The man's healing spell was very weak. It took a full hour to barely heal the wounds on Horn's body. By this time, the man was sweating profusely.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, stood up, and said to Annie,
"This is all I can do for his injuries. The newly healed wounds are very fragile. Don't do strenuous exercise for a while. Save your thanks for the next time we meet."
After saying that, he walked towards the door and was about to leave.
"Why? Why did you help us?" Annie called out to the man who was about to go out.
"As fellow wild witches, isn't it natural to help each other?" The man gave a soft laugh and left the house directly.
When the appointed time came, Horn didn't return to Douglas' carpentry shop. Enoch felt something was wrong, so he went to Horn's former home to check the situation.
Halfway there, Enoch saw a man in a long brown robe walking towards him.
He used illusion to conceal his figure and waited for the man to pass by.
When the two got closer, the man, who had been walking normally, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
He turned towards Enoch's direction, bowed slightly, and then left.
Enoch was completely confused. He thought the man might be crazy.
What a strange man...
As soon as he entered the house, he saw Horn lying on the bed with his clothes off, and Annie beside him with red - swollen eyes.
"What, what's going on? Did he... did he do that to you?" Enoch stammered, pointing at the two of them.
...
Annie danced around as she described all that had happened to Enoch. She also introduced the man who had treated Horn's injuries. Enoch was left dumbfounded. How could so many things happen just during a normal shift to give a lecture?
Enoch stroked his chin and asked thoughtfully, "Is the man you mentioned wearing a brown robe and with a scarf around his face?"
Annie asked in surprise, "How do you know?"
"I saw him just now." Enoch suddenly realized and said, "So that guy was the one who treated him. We really should thank him properly."
As the two were chatting, Horn on the bed slowly woke up. They quickly ended the conversation and went to Horn's side.
Horn struggled to sit up. His wound still ached faintly, but it was different from the severe pain he had imagined. It was just a slight itch and pain.
He looked down at his chest. It was fair, smooth, and free of any bloodstains. Even the skin where he had been injured before was more delicate!
"I remember I was injured, seriously. It was split open here, and a piece of flesh was bitten off..."
Horn touched his chest, looking a bit dazed.
"You're really lucky. According to Annie, some guy came out of nowhere and saved you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be able to get up now." Enoch sat down on a chair when he saw that Horn was okay.
"Where is he now?"
"He left. He said it was natural for fellow wild witches to help each other, and then he left." Annie replied.
He can heal injuries, is a wild witch, and seems like a nice guy. He would be an ideal candidate for a companion.
Horn thought to himself.
"Let's go back. Too many people know about this place. It's not safe."
Horn supported himself on the bed and stood up. He started to put on his clothes and prepare to leave.
Enoch quickly supported Horn who was standing up, afraid that he would stagger and fall head - first to the ground, causing his wound to split open and die.
When they reached the door, Horn turned back to Annie and said, "Annie, come with us. It's not safe here anymore."
"O, okay! I'll pack up and come right away!" Annie replied with a surprised look on her face. Did this mean that Horn had accepted her?
Annie and Enoch took turns supporting Horn. It took them a while to return to Douglas' carpentry shop.
This time, Douglas wasn't in the yard, but Horn still asked them to support him to old Douglas' room. There was going to be a new member in the yard, and she was a woman. He had to tell old Douglas about it.
When Horn pushed open the door, he found that old Douglas had already gone to bed. So he decided to let Annie choose a guest room to stay in first.
The next day, Horn told old Douglas about it, and old Douglas readily agreed.
Just like that, the fourth member came to Douglas' carpentry shop, a former merchant's daughter.
Because of her sensitive identity, she couldn't go out without any disguise. Horn asked Enoch to buy some clothes from Walker's Merchant Bank, including a black robe similar to Horn's.
Annie told Horn and Enoch about how she had summoned a centaur knight who obeyed her commands last time. Horn gave Annie a staff and asked her to try to summon again.
But this time, instead of summoning a centaur knight, Annie summoned a huge wild wolf!
This wolf was also a first - level magical beast and obeyed Annie's commands, but it was obviously not as powerful as the centaur knight she had summoned last time.
It was obvious that Annie's summoning was very unstable, and unstable summoning might not play its due role at a critical moment. So Horn's task for Annie was to condense her Magic Sea as soon as possible and try to explore her Consciousness Sea to find out the reason for the unstable summoning.
In the eastern district of Leon City
On the attic of a library, more than a dozen people, some wearing masks and some in robes, were sitting around a large rectangular table. They couldn't see each other's faces, but they were chatting very animatedly at this moment, like old friends who had been separated for a long time.
Tap, tap, tap.
The sound of footsteps came. A man in a brown robe walked up from downstairs, came to the long table, sat down, took off his gloves and put them on the table, revealing a pair of very delicate hands.
"I called you all here because I've found new compatriots. I want to ask if you want to recruit them." The man in the brown robe said.
"According to the plan, it's only eighteen days before we go to the God - Forsaken Land. It's better not to recruit new people at this time to avoid complications."
The one who spoke was a very strong short man. He also covered his body with a robe, but his muscles were too well - developed and he was short, so the robe didn't fit well. His upper body was tightly stretched, and a small section of the robe dragged on the ground.
A woman wearing a white cat mask whispered, "We're all wild witches. Life is hard for everyone. We should take those we can. Staying here, who knows when we'll be tied to a stick by the church and roasted."
Her voice was very sweet and pleasant.
A fat man with a mask that exposed his mouth was eating small pieces of roasted meat from his small bag. Hearing the woman's words, he suddenly vomited. There was a lot of vomit and it smelled bad. The scene was in chaos for a while.
He had a deep - seated fear of the church burning wild witches because he had once watched a friend being burned alive!
Seeing that people's opinions were divided, the man in the brown robe gently clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention.
Most of the people present had received favors from this man, so he was like a leader in this small group.
"Since our opinions differ, let's vote to decide. Those who want to try to recruit them, please raise your hands."
There were a total of fourteen people present besides the man in the brown robe. Nine of them raised their hands, and only five disagreed.
After everyone had expressed their opinions, the man in the brown robe made a decision.
"I'll go and assess them. If I find them trustworthy, I'll try to recruit them.
If they're not trustworthy, we'll just leave. After all, our goal is to go to the God - Forsaken Land, and nothing can stop this operation."
Nothing can stop it!