The sudden turn of events shocked everyone.
All eyes turned toward the person who had knocked down Ham, and when they saw her face, they found it hard to believe.
No one expected that the one protecting Roger would actually be Annie!
Annie exuded a powerful fire element Mana. She stretched out her right hand toward Ham, and in her palm, a swirling vortex of fire elemental Arcane Magic formed.
As long as Ham dared to cause trouble, she would mercilessly unleash Arcane Magic to teach him a harsh lesson.
After reporting to the Arcane Magic array manager just now, Annie had noticed Ham bullying Roger. So from several dozen meters away, she released a level three Arcane Magic called "Fire Whirlwind," which sent Ham flying.
The Fire Whirlwind unleashed an extreme heat nearing 300 degrees Celsius, instantly scorching a large patch of Ham's hair.
Annie was a once-in-a-million Arcane Magic prodigy. At just seventeen, she had already become a level seven Mage.
Her power completely and thoroughly crushed Ham.
Moreover, her family background was strong. Ham was merely a commoner and dared not offend her.
"Who gave you the nerve to bully Roger?" Annie stared coldly at Ham, questioning him sharply.
Ham rubbed his sore shoulder, angrily getting up. "This is a fight between men. You suddenly interfering isn't very appropriate."
Annie sneered and retorted, "You're the one bullying him deliberately, and you have the nerve to argue with me?"
Ham pointed at Roger. "Roger, if you're a man, then don't hide behind a woman."
Roger sneered. "Cut the crap. Having someone protect me is my skill. If you've got guts, knock Annie down."
Ham fumed, "You… really have no shame!"
"No shame? Hmph, you're the real idiot." Roger laughed scornfully, pointing at him.
Annie said nothing more, too lazy to argue with Ham, and turned to walk into the Arcane Magic array.
Roger followed behind.
It was a six-pointed star Arcane Magic array, constructed from thirty-eight elemental magic stones, surrounded by six black, flat, semicircular pillars.
The six pillars were covered with dense, mysterious runes, connecting to the base of the Arcane Magic array.
As the teleportation Arcane Magic array activated, intense silver light suddenly burst forth.
The silver light condensed into the shape of a six-pointed star, rising from beneath Roger and Annie's feet.
The glow from the six-pointed star enveloped them both.
The next moment, it teleported them away.
"Why would Annie bring that guy along on a mission?"
About ten meters away, a young man with blond hair, dressed in black soft armor and handsome features, looked toward the Arcane Magic array, a string of question marks forming in his mind.
His name was Leon. He was twenty years old, a level nine Magic Warrior, and born a Noble. His father was the town mayor.
In Windmill Town, Leon's status was second only to the mayor, his father.
He seemed to really like Annie.
When he saw Annie walking together with Roger, his eyes darkened, filled with a strong murderous intent.
There were enough men courting Annie to form an army, but Leon was the one with the best chance.
He definitely wouldn't tolerate any other man getting close to the woman he loved.
As a result, every man who got near Annie was treated by him as a rival.
"Leon, when did that bastard Roger start hooking up with Annie? Because of him, I got beaten up by Annie." Ham walked up to Leon, angrily complaining.
Leon shot him a fierce glare. "You're asking me? Who else am I supposed to ask? Watch Roger for me. You have to find out what kind of relationship he has with Annie."
Ham lowered his head and whispered, "What kind of relationship could they possibly have? You don't seriously think Annie likes Roger, do you?"
Leon's face darkened. "It's not impossible."
In fact, Leon's appearance was no accident; he had deliberately followed them to secretly monitor Annie and Roger.
This was because Leon had heard rumors about Roger and Annie, and he wanted to figure out the truth.
Because of those rumors, Roger had already become Leon's number one rival in love.
Not only Leon, but other men who admired Annie also began to hate Roger.
This was the intense competition between men.
For money, power, and women, men competed constantly, seemingly without end.
