Chương 142: Scouting Mission

Gerald was currently in a good mood. He managed to acquire plenty of benefits for his efforts, and that was just the beginning.

"I wonder how much will I be able to take after they clear the way for me?" He giggled all creepy-like and returned to the camp. The guys decided to take a break for today, and those few that didn't belong to Iron Hawks or Silver Phantom decided to leave. They had to take care of their wounded friends and couldn't continue hunting.

Gerald did not stay there for long, though. After the rest got drunk partying, he took the time to soundlessly disappear into the surrounding forest.

Finding a good spot, he made himself comfortable and sat down. Focusing his mind, he traveled back to the time of the big battle against the Orcs.

He relived the memory a few times over and focused most of his attention on Bishop Argoch who was making those big stone hands with magic. It was an interesting concept and Gerald wanted to copy it.

He closed his eyes and focused on feeling the ground around him. Every crack in the earth, every pebble on the floor…

Rumble!

The ground shook and the rocks on the ground swirled like leaves in the wind, forming a human-sized mound in front of him. Then, the mound started to compress in some places and expand in others, slowly forming a human shape. Not long after, the stone humanoid was complete.

It stood there motionlessly waiting for orders.

Gerald rose his right arm, and so did his stone counterpart. He lifted his leg up and kicked, and the stone humanoid mimicked him perfectly.

He went on to try jumping, running, punching… It was capable of it all. It was even able to climb better than Gerald who lost his hand for a second time. Now only an iron cannon remained on his left arm.

"Okay… This is way easier than I thought it would be… Though it does use up quite a bit of Mana."

The Stone Puppet, as Gerald named it, used around 15 MP/min, making it one of the more expensive spells in his arsenal. He sat down and his stone creation did the same. This was one of the slight problems he was currently trying to fix.

Making a puppet copy you was easy, you just had to connect it to your movements and it would work with no problem. However, separating it from yourself required multitasking, something humans weren't quite able to do.

Some people think they can do it, but in reality, they only switch between tasks really quickly, giving the illusion of multitasking. Although, now that his mind was growing stronger, Gerald noticed that such actions became increasingly easier.

"Maybe if I double or triple the strength of my mind I'll be able to multitask for real..."

Focusing his attention on the Stone Puppet, he was able to make it move while he was sitting still. But that was also not ideal, as he would be unable to move while moving the Puppet independently of himself.

Then, switching between himself and the puppet, he was able to create two completely different movements, although it was extremely tiring to do so.

There was the option of him staying hidden while the puppet fought, but it was not that useful. The main problem was that the puppet was not all that strong and it also had a fatal flaw. It could only be controlled within a radius of thirty meters.

"There is that thirty meters again! Why can't I increase the distance faster? Slowly expanding with the strength of my mind is not enough!" Although slightly frustrated, he didn't waste all his attention on this fact. He didn't know if it could be changed, and even if it could, he didn't know how to do it.

Wasting energy on the unknown would do him no good, so he didn't do it.

"Hmm… Although this spell is not that useful, I have a few ideas to make it better."

The old man back then made it much stronger by making it bigger and focusing only on the hands. Although he could exert much more strength that way, the energy consumption was probably through the roof.

But the old man was rich and full of gems, so that probably didn't concern him.

And although Gerald was now also loaded with Earth Crystals, being wasteful was not in his nature. He took out a few fist-sized gems that he got from the Minecrawler Warriors and trained his magic for the rest of the day.

In the morning of the next day, arriving at the front gates of the Fort, he was led inside by Trevor. The man appeared to have not been sleeping well as he had black circles under his eyes and was not as talkative.

Coming to a big room, Gerald saw quite a few people gathered there. He was familiar with some, but most were unknown to him.

A few more people arrived a few minutes later and they all took a seat around a long table. Bishop Argoch was at the head of it and spoke loudly, "Alright, we are all here now, let's begin."

"Let's first introduce ourselves so we get to know each other. I'll start! My name is Rayner, I'm Bishop Argoch's apprentice." Rayner spoke with confidence.

"Hello everybody, I'm Trevor, an Ice Wizard, also an apprentice of Mr. Argoch! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" Trevor lethargically introduced himself.

The female Ice Wizard from the battle simply said, "Hello, my name is Renna Castri." That was all they got. Her expression was aloof and gave an aura of coldness.

"Hi, I'm Gerald, nice to meet you all!" Gerald made a sweet and amicable smile while introducing himself. His eyes squinted slightly, giving those around him a warm feeling.

The rest of the people went on to introduce themselves one by one. There were a few famous ones among them, mainly the Dark Knight from the Dark Lions together with a few of his teammates.

There were also the widely-known Mad Weasels with the leader Belmar and a few of his trusted aides. The introductions went by without a hitch, even though some participants weren't willing to say much.

"Good, now that the introductions are out of the way, let me tell you why you were all invited here," Bishop Argoch started his speech.

