System's POV
chapter-480

"Young Master, they're finally leaving," one of Sean's subordinates reported.

"It's about time they do." Sean nodded. "Let's all go as well."

Leon, who had urged Sean to leave earlier than Zion's group, looked at their Leader with a calm expression on his face.

But deep inside, he was very annoyed with Sean's wishy-washy attitude. If he were the one in command, they would have already left the valley after the first two Wagons were made.

In his point of view, they already had Avatars that could travel, so creating two more wagons was just a waste of time.

He had voiced this out during one of their meetings, but Sean rebutted him, saying that having two more wagons for their supplies, like food, water, and other miscellaneous items, would make their journey easier.

Leon knew that Zion played a role in Sean's decision to add two more wagons for their faction. It must've happened when Sean sought out the teenage boy's opinion on things they might need in their journey.

After spending one week in the valley, the Scion of the Griffin Clan had set aside his pride and had genuinely asked Zion for advice on several things.

The Cygni Faction could have set off earlier than Zion's team, but Sean decided that it would be better for all Wanderers to stick together until they reached the Wenpolis Stronghold.

Half an hour later, a caravan of wooden wagons traveled westward.

Zion's wagon, which was twice as big as everyone else's, was leading in the front.

It was being pulled by two Rank 2 Dark Bisons that were bigger than the other Bisons pulling the wagons of his party.

Sherry sat on the coachman seat, while Zion was inside the wagon, taking a nap.

As the officers of their small mercenary group, Rascals, this wagon belonged to the two of them and served as the flagship of their caravan.

From time to time, the young lady would look at the compass that was lent to her by Zion, in order to make sure that they were traveling in the right direction.

Sean's group traveled alongside Thirteen's Caravan.

Their main wagon was being pulled by a Rank 2 Bear Avatar, which Sean managed to get during the month-long hunting they did in the valley.

Fortunately, the monsters in their starting point were only Rank 1 and Rank 2.

There were some Rank 2 Alpha Monsters roaming as well, but they simply steered clear of it because of the danger that it posed to their lives.

Rank 2 Monsters, while difficult to fight for an ordinary person, didn't constitute much threat for four or more experienced teenagers who managed to acquire weapons after hunting Rank 1 Monsters.

Even so, a threat was a threat, so Sean's team only fought those that had taken the initiative to attack them.

The Rank 2 Brown Bear had put up a good fight, seriously injuring four of their subordinates before they were able to put it down.

Fortunately for them, Zion had medical supplies at hand, allowing these Wanderers to recover after resting for a week.

The only question in their minds was "how did he manage to put all of those items in his dimensional storage?"

The dimensional storage Wanderers possessed only allowed their weapons and armors, as well as equipment they had gained from killing monsters to be stored.

It didn't allow them to store other items aside from those they got from monster drops, quests, and rewards by The One.

When Zion was asked this question, he only said that The One took pity on him for being a Rank 1 Wanderer for life and tweaked his dimensional storage in compensation, allowing him to bring snacks during his missions.

Of course, Sean and the members of the Cygni Faction didn't buy his bullsh*t, but since Zion didn't want to tell them, they no longer insisted on it.

After three days of traveling, they managed to cover a lot of ground.

They encountered a few monsters along the way, but since they were only Rank 1 Monsters, they only served as training for the Wanderers.

Seeing that the sun would be setting soon, Sherry was thinking of camping beside the river.

However, the dark clouds in the distance made her change her mind.

"Boss, I think it's going to rain," Sherry said, still staring at the dark clouds in the distance.

"You're right," Thirteen said. "Steer clear of the river for now and head to higher ground."

As they journeyed west, they came across a river which seemed to also flow in that direction.

Because of this, Sherry thought that it would be a good idea to just follow it, so they would always have access to water source.

Sherry agreed with Zion's order and started moving away from the river, in search of higher grounds.

Since they weren't familiar with the topography of the land, it was possible that the river would rise, causing a flash flood that could possibly become troublesome for them.

