"Monsters are coming..."
"Everyone, adjust formation and prepare to engage!"
Early the next morning, as everyone rested in place in the tents they were tending to, their captain Soldat's rough voice suddenly echoed through the wind and snow.
The frontline warriors quickly spread out, drawing their shields and battle-axes, while the mages in the rear had already begun chanting spells under their breath, readying themselves for battle.
In just a dozen or so breaths, the seven-member adventuring party had formed a complete defensive formation.
Their enemies were "Rasta Bears."
B-rank monsters that inhabited the forests and lakeshores of the northwestern Central Continent.
They foraged heavily in autumn and winter, and the frequency of their attacks on adventurers soared.
Roughly twenty or thirty Rasta Bears attacked the group this time. They were enormous, with thick fur, and a broad stretch of snow trembled beneath their charge.
"Don't panic! They're coming! Hold formation!" Soldat roared, taking the lead to meet the foremost giant bear. He slashed its shoulder with his sword, forcing it back half a step.
The members behind him coordinated seamlessly. The front line used shields and battle-axes to withstand the bears' charge, while the only female mage in the rear proficient in offensive magic aimed Fireballs into the densest clusters of bears, bombarding them relentlessly.
Two heavily armored warriors formed an interlocking defensive line beside their teammates, taking responsibility for protecting them.
Meanwhile, Soldat and another swordsman led the charge, choosing to fight head-on.
The fighting in the snow was fierce...
As for Luo Ge, he was merely an F-rank novice adventurer here. Most people regarded him as a temporary addition to fill out the numbers, and few paid him much attention.
Even if he did nothing, no one would blame him.
But he still stepped out of the carriage of his own accord, ready to join the battle.
"Hey, kid!"
"Get back! This is no place for you!" someone shouted at him.
Luo Ge ignored them, silently moving toward the party's flank.
A lone Rasta Bear there was trying to circle around for a surprise attack, its thick paw raised high and aimed at an isolated female mage.
The female mage had clearly only recently joined the adventuring party too. Her positioning was inexperienced, and without realizing it, she had pushed too far forward and fallen out of position.
"Behind you!"
Someone cried out.
But the warning came too late.
The Rasta Bear's enormous paw slammed down, sending the young, pretty female mage flying.
Blood splashed a glaring streak across the snow. The mage lay motionless after hitting the ground, her chest caved in, and nearly passed out.
The party had suddenly lost an offensive mage. Their firepower dwindled, and things began to get troublesome.
"Elina!"
Soldat's eyes instantly reddened, but two bears had him pinned down, leaving him unable to break away.
The support mages in the rear panicked too. Their chanting rhythm broke, and they had no time to cast healing magic on her.
A gap opened in the formation.
Sensing the opening, the Rasta Bears attacked in groups with even greater ferocity.
Just as everyone thought their out-of-position teammate was certain to die.
In an instant.
A figure swept across the snow.
No shout, no warning.
Luo Ge sprinted a hundred meters and abruptly plunged into the formation, moving through the bears' encirclement as though no one were there.
Then he fired a Rock Bullet.
Just one strike.
The adult Rasta Bear's body was pierced clean through, and it crashed into a pool of blood, the impact sending bloody froth splattering across the ground.
Everyone immediately looked utterly astonished.
But Luo Ge did not stop.
He knelt on one knee and pressed a hand against the dying female mage's chest. A soft green light glowed in his palm.
"Don't move!"
"I'll heal you. Please relax and let me treat you."
Luo Ge spoke softly, his voice as calm as if he were soothing a child.
Green mana flowed from his palm into her wounds.
Those horrifying broken bones, torn muscles, and gushing blood actually began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Color gradually returned to the golden-haired young woman's deathly pale face, and her sunken chest rose back into shape.
In no more than a few breaths, she actually opened her eyes and took a bewildered breath. "Hah? I... I'm not dead? You saved me?"
"...Thank you. I'm so grateful."
She touched her intact chest and froze in place, then gave Luo Ge a grateful look.
At the rear of the party.
Soldat had just finished off the several Rasta Bears attacking him. He turned and saw this scene, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
In his many years as an adventurer, he had seen all kinds of geniuses, but genius mages capable of unleashing such power at this age were truly few and far between.
