Chapter 116: 116. Taking Risks (1/2)

There were several routes leading out of Winged city to the various other parts of the region and two of them lead northeast towards one of the bordering regions of the Sentro region, the Mounta region. Naturally, tHis was a region ruled by one of the other Great five families, the Mereotti Family.

One of these routes headed south, and then west along the outskirts of the Sentro region and the Darknar region. The other went westwards, then south.

Both routes had their own aspect to them and when given a choice of which route to chose from. Hunters would normally choose the first route as it provided more chances to encounter monsters from both the Sentro region and the Darknar region and monsters from the latter were usually more valuable because they were now considered exotic as entry to the region was forbidden.

However, several factors went into that decision and they would normally not chose such routes when escorting a merchant as it was the wrong choice, from a bodyguard's perspective.

There were also not that many Hunters that could confidently choose such a route as it was incredibly dangerous and they would have to be quite confident in themselves to do that.

That said, the group had still wanted to go by that route even though they had to pull along several large barrels on a carriage and could not let them be destroyed.

This bold choice was because they were not transporting their barrels utilizing an ordinary carriage, rather, this was a magic carriage that was made to travel the wild and was being pulled by an exotic beast that rivaled a Tier 2 demonic horse.

Although the carriage could contain them all as it would expand magically which had shortened their travel time, there were a few places where they had to get out and navigate the beast through the dangerous terrain.

They also couldn't let the carriage suffer any damage and would rush forward to intercept any monsters headed their way leaving Tyler and Nadine behind to look after the carriage.

While that may seem like they were taking a great risk leaving their merchant alone in the wild, the presence of the mysterious Lix that could easily toss a Platinum ranked Hunter with a single arm and Nadine, who was clearly a high-level magic-user meant that they had nothing to worry about and could focus on their battle with peace of mind.

In addition, they would not be entering the region, just traveling along the borders. Thus, any monsters that appeared would not be too overpowered and could be taken down by everyone working together. It was also a good chance for them to observe the full strength of the hooded man named Lix if they were to ever encounter a large hoard of monsters and could not stop them all.

After leaving Winged City for a while now, the sun was at its zenith although it was barely visible through the thick layers of ashen clouds. However, the travelers could now see a vast stretch of dense and primeval dark green forest in the far distance deep into the Darknar region as they traverse through the borders between both regions.

The thick tree trunks stood taller than anything they had ever seen before, while their leafy branches spread wide. It was due to the abnormally large size of the trees in the forest that made them able to see it even from such a massive distance.

The vegetation in there looked richer than anything they had ever seen before and even light could not penetrate the depths of the forest, which gave them the feeling that they would be swallowed by the blackness.

While the eerily-looking Forest still looked menacing from this distance. They could only gulp at the tempting resources that would be found in such a treasured location, but right now, they could fight against any urges as they were after their mountain of treasures.

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The group traveled in a precise arrangement. They would ride on the carriage for a few hours through the safest parts of the journey with Larut as the driver as he would use his ranger skills to scout ahead and prevent running into unexpected trouble and would later alight and be arrayed around the carriage as they moved forward in the dangerous zones slowly.

This arrangement would allow them to rest in the carriage during parts of the journey which would greatly reduce their original travel time as it eliminated the need for any breaks during the day as the six-eyed bull could travel for days without rest.

Tyler and Nadine sat on the driver seat at the front of the carriage and Nadine generally drove the carriage as Larut the ranger walked ahead of the carriage, Dohel their leader and also a warrior walked on the left, and the twins, Anne and Aine walked on the right while Kylyra the Succubi was left on her own to walk at the rear of the carriage, although Dohel had felt bad about it, she seemed to have been released to receive this assignment.

Tyler didn't know why, but he had a feeling he may have done something to freak the girl out however, he decided not to think too much about it. He had also taken the time to take note of the equipment this group of experienced Hunters had decided on for such a dangerous trip.

Dohel the leader of the party, carried a black greatsword that was almost the same size as he was, and was strapped on his back.

He wore similar banded armor like the last time only this one looked better and was probably made of higher quality material than last time. The large blade glimmered like a magic weapon but Tyler couldn't tell how strong it was.

Larut had a long metallic composite bow strapped on his back and a thin longsword on his waist. He wore brownish-black leather armor and his glimmering black boots were most likely his magic item.

The twin girls by the side known as Aine and Anne wore white and black mages robe respectively and wielded Long wooden staffs that were adorned by small gems at the end.

They all seemed to be well equipped with each of them having at least one magic item. This meant they were a very professional team and hadn't squandered their earnings like most other hunters, opting to focus on improving their gears instead.

There had been no snow for the past few days now so although the clouds were still thick and ashen, visibility was good and they had only met low-tiered monsters their entire trip which was why everyone was not too tense. However, Larut's usually calm voice suddenly contained its first hint of severity as he spoke: