Chapter 442: Employment

Chapter 442: Employment

The man in the black robe was named Saimu, a high-ranking priest of the Mother Tree Sect, in charge of defense in this area. Having just been promoted to a Tier 3 Sorcerer during a prayer ritual, he was filled with ambition.

If everything went smoothly for the sect, he estimated that his strength would further increase, and he might even become the overseer of a provincial region.

Initially, when he noticed someone rapidly approaching through the sorcery array, Saimu wasn't particularly alarmed.

It was only after several waves of fleshly creatures failed to stop the intruder that he realized the opponent's strength was quite formidable. However, having just been promoted, Saimu was not one to back down without a fight.

But even now, standing before the young man, he felt he had underestimated the opponent's prowess. Just as he was about to ask, "Who are you?" he suddenly saw a rapidly spinning silver metal ring appear in front of the young man.

The metal ring, with a diameter of over two meters, emitted a high-pitched whirring sound as it spun at incredible speed.

At the same time, a powerful wave of metal particle energy spread out, indicating an advanced and rare metal-based sorcery. Strangely, Saimu hadn't heard any incantations from the opponent.

The next moment, the silver metal ring suddenly vanished. Saimu's heart raced with alarm, like the tolling of a mighty bell.

"Damn it!"

Saimu now realized he was up against a formidable opponent.

He cursed inwardly and awkwardly rolled to the side to dodge.

As he stood there, his hair standing on end, he saw a blurry silver light circle graze the hem of his robe, still hanging in its original position, and then zip past him.

Instantly, fabric scraps fell, and right behind him, a tree as thick as two people's embrace let out a 'shh' sound as it split open.

Without turning back, Saimu knew the tree had been cleaved in two.

Reacting quickly despite his shock, Saimu immediately unleashed his innate sorcery and a prayer-based sorcery.

A layer of crimson light membrane appeared on his body's surface, followed by a thick, bark-like defense resembling the skin of a withered tree.

"Whoosh! Crackle!"

Behind Saimu, the sound of a falling tree and numerous branches breaking filled the air.

"Phew, I dodged it just in time! Almost got hit! Damn it!"

Saimu's heart calmed slightly, but he was infuriated by Ren's unannounced attack.

As he straightened up, intending to confront Ren, Saimu suddenly felt a stinging pain in his lower body. He glanced down and saw a silver light circle seem to emerge from beneath him and return to the young man.

"Huh? It came out from under me? Can it return?"

"But I have the 'Bark Defense' and 'Flesh Light' protections. Why didn't they work?"

"How is this possible?"

Saimu, his face filled with disbelief, looked closely and saw that his black robe had been severed at the base of his thigh, and a line of blood oozed from the exposed thigh.

"Ahhhh!"

Realizing what had happened, Saimu screamed in agony.

With his legs cut off by the sawtooth ring, he managed to stay upright, but in his panic, he fell forward, his upper body slamming onto the ground. His severed legs collapsed as well.

"Ahhhh!"

Saimu lay on the ground, wailing in excruciating pain.

Ren, standing nearby, remained calm. He waved his hand, dispelling the newly mastered Level 3 Metal Sorcery 'Sawtooth Ring', and walked slowly towards Saimu.

Several minutes later, Ren obtained first-hand intelligence from Saimu, a priest of the Mother Tree Sect.

Ren's eyebrows furrowed, and he crossed his arms, deep in thought.

"So, the incident in Ferdinand Forest is indeed a grand feast. Not only have most of the cult organizations come to partake, but there are also multiple human slave capture squads involved."

"Under the coordination of the Mother Tree Sect, various cults have initially divided the regions outside Ferdinand City. The Serpent Sect has been assigned to the elven town of Barashan."

"Using the pureblood elves, known for their strength and longevity, as sacrifices to obtain special blessings from the gods?"

"No wonder so many cults are attracted. The rate of power enhancement is almost like a system glitch."

Ren couldn't help but shake his head, marveling at the situation.

Now that he had the information, Ren saw no reason to spare Saimu.

