Chapter 292: The Light Squad with No Impact.

That night, most of the adventuring parties camped in the mountain hollow got little sleep. The hundred-member adventuring party and the mercenary group, in particular, were still badly shaken.

In the second half of the night, an enormous high-ranking magical beast had suddenly appeared in their midst and wreaked havoc on both camps. Although no one had been killed or injured, being jolted awake by such a terrifying attack had left them thoroughly traumatized.

Strangely enough, of the six adventuring parties camped in the hollow, the other four had escaped completely unscathed. Only the hundred-member party and the mercenary group had suffered.

The magical beast hadn't approached from the outer edge of the hollow. It had practically dropped out of the sky.

After all, the Light Squad's camp, which occupied the outermost position, hadn't been touched.

When the magical beast attacked the two larger groups, the other adventurers had awakened and rushed from their tents, ready for battle. Only the Light Squad had remained perfectly quiet. The sole exception was the Dark Elf leading them, who had emerged from his tent to watch from a distance.

Just how soundly did those greenhorns sleep?

Didn't they know that camping in the wilderness meant staying vigilant at all times?

"Captain, what was that magical beast all about?" Yose asked.

He took a spare fur coat from his storage pouch and wrapped it tightly around himself to ward off the nighttime cold.

The attack had left their camp in ruins. Collapsed snowdrifts had buried half their tents. Although everyone had escaped, their cold-weather equipment was still trapped beneath the snow.

There would be no more sleeping tonight. They had to get everyone working to restore the camp.

"It was a warning." Nasak took out a bottle of strong liquor and swallowed a generous mouthful. "We've entered the territory of a high-ranking magical beast."

Yose exhaled a cloud of white mist and swept his sharp gaze around the surrounding camps.

The mercenary group was in even worse shape than the hundred-member party. Every one of their tents had been destroyed, and the three nobles were cursing furiously as they shivered in the cold, calling the mercenaries useless for failing to protect them.

The mercenary captain was seething, but he kept his expression cold as he ordered his men to clear the campsite and erect a new tent as quickly as possible. Their noble employers' safety had to come first.

Yose's gaze moved across the other adventuring parties' undamaged camps before lingering on the Light Squad's for several seconds.

There, he spotted the little low-ranking magical beast sprawled on its back in the campfire, sleeping with its belly exposed.

The corners of his mouth twitched, and contempt flashed across his face.

"Captain, why didn't that beast attack them?"

Yose felt deeply aggrieved. Why should those small parties, which had been taking advantage of their larger group, get away without so much as a damaged tent?

Nasak was equally displeased, but what could he do?

"High-ranking magical beasts are no less intelligent than humans. The moment we entered its territory, it marked us as intruders. It knows that we and the mercenary group pose the greatest threat."

The other four parties were small, with few members and relatively low levels of strength. They posed little danger to such a beast.

Naturally, the powerful hundred-member party and the mercenary group had become its primary targets.

"Damn it!" Yose ground his teeth. "Of all the times it could have attacked, it had to choose the middle of the night!"

They hadn't been given the slightest chance to prepare.

After spending an entire day climbing the snowy mountain, everyone had been exhausted. They'd hoped to get a good night's sleep and recover their strength, only for this disaster to strike.

Their condition tomorrow was bound to suffer.

Nasak glanced at him. "You should be grateful it only came to warn us instead of slaughtering everyone."

Yose shuddered and joined the others rebuilding the tents.

While the hundred-member party and the mercenary group worked themselves ragged, the other adventurers returned to their tents once the danger had passed.

Even so, none dared fall into a deep sleep.

Wrapped in his fur coat, Moresy stood outside his tent and watched the surrounding area for quite some time.

Only when his magical perception, extended more than a hundred meters in every direction, could no longer detect any trace of the magical beast did he finally withdraw it.

He turned toward the little creature sleeping in the campfire, his expression thoughtful.

When the commotion first broke out, he and Seidler had both awakened. They'd originally intended to go outside together and investigate, but Budno, who was sleeping between them, showed no sign of waking.

Despite the tremendous racket outside, the boy remained as unresponsive as a corpse.

In the end, Seidler had stayed behind to watch over him while Moresy put on his fur coat and went outside.

By the time Moresy saw the hundred-member party and the mercenary group scrambling to fight back, the magical beast was already burrowing into a snowdrift and making its escape.

Moresy hadn't managed to get a clear look at the creature. He knew only that it was enormous and belonged to the higher ranks of magical beasts.

He immediately extended his magical perception to track the fleeing beast.

What happened next, however, defied all explanation.

