“Tick-tock! Tick-tock!”

Dewdrops fell from above, splashing into countless droplets as they struck Gauss’s forehead.

In the early morning of the Emerald Forest, the air was thin and cold, causing Gauss, who was caught between sleep and wakefulness, to shiver involuntarily.

Groggily opening his eyes, he was about to roll over and get out of bed as usual but suddenly found himself unable to move his limbs.

After a brief moment of confusion, his brain woke from its sleep state.

“That’s right, I’m in the sleeping bag up in the tree.” Gauss turned his head and looked down.

He was now at least ten meters above the ground.

Fortunately, he had tied the rope tightly beforehand. Otherwise, if he fell after just waking up and forgot to activate his protective armor, even if he didn’t die, he’d probably break a leg.

Although sleeping in the tree had such risks, it was still the safest place he could think of to spend the night in the forest.

At least, after a whole night had passed, aside from his body feeling a bit sore from being restrained, there was no real danger.

He untied the sleeping bag and tossed it to the ground, then skillfully climbed down the big tree.

After landing, Gauss moved his arms and legs on the spot.

In the early morning mist of the Emerald Forest, every breath seemed to replenish his body with moisture.

After a brief rest, he slung on his backpack and loot bag, then began to follow the mental map in his mind, retracing his steps back.

It would take nearly half a day just to get out.

His pace through the woods was slow, and with the heavy load, Gauss often had to stop and rest to maintain his strength and avoid accidents.

Therefore, he was optimistic that he might be able to exit the Emerald Forest by noon.

And indeed, the reality proved just that. Gauss kept stopping and starting.

After about three hours, he had only traveled about half the distance from the Goblin village to the entrance of the Emerald Forest.

The forest’s area was truly vast. He couldn’t help but sigh.

The Goblin village was located near the outer edge of the Emerald Forest, not deep inside.

If one really wanted to cross the entire Emerald Forest, even traveling light, encountering no dangers, no illness, no muscle fatigue, and other adverse factors, Gauss estimated it would take several weeks or even longer on foot.

No one knew how many low-level monsters or elite monsters were lurking in this massive forest...

No wonder the kingdom had established dozens of towns of various sizes outside the Emerald Forest to form the first line of defense.

If a powerful creature gathered many low-level and elite monsters to wage war, the network formed by dozens of towns could resist immediately and buy time for the regular army to assemble.

Gauss shook his head, clearing the thoughts from his mind.

He was just a normal level 1 magician;

such matters were far beyond his concern. His immediate priority was to complete his commission, earn resources, learn spells, and get stronger.

After another hour of travel, he dealt with a few reckless slimes along the way.

Suddenly, a tearing sound came from beside Gauss.

He set down his pack on the path, raised his Unbreaking Scepter, and looked toward the lush forest.

Was it the scent of a beast?

Gauss lifted the scepter, magic fluctuations swirling at its tip.

As the sound grew closer, a wolf’s head suddenly burst out of the woods. He was about to cast a spell when a female voice rang out.

“Stop! Stop! Don’t attack! Hey, buddy!”

As the large wolf stepped out of the bushes, he realized a disheveled woman was sitting on its back.

Coincidentally, she was someone he had met before.

This woman was the blue-haired lady from the carriage on the way here. After getting off, she seemed to be traveling with the white-haired mage carrying a suitcase.

Compared to her calm and dignified demeanor on the carriage, her current appearance was quite disheveled.

Though confused, Gauss did not cast a spell. He took a few steps back to put distance between himself, the woman, and the wolf.

Although they came by carriage together, the two had never met before this. Meeting in this wild area naturally called for extra caution.

The wolf was enormous—standing on all fours, it was nearly ninety centimeters tall at the shoulder. Its fur was a shiny silver-gray, with long sharp fangs protruding obliquely from its lips. At this moment, it was baring its teeth and snarling threateningly at Gauss.

