Chapter 253: 252 Beginner’s Introduction to Scouting for “Huo Zheng Quite Good

Chapter 253 252. Beginner’s Reconnaissance – For Brother “Huo Zhenggao” [220].

Andre and his servants had to continue to plan and refine their operational strategy, while Murphy’s small players did not have so much to worry about.

They have already begun to move, but not on a large scale, to be precise, there are only four people.

Two NPCs and two players.

Two mentors and their two apprentices.

Mr. Heru, the scouting psychic who had just freed himself from Baroness Miriam’s negotiation team, was still reveling in the fond memories of the previous high class reception in Batasin City, but the party seemed to have “drained” his energy, making him yawn continuously as he rode his own distinctive donkey at a gallop.

However, this seemingly unreliable honor does not hide the fact that this former Tower of the Ring psychic is now part of the Scarlet Citadel’s “high-end spellcasting force”.

His proficiency in detecting psychic energy spells was exactly what Murphy and Tris needed the most, so after Heru followed the witch hunters to Scarlet Castle, as he wished, he was immediately given a heavy responsibility, and was even personally taught by Tris, the master of psychic energy.

This was definitely an unexpected pleasure for Heru, after all, even in the Tower of the Ring there were less than five Spiritual Energy Masters, and the positions they held there were by no means at a high level that Heru, a Black Iron Scout, could access.

This fully represented the great success of Heru’s workplace strategy of “Better to be the head of a chicken than the queen of a cow”!
“I say, why are you so sluggish? Obviously a young man even younger than me.”

Flapping her newly grown wings, Ms. Dorothy experienced the distinctive sensation of flying as she followed Mage Heru’s ridiculous donkey and spat in a small voice:
“You look as if your body has been hollowed out after not sleeping for two days and two nights?”

“Alas, who made those Yankee ladies so passionate, the beauty that grows in the great wilderness is clearly as cold and proud as ice, but inside it burns like a flame My teacher who died of a disease was right in what he taught me!
Women, ah, what a terrible thing that will make gifted people degrade themselves, the first hurdle to becoming a good psychic is to refuse temptation!”

Mage Heru couldn’t help but spit out a small and somewhat smug comment in a small voice.

He, a poor boy from the countryside next to the green forest of Antani, never thought that he had the potential to become a “white boy”.

But he was clear-headed enough to know that the little power and status he currently enjoyed came from the local lord’s regard, so he said no more, and instead, gathered himself together and turned to look at Lady Dorothy beside him.

He asked in a whisper:
“Aren’t you bringing more people? Aren’t you afraid of something going wrong if it’s just the two of you and your disciple who feel their way into the Jackals’ large camp?”

“My current subordinates are a bunch of losers, it’s okay to let them mess around with intelligence, doing this kind of thing they are willing to go on by themselves I don’t even feel confident.”

Dorothy bristled and said:
“What’s more, isn’t there still you and your disciples here? With the help of your scouting techniques, Tooth and I are safe, provided that you two don’t mess up.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t dare to guarantee anything else, after all, Grand Duke Tris hasn’t formally taught me the Spiritual Energy Spells of the Plastic Energy Department yet, but this aspect of the Scouting Technique is something I’m old at. I’ve served Marshal Loren before!
Trust me, absolutely professional!”

Mage Heru immediately puffed up her chest and assured the newly minted vampire lady on her side:

“As long as you’re light on your feet, we’ll be able to get you out safely, but I’m curious, how does it feel to be a vampire as a human?”

“Wandering around in the darkness of the night feels great, all the mystery is like a new life, yet once the annoying sunlight shows up, you can’t wait to tear off this delicate skin of yours and bury yourself in the coldest of tombs.”

Dorothy sighed.

She told the truth about what she had really been thinking since becoming a vampire, then she glanced at Heru, who was curiously ogling her wings, and added in a long drawn out voice:

“What? Are you interested in the Midnight Blessing too?”

“I’d say it’s impossible to say I don’t, but my source of interest is presumably different from yours; I used to come from the Tower of the Ring, and while I haven’t seen much excellence in it, I do understand the way supernatural forces work.

