On the way to the South

Of this thousand strong Calvary, each and every one of these riders rode a magnificent breed of horse from the Northern region.

What's more, the qualities of their armors were much more sophisticated and totally different from the local garrisons. With bright armors and a long white plume hanging from their helmets, each of these riders had a long sword and bow strapped to the side of their horse.

No matter what, Du Wei is after all from a long family line of military officials. With a simple glance at the fluttering gray cloaks on each of the riders back, he could discern the Calvary brigade coming their way was the elites of the Northern Storm Corps Army.

A chorus of calls came from the pursuing Calvary: "The people in front, is the young master Du Wei of the Rowling family there?" Du Wei's heart jumped at his words, but after thinking it over for a moment, he decided not to reply right away.

It didn't take long for the Calvary brigade to arrive before them.

Clearly, these troops were well trained. Even with a thousand men and horses, they managed to easily stop in front of Du Wei with a single halting command. Their formations were neat and quiet; an obvious sign the riders had a firm grasping control on their mount.

"Who is young master Du Wei?" With this inquiry, the leader of the thousand strong Calvary brigade stepped forward while still on his mount. Donning a bright silver armor, this bearded person was clearly different from the rest of the riders behind him.

As his red cloak flutter in the cold frigid wind, the knight looked ever more so awe inspiring than he should be. And from the corner of Du Wei's eyes, he managed to notice a genuine sixth level knight badge that could only be obtained from the knight's association.

For someone of such caliber in the military, this person must be a senior military officer. With a sword hanging from his side, the knight slowly rode his horse up to Du Wei in a polite manner.

In a soft tone: "Excuse me, which of you here is master Du Wei?"

Du Wei didn't know whether these pursuing troops came with good will or ill intent. Just when he is hesitating in his reply, another person came out from behind.

Unlike the rest, this person wasn't wearing any armor. Instead, he was completely gray in color from top to bottom. Not only was his robe and pointed hat, gray, even his beard and eyes were also gray in color. With a sixth level magician's badge hanging from his chest, this old fella was someone that Du Wei has met before. Sure enough, with a sweeping glance, his sight fell on Du Wei the moment he saw him. With a cold smile, he got off his horse and said: "Long time no see Du Wei."

"The last time I saw you, you were only this tall." Thinking it over, Du Wei immediately recognized who this magician is. This guy is none other than mage Clark, the famous magician that his father requested to come take him on as his apprentice when he was still a child. It was also mage Clark that informed him of the fact that he was unfit to be a magician. After testing him, Du Wei was told that his magical talent was good, but his senses were extremely bad. For that, Du Wei would never forget this odd looking guy.

So after recognizing this weird person, Du Wei was somewhat surprised at the situation: "You are mage Clark? I know who you are, but..."

"It's good that I found you." Clark was laughing with satisfaction: "You know, the magician's union and imperial army has been searching for you ever since you left home!"

Others may not know this, but the magician's union did. The reason they were able to locate Du Wei is because of the order of free passage given to him by Gandalf. When the Northern Storm Corps sent news of someone crossing into the frozen forest with the order of free passage, the magician's union naturally knew it could be none other than Gandalf himself.

Gandalf's status in the magic community is beyond compare. Even when the old fool kidnapped Du Wei, the Rowling family and the military were too afraid to raise a fuss; this of course included the magician's union. Thus, when the news of their whereabouts spread back to the capital, everyone had the general idea that the two had entered the frozen forest. So when Gandalf's life stone shattered on the eve of the founding day, the magician's union was absolutely shocked and mobilized all their forces to search for the last person to have been by his side. And as to why Mage Clark is here of all places, it was due to the fact that he was the only one that has met Du Wei personally in the magician's union.

Of course, the Rowling family wouldn't just sit on the sideline either after seeing the magician's union taking the initiative to help. Using their influence within the military, the Rowling family tasked the Northern Storm Corps army to lend a helping hand. So when Mage Clark arrived in the north, the first thing he did was make contact with the Northern Storm Corps army.

As such, when news spread of Du Wei leaving the frozen forest, the leader of the northern army deliberately sent his personal guards so that he can gain the favor of the Rowling family. This way, the pursuers were able to catch up to them in time.

With such an outcome, Clark was inwardly overjoyed because the president made it explicitly clear that it is absolutely crucial to locate the kid. With a task force of three level six mages and two level four mages, he was given leadership due to the fact that he was the only one capable of recognizing Du Wei. If he were to somehow fail in his task, it would leave a great black mark on his future prospect. But with the task complete, Clark can expect to be rewarded the moment he returns. If he was lucky, he may even get a promotion on his magic rank!

Seeing the other party had malicious intent and was also not a part of the temple, Du Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief because it seems like they really are only here to search for him.

Understanding the situation, Hussein also relaxed and moved his hands away from his scimitar. As a saint knight, Hussein is capable of hiding his true strength and unless someone of similar strength is nearby, no one would be able to see through him. Without a hint of his powers leaking, the knight turned slightly and backed away.

With a smile, Du Wei said: "For it to be master Clark, never would I have imagined my leaving would alert both the magician's union and the military."

At this moment, Clark's mood was very good and even his usually dull gray eyes seemed to gleam with light. Pointing towards the red cloaked senior officer, Clark spoke with a smile: "This is general Andrei, titled number one warrior of the Northlands. He is also a part of the elite Calvary of general Rostock, leader of the Northern Storm Corps Army. Without his help, I fear that I would not be able to find you so easily."

