Seeing that Luo Xun had also agreed to go along, Alice let out a sigh of relief.
“I need to set out immediately.
I must report the findings from this salvage expedition to my father as soon as possible.” “As you wish.” Halduron raised no objection and turned to Lorion.
“Go make preparations.
Draw up a squad—only the best rangers.
Ready the hawkstriders and supplies.
We set out in an hour.” “Yes, sir!” Lorion turned and left.
Halduron turned back to Alice, his tone softening slightly.
“You need to tend to your wounds and change your clothes first.
I’ve already sent someone to fetch some for you.” “Thank you.” Alice nodded, then turned to Luo Xun.
“He needs supplies as well…
He exhausted a great deal on the journey.” Halduron’s gaze settled on Luo Xun once more.
This time it lingered a bit longer, as if he were sizing him up.
Finally, he called out toward the entrance of the tent, “Talia!” An elf ranger parted the curtain and stepped inside.
She had short reddish-brown hair, amber eyes, and carried two blades—one long, one short—at her waist.
“Take this…
guest to the logistics tent,” Halduron ordered.
“Get him a spare set of clothes, and replenish his arrows and rations.
Standard-issue will do.” “Understood.” Talia nodded, then looked at Luo Xun and gestured for him to follow.
Luo Xun didn’t move right away, looking at Alice first.
Alice gave him a gentle nod.
“Go ahead.
See you here in an hour.” Only then did he follow Talia out.
The logistics tent was on the other side of the camp, far more rustic than the main tent.
Talia lifted the flap, revealing an interior piled high with wooden crates, sacks, and various gear.
An old elf was counting arrows.
When he looked up and saw Luo Xun behind Talia, his gray eyebrows instantly knit together.
“A human?” The old elf spoke in Elven, his tone far from friendly.
“The General’s orders.
Replenish his supplies,” Talia said curtly, then turned to Luo Xun.
“Clothes are in the crates on the left.
Arrows and rations are at the very back.
Help yourself.” With that, she leaned against a tent pole with her arms crossed, showing absolutely no intention of helping him.
Luo Xun didn’t expect her to either.
He walked over to the wooden chest containing the clothes and opened it.
Inside were neatly folded hunter’s outfits of dark green, the fabric soft yet durable.
But he didn’t touch them; instead, he fished out a set of older, dusty-looking spare garments from a pile nearby.
*Wearing something too nice will only invite resentment.
Best keep a low profile.* Then he walked over to the pile of arrows.
Elven arrows were entirely different from his homemade hunting arrows.
The shafts were made of some kind of white wood, incredibly straight, and the fletching consisted of bird feathers in three colors, arranged with flawless precision.
The arrowheads were slender bodkin points forged from cold iron, with faint magical runes etched along their edges.
Luo Xun picked one up and weighed it in his hand.
In his energy vision, the arrowhead gleamed with a very faint golden light, as if it had been enchanted.
“How many do you want?” The old elf walked over, his tone remaining stiff.
“Twenty.” The old elf snorted, grabbed an empty quiver from the side, swiftly counted out twenty arrows, and threw them over.
“Take them.
Don’t lose them.
The price of a single arrow is enough to feed you humans for a month.” *A single arrow can feed me for a month?
Then these twenty are enough to feed me for nearly two years.* Luo Xun took the quiver and weighed one arrow.
It was indeed far more exquisite than the ones he had whittled himself.
He then grabbed enough hardtack and dried meat to last three days, stuffed everything into his backpack, and looked at Talia.
“I’m ready.” Talia glanced at the items he had taken and curled her lip.
She clearly thought this human was quite foolish for choosing the worst gear, but she said nothing, turning to lift the curtain and head out.
Luo Xun followed behind her.
As they crossed the camp, he could feel more gazes falling upon him—curious, disdainful, cold.
When a few elf rangers practicing their archery spotted him, one of them let out a scoff, raised his bow, and drew it, aiming at a target dozens of meters away.
*Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!* Three arrows shot in rapid succession, all pinning themselves directly in the bullseye, their shafts clustered so tightly they almost overlapped.
The elf lowered his bow and jerked his chin toward Luo Xun, as if to say, *See that?
Now that’s archery.* Luo Xun glanced at the target, then at the longbow in the elf’s hand.
In his energy vision, when the elf drew the bow, the golden halo around his arm, shoulder, and back connected into a smooth, flowing line, channeling from his body into the bow and then flooding into the arrow.
*So that’s how it is.
It’s not about raw strength; it’s about knowing how to channel energy.* He withdrew his gaze and continued walking.
*Alright, I’ve learned another trick.
I’ll practice this when I have time; it doesn’t look that difficult.* When he returned to the central command tent, Alice had already changed.
No longer wearing the blood-stained, torn robe, she now wore a form-fitting hunter’s outfit of dark gold, layered beneath light armor embroidered with silver thread, with a rapier hanging at her waist.
Though the white veil still concealed her face, she looked much more rejuvenated, and her authoritative air as a high-ranking noble was even more pronounced.
Halduron had also donned his full suit of armor and was speaking quietly with Lorion.
Seeing Luo Xun return, his ice-blue eyes swept over Luo Xun’s dusty clothes and backpack.
A slight twitch crossed his lips, seemingly surprised that Luo Xun hadn’t taken the top-tier gear.
“Is everything ready?” Alice asked.
“We can depart at any time,” Halduron replied.
“I will lead the squad myself.
Ten Farstrider rangers.
We’ll take a hidden trail to avoid the main areas of Scourge activity.” Alice nodded, then looked at Luo Xun.
“And you?” Luo Xun patted his backpack.
“All set.” “Then let us go.” By the time they stepped out of the tent, the night had grown completely dark.
The ten elf rangers had already assembled, each leading a hawkstrider.
Two additional mounts stood riderless, clearly intended for Alice and Luo Xun.
Alice swung onto her mount’s back with practiced agility.
It was a tall avian mount with long legs and a slender neck, fitted with a specially made saddle.
Her movements were smooth, indicating she rode them often.
Luo Xun stared at the hawkstrider assigned to him and paused for a second.
Having never ridden such a creature before, he followed the elves’ lead, grabbed the saddle, and hoisted himself up.
The motion wasn’t particularly graceful, but it was steady enough.
The hawkstrider shifted its talons uneasily.
*Why does this bird walk with such a bumpy, jolting gait?
It feels like riding a tractor.* Riding at the very front, Halduron glanced back at the line, then raised his right hand and waved it forward.
“Move out!” The ten hawkstriders strode forward with their long legs, gliding silently into the dark woods.
Luo Xun rode near the rear-middle of the group, with Alice two paces ahead of him.
The night wind was quite chilly, and the only sounds in the woods were the rustling of hawkstrider talons stepping on fallen leaves and the occasional, distant cry of some unknown creature.
He cast a glance back toward the Farstrider Retreat.
The camp’s firelight flickered a few times through the gaps in the trees before vanishing completely.
He turned his head back and looked forward.
Pitch-black woods, and a path leading to God knows where.
And then there were the faint, lingering glances from the group.
The ranger who had provoked him earlier was riding at the very back of the line, a few dozen paces away, but his gaze felt like a predator sizing up its prey, making Luo Xun’s spine itch.
Then he looked at the very front.
Halduron rode at the head of the column, his back straight as a rod, with that human battleaxe hanging at his waist, glinting coldly under the moonlight.
*An elven general carrying a human axe—I wonder what the story is behind that.* The hawkstrider took steady strides, carrying him deeper into the night.
Ahead of them, Silvermoon City was still over three days away.
Resting his hand on his bow, he slipped along with the column into the deeper darkness.