In the jungles

The galloping of hooves came to a stop after hours of continuous ride. The horses lined up in front of the city gates, while the riders stared at their leader, faces filled with confusion. The woman at the lead of the group leaped down from her horse and approached the gate, indicating that the group had reached their destination. The others had no choice but to follow suit. 

"Stop right there. Present your identification document or entry pass."

The city guards moved their spears at the same time, blocking the entrance. As the gatekeepers of a border town, they had to always be on guard against strangers. The place was usually peaceful, with merchants and local saints being the only people who frequented this town, but the guards couldn't be negligent on duty because of that.

The woman sighed and began rummaging through her pockets.

"Hey boss... Do we really need to enter this place? What business do we have here?"

The question was finally asked. The group was suddenly dragged to a city they hadn't even heard the name of, yet no one dared inquire their leader about her intentions. Everyone perked their ears, waiting for their boss's answer. Rosalyn didn't even spare them a glance.

"You're questioning my orders? Hmm? You've grown quite daring, Alex."

"Uh... Um..." Regret eventually filled the young man's face. His hurried steps dragged him several meters away from the Boss, ready to run away at any moment. Seeing his reaction, Rosalyng couldn't help but chuckle.

"I was informed by a... Hmm, source of information, that something nasty might or might not happen in this town today or tomorrow... or a year from now... probably never. Anyway, we're now here to see things through, hm?"

What kind of explanation was this? That didn't justify anything!

"A source of information? You mean that slave? That blue slave? We got dragged all the way here for some bastard's baseless blabberings?"

"Heeeey!!! Shut that trap!"

POW- Rosalyn patted the fellow on the shoulder. Alex's knees bent forward. 

"What if he's right? Huh? What if he's an actual prophet of some sort? We'll get the chance to recruit a helpful dude!"

The Boss then took out a fake identification plaque from her pocket with a delightful expression, ready to present it to the guards.

"C'mon boss! You don't even believe it yourself! He might be a saint, but a prophet? And this mister prophet lived as a slave all his life?"

The other group members secretly nodded their heads. If one was a prophet capable of seeing the future, they would've at first, saved themselves from such a life! That man was probably just a scammer.

"Sigh, guys!"

Rosalyn couldn't disagree with them either. How could someone randomly claim that he knew where a monster breakout would occur and expect others to believe it? Rosalyng was aware that some saints could predict the location of a breakout; but that was only through the help of some artifacts and also had a limited range. That blue-haired young man claimed he knew many more locations, presenting such information as a bargaining chip for his unreasonable requests.

Such an arrogant young man he was!

'But it wouldn't hurt to check it for once.'

Of course, Rosalyn had to spend days analyzing and organizing things just to ensure that this wasn't a trap. She picked a few powerful individuals to tag along and put a trustworthy fellow to watch over the hideout before heading to the mentioned city. She went through such a hassle for this short journey that might not even bear any fruits.

The more she thought about it, the more of a waste this trip sounded.

'Whatever, we'll return in two days or so if nothing happens.'

With a sigh, she reached out her arm to hand over the fake plague. 

"...."

But before the guard could take the metallic coin, the woman paused. 

"Miss? Please present your identification-"

Pow- The Boss suddenly kicked the guard in the stomach, sending him flying like a leaf. Her figure instantly vanished from sight, appearing a few meters away. Her hand was already on the hilt of her sword as she landed in front of her group.

KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKK

Boomm- The ground where she was standing just a second ago smashed into pieces as a huge figure landed from the sky. The unwelcomed guest shrieked and flapped its wings, bearing its fangs at the humans present. 

BOMM

BANG

POFF

One monster, two monsters. Numerous giant birds emerged from thin air, pounding on the town's barrier and smashing the ground. The clear sky suddenly darkened, shadowed by the presence of the newly arrived beasts.

"What the fuck??"

The guards and the townsmen could only shiver at the sight. So many monsters appeared without prior notice, with no forces present to stop them nor any saints for purification. The scene... this meant nothing to them but destruction, a total annihilation.

"....."

Shifting her sight away from the beast in front of her, Rosalyn's gaze wandered around, taking in the sight of the swarm of monsters. Her lips parted on their own, and her posture faltered for an instant. 

"...Seriously?"

No matter how unbelievable it was, her eyes weren't lying to her. 

'...A prophet?'

. . . . . . . . . . .

"Mmm... By the way... why are we entering this jungle?"

After wandering inside the jungle from early in the morning, the question that was on everyone's minds was finally asked by the newcomer. The four people exchanged glances before they all turned to stare at one person's back. 

"Because I want to."

"Argh, seriously! Who enters The Perennial Forest only because they want to?"

