"Alright."
"Aaliyah, you wait outside for us."
After giving instructions, Gauss and Ying passed through the city wall gate and entered the canyon.
"Woo woo woo~~~"
The ghostly howling wind echoed through the canyon.
The passageway in the canyon was fairly spacious, with towering cliffs on either side.
Stubborn dead vines or low shrubs struggled out of the crevices, and occasionally mountain springs flowed down the ravines and fissures in the rock walls.
Since sunlight could only directly reach the canyon at noon for a brief moment, the temperature inside was lower than outside, occasionally swept by the piercing cold wind.
"Caw caw! Caw caw!"
Many wild crows had built nests on the rock walls.
"Plop!"
A droplet of gray-white bird dung fell from overhead, landing on rock already covered in dried bird droppings.
"So many crows."
"We can catch some later, let Aik tame them, that way we’ll have more eyes and ears in the team."
Gauss dropped the bird droppings; his current task was to find clues about the Jackal-Wolf people in Raven Aik.
Gauss took out a translucent light red stone from his pocket.
This stone was given to him by Mage Lyman, allowing him to scout the evil aura of the Jackal-Wolf King, Demon Lord Yenogu, in advance.
It’s said that the closer the distance, the deeper its color becomes.
"Looks like it’s not nearby."
Gauss shook his head.
This area of Raven Aik also had several forks, each leading in different directions.
After conducting a brief reconnaissance around the canyon entrance, Gauss and Ying returned to the city wall to regroup with Aaliyah and the others.
"Did you discover anything?"
"I found the general direction, but it’s getting late, so we headed back," Gauss glanced at the sky.
"By the way, where’s Aik?"
"Caw caw!!"
As if he heard someone calling him, Aik flapped his wings and quickly flew over.
Gauss released the crows he had caught earlier from the biological pouch.
These crows were hand-picked by him, bright-feathered, and robust.
There were about a dozen of them.
The crows from Raven Aik were generally larger by twenty to thirty percent compared to crows from other places.
Crows tied with ropes on their legs had lost the ability to soar into the sky.
Of course, the aura of "the strong" released by Raven Aik immediately subdued this group of crows.
One by one, they trembled, showing submission to Aik.
And many were frightened into expelling bird dung.
This showed Aik’s influence on ordinary crows.
"Indeed, you have the potential to become the crow leader."
Gauss nodded.
It wasn’t in vain that he put effort into capturing them.
After Raven Aik "took action", it didn’t take long for this group of crow followers to be completely won over.
Gauss then freed them from their restraints.
Watching the crows circling overhead and the occasional drop of bird dung, Gauss quickly reminded Aik to discipline the new subordinates.
He didn’t want to constantly worry about bird droppings falling on his head.
"Caw caw!"
Seeing that no more bird dung was falling near them, Gauss withdrew his gaze.
Magic has both advantages and disadvantages.
Reconnaissance spells can also be detected by counter-reconnaissance spells.
Sometimes, ordinary creatures like these can provide very covert reconnaissance.
Crows and sparrows are among the most common types of birds.
Most people wouldn’t immediately think of them as scouts, and certainly not the demons.
What they might care about is when these crows land nearby and whether they might become a meal.
"Caw caw!"
Aik came beside Aaliyah.
"Aik says this group of crows knows the exact location of the Jackal-Wolf people."
"If needed, they can lead us there."
"Alright, let’s talk about it tomorrow."
...
Rested overnight at the foot of the city wall.
Next morning.
Gauss discovered that the number of crows hovering overhead had unknowingly increased significantly.
There were already thirty to forty birds.
"What’s going on?"
"It should be those crows tamed by Aik; last night they went back to the canyon nests and brought their companions over," Aaliyah blinked.
She hadn’t instructed Aik to do this either.
"Enough, more is just more."
Gauss cut some raw meat and tossed it onto the ground.
Soon, the crows above descended like rain, grabbing the meat chunks from the ground. However, they didn’t dare eat immediately and turned to look at their leader, Raven Aik.
After receiving a nod, they tilted their heads back and swallowed the "free breakfast."
"Caw caw!"
"Caw caw!"
The flock of crows soon echoed with cheerful calls.
Some other crows flew towards the canyon.
Seeing this, Gauss didn’t order Aik to stop them; it’s just food, after all.
There are plenty of goblin corpses.
After breakfast.
The group continued to advance into the canyon.
Gauss didn’t leave York and Abby outside the canyon.
Compared to staying in the wilderness, it’s obviously safer to move together with them.
The canyon environment is generally still safe.
Moreover, with so many "local crows" as scouts, enemies can hardly hide anywhere.
"Caw caw!"
Guided by the pathfinders, Gauss and his group moved quickly within the canyon.
A foul stench drifted over on the cold wind.
Gauss caught sight of some odd-colored fur in the crevices of the rocks beneath him, realizing the Jackal-Wolf People were nearby.
"Stop."
At this point, the canyon became noticeably wider.
Due to the width, sunlight shone here longer than in the narrow parts, thus forming a grove in the canyon.
At least it should have...
Aaliyah reached out to touch the vines on the rock wall.
"The plants are wilting and withering... something is polluting this land."
Gauss nodded.
He summoned a clay creature.
The clay goblins he could summon now each had a combat strength of level 2-3, and combined with their "fearless" will, they constituted a considerable force.
He left two clay goblins and Ulfen to guard Abby and York.
If any unfortunate incident were to occur, the clay goblins would hold off the enemy, while the swift Silver Wolf Ulfen would carry them away.
After arranging these, Gauss and the others held a short pre-battle meeting.
"Considering the unique terrain here, once the battle starts, I probably won’t be able to use the Fireball Technique."
He worried the explosion’s shockwave might cause a landslide within the canyon, which, although likely to severely damage the Jackal-Wolf People’s lair, would also increase many uncontrollable risks.
"I should try the Snowstorm Spell I recently mastered to drive them out of the grove, so we can ambush the escaping Jackal-Wolf People."
"This time we don’t need to hold back; leave it to me to resolve."
Gauss specifically instructed.
On one hand, the mission involved the power of the Demon Lord, and even though it was just a trace manifested via an altar, it required a more serious approach.
On the other hand, the canyon terrain isn’t like the open wilderness, so it’s best to resolve it as soon as possible.
"Understood."
"..."
After a simple exchange.
Gauss gave his teammates a look.
Then slowly floated forward.
"3rd Ring Spell * Snowstorm lv2 (18/20)"
Although the mastery time was short and the proficiency hadn’t fully developed, it was sufficient since it wasn’t being used in the heat of battle.
Gauss took a deep breath.
He slowly chanted in Dragon Tongue.
A surge of icy magic power gathered quickly around him, causing the already cold temperature to plummet.
"Buzz!!!"
Pale blue magical waves radiated rapidly from Gauss, like ripples spreading outwards.
"Snowstorm... burst!"
With Gauss’s final two Dragon Tongue syllables spoken.
"Boom!!!"
A dull sound descended suddenly, as if the chill from the depths of the far northern ice fields erupted forth.
Above the grove, the weather changed abruptly.
Snowflakes like goose feathers fell from nowhere, and the temperature dropped visibly.
The grass and trees were quickly covered with a thick layer of frost.
"Crack!"
The cold splintered the leaves, which fell to the ground and shattered.
This was not just any ordinary snow.
Intermixed were countless knife-sharp ice shards and freezing rain, spinning at high speed within the gusts driven by Gauss’s magic power, whistling through the air, sweeping through the grove.
The ice and snow had arrived!