Ruger glanced at Mona and instantly cast Foul-Smelling Skin, blanketing the surrounding area with himself at its center. Although he could now cast it silently, without the slightest magical fluctuation, some sensitive Wizards would still have a faint sense of it when the spell reached them. Without magical fluctuations, however, they could not determine where the spell came from, who had cast it, or what kind of spell it was. There was one situation where that conclusion did not hold: when only two people were present.
Mona was still a One-Ring Wizard, but she was unusually perceptive and had spent years following that faint intuition in her heart. The moment Ruger cast his spell, she turned to him with a smile.
Ruger raised an eyebrow.
"As long as you stay within range, you'll be safe," he said softly. He also felt there was no need to spell things out when speaking with Mona.
Sure enough, Mona smiled and nodded.
White mist filled the air.
Their surroundings were eerily quiet, so neither of them said anything more. Naturally, they would not shout and call for Zorn.
Different circumstances and conditions called for different approaches.
For now, their first step was naturally to stay put and wait. Both understood this without speaking. They had come with Wizard Zorn and that member of the Holy Judgment Wizards, two seasoned Three-Ring Wizards. In the absence of danger, waiting where they were was the wisest initial choice.
Ruger had also given himself an extra layer of insurance: Foul-Smelling Skin, which he kept active after deploying it without any magical fluctuations.
In the past, he would not have done this immediately when something happened. Instead, he would first observe cautiously, since even faint magical fluctuations might attract the attention of distant enemies. Now, he could afford