The woman sitting on its back patted it twice, then leaned close to its ear and uttered strange tones—two calls of “ooh oh ooh oh.” Only then did the wolf’s mood calm down.

“Druid?”

Gauss silently guessed upon seeing her actions.

Druid was also a fairly common profession, focusing on natural magic, animal companions, and environmental adaptation.

Besides mastering simple spells, the greatest uniqueness of a druid was their loyal animal companion—usually a wolf, eagle, hawk, horse, or snake. At higher levels, druids could even transform into animals themselves.

Moreover, most druids could communicate with animals at a basic level.

“Hello, nice to see you again.”

The woman flipped off the wolf’s back and landed.

“My name is Aria Jin. You can just call me Aria. And you?”

“Gauss.”

“You’re probably preparing to leave the forest too, right? Want to travel together?” Aria invited.

Gauss sized her up.

Though he was covered in grime from killing many goblins and hadn’t had time to wash up, Aria looked no better—her hair was matted and stiff with dried blood, and she gave off a sour stench.

Without accepting her invitation, Gauss cautiously asked,

“If I remember correctly, didn’t you have a teammate before entering? The white-haired young man carrying a suitcase, not very tall?”

“Don’t mention him,” Aria said angrily. “I teamed up with him temporarily at the Adventurers Guild. Thinking about his weak constitution, I even suggested we take the carriage.”

“I came in to retrieve a lost relic, but unexpectedly, we were ambushed by an ogre and its minions. I was worried about him at first, but he just said nothing and turned around to open a scroll and teleport away.” Aria’s anger flared. “Fortunately, I took advantage of their carelessness, used entanglement magic to trap them temporarily, and with my wolf companion’s speed, I managed to break through and shake them off.”

“Otherwise, I’d have been doomed because of him.” Aria muttered resentfully, recalling yesterday’s events. “Mages really are a bunch of unreliable folks.”

Gauss: ?

Although his profession was magician, to outsiders he was pretty much the same, so he felt oddly attacked for no reason.

“Sorry, I’m not talking about you.” Aria quickly added. “I just mean many mages I’ve met aren’t reliable.”

“Pfft, forget it, I won’t explain anymore. Shall we go together? We can watch out for each other. My wolf companion can help carry some of your luggage.”

Gauss glanced at her.

She really looked like a wolf, and she didn’t have the young mage’s luggage with her.

“Alright, let’s go together.” Gauss nodded in agreement.

The reason he agreed wasn’t because he fully trusted her.

Although her demeanor and behavior seemed natural, he couldn’t rule out the possibility of acting.

He agreed simply because if she was deliberately trying to encounter him for some hidden agenda, he would rather have her constantly in his sight than have a hidden, swift enemy lurking in the shadows.

After all, an obvious attack was easier to dodge than a secret one.

“Alright, want my wolf to help carry your luggage?”

“That would be great, thanks.”

Since she offered, Gauss didn’t refuse. He put his backpack on the wolf and tied it securely.

His backpack didn’t contain the pile of loot, but it wasn’t light either, just enough to add some weight for the wolf.

The two didn’t talk much on the road.

When monsters attacked, they worked together to dispatch the enemies easily.

Gauss’s caution slowly eased.

In several brief fights, he didn’t expose his excellent melee skills, only showing a small part of his spell abilities.

Earlier, he had deliberately shown some flaws. If the other party had ill intent, they should have commanded the big wolf to pounce and bite him directly, following the stereotype that spellcasters had weak bodies.

But the other side remained obedient. Although physically and mentally exhausted, she frequently used entanglement magic and controlled plants to restrain the monsters.

From his observation, he found the other’s strength was indeed not weak—she should be a level 1 druid. Besides the tall animal wolf companion, she also mastered control-type skills and could wield a wooden stick in melee combat.

A control-specialized professional?

Honestly, although he had intentionally hidden his strength earlier, the fact that she helped restrain enemies made killing them much easier.

Gauss pondered silently, walking alongside her and frequently glancing her way.

No, he needed to observe more.