"Pfft!"

His hardened fine gold transformed into a sharp stabbing sword, which he plunged into Saimu's head, then quickly returned to its original state.

Ren knew that the Mother Tree Sect maintained a massive sorcery array to support this large-scale operation, located about thirty kilometers away. However, he didn't choose to destroy it but instead headed towards the town of Barashan with Cookie in tow.

According to Saimu's information, the Serpent Sect members assigned to Barashan had left a day and a half ago.

Although Ren had confidence in Lambert's strength, it was only at the legendary level. Now, with the appearance of an epic-level powerhouse among the enemies, the situation was uncertain.

From Bloodplume's perspective in the sky, Ren's movement appeared unique.

His overall path, when connected, formed a sawtooth pattern, navigating around the various giant trees. This method seemed roundabout, but it avoided collisions with any trees, making his speed surpass that of a reckless charge.

From the perspective of the Spirit Hound following Ren, his master's speed didn't seem fast, but in reality, the multiple afterimages he left behind were all illusions.

His true self had long maneuvered around the trees and vines, advancing dozens of meters ahead.

So, Bloodplume in the sky was fine, but Cookie, following Ren on the ground, was having a hard time.

Soon, Cookie was panting with his tongue hanging out, white steam rising from his fur, clearly exhausted.

But even so, Cookie couldn't help but feel frustrated as he realized his four legs couldn't keep up with Ren's two. The distance between them was growing.

Fortunately, whenever Ren encountered remnants of campfires or traces of campsites, he would stop to observe for a moment, giving Cookie a chance to catch up.

At this moment, Ren was approaching a campsite.

The ground showed signs of seven or eight campfires, distinct from the few campsites they had passed earlier, which had been concealed.

The campsite showed no attempt at concealment, with scattered food scraps and various wine bottles around the long-extinguished campfire.

Clearly, this was likely the remnants of a slave capture squad.

The relatively lax discipline and abundance of food suggested they had a well-supplied logistics team.

The slave capture squad, on their first mission in the Ferdinand Forest, stood out from the newly arrived cultists in both mindset and preparation.

Ren followed the trail left by the squad, looking into the depths of the forest. He noticed that their route wasn't heading towards Bashalan but towards the Ferdinand Forest.

"This direction should lead to another elven town, Bellames," Ren concluded, comparing their path with the map in his mind.

"As expected, just like that guy said, the slave capture squad and the cult have reached some sort of limited cooperation or formed a bizarre balance, dividing the area between them."

At this moment, the thin plate in Ren's arms vibrated again.

Ren immediately took out the plate and infused it with a thread of psychic energy.

"Captain Ren, please respond if you can hear me!" Claire's slightly anxious voice came through the plate.

"This is Ren, go ahead, Claire."

"Captain, great! I finally got in touch with you again!" Claire sounded relieved.

"Listen, regarding the Serpent Sect, you must be extra cautious. Their Vice-Pope Quirt is an epic powerhouse. As for other specific intelligence about the cult, we're still gathering it." Claire spoke quickly, fearing the transmission might be interrupted again.

"I understand. By the way, Claire, I have two situations here that I want you to report to headquarters." Ren summarized the information he had obtained through interrogation.

"Captain Ren, I'm right beside Claire, and the information you mentioned is crucial. I'll report it to headquarters immediately." At this moment, the voice of Olenna, a capable middle-aged woman, came through the plate.

"Okay, then we'll leave it at that for now."

"Yes, Captain Ren, please be careful!"

Just as Ren hung up the plate, his Spirit Hound, Cookie, finally emerged from the forest, panting heavily. It hurried to catch up with its master.

But the next second, Cookie was left dumbfounded!

It saw its master, Ren, checking something and then hurrying forward, leaving behind several afterimages in his wake.

Cookie barked and immediately followed, keeping up with its owner's rapid pace.

However, this intense sprint wasn't without its benefits.

Ren, who usually took a day or two to cover this distance, had now compressed the journey to less than two hours.

