Chapter 39: Pursuit

Chapter 39: Pursuit

Early the next morning, William and the other four enjoyed breakfast at Baron Tony's castle, and after sharing the fruit pudding William had prepared in advance, they set off for their task.

For some reason, William found that when he stored some prepared hot dishes in his storage ring and took them out to eat later, the taste would become a bit strange. However, cold foods like pudding and ice cream didn't seem to be affected.

"Ah, let's go!" Nichole, who was walking at the forefront of the group, exclaimed energetically.

"Yeah, let's do this," William nodded in agreement. The others didn't react much; they were already accustomed to Nichole's spirited demeanor.

The group arrived at the location where they had discovered the Moon Spirit Leopard yesterday. Elena lightly leaped and stood on the huge rock where the Moon Spirit Leopard had been the previous night, surveying the area.

The other four also searched around for any traces left by the Moon Spirit Leopard, fully participating in the task.

After Elena finished her investigation and came down, everyone gathered together.

"There are several claw marks on the boulder, and some of the tracks aren't very fresh. The Moon Spirit Leopard must frequent this area," Elena said, then pointed in the direction to the east, saying, "Yesterday, it left from this direction. Fortunately, there are still some lingering scents, so I should be able to track it."

As the team's scout and an elven hunter, Elena naturally had unique tracking methods to lock onto targets in the wild.

William remembered that elven hunters could use the spell "Beast Tongue" to obtain information from surrounding small animals like birds and rabbits.

Even after advancing to the Legendary rank, they could gain the divination spell "Ask Nature," which allowed them to directly obtain desired information from any living or non-living entity, such as forests, rocks, and so on. The effect was quite powerful.

The others didn't find any useful information, only confirming that there were indeed traces of the vineyard being damaged nearby.

Following behind Elena, the group headed east. William also cast the spell "Featherlight" on everyone, making their movements even more agile and swift.

After tracking for a long time towards the east, they were almost reaching the boundary of Baron's domain when Elena suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked from behind.

"It's strange," Elena said with some confusion. "The Moon Spirit Leopard suddenly changed direction here and almost turned back towards the south of the domain."

After discussing for a while, since there were no other clues at the moment, they decided to continue following to see if they could find any new discoveries.

But strangely, the tracks of this Moon Spirit Leopard took another big turn to the west of the Baron's domain.

Fortunately, they had an elven hunter with them, whose scouting abilities were much stronger than those of human hunter profession. Otherwise, they might not have been able to find this magical beast and would have wasted time.

Because there were few traces left by the Moon Spirit Leopard, and they were intermittent, Elena spent a lot of effort, even using the spell "Beast Tongue" several times to obtain information from surrounding small animals. It wasn't until noon that they finally followed the tracks to a small stone mountain to the west of Baron Tony's domain.

This was one of the rare rocky hills in the Baron's domain. The entire hill was less than a hundred meters high, and there were few trees and shrubs on it. There were many good hiding places among the rugged cracks in the rocks.

Because it wasn't suitable for grape cultivation nearby and there were no special mineral resources, and it was nearly ten kilometers from the town, few residents of the domain passed through here.

"Elena, is this the place?" Nichole asked.

"It should be. The scent of the Moon Spirit Leopard is very strong here. This should be where it hides during the day," Elena said, pointing to a clear claw print left on the damp ground by the stream running beside the small mountain.

"It should have been drinking water here. No mistake," Elena confirmed.

"Okay," Jason said, then began to organize the tasks.

"Elena, you and I will lead in the front. The task of exploration is up to you. Pay attention to discovering the Moon Spirit Leopard's traces and don't let it ambush us."

"Yeah."

"Nichole, you and William walk in the middle of the group. Pay attention to protecting William and be ready to support others in time."

"Got it!"

"William, before we set off, cast enhancement and protection spells on everyone. Make sure to maintain the effects of the spells. Of course, the most important thing is to protect yourself!"

"Understood."

"Lumbro, you walk at the back of the group. Remember to stay vigilant and watch our backs."

"I know."

"Finally, everyone must be careful. This Moon Spirit Leopard is extremely skilled at ambushing in the dark. Stay alert."

Jason emphasized one last time and prepared to head towards the mountain.

Everyone took out their weapons and held them in their hands. Elena put away her longbow and switched to a shortsword, as the longbow wasn't very useful in this exploration.

William also took out his emerald staff and began casting enhancement magic for everyone.

"Spirit Armor!"

"Minor Deflection Force Field!"

"Resistance to Energy Damage!"

"Bear's Resilience, Cat's Grace, Ox's Strength, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom!"

"Precise Strike!"

He cast various enhancement and protection spells on everyone. William felt a little relieved. Although mage's enhancement and protection effects were not as good as the divine magic of a priest, it was still quite good for the adventure team without a mage or a priest before.

"Not bad, William. I can clearly feel my strength has increased," Jason remarked.

William didn't cast all enhancement spells on each person, as doing so would drain his mana before combat even started.

For Lumbro, he cast Spirit Armor, Minor Deflection Force Field, Bear's Resilience, and Ox's Strength.

For Elena and Jason, he cast Spirit Armor, Precise Strike, Ox's Strength, and Cat's Grace.

As for Nichole and himself, he cast all available spells. William understood the art of his work very well.

Jason felt the effects of William's enhancement magic, tightened his grip on his sword, and said to everyone, "Let's go."

The group formed a tight formation and slowly made their way up the mountain, staying vigilant and observing the surroundings, especially the shadows where the Moon Spirit Leopard was most likely to hide.

As they carefully explored every corner of the mountain, not overlooking any possible hiding spots, William, who had applied the advanced magic warning of the third tier spells to himself, suddenly felt something. He looked up towards the direction indicated by his spiritual alert.

In a shadow of rocks not far from the group, a pair of bright yellow eyes were staring fixedly at them.

It was the Moon Spirit Leopard!