(From MC’s perspective)

The city of venen,

After an hour, we covered half the distance of the outer area. Our journey was smooth because we hasn’t come across monsters on the way.

Which saved us from wasting energy and time. I believe if this goes on, we will reach the edge of the outer area soon.

From time to time, I saw three of them cast a glance at me. I know they want to get rid of me sooner than later. But my mind is now occupied with different thoughts.

I don’t know. What will I encounter on the wide plains? I’m hoping to get some clues at least.

When I was lost in my thoughts, I heard a rattling sound from ahead. After that four of us halted our movements instantly.

“Wait here, I’ll go and check,” After saying that Bob Stokes walked forward slowly.

Seeing that the three of us stopped making any movements. From the rattle sound alone, I can guess it’s a snake monster.

Which brings me back the bad memories. I hope it’s not 2nd order monster. And the chances of encountering 2nd order in this outer area are also low. So I waited with others.

On the other hand, Peter casually glanced at Kevin(Vincent) and found that Kevin was calm and composed.

For a moment, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Usually, the first order and above monsters are nightmares for trash wizards like them.

The reason Bob went ahead to check, it’s also because of their trash magic. He and Garry won’t able to provide any assistance to Bob.

Usually, in the wilderness, they both act as assistants to Bob.

Right now watching Kevin’s calm expression, Peter asked, “Kevin, are you not scared?”

Hearing that, Garry was also surprised. He turned to face Kevin(Vincent) just like Peter.

After hearing that, I came to realise that I’m acting out of order. But it took me less than seconds to come up with a lie.

“I’m scared inside. But I have trust in Bob. With his heavily built body, he can easily solve any troubles,” I replied in a solemn tone.

I kept my expression as normal as possible. Because, we have come a long way, I don’t want to get things to worsen right now.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows. He couldn’t able to find anything wrong with Kevin’s (Vincent’s) statement.

But still, he has a vague feeling in his heart that Kevin is different from usual novice hunters. Then he immediately put behind these thoughts because he knows sooner or later Kevin will die.

Even if he and Garry decided to let him live by any chance, Bob on the other hand will certainly not let him go. So he wasn’t afraid that Kevin would cause any trouble.

Garry watched Peter’s reaction. He can’t ask openly because of Kevin’s presence. So he silently stood and waited for Bob’s arrival.

10 minutes later,

“Ha…Ha…Ha….”

Three of us heard loud laughter from distance. I squinted my gaze to recognise the person. The person is Bob Stokes, then why is he laughing?

I watched ahead with a curious gaze. Soon Bob Stokes reached closer to us. When he arrived in front of us, he opened his palm to show us a brown colour crystal gem.

The crystal gem was in thumb size. Before I could think, I heard Garry’s questioning.

“What happened?”

“Is that crystal gem of snake monster?” Garry asked while his gaze is fixated on the crystal gem in Bob’s hand.

Bob observed the reaction of everyone one by one. But when he saw Kevin’s face, he paused for a moment. “Is he evaluating my crystal gem?” He thought to himself.

He was stunned for a moment. “No way,”

“Kevin is just a novice hunter. Maybe he is appreciating the gem,” Bob Stokes thought to himself.

Then instead of answering Garry’s question first, he placed the crystal gem in his storage bracelet.

Only after storing the item, he replied, “It’s just average early 1st order monster. It’s not a big deal.”

After saying that he cast a glance at Kevin before saying, “Let’s go, we have to reach the dividing edge in time.”

Perceiving Bob’s gaze, I kept my face as normal as possible. Then under his command, we continued our journey. The only thing that can expose me right now is the appearance of strong monsters.

While rushing forward, I purposely kept my speed slow as possible. From time to time, I put an act by gasping for breath. Which further delayed the time.

Peter and Garry didn’t say anything. But I can see they were also having trouble keeping up the speed Bob.

So if I didn’t show any signs of tiredness now. It will raise the eyebrows of Bob Stokes.

Fortunately, I saw Bob didn’t complain about it. I guess that purple flower made him wait.

Then a few minutes later, we resumed our journey.

Time went by,

After one and a half hours, we reached the border of the outer area. I have to say nothing beats an experienced team. We used a completely different route to come here.

I guess this Bob is not only strong but cunning as well. If we use the normal route, we may come across another adventurer team.

It will be more dangerous than encountering monsters. If the team is hostile towards us, then Bob would have guessed we won’t be able to support him during the fight.

Then I saw three of them discussing something seriously. Why do I feel they didn’t come here for the purple flower only?

Did they accept any guild mission? A quick glint flashed into my eyes as I realised it.

Why haven’t I thought about it before?

There is a possibility for three of them to do some kind of mission. What is it? If it’s anything to do with the abandoned site, then I have to find out what is it.

Seeing that, three of them continued to discuss. I walked up to them.

On the other hand, Bob said to his two friends, “Don’t forget that, we have to do some information gathering here.”

Hearing that, Peter commented, “I don’t think hunters from other strong guilds will show up today.” He didn’t say it directly but the other two can easily understand his meaning.

“Ha…Ha..Ha….” .𝘤𝑜𝑚

“If they dare to come, then our guild’s strong wizards will make them disappear,” Garry said with a laugh.

Three of them didn’t mind Kevin’s presence at all. In their minds, Kevin is just a disposable product.

Bob saw Kevin walking towards them. He immediately coughed to remind the other two, “Cough”

Bob doesn’t want Kevin to listen to their conversation. Because there are chances of another party finding something suspicious and then fleeing.

Especially, at this dividing edge. Bob doesn’t want something like that to happen.

On the other hand, I watched the three of them quiet down a moment. But I overheard a few words from their mouth.

In particular, “Strong wizards.”

I’m sure that something is going on.

Looking at Bob, I asked, “What happened?”

“There is still a lot of distance to cover before reaching that purple mist area,” I added.

Hearing that, a quick glint flash into Bob’s eyes. Instead of answering, he looked at his friends.

Various thoughts appeared in Bob’s mind.

Before coming here their guild manager asked them to do a compulsory gathering of information. And the place of doing that mission is also the same place which they are currently located at.

But Bob has a different plan in his mind. He can’t say no to a compulsory mission. So he accepted the mission but he has plan to do it for a limited time.

He is not interested in wasting an entire day here.

After pondering for a moment, he said to Kevin(Vincent), “We will take a rest here.”

“Then we will continue our journey after a few hours,” Bob added further.

Hearing that, I smiled inwardly. I’m sure it’s not rest but a mission. So I didn’t ask back anything. I walked away before nodding at him.

I’m going to hide behind the shade tree. For them, it will look like I’m taking a rest. But actually, I want to see what the three of them are up to.

Seeing that, Kevin believed his words. Bob relaxed his tense eyebrows. He then looked at Peter and Garry. It’s time for them to start the mission.

Then three of them separated in different directions. They are going to hold positions under three different trees. Fortunately, the trees in this area were quite large and they are surrounded by dense vegetation.

If someone uses this dense vegetation to hide, it will provide them with good covers. So because of this three of them were not going to expose that easily.

On the other hand, after seeing three of their actions. I sneered inwardly, “I believe they are going to spy on others.”

Apart from it, I couldn’t think of anything else.

Especially, with three of their strength. It’s impossible to fight against the adventurer team from other guilds.

So they are more likely going to collect information and send it to their guild later.

After gaining some clarity, I decided to watch their movements.