He came to the spot where the girl wore the bear pelt and followed the bear paw prints.
It was already evening and the forest was dark. Claude had no choice but to cast Luminous Pearl in his hand and use the light to search for their tracks.
It was an uninhabited part of the forest, so Claude could cast a spell without being noticed.
Perhaps because the girl in the bear skin was too flustered, she left a lot of traces in the dense forest.
Claude followed the tracks out of the forest and found that the bear paw prints came out of the forest and went over a small hill before disappearing into the forest ahead.
A few wolf howls could be heard in the distance. It was likely that the wolf had noticed Claude following them.
He had a feeling that the girl and the big black wolf were in the forest up ahead. That was probably where they were hiding.
Putting out the Luminous Pearl in his hand, Claude walked towards the eerie forest.
The forest was rather sparse, unlike the forest on the hill beside the pond, which was filled with evergreen trees.
As many of the trees hadn't grown their leaves yet, the light was still decent and the ground could still be seen.
Claude walked in. After a dozen steps, he stepped on a piece of rock and a puff of black smoke appeared in the air, heading straight for Claude's face.
Claude hurriedly retreated out of the forest in a flash. He saw the black smoke spread out in the air and cover an area of two to three square meters, blocking his path.
He twitched his neck and sniffed. It was an extremely foul smell. It was very disgusting, and he immediately felt dizzy.
This was poisonous smoke. He had probably stepped into some kind of trap. This was probably set up by someone in hiding at the edge of the forest. It was used to repel wild beasts and uninvited guests like himself.
However, the poisonous smoke was easily dealt with. He took a few more steps back and took in a few breaths of fresh air. After thinking for a moment, he drew a magic rune formation in mid-air and conjured an air barrier. He then slapped a long-range arrow barrier on himself.
Maria had always thought that the Air Barrier spell was useless. Its effect was to isolate air and temperature. At most, it could help her survive five minutes longer than others in a fire.
Perhaps it was because Maria's living environment was superior, and she did not encounter many difficult situations where she needed to cast spells.
Claude, on the other hand, believed that there was no such thing as a useless spell. It was only the wrong way to use it.
This Air Barrier was enough for him to pass through the range of the poisonous smoke.
Within the next five minutes, even if they ran into a few more poisonous smoke traps, it wouldn't matter.
After triggering a total of three poisonous smoke traps, Claude left the edge of the forest and entered the deeper parts.
What he found strange was that apart from the poisonous smoke trap, he hadn't seen any other types of traps before. So, he cast Appraisal Eye and looked ahead. What he saw shocked him.
What surprised Claude was that the forest ahead was densely packed with mana imprints. Many of them were slowly disappearing, while some were recent. Spells were cast within a day, leaving clear mana imprints all over the place.
When he turned around, he saw that there were very few mana imprints at the edge of the forest. However, the ones left behind by the three poisonous smoke traps he had triggered were particularly eye-catching.
In that case, all the mana imprints he had seen that day should be traps. Claude avoided them and continued deeper into the forest.
There were obvious signs of human activity there. The shrubs there, for example, were probably artificial blueberries. Claude had seen those small blueberry trees back at the farm in Whitestag.
Before him was a clearing filled with mostly melted snow. Claude walked past a few trees and arrived at the edge of the clearing.
At the center of the clearing was a rather large oak tree. Beneath the oak tree was a small, shabby shack.
In front of the shack was the big black wolf that stared at Claude as he walked out of the forest.
With a few low growls, the big black wolf pounced at Claude like a bolt of lightning.
Clack. Claude cast a mental shock spell. Compared to using it on humans, it was much more effective on wild beasts.
The wolf stumbled a few steps forward and looked at Claude, who was three to four meters away, with a confused look in its eyes. It didn't seem to understand what it was doing there.
It spun around on the spot a few times and glared at Claude viciously.
Clack. Claude cast another mental shock spell. The wolf shook its head and slowly came over to sniff Claude's pants before turning around and running back.
Claude watched as the wolf ran to the side of the shabby shack. Only then did he notice that the bearskin girl had appeared there out of nowhere with a spear in her hand.
"Hey, I mean no harm. I'm a magus too. Can I see your elder?" Claude asked with both hands raised.
The girl ignored him and took off the bearskin she was wearing. She had put on some clothes that seemed to be made of different kinds of fur and looked a little like the clothes of beggars.
She bent down and stroked the wolf that ran back before pointing at Claude. The wolf growled a few times and pounced at him again.
Thud. Thud. Another two mental shocks. The big black wolf sniffed at Claude's trousers again before running back.
"Don't let it come again. I don't want to turn it into an idiot.
I really don't have any bad intentions. I just want to get to know you. I know you're like me and don't want others to know who you are. But I'm a magus too, so it shouldn't matter, right? "
It seemed like it did. The girl raised her spear and pounced at Claude like she wanted to poke a few holes in his body.
"Cough, cough. That's not how you treat a guest." Claude dodged to the side and dodged the spear.
While he might not stand out against the veterans who were good at fighting in the army, it was easy for him to deal with the spear-wielding girl.
Grabbing the spear and twisting it, the spear flew out of his hand. Casually throwing the spear far away, he grabbed the girl's shoulders and dodged her biting teeth. "Hey, hey, why are you biting with your teeth? You're not a dog."
