Chapter 108 Another Team

"I think the location is where we all separated." Shaoke finally had time to sling his staff across his back, freeing one hand to tightly grasp Mage Roman. "They're sending messages to their companions on the mountain. I never expected they would attack us under such circumstances."

Mage Roman caught her breath, then took out a magic item to check their current position. Shaoke leaned in to look as well, noticing that the red dots on the disc had dwindled by more than half during their escape, with most now concentrated on the two mountain ranges flanking the canyon.

As they watched, many of the red dots still in the canyon vanished rapidly. Shaoke understood that each disappearing dot represented the complete wipeout of a mage team.

Mage Roman manipulated the magic item in her hand, sighed, and put it away, turning to Shaoke. "Mage Xueye, we'd better get out of here. We must cross this mountain range and return to the fortress from the other side."

"Have they already started ambushing on this side?" Shaoke asked, puzzled, looking at Mage Roman. He thought heading toward the mountaintop would still likely lead to enemy ambushes.

"They never stopped," the female mage gave Shaoke a look, then carefully used her mental perception to scan behind them. Sensing that the cavalry hadn't caught up, she signaled Shaoke to follow her toward the mountaintop to evade the enemy encirclement on this side of the mountain.

Perhaps because the pursuers had vanished, Shaoke and Mage Roman let up their pace. Neither mentioned the other three mages or the soldiers, focusing instead on covering their tracks in the snow. Fortunately, the snowstorm grew heavier, making their task easier but slowing them once more.

A clump of snow fell from a tree, hitting Mage Roman on the head before she could dodge, finally halting the two mages who had lost track of how long they'd been fleeing.

Bent over, the female mage gasped for breath as she brushed the snow from her head, not wanting large clumps to slip into her clothes. Seeing this, Shaoke quickly helped clean it off, and the two leaned against a tree to rest briefly.

The long run exhausted the two mages, who were physically weak to begin with, especially in such harsh, snowy weather. Although Shaoke's physical condition had somewhat recovered, he carried more gear than the female mage, so he felt just as sore and weary as Mage Roman, whose actual constitution was weaker, once they stopped.

After resting, Mage Roman took a small box from a pouch at her waist. It looked quite plain on the outside, but when opened, Shaoke saw the interior lined with thick, high-quality white felt, with a transparent crystal the size of an egg placed in the center.

"Frost crystal." Shaoke immediately recognized the gemstone's name, having seen it in the book "Natural Magic Items." This crystal had only one function: when mental energy was channeled through it, it would be amplified, allowing the user to probe the surroundings with enhanced perception. However, this amplified mental energy couldn't be used to cast spells.

Mage Roman signaled Shaoke to keep watch around them, then focused her mental energy into a thin beam, channeling it through the crystal to slowly scan the area.

Soon, the female mage finished her scan and stored the precious frost crystal. "Mage Xueye, let's continue."

Shaoke nodded, noticing Mage Roman shivering from the cold. He pulled off his cloak and handed it to her. "Mage Roman, wear this. At least it'll keep the wind and snow from blowing into your clothes." Seeing her about to refuse, he quickly explained, "My constitution has fully recovered and even improved significantly. Do you want to fall ill here and die for no reason?"

Mage Roman nodded, finally accepting Shaoke's kindness. During their escape, she had realized that this seemingly frail mage's physique was no worse than that of ordinary mages—in fact, it was much better. At least since parting with the others, he had been dragging her along in their flight.

Along the way, the two mages took turns using the frost crystal to assist in detecting their surroundings. Whether due to the heavy snowstorm or sparse enemy presence on the mountain, they found no traces of enemies. However, through the magic item, Mage Roman observed that the red dots near the fortress were vanishing the fastest, with only a few managing to escape inside. This left both Shaoke and Mage Roman in a tough spot.

"Only one team out of ten escaped in, and we don't even know how much they lost," Mage Roman's voice, scattered by the wind, faintly reached Shaoke's ears. He didn't let it bother him, as they still had many days of travel ahead. By the time they reached the fortress, the enemies might have withdrawn.

