7: Isn't making a wish simply about getting whatever you want?

"Magician Sir, thank you for saving my arm."

The Second Young Master was overwhelmed with gratitude, and his trust and goodwill towards Ronan reached their peak.

Ronan stood rooted to the spot, a drop of cold sweat slowly trickling down his forehead.

He clearly remembered that the reason the Second Young Master was unconscious was due to his left arm being crushed by a boulder, leading to excessive blood loss.

Since the arm was no longer salvageable, Ronan had no choice but to use magic for an immediate thermal cut.

Although he lost his entire left arm, at least the person survived.

But now.

The Second Young Master's left arm had actually grown back... completely unscathed!

The Eldest Young Miss and the Maid didn't witness the amputation, but Ronan had personally cut off the arm; there was no possibility of him being mistaken or unaware.

For such a bizarre and illogical phenomenon to appear inexplicably, Ronan could only think of one reason: Wishing.

Before Ronan had mastered magic, in order to maintain the persona of a Magician and prevent observant people from discovering the fact that he couldn't use magic, he was forced to rely on Wishing to achieve effects.

When the Second Young Master was injured and bleeding earlier, his wish was perfectly fine.

Adhering to the rule he had summarized—that 'wishes must be precise and concise'—he made the wish for "minimum stabilization of injuries."

Although there were some bumps in the road, such as the tentacles losing control at the last moment and nearly attacking the Second Young Master.

But Ronan always firmly believed that no matter how out of control these tentacles became, they wouldn't reverse or affect the wish itself.

These were merely the convoluted intermediate steps; only the result mattered.

The wish was to stabilize the injuries, and the result was exactly that.

That was enough.

Isn't Wishing just getting whatever you want?

There's no need to overly dwell on the method of realization.

As for the Second Young Master's current anomaly... it must be due to the healing effect being too powerful.

After all, 1 point of wish power is usually only used to treat a small scratch; using it here was like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito, so having some positive after-effects was reasonable.

Through analysis, Ronan continuously confirmed his own thoughts.

At this moment, the panic in his heart vanished, and his mind became clear.

The Second Young Master, whom he had originally feared like a tiger, now seemed to possess the luck of the simple-minded.

After Shield Mountain and the two others efficiently distributed the spoils, they signaled everyone to head towards the Bear Goblin's cave.

Evil Axe frequently looked back, somewhat displeased with the speed of the Employers.

But after seeing Ronan walking among the Employers, he ultimately swallowed the complaint on his lips.

The group walked for a long time.

Shield Mountain was at the very front of the team, constantly identifying directions and responsible for finding the path back to the Bear Goblin's cave.

Eagle Eye and Evil Axe were positioned on the left and right flanks, guarding against potential attacks.

The three cooperated in a triangular formation, followed by the three Employers whom Ronan was responsible for protecting.

At this time, Ronan's Spiritual Power net was already spread out, centered on him, moving continuously as they advanced, constantly monitoring all movement in the surroundings.

"Wait."

Eagle Eye suddenly stopped and signaled everyone to halt.

"Eagle Eye, what did you find?" Shield Mountain didn't turn around, still looking straight ahead, only speaking to ask.

Eagle Eye had excellent vision, enhanced by his Ranger class.

Under night vision, it was easy to spot details that others might miss.

He stepped two paces out of formation, bent down, picked up a pinch of black soil with his fingers, and brought it closer to smell it.

"Shield Mountain, it looks like we need to speed up."

Eagle Eye said with a grave expression, "This is black skull powder. It has extremely strong hallucinogenic properties for certain monsters and is often used as bait."

Evil Axe grasped the key point, "Don't you dare tell me that 'certain monsters' refers to Bear Goblins."

"It seems someone else also found the Bear Goblin and plans to lure it out of the cave and kill it," Eagle Eye nodded, offering the most reasonable deduction.

"Stay alert, and don't make the first move if we encounter another team," Shield Mountain said with a serious expression. "Maintain formation, and speed up!"

The group increased their speed, and even the Employers started jogging.

Along the way, Eagle Eye found several more spots of black skull powder; the locations perfectly overlapped with their path.

