The Greenshield Wanderers, probably not willing to test to the limits of their enemies, did not say anything else to provoke them. One of them, the girl who had been suppressed by Fran, Norren and Ralph, even stepped forward to help her Captain fetch his Blood Card from within his robe, while pleading with him to not let his pride cloud his judgement. Thankfully, to her relief, the Greenshield Captain managed to hold himself back, only gnashing his teeth to express his rage.

  Alnea was not bothered with such incompetent rage though. Rather, he was not bothered by anything that the Greenshield Wanderers did. Except getting intrigued by the importance that these Wanderers attached to their base camp. Still, his curiosity did not reach a point where he would resort to torture to pry the truth out of them. And he could already guess a few things about what made the place so special.

  Either there was a Fortune Spring hidden around them, or the place could amplify some of the Glyph Arrays of their clan. Alnea personally leaned more towards the latter guess. The strange arrangement of trees, the large shroud of fog and mist, and the damp ground, coupled with the river nearby did make the place seem like a natural field type Glyph Array resource. Like the one that the crazy Heterodox Wanderer had once shown him back in Rianra.

  Though it would not matter much if his guess was wrong. So what if there was a Fortune Spring nearby? It was not as if he had not experienced one before. He was not so desperate for another Fortune that he would slaughter wantonly. On the contrary, even if he knew where the Fortune Spring was, he would still not take the initiative to experience its Mysteries.

  Standing on the precipice of a transformation, what he needed was not a stroke of Fortune, but a more thorough comprehension of himself, and a courage to take the step he had envisioned. A step, that he had to take by himself. Recklessly charging into the Fortune Spring, and forcing the transformation would only make his Heart vulnerable, like how it had been just after gaining his Serenity.

  Having finally attained True Serenity through his experiences of his past year and a half, he knew how naive and impulsive his thought used to be. At the same time, he also understood why his master had to let him practice on his own. Why she had to let him learn how to deal with other Wanderers…

  True Wanderers could not afford having any weakness in their Hearts. Especially if they wished to make it Impenetrable. Maybe he could have gained Clarity with his half assed Serenity, but he would have never been able to achieve Impenetrability if he had continued down his old path.

  In any case, experiencing a Fortune Spring was the last thing on his mind. Not to mention that he did not have the time or leisure to experience it in the first place. Or to spend it on needlessly exploring the same part of the forest. Even if his guess was wrong, and the place had some other secrets that he could not even fathom, it would be better to let them stay as just some secrets.

  As for the empty threats that the Greenshield Captain had given him earlier, he did not even bother registering them in his mind. Or he would not have watched in silence as the Greenshield Wanderers pulled out their Blood Cards one by one, and gave up on their Final Trial. Though the way they left the Final World did interest him a little.

  After the Greenshield Wanderers chose to end their Trial, their Blood Cards released a curtain of blood red light, which wrapped itself around their bodies like how an insect would wrap itself in a cocoon. The cocoons then flashed with a deep crimson light, that blinded all the Star Seekers for a moment. When everyone regained their sight, both the light and the cocoons were gone, as if they had never even been there in the first place.

  Only the devastation that they had left behind in their battle with the Star Seekers, along with the Glyph Arrays they had inscribed on the trees could prove that Alnea was not imagining things. That and the records he should have gained in his Blood Card. Though, before he could check his progress of the Trial, there was one more thing he needed to do.

  “…Once again, I apologise for making a decision on my own and letting them go,” Alnea said, turning towards his teammates. “I—

  “Did we not talk about this before?” Vestia said, with exhaustion leaking into her voice, as she waved her hand to dismiss his worries. Even when in such a poor condition, she was still worrying for him. And he let go of the people who had made her look so haggard. Maybe he should not have been so forgiving…

  “We believe in your decisions.”

  “This is different,” Alnea said, shaking his head. “Back then, the dagger… In any case, this time, everyone had a right to share their opinion about how to deal with our enemies.”

  “I do not think you did anything wrong,” Yuri said, glancing at the place where the Greenshield Wanderers had vanished. “Hesitating to kill is a fatal flaw for Wanderers, but so is a desire for meaningless slaughter. Unless someone wishes to convert to the Heterodox path. In that case, indulging in meaningless slaughter will be your path to success. Yet, it will also be your path to being hunted down by all the Orthodoxies around the world.”

  Yuri paused, and turned towards Alnea, before continuing where she had left off.

  “The ability to read the situation, and judge the right course of action is one of the most essential qualities of a leader. As our Captain, you must always take all things into consideration before making a decision. In this situation, it would be the effect your decision will have on us after leaving the Final World. Killing all the Wanderers we meet will offend too many clans. It would be best if we restrain ourselves in the Trial.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Yuri paused once again, and glanced towards the rest of the Star Seekers, adding, “Besides, if anyone had a different opinion, then they would have mentioned it when I asked them not to kill their opponents unless it was absolutely necessary.”

  “…Yuri is right,” Norren said, forcing an awkward laugh. “We are not mindless killers. Even if you had asked our opinions, we would have agreed with your decision.”