At the same time, on the other side of the Arcane Magic array—
During the teleportation, Roger felt as if his body disappeared, leaving only his consciousness awake, unable to control his body.
The teleportation lasted only three seconds.
When Roger's body regained sensation, he had already been transported to another Arcane Magic array.
This Arcane Magic array was located at a base the Magic Guild had established inside the Lichborn territory, hidden within a cave.
Deep inside the cave was the Arcane Magic array, guarded by eight Magic Warriors.
Outside, a massive illusion Arcane Magic array covered the entire base, serving as protection.
Only Magic Guild members could enter and leave freely.
Roger and Annie stepped out of the Arcane Magic array.
"You're sending me on a mission with just one helper?" Roger asked worriedly.
Heading into Lichborn territory for a mission would be extremely risky.
Normally, the more people, the better.
But Annie had only brought Roger, making it difficult to guarantee their safety.
Annie walked forward as she said, "Our mission is to gather intelligence. We don't need many people; having too many would just make us more noticeable."
"I see," Roger understood.
"I can give you a portion of the mission's reward, and I'll try to find some extra profits on the side. But it's going to be risky. If you're afraid, you don't have to come with me on this dangerous part—just help me get the mission done."
Roger said calmly, "There's nothing to be afraid of. Nobody's going to die anyway."
"Not necessarily." Annie gave him a deep, serious look.
The balance between risk and reward was a simple truth Roger clearly understood.
Coming to Lichborn for experience was inherently dangerous, but it was a necessary life challenge.
If he was cowardly and afraid of dying, he'd be fit only to be a Magic Tailor for life.
Before long, Annie led Roger out of the base, revealing a winding mountain path that led down the slope.
"Let's go," Annie said, as if performing a magic trick, casually pulling out a red Magic Carpet.
This was a flying Magic Carpet—a high-end flying tool with an extremely expensive price. Only a few big shots in Windmill Town owned one.
The red Magic Carpet unfolded and hovered about a meter above the ground in front of Annie.
Annie sat at the front of the Magic Carpet first, and Roger followed, sitting behind her.
Under Annie's mental control, the Magic Carpet quickly sped toward the foot of the mountain.
"So this is the legendary Magic Carpet? I heard it's worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins. Looks like you're really rich!" Roger exclaimed.
Annie smiled with a little pride, "This Magic Carpet was a reward from the guild. If you can join the Magic Guild and perform well enough, you'll get plenty of generous rewards too."
Roger's eyes widened in surprise, "That's awesome!"
A flying Magic Carpet worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins just given away like that— the Magic Guild's foundation and power were beyond imagination.
The Magic Carpet flew fast, covering over a thousand meters in just a minute, arriving at the mountain's base.
"I'm going to speed up now. Hold on tight," Annie warned.
"Whoosh!"
Before Roger could prepare, the Magic Carpet doubled its speed, flying like a wild beast raging westward.
To avoid being detected, Annie carefully kept the Magic Carpet flying low, maintaining just a dozen meters above the ground.
Within a few minutes, they arrived outside a camp five kilometers away.
This camp was one of Lichborn's strongholds, with several hundred Lichborn Warriors and Wizards stationed there.
Roger and Annie stopped about a hundred meters west of the Lichborn camp.
"What kind of intelligence are you trying to gather?" Roger asked quietly.
Annie covered her mouth and answered, "Our mission is to gather intelligence on the internal situation of Lichborn, to confirm whether the Lich King might be resurrected."
Roger was stunned, "The Lich King could come back to life?"
The Lich King was the leader of Lichborn, incredibly powerful, having reached the super-strong level of Sorcerer Deity.
Three hundred years ago, the Lich King led the Lich Legion to invade the Human Race, sparking a century-long war.
In the end, the Lich King was killed by several human champions working together; his skull was smashed into pieces, and the million-strong Lich Legion was wiped out.
Strangely, the corpse of the Lich King suddenly vanished without a trace.
Later, a great prophet of the Human Race calculated that the Lich King was very likely to be resurrected...