Kels

Every nation in Azeroth placed unparalleled importance on professionals, as was clear from the willingness of kings and nobles to share even their noble privileges with them. If anything commanded the greatest respect in Azeroth, it was undoubtedly the strong and the learned. The former possessed power, while the latter possessed knowledge. Professionals, however, were often a combination of both.

Even if the caravan's steward was not among the Mason Family's upper ranks, he was at least a middle-ranking member. All Allen had learned from Joey was that the steward was called Kels and was a professional Warrior. He knew nothing else about him. That was perfectly normal, really. Ordinary people found it difficult to enter the world of professionals. That night, Steward Kels arranged the night watch shifts, and Allen and Joey were assigned the midnight watch.

After thoroughly enjoying Joey's cooking, Allen could only say that an adventurer with more than a decade of experience certainly lived up to his reputation-even his cooking skills had been honed to perfection. The caravan's first night on the road passed just like that, without incident. The next day, everyone in the caravan rose early, hastily packed up, and continued on their way.

The next few days were peaceful. Aside from encountering a few other trading caravans, practically nothing happened along the road. Still, no one let their guard down, and everyone remained vigilant.

"All right, everyone, stop and take a break," Kels called loudly. Everyone stopped, and Allen and Joey settled beneath a large tree to rest. "This damned weather. It's cold enough to freeze at night, but hot enough to roast meat during the day." Joey had been cursing the weather since morning without stopping. Wasn't he thirsty?

Joey plopped down beside Allen, but Allen ignored him. The steward only allowed half an hour for each break, and he did not want to waste it. Seeing that Allen was ignoring him, Joey stopped grumbling. He loosened his armor, wiped away his sweat, and closed his eyes to rest.

Half an hour later, the caravan continued on its way. Before long, however, it was ordered to stop. In fact, some of the mercenaries in the caravan had also noticed something wrong. It was too quiet here; there was not even the chirping of insects. Kels, the steward leading the caravan, walked over to a forked branch ahead, apparently having discovered something. There was some slime there, a slick green liquid. Even an ordinary person could tell at a glance that it was highly poisonous venom.

Allen could not identify it, so he asked Joey beside him, "What's that, Joey?" Joey considered it gravely. "It looks like slime from some kind of spider, but I don't know what kind." Suddenly, Joey's expression changed drastically, and he backed away several steps.

There were, in fact, many wild monsters in Tirisfal Glades that had been affected by something unknown. They grew enormous and extremely aggressive. Unlike creatures corrupted by demonic power, however, they retained their reason and followed their previous patterns of behavior. They had simply become stronger than before.

"You mean there's a bunch of big spiders up ahead?" Allen asked doubtfully. Joey sighed. "Kid, I don't think you'd want to see those monsters. Some adventurers have even been frightened to death by them. They're so enormous, so terrifying."

Allen looked at Joey and found his eyes filled with fear. To dispel the frightening atmosphere, he immediately joked, "Joey, don't be ridiculous. However big they are, could they be bigger than a person?" Joey ignored him, still immersed in fear.

Steward Kels returned to the caravan and was discussing matters with its members. "You know this area best. See if we can go around." Kels addressed a short man who looked like a scout. The scout replied very respectfully, "Honored sir, I'm afraid not. To go around, we would have to enter the forest. I'm afraid our goods wouldn't be able to get through." "Is there really no other route?" Kels asked again to confirm. "Sir, unless we can reduce our load." "That's impossible. These goods are all the family's property. We cannot abandon them under any circumstances." Kels rejected his suggestion.

After that, the caravan remained stopped for roughly half an hour. Kels gathered all the mercenaries and adventurers together. "I imagine you're aware that we've run into some trouble ahead. I hope some brave souls will accompany me in." The moment Kels finished speaking, the mercenaries began making a racket. Most of the caravan's mercenaries were seasoned old hands. How could they have failed to notice the strangeness ahead? Some had already guessed what monsters lay there. Under those circumstances, who would willingly go?

