Wizard: I can predict the future

An hour later.

Nord slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings.

The dense forest remained quiet.

There was no pursuit.

There were no unusual magical fluctuations either.

Only then did he truly relax.

After confirming the location, Nord headed back towards the stronghold.

It is very easy to lose one's way in the mountains and forests, and in addition, he had changed his route several times in order to escape possible pursuit.

Therefore, even after determining the general direction, it took him nearly two hours to get back to the vicinity of the camp.

Nord stood at the foot of the mountain, looking towards the location of the outpost.

The entire hilltop looked no different from its surroundings.

It wasn't until he got close to the outpost that he noticed some subtle changes.

Some of the tree trunks were magically shaped into hollow structures, with branches and leaves hanging down naturally to conceal the entrance and passageway.

The earthen slopes and shallow ditches on the ground were also covered with dead leaves, gravel and moss, making them look more like the natural undulations of the mountain forest.

If you didn't know in advance that someone was stationed here, even if you were passing by, you might not have noticed anything unusual immediately.

Just as he stepped into the camp area, he saw a figure walk out.

It was Hall.

The other person seemed to already know it was him.

"Captain, you're finally back."

"Everyone else has returned; we're just waiting for you to gather the intelligence."

Nord nodded.

"Okay, let's go in together."

However, he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped.

His gaze fell on a small building made of tree roots and soil not far away.

That was a place where prisoners of war were temporarily held.

But in his perception, there was only a clear heartbeat and a sign of life.

Nord frowned slightly.

"Is that where the Fish-Scale Clan is imprisoned?"

Hall followed his gaze and nodded.

"Yes."

"Why is there only one person?"

Nord's voice was slightly deep.

"The other one died?"

Hall paused for a moment upon hearing this, then scratched his head in confusion.

"No."

"The other one is just asleep."

Are you asleep?

Nord's eyes narrowed instantly.

He didn't ask any more questions, but instead strode towards the small house.

After pushing open the simple wooden door, in the dimly lit space, two fish-scale tribe prisoners were locked on either side.

The fish-scaled spellcaster was still breathing intermittently with his eyes open.

When she saw Nord enter, she merely raised the corner of her eye slightly before looking away again.

The other beast tamer huddled in a corner, motionless.

Nord walked to his side and slowly squatted down.

After a brief examination, it was discovered that his heartbeat was extremely slow and his breathing was almost imperceptible.

Even the life force was suppressed to an extremely low level.

Nord reached out and placed his hand on the other's neck, sensing for a moment before his gaze became increasingly complex.

He didn't die.

In order to conserve energy, it entered a very deep sleep state.

In this state, the heartbeat, breathing, body temperature, and even vital signs of the fish-scaled race will drop to a near standstill.

If the other party does not possess any magic or other abilities, even using psychic vision to investigate will not reveal anything.

At that moment, Nord finally understood.

The fish-scaled person who suddenly appeared near him outside the village in the afternoon was not some powerful figure hiding in plain sight.

He was just an ordinary fish-scaled person who happened to have fallen asleep nearby before he arrived.

Only when the other person wakes up and speaks will he feel as if the other person appeared out of thin air.

Thinking of this, Nord remained silent for a moment.

Immediately, he couldn't help but make a self-deprecating remark to himself.

"You're just scaring yourself."

Nord didn't linger and turned to walk with Hall toward the center of the camp.

At this moment, everyone had gathered in a hall made from a tree trunk.

In the center is the sand table made yesterday, but compared to last night, there are a few new markings on it.

Upon seeing Nord and Hall enter, the group, who had been talking in hushed tones, quickly fell silent.

Baruch spoke first:

"Captain, the outpost is now partially complete."

"However, we don't have many alchemy materials at the moment, and we've only set up some warning alchemy props near the base."

Nord nodded.

"good."

Then he looked at Helena and the others.

"How's the collection of magical plants going?"

Helena pointed to a wooden crate to the side.

"The natives of this other world don't seem to know how to utilize these magical plants."

"Today, we collected 35 plants of 8 types of Tier 3 magical plants, 28 plants of 5 types of Tier 2 magical plants, and 13 plants of 3 types of Tier 1 magical plants."

Nord walked to the wooden crate and opened it.

He glanced through it briefly, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

Most of these magical plants are common species in the wizarding world.

In particular, some of these materials are perfect for refining medicines for healing and detoxification.

"That's good news."

Nord closed the wooden box and said slowly:

"I was initially worried that the magical plants would be hard to find."

"Now it seems that as long as the subsequent collection can keep up, when we actually go to war with the Fish Scale Clan, we won't have to worry too much about the consumption of basic medicines."

At this point, he slowly walked to the edge of the sand table and placed a pebble on the marked spot.

"I scouted this place this afternoon."

"This is just an ordinary village of the Yulin ethnic group, not large in scale, with only a few dozen households."

"Most of the fish-scaled people in the village do not possess any obvious extraordinary powers."

"In the Central Prayer Hall, there is a priest-like figure, but his power is very weak, even weaker than that of a wizard apprentice who has just constructed a mental power model."

Hearing this, everyone visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

The fish-scaled spellcaster and his team from yesterday left a deep impression on them.

Nord saw that everyone's expressions relaxed and continued speaking.

"There's one more thing."

"The Fish Scale Clan possesses a state similar to deep slumber."

"In this state, their heartbeat, breathing and vital signs will drop to an extremely low level, making them difficult to detect by ordinary means."

As he spoke, he looked at everyone, his tone becoming more serious.

"If the other party has obvious energy fluctuations in their body, just like the spellcaster, we can detect them in advance through psychic vision."

"But what if the opponent is like those fish-scaled warriors, with almost no internal abilities but possessing extremely high physical strength? Once they use this deep sleep state to conceal their presence and then launch a sudden attack..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"Even a first-level wizard apprentice can be killed instantly if caught off guard."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions became more serious.

"But there's no need to worry too much."

"I just checked the Fish Scale Clan prisoners. Once they enter this state, they almost completely lose all sense of the outside world."

Nord turned his gaze back to the sand table.

"We are not in a hurry to expand outwards in the next few days."

"First, continue to improve the outpost, especially by digging several passages leading to the foot of the mountain, in case of any unforeseen circumstances."

"Then we need to expand the potion-gathering area and, incidentally, find a way to attract more academy apprentices, especially wizard apprentices who are fluent in the language."