Chapter 109 Reunion and Escape

Shaoke and Mage Roman cautiously made their way toward the other team. Fortunately, the mountain, though high, was not steep, and there were plenty of trees to hold onto for support.

Mage Roman stopped Shaoke, leaning against a tree to retrieve a magic item and check the positions of both teams. She then took out a 'Frost Crystal' to examine the surroundings.

"People ahead. I can feel them moving toward us," Roman quickly informed Shaoke, who was waiting nearby.

"Must be them," Shaoke said, glancing at the red dots on the disc before turning to Roman with some certainty. He didn’t believe the enemy would pursue them in such weather.

Roman put away the magic item, vigorously rubbing her small, stiff, frozen hands, and then began chanting a spell.

A magical language Shaoke couldn’t understand reached his ears as the female mage chanted. A green light the size of a baby’s fist materialized between Roman’s hands, causing the falling snowflakes to part around it.

At the female mage's direction, the green light burst apart, forming hundreds of green rays that shot toward where she sensed people.

Shaoke asked in surprise, "Mage Roman, why isn’t this spell mentioned in the books on spells?" He watched the green rays gradually fade into the wind and snow, guessing, "Is it a spell unique to the military?"

The female mage quickly shoved her hands into her robe and nodded emphatically. "Yes, it’s an identification spell. They’ll fade away completely soon. You can learn it once you reach the Third Rank."

Shaoke didn’t relax just because the female mage had cast an identification spell. He worked his stiff fingers slightly and focused his mind, preparing for the unexpected.

The two mages didn’t have to wait long. Shaoke suddenly saw a similar green ray flying out from the opposite woods, circling around them.

Roman, who had her eyes closed, suddenly took out a coin-sized magic item from within her robes and waved it toward the green ray. The ray slowly faded away. "Good, it’s our people. Xueye, relax."

Mage Roman tugged at Shaoke’s robe, and the two waited there quietly.

"Mage Roman?" A hoarse male voice called out as several figures, supporting one another, came into view from the opposite woods.

Shaoke looked toward the shadows and saw a pair of green points of light floating ahead of them. As they approached, he realized it was a mage with green light glowing in his eyes. A green three-pointed star slowly rotated within his eyes. A single glance from him made Shaoke feel as if he had been seen through.

It was nearly a day before the two teams managed to meet up. The other team consisted of two Third-Tier Mages and several Second-Tier Mages, accompanied by five or six warriors. Shaoke also spotted the three mages who had separated from them earlier in the day. After narrowly escaping death, the mages couldn’t help but exchange greetings and share their experiences.

After a brief discussion, Roman and the other two Third-Tier Mages decided to set up camp in the woods. Fortunately, with several warriors present, they cut down plenty of branches to build low but sturdy wooden shelters between adjacent trees.

Given the circumstances, the temporary shelters couldn’t be expected to be perfect. At least Shaoke figured they'd block the wind and snow. As for the mages’ elegance, it was temporarily set aside. If they couldn’t even protect their lives, why insist on other matters?

Mage Roman and the other two Third-Tier male mages carefully set up alert wards outside. Only then did everyone feel at ease enough to take shelter in the low, crude temporary dwelling. They hastily ate what little food they had and rested early.

With insufficient animal hides for warmth, the mages gave the few hides they had to Mage Roman and the other female mages. Shaoke huddled together with the other mages to conserve heat.

After the long, frantic escape, Shaoke felt not only physically exhausted but also plagued by a throbbing headache as his tightly wound nerves finally relaxed. He didn’t know if the other mages were asleep, but the persistent headache made it impossible for him to rest peacefully.

Enduring the cold wind seeping through the gaps, Shaoke attempted repeatedly to enter his meditation space, hoping to alleviate the pain through meditation.

After several attempts, Shaoke finally succeeded in entering the meditation space.

As soon as he entered his mental space, he noticed the light points representing his mental energy were unusually active, darting and leaping rapidly through the air. The silver light on the diamond array continuously burst into fine, scattered silver streams that drifted into the mental space before slowly fading away. Shaoke felt his mental space, already twice as large as that of most mages of his rank, gradually expanding as the silver light merged into it, though the expansion was very slow.

Shaoke forcibly suppressed the rising fear and comforted himself, "Look! An opportunity has arrived. Haven’t you always hoped for a chance to improve your strength? Hah! If my mental energy expands further, won’t I match the mental energy of a typical Fourth-Tier Mage after advancing? I must seize this opportunity!"

