Andrew at this moment had already carried Barbara into the tent.
He steadily placed Barbara, whose complexion had improved, onto the mattress.
He then lightly tapped the center of Barbara's full forehead, planting a "Seed of the Water Spirit" to continuously heal her internal injuries.
Finally, he covered Barbara with a piece of animal skin.
After completing this series of actions, Andrew finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if the tension he had been carrying along the way had finally eased a bit.
Is this what it feels like to be the pillar?
If you never really become the pillar, you will never know the difficulty of being the pillar.
He thought that relying on the panoramic image ability of "Water Spirit Sensing" was sufficient to let him skillfully evade all pursuers.
Yet, on the way back, he still encountered some unexpected difficulties!
"Fortunately, we finally returned without any real danger!"
Andrew took a deep breath and then ground his teeth, "Although there were some twists and turns, now it can be considered that the mission was successfully completed to temporarily bring Barbara to a relatively safe place.
Next, should we stay here and wait out the riot, or—"
His gaze turned toward the direction of the town, with a hint of fierceness in his eyes.
Yes, the riot.
The people here in the camp might not know yet.
On the way back with Barbara on his back, Andrew, through Water Spirit Sensing and with his own eyes, saw it all clearly—
Wildfire Town was already in complete chaos.
This small town, located at the central point of the Inner Sea Desert, was in utter turmoil!
Those Magic Apprentices under Hubert's command couldn't be called "apprentices" at all; they were clearly "thugs"!
Among the thugs, there were Earth Fire Magic Apprentices and Apprentice Flame Warriors. These two types were professionals of the "Earth Fire Series" from the Magic Guild.
Professionals of the Warm Fire Series were like Barbara, the Warm Fire Mage, and the Crimson Knight.
The same attribute always had a warrior and a mage, paired together.
Andrew, recalling all the atrocities he witnessed on his way back to the camp, grimaced, "Comparatively, even Raymond was a little bit better than those magic thugs! Beast, they were all goddamn beasts!"
Although he already knew how much privilege professionals with Fire Attributes had over ordinary people in this Flame Realm.
But to actually see, to feel with the naked eye and the vast perspective of "Water Spirit Sensing," it still caused a tremendous shock to Andrew's heart.
"If my strength was still the same as when I set off with Barbara on my back..."
Andrew thought to himself, "If my strength was still the same as not long ago, I really would have had no other choice but to first take Barbara out of the town and head north to Baal Town to temporarily avoid, waiting for Warm Fire Commerce Association's reinforcements.
However, my strength has furthered on the way back..."
A strange light flickered in Andrew's eyes.
Faintly, a plan and idea were brewing in his mind.
Swoosh!
Aunt Sofia lifted the tent flap and followed in with a serious expression.
As a mother, her daughter little Sophie's safety was the most important thing to her.
In the Flame Realm, especially in this Wildfire Town, as a woman raising a child on her own, it was truly too difficult. The hardships and sorrows were unimaginable to others.
Little Sophie's father was actually quite an outstanding person, although not a professional, he was excellent among ordinary people.
However, after a sweeping "Desolate Beast Sand Tide," little Sophie lost her father, Aunt Sofia lost her husband.
After that, if it wasn't for the "deal" with Ivan and his occasional "leniency and help," Aunt Sofia couldn't imagine what she would do.
At this moment, Aunt Sofia's thoughts were simple, "If the girl Andrew brought back is really a trouble and related to the current chaos in the town, then even if Andrew is little Sophie's savior, I must drive him and this girl out!"
However, before Aunt Sofia could speak, Andrew spoke first, asking, "Aunt, is there any food? I'm hungry."
Aunt Sofia: "..."
After hesitating a moment, she still took out a plate of grapes she had saved for Andrew from the morning.
She paired it with a cup of water and a piece of bread.
Then she saw Andrew, like a starved ghost reincarnated, say "thank you" before he began to gobble down the food.
His way of eating was so real (unpleasant) that it was completely inconsistent with the fresh and delicious demeanor, even diametrically opposed!
Yet at the same time, Andrew ate with such relish.
