Chapter 233 - 156: Cave, Rolling Stone
Chapter 233: Chapter 156: Cave, Rolling Stone
Despite the anger simmering within him, Torren forced his temper down. He paid no mind to those people, instead greeting his future teammates with a smile.
His father had once told him that the best way to deal with doubt and slander wasn’t to argue, but to prove himself through action.
He would prove to them during this mission that the name "Iron Sword Torren" was backed by his own strength!
His gaze then fell upon Lute and Landon in the crowd.
In Torren’s eyes, they were his rivals.
Although using the word "rivals" on a mission like this was somewhat inappropriate, that’s what Torren thought. He would outperform them and contribute more!
Team 1, composed of the Adventurers, set out quickly. Vick’s work, however, wasn’t finished. He had to assemble a second team as fast as possible. Another stronghold was waiting to be explored for a rescue mission.
Beyond that, the Association still had a great deal of follow-up work to handle and arrange.
Only after finishing all of this could he charge into the deepest parts of Loran Forest without a care in the world, just like in his youth, and try to find some clues.
...
This mission was a little different from the previous rescue operations.
The first difference was the journey itself. For previous rescue missions to towns and villages, they had traveled by carriage, since there were relatively open and flat main roads. This time, however, they had to go deep into the forest. Carriages were definitely out of the question; they could only travel on foot.
It felt like a massive Adventurer Group setting off on an adventure together, which was a novel experience in itself.
With so many powerful Adventurers, the Demons in the forest were naturally scared witless and stayed far away. Aside from the occasional Goblin encounter, the journey was mostly peaceful.
This gave everyone plenty of time to chat. Those who knew each other exchanged pleasantries, and those who didn’t got acquainted.
They were all in the same line of work, after all. Who knew when they might need to cooperate in the future...
’As expected, networking is always important.’
Lin Mo didn’t actually enjoy this kind of socializing, but when people struck up a conversation with him, he couldn’t just ignore them. And so, he absentmindedly got to know quite a few people.
Among them was Lute, a Ranger who, like Landon, was a Level 4 Adventurer and one of the Ten Heroes.
Unlike Lin Mo’s idea of a Ranger, the guy wasn’t the least bit reserved. In fact, he was a bit like Huck—a natural extrovert who could strike up a conversation with anyone, whether there was a topic or not.
In comparison, the other two Level 4 Professionals on the team were far more taciturn.
Landon wasn’t the talkative type, while Torren was simply bad with words. Or perhaps, it was more that he disliked beating around the bush; he was a bit too blunt. This was a well-known fact among Adventurers, so few people ever initiated a conversation with him.
Moreover, Landon often caught Torren giving him looks that weren’t quite hostile but felt even more intense, and weren’t exactly wary but seemed very much so. It left him speechless.
’Such a youngster,’ he thought. ’So competitive...’
Landon shook his head, conveniently forgetting that he himself had only grown out of that phase a few years ago.
They barely ran into any Demons on the way, and with so many Adventurers, even when they did, someone else would likely kill it first. This frustrated Lin Mo somewhat. ’I can’t grind any Skill Level...’
After traveling for the better part of the day, only his Wind Blade Skill had gained a small amount of Skill Level.
However, that skill had already reached Level 3, and with Full Level still a long way off, this small increase wouldn’t provide any immediate improvement.
"At our current pace, we should reach our destination before nightfall."
During a short break, Torren gathered the squad leaders to discuss their next move.
"What do you all think? Should we move in tonight, or wait until morning?"
Despite his burning desire to prove himself, Torren hadn’t forgotten his role and mission on this expedition. He was the nominal leader, after all, responsible for the strategy of this large force. Torren admitted to himself that he lacked experience in this area, which was why he had to consult with the other squad leaders.
"Moving in at night... that might be difficult, don’t you think?"
"I agree. We’ve traveled a long way and are all tired. It would be safer to rest for the night."
"But if we wait until morning, the victims inside could be in even more danger..."
Torren frowned. "But we’re here to save people. If we wait a night and they die, then killing every last Goblin in there will be pointless."
His personality was naturally aggressive; he was unwilling to wait in a situation like this.
"You have a point..."
It was, indeed, a difficult choice.
But as it stood, only two or three captains supported waiting until morning. A few more were opposed, and the rest remained silent, apparently still weighing the options.
Torren’s brow was tightly furrowed. This was the first time he had ever been in such a situation. His decision could affect the success of the mission, the safety of these Adventurers, and whether they could successfully rescue the captured girl...
This was nothing like a typical adventure, where he could just charge in headfirst without a second thought.
The pressure and the dissenting opinions gradually caused him to fall into self-doubt.
’Maybe being cautious is the right call?’
"In a situation like this, efficiency should be the priority."