An hour later, heavy rain started pouring from the heavens.

Since the wagons were built with a roof, the rain didn't affect the Wanderers too much.

They were even thankful that they had a roof above their heads to shield them from the elements.

Since it was raining, Sherry returned to the wagon and chatted with her Boss about her concerns.

"Boss, is it really a good idea to travel with the Cygni Faction?" Sherry asked.

"Why not?" Thirteen replied. "Since we're headed in the same direction, I don't see any problems with it."

"Our members are feeling anxious whenever they are around, especially Leon," Sherry stated. "I can tell he doesn't think highly of us."

"And why should we care about that?" Thirteen asked with a smile.

"I just have a bad feeling about him, Boss," Sherry answered. "He feels like a powder keg ready to explode."

"You worry too much, Sherry. Even if he explodes, he would not be exploding on our side of the fence. The ones who will have to deal with him is Sean and his comrades—not us."

"If that happens, then good. But what if he makes things difficult for us too?"

Thirteen chuckled. "He won't. He won't dare to make things difficult for us."

The teenage boy already knew that Leon was an ambitious person and that he would find ways to subtly wrest control of the leadership from Sean, allowing him to become the leader of the Cygni Faction.

Of course, there was a possibility that he would try a different route, like poaching the members from Thirteen's party and forming his own group.

If he wanted to be a leader, that was certainly a viable method. Unfortunately, he didn't have a good reputation among the Rascals.

Zion was confident that even if he succeeded in poaching his members, they would come back crying to him after a few days.

Suddenly, the smile on Thirteen's face disappeared and was replaced by a frown.

Rocky, who was keeping an eye out for threats in his hiding place under the ground, detected a group of monsters emerge from the river hundreds of meters away from their location.

"What's wrong, Boss?" Sherry, who saw the sudden change in the teenage boy's expression, felt that something was wrong.

"I'll take a look first," Thirteen replied as he stepped out of the wagon. "Stay here."

Sherry opened the window of the wagon and looked in the direction where Zion was headed.

However, the downpour was strong, greatly reducing the visibility. She could only see several meters away from where she stood.

On the other hand, Thirteen, who was being guided by Rocky's senses, eyed the monsters that seemed to be paying close attention to their caravan from a distance.

'River Lizardmen,' Thirteen thought as he looked at the four Rank 1 Lizardmen, who seemed to be appraising whether they were easy pickings or not.

These monsters noticed that Thirteen was looking at them, so they observed the human boy from afar.

Then, one of them, who seemed to be the leader, said something to his comrades.

A moment later, two of the Lizardmen returned to the river and swam away.

Although it was a distance away, and it was raining, Rocky was paying close attention to their conversation, so he got what they were talking about. He relayed what the leader of the Lizardmen told his two subordinates.

"Report to the chief and ask for backup. We will stay here to observe the humans."

Knowing that there was a possibility that they would be greatly outnumbered, Thirteen did what he needed to do and returned to the wagons.

"Everyone, we're leaving!" Thirteen shouted, so that his voice could be heard despite the heavy rain. "Light the lamps, and follow my lead!"

His shout alerted the Wanderers of his party, as well as the members of the Cygni Faction.

They had no idea what was happening, but the Rascals trusted Zion enough to follow his orders without asking any questions.

Sherry, who was inside the wagon, lit a lamp and placed it at the holder that was attached to the rear of the wagon.

Zion had taught them many tricks to travel day and night using the light from their lamps to serve as a beacon on where they needed to go.

All the other wagons also lit up their lamps and followed the procedure Thirteen had taught them before they started their journey.

The moment Zion's wagon moved, the other wagons followed behind him.

Thirteen made sure that the Rank 2 Bisons wouldn't move too fast, allowing the others to catch up.

Visibility was low, but the light of the lamps were able to guide the others on the right path.

The two Lizardmen who saw this decided to follow the caravan and hoped that their reinforcements would arrive before their targets escaped from their grasp.