As its name suggested, The Perennial Forest was a region with rich vegetation that covers a majority of the southern parts of the continent. The forest was home to many valuable plants and rare animals, as well as a crucial area for trade convoys of other countries since it was located at the center of the continent. The dense greenery and overgrown trees were one reason and the wild beasts and dangerous animals were the other cause that locals avoided entering deep into the woods as much as possible.

"I do, as you can see."

Ian jumped atop a thick tree root before shrugging his shoulders. He could hear the group sigh in disappointment behind him. The dissatisfied atmosphere didn't linger for long as Doris presented another question.

"Well, you see... I used to think that mercenaries were, you know, a group of super-powerful people who would accept dangerous missions for money and would do anything dirty as long as they were paid well," Doris expressed as she bent to avoid a branch. "But aren't we just some jobless wanderers?"

Swosh. Swosh. 

The group carefully moved through the woods.

"Well... You're right."

The doctor suddenly squatted down beside a bush and began inspecting it closely. Seeing this, the group stopped in their tracks and waited for her to finish. This was already the 7th time that Eleen had done this since they set out. The group had no choice but to get along with her habit of collecting medical herbs on the way. 

"Other mercenary guilds are mostly like that; it's ours that is different. This organization was previously an adventurer's guild before changing to become a mercenary guild, so it has traits of both organizations mixed in it."

"Is that so..."

Noticing that Eleen would probably take a while to collect as many herbs as she desired, Ian motioned the group to gather around and prepare lunch at the same time. 

"So, wouldn't it be better to call ourselves a group of adventurers rather than a mercenary team? None of us really fits that title..."

Doris was right. Instead of a team of seasoned warriors, Ian ended up traveling with a group of kindergarten kids.

"I'm a mercenary."

At his declaration, everyone's eyes turned to Raven. The black-haired swordsman ignored the gazes as if they were nothing and proceeded to add dry branches to the fire. 

'Well, he might look like a mercenary, but he too isn't much different from a kid.'

No one was, in fact. All of them were just too young. Right, they were above 20, but so what? That's still considered a child, at least in Ian's eyes. What was Ian going to do with these people? What could he hope to achieve? The future felt somewhat dark and blurry to him. 

'Sigh, whatever.'

Having finished preparing the meal while imagining his disastrous future, Ian sat beside a tree and began his daily meditation.

Once again finding himself in a bottomless dark space, Ian focused on gathering as much energy from the wandering fragments around him as possible after finding his balance. He no longer attempted to sink down towards the shiny star at the bottom of the endlessness. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. The lower he moved, the higher the pressure became on his body and soul. If he moved deeper recklessly, the aftermath could destroy him in the blink of an eye. Putting aside that task, he put his years of experience to use and concentrated on the surrounding environment. Little by little, golden dust-like specks began whirling around him and forming a ring that kept rotating again and again. The task seemed simple, but it took a lot of his mental strength, leaving him exhausted and unable to continue for longer. 

'There is no need to rush; I've already progressed quite well.'

The number of rings rotating around him kept increasing by the day. He was brimming with Aether all the time. It was surprising how he was doing better than most of his previous lives. 

His eyes opened to the sight of a tiny wolf lying on his lap, his ears still drooping ever since Ian told him he didn't need any help in his meditation. Sure Lior's boost could help him achieve a higher level at a faster speed, but there was no way Ian would ask a child's help. What about his pride?

Alaric and Doris were sitting together, memorizing and practicing spells. The girl still lacked in many ways when it came to reading and understanding the textbooks, so Alaric began helping her out.

Hap. Hap. Hap. On the other side of the camp, the proud mercenary kept slashing the air with his sword, doing his daily training as usual. 

"...."

Even looking at him made Ian feel exhausted. The thing he liked about Aether was that he didn't need to move an inch in order to practice it. 

'The food is almost ready... But where is Miss Eleen?'

Did she stray far from the group while gathering herbs? That could be dangerous. 

There was no choice. Ian picked up his wolf pup, leaving the camp in search of the young miss. It wasn't hard to guess where she was off to, he only needed to follow the trail of reaped herbs. 

'Well, I can't say I blame her for being greedy for these...'

There were bunches of herbs that couldn't be found anywhere else on this continent. Even if she didn't want to use them on her patients, she could earn a living by selling them.

'Maybe I should tell the others to pick up some crops as well... Nothing much remains from our travel expenses...'

Ian disregarded that idea. They'd all decided to leave the handling of financial matters to Eleen. She also seemed to enjoy it a lot. 

"Oy! What do you think you're doing?? Move away!"

"You are the one who shall leave right at this moment!"

Just then, the voices of two individuals entered his ears; one male and one female. He knew the female one belonged to Eleen, but...

'That voice... Claus?'