The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

Isaac showed a guard his mission pass, and the guard let him leave. Now Isaac was alone on the endless expanse of snowy tundra.

This time he was equipped with a bone hunting knife strapped to his belt, more empty hemp sacks, and his metal water bottle inside one of those sacks. He also had a partially filled-in map and a cheap wooden fountain pen.

Finally, he'd bought a second map – a complete but non-detailed one of the nearby areas. There was an arrow drawn on it, indicating where he needed to go for his quest.

Isaac wasn't exactly a cartographer, but he had practiced map drawing in the academy and he was quite good at it. Therefore, he was confident enough to fill in the blank or missing areas on his incomplete map.

With this goal in mind, he crossed the clearing around the sect and entered the grand pine forest beyond. The forest was huge, large enough to be marked on a world map. Comparing the sect to its colossal size would be like comparing a tuna to the kraken.

Luckily, Isaac only had to go a few kilometres into it. It was further than his previous mission, since all the areas next to the sect were fully mapped. However, no 'easy difficulty' mission would send a disciple deep into this dangerous forest.

After watching Johan, Isaac now had a better idea of how to apply his navigation knowledge. He stood still for a moment, orienting his complete map with the lunar tower behind him. When he had everything lined up and knew what direction he was facing in, he set off towards the red arrow he'd drawn on the map.

Since he wasn't trying to navigate in a snowstorm, it was quite easy to keep his direction. He also made sure to pick a route with several other landmarks, which he could use to reorient himself and stay on course.

However, while straightforward, the walk was long and hard. Darkness descended long before he reached his destination, and he decided not to continue through the night for fear of losing his way.

He spent the night lying on the branch of a pine, reminding him of that night on the first trial, 2 years ago. Back then, he'd been exhausted and injured after fighting with a pack of wolves.

Now he was heading into wolf-territory again. However, he no longer feared them like he once did. He was not the weak, skinny, malnourished boy from 2 years ago: he had grown.

Unfortunately, something else had changed from 2 years ago. The season. Instead of the incredibly rare blue skies he'd seen in the first trial, grey clouds and droplets of rain woke him today. However, he didn't mind it much. The pitter-patter of rain through the branches sounded beautifully melodic. Not to mention, it would also help hide his scent if wolves were present.

It had grown dark early, meaning Isaac had slept early and was awake, ready to go the moment dawn broke. He left his near-empty water bottle with its lid off so it could fill with pure rain water, while he oriented his map using an ice-capped mountain in the distance.

He'd obviously chosen this resting spot because of the mountain, preventing him from being directionless when he awoke.

Once his metal bottle was full to the point of overflowing, Isaac set off.

He was already within striking distance of his destination, so he hoped to reach it and do most of the necessary mapping today. He wasn't being asked to fill out contour lines or mark clearings – not unless those things had changed since the last time this area was mapped. No, his job was to mark more intricate details.

For example, were there any fresh water sources or springs? Had any icy caves formed? What was the environment like and was it suitable for certain Qi herbs to grow? And, most importantly, had a pack of wolves recently moved here, as some disciples' mission reports had suggested?

These questions could be answered with just a quick jotting or symbol on his incomplete map. In fact, the map drawing portion of this mission took barely any time or skill at all. Instead, the hardest part was inspecting the area without missing anything significant. Again, this was something that couldn't be done in the dark, so Isaac planned to do most of it today and finish tomorrow.

As per his expectations, it took just over 2 hours to reach the area ne needed to map. The rain had melted some of the thick snow on the ground, giving Isaac a clearer view of the area's topography. His first impression was that the map was correct: this area showed a slight incline up towards a very low hill. There were also no signs of major terraforming events, meaning there would be no need to alter the contour lines on the map.

Isaac went about his job in a very professional way. He didn't cut corners in his inspections, recording 2 naturally formed ice caves on one side of the area and regular woodland everywhere else.

He even wrote that there were no obvious anomalies with temperature, weather, humidity or other factors. Of course, he didn't have the equipment to do exact measurements for these things, but he had to include his observations in an official mission report.

Many missions, such as his first one, only required an item to be delivered or evidence of a service being completed. However, most information-gathering missions needed a mission report.

Something Isaac had already noticed was that his 1st mission was too easy. Yes, that had been partially due to his ingenuity and ability to avoid trouble. But it also had unusually good rewards considering how short and straightforward it was. He suspected that the initial quests on the board had been easy, letting the new disciples experience an easy mission before they started to do harder work.

That was why he was already looking for alternative incomes to missions. Just the low rewards for solo missions would not be enough to fuel his cultivation, especially since he was a 3rd class talent. That was why he was elated to hear the alchemist's offer for animal parts. In fact, he was here hoping there were wolves to hunt.

However, he hadn't spotted any yet after exploring two thirds of the area. Darkness was falling once again and he decided to curtail his work for today.

Since there was still the possibility of wolves living here, Isaac retreated to a spot further away and decided to sleep there. Even if wolves couldn't climb trees, he'd rather not wake up to find his tree surrounded by them or, even worse, fall out of his tree.

His prudence ensured he spent a peaceful night and woke safely the next day. After walking back to the only unmapped area, he continued as he had done the day before. He diligently observed, noted, and even began writing a draft of his mission report on the inside of a hemp bag.

It must've been around midday when he started noticing fresh scratch marks and scent markings on trees. These were signs from new residents saying 'This is wolf country now, get out!'

Obviously, Isaac wasn't perturbed. How could the animal he was targeting scare him away?! He was extremely glad to see these markings, since he hadn't made this trip just for a small mission reward.

However, the mission still took priority for now, since failing it would have consequences. Isaac noted the presence of wolves on the map, then moved on to a different area, avoiding the wolves for now. He gave the wolves' territory a wide berth and spent an hour exploring the rest of the unmapped area.

After making some notes on his map, Isaac was satisfied with his work. He'd nearly finished the mission, so he returned to the spot where he'd seen signs of wolves. He acted cautiously, first circling the edges of the territory and occasionally pausing to add to his map when he was sure he was safe.

Then he began moving further inside the territory. He started adding to his map less frequently and checking his surroundings even more carefully before doing so. He was the very picture of caution and precision, never acting without being sure of both safety and success. Of course, his caution paid off.

He reached the middle of the wolf territory without mishap, simultaneously spotting his target and completing his map. 12 wolves were lounging in the middle of the woods. Most were sleeping or relaxing, and none of them were on guard; they must've believed they were untouchable in their own territory. Well, Isaac was about to shatter that belief.