Truth be told, the supernatural powers that vampires possess are worthless in the face of true intelligence.”

Heru, dressed in black robes, said honestly:
“If I’m going to choose to risk being brutally beaten or even severed by my sister-in-law to become a vampire, then there must be only one reason.

It was never superhuman strength, but mundane power!
I want to get ahead, I want to go back to my hometown in style to bring my parents and family over for the good old days of being human that they can’t even think about.

But in a land where vampires are in power, even though Lord Murphy may claim racial equality, the vampire will still be the uncrowned king of the darkness.

Yet in the case of Transylvania as it is now, it’s not enough for me to fight to stake everything I don’t have on hand.”

“Heh heh, you’re a funny little guy.”

Dorothy said to Mage Heru as she flapped her blood wings to maneuver herself from one side of the Battle Donkey to the other:
“Call you stupid, you see these things more clearly than most, but call you smart, yet you have the audacity to say what’s on your mind to someone you’ve just met and is a member of the Bloodwing Clan.

I get it, you’re probably one of those legendary ‘smart but stupid’ people.”

“Gee whiz, I just wanted to make a friend.”

The Heru Mage bristled as Dorothy once again said in a long drawn out voice:
“Sharing your thoughts with strangers recklessly is no way to make friends, it just makes me think you’re a fool and take random cravings from your heart. It would seem, little one, that you are lacking in the area of dealing with others.

Why don’t you join my Blood Rats?

I am currently serving Lady Adele, who is the direct descendant of Lord Murphy, don’t you want power and status?

Following us through the shadows will give you what you want!
The best part is that you won’t even have to face the difficult choice of becoming a vampire or remaining as a human.”

“That’s exactly what I want!”

Heru whispered with a sly grin on his donkey:

“I wouldn’t be so stupid as to make friends with just any stranger, but I’ll have to talk to my sister-in-law before I join you, and only if she agrees can I choose to walk into the shadows where you are.

Don’t give me that weird smile! You damned vampire.

My parents asked my sister-in-law to take care of me when I left the village with her, obviously I’m older than she is, and anyway, in the presence of the Emerald Forest, Aunt Ambrosia is already my guardian outside of my hometown.

I have to consult her on any important decisions I make, it’s an Antani tradition, but I reckon it won’t be hard.”

The Heru mage rubbed his smooth chin as he spat in a small voice:

“The once shrewd sister-in-law has now been captured by the magic called ‘love’, she just doesn’t seem to realize it herself, she has inadvertently gotten too close to that ramrod straight but slow warrior
Alas, I knew that sooner or later, her kind of character would be eaten up by another man. Obviously they’re both children of the Emerald Forest but she’s not dashing at all.

Nowhere near as open-minded as I am in that regard.”

“You’re hanging out with those witch hunters, aren’t you?”

Dorothy had one last doubt as she asked:
“Why are you throwing yourself into the shadows when you should be holding a public position in the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Uh, I’m a psychic.”

Heru said with a shrug:

“I don’t believe in the gods they’ve been preaching about, the Tower of the Ring is unfriendly regarding all gods, and those powerful psionics believe that the gods of the Astral Realm carry a purpose for all their interventions in the material world, which is the primary reason I can’t join the Adventurers’ Guild.

Okay, down to business!

Here, take this with you first.”

Heru reminded as he took out a very special metal piece from his psionic bag:
“This thing is called a ‘Shadow Patch’ and it’s quite a special insert, place it in your arithmetic jewel and it will indicate your location for me and strengthen the mind language between us.

It also strengthens your connection to the shadows and reduces the probability of you being detected after you’ve gone into subterfuge.

This is also something I brought with me from the Pathfinder Fortress and is in my private stash of goodies, not a lot of them but quite useful for thieves.

If the Blood Rats need it in the future, come to me to buy it, and now since I’m about to become a member of the Blood Rats as well, the price or anything else is good.”

And while the NPCs were exchanging words, the two small players following behind were also exchanging words.

As Mage Heru’s only apprentice at the moment, the thirty year old Smoke Sang would be full of complaints as he spat at the silent Frosttooth’s Claw beside him as he rode the hunting pony he had rented from the witch hunters:

“I had arranged with my brothers to be taken by them to fight the Blood Wyvern Cloister tonight, I heard that the equipment there is the best, and then I was dragged here by my unreliable mentor to engage in this kind of thing.