With a bearded and mighty looking face, General Andrei lets out a "hahaha" laugh at this comment. Still sitting on top of his mount, Andrei nodded and spoke in a loud voice: "Mage Clark is too polite! General Raymond and our army leader are old friends. In order to find young master Du Wei, our northern storm army would naturally lend a helping hand. Master Du Wei, forgive me for not dismounting to pay my respect because army rules forbid me from dismounting outside of camp!"

Hearing this Du Wei smiled and spoke a few kind words in return.

Afterwards, Andrei spoke in a loud voice again: "To be able to locate Master Du Wei, I believe my orders have been completed. Master Clark, I will escort you people another hundred miles down south, but that is our limit. Unless we receive an imperial high command, our northern storm army cannot make our way to the south!"

Before Clark came to the north, the President of the magicians union tasked him with many questions that needed to be answered. But seeing the situation, he believed this wasn't the right place to do this. Nodding, Clark did not raise any objection.

With Clark's agreement, General Andrei ordered several horses to be surrendered to them so they can be escorted. Along with the several mages Clark brought with him, everyone headed south.

The Northern Storm corps truly deserves its reputation of being one of the strongest armies in the empire. In a short period of time, the promised hundred miles were easily crossed and now they stood in front of the city of Kolo. After exchanging a few words with the local garrison, the job of escorting Du Wei and his party now fell on the local forces. Seeing his job is now finished, General Andrei bid his farewell and headed back towards the north.

As the eldest son of Earl Raymond, they would naturally receive high level reception from the local garrison. Add to this, Mage Clark is the envoy sent out by the magician's union, there is absolutely no way the local government wouldn't take notice. Upon entry into the city, the local forces immediately organized 300 soldiers to escort and guard these important guests.

Under the request of Du Wei, they were not stationed in the city keep; instead, they were guided to a local inn. As a precaution, the local forces ordered the inn to close its doors to future customers in order to avoid having these important guests harassed by random people. For this reason, the boss of the inn secretly cried tears of blood.

On their travels, Clark secretly assessed Du Wei and his companions. In his observation, Du Wei seemed to have grown a lot. Although Du Wei's age is not even 14, the atmosphere of a child could no longer be seen on his face.

The reason for this is because Du Wei spent a good deal of time in the frozen forest and the people surrounding him so far have all been abnormally powerful experts of the continent. With all these experiences, Du Wei would naturally become more composed and create an aura of mystery around himself. Although Clark knows about the idiotic title given to Du Wei by those in the imperial capital, but Clark did after all almost become Du Wei's teacher, so he naturally knew he wasn't an idiot. Now that Clark has seen Du Wei again, he could not help but feel this youngster was not as simple as he may seem.

Also, there are the people around him.

In Clark's eyes, Hussein is only a third or fourth level knight based on the strength he is giving off. Even though Hussein didn't speak a word, the killing intent extruding from his body could not be hidden. And to Clark's surprise, there is also the stunningly beautiful Medusa.

The feeling Clark was getting from these two men and woman is that they are looking towards Du Wei as the backbone of their group. This idea was staggering to him. So along the way, he asked Du Wei what was the origin of Hussein and Medusa, but Du Wei only told him some nonsense that they are his mercenary friends.

In Clark's mind, he can put up with the idea of Hussein being a mercenary, but Medusa…. In order to survive in the frozen forest, every individual must have a certain level of strength. So how can such a surprising beauty with a frail looking body be a mercenary? Not to mention this woman always had her eyes closed!

After his inquiry, Clark got even more questions he wanted answers to.

It wasn't until the evening that Clark manages to reorganize his thoughts. Readying himself, he was waiting for a good opportunity to question Du Wei regarding the death of Lord Magister Gandalf.

Just when everyone finished resting and was about to have dinner, a loud ruckus could be heard from outside the inn. These intruders clearly had strong backing because the local garrison had already sealed the inn with 300 soldiers standing guard outside. Yet, they sounded like they are going to force their way in no matter what.

Outside the inn, Du Wei could hear angry shouts: "How dare you! You have the nerve to block even the knights of the temple? This city only has this single good inn, so do you dare make the envoys of the temple sleep in the wilderness? Even if your city governor is here, he wouldn't dare! Now quick, step aside, we are on an important task from the temple! Once we have dinner here, we will continue our journey through the night!"

These words piqued Du Wei's interest. Looking out, he immutably heard a loud thud and a local soldier was sent flying through the entrance door. Afterwards, the trampling sound of boots followed suit. From the entrance, several holy knights strode through the door and had a scanned the surroundings. "This is the best inn in the town? From the looks of it, this inn isn't much. If it was just you and me, spending the night in the wilderness isn't much since we have already given ourselves to God. But the elders are people of great importance, so how can we live in such a place…"

The other Knight whispered, "Enough. Look at the local garrison forces, some important character must be living here. You and I are followers of God, we mustn't cause trouble. When will you change your hot headed temper? The elders are all people of intensive training, so why would they care about such things. Quickly go get some people to clean out a few rooms, we are staying here tonight."

Du Wei and Clark is just sitting there and accompanying them was a local officer. This officer was just a third level knight, so to be able to receive such prestigious guests; he was feeling ecstatic at the moment. The entire time, this person tried his best to make their stay as comfortable as possible. Now that he's seeing someone suddenly barging in, the officer banged the table hard with his fist and shouted: "Who dare barge in here! This place is already expropriated by the local garrison."

With one look, Du Wei immediately recognized these Holy Paladins were part of the same group he met earlier. He never did have any good feelings towards the temple and because of his relationship with Hussein; his opinion regarding the temple went even lower. Seeing that a conflict is about to break out, he didn't say anything and was rather happy at the knight's misfortune.

With a glance next to himself, Du Wei noticed Master Clark had a sneer on his face too! EH? Somewhat shocked, it would seem the magician's union wasn't on good terms with the temple either...