Chapter 428: Mountain Base

They met with the chief, and Julius told the man as much as he could. The chief took it all in and immediately began forming a plan.

The plan was quite simple. They would organize a group to go out and scout the area. Since Julius was the only person who could sense the beacon, he was tasked with pinpointing the exact location for the rest of them.

The group they managed to gather wasn’t that large. Just over a couple of dozen people, including the adventurers and himself, which meant that just over half of the participants were from the village itself. While the number wasn’t that large, they were the best the village had to offer.

The good news was that Emil had joined them. People were hesitant because Emil was the only person preventing the Frost Bear Clan from attacking Kastila directly, but the chief eventually decided that it was worth the risk. They wouldn’t get such an opportunity again. However, they ensured that their mission remained as discreet as possible.

They set out right away.

Julius, along with Rasmus, was stalking through the mountainous terrain together. They had decided that it would be smart if Rasmus came along with Julius since the man had a skill that would map out the most optimal path for the rest of the people.

It wasn’t the easiest trek either. They came across multiple traps that the bandit group likely laid. Most of them weren’t that dangerous; they were simple traps with alarm enchantments attached to them.

However, alerting the enemy was essentially shooting themselves in the foot, so they made sure to avoid activating any of the traps. Rasmus dealt with those; the man used a similar technique to the disruption skill he had used against Julius to deactivate the traps.

Julius could sense that they were getting closer. The beacon he left on the Tier 4 was still active and was gently pinging from the inside of the mountain they were climbing up. Julius assumed that there was some kind of hidden entrance that led toward the center of the mountain, but it was hard to figure out where that was.

Fortunately for them, the traps were a fairly accurate indicator that showed they were getting closer. The traps continued to become more complicated and numerous. Some of them were actually dangerous now and would kill or injure whoever activated them.

Eventually, they were presented with a problem. There were too many traps to go around them like they had been, and these traps were more advanced, which meant that Rasmus didn’t feel one hundred percent confident that he would be able to deactivate them without triggering some sort of alarm.

Julius wanted to use [Void Step] to get across, but he also knew that Rasmus wouldn’t be allowed to accompany him. His spatial movement had the unfortunate downside of being extremely dangerous to anyone who didn’t have some form of protection from the chaotic space.

Rasmus was Tier 4, so the odds that he could protect himself with a bubble of Authority were relatively high, but Julius didn’t want to take that chance. He also didn’t trust himself extending his own natural protection to someone as strong as a Tier 4. He could have likely done that with a Tier 3 or lower, but teleporting someone that strong meant there were some limitations and risks.

“You should head back and let the others know what we found,” Julius said to Rasmus, turning around.

“What about you?” Rasmus asked with a confused frown.

Julius motioned at the mountain. “I am going to take a closer look.”

“How? Do you have a way to get through the traps without tripping them?” The man questioned.

“Yeah, but I won’t be able to bring you along,” Julius said with an apologetic shrug.

“And you are sure that it won’t activate them?”

Julius scrunched his nose. “Eh, like ninety percent sure,” he said honestly. “I have gotten past better enchantments before, so I don’t think it should be a problem.”

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“What about—”

“Don’t worry, I will be careful,” Julius cut the man off, already knowing what he was going to say. “I am just going to take a closer look and see if I can find the actual entrance, that way we can move in right away. Plus, you know firsthand how hard it is to sense me when I keep myself hidden,” Julius said with a knowing grin.