Chapter 81: Night Raid on the Scorpion Bandit Gang's Lair!

"Yes, my lord Gervas. I had already reached a bottleneck, and after refining Dino's body-fortifying potion these past few days, this feeling has become even stronger. However..."

"However, although the feeling is very strong, a thin mist always shrouds it, preventing me from truly breaking through!"

"Previously, I asked my mentor. Although he did not answer directly, it seemed he said that breaking through from a Witch Apprentice to a Witch requires an opportunity."

"If this opportunity arises, one can likely break through immediately. But without it, it may take several months, or even several years, to comprehend!"

Isabella answered truthfully; in fact, her heart was also very anxious.

If she could break through early, it would not only allow her to grow faster but also enable her to make a greater contribution to my lord Gervas.

Gervas understood clearly. "Isabella, are you free now?"

"I am free! My lord Gervas."

"Good, then come with me for a trip!"

Afterwards, Gervas led a puzzled Isabella away from the castle on horseback.

No knights were brought; it was just the two of them.

Since Isabella had long accompanied her mentor while traveling, her riding skill was no less than Gervas's.

The two soon arrived at Swan Lake.

It was now evening, and the colorful-winged swans, out foraging, were coincidentally returning one after another.

Their rainbow-like wings appeared magnificent against the sunlight.

"It's colorful-winged swans! My lord Gervas, your territory actually has colorful-winged swans!" Isabella was somewhat surprised; she also knew the value of colorful-winged swans.

"Correct. There is a spiritual spring in Swan Lake that caused the colorful-winged swans to choose to settle here! Let's go; next, we need to proceed on foot!"

Afterwards, they followed the stream of Swan Lake upstream.

As the surrounding weeds and trees grew denser, Isabella became increasingly puzzled.

What is my lord Gervas bringing me here for?

Could it be...

No, my lord Gervas is such a good person; how could he be someone with ulterior motives?

Isabella immediately rejected this fleeting thought.

Because even if such a thought existed in her mind for one more second, she felt guilty in her heart.

Gervas did not know that in the heart of the witch behind him, he had become the sun, the embodiment of a righteous knight.

He had originally worried that Isabella would be anxious because this place was sparsely populated.

But after turning back several times and seeing the girl's eyes full of light and her expression very normal, he felt much relieved.

This spared him the trouble of explaining further.

"We've arrived!"

At this moment, they finally reached the waterfall from last time, and Gervas directly pulled aside the vines obscuring the cave entrance.

To Isabella's surprise, he introduced: "Isabella, this is the former laboratory of that Witch Nodi. The potion manual was found right here!"

Afterwards, he led Isabella into the stone house.

Although the stone house was empty, containing only a few crystal vessels, Isabella was still very curious and stepped forward to examine them closely.

Gervas ignored her and began tapping and knocking on the ground by the wall himself.

Moments later, Gervas heard a different echo from a stone slab in the corner of the wall.

With a light flick of his dagger, the stone slab was easily pried open, revealing an iron box.

Opening the iron box, inside was precisely Witch Nodi's cultivation manual.

Moreover, this manual was not just one book, but a full three.

They separately recorded Witch Nodi's insights from his Magic Apprentice stage, Junior Witch stage, and Intermediate Witch stage.

"My lord, these are Witch Nodi's cultivation insights, extremely precious, because they also record many potion formulas and Witch spells!"

Isabella glanced over them roughly, then very reverently handed the several manuals back to Gervas.

"Isabella, no need to return them to me. I brought you here this time specifically to give these manuals to you!"

"Your mentor probably never told you that the layer of mist is actually quite easy to dispel!"

"Either there must be face-to-face guidance and teaching from a true Witch, or one must study the insight manuals of other formal Witches!"

"My lord Gervas..." Isabella froze completely, her body began to tremble slightly, and her gaze toward Gervas turned red.

Having lost her parents' love since childhood and experienced the persecution of her beloved mentor, Isabella's past experiences had deeply wounded her soul.

If not for the obsession of wanting to find her mother, she probably would have had no courage to live on.

But this noble before her, in just a few short days, had made her feel a care she thought she would never experience again in her life.

This made her broken soul feel a trace of warmth.

"Isabella, do not live in the past; everything will become even better!"

"I said it before: in Storm Territory, no one will ever bully you again. And once you are strong enough, even if you leave Storm Territory, you will no longer need to worry about others bullying you!"

"My lord, thank you!"

A thousand words and ten thousand sentiments turned into a single word of gratitude.

Isabella will forever remember this kindness in her heart.

Night fell.

"Depart!"

At Gervas's command, he led the knights and the Magic Swift Eagle squad out of the castle in the dark.

The destination of this trip was, naturally, the Scorpion Bandit Gang's base.

The Scorpion Bandit Gang's base has always been public, located on a ridge in the Chaos Wasteland.

The reason they have committed so many evils yet remain uncrushed.

Previously, Gervas thought it was due to their combat strength and the treacherous terrain.

Now it seems one must also add the reason that some nobles within the kingdom are unwilling to let them be eradicated.

After more than three hours of travel, Gervas ordered the group to halt.

The reconnaissance intelligence from the Demon Swift Eagles had already been returned; ten li ahead lay the Scorpion Bandit Gang's main stronghold.

Ordering the knights to stop, Gervas mounted the Moon-Chaser and soared into the sky, heading toward the Scorpion Bandit Gang's lair alongside the Demon Swift Eagles.

About ten-plus minutes later, Gervas and Evlan were circling above the Scorpion Bandit Gang's stronghold.

One must admit, the Scorpion Bandit Gang's terrain is truly treacherous; their fortress is built atop a sheer cliff.

The fortress spans more than ten mu in size, ample enough to house three to five hundred people for long-term living, while all four sides are steep mountain cliffs with drops reaching a hundred meters.

Only the front side features a winding mountain path, two or three meters wide, spiraling upward.

At the end of this mountain path, the Scorpion Bandit Gang had erected a six-meter-high wall; the stone wall was solid and massive, absolutely a case where one man guards the pass and ten thousand cannot break through.

Without a force of one or two thousand soldiers, no one could hope to assault and enter.

Of course, Gervas had come today to scout; he already had preliminary ideas about besieging the fortress, but he still needed to see how subsequent developments unfolded.

"You remain at your current altitude in the sky; do not descend without orders!"

Having given instructions to the Demon Swift Eagle squad, Gervas commanded the Moon-Chaser to begin descending.

Compared to the considerable noise made by the flapping wings of the Demon Swift Eagles, the Moon-Chaser's wingbeats could be said to reduce the disturbance to an absolute minimum.

The benefit of this was not only to avoid alerting the bandits to their presence, but also to allow Gervas to land silently upon the roofs of the Scorpion Bandit Gang's dwellings.