He randomly recalled tales of fortuitous encounters from his past life to reassure himself, hoping to dispel his fear. Shaoke then observed his mana space and found the situation there was similar to his mental space, except the expansion was slightly faster.

After confirming no other changes, Shaoke carefully retrieved the drugs from his pouch for rapid energy recovery. Swallowing one bitter pill after another, he immediately felt the headache lessen slightly, though it still hurt enough to be unbearable.

Attempting to outline the advanced meditation array, he found that the heightened mental and mana energy didn’t interfere. Relieved, Shaoke used meditation to recover the energy expended during the day’s escape.

After several meditation sessions, intense headaches forced Shaoke to take more rapid recovery drugs to suppress the pain. This cycle repeated several times before the resting mages awoke according to their usual habits.

Perhaps due to the night’s rest, the mages’ fatigue had mostly dissipated. After hastily swallowing a few small pieces of meat, the warriors outside carefully moved aside the branches blocking the wind and snow. The mages then filed out through the exit.

The wind and snow outside still hadn’t stopped. The howling wind carried snowflakes that stung Shaoke’s face. When he tried to cover his head with his cloak, he remembered the black cloak was still worn by Female Mage Roman.

"Mage Roman, how are you?" Shaoke asked as he saw Roman stiffly emerge from the crude shelter. The cold wind forced her to tightly wrap her cloak around herself, trying to block the invading chill and snow.

"I’m fine," Roman replied, licking her chapped lips before quickly acknowledging Shaoke’s concern. She then lowered her head slightly to shield herself from the oncoming wind and snow.

A male mage took out a magic disc, checked the information on it, and said to another mage and Roman, "We must pick up the pace. One of the teams behind us disappeared this morning. The pursuit has begun." He then looked at the other two Third-Tier Mages, awaiting their decision.

Female Mage Roman stepped aside, turned slightly, and retrieved her magic disc to verify the information. She nodded to the male mage who had made the suggestion, agreeing with his decision. She then pointed at the weather conditions and said to him, "I hope we can successfully cross over today. I think the wind and snow will be much lighter on the other side."

Another male mage, who had called out Roman’s name the previous day, grinned. "I think it’ll be fine. Even if there’s an interception team, with so many mages gathered, we should easily handle them. They wouldn’t expect us to have this many mages." He then tried to lift his head proudly against the wind and snow, though a smear of unwashed mud on his face somewhat diminished the effect.

Several female mages, including Roman, set off toward the mountaintop again, supported by the sturdy warriors.

Shaoke followed closely behind Mage Roman to prevent any accidents during the ascent that might harm her.

The mages remained silent along the way, or at least Shaoke couldn’t hear them speaking over the howling wind. He kept his mouth tightly shut to avoid the cold wind and snow from entering.

Although the female mages had the warriors’ support, as the wind and snow grew stronger and they climbed further, the fatigue from the previous day suddenly overwhelmed them. One by one, they gasped for breath, leaning heavily on the warriors assisting them.

After observing the warriors’ pace for a moment, Shaoke quickened his steps to catch up with the warrior supporting Roman. He shared an idea he had just thought of to increase their speed.

The warrior glanced back at Shaoke and nodded, shouting loudly, "Don’t worry! No problem. I’ll go tell the others." He then gestured for Shaoke to support Mage Roman and hurried ahead to inform the other warriors of the suggestion. He hoped his companions would accept Shaoke’s idea, as it would significantly speed up their progress.

Roman tightly gripped Shaoke’s arm with one hand and leaned her head close to his ear, shouting, "Can’t you just support me?" After shouting, she glanced ahead guiltily, took a breath, and added, "Like yesterday, we should be able to manage."

Shaoke slightly turned his head. "No, that would slow us down too much. I don’t want us to be a burden and get caught by the enemy," he quickly explained his concern.

"It won’t happen. I don’t think the pursuit teams will be much faster," the female mage insisted, pointing at the figures ahead and shouting hoarsely, "They’ll be in the same state as we are now."

Shaoke rolled his eyes inwardly. He didn’t believe the enemy would send physically weak mages to pursue them in such weather and terrain. He suspected that professions previously restrained by rules—such as Archers, Infiltrators, and Hunters—would quickly ascend the mountain and launch a fierce pursuit.

————This has been condensed. Well, what do you think? There might be some flaws in this chapter, possibly due to skill issues. I’m not sure how to fix it, sigh! Take a look. Keep it up!