Lilian sat on the edge of the bed with an expressionless face and faint dark circles under her eyes, coming to a painful, heart-wrenching realization of the saying "never judge a book by its cover" for the first time in her life.
Who could have guessed that the little nun, who usually spoke so softly during the day, could snore like rolling thunder once she fell asleep!
For half the night, Lilian questioned her life choices amidst the bombardment of human subwoofer sounds: “Huuu... ruru... boom... rumble...”
Although she had just added 2 points to her Constitution yesterday, making her physical body much more durable, her mind had suffered a devastating, relentless beating.
“Sister Li! You're awake!”
Just as dawn was breaking, the bedroom door was softly pushed open.
Clara jogged in, carrying a basin of warm water and two steaming wheat cakes, looking as radiant and refreshed as a small bok choy soaked in morning dew.
Upon noticing Lilian's faint dark circles, the little nun deftly wrung out a hot towel while frantically jumping to conclusions in her mind:
To spare her from feeling guilty, the Saintess had not only given her all the expensive pork chops last night, but had also spent the entire night silently praying to the deity for this sin-filled town!
“Sister Li... you must have been exhausted last night...”
Clara's voice choked up slightly.
The veins on Lilian's temples throbbed. She took the towel, wiped her face vigorously, and squeezed out a few words through her teeth with a blank face:
“...I'm not tired. It's just that the thunder in this room was quite loud. Very hypnotic.”
Clara blinked in confusion. “Thunder? Did it rain last night?”
“Shut up, wash up, grab the luggage, and get ready to leave.”
Lilian pulled a black fruit out of her pocket, popped it into her mouth, and chewed crunchily. The sour, astringent juice finally cleared her groggy mind.
...
Outside the east gate of Densewood Town, the fog had not yet completely dissipated.
More than twenty freight carriages loaded with goods were connected front to back, while dozens of fully armed mercenaries patrolled around. Shouts and the clopping of horse hooves intermingled in a noisy din.
Clara had handled things efficiently yesterday. Not only did she pay the 60 copper coins for their fare, but she also bargained with the caravan steward for a relatively comfortable spot: a semi-open carriage piled with dry fabric in the middle of the caravan.
Lilian pulled her cloak's hood low, covering most of her exquisite face, and pulled Clara into the carriage with her, sinking deep into the soft piles of coarse cloth.
Lying on the dry fabric, Lilian lazily peered through the gaps to observe the long caravan.
At the very rear of the caravan, three large iron-cage carriages tightly wrapped in thick black cloth were particularly eye-catching.
Dozens of ferocious thugs on horseback tightly surrounded them, led by an ugly, obese man.
Lilian was puzzled. What were they up to? They practically had "we are bad guys" written all over their faces.
Whatever, it had nothing to do with her. Reaching Morningbell City safely was what mattered most.
“Creak!”
With a resounding order from the mercenary captain, the massive joint caravan rolled forward like a long black snake, crushing through the mud as it left Densewood Town and traveled along the wilderness trade route.
...
The carriage traveled smoothly for about three hours.
Inside the carriage, Clara was snoozing against a roll of luggage, her lips slightly parted, showing signs of activating her "Thunder Divine Spell" once again.
Lilian sat cross-legged, eyes closed, sorting through the information about this otherworldly magic and her attribute panel in her mind.
Her mental power jolted—something was approaching from deep within the forest to the left!
“Rumble!”
From the dense forest on the left came a heavy, rapid snapping of breaking trees.
“Everyone, on high alert!!!”
The mercenary captain at the very front of the caravan bellowed at the top of his lungs:
“It's monsters! The monsters from a nearby dungeon are rioting! Everyone, prepare for battle!!”
Boom!
Before his words even faded, the bushes on the left were burst through, and dozens of Bloodthirsty Wolves with shoulder heights over a meter tall rushed out of the woods!
Ignoring the refined steel spears and torches raised by the mercenaries, they used their momentum to ram and bite down violently.
A cart heavily loaded with timber was rammed right over into a mud pit by three Bloodthirsty Wolves. The panicked horses let out piercing shrieks, and blood and shredded flesh splattered across the trade route in the blink of an eye.
The entire caravan instantly descended into chaos, filled with screams!
“S-Sister Li? What's happening?”
Clara, who had been snoozing, was startled awake. She tumbled headfirst into the pile of fabric, her lips trembling uncontrollably.
“Tear!”
The thick coarse fabric carriage canopy was ripped open by a giant wolf claw!
A red-eyed Bloodthirsty Wolf poked its terrifying head through the breach into the carriage, opening its blood-soaked maw to bite down directly on Lilian!
“Can't catch a break.”
Lilian's eyes turned cold as she raised her right hand toward the wolf's head!
White fire exploded at her fingertips!
Boom!!
The fireball was shoved right down into the wide-open throat of the monstrous wolf!
High-temperature flames burned wildly inside its narrow cavity. The wolf corpse crashed onto the carriage, twitched twice, and stopped moving.
[Killed Bloodthirsty Wolf LV4, EXP +8]
Several nearby mercenaries who were being overwhelmed by the magical beasts stared wide-eyed on the spot.
Flicking away the sparks on her wrist, Lilian stepped on the damaged carriage frame and flipped up onto the roof ahead. Just as she was about to scan for an escape route, a chill ran down the back of her neck as she met a gaze dripping with malice.
Looking through the chaotically fleeing crowd, she followed her instinct toward the rear of the caravan.
Thirty meters away, the fat Hawke poking half his head out of a carriage glared at her with vicious eyes.
“That's her! That meddling mage bitch!”
He grabbed the collar of his minion beside him, spitting as he barked, “Catch her! She definitely knows where those two brats are!”
The minion looked around at the monsters and mercenaries locked in battle everywhere, and could only offer soothing words first:
“Boss, with so many monsters, this broad definitely can't escape. Why don't we wait until her mana is exhausted before we...”
Hawke let go of the minion and nodded.
On the continent of Elaken, even a three-year-old child knew that before most classes reached Second Rank and cultivated battle aura, mages were the strongest class at the same rank.
After all, no matter how strong a mortal's physical body was, how many magical attacks could it withstand?
Lilian had no idea where the man's immense hatred toward her came from. Assuming he was just some insane, disgusting fat creep, she frowned in disgust and averted her gaze.
Her gaze turned toward the depths of the dense forest. She could feel that more than one magical beast larger than the Bloodthirsty Wolves was fast approaching.
“Die, monsters!”
The leading mercenary captain's energy burst forth. The power of a First-Rank warrior allowed him to slice through the wolf in front of him in a single sweep. He shouted to the others around him:
“Rally to me! These low-tier monsters are nothing to worry about! Vice Captain, I leave the people at the rear of the caravan to you!”
He glanced at Lilian on the carriage roof, slightly surprised. “Protect that mage!”
“Copy that!”
A handsome young man carrying a light sword charged toward the rear, decapitating the monstrous wolves along his path with a single strike each. Judging by his aura, he was also a First-Rank powerhouse.
At this moment, the mercenaries didn't feel much pressure. With two First-Rank fighters taking charge plus a mage, these Bloodthirsty Wolves were nothing significant.
Even so, Lilian's expression did not relax.
The aura of the monsters about to emerge from the forest was far more terrifying than that of these two First-Rank mercenaries.
Rate on N.U.