The other mages were all squishy fighters who could only attack from behind their teammates, but Luo Ge alone had charged straight into the encirclement to save someone.
"Hey... kid, just who are you?" Seizing a brief opening, he could not help shouting.
Luo Ge stood and shook the blood off his sword, his face filled with a bright, handsome smile. "F-rank novice adventurer, Rudeus Greyrat! Pleased to meet you."
"Rudeus, huh?"
Everyone silently committed that name to memory.
With Luo Ge, a user of Voiceless Magic, joining them, the pressure on the party eased enormously. Soon, through everyone's combined efforts.
The dozens of Rasta Bears were routed and slaughtered, quickly bringing the battle to an end.
Apart from a few people suffering minor scrapes, there was nothing serious.
When the last Rasta Bear fell, happy smiles spread across everyone's faces, and they cheered to celebrate their victory.
"Ahahahahaha..."
"Well done!"
Soldat walked up to Luo Ge and could not help giving him a thumbs-up. "Didn't think you were actually this good, kid! Anyway... I really underestimated you earlier."
"Your Voiceless Magic was a huge help to us."
"Honestly, I thought a rookie like you would hide in the carriage, trembling too hard to come out, the first time you encountered monsters," someone else said, scratching his head.
"I'm sorry... I take back what I said earlier... I really misjudged you this time."
"Impressive. A magical genius who can cast without chanting. Honestly... today's the first time I've seen one."
Listening to everyone's remarks.
With all eyes on him, Luo Ge spoke calmly. "Even without my help, these Rasta Bears shouldn't have been much trouble for an A-rank adventuring party like yours, right?"
"Hey! You can't put it that way... After all, without you supporting us, we couldn't possibly have won so easily."
"Someone nearly died just now. Thank goodness you were here."
"But anyway, that was a thoroughly satisfying battle today. It was a pleasure working with you."
Soldat reached out to Luo Ge first, a brilliant smile on his face.
He offered his goodwill, and Luo Ge did not refuse the handshake.
With the setting sun as their witness.
The two shook hands firmly.
Immediately afterward, the other members came forward too, fully acknowledging the novice adventurer Luo Ge's abilities.
Even the female mage he had saved thanked Luo Ge again for saving her life.
However, Luo Ge did not celebrate prematurely.
A trace of gravity suddenly appeared on his face. "Something's wrong!"
"I'm afraid it's not that simple... Forgive me for being blunt, but I keep feeling those Rasta Bears weren't coming for us. It seemed..."
"Like they were desperately fleeing something dangerous and crashed into our party."
"Hey, aren't you overthinking it?"
"We're almost out of the Dragon's Whiskers. Something dangerous? Something that could frighten even Rasta Bears... Ahaha, surely we wouldn't run into a Red Dragon here?" An adventurer laughed and waved a hand.
"Don't think too much. Relax."
Clearly, nobody took Luo Ge's words seriously. Although his abilities were indeed impressive, he was still a child, after all, and his words carried little persuasive weight.
Watching everyone get busy... cutting the more valuable fur off the Rasta Bears as loot.
Luo Ge did not join them.
Instead, he kept his gaze on the distant ridge. Suddenly, he jerked his head up and pointed at the mountaintop opposite them. "Look over there, everyone. Something seems to be flying this way."
"Huh?"
"What's that?"
Everyone looked up in the direction he indicated and saw a black speck growing larger at the edge of the horizon.
Red...
It looked like a...
The shadow spread enormous wings high in the sky, its outline gradually becoming clear-it was a Red Dragon.
"Nani?"
"A Red Dragon?!"
"How is that possible? Don't Red Dragons live in groups? We're almost out of the Dragon's Whiskers. A Red Dragon shouldn't be here..." an experienced adventurer in the party said, his voice trembling.
"Just one?"
"Could it be... a Red Dragon separated from its group?"
"But even a single Red Dragon... is still an S-rank monster!"
"We're done for. This isn't something people like us can handle."
Although the adventurers, merchants, and passengers present numbered several dozen altogether.
In truth, the only ones capable of fighting were the few adventurers who had been serving as guards along the way.
The ordinary passengers turned deathly pale the moment they saw the Red Dragon. Some were even so frightened that their legs gave out and they collapsed to the ground.
Red Dragons were universally acknowledged as the strongest S-rank monsters on the Central Continent.