Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 450: Mountain People

Inside the underground treasure vault, there were many items, spanning several layers.

The wizards who entered were not only from the Thorn Holy Tower but also from various other factions, including some Wizard Clans.

However, none of them surprisingly fought over the treasures, because the United Legion naturally had established rules.

These items would not belong to any individual but would be turned in and redistributed later.

Of course, this involved some interests negotiation, which had little to do with ordinary wizards.

...

Half a month flew by in the blink of an eye.

The chaos and clamor of Ash City gradually subsided, replaced by a suppressed calm under the shroud of strong order.

The city’s functions were preliminarily restored under the strong intervention of the legion’s logistics department, transforming it into a crucial forward base and supply transit point for the legion’s push into the mainland of the Buren Continent.

New orders had been issued; the main force of the legion would continue its advance, like an ever-expanding iron flood, pressing into the more fertile and unknown inland areas of the Buren Continent.

Their goal was to crush the last living forces of the Native Alliance Army and completely occupy this land.

The Seventh Squad received their new mission, to march northeast and clear out an ancient tribe of Awakened located at the edge of the Blackwind Mountain Range, known as the Mountain People.

According to intelligence, this was an ancient tribe that had lived in seclusion in the deep mountains for generations.

Their numbers were not large, but they were fierce, with almost everyone being an Awakened, and their abilities mostly related to earth, rock, and strength, making them extremely adept at mountain warfare.

During the initial invasion by the United Legion, this tribe did not actively resist, but as the flames of war spread, they began frequently attacking the legion’s supply lines and isolated squads, causing no small amount of trouble.

The intelligence department had already conducted preliminary reconnaissance, confirming that this tribe numbered around several hundred, and although they were fierce, their strongest was just a Level 2 Awakened.

The tribe excelled at leveraging mountain terrain for guerrilla and ambush tactics, but they were relatively poorly equipped, lacking the long-range heavy firepower and high-level combat strength to counter the legion’s elite.

The high command of the legion assigned this mission to the Seventh Squad with intent that was very clear; it resembled more of a training exercise.

Captain Catherine was assigned to oversee the operation, along with seven Level 2 slave creatures as a backup to ensure the mission would not unexpectedly fail.

The actual goal was to let the young members of the Seventh Squad, from various factions and major Wizard Clans, who lacked real battle experience, to undergo a mountain clearing operation under relatively controllable risks, to get blooded and hone their combat skills.

The squad set off, accompanied by a small unit of experienced Green-skinned Orcs responsible for perimeter security and heavy firepower support, as well as three thousand slave creatures.

It is worth mentioning that Catherine and the Level 2 slave creatures would normally not engage.

They were merely stationed within the squad to prevent accidents, and would only act if faced against the opposing Level 2 Awakened.

Half a month later, they arrived at the predetermined area on the edge of the Blackwind Mountain Range and set up a forward camp.

Catherine began task allocation, dividing the squad into several groups, assigning different search areas.

"Duke, Vivian, you take the third group and are responsible for the East Side Valley No. 3. Intelligence suggests there may be an outpost or small settlement of the opposition there, and your task is to eliminate it," Catherine ordered.

"Understood, Captain," Duke and Vivian replied in unison.

The third group consisted of a total of seven people, with the other five also being young Level 1 Mages, though evidently inexperienced with actual combat.

Catherine had a deep impression of Duke and Vivian, especially Duke.

Whether it was dealing with the Erosion Body, or his performance on the Sobbing Blood Plain, both were far beyond ordinary Level 1 Mages.

Catherine could see that Duke had extremely strong combat capabilities; he was not simply a pampered second generation but a wizard with real combat power.

This was the reason she allowed Duke to lead the third group, and also equipped them with a unit of Green-skinned Orcs.

The seven Level 2 slave creatures were distributed across the surrounding regions, their distribution pre-calculated to ensure they could reach the groups in the event of an incident immediately.

The other five members of the third group were young wizards, three men and two women, with a hint of academic greenness still on their faces, but their eyes were filled with tension and a slight excitement.

Duke glanced at them and said, "I won’t forcefully order or command you. Try to act as a cohesive group."

He also knew there was no point in trying to control these people, nor did he have the desire to do so.

In these recent days, Duke had already seen clearly that the majority of the Seventh Squad were completely treating this as tourism, not as a real war.

However, most of them had already witnessed the brutality of war during the time on the Sobbing Blood Plain, and their mindsets had somewhat adjusted.

They all realized this was no game, not a place for leisure.

But this still couldn’t make up for their lack of real combat experience, nor their poor execution in combat, falling short of the expected prowess of Level 1 Mages.

So Duke did not count on being able to rely on them, just hoping that they wouldn’t drag him down.

East Side Valley No. 3 had a terrain even more rugged and narrow than the main path.

Massive black rocks were jagged, casting shadows that made the light in the valley dim, the atmosphere oppressive.

The sound of the wind through the cracks became a sharp wail, perfectly masking many subtle noises.

Duke gestured, and the team immediately halted, taking cover behind a huge boulder.

The five young wizards were visibly nervous, their breathing subtle, eyes darting around the apparently calm piles of rocks and cliffs ahead.

In contrast, the nearby team of Green-skinned Orcs remained extremely calm, executing Duke’s commands with meticulousness.

After a while, the Green-skinned Orcs that had gone scouting relayed information about the situation ahead back to Duke.

Indeed, there was a small outpost ahead, consisting of about fifteen Mountain People, including five Level 1 Awakened and ten Apprentice Awakened.

Overall, their strength was quite ordinary, but Duke still did not let his guard down, commanding the Green-skinned Orc squad to surround them.

This Green-skinned Orc squad numbered fifty, cooperating with extremely high proficiency, and was well-versed in handling such tasks.

After receiving the information from the Green-skinned Orc scouts, Duke immediately formulated a decision.

With fifteen enemies, the highest being Level 1 Awakened, for a well-equipped and trained Green-skinned Orc squad of fifty, a frontal assault would suffice to overwhelm them.