Seeing that these old hands remained unmoved, Kels understood that unless he resorted to some measures, they would not be getting through today. Kels released his aura. A professional's aura had a very pronounced effect on ordinary people. The mercenaries immediately backed away, looking at Kels with extreme wariness. Then Kels spoke. "You spineless cowards. Scum. As mercenaries, you stand by when your employer encounters trouble-is that your mercenary spirit? Hmph. Perhaps I should tell the Mercenary Association about your cowardly behavior."

Having finished speaking, Kels unleashed his aura at full strength. The mercenaries immediately grew anxious. If their employer complained to the association, their reputations would truly be ruined. They might remain a disgrace to the mercenary profession for the rest of their lives, and might never receive another commission. No employer would hire cowards who only knew how to run away. If the Mason Family's steward had not been a professional, perhaps they could have used force to make the caravan's people change their minds. Unfortunately, faced with Kels's powerful aura, they did not dare do so.

While they were hesitating over whether to agree, Kels noticed their uncertainty and spoke again. "I know this trouble was merely an accident. Once this is over, our Mason Family will certainly reward you generously. Everyone who takes part will receive triple pay, but cowards will receive nothing." As the saying went, generous rewards brought forth brave men. At the promise of triple pay, the mercenaries began itching to volunteer.

Someone even spoke up. "Sir, I don't believe I'm a coward. Grians are never cowards. Sir, I, Crick, am willing to serve you." With that, the burly man named Crick bowed to Kels.

Seeing this, the others followed suit one after another. Only Allen and Joey remained unresponsive. Although Allen was an adventurer, he was calmer than the others. Kels clearly intended to make those mercenaries scout the way ahead for him. As for Joey, he was still trapped in his fear, unable to pull himself out.

Finally, Kels looked at them. Allen knew that if he did not do something, Kels would certainly make trouble for him. He might even kill him to intimidate the mercenaries.

Allen immediately spoke. "Of course, the same goes for us, sir." Then he nudged Joey with his elbow. Only then did Joey come to his senses, hurriedly saying, "Yes, yes, yes."

Seeing that they knew how to behave, Kels could hardly lash out at them, so he turned away and stopped looking at them. Afterward, Kels began assigning positions to the mercenaries. While Kels was occupied with the arrangements, Joey pulled Allen aside and said urgently, "Allen, we're finished. That bastard Kels clearly wants to send us to our deaths. They have no idea what they're about to face. Those are giant spiders. We'll all be brutally killed. Those spiders will bind us one by one, inject venom into our bodies, and then let us die slowly. It's horrifying." Joey's words were filled with despair.

Allen did not know what Joey had experienced in the past, but if they refused to go, Kels would certainly kill them.

"Joey, calm down. First, tell me what those spiders look like." After a while, Joey calmed down a little. Finally, he spoke. "Each of that spider's legs was at least three meters long. Its enormous fangs could tear anything apart. It could also cast webs. Once you were caught, you were finished." Joey's voice trembled slightly. Allen was breaking out in a cold sweat too. With legs three meters long, the spider would be ten meters across when it spread them out. How was that possible?

Allen calmed himself and recalled that they were on the edge of Tirisfal Glades. There could not possibly be spiders that large here. He hurriedly asked Joey, "Joey, do you remember what that spider looked like? Its color, for example, or any distinctive markings?" "No, I'll never forget what it looked like. It had a purple body, with blood-red markings on its back. It moved as fast as lightning, without making a sound. Even if you died, you wouldn't know what had killed you. It was horrifying."

Hearing this, Allen could roughly guess what monster it was: a Blood Spider or a Broodmother Spider. Both were extremely powerful magical beasts. They looked much alike, but Broodmother Spiders were larger, darker in color, and more powerful than Blood Spiders. Both were among the strongest magical beasts in the depths of Silverpine Forest. Joey's description seemed to point more toward a Blood Spider. Allen had read all this in the library at Giles Castle. However, these powerful magical beasts did not seem to have ever appeared in Tirisfal Glades.