Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

"Sir, we found forty-three mana stones in total!" Pavrien reported as soon as the group finally started to move again. 

"Great. What about other resources? Something valuable or useful enough to get my attention?" Layn asked, nodding his head to the man in gratitude. 

Even though the reunion between Irea's group and the people that Layn brought was limited to a short hug between Layn and Irea, the archmage still felt grateful to all the people that loyally followed him.

Even if following him was performed by following Irea, who apparently instantly claimed the spot of Layn's regent while he was away. 

"So you *** Layn, huh?" the burly man spoke up, instantly forcing the archmage to pay him some attention. 

'So this is the guy,' Layn thought as he scanned the massive man with his eyes. "Sir, it's an honor to meet you, but I don't think we have time for discussion now," he added, hoping that with the help of his translation spell, the man would understand enough bits to figure out the meaning of what Layn said. 

"He wants to put your discussion for later. We are not safe, so let's not be sorry, is what he meant," Irea stepped up and offered a helping hand. For some reason, it appeared as if she had an easier time ignoring the translation mistakes than the man did. 

'Do they use different languages?' Layn thought, trying to make the best use of the little time he currently had. 'Well, if he is really THE General, it would be rather normal,' he concluded before focusing his attention back on his surroundings. 

Because despite the massive victory back by the cave, Layn's now reinforced group was still deep in the bowels of the area controlled by another overlord. 

"Three to the left," Layn shouted when he detected a hostile presence. He turned his head around to take a tally of their situation. "Antion, you are up!" Layn ordered.

The former prefect didn't hesitate to prove his usefulness. As soon as he heard his name, he angled his path.

'What a smart fucker,' Layn thought while observing the man's movements. 

Given how they were already jogging, if Antion were to come to a complete stop before rushing towards the enemy, he would lose a lot of momentum and end up left behind by the group. 

Something that would easily prove lethal so deep behind the enemy lines. 

Rather than stopping, Antion continued to run. He even made sure not to enter anyone else's path, something that could likely prove to be disastrous. 

With all those limitations and problems, Antion took the smoothest way out. 

The group continued to run, not bothered by one of them lagging behind a bit. In the end, before Layn could even get worried about the man, the presence of the hostility disappeared, and Antion returned to the formation with a proud smile on his face. 

'I guess I will need to reward him later on,' he thought as he shook his head before looking ahead once again. 

Soon, Layn's senses tingled again. 

"Al, could you?" he turned his head to face the massive man only to see him open his mouth in a wide smile.

Contrary to Antion, Al didn't bother with all the delicacies of the formation. Or at least, he didn't appear to mind the consequences of his actions at all. 

"To the right!" Layn managed to shout in the last moment when he saw Al turning to the wrong side. 

"Thanks!" Al shouted back before jumping gently and burying his feet into the ground. 

Given all the spoils, stones, and supplies Layn's group was carrying, not to speak about the two injured mercenaries that had to be carried as well, Layn's group was pretty slow. Thanks to that, Al didn't need to lose a lot of his momentum. 

And the man was perfectly aware of that fact. As soon as he managed to find his balance on his new footing, Al jumped right in the direction where Layn could feel some monsters trying to chase them. 

The last thing the archmage saw before the man disappeared into the thick bushes was the glint of the sun reflected from the perfectly polished blade of the man's ax. 

"We should be getting close to the plain," Irea tapped Layn's shoulder before giving him a heads-up. 

"Great." Layn nodded his head with gratitude. With his mind fully focused on searching for the enemies, he couldn't pay any attention to how far they had to keep running before they would reach a safe area. 

"Don't be fooled like that!" Sitra shouted when she noticed the small conversation that happened between the archmage and his girlfriend. "The influence of the Overlord stretches for several miles further than does the forest!" she cried out, desperate to pass the message to Layn. 

"So the local overlord is a tricky one, huh?" Layn muttered under his nose as he glanced to the side. Right as he did so, Al suddenly cut through the bushes with several bloody stains all over his body. Yet, the wicked smile on his lips was more than enough for Layn to ascertain that the man was actually alright. 

'Given everything we saw so far, the local overlord might be actually far harder to deal with than the one I clashed with,' Layn thought as he continued to analyze the entire situation. 

From how the monsters were shaped, one could assume that there was a certain will behind them. It didn't matter whether it was a human turned rouge, some mad sorcerer, or just a monster or animal that gained proper sentience. 

What was the most important part about the local overlord acting the way it did, was that Layn's approach to conquering this place would have to be entirely different from how he dealt with the last Overlord of Origin. 

"ROAR!" A loud scream sounded in the distance, announcing that some kind of powerful monster was on its way here. Just by judging the volume of the outcry, Layn felt a shudder travel down his spine. 

'It seems like our local lord doesn't steer fully clear away from the big ones, huh?' Tom thought, directing his head towards the source of the sound. 

And sure enough, he could see an entire portion of the forest shaking and fanning, indicating that something massive was making its way through the forested area. 

"WE ARE OUT!" Irea shouted as soon as they passed by the last line of the trees. Now that they were on the massive plain, their speed would skyrocket. 

But so would the speed of all the monsters chasing them. 

"Everyone! Bring the goods and injured forward. I, Al, Irea, and Antion will stay behind and hold the monsters!" Layn suddenly announced when an idea popped up in his head. 

Right now, they were chased by an entire army of monsters. Yet, due to the natural limitations that some of those animals and some of those monsters had, they were unlikely to appear unified or even cohesive. 

Some monsters lagged behind because of their weaker mobility. Other monsters did the opposite, making full use of their agility to get to the front of the outstretched line of monsters. 

And then there were the massive behemoths, the powerful monsters that could make an entire forest shake. Those didn't care about stepping on their allies at all, slowly making their way towards Layn's group. 

Right now, in the open plain, there was no reason at all for Layn and his group to keep running. 

A mere moment later, their unified group split into two. Layn could see an angry glance of Sitra as she ran along with the rest of her party, clearly unsatisfied by being cut away from the fun that was about to start. 

'I'm sorry, but someone needs to protect the wounded,' Layn thought as he nodded his head to the back to the girl. Then, he moved his face back towards the forest, just as the first monsters and frenzied animals started to appear from behind the woods. 

"Everyone! For each monster killed, we take a single step back. We want to keep killing them and escaping at the same time so that we will learn at what point they will give up!" Layn shouted a set of orders, already crafting another scheme in his head. 

'If we learn the limits of the patience of the overlord, we might be able to keep attacking this place.' Layn thought. He already saw loads of meat and fresh fruits or herbs they could have at the camp with the eyes of his imagination. And he could turn this dream into reality, as long as he ensured that this forest would remain open for them to exploit it!

"Prepare..." Layn ordered in a low voice while constructing a set of simple spells himself. While on the run, he made sure to turn a few magic stones from the battle at the cave into dust before covering his skin with it. 

Although it wouldn't work as well as when the dust would be diligently dispersed into another medium, it was still better than nothing. 

"FOR SLAUGHTER!" Layn suddenly shouted as he released a whole plethora of different spells, all aimed at both killing and confusing the enemy at the same time. 

For others, the wave of monsters rushing at them with clearly bloody intent would be a reason for fear and terror. But for some reason, no matter how much Layn tried, he could only see the approaching monsters as an even greater source of magic stones he could use to regain his power!

For him, those monsters were just delivering their core-stones to his hands!