Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 345: Toulouse Territory

Chapter 345: Chapter 345: Toulouse Territory
From all directions, the deep swamp shrouded in thick fog echoed with hair-raising responses.
They were other predators, attracted by blood and the roars of demons, lurking in the mire, pools, and dead trees.
Countless minute, dense crawling sounds, splashing sounds, and wing flaps came from every direction, like a tide of death, converging madly towards the place where the demon appeared.
Gray Mouse and Frey were terrified; they could even feel the vibrations of the swamp underfoot and smell the terrifying foul stench mixed with blood and the breath of countless demons coming at them.
Frey also lost her usual composure, her face pale, and the fiery red whip tightly coiled around her arm, ready to face attacks that might come from any direction at any time.
Duke was also running at full speed, or rather flying at low altitude, stepping on two pieces of yellow sand, lifting him to fly swiftly.
The three of them were like a lone boat struggling in a boiling sea of demons, fleeing frantically under the pursuit of the thick fog and death.
Gray Mouse’s route became somewhat chaotic, his fear overwhelming his experience.
Frey almost stepped into soft mud pits several times, barely avoiding them with her agile skills as an Awakened.
After an unknown amount of time, seemingly as lengthy as a century, the muddy feeling underfoot finally began to ease, and the fog became much thinner.
A relatively dry slope ascending ahead was faintly visible, the putrid stench still present, but the suffocating scent of blood and demon roars had been left behind.
"Quick! Up the slope!" Gray Mouse rasped, his voice trembling and ecstatic with a sense of survival, scrambling up the slope.
Frey followed closely behind, and upon reaching the relatively firm ground, she clung to a dead tree, gasping heavily, her full chest heaving violently, her face still pale.
Duke was the last to step onto the slope, his breath steady, as if he had just taken a walk.
He stood at the top of the slope, looking back at the still thick fog-covered, stench-ridden swamp like a gaping maw ready to devour.
There, Scarface mercenary had become forever part of the swamp, nourishing the demons.
Even a powerful Level 1 Awakened had little ability to resist in the face of the swamp and was devoured.
Gray Mouse’s face looked bad; looking at the terrifyingly ominous swamp behind him, he felt a chill in his heart.
After all, he still had to go back, and now that the swamp’s demons were all stirred up, it was definitely not possible to traverse that swamp again for a while.
If Gray Mouse wanted to go back, he would have to take another route; he had no shortage of routes.
But other routes were also unsafe; a calm swamp was the safest path.
Now the swamp was no longer calm, becoming an extremely dangerous route, likely inaccessible for the next few months.
After resting for a moment, Gray Mouse got up and said, "Let’s go, there’s not much danger ahead."
As long as they were past the swamp area, the route ahead was just more rugged, but it posed no difficulty for the three of them to pass.
About two days later, the three of them descended from a mountain to the foot, where there was a stretch of forest.
Gray Mouse pointed to the path winding through the forest below, his voice carrying a sense of relief and weariness: "Follow this road down for half a day, and you’ll reach White Cloud Town, a town at the border of Toulouse Territory. From there, there are roads leading to the northern interior. My task is completed."
He finished speaking and turned to leave, with Frey asking, "You’re not planning to return the same way?"
Gray Mouse rolled his eyes: "That swamp can no longer be traversed, I have to find another way out."
Compared to Duke and Frey, Gray Mouse was under the most pressure now.
He couldn’t travel to Goose Peak Castle legally through Toulouse Territory, as he was a wanted figure on both sides, unable to be seen.
Gray Mouse left without looking back, leaving only Duke and Frey in the forest at the foot of the mountain.
Frey took a deep breath of the forest’s fresh air, as if to cleanse the filth from her lungs thoroughly.
She turned around, her face once again showing that lazy and enchanting smile, her fiery red whip coiling around her slender waist like a tame pet, accentuating her graceful figure.
Frey walked towards Duke in a charming manner, her eyes sultry, her voice softly cooing:
"Jelot, sir, we finally got out of that damned place. Where do you plan to go next? I have some connections in the north too, maybe... we could travel together? It’d be nice to have some company on the road~"
"No need." Duke’s voice was calm and unwavering, without a hint of emotion, not even glancing at Frey.
He stepped forward, choosing not the path ahead but heading straight to the dense, unfrequented part of the forest.
With a few flashes, his figure merged into the shadows among the trees, disappearing behind the layers of leaves.
Frey watched Duke leave without hesitation, his back unflinching, a slight smile on her lips as she sighed and swayed her way towards White Cloud Town.
Duke sped along while using the Eye of Darkness to check if anyone was following him.
He certainly couldn’t travel with Frey; that woman clearly harbored many secrets, and he knew nothing about her background.
Next, Duke planned to operate in the mountain forest, cutting directly through Toulouse Territory to reach the Fifth Outpost in the north.
This way, there would inevitably be some trouble, but using the roads within Toulouse Territory would require blending into a caravan or similar, and it’s too slow.
Since the natives of the Devourer Plane were now aware of the Wizard’s presence, he couldn’t delay time any longer and had to reach the Fifth Outpost as soon as possible.
Duke didn’t summon the Storm Dragon Eagle from the Light God Court; although the speed of the Storm Dragon Eagle would be swift, it would also be too conspicuous.
Especially in such wilderness, the formidable aura of the Storm Dragon Eagle was difficult to conceal completely, bound to attract notice from some powerful demons.
It should be known that here in the Devourer Plane, the Storm Dragon Eagle is a Level 1 Peak life; the demons it would attract would definitely not be simple, at least Level 2 Life.
Duke was still too weak now; once encountering Level 2 Life, he had almost no means of resistance, not even a chance to activate the Coordinates Earring to escape.
Progress through the forest was not very smooth, as some oblivious demons would always attack.
Duke couldn’t emit grandly his aura, as doing so would attract even stronger demons.
He noticed that the closer he got to the border villages of Toulouse Territory, the fewer and weaker the demons became.
Duke then adjusted his route, trying to stick close to the border villages’ periphery but not getting too close.
About five days later, he had completed a third of the journey, and in another ten days, he would entirely exit the boundaries of Toulouse Territory.