"Captain, are we really going to run into another Adventurer team later?" Evil Axe tightened his grip on his twin axes.

"Not necessarily. Maybe they couldn't beat the Bear Goblin and gave up, or maybe they already took all the valuable items from the cave while the Bear Goblin was chasing us."

Shield Mountain paused, "In either of these two scenarios, the chances of us meeting them are very low."

"I lean towards another possibility."

Eagle Eye had collected several samples of black skull powder along the way, and after observing them, he reached a new conclusion.

"Judging by how damp the black skull powder is, it must have been placed recently."

"The other party is likely currently ambushing near their traps, waiting for the Bear Goblin to show up."

Shield Mountain nodded silently, fully agreeing with this assessment. "If they use this method to lure the Bear Goblin out, the other party obviously doesn't dare enter the cave easily."

"That's great then! Nobody can steal my treasure!" Evil Axe was overjoyed.

Although he wasn't good at reasoning, he had developed a unique judgment system centered around his Captain.

If the Captain's tone is off, it's bad; ask again.

If the Captain says good news, understood; charge!

Although they didn't expect another team to compete for the treasure, the group's speed still didn't slow down.

Shield Mountain and the two others maintained their formation, moving swiftly.

If it weren't for the need to look after the Employers and Ronan in the rear, they would have long since broken into a full sprint.

Just as the Employers' stamina was quickly depleting and they could barely keep up, Shield Mountain and the two others finally stopped.

What appeared before everyone was a massive cave entrance, the edges of which were smooth, dark green rock, devoid of any plant cover.

Ronan truly couldn't understand how Shield Mountain and his team could have thought this cave, given its size, was a Goblin lair.

"Stay alert and don't make a sound," Shield Mountain instructed everyone over his shoulder. "Let's go."

The passage inside the cave was wide, and occasional gaps in the ceiling projected beams of light, providing basic visibility within the dark cavern.

The path descended, and the deeper they went, the thicker the darkness became.

Everyone lit the torches they had prepared beforehand and continued advancing while maintaining their formation.

Ronan walked at the very end of the team, holding a torch, in case an Employer accidentally strayed without anyone noticing.

His brow was furrowed, and he constantly scrutinized the rock walls—up, down, left, and right—using the torchlight.

Since stepping into this cave, Ronan found that extending his Spiritual Power outward suddenly became very difficult; as they went deeper, his Spiritual Power net was restricted to a two-meter radius around himself.

He could always feel a faint, subtle attraction permeating the surroundings, vaguely calling out to him.

Following this silent summons, Ronan's gaze fell upon an ordinary rock protrusion on the left wall, where the sensation was strongest.

He reached out and lightly pressed it.

RUMBLE.

The entire rock wall collapsed into a pile of rubble, revealing another deep, dark cave entrance.

"What happened?!"

Shield Mountain and the two others rushed over instantly. Seeing the sudden appearance of a new passage, their questioning gazes unanimously fell upon Ronan.

"When you came here last time, did you discover this other path?" Ronan countered.

The three Adventurers all shook their heads.

"A sudden change might not be a good thing," Eagle Eye suggested tactfully.

"Exactly, this cave is too deep; it's not a simple place." Shield Mountain had been tense the entire way, and he didn't outright ignore the possibility of another team being present. "We'll speed up, grab the treasure chest, and leave."

"What do you think, White Night?"

Compared to a treasure chest of unknown value, Ronan naturally wanted to explore this newly revealed route more.

However, since his teammates didn't want to stir up trouble, he could only wait until they retrieved the treasure chest and were returning before finding an excuse to encourage them to go inside and look.

"That works..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a sudden change occurred!

Everyone's attention was focused on the cave entrance, but no one noticed that in the sparse torchlight,

the Second Young Master was painfully twisting his limbs, his face displaying the madness of lost reason, enveloped by endless darkness.

Veins silently grew out of his left arm, dancing like crimson thorns in the wind.

"AH!"

With a fierce roar, he transformed into a bloody shadow and rushed into the newly revealed, deep cave.