Chapter 112: Adrian’s Disappearance

Roderick looked towards the forest. "Keep following the scent. Let’s see where it leads."

While the soldier was busy controlling his summoned beast, Ethan remembered something about this mining region.

In his previous life, he had learned that certain natural treasures could form deep underground in places rich in mineral deposits. These treasures were extremely rare, and some of them could remain hidden for hundreds or even thousands of years before anyone discovered them.

As far as he remembered, there was supposed to be one such treasure somewhere in this mining region.

He wasn’t sure whether it was still there, but he wanted to check.

Without attracting anyone’s attention, Ethan quietly summoned several Shadow Wraiths. They emerged from his shadow and slipped into the shadows cast by the trees.

He gave them two instructions.

The first was to scout the surrounding area and look for any signs of beastfolk. The second was to search for the naturally formed treasure he remembered.

With the Shadow Wraiths investigating ahead, Ethan turned his attention back to Roderick and the others.

The Summoner was still watching his beast as it sniffed around. However, after a while, the beast stopped moving and returned to his side.

"It can’t pick up the scent any farther," the Summoner explained. "Whatever passed through here is probably too far away now."

Roderick looked towards the forest.

"Then we’ll have to go deeper."

He then turned towards the archer.

"Climb up and see if you can spot anything from the trees. Stay hidden among the branches and leaves. I don’t want you giving away our position."

The archer nodded and climbed one of the nearby trees. Once he reached a suitable branch, he moved further into the leaves and began looking around.

After a short while, he called down.

"I can’t see much from here. I’ll have to move further ahead."

"Go ahead, but don’t get too far from us," Roderick said.

The archer began moving from one branch to another, using the trees to scout ahead.

Adrian watched him for a moment before moving closer to the tree.

"I’m going with him."

Roderick didn’t object. "Fine. Just make sure you don’t get separated."

Adrian nodded and followed the archer through the trees.

The group continued moving through the forest. After moving through the trees for a while, the archer suddenly stopped.

"Wait. I think I’ve found something."

Roderick looked up at him.

"What is it?"

"There are some strange marks on the trees ahead. They look like claw marks."

The archer moved closer and examined them.

"They’re quite fresh. Something must have passed through here recently."

"Can you tell what made them?" Roderick asked.

"I’m not sure. But judging by their size, whatever made them wasn’t small."

Just then, Adrian stopped walking.

"There are beastfolk ahead."

Everyone turned towards him.

"How many?" Roderick asked.

"I’m not sure. There are several of them, and they’re gathered further inside the forest."

"How did you know that?"

"I noticed some movement ahead."

Adrian didn’t explain any further.

"Everyone, stay alert. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet."

Meanwhile, Ethan was receiving information from his Shadow Wraiths.

They had found several beastfolk deeper inside the forest. Some of them were Laughing Fiends, but there were also a number of Moon Wolves.

What was surprising was that the two groups were gathered in the same area.

The Moon Wolves had occupied a particular part of the forest, while the Laughing Fiends were staying farther away from them. It seemed that the Laughing Fiends didn’t want to get too close.

As his Shadow Wraiths continued exploring, one of them discovered an opening that led underground.

There were several strange crystals growing along the walls. They gave off a faint silver glow, and the deeper the Shadow Wraith went, the thicker the crystals became. Their silver glow also grew brighter.

Ethan became interested when he received this information.

Could those crystals be traces of Moon Devouring Ore? Ethan Wondered.

He couldn’t be certain yet, but the appearance was similar to what he remembered from his previous life.

His Shadow Wraiths continued exploring the area and soon discovered something else.

The Moon Wolves were gathered around the underground opening. Some were even standing guard nearby.

Ethan began to understand why they had come to this place.

Back in his previous life, he had learned that Moon Devouring Ore was extremely important to the Moon Wolves. It could help them awaken and strengthen their bloodline, especially those with royal blood.

If he remembered correctly, the Moon Wolf Alpha had a daughter with an extremely rare bloodline.

Perhaps that was why the Alpha had brought so many of his people here.

"This is strange."

Roderick’s voice brought him back to the others.

"We’ve already found signs of several groups of beastfolk, and there might probably be more deeper inside the forest."

He paused before continuing.

"We’ve patrolled the mining route many times, but we’ve never encountered anything like this. We’ve also never had to venture this deep into the forest before."

His expression became serious. After thinking about it for a little while, he made his decision.

"We’re going back. We need to report this to Ironhaven and let the commander decide what to do next."

Nobody objected to what he said.

Roderick then called the archer down from the trees.

"Everyone, let’s head back. We have gathered enough information for now. There’s no reason to risk a fight when we don’t even know how many beastfolk are hiding in this forest."

The archer climbed down and joined the group. He glanced around before turning to Roderick.

"Where’s Adrian?"

Roderick turned towards him.

"Wasn’t he with you?"

"No. I thought he had returned to the group with the others."

Roderick looked around, but Adrian was nowhere to be seen.

"When did you last see him?"

"He was following me through the trees earlier. I was focused on scouting ahead, so I didn’t notice when he stopped following."

Roderick’s expression became serious.

"Are you telling me he might still be somewhere ahead?"

"I’m afraid so."

Roderick immediately turned towards the forest.

"That fool! Didn’t he hear my order to retreat?"

He turned to the soldiers.

"Search the surrounding area in pairs. He couldn’t have gone too far. Don’t venture too deep into the forest, and if you find him, bring him back immediately."