Chapter 262: Two Who Learned The Hard Way.

Huh! Huh!

The hunter and the healer were panting heavily, and their robes were completely drenched in sweat.

Their faces had paled from exhaustion and blood loss.

Yet they refused to stop moving forward. Their eyes were glued to the figure ahead of them, unwilling to let him out of their sight.

Riding on his mount, Thoren knew the two were trying desperately to catch up to him. Even though he did not understand why they were trying so hard, he respected their perseverance.

With their serious injuries, many others would have given up long ago. This was especially true for the healer.

Her endurance and stamina could not compare to the hunter’s physical strength. Still, she gritted her teeth and pushed herself harder with every step.

They had consumed all their stamina potions just to keep up with his pace.

Just then, Thoren raised his head and saw the Jackal town sitting in the distance.

He leaped down from his mount and withdrew it back into his undead space. However, instead of going forward toward the town gate, he waited patiently for the two stragglers to arrive.

Behind him, when the hunter and the healer saw that he had withdrawn his mount and was waiting for them, they breathed a deep sigh of relief. They pushed harder to close the short remaining distance.

“Thoren, thank you for waiting for us,” the hunter said with a genuine, grateful smile.

“Without your help, the desert would have devoured our corpses by now. So thank you very much for saving our lives,” the healer added from the side, bowing her head.

Thoren looked at the two, who were trying desperately to catch their breath and steady themselves.

“Why do you insist on following me?” he asked calmly, studying their faces.

The two looked at each other briefly before the hunter responded honestly.

“With our injuries, if we are once again attacked by either Jackal Beastmen or hostile awakeners, that will be the end of us for sure,” he explained.

“Only by following you do we have any real chance to return to the town in one piece,” he said truthfully, meeting Thoren’s gaze.

Thoren nodded slowly, accepting his reasonable explanation. But there was still one lingering question in his mind that needed an answer.

“With my advice, you should not have fallen into the claws of your captain. Why did you not listen to me?” he asked.

Listening to his question, a bitter, painful smile appeared on their faces. The healer responded for both of them.

“We did listen to your advice. But who would have thought our luck would be so terribly bad? Just as we were trying to find our way out of the ruin, we ran directly into a group of Jackal Beastmen.”

“If not for the hunter holding his ground and fighting for a chance for us to run away, we would have been captured or killed by now,” she admitted.

Thoren listened to their entire ordeal without any change in his expression. But inwardly, he was genuinely stunned by their story.

The two were both extremely lucky as well as deeply unlucky. They managed to flee from the Jackal Beastmen, only to hide in a small dark chamber. There, they were captured by some strange, unknown creature.

When they thought their end had finally come, they discovered they were not the only ones being held captive. Their enemies were also trapped by the same strange creature.

But who would have thought that when they struggled desperately, the healer’s unique healing skill would make the creature afraid of touching them?

It was bizarre and difficult to understand completely.

Yet that healing skill saved their lives, and they managed to escape from the dark chamber.

Unfortunately, their terrible misfortune was far from over.

Escaping from the ruin, who would have thought their captain did not even bother to explore the ruin at all?

Since he had set his eyes on the loot discovered by the two, he wanted nothing more than to have it in his own hands.

Thus, he had been lying in wait outside the ruin, patiently waiting for them to appear. When the two finally emerged, he trailed them silently before he ambushed them in the middle of the desert.

Listening to everything they had endured, Thoren could not help but sigh deeply. The human mind is truly difficult to fathom at times.

He looked at the two survivors and said, “I hope both of you have learned your lesson from this terrible experience.”

“We have learned,” they answered in unison, their voices firm.

Only a fool would not have learned from such a close call with death. If Thoren had not been present in their party for this ruin exploration, they firmly believed they would have long been sacrificed, just like their poor Tank.

Thinking of how they had treated Thoren poorly earlier, they were deeply ashamed. They lowered their heads in shame as they made their way toward the town gate.

Suddenly, the healer raised her head, and her eyes burned with firm resolve.

“Thoren, are you interested in our loot? We would not mind giving it to you as thanks,” she offered.

Hmm?

Thoren halted in his tracks and looked at her. He was slightly surprised by her offer and shifted his gaze to the hunter for his reaction.

The hunter seemed to fully support her decision without any hesitation.

“Without you, this item would have been stolen by the captain, and our lives would have been lost. So giving it to you is the right thing to do,” the hunter said casually.

Seeing that the two were not pretending to give him the item, nor were they trying to scheme against him, Thoren considered their offer.

Then he shook his head firmly.

“I do not want it,” he said casually. “Sell it and use the money to strengthen yourselves. Right now, both of you are far too weak to survive in this desert.”

That was the honest truth.

He did not care what grade their item was. With the Abyssal Market and his considerable wealth, he could purchase any item he wanted at any time.

With that final statement, he turned away and joined the queue of people trying to enter the city.

Seeing how indifferent Thoren was toward their rare item, the two were once again stunned. This was the item their captain had been trying desperately to kill them for.

Yet there was someone who did not give a single damn about it.

The two looked at each other, and bright, genuine smiles appeared on their faces. Hurriedly, they joined the queue to enter the town as well. But in their minds, they had already made an important decision.

****

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