At this moment, Ren and Cookie had reached the outskirts of the elven town of Bashalan. Ren's massive hound, its fur soaked and dripping with sweat, seemed to have just emerged from the water.

The fact that this powerful hound was exhausted gave a hint of Ren's incredible speed.

In truth, Ren hadn't been sprinting at full speed, and he had even stopped multiple times to observe the enemy's traces.

The town of Bashalan ahead, unlike Ren's expectations of a peaceful and beautiful elven town, seemed to have been ravaged by war. Most of the houses showed signs of damage, and many exquisite spires had collapsed.

At the end of the main road, the statue in the town square fountain was also severely damaged, and the ground was pitted and scarred, indicating a fierce battle had taken place.

This made Ren's heart sink. Suddenly, he looked up at the street beside him.

Four figures in black robes were approaching him, their robes bearing various serpent markings, indicating they were members of the Serpent Sect, left behind for some reason.

"Oh? I thought it was an elven survivor, but it's a slave capture squad member."

They were a small team responsible for capturing any elven survivors in Bashalan.

"Kid, this isn't a place you should be." Two of the Serpent Sect members casually waved their hands, shooing him away.

Ren merely lifted his eyes, and he instantly sensed their strengths—a Tier 2 and a Tier 2 Peak Sorcerer. From the intelligence he had gathered, these were mere lackeys.

They were of such low value that Ren didn't even need to interrogate them; he could easily track down the main force from their traces.

So, Ren casually lifted his hand, and four silver, vertically standing metal rings suddenly appeared, only to disappear into the air with a 'whoosh'.

"Shh! Shh!"

One after another, the sounds of flesh being sliced filled the air.

The four cultists felt something amiss, but before they could even call out, four high-speed spinning silver rings, like whirlwinds, vertically sliced through them. Each received a sawtooth ring.

"Plop! Plop!"

As Ren and Cookie passed by, the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground followed.

The four cultists were cleanly sliced in half from head to toe, and their bodies, like two slices of bread in a sandwich, fell to either side.

Even their innate sorcery, under the attack of the 'Sawtooth Ring', was instantly broken.

However, as Ren prepared to leave, he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He had just sensed a faint feeling of being watched.

This feeling wasn't like a threatening enemy gaze but more like a harmless, fragile creature's gaze, akin to a little deer peeking at him from a hidden corner.

This made Ren even more curious.

Could there be something else in this seemingly empty elven town?

Ren focused his senses and, with a slight smile, approached a beautifully carved wooden house on the street. Its arched spire was broken, but the overall structure remained intact.

Soon, Ren reached a room on the second floor and slowly walked towards a wardrobe near the window facing the street. It was from here that he had felt the faint gaze watching him.

The wardrobe before him was about two meters tall, intricately carved with delicate curves and motifs of plants and animals, reflecting the elven style. The wardrobe door was half-open, and from the outside, one could clearly see inside, which was empty.

But Ren was certain that the faint gaze watching him originated from within.

"If it's invisible to the naked eye, then it's likely due to some form of concealment here."

Ren reached out and opened the wardrobe door with a creak, and this action seemed to startle the hidden, weak life form.

With Ren's abilities, he could naturally sense the stillness in the room.

He waved his hand, dispelling the concealment spell that had been cast on the wardrobe, revealing a young Elven girl, around six or seven years old, with wide, terrified eyes staring at Ren.

She seemed completely taken aback that Ren had actually discovered her.

"Hello," Ren said, taking a step back and smiling instead of approaching further.

But the girl remained terrified, hugging her Grass Skirt Doll and shrinking back, though her big eyes also showed a hint of bewilderment.

Ren immediately realized that the Elven girl probably couldn't understand his Common Tongue. At her age, she likely only knew her own Elven language.

"Hello, I'm not an enemy. I'm here to find my friend, Anna, a half-elf!" Ren said in somewhat unpolished Elven, though his pronunciation was clear.

His Elven language skills were partly learned from Anna, and while he wasn't fluent, he spoke with proper intonation.

