"Caravan, Stop!"
The escort commander’s voice echoed across the plain like thunder.
In less than a few seconds, the caravan’s exemplary discipline showed itself.
The pack monsters stopped moving as their reins were pulled, and the heavy carts stopped one after another.
No one asked questions, no one panicked, everyone knew exactly what to do in such situations.
The front-line soldiers immediately raised their large metal shields and formed a defensive wall in front of the caravan.
The mages stepped forward a few steps, and mana began to slowly rotate around their hands.
Magic circles appeared beneath their feet one after another, and they became more ready by the moment to release the first offensive or defensive spells if necessary.
At the same time, three scouts climbed the slopes of the surrounding hills with incredible speed and occupied the high points to monitor the environment.
Several level twenty to twenty-eight awakened ones also immediately changed their formation.
Without anyone giving them a direct order, they formed a protective ring around the students.
If an attack occurred, the first ones who needed to stay alive were the country’s future talents.
The escort commander, a burly man with dark-colored armor and a golden commander rank insignia on his chest, stepped forward.
He was one of the most powerful people present in this caravan and a level 28 awakened one.
His gaze fixed on the scout who had come down from the top of the hill moments ago.
"Full report."
The scout took a few deep breaths to steady his breathing.
"About eight to ten kilometers ahead..." He pointed toward the massive column of black smoke.
"The smoke is still fresh, besides the smoke, I also saw several mana explosions."
A few of the guards frowned, mana explosions only indicated one thing, and that was a conflict, and the scout continued.
"The conflict probably started only a few minutes ago."
He paused for a moment, and what he was about to say was even more concerning than the smoke itself.
"Inside the smoke... I saw several flashes of different skills several times."
The commander’s gaze sharpened.
"What do you mean?"
"Those flashes were not from monster attacks, it seemed like several people were using different skills."
A brief silence followed, everyone understood the meaning of this, if different skills were seen... then the opposing side was not just a few wild monsters.
The possibility of awakened ones being present... or even intelligent creatures... seemed more real than ever.
They had traveled a significant distance from their base, and there shouldn’t be other awakened ones around here... unless they were caravans from other bases.
The air around the caravan, which had been calm until a few minutes ago, suddenly became heavy.
The commander took the route map from one of the officers and stared at it for a few seconds without speaking.
This route was the most direct way to reach Base #9, if they continued on this path right now, they might walk directly into the heart of the battle.
But if they decided to go around the route... several days would be lost, and there was no guarantee that the alternative route would be safer.
A few moments later, he made his decision.
"Reconnaissance group."
Two scouts stepped forward, along with two warriors, one mage, and five people stood before the commander.
"Scout the area, direct engagement only if forced, whatever information you obtain, return immediately."
Everyone bowed their heads at the same time, the next moment, five shadows disappeared into the grassland at high speed.
A few of the students unconsciously stepped forward, they were also curious to know exactly what had happened there.
Although they expected insecurity on the route, they did not expect it from other awakened ones.
"No student is allowed to accompany." But the commander said without even looking at them.
No one objected.
Waiting... was sometimes harder than the battle itself.
The caravan remained stopped in complete silence.
The sound of wind was passing through the grasslands, and sometimes the distant roar of monsters could be heard from deep within the forest.
Marcus, who was always the most talkative member of the group, was not saying anything this time, his usual smile had faded.
Selina silently locked her fingers around her sword’s hilt.
Liana looked around several times, Rindo still stood calmly, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings; as if his mind was already analyzing dozens of different possibilities.
A few meters away, Nathan held his long spear in his hand, his stance looked more like a veteran soldier than a student.
He did not stop guarding the surroundings for even a moment.
All the students felt the sense of danger and were ready for any possible conflict, they were far from the base, but if they ran at full speed, they could return within an hour or two.
They hoped the situation would not become so urgent that such a thing would be necessary.
Seraphina stood quietly next to Lian, her gaze still fixed on the smoke column.
"What do you think happened?"
Lian stared at the horizon for a while without answering, the smoke was still rising calmly into the sky, from his view, it also seemed like a conflict between several awakened ones, and then he said slowly.
"I hope I’m wrong, but that smoke... is not from a normal conflict."
About twenty minutes passed, and suddenly one of the scouts stationed on the hill shouted.
"They’re coming back!" All eyes turned toward the distance.
Several shadows were approaching the caravan at high speed, but... one of them was clearly limping.
When the reconnaissance group got close, everyone noticed that one of them had been wounded in the shoulder.
A deep cut had split his metal armor, and blood was still slowly flowing down from the crack in the armor.
The faces of each member of the group were much more serious than when they had left, upon seeing that something had happened to the reconnaissance group members, the sense of danger inside them became even stronger.
"Report."
The lead scout took a deep breath.
"A caravan has indeed been attacked."
The commander said nothing and waited for the continuation of the report.
"Several carts were completely destroyed, many awakened ones were killed or wounded." His voice was calm, but each sentence made the surrounding atmosphere heavier.
Then...
"But the attackers were not monsters."
"Then what were they?" The commander frowned, aside from monsters, what could attack a caravan? ... The natives of this world?
Did that mean they had encountered the natives so soon...
The scout was silent for a few seconds, as if he himself still did not believe what he had seen and did not know how to explain it.
In the end, he sighed and said quietly.
"Only... five people."
For a moment, no one reacted, then a few guards looked at each other in disbelief.
"Five people? Are you sure?" The commander asked with a heavy voice.
The scout nodded without the slightest hesitation.
"Yes, only five people." He took a deep breath.
"But... all of them were extremely strong." His eyes still held traces of disbelief.
"The caravan’s guards couldn’t even hold their ground against them, we were also attacked by one of them and were forced to retreat... that was also when they left the place."
This time even the commander fell silent.
The scout continued.
"Stranger still, they didn’t seem to have come for looting or killing, it was as if... they were looking for something." He paused for a moment.
"Or... looking for someone."
No one said anything, all eyes once again fixed on the smoke column that was still rising on the horizon.
If only five people had been able to dismantle a military caravan... how great was their true power? And why would they attack a caravan?
If that caravan had been sent by a country, then attacking it could be considered an act of war.
What sane creature would dare to do such a thing? ... Perhaps a creature that is not from their world?
So could they finally encounter the first group of natives? And could this mean that the natives have decided to carry out large-scale attacks against them? Anything was possible...
No one knew the answer to this question.
But everyone, from experienced soldiers to young students, had clearly understood one truth.
From this moment on... this journey was not going to remain peaceful.