Chapter 46: Scouting

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Scouting

"What you encountered was most likely a Wood Elf."

"A Wood Elf?"

Lorin already knew this through Fur Perception, but he didn’t know the differences between the various Elf races. He hadn’t even known Elves were divided into different races before this.

Hiv finished the wine in his cup, let out a loud burp, and replied, "Yes, among all Elf races, Moon Elves and Wood Elves are the friendliest to other races.

"In the Northern Territory, many people actually claim to have encountered Wood Elves in the Mist Forest. However, those Elves always come and go without a trace, making it very difficult for people to seek them out actively.

"They generally don’t attack humans unprovoked, so your encounter is considered normal."

"I see..." Lorin nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Then how is their relationship with the High Elves?"

Hiv shook his head. "I’m not sure about that. Honestly, I haven’t even seen many Elves, let alone conversed with them."

"Alright."

Lorin felt a bit disappointed. He lowered his head, scooped up a spoonful of stew, and savored it in his mouth. Then, he remembered the Combat Mage mentioned by that Wood Elf.

"Mr. Hiv, do you know anything about Combat Mages?" he asked expectantly.

"Huh? What’s that?"

"It’s a class similar to a Sword Singer, one that uses both melee weapons and Magic simultaneously."

Hiv looked a bit bewildered. He scratched his messy hair and said, "I’ve never heard of it. Maybe it’s just a different name the Elves have for Sword Singers? Normally speaking, you can indeed use a Magic Sword as a Magical Artifact, but Mages require hand gestures and Spells for casting. In close-quarters combat, they’d inevitably be interrupted..."

"I see..."

Lorin thought what he said made sense, but then he realized something was off. He had asked Silvia about Sword Singers before, and she was clearly familiar with the class, so Sword Singers and Combat Mages had to be different.

But he chose not to ask any further. Hiv clearly didn’t know much about it either. If he had the chance to meet Silvia again in the future, he’d see if he could trade something else for this information. Lorin silently committed this to memory. He wasn’t in a rush anyway. He hadn’t even fully mastered Continuous Slash yet; this was just planning ahead at best.

Early the next morning, before the sun had even risen, Lorin was dragged out of bed by Pip.

"Let’s go scout the terrain."

The short man was already fully dressed, looking full of energy. "If we trip and fall while running tomorrow night, losing face is a small matter, but losing our lives would be a huge deal," he said.

Lorin sat up, rubbing his eyes. It was still gray outside the window, and the morning mist hadn’t yet dissipated. He glanced at Pip. This guy usually wouldn’t get up until the sun was high in the sky, yet he was surprisingly proactive today.

"Did you have a nightmare or something?"

"I dreamed that I tripped over a rock during a fight," Pip answered honestly.

Lorin didn’t say anything more. He had planned to go scout the location in advance anyway. He rolled out of bed, put on his Chest Armor and coat, and fastened Rusted Throat to his waist.

"Let’s go."

The two of them left the tavern in the dark and walked along the small path south of the town, heading toward Shingle Beach. After walking for a while, the surrounding mist gradually thinned, and they could now see the surface of the Black Water River.

The Shingle Beach that Anya and the others had mentioned was located on the south bank of the river. It was covered with stones washed smooth by the river water—some as large as carriage wheels, others as small as fingernails. The rubble extended all the way from the roadside to the water’s edge. There wasn’t much vegetation on the beach, only a few tufts of withered grass poking out from the gaps between the rocks, swaying unsteadily in the wind.

Further west lay a low thicket of mixed woods, huddled pitifully not far from the shore.

"Someone’s over there." Pip squatted on a large rock and pointed toward the water’s edge.

Lorin looked in the direction he was pointing. In the hazy mist, a blurry figure was crouching on the beach near the water. She was wearing a burgundy Mage Robe, the hem fluttering in the riverside wind. Coupled with her red hair, she stood out vividly against the gray mist.

Erin?

Lorin carefully stepped down the crushed stones. Only when he got closer did he realize that the stones near the river surface had been densely drawn with Runes and lines using some kind of glowing powder. The patterns were arranged in an extremely orderly manner, framed by individual circles that spread horizontally along the riverbank, covering almost all the stones by the water.

Hearing his approach, Erin glanced back. Upon seeing it was Lorin, she raised an eyebrow and said casually, "Don’t touch those Runes. They still need some time to set. That powder is a mixture of Silver Leaf Grass sap and Frost Lizard bone dust. It’s very expensive."

Lorin’s hand retracted as if he had been electrocuted. Standing a safe distance away, he pointed at one of the fist-sized symbols. "What does this Rune do?"

Erin wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Seeing his reaction, she said with disdain, "That is the Array’s trigger node. As long as a sufficiently large creature steps into the Array’s range, it will automatically activate. However, just in case, I’ll be waiting in the woods nearby tomorrow to manually activate it depending on the situation."

She jutted her chin toward a thick oak tree in the thicket. There was a hollow at the base of the oak just large enough to hide a person.

"Oh... I see..."

Lorin consciously walked away, deciding not to disturb her further. He walked a lap around the perimeter of Shingle Beach, memorizing the general terrain. He squatted down and touched the surface of the stones, finding them indeed quite slippery. Fortunately, there was some withered grass growing in the gaps between the rocks, which could provide some traction when stepped on.

"Done looking?" Erin’s voice came from behind.

Lorin looked back. Her nose was red from the cold wind, her brows slightly furrowed, and she was bending over, rubbing her calves that had gone numb from squatting.

"What are you standing there like an idiot for? Aren’t you going to help me up?" Erin glared at him, feigning anger as he remained rooted to the spot.

[...Exhausted, slightly chilled.]

Lorin shifted his gaze away from her hair, walked over helplessly, and gently supported her arm. The sleeves of the Mage Robe were very thin. Even through the fabric, he could feel her trembling slightly.

"I’m done. How is the Array setup going?" He looked at Erin with some surprise. He hadn’t expected this young Mage lady, who looked like she had been pampered since childhood, to be so unexpectedly capable.

"Only the core is left to be activated."

Erin rolled her eyes at Lorin and slapped his hand away with a SMACK, acting as if she wasn’t the one who had just asked for help. She then took a fingernail-sized Blue Crystal from the belt at her waist, bent down, and carefully embedded it into a groove in the center of the Array.

The entire Array immediately lit up slightly. A faint blue luminescence flashed across the Runes and lines, as if they had been injected with life.

"The Array is now fixed in place. It’ll be ready to use by tomorrow." Erin stood up, reached out to wrap her robe tighter around herself, and walked back in the direction of Shallow Beach Town, waving her hand. "Let’s go."