With a push, the girl took a few steps forward and fell to the ground. She got up and ran towards where she tossed the spear.
Just as Claude was about to say something, the wolf pounced at him again with bloodshot eyes. "Are you done yet?!"
"Pa da." With another mental shock, the big black wolf turned around and chased after its own tail.
The girl ran to the side of the spear but didn't pick it up. Instead, she turned to face Claude.
Claude thought he could finally have a proper conversation. He didn't think that the girl would draw a few strokes in the air and chant something.
Not good! Claude panicked. She's casting a spell. Just as he was about to dodge, two green vines shot out of the ground and crawled up his legs. They wrapped around him like a dumpling and immobilized him.
Only then did the girl bend down to pick up the spear.
Alright, this spell isn't bad. She can bind the enemy and stab them with the spear. She's basically using Claude as a target for her assassination practice.
Just because he was bound by the vines didn't mean he couldn't use any spells. He chanted Magus's Hand and cast the spell.
Since he couldn't move his entire body when casting the spell, it was just right for him.
He first used Magus' Hands to block the girl's charge before breaking the spear and throwing it further away. He then pressed on the back of the girl's neck and she fainted.
He then used Magus' Hands to tear the vines off his body. Just because he couldn't use his full strength didn't mean that he couldn't use Magus' Hands to tear them off.
By the time he could move again, the wolf had already woken up. However, it was rather smart and knew that it wouldn't gain much from attacking Claude.
So, it only barked a few times at Claude before running to the fainted girl's side and nudging her with its head, hoping that she would wake up.
Claude suddenly felt like an adult bullying a child. He'd been messing around with the wolf and the girl for so long, but why didn't her family come out of the shack?
Were they not at home?
Or were they trying to ambush him when he went in?
Since entering the forest, it seemed that he had only encountered two types of spells. One was the Poison Smoke Trap, and the other was the Vine Entanglement spell cast by this young female mage. Apart from controlling the big black wolf, there were no other powerful spells that could surprise him. For a rogue mage, this seemed a little too easy. At the very least, she should have at least seven basic spells. Could it be that she was like him, and the others were rune spells for experimentation and research, and not combat spells?
Claude walked towards the old shack under the oak tree. Just as he reached the entrance, he heard the big black wolf pouncing at him with a snarl.
Darn it, you're loyal, but you're a wolf, not a big black dog guarding a house.
He didn't want to give the loyal big black wolf another mental shock. Who knew, he might really turn it into an idiot.
Coincidentally, he saw a bundle of rope under the shack and stopped moving. Another Magus' Hand was cast.
One of the Magician's Hands stopped the pouncing Big Black Wolf, while the other picked up the rope and tied the Big Black Wolf up. The Big Black Wolf could only whimper after it was tied up.
Claude listened carefully and didn't hear any movement in the shack, not even the sound of breathing.
It seemed that the girl's family wasn't inside.
Claude gently pushed open the old wooden door and cast Luminous Pearl. The interior of the shack was only six to seven square meters wide.
There was a bed made of firewood. The only reason it looked like a bed was because there was a patchwork of fur on top of the wood. It was mostly the fur of small animals like rabbits and squirrels.
There was also a nest of dried grass beside it, which should belong to the wolf.
There was also a broken three-legged table with a wooden stick tied to the missing leg.
On the wooden table where all the colors had faded away, there was the basket that the village elder's wife had sent to the small forest last night.
Beside it was a wooden mortar and pestle for pounding medicine, as well as two medicinal bowls. A wooden shelf was nailed to the wooden wall above the table with five or six small jars on it. They were identical to the jars of honey and ointment from the day before.
Beside the table was a black iron brazier with a large hole in it. Inside it was a half-burnt firewood. That was probably the only source of heat to keep warm during the winter. Claude didn't have to worry about being suffocated by the smoke.
But looking at the leaky wooden walls and the thatched roof of the shack, Claude thought that it was a natural vent and he wouldn't have to worry about suffocating inside.
There seemed to be a small room on the other side of the bed. Claude went over to take a look and saw that it was a small cubicle with a wooden bucket inside. Judging from the smell, it was probably a place for relieving oneself at night.
The moment he turned around, he was shocked by a human head hanging on the wooden wall. Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was an old, ugly leather mask with a few strands of white hair hanging off it.
It was obvious that the young magus didn't have a family. From the layout of the shack, it was obvious that she lived alone with a big black wolf.
Her life must have been tough. It was no wonder she was willing to use ointment and honey to exchange for food with the villagers of Squirrel Village.
When Claude came out of the shack, the young magus had already woken up. She looked at Claude warily as he approached and couldn't help but take a few steps back.
"You live here alone?" Claude asked with what he thought was a friendly smile.
The young magus didn't say a word and stared at him with hostility as she slowly inched backwards.
Unable to communicate with her, Claude got up and returned to the shack. He took out all the food from his backpack and placed it on the ground.
There was also a piece of tarpaulin inside for laying on the ground. Claude thought about it and placed it on the ground as well.
"Take it and use it. I'll visit you again when I'm free," Claude said as he walked out of the forest.