"Since the Mad Weasels were the first to discover the Minecrawlers, it's only right so they should participate in their extermination. As for the Dark Lions, your strength is widely known through the kingdom and it will be needed this time."

He then went on to continue, "According to our friend here," he gestured at Gerald, "A nest with a Minecrawler King was discovered!"

"A King!"

"Are you serious?! Why didn't we get this information earlier? Do you know how many could die if they tried to fight that thing?"

"This is absurd! How can there be a King among those average Minecrawlers?"

The news immediately triggered a heated discussion, with most having shocked and worried expressions.

Bishop Argoch lifted his voice and said, "Calm down! We also only got this information yesterday! I have gathered you here because you are capable. Your task is to confirm the gravity of the situation so we can make appropriate plans to deal with the monsters!"

The words calmed the group down a bit, but then their attention was redirected to Gerald.

"This kid found the Minecrawler King and is still alive? I find it hard to believe it!" Cot stated his skeptical opinion.

Gerald gave him an angry frown. Although he was probably the youngest person present, he already had a short beard and a face full of scars, and he did not look anything like a child.

"Cot! Stop bullying him," Elly berated her teammate. Then turning to Gerald she spoke with an apologetic tone, "Don't take his words to heart, he is just a little grumpy because he didn't sleep well."

"Hey!" Cot loudly protested.

Gerald secretly grinned and then made the most magnanimous expression he could possibly muster, and spoke with a righteous tone, "It's okay my lady, compared to that old man I'm truly just a child. I don't blame him for his words at all!"

Cot became red in the face and roared, "Who are you calling old?!"

The exchange of subtle insults earned a round of laughter from most warriors present and the gloomy atmosphere was immediately disrupted.

"Haha, this guy is all right!" Belmar laughed merrily, even though the one being made fun of was his friend.

After they all calmed down it was time to get serious. Gerald was asked to explain in detail what exactly he saw, with all sorts of questions raining down on him afterward.

The main concern of the warriors was what to do if the situation turned out to be real, as some of them still didn't quite believe it.

"All of you were gathered here because you are one of the best warriors we currently have, but if you decide not to participate that's fine too. We will not hold it against you," the old Bishop announced after the discussion was almost over.

"The only thing I ask of you is that you don't spread this information around as it could lead to panic and unnecessary casualties."

Nobody had anything to say against it, of course. They knew how to keep their mouth shut, especially as it was requested by one of the highest authorities in the kingdom.

"Good, those that decided to go on this scouting mission, please gather at the entrance in an hour, the time is of the essence!"

Gerald went to meet his team and made an excuse to stay away from hunting for the time being. That was because the mission was a secret and everything had to work as normal to prevent any suspicion.

In an hour it was time to depart and the mass of people were already gathered before the door, waiting to begin their daily hunt.

Gerald wore a dark cloak and used the hood to hide his face and hid in the crowd. The group he was supposed to lead stood to the side of the rest. It was much smaller than at the meeting, as almost half of the people decided not to join.

It was not that they were scared or that the reward was too small, instead, it was the fact that they were unsuited for a covert mission where the most important aspect was stealth.

"Hello guys, I hope you can all protect me while we travel…" Gerald smiled warmly while speaking.

"Hmph, I knew it was a bad idea to have a kid guide us. I'm not a fucking babysitter!"

"Cot, you are acting unfriendly again…"

'There is that annoying guy again, what does he have against me?!' Gerald was bewildered by the guy's remarks, but this time he didn't even flinch and kept the unconcerned smile.

"Oh, man! I don't know what you did to him, but he really doesn't like you!" Trevor came from out of nowhere and placed his hand around Gerald's shoulder and started getting way too familiar with him.

"Hey, I feel like I have seen you before…"

"We met yesterday, did you already forget?" Gerald said as he pushed the guy away from himself.

"No, no! I mean like way before… I don't know why I got this feeling like I have met you once before yesterday…" Trevor continued to speak, placing his hand below his chin in a thinking manner.

"Leave the new guy alone Trevor, you will scare him off as you did with the rest, haha!" Rayner came and grabbed him by the shoulders, dragging him away from Gerald.

"Let me go, Rayner! I'm just trying to make a friend!"

"Don't make a scene Trevor, our master is watching." It was a girl's voice.

"Oh, lady Castri!" Trevor immediately forgot what he was doing after the female Ice Wizard came forward.

He immediately abandoned Gerald and started to orbit around her.

Gerald finally had a second to breathe, 'So many crazy people around here, just leave me alone! What did I ever do to you?!'

"...May Innos light your way and guide you on your journey, my children! Now open the gate!"

The Bishop just finished his speech and the doors slowly opened. Gerald's group waited at the side for the rest of the warriors to go first and then they would begin on their mission.

"Hey, guys! I have a question," Gerald said. All eyes were on him.

"Who's Innos?"