47: Departure

The silence of winter was filled with the subtle sound of falling snow, as flakes like white goose feathers drifted down from the sky.

They landed on the roof of the Wizard's Hut, as if it had been draped in a thick layer of silver.

Today, before dawn, I re-checked the mechanisms that had been restored to lethal traps yesterday.

And carefully verified all the items I carried.

The system space was packed to the brim.

I even had George boil large quantities of hot water every day for a week in advance, then put it into the system space, jar by jar.

Everyone waited for me by the fence gate. Dragon King and I encircled the Wizard's Hut, densely planting 20 Magic Beans and setting up trigger traps.

“Alright, let’s go!” I locked the fence gate, opened the last manually controlled trap on the ground by the entrance, and said to everyone.

After spending more than ten days with these people, I gradually adapted to their language. Except for still communicating with the professor in ancient common language, my conversations with them had become increasingly natural.

“Tsk tsk, with the Mage Lord setting things up like this, this place has become too dangerous!” John said. “Any Wild Dog that gets close will be unlucky.”

“That’s good,” George interjected, “we’ll have new beast meat and hides when we return.”

“By the time we return, any Wild Dog caught a month from now will have rotted away!” John rolled his eyes at him.

“Hahahaha…” Randall and I burst out laughing one after another, and John and George followed suit.

The mist began to move with me. I leaned on the Red Tassel Spear with my right hand and held a small puppy inside my leather armor with my left hand, only its head exposed.

Yes, I was uneasy leaving the Wild Dog family behind, so I took them on the road with me.

We each held one of the four puppies, and the two adult dogs patrolled and guarded the edge of the mist. I also granted mist access to the dogs.

Randall led the way, with Black Little Leopard beside him, learning to scout ahead.

Dragon King circled and patrolled the inner edge of the mist in mid-air.

John and George followed behind me, one on my left and one on my right, carrying their packs.

The range of the mist gradually shrank to an oval shape, 10 meters wide and 30 meters long.

We were heading to the river channel in the south, and after reaching it, we would proceed east along the riverbank.

Behind us, the area around the Wizard's Hut, which had long been enveloped in mist, finally faced the entire forest alone again.

Today, there was still no sun, no strong wind, and the goose feather-like heavy snow continued to fall.

In the morning, two hours after setting off, I stepped onto land I had never trodden before.

After communicating with the local small animals and understanding the general situation of the local fierce beasts, the team continued to advance.

John and George were amazed that I could communicate with animals, while Randall remained silent.

As noon approached, the snow finally stopped.

I had everyone stop to rest. After carefully observing the surroundings, I chose the leeward side of a large tree. Everyone took turns eating in two shifts.

We shook off the accumulated snow. While George and I prepared food, Randall and John were responsible for vigilance.

During this time, besides being my martial arts instructor, Randall would also train John and George when he had time.

Now he was also teaching John how to be vigilant.

I took out three wooden round stools, one large and two small, from the Qiankun Ring and placed them on the ground. After George and I sat down, I took out two bowls of steaming hot food and began to eat.

The ring had always been invisibly on my little finger. In their eyes, I had conjured these things out of thin air with my abilities as a mage.

After a hearty meal, it was Randall and John’s turn to eat.

I took out two more bowls of food, then got up to feed fresh meat to Black Little Leopard and the dogs.

Afterward, I took over from Randall to continue being vigilant, and incidentally taught George the vigilance techniques of a hunter.

Nine days ago, at Randall's insistence, the three of them swore allegiance to me in front of the Wizard's Hut.

The moment they completed their oath, I saw their loyalty values each increase by 5 points in the system.

That day, our stronghold was officially named “Black Panther Fortress.” I insisted on this name to commemorate Black Little Leopard’s mother.

My thoughts drifted, and then I snapped back to reality.

After eating, we rested in shifts for a while, then continued our journey.

On the first day, we passed the daytime safely like this.

The river was frozen, and not even a single large animal looking for water was seen; only occasional small animals were encountered.

If it could be this peaceful all the way, that would be great.

In the evening, I found a relatively safe place to camp.

We set up a few simple tents that had been prepared beforehand.

While John and George were still tidying up, I had already seized the time to practice the Red Tassel Spear with Randall.

After more than ten days of guidance from Randall, I actually felt that my martial arts had improved quite a bit.

At dinner, I lit a bonfire, expanded the mist range, and increased the mist's density, trying not to let the firelight escape.

Within the mist, I could sense some small animals enveloped within it.

I opened some small outward passages, allowing a portion of the small animals to leave.

As for the small animals whose nests were already within the mist's range, I did not interfere.

The rest became my prey.

I had Black Little Leopard and the two Wild Dogs hunt the small animals trapped by the mist, bringing them back to exchange for fresh meat.

And I, in this new forest, began to identify herbs.

This was a dense forest, with moonlight casting dappled shadows through the canopy.

I squatted down, carefully distinguishing the intricate leaves underfoot; each leaf seemed to be whispering the secrets of the forest.

My fingers gently glided over the leaf tips, my eyes sparkling with curiosity and reverence for nature.

As a hunter and a mage, I had long been accustomed to being with the forest, listening to the whispers of the trees, and feeling the pulse of the earth.

This forest was new to me, and it was comforting.

Just then, a familiar force quietly surged into my heart, like a call from the depths of nature, gentle yet irresistible.

This force carried a primitive, almost sacred aura, making me involuntarily stop what I was doing and look up at my surroundings.

A strange premonition arose in my heart, as if some power was about to awaken within me.

In a trance, the image of a black panther appeared in my mind.

The black panther's eyes were deep and wise, as if they could see through all things in the world.

It slowly opened its mouth; although no sound was emitted, I could feel a warm and powerful stream of information pouring into my body.

Under the guidance of this power, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and completely immersed my consciousness in the surrounding nature.

I felt as if I had merged with the forest; every tree, every leaf, and even every wisp of wind was transmitting information to me.

Just then, the ability of Original Consciousness quietly awakened within me.

I suddenly opened my eyes, which shone with an unprecedented light.

I stretched out my hand and gently waved it, as if sketching an invisible circle in the air.

With my movement, a subtle force spread out from me as the center, instantly covering the entire forest.

Under the effect of this power, I began to sense everything around me, especially those existences that were out of the ordinary.