At the same time, within the entire royal palace, everyone who knew that the princess had been abducted was thrown into chaos like a pot of boiling porridge.
Whether it was guards or servants, all of them fell into panic.
Confusion, doubt, despair, and anxiety filled the air.
Where was the princess? The princess had been abducted by Viktor.
At this point, they didn't even dare to report this news to the emperor.
Who would dare tell the emperor?
The princess had been taken away right under their eyelids. If the emperor got even a little angry, their heads might be separated from their bodies the next second.
At this point, they absolutely had to find the princess before the emperor learned of this.
But how were they supposed to find her? Where were they supposed to look?
It was a teleportation spell from a Tier 4 mage, with an extremely large coverage range.
Viktor could appear in any corner of the capital, and even worse. He could have already taken the princess outside the capital.
Suddenly, Aurelian's personal female guard seemed to have thought of something and quickly spoke.
"Captain Gwen! She is Viktor's fiancée!"
"Maybe she knows where Viktor is!"
At this point, this seemed to be the only possible solution left.
She put on a black cloak and said to the group of panicked servants, "Don't panic yet, keep this matter under control."
"If even Captain Gwen doesn't know where Viktor is, then what should we do?"
One of the servants asked anxiously. A dim look flashed in the female guard's eyes.
"Then we immediately report this to His Majesty."
"The princess must not meet with any accident."
———
[Delin Mansion]
Gwen stood at the door, looking blankly at the royal guard.
She blinked, listening to the news brought by the royal guard.
'Her Highness the Princess had been abducted by Viktor?'
'What trouble was Viktor causing again? Could he not feel comfortable if he didn't create some kind of incident every day?'
"The matter is urgent. We ask that Captain Gwen immediately set out to search for Viktor."
Looking at the guard's request in front of her, Gwen also felt troubled.
She had no idea where Viktor would take the princess, nor how she was supposed to look for Viktor.
Gwen was completely at a loss. Where was she supposed to find Viktor now?
Kefra, next to her, poked Gwen's waist with her finger.
Gwen shivered all over and gave Kefra a rather resentful look.
Kefra, however, smiled cheerfully and said, "Of course you can find Viktor. He left something for you."
"Something?"
Gwen froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered.
Viktor really had left something for her.
She hurriedly pulled out a golden piece of parchment from her waist, with faint traces of magic lingering on it.
It was magic Viktor had left behind.
He had asked for a batch of refined steel and specifically left this parchment to inform her.
This piece of parchment was able to locate his position.
At that moment, a wave of doubt arose in Gwen's heart.
'What exactly is Viktor trying to do?'
If he wanted to abduct the princess, why would he give her something in advance that could reveal his location?
Was it a slip-up?
Impossible. Viktor was definitely not someone that careless.
Seeing the hesitation and confusion on Gwen's face, Kefra reminded her, "Since you can find Viktor, then just bring more people with you, right?"
Gwen was puzzled, but Kefra spoke as if she already understood something.
"Maybe Viktor intentionally wants others to go find him?"
———
At this time, Aurelian had already walked through most of the path.
On the way, she was once again ambushed by monsters. This time, there was one more flower-type monster than before.
But Aurelian had become incomparably calm this time.
She calmly cast spells one after another, attacking the monsters at their weak points. Clusters of terrifying flames wiped out the monsters, leaving not even residue behind.
Even though the monsters were already dead, she still felt a bit scared afterwards.
It was just like bungee jumping clearly there were safety measures around, but the repeated tension of approaching death constantly provoked her nerves.
However, this time, she would not lose.
The next second, several monsters reappeared and pounced toward Aurelian.
She continuously released spells, consuming her mana again and again.
Thanks to Aurelian's astonishing talent, her mana barely decreased, and these ordinary treants were swept away by her in an instant.
Her increasingly practiced weak-point attacks made handling these monsters much easier.
Aurelian panted lightly, her cheeks slightly flushed from fatigue.
Walking to the corpses, she didn't forget to pick up materials just like Viktor had done at the time.
She had been walking this mountain path for almost two hours.
During this time, she had "died" at least twenty times.
Each time she approached death, Teacher Viktor's flames would spread to all the monsters.
But that also meant she had to start over again.
It was as if the monsters were deliberately re-summoned. She repeatedly challenged this same path more than twenty times in a row.
She could clearly feel her combat experience increasing.
Countless spell castings made her feel more and more skilled and relaxed. Even casting Tier 2 magic was no longer as difficult as before.
Aurelian continued moving forward. The forest grew denser and denser, and sunlight could no longer pass through the thick leaves, completely shut out.
Darkness gradually swallowed the remaining mountain path ahead.
White mist slowly rose, covering the final stretch of the road.
Her intuition told her that within that mist, there was danger.
As if once she stepped in, it would be like falling into an abyss with no return.