Ren's words startled the Elven girl for a moment, but then she relaxed slightly, still tightly hugging her doll. She responded in Elven, "Hello, are you really here to find Anna?"

"Yes," Ren smiled and nodded.

"I believe you," the Elven girl said, looking at Ren and then at Cookie, and nodding.

Cookie, curious, approached and sniffed the girl. He felt a sense of familiarity, and the girl smiled, extending her fair, slender hand to pat Cookie.

Cookie immediately looked extremely comfortable.

"Do you know where Anna went? Was she taken away by those bad people?" Ren asked, seeing the girl's emotions stabilize.

"No, a human with a large sword on his back came and rescued Anna. Then, they headed in that direction," the Elven girl shook her head and pointed northwest.

A human with a large sword?

Ren's expression brightened.

Clearly, it should be Lambert.

At the same time, he followed the direction the girl had indicated.

But this was the direction towards the center of Ferdinand Forest.

This puzzled Ren. After all, Lambert should have been protecting Anna to leave the forest, not heading deeper into the more dangerous forest center.

Ren was a little confused.

However, now wasn't the time to ponder this. He just needed to follow their trail.

Cookie, with his incredibly sensitive nose, naturally remembered Anna's scent, and Ren instructed him to search for her.

Soon, Cookie circled the area and barked, indicating he had found Anna's trail.

Ren looked at the Elven girl, hesitating for a moment, unsure if he should take her along.

The girl had a treasure that could cast a concealment spell, but it wouldn't be safe for her to stay here alone. Firstly, once the treasure's energy was exhausted, she wouldn't be able to cast the spell, and secondly, if a powerful opponent came, they could still discover her.

After some thought, Ren decided he couldn't leave such a young Elven girl alone.

Her eyes reminded him of Mint's, equally innocent and pure.

"Let's go find Anna together, okay?" Ren smiled and extended his hand towards the girl.

"Okay," the girl nodded, her big eyes fixed on Ren for a moment before nodding firmly.

"Come, I'll carry you!" Ren picked up the girl with one hand and casually followed Cookie.

Man and dog quickly made their way through the forest again.

This time, though, the dog led the way with the man following.

And he wasn't even out of breath.

"Doggy, you're so amazing!" the Elven girl on Ren's shoulder exclaimed, feeling the wind in her hair.

"Thank you!"

"Big brother, I heard humans have mercenaries, who complete tasks for a fee, right?" she suddenly asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Ren was a little surprised.

"Big brother, can I hire you?" the Elven girl continued.

"Hire me?" Ren was taken aback.

"I'll give you this pendant as payment. Mom said it's a witchcraft artifact that can cast a concealment array, and it should be worth a lot. Can you help me kill those bad people?"

"They killed Damon, who was kind to me, Uncle Severen, and Sister Erin, and they also took..." The girl's voice trailed off, her eyes reddening.

"They were like the four people you just killed, with snake patterns on their black robes."

"Can you?"

For a moment, Ren didn't know what to say.

Clearly, the Elven girl had seen through the window as he used his new spell, 'Sawtooth Ring,' to instantly kill four people.

But Ren looked down, meeting the girl's reddened and hopeful eyes, and nodded, "Okay, I will."

"However, this pendant was given to you by your mother. You should take good care of it."

"Can I exchange it for something else?" Ren asked gently.

The girl was a little restrained, unsure what this powerful human brother wanted from her.

Ren gently removed a wooden hairpin from the girl's hair and held it up, "Can this be the payment?"

"But this isn't valuable..." The Elven girl was puzzled.

"It's enough."

"You don't understand. In hiring, there's a principle of fair exchange. Since those people aren't worth much, using this hairpin as payment is sufficient."

"Oh, thank you, big brother." The girl looked a little dazed.

She was old enough to understand, though she didn't know how to refute Ren's words, but she could sense his kindness.

"Big brother, my name is Elora. What's yours?" The Elven girl took the initiative to tell Ren her name, even though her mother had warned her not to talk to strangers, let alone reveal her name.

"I'm Ren."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end