Alan simply struck the stone with a casual punch, accompanied by a loud bang that instantly shattered the boulder into countless fragments flying in all directions.
After entering, the two of them were surprised to find a severely injured mage hidden behind the stone.
The mage was as pale as paper, with his eyes tightly closed and a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. Judging from his weak breathing and injuries all over his body, if he did not receive prompt and effective medical treatment, he would likely perish before long.
Alan stepped forward to carefully examine the surrounding environment and the mage's attire.
Various items were scattered all around, which seemed to belong to this mage, and on his clothes was embroidered an emblem Alan had never seen before.
After a brief moment of thought, Alan ultimately decided to rescue the mage. He immediately walked over to the mage's side and cast healing magic, while Laxus stood by and provided auxiliary light electric shocks.
With their concerted efforts, it was not long before the previously unconscious mage suddenly coughed violently and then slowly opened his eyes.
He looked around in a daze, his eyes filled with confusion and fear. When his gaze fell upon Alan and Laxus, his body involuntarily shrank back a little, clearly feeling quite terrified of these two strangers.
However, when he noticed that the pain in his body had visibly eased and could feel a warm force continuously pouring into him, he finally understood that the two people in front of him had saved him. Coughing, he tried to struggle and sit up. Seeing this, Alan hurriedly stepped forward, reached out to support him, and said softly, "Don't rush, take your time."
The mage gave Alan a grateful look, then, with Alan's help, managed to sit up straight with difficulty. He panted heavily, catching his breath for quite a while before finally recovering slightly.
The mage introduced himself to the two of them: "Cough, cough... Nice to meet you! My name is Harry Calvin, and I am a mage belonging to 'Sylvian Fox'. Our guild is located at the foot of Mount Hakobane on the other side." At this point, Harry paused briefly, a solemn look crossing his face as he continued, "A few days ago, just like usual, I entered Mount Hakobane alone simply to gather some precious magical herbs. However, I inadvertently caught sight of a group of people acting suspiciously. They were all draped in black cloaks, sneaking around among the mountains. Strong curiosity drove me to quietly follow them, wanting to find out what the purpose of these mysterious individuals was."
Taking a deep breath, as if still lingering with fear upon recalling the tense scene back then, Harry continued his account: "Unfortunately, I was careless for a moment and didn't realize that I had already fallen into a trap meticulously laid by the other party. In just an instant, numerous dark figures emerged from all around and surrounded me tightly. Although their strength wasn't particularly formidable, outnumbered as I was, I tried my absolute best just to barely escape from their hands. Even so, I ended up severely injured. If it weren't for the fortune of meeting the two of you and your righteous assistance today, I'm afraid my life would have been left right here before long. This lifesaving grace is something I, Harry Calvin, will surely never forget!"
Hearing Harry's account, Alan couldn't help feeling secretly relieved. He had never imagined that the message uttered by this seemingly ordinary mage would contain such a massive amount of information. Thanks to knowing in advance about the existence of such a group of mysterious figures, otherwise, if they had encountered them abruptly without any preparation, who knew what unexpected situations might have been triggered? But now, Alan had a clear idea in mind.
Following that, Alan pointed at himself, then pointed at Laxus standing straight beside him, and said to Harry, "My name is Alan, and he is Laxus. We are mages from Fairy Tail. We came here this time to cross Mount Hakobane, and now fortunately we got this news from you, otherwise if we ran into them without any preparation, we might not have gotten the better end of it."
Upon hearing this, Harry hurriedly waved his hand at Alan and responded politely, "Don't say that. If you hadn't stepped in to save me, this little life of mine might have been given up here long ago, and I wouldn't have had the chance to provide you with any information at all. So you see, it's fortunate that you saved me, which is why you came to know about this news. But having said that, since you've made up your minds to cross Mount Hakobane, you indeed need to be extra cautious regarding that group of people. To tell you the truth, I still have no idea whether there are even stronger figures among them, or why they suddenly appeared here. Therefore, you must be extremely careful from now on."
Alan nodded and replied with a solemn expression, "Don't worry, Harry, we'll be prepared. If worse comes to worst, we can just avoid them, right?" With these words spoken, the two sides smiled at each other, and the atmosphere instantly became relaxed and harmonious.
Thus, after a brief exchange and mutual understanding, to take care of Harry as a patient, Alan decided to spend the night in this cave first and set out to check the situation tomorrow.
After Harry fell asleep at night, Laxus quietly walked over to Alan's side and asked softly, "Big brother, what do you think of what this Harry said?"
Alan had been thinking about what Harry said all this time. Hearing Laxus's question, he replied softly, "It doesn't matter what he said; what matters is that we now know there is such a group of people in Mount Hakobane, so we'll know the specific situation once we go out to check tomorrow."
Laxus nodded slightly, then quietly returned to his resting place.
......
Nighttime always passes in the blink of an eye. Just gently closing one's eyes and opening them again, the horizon was already tinged with the white of dawn.
When Harry slowly awoke from his sleep, he blinked dazedly, adapting to the soft light of morning. As his vision gradually cleared, he was surprised to find Alan and Laxus busy preparing breakfast not far away.
The enticing aroma of food drifted from the pot, filling the air and making one's mouth water.
Noticing that Harry had woken up, Alan turned his head with a smile and warmly called out, "You woke up at a really good time. Our meal is about to be ready, come join us."
Hearing this, Harry couldn't help laughing along and replied, "Haha, then I won't stand on ceremony!"
After a sound sleep through the night, Harry felt his physical condition had significantly improved. Although he still found it somewhat difficult to get up, at least he was now able to slowly stand up using his own strength. Although his movements were slightly sluggish, compared to his previous weakness and feebleness, this was already a very good situation.
After a simple wash, Harry walked unsteadily to sit by the campfire. The three of them sat around together, happily enjoying this delicious breakfast. During the meal, the atmosphere was relaxed and harmonious, and the occasional bursts of laughter made this morning full of vitality and energy.
Once fully fed and satisfied, Alan put down the tableware in his hand, turned his gaze to Harry, and asked with concern, "Harry, since your health has recovered somewhat, what are your plans for next?"