Aurelian stretched out her hand and touched the mist ahead.
"..."
There was no abnormality, but she still gave herself a bit of encouragement. With a nervous heart, she stepped into it.
The moment she entered the white mist, everything in front of her instantly became exceptionally clear.
Before her was a wide, open field.
Surrounded tightly by dense trees, it looked like an intentionally cleared empty space, making it seem extremely strange.
Aurelian had barely stepped in when the path behind her was sealed by white mist. She was startled and hurriedly retreated a few steps.
But no matter if she touched or patted it, the mist now felt like a solid wall, unmoving and unresponsive.
She was trapped here.
Very soon, rustling sounds came continuously from the forest, and the ground stopped being still.
Accompanied by a shocking tremor of the earth, a colossal creature broke through the intertwined roots underground and appeared before Aurelian.
Its entire body was wrapped in green leaves, vines, and fur, covering its face so its true appearance couldn't be seen.
Only a pair of gloomy, red giant eyes glowed beneath the darkness.
"Roar!"
A strong, thunderous roar struck Aurelian's eardrums. The humid and suffocating smell also rushed into her nose, as if gripping the vitality of her heart.
Her eyes widened. She could not believe the terrifying creature before her.
———
"Forest Ogre."
This was the lord-level boss at the end of Milut Path, one of the wild bosses.
Its respawn time was about once per week, and after its death, there was a chance for it to drop an item, [Ogre's Heart].
A material that could be used to craft equipment.
Viktor compared Aurelian's and the Forest Ogre's HP.
This was only a level 20 Forest Ogre.
Not very strong, but because of its boss stats, thick HP and high defense, it was undoubtedly an enormous challenge for level-15 Aurelian.
Aurelian stared at the monster in front of her. She felt its breathing like a huge drum being struck again and again, each heavy sound pounding on her heart.
Under its overwhelming pressure, she took a few steps back.
When she touched the wall of white mist, she realized that she now had no way out.
'This… isn't this a bit too stimulating?'
Aurelian, who had never had any close-combat experience, had no way to defeat it other than using magic.
But… would this thing really give her any chance to attack from long range with magic?
A boss would never give people time to wait. The moment Aurelian hesitated, the Forest Ogre broke free of the vines and rushed toward her, dragging torn vines behind it.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Every step of its approach felt like it was venting its anger toward the intruder, as if it couldn't believe someone dared enter its territory.
Just by raising its giant arm, its shadow completely enveloped Aurelian.
BOOM!
A palm struck down, and in her slow reaction, Aurelian didn't even have time to respond.
She could almost see her own death.
But just as the Forest Ogre was about to hit her,
The next second, a white magic array gradually lit up across the entire forest, and the light swallowed everything.
When Aurelian opened her eyes again, she found herself standing where she originally was.
The Forest Ogre had also returned to its starting point, bound once again tightly by vines.
Aurelian looked at her unharmed body, but in her memory, it felt as if she had already died once.
She touched her neck, her head was still attached.
On the ground where she stood, a number had appeared.
"1".
This recorded her failure, or rather…
"Died once…?"
Aurelian raised her head to look at the monster again. Even the monster seemed confused as to why it was once again trapped in vines.
But it didn't care. All it needed to do was rush forward again and kill the fragile human in front of it.
Aurelian finally understood that she could no longer hesitate. She attempted her first counterattack.
She couldn't use teleportation magic, but she still had a method to escape its lock-on.
For example, the black mist magic Viktor had her learn today.
She built the formation with her hands, and because she had cast it several times before, she constructed it extremely smoothly and quickly this time.
The Forest Ogre once again broke free of the vines and rushed toward her.
Before it could reach her, the overwhelming black mist instantly enveloped the ogre.
The ogre let out a sharp shriek and began wildly attacking the surrounding trees.
Aurelian knew the illusion spell had taken effect.
So, she attempted to launch an attack from the side.
Countless sparks flew toward the ogre, but the moment they touched it, the sparks were extinguished under the ogre's frenzied movements.
Whether it was due to thick leaves, the damp air, or the monster's massive body, Aurelian's attacks became extremely weak.
The ogre was barely harmed, and instead, Aurelian's attack further enraged it.
She was extremely shocked. Her magic had absolutely no effect. She stared wide-eyed, frozen in place, not knowing what to do.
"How could this..."
Before she could finish speaking, the ogre kicked up a huge dead tree from the forest and sent it flying toward her.
In an instant, Aurelian's vision went black.
Along with the sign of death, after a white glow faded, she and the monster returned to the starting point again.
A faint green light glowed over the Forest Ogre's body, that was healing magic.
Aurelian glowed with blue light, her previously lost mana fully recovered.
Her body also returned to its original state.
As if foreshadowing something, another mark was added to the number on the ground.
"2".