Silence, only the sound of others gently breathing remained around them.
"So, what do you all plan to do now?" Sophie asked weakly.
Everyone looked at each other, at a loss.
There are more than a dozen skeleton soldiers guarding the road to Buqi. We can't just fight our way through, right? Although there's a certain confidence inherent in young people that these enemies are nothing, the prospect of a life-and-death battle still brings a bit of unease.
Frey looked worried. When making this decision, she hadn't considered so much. They were called militia, but in the end, they were just a group of inexperienced young people.
The ponytailed girl didn't say anything, but the confusion and helplessness were already written all over her face.
Meanwhile, everyone else's eyes were already on Sophie. His experience made him seem more composed than anyone else here, an impression that often developed subtly but made him seem even more reliable in critical moments.
"Brand?" Roman also asked.
Sophie turned back and gave her a reassuring smile.
"We need to prepare for the worst." Then he turned back to look at everyone, planning to dispel their naive mindset.
This wasn't his first time doing this. In the guild, the rookies who went to the battlefield for the first time always had an optimistic attitude, but once they were hit, they would fall into a state of panic, leading to a quick collapse in the face of experienced teams.
In reality, the differences between players weren't as large as imagined; the key was mindset.
And it was the job of these veteran players to give these rookies a preventive lesson.
"The worst plan?"
Sophie was about to speak when suddenly there was a rustling sound from the jungle. Everyone looked in that direction simultaneously. Only Frey furrowed her brow and questioned towards a cluster of heathers, "Josen?"
"It's me, Captain Frey."
Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
But Sophie secretly waved to the ponytail girl, signaling her to stay vigilant. Frey was momentarily stunned by his gesture but quickly caught on—Erune militia training didn't allow for leaving posts without permission.
Sophie had absolute trust in the military discipline of the Erune militia. Although these young people were naive, it didn't mean they would forget the basic rules drilled into them daily.
There could be no oversight on the battlefield—
"What happened, Josen?" Frey asked, placing her hand on the sword hilt.
"S-sorry, Big Sister, I-I got caught..."
The heather bushes parted with a 'whoosh,' and two figures emerged. The first was a pale-looking young man, raising his hands high with a tearful face.
An undead sorcerer followed closely behind, pointing its finger at the back of the young man's head, its eye sockets glowing with green flames, assessing the other people present.
"He-he, caught a bunch of little mice."
Everyone froze.
"Josen!"
"How could you—"
Then came a chorus of disbelief.
——————————————————————————————————————
[Note]:
Unyielding, the first awakened talent, is called a Bloodline Talent. Not every character possesses it—or rather, the main character didn't realize this.
Unyielding has two primary abilities:
First is Dead Hard, which allows one to ignore all physical damage for a duration, unless beheaded or the heart is damaged. Will increases to 10 Energy Levels—this allows a biological entity to remain conscious for five minutes even after sustaining fatal injuries or ceasing to breathe.
Second is Self-healing, which enhances the body's ability to recover, though this ability only activates once the injury is stabilized.
The Bloodline Talent strengthens as the character grows, revealing more features.
(PS. Looks like the wish for the third update is shattered again. Also discovered many bros don't read notices. Since notices weren't very effective for updates, henceforth regular updates will follow: one chapter at midnight, one at 6 PM in the afternoon.)