The moment the creature disappeared into the snow, both its physical presence and its aura vanished as though it had ceased to exist.

In more than two hundred years of life, Moresy had never encountered a high-ranking magical beast capable of appearing and disappearing so mysteriously.

Even a ninth-rank magical beast couldn't erase every trace of its presence in an instant.

Could it have been a tenth-rank magical beast?

Tenth-rank magical beasts were exceedingly rare across the entire Austin Continent. The Land of Snow was fortunate enough to possess one.

However, that creature dwelled in the lowest level of the Snow Mountain Labyrinth and hadn't left its hiding place in ten thousand years.

Moresy didn't believe the beast that had appeared tonight was the same one.

Their auras were different.

He had once been fortunate enough to reach the fifth level of the Snow Mountain Labyrinth, where he'd sensed the icy aura of the creature dwelling below.

Tonight's beast hadn't possessed the slightest trace of that freezing energy.

On the contrary, its aura had carried a hint of scorching heat.

And that aura was somewhat similar to the one belonging to the little magical beast curled up in the campfire.

Most people wouldn't have noticed the resemblance. But Moresy had been in close contact with the little creature and remembered its aura.

Looking at the silent tents in his own camp, Moresy's lips slowly curved into a smile.

It was one thing for the ten first-year magic students to sleep through the disturbance.

But why hadn't Seriu or Halis stirred either?

Just how much did they trust the contracted magical beast in the campfire?

Or perhaps...

Had they known all along that there would be a "show" tonight?

Moresy returned to the tent, bringing a gust of cold air with him. He removed his fur coat and set it aside.

"Well?" Seidler asked anxiously.

Moresy looked down at Budno, who was sleeping blissfully with one leg draped over his bolster.

A wicked smile spread across his face.

He reached out and pinched the boy's nose shut.

Unable to breathe through his nose, Budno automatically opened his mouth and continued sleeping.

Seidler slapped Moresy's hand away.

"Stop picking on the child."

Moresy released Budno's nose and shook out his fingers.

"Nasak is furious."

He briefly described what he'd witnessed outside.

After a long silence, Seidler lowered his gaze to Budno, who was still snoring peacefully.

Perhaps Moresy's suspicions were correct.

Earlier that day, when they'd learned that both the mercenary group and the hundred-member party had designs on the Light Squad, Dixio had bluntly declared that they should teach those people a lesson.

Angel had responded that once darkness fell, they could have Falm give them a good scare.

At the time, Seidler hadn't taken the exchange seriously.

Falm was merely a low-ranking little magical beast. There was no way it could frighten experienced adventurers.

He'd assumed the children were simply venting their frustration.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that something really would happen in the middle of the night.

Yet all twelve members of the Light Squad had slept like the dead.

Not a single one had been awakened.

Either their vigilance was truly that poor, or...

They were the ones responsible for tonight's incident.

Seidler pinched the bridge of his nose.

It seemed he needed to reassess both their courage and their strength.

They must have something powerful to rely on if they dared frighten other people so recklessly.

"Let's sleep."

Seidler lay back down beneath his blanket.

Moresy followed suit. Gazing at Budno's handsome face, he murmured, "Perhaps... he's not an ordinary mountain villager."

As a Dark Elf born a Child of Darkness, Moresy was exceptionally sensitive to the power of light.

The light energy within the boy beside him was astonishingly pure.

So pure that it contained not the slightest impurity.

With his eyes closed, Seidler said, "Everyone has secrets. There's no need to pry."

Moresy smiled.

"True. Whatever we're meant to know, we'll find out eventually."

After that, neither spoke again, and they drifted back to sleep.

Outside, Falm, who had been pretending to sleep in the campfire, lifted its head and glanced toward Moresy's tent.

Tsk. That Dark Elf's perception is ridiculously sharp. He almost caught up with me.

Fortunately, Falm had acted quickly. After escaping, it had immediately shrunk its body, suppressed its aura, and slipped back into its own camp.

The entire process had taken barely a dozen seconds.

The hundred-member party and the mercenary group were still busy cleaning up the destruction.

Falm climbed out of the campfire, stretched its limbs, and let out a tremendous yawn.

There were still more than three hours until dawn.

Plenty of time to hunt.

With everyone over there occupied with restoring their camps, no one would notice its brief absence.

Falm transformed into a streak of red light and plunged into the snow, searching for prey hidden in the darkness.

The arrival of an extraordinarily powerful fire-element magical beast in the snowy mountains was nothing short of a catastrophe for the ice-element magical beasts living there.

Even those hiding ten meters underground were dug out and devoured before they had a chance to struggle.

