Two days later...

Deep in the Alpine Woodpecker Forest, a group of 20 Acolytes slowly made their way through the trees of this densely wooded region.

Of these 20 Acolytes, 18 had rifles in their hands, walking slowly in formation, ready to fire their weapons at the slightest sign of trouble.

At the same time, the group's leaders, masked like everyone else there, had no weapons in their hands but were also alert as they moved.

A young man with red hair was at the back, while a tall, strong young man with black hair was at the front, holding a map in front of him, more or less locating himself in this area.

Using a map in this world wasn't like on Earth, where you could easily understand the path between a starting point and an ending point. There was no GPS in Polaris Realm, and one would have to recognize the terrain and certain locations depicted on the map to know where they were and how to get to their destination.

Fortunately, the Academy of Stars had taught Vice and Rory how to use maps, and even though it was much more difficult than following a GPS, the young Fuller had been able to lead his people with ease.

But that didn't mean his group had reached this point in their journey quickly or without encountering dangerous situations.

Over the past few days, they had understood why this region had the word "woodpecker" in its name. There was a breed of woodpecker that had developed in this region. In the outer parts of this mountainous region, one would hardly find these creatures. However, if one went into the depths of the area, the chances of encountering these creatures would be very high.

Vicente's group had seen several woodpeckers in the area over the past few days and had almost come face-to-face with them.

Besides the woodpeckers, several other creatures had crossed the group's path.

Fortunately, none of these problems had affected them too much.

As far as they could see, their path did not pass through any magical creature territory in the area. Because of this, the group had avoided a lot of problems they might have had if they hadn't been in possession of the map that Vice was currently following.

The small encounters with beasts they had had were not enough to threaten the group, and they were still in their initial formation from when they had entered this region.

But as they moved deeper into this mountainous region, the group got closer to their goal and naturally moved more cautiously.

Vicente could sense that the presence of powerful beings in the area was greater than in the areas they had passed through so far, and he couldn't help but be cautious as he led his men.

'The area we were in two days ago was home to many low-level 2nd-stage beings, at level 1 and 2. It wouldn't be easy to encounter level 4 beasts like the Harpy we encountered there. But it's different here.' Vice thought to himself as he used his magnetic ability to sense what lay ahead and noticed several powerful auras for the level of his group.

'But there are many levels 3 and 4 beings here. I've even spotted some level 5 on the way.' He felt a drop of sweat trickle down his back as he imagined that there were probably low-level 3rd-stage beings in this area.

If they came across one of those beings, all they could do was run away!

'Fortunately, I have this map!' Vice sighed because, without it, he would have already entered a place he shouldn't have and had problems with several powerful creatures in the area.

'I hope this is a safe route to something of value.' He prayed in his heart while trampling leaves and the wind were the only thing he and his men could hear.

However, as they slowly took step after step, everyone in the group suddenly changed their expressions, hidden by their masks, as they turned their faces in the direction from which they heard something different.

Swooish!

Suddenly, the sound of a blade slicing through the air came from the right side of the group, a little further away from where they were standing.

Immediately, everyone in the group turned their weapons in that direction while Vicente used his ability to sense what exactly had caused it.

"Professor Julian?" Vice muttered as he felt a familiar aura coming from the direction the noise had come from.

When mana was attached to a body, it received the mark created by the peculiarities of that body, enough to distinguish any magician in the world.

Even twin brothers with similar Magic Gems and Magic Pentagrams of the same nature would have enough differences to be distinguished by their auras.

Sensing something he already knew, Vicente had no trouble noticing what was coming from one of the six magicians near where his group was.

Rory heard it and asked. "Professor Julian? Is he here? What's going on?"

"It seems so," Vicente replied. "Besides him, there are five magicians in his group, surrounded by four Rougarous."

"What?"

Not only Rory but the whole group saw in their minds the image of four wolves in humanoid form, beings larger than normal humans, characterized by their agility and strength.

Rougarous were creatures known to feed on human flesh and blood!

"What should we do? What's their situation?" Rory asked, feeling that they should move if that didn't endanger their group.

As much as they were bandits, they had a background they wouldn't forget. Julian had helped them beyond his duty. If it weren't too dangerous, they wouldn't leave their old teacher behind and turn a blind eye to what could happen there.

"Julian's group consists of level 3 and 4 Acolytes. Some of them are probably level 6 and 7 Generals." Vicente said as his red pentagram glowed in front of his right hand.

From the position of some of the men in Julian's group, these were no ordinary magicians but warriors who focused on both the magical path and martial arts.

"The Rougarous' group, on the other hand, is made up of level 4 beings, and the strongest of them is level 5."

"Level 5?" One of the level 2 soldiers there asked.

"Let's go," Vicente said, willing to risk himself to help his old teacher.

Vicente had received a gift from Julian that he still didn't know what it was for. Even after using on that necklace the evaluation machine he'd stolen from the Irwin family, he hadn't gotten any results.

Therefore, he already thought that the necklace he had received from Julian must be extraordinary and have its own history.

Considering its probable value, Vicente wouldn't let his teacher die in this place while he still had the chance to help him without risking everything for his group.

With his words, even the most fearful of his soldiers swallowed their fear and began to move at their Dom's command.

"Use your weapons to attack the necks of the Rougarous. Rory and I will concentrate on killing them after your shots." Vice said, already knowing these creatures were very resistant to normal blows and would only die if their heads were decapitated or their bodies burned.

Since their weapons couldn't do all the work for them, Rory and he would have to be the final weapon to eliminate these creatures!