Chapter 66: Derrick

As Charles was about to ask further about the Trickster Class, he heard a human noise from afar.

In an instant, the trio went on battle mode and moved stealthily into the woods.

They walked on the wet soil while avoiding the dense, muddy areas and soon noticed that the dark clouds had already starting to gather above their heads, blocking the sun in return.

"We can't even hide our foot trails in this wetland," Emilia commented casually and took the lead as she noticed that they were nearing the area where the human sound came from.

The trio walked for five more minutes while avoiding the strange round leaf plants and soon saw a few camp tents placed on plain ground, covered by a protective layer shield. Due to the presence of dense round-leaf plants, nobody from the camp noticed their presence yet.

Charles's gaze swept past those tents and soon landed on a single flag, placed above the farthest large tent.

A black crown symbol was drawn on the flag, giving a sense of mystery to the trio.

"Explorers!" Both Emilia and Charles muttered in unison.

At that time, the scout from the Explorers' suddenly noticed some presence nearby and alerted everyone by blowing a whistle.

Within seconds, a group of twenty members walked out from all those tents and soon gathered in the center. Unlike thieves, these Explorers wore different types of suits and robes and looked rather professional. There were even two blue-robed, and one golden-robed old man stood with a solemn look on their faces in the group and appeared different from the rest.

After casting their search-type skills, all of them looked around for a few seconds and soon turned their heads towards a particular direction.

Due to vines and small plants, they couldn't see the visitors' physical appearance and only saw some human shadows.

"Who is it?" A lean, white-haired old man, around 70-years-old, walked ahead and asked in a cold tone.

He wore a plain black shirt and pants and appeared very simple. His black eyes flickered in the gloomy forest as his gaze swept past those darkish green plants and soon landed on those three human-like figures.

Upon hearing a familiar voice, Charles curled his lips upward and smiled,

"Uncle Carter. It's me, Charles." Charles shouted, and at the same time, moved his hand towards his waist area.

On the other side, Carter also identified his voice and responded with a smile,

"Charles? Is that you? Come out."

Nodding, Charles excluded the plants and vines and walked towards the group slowly while placing his right hand on the dagger sheath's grip.

"Why are you gripping your dagger?" Andrew sensed that Charles's heartbeat was beating faster than usual and became confused.

"Something dangerous is hiding in that group. I feel the gaze of a poisonous snake." With a smile plastered on his face, Charles muttered in a low voice and walked ahead.

His words surprised both Andrew and Emilia. It was not a skill but his lifelong experience in studying the humans' characters.

Charles's eyes wandered for a second and soon landed on a black-haired guy with mahogany eyes. He looked around 18-years-old, had impossibly straight eyebrows, and wore a simple linen cloth under the leather armor.

'His face...' Charles instantly felt some familiarity upon seeing the black-haired guy's face and soon widened his jade eyes.

In a second, information about this guy surfaced in Charles's mind. Upon finding that this guy was real Charles's close friend, he got stunned for a second.

'This moron is the real Charles's best friend?'

Without any delay, Charles cast the [Inspect] skill on him and waited.

...

[Inspect has been cast...]

[Wisdom Check...]

[Inspect success!]

...

[Name: Derrick Dewbringer (Twister)

Race: Human

Class: Lv5 Explorer (Rank 2)

Sub-class: None

Title: None

Health Points: 118/118

Attributes:

Strength- 14

Dexterity- 16

Constitution- 13

Wisdom- 17

Charisma- 8

Class skills/ spells: Full Recall, Wonder Vision, Lucky Treasurer, History Recorder.

Unique Skills: Devil's Eyes.]

'He is Rank-2 Mystic? But Carter said that he is just a [Historian] class Mystic, right? Moreover, Devil's Eyes, is it? This sure gives me a big clue.' A surprised expression appeared on Charles's face as he shifted his attention to the title area and soon made up his mind.

"Team Leader, be careful of the kid with black hair and mahogany eyes. If possible, use some random excuse and arrest him with your 'Ice Net' spell and make him immobile." Charles didn't even think for a second and said in a cold tone.

With their status as members of the Withering Shadow Organization, they had the full rights to arrest anyone from Riverdale City. Although these guys were Explorers, even they had to abide by the rules of Church organizations.

When Charles saw those vile eyes, he knew that guy had ill intentions against him and became more careful. If it were before, he wouldn't have noticed those ill intentions hid in those eyes. Thankfully, his current [Prevision] skill also activated earlier and alerted him about the impending danger.

"Ice Net is a limited spell, and I already used it earlier." Emilia stopped for a second and soon added,

"I can use 'Touch of Idiocy' and 'Mind Fog' and make him immobile for three seconds."

Charles thought for a second and nodded.

'If I use the dark magic spell from the Starfall Codex book, I can restrict him in that time.'

"Are you sure about this? He is your close friend, Charles." Andrew said with a clueless look on his face and soon widened his eyes.

"Don't tell me-" He stopped for a second and soon muttered in shock,

"What a pervert. You have to be more careful, kid. I don't know why these men are eyeing your body."

Upon hearing those ominous words, both Emilia and Charles were at a loss for words.

"I didn't mean it like that. He might know something about Luke's background and the so-called mastermind 'Red Prince.' He clearly has some ill intention against us." Charles whispered in a helpless tone.

"Ill-intentions?" Emilia raised her eyebrows and soon followed after Charles.

After crossing the muddy area, the trio soon appeared in front of the group of twenty and greeted them with a nod. At that time, Charles's gaze scanned those twenty-plus explorers and soon widened his eyes a little as he was two familiar faces.

