Lolo heaved a sigh of relief. Although she had always told herself not to take Roland's prank to heart, to be honest, it still felt weird to have someone imitating her every move. Fortunately, the psychopath only played for a while before running off to torture others.
The Brave Rookie was also reflecting on whether his training on the young man was a little too harsh, causing him to suffer from irreversible and severe mental trauma. That was why he was behaving so abnormally.
Lolo even recalled the horror story that the young man had told her before. She suspected that he had secretly eaten something unclean behind her back, and now there were already signs of an attack.
Thinking of this, the girl couldn't help but shiver. At the same time, she made up her mind that if the Magician made any strange movements, she would be the first to rush forward and chop him into pieces. If the brat knew about this in the afterlife, he would probably thank her for helping the people.
…
It was late at night, and the forest was quiet. Only the rustling footsteps of the exploration team could be heard. The atmosphere was very quiet.
In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, they did not light torches. Instead, they used magic lamps, which were the most common kind of magic devices. They emitted a faint blue light, a little like phosphorescence. The advantage was that it was quiet and wouldn't disturb the sleeping beasts in the forest. The disadvantage was that it was expensive.
As a matter of fact, all magic items produced by mages were expensive. Even an ordinary magic lamp that could be made by a magic apprentice was sold for a gold coin.
There was also a custom-made version for nobles. In terms of effectiveness, there was almost no difference from the ordinary version. The only difference was that after it was made, a professional craftsman would be asked to carve some mysterious but actually useless patterns on it. The price was more than ten times higher, and the profiteering was comparable to robbery.
Even so, magic lamps were still in short supply. Especially for those who spent most of their time in the wild and underground, a magic lamp was the standard for everyone.
The magic lamp that Edward had used for more than 20 years was unfortunately destroyed during his last expedition. The one he had now was bought from the black market for twice the original price.
Due to the special natural environment of the Endless Sea of Trees, it was difficult for the starlight above their heads to shine through the lush foliage. As soon as the sun went down, the forest became pitch-black. Therefore, most animals would stop moving at night, which was why the expedition team chose to travel at night.
However, Lolo had a feeling that something was spying on them from the depths of the darkness. She involuntarily tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.
"Don't worry, it's Ghostface Monkey." Hansen seemed to know what the girl was thinking about, so he explained patiently, "Ghost-faced Monkeys are one of the few nocturnal animals in the Endless Sea of Trees. They are very curious and like to observe the unknown, but they usually don't attack randomly."
After a pause, he added, "Be careful not to show too much aggression. It's very likely that we'll enter their territory. Grimace Monkeys live in groups. Even the smallest group has hundreds of them. The consequences of provoking them are very serious."
However, just as the Tier 2 Swordsman had said, so long as they didn't show any signs of aggression, the Ghostface Monkeys would only watch them from afar.
As they went deeper into the Endless Sea of Trees, compared to the night before, everyone's nerves were undoubtedly more tense.
Everyone tried to move as quietly as possible, and no one chatted idly, afraid that they would startle the real vicious beasts.
Fortunately, the expedition team did not encounter too much trouble until dawn. However, they did not feel relaxed because of this, because the real test had just begun.
The most dangerous part was actually the journey from now until they arrived at the Underground City in the afternoon. After the sun rose, the expedition team members discovered that the group of Ghostface Monkeys that had been following them had disappeared. In their place was a flock of cold-eyed ravens.
They stood in a row on the branches of the trees, looking down at the expedition team below.
This was not a good sign. Ravens were scavengers and were often seen as a synonym for disaster. Wherever they appeared, there would be trouble.
On a new day, the creatures in the Endless Sea of Trees woke up from their sleep and began to search for food. They wandered around to fill their stomachs, and there were many ferocious predators among them. For example, the group of two-headed wolves that Rob's group had encountered was as strong as a Grade 1 professional, and there were 16 of them.
Without needing Hansen's order, everyone had already drawn their weapons. Even the attendants had thrown off their weights and hurriedly picked up their weapons.
Hansen's expression was solemn. This was the first time the expedition team had faced a crisis. 16 two-headed wolves was not a lot, but it was not a small number either. As a Grade 2 Swordsman, he could deal with four of them at a time. As for Edward, due to the limitations of his profession, he was slightly weaker in frontal attacks, so he could probably deal with three of them. The remaining nine people had exactly one wolf each.
It didn't sound too difficult, but don't forget that six of the nine people were attendants, and their strength was far from that of a professional. In addition, Hilton, a Priest, was not a combatant. Not to mention, two-headed wolves were the most cunning beasts, and they knew how to cooperate when hunting. When the wolves acted in unison, they could often defeat opponents who were much stronger than themselves.
On the other hand, the expedition team had just met each other and were still in the stage of getting used to each other. They didn't expect to encounter such a tricky situation in their first battle. Hansen also had a headache.
The rookie Hero quietly took two steps forward, shielding the Quasi Magister behind him. Meanwhile, the handsome blonde man who boasted that he would protect her ran to the side of the two Grade 2 Professionals like a wisp of smoke.
Lolo's right hand, which was holding the sword, was trembling slightly. This was the first time she participated in an actual battle after becoming a swordsman. Before this, when she sparred with others, she basically stopped at the right time. This was the first time she encountered a life and death situation like this.
However, since she had already made up her mind to go to the Underground City, there would be many similar battles in the future, so she didn't plan to run away. She stared at the silver she-wolf closest to her, raised the Elven sword in her hand, and was on guard.
However, the wolf pack only surrounded the expedition team, letting out a few low growls from their throats, threatening their prey. They didn't seem to be in a hurry to attack, and one of the wolf heads even looked back from time to time.
"What are they doing?" The unusual behavior of the wolf pack made Lolo instinctively feel uneasy.
"Looks like they're … waiting for their leader."
The Rookie Hero's question was directed at Captain Hansen. Among all of them, the Grade 2 Swordsman had been through the most battles and had the most experience. He should have the most say in such situations. However, Luo Luo did not expect that the one to answer her would be the boy who had been silent all this while.
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