

As he fell, his heart sank with him.

It's over!

The giant bear roared and lunged toward him, but he felt his entire body aching, unable to muster even a shred of strength, and could only wait helplessly for death.

Just then, a cold laugh echoed from nearby. A gray figure instantly crossed a distance of at least several dozen paces, rushing in ahead of the giant bear to stand before him.

The giant bear roared, charging on all fours, and was upon them in the blink of an eye.

Waiting for it was a brilliant flash of sword light.

The blade flashed, blood splattered, and the giant bear lost its balance mid-charge, crashing into a nearby tree. Its wounds burst open, and blood sprayed like a fountain.

Only then did the warrior clearly see the benefactor who had slain the bear and saved him and his companions—he was of medium build and handsome, but there was an unnervingly excessive perfection to his features that made him seem more like a painting or a statue than a living person. The man was not tall, dressed in light black leather armor with a long spear on his back and a blood-dripping longsword in his hand. Whether it was the leather armor, the spear, or the sword, all emitted a faint glow in the dim light, clearly marking them as powerful and expensive enchanted weapons.

Spear, sword, and charge—this benefactor was clearly a knight. However, unlike those knights clad in heavy armor, he wore leather armor, suggesting he was the type who prioritized mobility and attack power.

Despite sprinting such a distance and slaying the terrifying giant bear with a single strike, this powerful knight did not have a single bead of sweat on his face, and his breathing was not even ragged. After letting out a long breath, he returned to complete composure, as if the shocking scene just now had nothing to do with him and he was merely a passerby out for a stroll.

He walked up to the giant bear, which was not yet fully dead, as if no one else were present. He wiped the blood from his longsword on the bear's thick fur before sheathing it. Then, without even glancing their way, he walked straight off into the distance.

Saving lives and killing bears seemed entirely beneath his notice.

"T-this knight... please accept our... our gratitude..." The priest was the first to recover, and he called out loudly while enduring the sharp pain in his chest.

The black-armored knight paused, but he did not turn back, instead waving a hand toward them.

"You did quite well, but you must be more cautious in the future. Ask the veterans more often and learn from their experience," he said in a clear, forceful voice. "Keep working hard; sooner or later, you too will be able to strike a blow like that!"

With that, he stopped lingering and headed straight away, leaving behind four adventurers filled with gratitude and longing, along with the giant bear that had finally breathed its last.

After a long while, the warrior, his heart still racing, couldn't help but say loudly, "I've decided! When we get back, I'm going to train diligently so that I can strike a sword blow like his as soon as possible!"

"I will also work hard on my cultivation and help others more, just as he selflessly helped us!" The priest gripped his holy symbol, his heart filled with the warmth of truth, goodness, and beauty.

"I'll work hard too! If I don't try hard enough, I won't even have the qualifications to repay him in the future!" the archer said with a smile. "Accepting a life-saving favor without repaying it isn't my style!"

Finally, the mage, who was still sprawled on the tree and lacked the strength to climb down, also shouted, "I... I will work hard too!"

The four friends looked at one another; though they were all in a wretched state, they saw a burning light in each other's faces and eyes.

"If these four little ones don't die, they might achieve great things in the future." Lei had been silent throughout the journey, but after returning to the campsite, he didn't rush to rest and instead said in a low voice, "I can tell, they have talent!"

"Saving others and being thanked—how does it feel?" Sui Xiong asked with a smile.

Lei thought for a long while, then shook his head. "A bit boring. But meeting four decent young people wasn't a waste of time."

Having said that, he wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down to sleep.

Sui Xiong hovered in the air, watching his clearly "sound asleep" form, and couldn't help but laugh again.

He cast the Eye of Alignment Detection once more. Lei's aura was still bathed in red light, but the color was much fainter than when he had first seen him; it was no longer so ferocious and malevolent, but instead carried a slight hint of gentleness.

The next day, they successfully walked out of the Gray Stone Mountains and stepped into the territory of the Gold Coin Federation.

The Gold Coin Federation was a major power located in the western part of the main continent. This nation was founded on commerce and was originally a country of merchants. They traded with the orcs of the Wilderness Empire, the Scale-folk of the Ancient Wood Marsh, and the murlocs of the Boundless Sea. They even conducted trade via sea routes with the Thunder Duchy, the Arcane Tower Federation, and the Daka Trade Alliance thousands of miles to the south. Since the development of the Four Northwest Towns, their trading partners had expanded to include those pioneers who had settled on the edges of the Ash Forest and the Desolate Mountains.

The country was composed of dozens of noble territories of varying sizes, but the status of merchants was equally high. In fact, in this country, if a merchant possessed wealth equal to a baron, he was treated as a baron; if he had the wealth of a viscount, he was treated as a viscount; if he had the wealth of a count, he was treated as a count; and if his wealth rivaled that of a marquis, he could naturally be treated as a marquis.

—Dukes were the exception, as there were no dukes in this country.

In this nation, from top to bottom, everyone was filled with a desire and pursuit of wealth. This both created countless heroes for adventure and pioneering, and left the commoners suffering under various exorbitant taxes. The group of pioneers currently gathering under Rod's arrangement was mostly composed of these two types of people.

However, Rod was recruiting pioneers in the north of the Gold Coin Federation, while Sui Xiong and Lei were currently at the far eastern edge of the federation, a long distance away.

Upon entering the Gold Coin Federation, the living conditions were indeed much better than in the Gray Stone Mountains. That night, Lei, who finally slept in a hotel bed, laughed heartily with satisfaction, and Sui Xiong took the opportunity to pour him a heavy dose of "chicken soup for the soul," talking at length about the principle of "contentment brings happiness."

Whether it was because he was in a good mood or because he was truly moved, Lei did not refute him this time; he just smiled and fell into a peaceful sleep.

But the next day, when he saw several shriveled corpses of the starving on the road, he couldn't help but frown.

"The lord of this place is not very competent," he said.

Sui Xiong shook his head inwardly. He knew that with productivity levels in this world akin to the European Middle Ages, starvation was inevitable, yet seeing the stiff, starved corpses with his own eyes still left him feeling deeply unsettled.

The floating jellyfish drifted slowly before the shriveled bodies, waving its tentacles as a blue-white cold light descended. It turned the final remains of these people, who had suffered to the extreme in life, into fine ice crystals that eventually merged into the earth.

Their souls were long gone; even a great deity could do nothing more than grant them a peaceful burial.

After walking a bit further, more starved corpses appeared by the roadside.

Lei's brows furrowed even tighter now. He scanned the surrounding fields, which were still quite lush, and a look of irritation even flickered in his eyes.

"The fields are clearly decent, and there are forests and mountains nearby. How could so many people starve to death?"

"It seems the lord of this place has some issues..." Sui Xiong buried these corpses as well and said in a low voice, "Why don't we go investigate?"

"What is there to investigate?" Lei sneered and retorted, "If the investigation proves that the one ruling here is a brutal lord, are you, Your Majesty Void Mask, going to personally punish him? Let me state this first: I will not turn against a lord for such a reason. That would be equivalent to provoking all the nobility, and I am no madman!"

"You even dare to provoke deities; what else is there that you wouldn't dare to do?"

"Provoking all the nobility is far more troublesome than provoking a single deity..."

As they walked and talked, they gradually approached a river flowing out of the forest. Just as Lei was searching for a bridge to cross, he heard cries for help once again...