After I saw the traces, I increased my speed and kept riding Night.
However, finding the group was a lot trickier than I thought.
At some point, for some reason, the storm that was raining snow heavily increased its density, making the traces that were on the ground a lot harder to see.
And that was what made it almost impossible to understand the direction they had taken.
'This is getting annoying.'
No matter how strong I am or how good my eyes are, I can't see the things that normal eyes can't see.
Or can I?
Of course, I can.
And that was the reason why I was still able to pursue them.
Thanks to the many traces that were left by them walking.
'This beast…. From the looks of it, it had already been tired to the limits.'
Now, of course, in this world, there are most of the time, such beasts are used for transportation and logistics.
'That was the type of convention that the developers used as the substitute for machines.'
They are basically like machines that were just there to be used.
Therefore, most of the time, people would focus on their performance rather than their health or any other thing.
This is how we humans are. There is no need to refuse this.
Because of that, there are some spells or materials that would momentarily enhance the strength of the mount and the energy (stamina) of the mount by artificially raising it.
It is called Mana Enhancing drinks.
You can think of them like steroids on Earth.
They would increase your speed but destroy your body naturally in the end.
eαglesnovel`c,om Anyway, there is one side effect that was very useful for me.
The moment the Mana Enhancing Liquid starts to show its effects by raising the limit of the monster that is used, it would leave a mana trace that would have a unique type of signature which is very easy to differentiate from any other type of monster.
Now, thanks to that, I was able to understand their trajectory.
'According to the map, there is a valley. Are they trying to reach here?'
That was what I had in my mind seeing the route they were taking.
'But, why? Is there nothing that is close to there? Are they trying to take a cover from something?'
Because the way they were moving was not in the optimal direction, I thought something was weird, which in this case, it was.
Just like that, I started moving at a faster rate.
However, at that time, I remembered the place I was in.
/SHREEEK/
I was in the wilderness.
No matter how much I have tried to avoid monsters and used monster repellant, there was a limit to that.
In front of me was a monster of three-star strength.
'Wood wraith.'
A monster that had the appearance of a humanoid tree wraith and somehow was releasing a scary aura.
Well, of course, it was nothing I couldn't manage.
'Let me test my magic on you.'
"My will be done. Let things happen as I command."
Chanting the same one-star magic I had been using before, I released attributeless magic generating a force field around the monster.
"CREEEEK!"
With a loud shout, the monster fell to its knees.
"Flames of passion burn so bright. Guide me with your radiant light."
And then, following that was another chant with fire magic being generated from my hands.
Conjuring the fireball by using the mana, I threw it to the monster.
"CREEEEEK!"
This time it was the scream of agony from getting burned alive.
However, being a two-star while using one-star magic would not be enough to one-shot the monster in front of me.
But that does not mean I need to one shot either.
With the artifacts I had acquired and my trait [Child of Mana], recovering my mana was not even hard.
Therefore, I didn't need to conserve it either.
/SWOOSH/ /SWOOSH/
Keeping supplying the same fire magic for a while and bombarding the monster in front of me, I killed it around after firing close to ten fireballs.
'Although it would take a second to kill it with my sword, seeing my magic progressing is not that bad either.'
With that thought, I started speeding up again, not even bothering with grabbing the core of the monster.
And after riding for a little more, the air around me started changing.
The ominous aura that was being released also started getting thicker and thicker as well.
'What is this aura? Is it the cursed weapon?'
It was what was in my mind.
The aura I was feeling right now was pretty much close to the aura I had felt when I released the souls inside the Philosopher's Stone.
'The aura of Anguish….'
And as I was getting closer to the valley I had seen on the map, I started feeling something.
'The earth is shaking…. This is the sign of the battle.'
That was what I had in my mind.
Feeling the tremors in the ground and the shockwaves that were being released, I understood there was a combat close by.
'On top of that, the aura is getting thicker.'
"Master, it is close. Nihil can feel it."
"It is close, huh? Understood."
Although the sky was filled with snow and the storm was also getting stronger, I was now in the range to hear them with my senses, which meant they could normally sense me too.
However, thanks to the fight, they probably weren't.
At that moment, I saw a huge silhouette in the fog.
A silhouette that was pulsating with steady breaths.
'Hmm…."
Slowly approaching that, there I saw something I was pretty familiar with in the game.
'A Black Bison.'
It was a huge monster that could rival the trucks on Earth.
A monster that would be used by the player if they wanted to travel as a party….
However, the thing that got my attention was what was on top of it.
'What is this?'
A bunch of girls with their clothes tattered, all of them sleeping, with some of them having bruises all over their body….
'They were put on sleep with a drug….'
Seeing this confirmed.
'They are my targets.'
That those who were fighting right here were the ones that were my targets….
'Finally, the pursuit ends….'
With that thought, I rushed to the place where a brilliant green light of a pillar started shining…
