Liam explained the situation en route. "I am sure you are familiar with the targets. They are evolved and …..."

"I give up." Explaining the task to the group turned out to be impossible. They pushed and joked with each other, acting as if they were out on a picnic. Except for the somewhat forced smiles on Pearl's face, the previous day's gloom wasn't present in any of them.

After a few moments, Kiley and Ella appeared beside him. They repeatedly peeked at him from the corner of their eyes.

If they were trying to be discreet, it failed; miserably.

Liam pretended as if he didn't see their actions and kept walking.

"How old are you?" Kiley eventually asked.

Here it comes, he thought, sighing internally.

Putting on a smile, he said, "Fourteen. How about you?"

"It's rude to ask a lady her age," Ella interceded, giggling.

He didn't give a shit about whether it was rude or not, but the smile on his face never wavered.

"What is the Rift like?" She leaned in with curiosity, anticipating his answer. "Are they filled with demons, as the people say?"

That question baffled him. What the hell were demons, and where did they pop up from? Liam wondered if they were concocted to hide the Rift's real nature.

"Yeah." Dunn who was walking in front of them, slowed down, joining their conversation.

The ladies ignored him, keeping their eyes on Liam. "How did you survive?"

"There is no specific method. You try your hardest and leave the rest to luck," Dunn explained, only to be ignored.

He threw his hands into the air.

"I'm invisible," he complained. Ella and Kiley barely registered his presence.

"I wish I were," Liam muttered.

"What?" Kiley didn't catch his words.

"Nothing. Dunn wanted to be an assassin, so I was congratulating him for improving his skills."

"I don't think there is anyone in this world who wants to be invisible that way," Dunn said, through clenched teeth.

The ladies questioned Liam non-stop. He didn't tell them anything important, but they wouldn't give up. When he thought he had enough, they started bickering between themselves about some silly topic.

He couldn't take it anymore and gestured to Jade. "Can't you do something?"

Jade couldn't resist laughing. "What do you want me to do?"

"Anything. Some peace would be good."

She acted startled. "Being greedy isn't good. Wish for something that's possible."

Knowing he would get no help from her, he glanced around, trying to find anyone who would assist him. One look was enough for him to understand how unlikely it was.

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The men glared at Liam in anger. Seeing two beautiful ladies ignoring them, and having a pleasant conversation with a handsome boy was too much to bear.

Blake flexed his grip on the spear while Leo stared at his feet, pretending to ignore the scene. The others snorted and turned away.

Even Dunn wanted to beat up Liam, to say nothing about the others.

In a bid to grab Liam's attention, Ella worsened the situation.

"The way you carry yourself is amazing, especially when compared to Leo."

Kiley added fuel to the fire. "True. You should learn from Liam and stop being a wimp."

Hearing their words, Leo blushed up to his ears. He always lacked self-confidence and comparing him to Liam made it worse. In the entire conversation, Ella's words hurt him the most. She always teased him, but he didn't pay any attention as they felt playful. However, her current words felt cruel.

Without raising his head, he tightly clenched his fists and vowed to defeat Liam no matter the cost.

Understanding they went too far, Ella and Kiley fell silent.

The other didn't take kindly to the words either. Liam faced the brunt of their hostility.

Grimacing silently, he did not know how to salvage the situation.

Thankfully, they reached the border of the corrupted part of the forest.

The atmosphere changed, putting them on the edge. Everyone subconsciously clenched their weapons.

The trees were darker and felt older. When Liam touched the bark, it immediately crumbled. The interior had dark wet splotches similar to rotten fruit, and it gave off an acrid smell. The air felt heavier, making everyone tense.

Even Liam and his friends put away their casual attitude and scanned the forest for threats. He had a strange sensation of constantly being watched.

When Leo stepped on a twig, everyone in Caleb's squad unsheathed their weapons. The sound echoed long, and hard completely cutting off any chance of stealth.

Cursing their stupidity, Liam wondered if they ever used their brain.

As they proceeded deeper into the forest, they heard a "plop" as though a drop of water fell into a pool. Discussing silently, they decided to move in the direction of the noise.

The sound repeated itself at regular intervals. When they were close, the signature metallic smell of blood assaulted Liam's nose.

He noticed the nervousness in Caleb's squad. They were as tense as a fully strung bow. Instead of keeping an eye on their surroundings, all of them were gazing in the direction of the noise.

Their inexperience was plain as a day to anyone who observed.

Liam shook his head and kept an eye on his surroundings. The moment he changed his observation direction, either Jade or Dunn would automatically pick up and cover the blindspot. They did not need any verbal communication or indication. Their constant battles together made it second nature.

When they were close to the sound, there was a change in the soil. It was wet with blood, making the path slippery. He looked around and noticed blood flowing in every direction.

Jade whistled causing the others to instinctively point their weapons in her direction. She paid no attention to their reaction. "How many dead?"

Dunn had a thoughtful expression on his face. "If I had to guess, then it's at least five people."

"Let's have a wager. I say there are more than ten people," Jade said with anticipation, causing the members of Caleb's squad to scowl at her.

Not wanting to aggravate the situation, Dunn stayed silent.

Jade opened her mouth, about to say something.

"Drop it." Liam stopped her from worsening the situation. Sometimes, she didn't know when to stop.

She shrugged. "Fine."

They entered a small clearing where the corpses of seven soldiers were strewn.

One look at the scene made Leo vomit his guts out. The others turned pale and used the trees as cover to block their sight.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Ella kept repeating the statement with her hand covering her mouth.

Only then did they understand the severity of the mission.

"What happened here?" Caleb was the only one who managed to maintain a bit of composure.

Not bothering to answer such an obvious question, Liam examined the corpses.

All of them died to sharp weapons. Though the opponents were evolved, they did not use any spells. Liam did not discern any signs of struggle or a battle. The kills were all clean. After examining the wounds, Liam guessed the soldiers fell into an ambush.

Most of the corpses were on the ground, except for one. It was nailed to the tree by a spear. Blood was dripping from the wound, forming a small pool.

If Liam had to take a guess, the attack happened two or three hours ago.

"What are you doing?" Caleb asked when Liam touched a corpse.

"The commander asked us to act separately. I am pretty sure you don't want to observe this area for longer than necessary.

"Why don't you try to find clues in a different location while we will try to track them from here."

Caleb readily agreed and left with his squad, giving Liam the freedom to examine his surroundings.