Even though it’s a hidden quest, the reward doesn’t look good, what the hell is ‘depending on the outcome of the quest’?”

Smoke Sang complained, however Frost Tooth’s Claw was a social terror.

He just quietly listened to Smoke Sang complaining and didn’t answer, Smoke Sang was a bit bored talking alone so he twisted his head to look at Tooth’s Claw, he said curiously:
“Dude why don’t you say anything? Mute? Or are you offline?”

“Nah! I just don’t like to talk. You talk, I’m listening.”

“Ow, got it, got it, mastermind right? I understand, all of you who like to play thieves are like that, you all have a heart to become a master. Being a loner, that sounds so cool. But let me tell you, after you sneak in, I’ll be the one in charge of giving you directions, so why don’t you just suck up to me?

What if my hand shakes and introduces you to a pile of monsters?” “This is a quest, so you won’t do it. After all, if you fail, you’ll lose favor.”

“Ch, no fun, no sense of humor at all.

That said, is it possible for you guys to steal things from NPCs? I have a bold idea, I see Lord Murphy’s flying sword is pretty cool, how about .”

“I tried before don’t even think about it, it’s impossible to steal that sword has self-awareness, if you dare to reach out it will dare to cut down.”

“6 ah! I’m just saying, you really dare to try ah! But you dared to steal Murphy-sama, isn’t there any punishment for that?”

“. You, why do you think I’m here?”

“. Uh, got it.”

A group of four people ran wildly under the night, the hunter war ponies on their crotches were very powerful, this kind of war horse that was cultivated by the witch hunters from a young age with the secret art of natural psychic energy was not only full of endurance but also super-fast, the donkey of the Mage of Hyrule looked undignified, but this beast could actually keep up with the speed of the hunter war ponies, and at first glance it wasn’t a proper donkey.

Maybe it’s a “new product” developed by the Tower of the Ring?
Anyway, it only took the four of them a few hours to reach the border of the Barony of Moorland, and landed in a bay of the Cadman River.

“It’s less than 5 miles to the jackal camp, we can’t go any further, my apprentice and I will set up a scouting spell here, but you two must listen to us when you go in!”

Mage Heru found a place where he wouldn’t be easily spotted, he said seriously to Dorothy and Frosttooth’s Claw:
“Don’t go where you’re not allowed to go, even though I already have a specific map of the Jackals’ camp, there’s no guarantee that there won’t be any dangerous places.

Remember your mission and leave immediately after gathering information! Don’t ever do anything you shouldn’t do either.”

“Understood, I’ve worked as a traveling bandit for a few months before, I’m familiar with this job.”

Ms. Dorothy, who had an extensive past career, pulled up her face scarf and dressed herself like a vampire ninja.

She nodded to Heru, then tugged the apprentice Tooth by the hand in the darkness of the night and flew into the sky with him, speeding towards the jackal camp in the distance.

Heru set up the casting maneuver of the Scrying Eagle’s Eye spell in place, fine-tuning his observation of the landing spot while speaking to Apprentice Smokey Sand beside him:

“I’ll take care of Lady Dorothy’s side and go look for the whereabouts of the Wolfsbane Vampire, and you’ll command her apprentice to enter the core area of the Jackalese camp, find some key objects and plant a locator crystal.”

“Roger that!”

Smoke Sang moved nimbly to cast the spell, but he still asked in a low voice:
“You were in Batasin before uh, let me get this straight, I heard that you got gang-banged by those horny noblewomen? I also heard that those crazy noblewomen just wanted a taste of a psychic.”

“You!”

Mage Heru nearly lost control of his spell casting motion.

He turned back to look angrily at his apprentice, who had a bitchy grin on his face, and chided:
“Listen to whoever said that! Why don’t you have a big mouth? Is this a question for an apprentice like you to ask?”

“Ch, you’re not even as old as me, why are you pretending? You slutty mage, hypocrite! Come on, hurry up and tell me, how many have you slept with? Are you moist?”