He then hurriedly turned his face normal and shifted his attention towards Carter.

"Why are you here, Charles? Your mother warned you about the dangers hidden in ruin-related missions, right?" Carter took the initiative and asked.

"Behind every fortune lies a great danger, uncle. If I want to push forward, I have to face these types of obstacles." Charles suddenly paused for a second as he felt a slight abnormality in this thinking and got stunned.

'From when did I start speaking like a philosopher?'

In fact, he was surprised by his own quotes for a second and soon changed the topic,

"You should concern more about Derrick's safety, uncle. He is the one who is in a dangerous situation."

"Haha, that's why I came along with him to this mission," Carter said with an awkward laugh and soon glanced at Derrick, who was coming towards Charles while excluding the crowd.

"Good to see you, my dear friend," Derrick said with a smile as he arrived right in front of him and deliberated for a second before continuing.

"You sure have changed in the past few months. Heh, look at those biceps, you even starting to work out, huh."

"Derrick, can we talk in private? I need to tell you something." Charles suddenly raised his right hand, pointed his forefinger towards the large lone tent, and asked.

Derrick's smile disappeared in an instant as he heard those words, and soon he glanced at an old-looking man in the crowd before curling his lips upward.

"Don't worry; these guys are all our comrades. You can say it in the open." Derrick was not an idiot to fall for such a trick, so he instantly refused to go alone.

'So there is another pawn hiding here, huh.'

A grim look appeared on Charles's face as he stared at Derrick for a moment and then asked,

"Then, do you know anything about 'Devil'?"

Upon hearing his words, Derrick's body went stiff for a moment, and soon he cast his 'Devil's Eyes' skill on Charles.

At that moment, Charles felt an invisible power was trying to invade his mind. But he simply used the dark space and completely blocked it from entering!

A moment later, shock appeared on Derrick's face as he took a step back in anxiety and glanced at a particular white-haired old man.

The old man looked around 90-years-old, full of wrinkles on his pale face, had glacial blue eyes, a sharp nose, straight eyebrows, and a rough square face. Unlike other explorers, he wore a golden robe and gave off a sense of ancient aura!

In the meantime, Emilia followed Derrick's gaze and soon froze,

"Chief Deacon? What are you doing here? Why are you in your incarnation state?" She asked in a surprised tone.

Earlier, she entirely focused her attention on Derrick, so she didn't even check who was hiding in the Explorers group at all!

At that time, Charles also turned his gaze towards the old man and soon noticed a difference.

His face looked slightly dimmer than others' faces, and he appeared more like an illusion.

'Is this the Incarnation form? Mr. Runeth, can you guess how strong he is?' He asked in his mind.

'His strength should be around Rank-3.' The Holem's Crown replied honestly.

In the meantime, the old-man moved his gaze towards Emilia and then raised his eyebrows.

"Emilia Wilson, right? I heard a lot about you from my grandson, Russell. What are you guys doing here?" Even after Emilia revealed his identity, the old man didn't even flinch a bit and responded calmly.

At that time, sudden realization dawn on Charles's face.

'Wait...Russell? Is he the Anderson Black? Why is he here? Could it be...Is he also a lackey of the 'Red Prince'? Wait a minute... Something is wrong here. If he is the pawn, then he should have known about the Holem's location, right? Then, why did he send the [Shadow Guard] Mystic, Ian Adams, after my head during the unofficial mission? Did he send Ian to test my strength?...

No, I don't think so. At that time, I also felt puzzled about why Anderson sent a foolish loud mouth on such a mission... But seeing him here is not a mere coincidence! He must have come for the Holem's Crown! Did he purposefully send Ian Adams to leak some information about the Holem's Crown to me? Now that I think about it, I knew nothing about the Holem's Crown back then. All I knew about was its name, and it is a series artifact.' He suddenly felt that Anderson Black might have deliberately asked Ian Adams to come after his head and got stunned for a second!

'It is possible.' Charles glanced at the calm-looking white-haired man and soon furrowed his brows.

'Then, why did he give 'Starfall Codex' to Ian? Hmm, was he that much confident in Ian's strength? Nah, that's not possible. Starfall Codex is an extraordinary artifact, so not even Anderson would give up on such an artifact... That leaves with only one answer, and that is Anderson knew nothing about the 'Starfall Codex' magic book at all. Instead, it might be Ian's trump card. So, there is no way Anderson Black knew about the 'Starfall Codex'!' He instantly made a guess.

While Charles was in muse, Emilia curved her lips upward and said with a smile,

"My brother personally gave a secret mission to me before leaving and asked me to go deep into the Unexplored Forest with my teammates."

Her words surprised Anderson. Truthfully, he thought of using his status as an excuse and asked her and her teammates to follow after him to the City Ruins. But now, he instantly dismissed that idea.

'Archbishop Abel... Why did he ask his young sister to go deep into the Unexplored Forest? Did he foresee our scheme? Then, there is a high chance that he might have his own motives.' A complicated look appeared on his face as he thought the most troublesome person and soon sighed.

But that sigh made Emilia, Charles, and Andrew take a step back in unison.

They instantly tensed up and went on a battle mode!

"You guys shouldn't have come here. Sadly, you and your team members already learned too much about us, so I can't let you live any longer. Moreover, it's already the right time to start our plan. I want to see if the 'Holem Crown' really can save you guys by creating a 'Miracle.'" He said in a mocking tone and conjured a long crystalline sword out of thin air.