After eating its fill, Falm returned to camp in high spirits and settled into the campfire once more, pretending to sleep.

By morning, the bitter wind was howling.

Most of the adventurers had barely slept. With dark circles beneath their eyes, they huddled around their campfires, listlessly eating breakfast.

The Light Squad, on the other hand, was the very picture of health and energy.

Every member looked fresh-faced and rosy-cheeked as they enjoyed a delicious, steaming breakfast.

"Did any of you hear anything last night?" Moresy asked with a cheerful smile, taking a bite of the wheat flatbread Shu Li had given him.

The flatbread was surprisingly delicious.

In fact, it was the best wheat flatbread he'd ever tasted in his life.

"I think I heard something," Shu Li replied casually, taking a sip of hot milk. "But Falm didn't wake us up, so I figured it couldn't be anything serious and went back to sleep."

"Same here!" Angel raised his hand. "If there were any danger, Falm would protect us."

Dixio nodded. "Right. Falm is really strong."

Budno speared a piece of fish from Amanda's plate and ? NоvеIight ? (Original source) said through a mouthful of food, "Don't worry. We're perfectly safe with Falm around."

Amanda silently turned to look at the little magical beast crouching beside the campfire, busily devouring a large, plump fish.

Seeing how unconcerned everyone was, Moresy felt his suspicions were all but confirmed.

Falm happily finished its fish and let out an enormous yawn.

"I'm going to sleep now!" it announced in a sweet, childish voice.

With that, it transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into the back of Shu Li's right hand.

That Dark Elf's gaze was far too sharp.

It had better make itself scarce before he noticed anything suspicious.

Seidler offered a well-meaning reminder.

"The snowy mountains are unlike other places. You mustn't let your guard down."

Shu Li obediently nodded.

"Yes. I'll be careful."

The others echoed his agreement.

While the Light Squad enjoyed a peaceful, harmonious breakfast, the hundred-member party and the mercenary group were having a miserable time.

The other three adventuring parties weren't in much better shape.

During the night, everyone had been too frightened and cold to discuss what had happened. But now that daylight had returned, they gathered together, found their courage, and began exchanging stories.

"That magical beast was enormous! We were like ants compared to it. Absolutely tiny!"

"Exactly! It was terrifying! I heard the commotion and crawled out of my tent. One look at that thing, and I nearly fainted."

"Did any of you get a clear look at it?"

"No. The campfires went out, and there wasn't enough light to see properly."

"All I know is that its tail was incredibly long. One casual sweep knocked over more than a dozen tents."

"And its legs were so thick it'd take three people joining hands to wrap their arms around one!"

"Why did it only attack those two groups?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down! If they hear you, they'll come looking for trouble."

"Isn't it obvious? That was a warning from a high-ranking magical beast."

"You mean we've entered its territory?"

"Exactly! To be safe, we need to pick up the pace today and get out of its territory as quickly as possible."

"I barely slept last night! How am I supposed to go any faster?"

The adventurers sighed miserably.

Nevertheless, the hundred-member party and the mercenary group had no desire to endure another magical beast attack that night.

As soon as breakfast was over, they broke camp and set off.

No matter how exhausted or sleepy they were, they gritted their teeth and forced themselves to move faster.

The smaller adventuring parties didn't want to be left behind, so they hurried after them.

Shu Li and his companions, who had prepared everything in advance, walked along at an unhurried pace.

The sight filled the other adventurers with a mixture of envy, resentment, and jealousy.

Greenhorns really were greenhorns. They didn't have the slightest sense of danger.

They'd only escaped disaster yesterday through sheer luck.

If they continued being so careless, they were bound to get their entire party wiped out sooner or later!

The Light Squad couldn't have cared less about their jealous looks.

They continued climbing the mountain at their own comfortable pace.

Angel watched the members of the hundred-member party and the mercenary group repeatedly stumble and fall ahead of them.

An innocent, angelic smile spread across his face.

If they hadn't still needed those people to lead the way, last night's little scare would have been the least of their troubles.

Shu Li caught sight of Whitehead's deceptively innocent smile and sighed softly.

As Angel grew older, his talent for underhanded mischief only seemed to deepen.

I'd better make sure I never get on his bad side.

Otherwise, he might end up dead without ever knowing what had hit him.

Today's climb was considerably more difficult than yesterday's.

For one thing, their increased pace consumed an enormous amount of energy.

For another, altitude sickness was beginning to take its toll, leaving people nauseated and vomiting.

And to make matters worse, they encountered several magical beasts out hunting for food, forcing them into multiple battles.

The hundred-member party was undeniably formidable.