So much so that Aunt Sofia couldn't help but think, "Could I have guessed wrong? If Andrew and the girl he brought back were really related to the current chaos in the town, he shouldn't be able to eat with such appetite... right?"
She had no idea that her guess was actually correct.
It was just that Andrew was genuinely starved, utterly famished.
Early in the morning, he went to the Living People Cemetery to "secretly" heal people; on his way back at dusk, he had to fight Raymond, face Barbara, see through and eliminate a small minion, and just now he had to carry Barbara through a dense enclosure, unimaginable to outsiders, and finally return safely to this temporary camp—
After experiencing all of this, Andrew felt, almost without exaggeration, like his "stomach was sticking to his back," nearly dizzy from hunger!
Water Mages are humans, after all, they also need to eat.
If you don't eat, how can you help others, how can you extinguish fires?
With each bite of the grape, Andrew was seriously absorbing the quickly absorbable glucose from the fruit.
The "Water Soul Constitution" seemed to be very efficient in terms of absorption ability as well.
The "Water Spirit Technique" was almost habitually in constant operation.
While keeping his mind calm, it also relieved the extreme mental fatigue caused by the tension on the way back.
Inside the tent, it was quiet for a moment, with only the commotion from the town and Andrew's slight chewing sound.
"Andrew, you..."
Aunt Sofia hesitated to speak.
On one hand, she couldn't quite understand the Andrew she saw now and felt puzzled by him.
On the other hand, she finally realized what the biggest change was in Andrew compared to when he left the camp that morning—
It wasn't a transformation-like athletic ability, nor anything fresh and tempting.
Those things are, of course, important to a woman.
But for a mother, they are insignificant.
The real change was: the aura of killing intent!
At that moment, Andrew was just sitting there, eating grapes quickly and methodically, looking quite normal.
Yet somehow, Aunt Sofia felt that Andrew was exuding a faint aura of "going out to end someone later"!
Andrew was eating grapes while spitting out the skins.
At the same time, he was thinking to himself:
"Though the temporary camp is remote, it's ultimately still a part of Wildfire Town. Given the current situation, it's only 'relatively safe' at best.
It's likely that it won't remain safe for long.
Which means, even if I truly manage to escape with Barbara, successfully ensuring her safety, and escape from Hubert's 'malicious fire'——
The temporary camp will still suffer! I can't possibly bring Little Sophie, Aunt Sofia, and everyone in the temporary camp with me!
I can't take Wildfire Town with me, can I?!
So, if I change my thinking?
Stop running, stop escaping.
Instead, let's leave Barbara here first.
Then I'll return to town by myself, secretly hunting down those damn magic thugs!
Up until now, in the eyes of Hubert and his magic thugs, I am still an 'invisible man'!
No one knows I saved Barbara.
This is my biggest advantage right now!"
Andrew was constantly calculating, weighing, and planning in his mind.
Putting out fires isn't just a matter of acting on impulse.
To succeed, one must fully consider how to make the plan feasible!
What's almost certain is: merely escaping is ultimately not a solution.
Even if I truly took Barbara and fled to Baal Town, would we be truly safe?
Not necessarily.
Ultimately, as long as we're in this flame realm controlled by the Magic Guild, where can we really escape to?
With this thought, Andrew finally made his decision!
No more running away.
Not only to stop running away.
But to take the initiative and strike back!
"I'll eat a little more, then head back to Wildfire Town."
Andrew made his decision, "Utilizing my newfound magic and abilities acquired on the way back, hunt down those magic thugs one by one!
Though there's indeed a risk involved.
But—
If I can hunt down enough magic apprentices before being discovered.
Then I might even have a chance tonight using the Fire Extinguishing Upgrade Method to truly enhance my abilities!
By then, when facing that old Hubert—!"
With this thought, Andrew suddenly felt that the opportunity to kill Hubert might not be five days away, but... tonight.
At that moment, the somewhat dispersed killing intent that Andrew was exuding instead gathered and became discreet, no longer revealing itself.
Aunt Sofia saw Andrew's demeanor and aura return to normal— just as she remembered him— and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Though deep down, she still felt a bit strange: "So was it my illusion just now?"
She saw Andrew put the plate aside, took a deep breath, and stood up again.