Chapter 8: Teresa Trovick

"You've worked hard, Teresa. I saw signs of a battle about an hour away from here. Are you... okay?" Ryan stood in front of the sorceress.

"Better than you might think," the sorceress replied, leaning on her staff. Her bright silver eyes peered through her black-rimmed glasses decorated with butterfly patterns at Ryan, clearly displeased with his showiness.

Ryan fully understood her reaction.

The sorceress was powerful, very powerful. Logically, someone of her caliber, already stepping into the legendary ranks, should not have displayed such modest strength in this battle. Given enough preparation time, she could have eliminated not just one orc warband but two or three.

The main issue was that the sorceress had already fought a battle on her way here. Ryan noticed many signs of spell use, indicating that Teresa's led Blood Axe Mercenary Group had already clashed with at least one orc warband, and it had been a fierce fight. This meant that Teresa was already low on mana before this battle began.

Moreover, in her pursuit of the demon hunter, Teresa had used a great deal of her magical power. Unlike hunters who could track their prey through experience, the sorceress had to rely on her magical power to latch onto the clues left by the demon hunter, a skilled tracker himself. Thus, Teresa's mana had been depleted over time, keeping her in a state of exhaustion.

Even in her mana-depleted state, she had forcefully cast a sixth-ring spell. Ryan knew standing was probably a struggle for Teresa now; she might not be able to cast spells for several days.

"Better than you imagine? You know what I'm imagining?" Ryan teased, leading his horse over and hanging the head of the orc chieftain on it. "For now, I'll ensure your safety."

"That's your duty, after all. You nearly killed an entire mercenary group over an uncertain lead!" Teresa still stood her ground, gasping for air and slightly bending over, her impressive figure fully revealed, her breasts quivering slightly visible.

"But I did find a lead on Bert... Well, it's pointless to talk about it now," Ryan remarked, noticing that the sorceress remained immobile. His gaze shifted, and he quickly understood something, offering his hand: "Come on, get on the horse. Think about it, Ryan of the Great Hammer personally leading your horse, it's not a disgrace to your status as a councilor of the Garon Council, is it?"

"…Let's find a place to rest. The Blood Axe Mercenary Group can't fight anymore, Boris is injured too. We owe them a huge favor this time. I really wonder if chasing Bert was worth it," Teresa stayed put, Ryan knew she was just pushing herself to avoid falling due to pride.

This was a sorceress's talent: in the absence of magic power, she could forcefully expend physical energy instead.

The mercenaries were cleaning the battlefield, a grisly scene frozen by a blizzard, a necessary but difficult task given the severe losses. They hoped to salvage something from the carnage.

Ryan had no interest in the battlefield cleanup; the orcish belongings were hardly worth anything. Seeing that Teresa hadn't moved, he resignedly led the horse closer, attempting to help the sorceress mount.

"What are you doing!" The kingdom knight's hand reaching for Teresa's buttocks was knocked away by her staff. The pale-faced sorceress looked a bit angry, and nearly fell headlong from exhaustion.

Still, she didn't fall directly into the snow. Ryan simply picked her up around the waist, both of them getting on the horse before he patted her shoulder: "Is this the only way you'll be happy?"

After saying this, Ryan dismounted again since he was fully armored, and the horse couldn't support the weight of both.

"You bastard." The sorceress realized she had overthought it; thinking about it, Ryan wasn't the type to take advantage of others. So, she quietly rode on, while the mercenaries tidied up the battlefield, burning their comrades' bodies and burying them hastily. Many of the mercenaries looked grief-stricken. An empire merchant, along with his two guards, retrieved their lost wagon, and the group prepared to set off again.

The mercenary group, heavily diminished, moved silently. Oliver and others felt lucky to have escaped death and retrieved their goods, but seeing the somber mood, they remained quiet.

The team progressed through the forest, the moon hanging high in the sky.

"No enemy of mine can escape my blizzard. If I hadn't immobilized that orc chieftain, you wouldn't have been a match for so many orcs. Frozen solid, naturally anyone could go up and kill it. Hmph, reinforcements always arrive after the battle is over," the sorceress suddenly said to Ryan, leading the way on her warhorse.

Her beautiful face, shimmering

 black hair, sleek black night leather coat, and noble white fox fur coat made her look like a goddess under the moon.

"If I hadn't arrived on time, are you sure you could have killed that orc chieftain? Oh, maybe you could cast another blizzard, and everyone would have recovered enough to kill all those orcs, right?" Ryan felt speechless. Everyone knew how fierce the orc chieftain was. Even though it was injured and its legs frozen, Ryan still had to exert all his effort to kill it. The kingdom knight was sure that with the orc chieftain's hands still able to move, those mercenaries would have been no match for it.

Hmm, perhaps that mercenary leader named Boris had a chance, but the reality was that Boris had already been severely injured by then, Ryan thought.

Seeing the sorceress and the kingdom knight bickering, someone couldn't stand it anymore.

It was a young mercenary named Banda who came forward to help Teresa lead the horse, then whispered to the sorceress: "Lady Trovik, you're right. With that beast's movements sealed by you, it would have died against anyone. That knight has nothing to brag about. If it were me, I could have taken its head too."

After saying this, Banda smiled ingratiatingly at the sorceress.

"Haha." Teresa just scoffed coldly, glanced down at him and then at the two-handed sword on his back, and disdainfully shifted her gaze away, not bothering to respond.

An awkward atmosphere ensued as Banda faced a cold rejection.

Ryan, seeing this, felt amused.

Teresa Trovik, from the Garon Council, was the daughter of Garon Council Elder Aurora Trovik.

The Garon Council, also known as the Sorceress Council, was renowned across the continent.