Even in their exhausted state, its members were capable of swiftly killing fourth-rank magical beasts.

Since the mercenary group and the other adventuring parties were benefiting from the hundred-member party's efforts, they naturally couldn't stand idly by. They threw themselves into the fighting with considerable enthusiasm.

With so many people involved, one or two magical beasts weren't nearly enough to go around.

The Light Squad therefore had the perfect excuse to stand aside and do absolutely nothing.

After all, in the eyes of the other adventurers, they were nothing but greenhorns.

And greenhorns ought to know their place.

There was no point rushing forward to show off when doing so would only bring trouble upon themselves.

"This potion is excellent!" Moresy praised, holding up the small bottle Shu Li had given him.

It was a potion designed to treat altitude sickness.

Its effects had been almost immediate. After drinking it, his nausea, headache, and vomiting had vanished completely.

Astonishingly, it was every bit as effective as the potion Efit had sold him.

"Kumandi made it!" Shu Li declared proudly.

Of all the Little Fairies in their group, quiet, studious Kumandi was the most skilled at potion-making.

For this adventure, he'd taken responsibility for supplying all their potions.

Seidler praised it sincerely.

"This is the most effective potion I've ever taken."

Moresy's eyes narrowed slightly as he smiled at Kumandi.

"Would you mind telling me which herbs you used to make it?"

Next time, he could buy the necessary ingredients and prepare some himself to keep in reserve.

Kumandi glanced at him and replied calmly, "Secret."

Most of the herbs in the formula came from the Faerie Forest, so it wouldn't be convenient to reveal them.

"Uh..."

Moresy blinked, then fell silent.

If he'd been talking to Sperien, he would have tried asking a few more times.

But Kumandi was another matter entirely.

The boy had a serious personality, and once he'd made up his mind, there was no changing it.

Better not to press him.

Shu Li's eyes shifted thoughtfully.

"If you want some to keep for later, why not just buy a few bottles from Kumandi?"

"Good idea!" Moresy immediately turned to Kumandi. "How much for a bottle?"

Kumandi thought for a moment.

"Twenty gold coins."

Moresy's eyes lit up.

"That cheap? Do you have any extra? I'll take ten bottles!"

Efit had charged him a hundred gold coins per bottle!

Shu Li: "..."

Kumandi: "..."

Judging by the Dark Elf's reaction, they'd clearly set the price too low.

Still, since he was a friend, they might as well give him a discount.

Kumandi took ten bottles of potion from his storage pouch and handed them to Moresy.

Without hesitation, Moresy paid him two hundred gold coins.

Shu Li couldn't help marveling at the transaction.

No wonder people say potion-making is profitable!

In just a few moments, Kumandi had earned two hundred gold coins.

Even after deducting the cost of the ingredients, that left him with a hundred gold coins in profit!

Several adventurers who had been watching their exchange cautiously approached and asked whether Kumandi would sell them some potions too.

The potions they'd brought were only moderately effective. Although they could ease the symptoms of altitude sickness a little, they still felt miserable.

Without something stronger, they feared they might not even make it to the Land of Snow.

"I have twenty bottles left," Kumandi replied. "Fifty gold coins each."

One of the adventurers pointed at Moresy.

"You just sold him some for twenty gold coins! Why are you charging me fifty?"

Kumandi replied without expression, "He's a teammate. Discounted price."

The adventurer was left speechless.

But he felt so awful that, after gritting his teeth for a moment, he reluctantly took out fifty gold coins and bought a bottle.

Severe altitude sickness could be fatal.

After drinking the potion, his symptoms disappeared completely.

Relieved, the adventurer quickened his pace.

"...I'll take one too!"

"M-me! I want a bottle!"

"Fifty gold coins it is! Staying alive is more important!"

In less than five minutes, all twenty bottles had sold out.

Kumandi had earned a thousand gold coins in one go, leaving everyone else green with envy.

By the time night fell, the adventurers had found a relatively safe place to camp.

As on the previous evening, the Light Squad pitched their tents a short distance away from the other adventuring parties.

Once their tents were up and their campfire was burning, they began preparing dinner.

Shu Li stirred a pot of vegetable soup with a long ladle.

When the soup came to a boil, he cracked an egg into it and continued stirring. Finally, he sprinkled in the seasoning that gave the dish its soul.

And just like that, a delicious, nutritious pot of vegetable egg-drop soup was ready.

Ace sat beside him.

Leaning close to Shu Li's ear, he murmured, "Stay alert tonight."

"Hm?"

His breath tickled Shu Li's ear, making him turn his head slightly.

Ace's green eyes darkened.

"Someone's got their eye on us."