“It’s definitely moist, and it’s crazy enough to be called rotten, but as for how many . Ch, why should I talk to you about this? You are my apprentice okay, now hurry up and cast the spell!

Stop fooling around, I’ll teach you a new locator spell after this mission is done.

And I’m not talking about you. If you’re so talented in this area, you shouldn’t waste it, understand? Put more effort into your studies, knowledge will not fail you.”

On the other side, Mrs. Dorothy took Tooth and Tooth and flew quietly in the night sky close to the Jackal People’s camp in front of them, which was still chaotic even at midnight.

She whispered as she searched for a suitable landing spot:

“Six positioning crystals, three for you and three for me, placed in the center of the camp in a triangle, no less than 800 paces apart from each other, make sure to set the center tent in.

This is our Blood Rat Gang’s first action, whether we can make a name for ourselves depends on this.

Are you still angry?

Tooth, I was just joking with you .”

“I almost got cut by Lord Murphy’s sword . That’s a joke I don’t like! I trusted you, but you punked me .”

Dorothy was embarrassed for a moment.

She whispered:

“I was wrong I was wrong, I’ll make it up to you, you say what you want, my apprentice, I’ll get it for you.”

Frosttooth’s Claw sulked, he was really angry.

It wasn’t until after the two had landed outside the camp about to enter Shadow Walk that he whispered to Dorothy:

“You said before that the halflings have a thieves guild? I’d like to join! Besides don’t let there be a next time I don’t have that much trust to share with the others”

“Ah, the thieves guild, they don’t have a chapter in Transylvania.”

Dorothy said with a headache:
“The nearest guild stronghold is in Cato, I’ll take care of the introduction process for you, but you’ll have to come to the Stalker trials on your own, besides, I think the Blood Rats could join them as well, being a branch would actually be quite nice.”

The female vampire looked at the camp of oversized alien monsters in front of her as if they were living creatures in the darkness of the night, she took a deep breath, she had never had such an exciting experience in her previous life.

But she had been blessed with immortality by Midnight, and perhaps her once obscure life should change as a result.

She smiled back at Tooth behind her and said:

“Come, my disciple, let us dance in the shadows.”

“Uh-huh.”

Frosttooth’s Claw nodded and moved forward with Dorothy.

He skillfully sensed and summoned the shroud of shadows, allowing himself to walk in the darkness of the night nearly silently and in a unique state of “vision blocking”.

Much like sneaking in other games, but different, the real shadows would not be so generous in sheltering him, much less pampering him, and he would have to be careful with every step he took.

But he is no stranger to this, as he walks through ancient and silent mysterious catacombs, talking to corpses that have been dead for centuries and millennia, in the midst of history.

He loved the feeling of being alone.

“Duh.”

The arithmetic jewel firmly tied to his wrist vibrated slightly, and then Smoky Sang’s voice followed the psychic vibration and sounded in his mind:

“Positioning confirmed, Eagle Eye Technique deployed!

300 meters ahead of you is a group of 7 jackals patrolling with bloodthirsty hyenas, according to Meowshark, who has tamed the hyenas, these beasts have a very keen sense of smell, avoid them.

Go to the left!

I’ve plotted a new route for you, at your sneaking speed, you’ll reach the target area in about ten minutes, not too many monsters very good, maintain this current speed and direction uniformly forward . That said, man, that’s a pretty tutor you’ve got there, with the spunky beauty of a socialite sister.

So you like this type? Tsk, real people don’t show their faces, can can can!”

“Pah.”

Tooth almost fell out of his shadow-walking state when his foot slipped, and he responded harshly:

“No!”

“Hahaha, anxious anxious, I get it, I get it, we’re all men, I can understand. I heard those sluts from Woo Meow say that there’s an R18 game mode hidden in this game, and I’m not going to lie, dude got stuck with an awesome bug before.

I can basically confirm that their guesses are true.

I suspect that after we keep advancing the plot to a certain point, that water pipe will work, and wouldn’t it be nice to have the jockey baa-zu then? But remember to brush up on your goodwill and occasionally give gifts or something, women eat that up.”

“Blanch! You be serious! This is doing a mission!”

(End of chapter)