One hundred fifty years ago, Savior Ludwig led the Order's Army to crush the Chaos Army and pursued them to the northern wastelands of Chaos, only retreating due to supply issues. The sorceresses also played a crucial role in the Order's Coalition at that time.

After the Second Chaos Invasion, eighteen sorceresses of legendary or above rank gathered at the Sky Fortress for a meeting to discuss the injustices faced by female spellcasters in their field. The meeting lasted several days, reaching a consensus. They formed what they called the Sorceress Council, accepting only female spellcasters. The council's mission was to advocate for equality between male and female magicians and to unify the power of female spellcasters to voice against the dominant position of male spellcasters on the continent.

The Garon flower, like a burning flame, vibrant and elegant, symbolizes the strength and independence of women. Hence, the Sorceress Council was named the Garon Council and received partial recognition from Emperor Ludwig, becoming a formal organization with the Sky Fortress as its sanctuary.

Teresa, a sorceress from the Garon Council, grew up in such an environment, so her views were predictable.

The female spellcasters of the Garon Council did not look down on men; in fact, they never said "all men are trash," and female spellcasters joining the Garon Council were not prohibited from marrying.

They looked down on "useless men."

Unfortunately, this mercenary named Banda was seen as a "useless man" in Teresa's eyes.

From his aura, Banda was just an ordinary warrior. Since Ryan hadn't seen him act, he thought at most he was a high-level ordinary warrior. Even Boris, an elite-level berserker mercenary leader, wasn't taken very seriously by the sorceress, let alone a mere ordinary-level warrior.

Thinking you can win Teresa's favor by stepping on me? You've picked the wrong target, Ryan thought, shaking his head. He didn't want to get serious with Banda. Teresa, in a state of extreme fatigue, began conversing with Oliver: "Mr. Oliver? We meet again."

"Ah! Yes, yes! We meet again, Mr. Ryan, thank you so much this time!" Oliver, looking like he had survived a calamity, hurriedly said.

"This time we were lucky. The orc presence in Nord's territory isn't significant. We only encountered chaos hounds, razor beasts, and lesser minotaurs, minor nuisances. Only the minotaurs were somewhat a challenge. Even the Beast King was just a normal minotaur evolved. If we really encountered those powerful orc tribes with war minotaurs, trolls, cyclops, or even chaos giants and minotaur chieftains, I would have to turn tail and run," Ryan chuckled, but his words sent chills down the spine.

"What's there to be afraid of? Mr. Ryan, you know about the Battle of Bloodpine Forest, right? Our empire's new emperor, His Majesty Franz-Frederick, led a hundred thousand troops into Bloodpine

 Forest after his coronation, annihilating over thirty warbands and fifty thousand orcs. They say the bones piled up like mountains. If there really were such orc tribes, our great emperor would definitely roast them all again!" Oliver said proudly.

"Indeed." Ryan said no more.

Situated to the south of Nord Kingdom, the Empire was the strongest human nation on the continent. Nord Kingdom was originally part of the Empire and is now a vassal state. The main reason was that the Empire grew tired of constantly guarding against endless raids and invasions from the northern barbarians, so Savior Ludwig appointed his deputy, Harald Frank, as the Duke of Nord, granting it independence from the Empire.

Ryan and Oliver chatted for a while, and about two hours later, Ryan estimated it was around seven in the evening.

It was about time to set up camp for the night. The mercenary leader Boris's injuries were not yet healed, so his deputy Vilter, an elite-level veteran mercenary, was in charge. Vilter was a warrior who had advanced to great swordsman, wielding a two-handed great sword; Banda seemed to be his apprentice.

The team found a spot near a rock mountain and close to a water source to camp. Since the orc chieftain was dead, the orc tribes in the forest were likely in disarray and too busy to cause trouble, so the group wasn't too worried about enemies.

Everyone was busy setting up tents, starting fires. The snow that had fallen for two days and nights had finally stopped, but the weather was still overcast. The mercenaries took out pots and pans, boiled water, and soaked their dry food in hot water to eat. Normally, they should have gathered some wild vegetables or other things to make soup in the wild, but in the middle of winter, such things were scarce, so they made do for now and planned to find better food in town the next day.

"Lady Trovik, let me help you dismount!" Seeing Teresa still on her horse, the young mercenary Banda immediately approached, respectfully offering his help.

But he was met with a cold face again. The sorceress still held the reins and didn't even look at him directly; instead, she actively spoke to Ryan, who was checking the terrain in the distance: "Ryan? You handle it."

"Alright, alright, I got it!" Ryan approached and actively helped Teresa off the horse, making sure her high-heeled leather boots touched the ground before letting go: "Need me to find a more comfortable spot for you?"

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" Despite her very pale face and needing to use her staff to walk, Teresa's spirit was undaunted.

"Heh, you're using that staff as a crutch, huh? Well, multi-purpose use is still valid," Ryan retorted.

"Oh? Isn't that battle mace of yours also being used as a fire-starter?" the sorceress countered. Ryan burst into laughter upon hearing this: "Hahaha!"

He had used his fire-attribute-enhanced mace to start a fire earlier, and Teresa had seen it.

The bickering between the kingdom knight and the sorceress made Banda secretly grind his teeth. Damn knight, always pleasing Lady Trovik, and she seems to trust him more. He needed to find a way to get rid of him, or it would be hard for him to win Lady Trovik's heart.

"Master Vilter, can you help me out?" Banda sneakily approached his master, Deputy Commander Vilter, who seemed about the same age as Boris and less rugged in appearance. He was arranging the campsite and coordinating meals when he heard his apprentice's request and shook his head with a wry smile: "Banda, understand your situation. Do you really grasp the status gap between you and Lady Trovik?"

Heh heh heh.