  “What’s so great about killing some weaklings anyway?” Cecilia said, squatting down, and scratching Forne’s back, as the cat stretched out its limbs, digesting the Fortune it had devoured earlier. “If we want to kill, then we must kill the Wanderers of the Lotus clan. Those are our true enemies.”

  “And the ones who dragged us into this mess,” Karl added.

  “…They were just some small flies,” Zain said with disdain. “Why are we still talking about them?”

  “…For once, I agree with him,” Fran said, putting his shield away, before turning towards Alnea. “There are more important things for us to talk about.”

  “It has only been a little over couple of hours, and we have already faced the first group of challengers,” Aren said. “Although we guessed that this might be the case, it is still a little surprising to meet with our competitors so soon in the Trial.”

  “Do not forget about the information we got from the Wanderers of the Greenshield clan,” Karl said. “We can now confirm our previous speculation.”

  “The people who challenged us to the Final Trial have indeed been transported to various parts of the Final World.”

  “The parts that we have to cover for our Final Trial, to be precise.”

  “And each group has their own Final Trial.”

  “Stopping us from completing our Trial is just a part of their Trial. And that too, not a mandatory one. This opens a whole new window of opportunity for us.”

  “As long as we can negotiate with some of the less hostile teams, we can avoid many unnecessary battles…”

  “If those Wanderers of the Greenshield clan were telling the truth,” Yuri said. “Let us not trust their information too hastily.”

  “Not to mention that different groups of Wanderers may have different Trials,” Vestia added. “For some of those groups, stopping or hunting us may be their only Trial.”

  “…Are you trying to get us cursed?” Ralph mumbled, before turning towards Alnea. “Do we need to change our plans?”

  “Our plan remains the same,” Alnea said, before glancing towards Vestia. “But there needs to be a change in our schedule. Let us set camp here for now and wait for everyone to recover to their peak before resuming our exploration.”

  “…The goal that we had set earlier…”

  “There is no other choice,” Alnea said, shrugging his shoulders. “We discussed it earlier. The daily goal we set is not something we can cover in just one exploration. Let alone the physical exhaustion from running for so long, just unfurling our Spirits also costs us some Spirit Power. No matter how little that consumption is, it is still a consumption. We were going to get exhausted at some point or other. The battle only brought that time forward.

  “I know that some of you still have some Spirit Power left, but what can just one or two people do? We are a team, and our enemies will also be a team. Continuing to explore in our current situation will only make our conditions worse, giving our enemies an even greater advantage over us. Even if we use the potions we have prepared, we will not be able to face our enemies in our current condition. So, rest is a must.”

  “…Do we need to secure this area first, or—

  “No need,” Alnea said, shaking his head, as he glanced at the gloomy forest around them. “It has probably been only a couple of hours since the Greenshield Wanderers secured this place. Any Oren Beasts that would have come near this place since then should have been scared away by our battle earlier. Still, we can never be too careful. At least one of us need to keep guard at all times. Except for Vestia. She is the most exhausted of us all, and needs more rest than everyone else.”

  “I can—

  “I thought you believed in my decisions,” Alnea said, glancing towards Vestia, with his lips curving upwards in a smile. “Or were you saying those words just for the sake of it?”

  “…This is not fair,” Vestia grumbled with a pout. “You were not supposed to use my words against me.”

  “Are we going to draw lots?”

  “…That’s too much of a bother,” Alnea said, waving his hand. “I will keep the first watch. You can decide the rest of the order on your own.”

  “Then I will take the second watch,” Yuri said before anyone else could. As such, the other Star Seekers cold only contend for the rest of the watch.

  “The third watch—

  “I will take the third watch,” Cecilia said after a moment of silence, before glaring at the rest of the Star Seekers, with Forne mimicking her actions. “Does anyone have a problem?”

  “…I want the fourth watch,” Karl said, taking advantage of the silence spreading amongst his teammates, bringing everyone back to their senses.

  “…Fifth watch…”

  “…Sixth watch…”

  “…Seventh watch…”

  “…Why is everyone so eager to take the watch first?” Zain mumbled, staring at everyone in confusion.

  “…I don’t know,” Norren said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I will take the eighth watch.”

  “…Whatever,” Zain said, and simply stopped thinking about the problem. “I will keep the last watch then.”

  “…Alright then,” Alnea said, clapping his hands to bring everyone’s attention to himself. “Since the order of the watch is decided, everyone can go find a comfortable spot to rest. It would be best if you can stay together. Of course, I will not stop anyone from finding a place all by yourself. Just do not wander too far away from me, or I would not be responsible if something happens to you.”

  “…I think I like the first option better.”

  “…Let’s stay together…”

  Suppressing his laughter, Alnea glanced at his teammates with a smile, as they discussed which position would be the most comfortable. A joke from time to time was good to lighten the mood of his team. As their Captain though, he could not indulge himself in the pleasure of teasing his teammates. Tearing his eyes away from his teammates, he pulled his Blood Card out from his robe, and glanced at his Assistant Panel through the senses of his Spirit.

  “Challengers defeated: 10.”

  “Area explored: 0.87%.”

  “Time left: 29 days, 22 hours, 23 minutes, 43 seconds.”