"So, once we enter the secret realm, what then? Do we move together or explore separately?"
Leylin leaned against a rock, took a bite of roasted meat, and asked in a leisurely tone.
Kasha was also watching Robin. She had come here precisely because of the rare materials inside the secret realm, so she naturally had no interest in sticking together.
"Of course, everyone acts according to their own wishes!" Robin answered without the slightest hesitation.
"I have a rough topographical map here — it's far from complete, but take a look first!"
Robin produced two maps from within his robes with practiced ease, handing one each to Kasha and Leylin.
"Naturally, after we've made our acquisitions, I hope we can share information with each other, or trade. And should any one party decide to sell off the rare materials they've obtained, the other two will have the right of first refusal!"
Robin had thought things through quite carefully. Neither Kasha nor Leylin had any objection to this, so they nodded in agreement.
……
A winding river flowed deep underground, its waters churning and crashing. The sound echoed through the cavernous subterranean world, growing more and more muffled with each reverberation.
At one particular location, a powerful defensive wizardry formation had been set up, its runes of every color shimmering with radiance. On top of that, a large number of alien creatures and wizards stood guard on patrol.
Though these beings looked rather ragged — some had clothes that were little more than wrinkled fabric held together with patches — the auras radiating from their bodies were formidable and wild.
Leylin's group had all entered shadow concealment mode, slipping silently into the area.
Not far ahead, upright black bear-men stood watch, each wearing a half-hide of beast leather around its waist as ornamentation.
"Bear Barbarians!" It was Leylin's first time seeing these creatures in person.
Unlike the half-beastmen that had escaped from laboratories, Bear Barbarians were genuine extraplanar beings — highly intelligent, and with physical strength that was truly terrifying.
An adult Bear Barbarian could rival a Level 1 branded swordsman, a reinforced warrior, or any of the other ancient wizard branches. And once a Bear Barbarian elder or shaman awakened the power of their totem, they could command the force of wizardry, becoming fearsome spellcasters.
This particular Bear Barbarian tribe alone was a force that dominated the entire Forgotten Land!
And in front of Leylin stood no fewer than a hundred elite Bear Barbarian warriors, along with an unknown number of elders and shamans.
Moreover, the Bear Barbarians were not the only faction they had to contend with.
Beside the Bear Barbarian patrol, several short green creatures shuffled past, each clutching a staff inlaid with assorted minerals and gems. Faint detection waves pulsed outward from those staffs, forcing Leylin and his companions to retreat a few steps.
These green-skinned beings bore a resemblance to gnomes, but their heads were far more bulbous — round and swollen like watermelons — and their skin was a ghastly shade of green.
These were Green-Skin Barbarian Sages, the spellcasting units among the Green-Skin Barbarians. Having forsaken their advantage in raw strength, they had developed Spiritual Power and magical energy of a far more terrifying magnitude. Each one was equivalent to a human Level 2 Wizard, and occasionally, traces of Level 3 fluctuations could even be detected among them.
"What do we do?"
Kasha's voice reached Leylin's ears.
"Don't make any moves. Look!" Leylin pointed in another direction.
By the riverbank, a brownish rock was covered in brownish vines that looked perfectly ordinary, but it immediately caught Robin's and Kasha's attention.
"It's an early-warning spell formation, specifically attuned to detect void-hidden fluctuations! It was hidden so well — if you hadn't warned us, Leylin, we would have been completely fooled!"
Robin gritted his teeth. "Let's pull back first!"
The group exchanged glances, retreating from the underground first, while the other Horalar Black Snake warlocks followed close behind.
*Bang!*
Once they reached a safe location some distance away, Robin's expression darkened instantly, and cracks spread across the ground beneath his stomping feet.
"Those damned human traitors! They must have been the ones who set up that early-warning spell formation — otherwise, even with ten thousand years, those Bear Barbarians and Green-Skin Barbarians could never have developed this kind of technology!"
Robin paced back and forth, clearly in a foul mood.
Within the Forgotten Lands, apart from the two non-human factions — the Bear Barbarians and the Green-Skin Barbarians — there was also a faction composed entirely of human fugitive Wizards. The situation had always been a three-way stalemate.
And now, to protect the secret realm, their common asset, they had evidently joined forces.
"Haven't we already discussed this possibility? It's the worst-case scenario, yes, but we made preparations and drew up plans accordingly! Calm down — your mental state doesn't look right at all!"
Kasha noticed that Robin's eyes were faintly turning red and hurriedly warned him, "Damn it, Leylin — Robin is about to have an episode!"
"Oh?" Leylin's eyes widened in alarm. He then saw Robin's eerily handsome face, now twisted and contorted, with a murderous aura coalescing around him.
This was clearly the influence of bloodline-induced emotional instability, pushing Robin toward a loss of reason.
"Snap out of it! Robin — perhaps you need this." Leylin locked eyes with Robin, and a vial of high-grade Tranquility Potion appeared in his hand.
Aside from Roya and Kasha, the other Horalar Black Snake warlocks had already moved a considerable distance away.
This was not only out of fear of being caught in the crossfire — due to the influence of their bloodlines, if Robin's emotional episode fully erupted, it could even trigger the bloodlines within their own bodies, dragging them all into a frenzied, chaotic state.