Chapter 96 Run

The mushrooms they had found in the Goblin lair were probably connected to whatever Forgan had been hunting.

Maybe they were simply too dangerous. Maybe the situation had become too urgent.

Either way, even though Xia Nan had pushed [Fang Hunt] right to the edge and needed only one final step to advance it to Novice, he still had to follow the barbarian back to the nearest human settlement.

He had nothing to complain about.

It had only been a few days. Xia Nan could afford to be patient.

Besides, after discovering the clue, Forgan had not immediately plunged deeper into the Misty Forest to continue his pursuit. Instead, he had chosen to escort Xia Nan back first.

The reason was simple.

At Xia Nan’s current level of strength, traveling back through the Misty Forest alone was far too dangerous.

And as for anything involving the Transcendent Tier?

Xia Nan wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

A High-Level Class Holder could spend two days teaching him and accomplish what days of grinding through countless manuals had failed to do, allowing him to grasp an invaluable combat technique.

By the same logic, a battle between powerhouses of that level was not something he could afford to go anywhere near.

He probably would not even need to get involved.

The aftershocks alone could kill him ten times over.

So what did Xia Nan need to do?

That was obvious.

Follow the barbarian’s instructions and stay safely in town.

Their trip back was every bit as smooth as their journey in.

The bitter frost wind from the Northern Icefields rolled around Forgan, and 99.99 percent of the creatures living near the outer reaches of the Misty Forest wanted nothing to do with it.

Over the entire day and a half of travel, Xia Nan saw only one monster.

A Spined Devil that had wandered over from who knew where.

Whether it was bold or simply stupid was difficult to say.

It had clearly sensed Forgan’s Transcendent-Tier aura, yet hunger still drove it closer.

Even so, it did not dare attack.

It lingered far away beyond the mist and trees until Forgan glanced in its direction.

That single look was enough.

The Spined Devil frantically beat its wings, wailed, and fled.

There was one other matter worth mentioning.

When Xia Nan learned that the nearest town was Kalanfor, the same town he had visited only a few days earlier, he carefully told Forgan what had happened there.

Just in case.

Naturally, he blurred over the part where he had personally killed Ingram.

Instead, he focused on the truly strange part.

The town had lost its sheriff, yet everything remained completely peaceful, as though nothing had happened.

He also told Forgan about the two people he suspected of being High-Level Class Holders.

The priest at the church.

And the elderly gravedigger who lived alone outside town.

Forgan’s frost-covered face showed no reaction.

In a place illuminated by the holy symbol of the Sun God Amaunator, maintaining social order and keeping daily life running smoothly mattered above almost everything else.

Forget a minor sheriff.

Even if the priest at the church suddenly died, the lives of the townspeople would continue without interruption.

The residents might not even notice until the next day of rest, when they arrived for worship and discovered that someone else had taken the priest’s place.

As for High-Level Class Holders…

Kalanfor was one of the largest and most prosperous human settlements around the Misty Forest, second only to Rivervale Town.

It was important both to the Church of the Sun and to the adventurers operating throughout the surrounding region.

A few Transcendent-Tier Class Holders living in or guarding the town was nothing unusual.

The thin mist gradually faded.

The dense shrubs and towering oaks around them thinned as well.

By the time Xia Nan stepped onto a muddy country road covered in deep wagon ruts and spotted cooking smoke rising from distant houses, the sky had already begun to darken.

Amber twilight pressed low over the horizon as the sun slowly sank.

Beside him, Forgan stopped.

He had no intention of entering town to rest.

Bringing Xia Nan this far was already the limit.

The high, restless wolf howls echoing through his heart and the bone-deep chill coursing through him urged him back toward the Misty Forest, toward the enemy hidden somewhere in its depths.

Forgan looked at the black-haired young man standing before him with twin swords strapped across his back.

Thinking about it, there was a certain irony to the whole situation.

The tracking ability granted by [Mourning-Frost Oathbound] could point Forgan toward his enemy, but it could not provide an exact location.

If he had not happened to accept a commission from the child of a former teammate and taken a novice adventurer named Xia Nan into the forest to train a combat technique…

He might actually have missed the crucial clue hidden inside the Goblin lair.

Whoom…

Faint icy light flickered.

At Forgan’s command, a bone-chilling current seeped into Xia Nan through his pores, sinking beneath his skin and soaking deep into his muscles and bones.

Forgan had watched Xia Nan train for the past several days.

Considering that training intensity, together with the young man’s absurd rate of improvement, the remaining cold energy should last long enough for him to advance the combat technique to Novice.

When Xia Nan noticed that Forgan had stopped moving and felt the familiar cold flowing into his body, he understood immediately.

This was where they parted ways.

His only regret was that he had not managed to advance [Fang Hunt] to Novice before they separated.

Xia Nan tightened the straps of the heavy pack on his back.

It contained the supplies and spoils he had gathered over the past few days.

They had only known each other for a handful of days, and the gap in their strength was enormous. Calling them friends would be a stretch.

Forgan’s personality did not help.

The barbarian was as silent and unapproachable as a frozen cliff.

Even now, Xia Nan still could not quite tell what Forgan thought of him, which was why he had spent the entire trip watching his words and actions carefully.

There was no reason to suddenly become sentimental now.

After a brief farewell, Xia Nan turned and started toward Kalanfor.

As he walked, his thoughts were already moving ahead.

[I’m the one who killed Ingram, Kalanfor’s former sheriff. His motives were vile, and the church seems to have buried the whole thing, but I still can’t afford to relax.]

[Better not stay overnight.]

[I should find out whether any caravans are heading to Rivervale Town and leave first thing tomorrow morning…]

“Wait.”

Forgan’s deep, heavy voice came from behind him.

Xia Nan stopped instinctively and looked back.

The barbarian had not moved.

But his icy blue eyes were locked on the roadside.

Beneath the shadow of the thick grass…

A dark purple mushroom had sprouted.

“You know the way to Rivervale Town?”

Xia Nan had no idea what had changed.

Surprise crossed his face, but he nodded.

“You have twenty minutes.”

Forgan slowly raised his head.

A frigid wind erupted around him, violently whipping the wolf-pelt cloak draped across his shoulders.

An invisible pressure gathered in his gaze.

It seemed to pass straight through Xia Nan and pierce the distance beyond him, settling on Kalanfor.

A high, excited wolf howl sounded faintly.

Then both the howl and the swirling icy mist were abruptly suppressed.

In the blink of an eye, everything returned to normal.

Only the quiet chirping of insects remained beneath the trees.

Forgan looked like nothing more than an adventurer who had just finished a job and was heading into town for a rest.

He stepped forward.

Toward Kalanfor.

“Don’t look back.”

“Run.”