"Don't talk anymore; we must conserve our strength," Shaoke said, tightly gripping the female mage's icy hand and pulling her forcefully up the mountain.

"They've started a large-scale hunt," the female mage remarked during a break, after observing the magic item again and noticing the scattered disappearance of mage teams that had fled to the mountain ridges.

Shaoke moved closer to Mage Roman, blocking some of the cold wind to look at the magic item. The red dots representing mage teams were vanishing sporadically. Teams that had gathered not far from the fortress had abandoned the idea of returning, instead heading toward the mountaintop. It seemed they too realized that returning to the fortress from this side would be a difficult task.

Shaoke pointed with his somewhat frozen hand at a red dot not far from them. "Should we join them? It looks like they also planned to return to the fortress from the other side from the start." He couldn't help but think of the other three mages, wondering if they had encountered pursuers and hoping they were safe.

Mage Roman sighed. "I shouldn't have separated from the other mages. Having them with us would have provided support. The mission was going so smoothly—why did this happen?"

"If we hadn't separated from the others, I believe those cavalry would still be chasing us. This isn't your fault," Shaoke quickly comforted the deeply dejected Mage Roman, not wanting the third-tier mage to face unexpected troubles due to low spirits.

"We don't need to actively join them; just slowly move closer. Otherwise, it might slow our ascent," Mage Roman carefully examined the positions of the red dots, then closed her eyes to recall their relative locations from memory. She noticed this team wasn't deliberately veering toward them, so they had likely made the same decision.

The snowstorm didn't ease with time; instead, it grew stronger. Strong gusts exhausted the mages climbing the mountain. To avoid being blown over, Shaoke and Mage Roman had to crouch, gripping tree trunks and low shrubs as they advanced.

They lost count of how many times they stumbled along the way. After the last fall, the staff Mage Roman had been tightly clutching finally slipped from her stiffened hand, tumbled into the snow.

The long hours of running left Mage Roman too weak to get up from the snow, lying face down and gasping for breath. Shaoke looked at the dimming sky and realized they had been fleeing for nearly an entire day, which he found hard to believe.

From morning until now, they hadn't eaten a single bite of food, focused solely on escaping.

Shaoke forcefully dragged the female mage up, half-carrying her, then picked up her staff and secured it on his back. Gritting his teeth, he dragged his exhausted body up the mountain once more. The heavy snow had already covered all their traces.

They climbed for a while, then rested briefly. Eventually, the female mage broke free from Shaoke's support, merely gripping his hand tightly as they advanced. She didn't want to burden him and believed that as a third-tier mage, she shouldn't need his help. At that moment, she deeply regretted not learning the third-rank "Feather Fall" spell, which could continuously halve the target's weight. It would have sped up their ascent and spared her such a wretched state.

As darkness fell, the snowstorm intensified. After one final check of their surroundings and finding no pursuers, the two sought shelter behind a large rock that blocked most of the wind and snow, planning to rest there for the night.

Although Shaoke had buried some animal skins during their escape to reduce weight, the remaining ones were just enough to lay on the ground, providing a barrier against the cold.

Mage Roman sat on the animal skins, leaning against the icy rock behind her without moving, resting.

Shaoke then asked Mage Roman for the magic item, wanting to check the location of the other team approaching them and see if they could reunite that night.

This check excited him. "Mage Roman, that team near us is still heading this way. I think we must move closer to them so we can support each other tonight."

The female mage leaning against the rock sat up abruptly. "How far? How long until we meet them?" She took a deep breath and added, "Can you still hold on?"

Shaoke nodded, then pointed to the red dot on the disc. "They're moving straight toward us. At our speed, I think we can reach them in half a magic hour." He glanced at the scale on the disc's edge and quickly gave a relatively accurate estimate.

The female mage gritted her teeth and struggled to her feet. "Then let's go. I hope their situation is slightly better than ours."

Shaoke inwardly smiled wryly. He didn't believe the other team's situation would be much better than theirs. The two quickly rolled up the animal skins—they didn't dare abandon these skins for warmth despite the weight—and slowly made their way toward the other team's location.