Chapter 444: Follow


    ?


    A group of three walked through the forest without making a sound. Despite the chilled, crunchy grass beneath their feet, it was as though they were ghosts moving through daylight.


    Suddenly, their scout came to a stop and put a hand up.


    They all seamlessly came to a stop together, their movements just as silent.


    [Cher Ravenw (FFF-)]


    [Level: 19]


    -


    [Physical: 473]


    [Mental: 522]


    [Will: 328]N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Cher was a young man. He had a short stature at around 5''7", but his body waspact and powerful. Though his muscles didn''t bulge, he had a slender sort of power to him.


    However, ironically enough, he was their scout, and just now his detection Skill had felt something.


    He had a unique assassin-like ss that made him incredibly sensitive. Even when facing those of much higher level than himself, he could feel when his skill was rebuffed.


    Instantly, he knew that he was up against a monster. It was rare that he came across someone who could stop his scan.


    He didn''t try to look around. He knew he wouldn''t be able to find the exact location of this person.


    With a wave of his hand, the group that had been standing in silence suddenly scattered.


    -


    Ss was watching this from above. He had felt the sudden probe, but it had also been very easy to dispel it so he hadn''t thought he would be detected. But the moment Cher raised up a hand, he knew he had been seen through.


    ''Interesting...''


    There was so much in this world. It made him ufortable that he couldn''t ount for every variable, but it also made the Madness Key all the more obviously correct.


    The only way to survive in this world was to be strong enough that any variables you ran into were worthless.


    Ss didn''t chase them.


    They were smart, separating first and foremost, and then choosing the direction they assumed to be opposite of him. Right now, they were all getting further from him while running in three different directions. Obviously, although Cher couldn''t pinpoint his exact location, he had a vague idea about the general direction.


    However, the reason Ss wasn''t chasing them wasn''t because of this. He could easily send the Basilisk King to stall one, the Arctic Emperor Cobra to hawk down another, and deal with thest himself.


    He didn''t do that because he didn''t want to expose the truth of his Profession just yet. For all anyone knew, he just had a unique transformation ability. And, two, the goal wasn''t these people. It was the trading route.


    There were two ways to ruin a trading route.


    The first was to damage the cargo. However, his opponents were smart and had scattered, making it difficult to tell which of them had the cargo on them.


    The second was to destroy the checkpoints.


    There would be several at key locations along the trading route, and this was the reason Lucius had only sent Mark and Bloom to finish thest leg.


    The other checkpoints were under heavy guard by the rest of the participants.


    It made one wonder, then... why Lucius had trusted Ss with this part of the Quest.


    But Ss thought it was actually a smart decision on his part. He probably thought he could at least hide the checkpoints from Ss this way.


    ''I bet at least one of them will go back to a checkpoint. The question is... which one...''


    Ss'' gaze shed and he ignored Cher, choosing one of the others to follow.


    [Bass Ravenw (FF+)]


    [Level: 19]


    Ss followed silently. He was having a hard time remaining as silent as the others, but he didn''t need to. He was a long enough distance away that it was doubtful that Bass would hear him.


    The chase went on for hours. Ss continued to glide through the trees without a hint of fatigue, his eyes calm.


    The only rule for checkpoints was that they had to be ced down within a certain radius of one another, and there had to be a certain number depending on the length of the trading


    route.


    But other than this, they could be extremely variable, and if one was smart, they could use this to their advantage.


    It could be possible to keep two checkpoints extremely close, but another far. Or, vice versa. Checkpoints could also be hidden and camouged, making them difficult to spot.


    When activated, they were ces that could also hide cargo, and they would have defensive barriers that couldst quite a while. They were essentially like downgraded outposts.


    However, they would still be vulnerable nheless if they were smart.


    Bass obviously wasn''t returning to the checkpoint directly, but Ss was extremely patient. It didn''t matter where he passed through or what dangers he tried to drag him into. And then it


    finally happened.


    The man came to a stop in a seemingly inconspicuous region.


    The region seemed barren. There was a cave opening that was hard to spot at first because of the sheer number of trees around the area, and there was a thinyer of snow covering


    everything.


    This wasn''t the first time the man had stopped at a region that seemed to have high beast activity. Thest time there had been arge number of Dire Wolves that surged into the area. So, Ss didn''t think much about it for the first few seconds.


    But then his eyes suddenly sharpened.


    It''s here.


    Ss moved first.


    Bass never expected it. He had had a feeling that he had been followed all the while, so he had tried to lure Ss into a false sense of security.


    A normal person would have already let their guard down and would have to wait for some true stimulus before they acted. But he hadn''t even had the chance to secretly call out his


    teammates before the back of his head exploded into a rain of blood, a heavy pauldron having


    smashed right against it.


    Ss leapt down from the tree he hid in, rushing into the cave.