Hal didn't react much except for slight astonishment after discovering that the crazy driver was an S-ranked wizard and he had such a menacing nickname.

"The Scourgebringer" definitely sounds terrifying and even a bit ominous, just like the bastard's driving skills.

Meanwhile, the eyes of the adventurers from the Imperial Wizard Guild widened. Their reactions were certainly much more intense:

"T-The Scourgebringer?! That Scourgebringer!?" exclaimed one of the A-ranked young men who had been trying to challenge Hal.

"Hahaha! Who knew I'd be among the lucky ones to see the Scourgebringer's true face."

"Damn it, so the Scourgebringer is younger than me? Am I really just your average Joe?"

"Well, your name is indeed Joe, but you're not average. Let's just say you're Above Average Joe."

The enthusiasm of the high-ranked adventurers went on for a while, and Isolde allowed them, as morale and team chemistry would make their journey smoother.

As they did, the headmistress walked over to her disciple:

"Hal," she called, "Conserve your mana and don't help the adventurers unless absolutely necessary. Save it for the temple."

Hal was naturally a bit disappointed, as he wanted to test his current prowess.

What else could he do except respect his master's instructions?

Soon, the adventurers settled down, and the group entered the Great Carralis Canyonlands.

The landscape was both impressive and horrifying.

It seemed as though they were participating in a game designed by the gods where they had to navigate their way through the dry and rocky maze teeming with horrifying beasts and monsters to win.

It also quickly became clear to Hal why the location was classified as a Death Zone.

Just ten minutes in, they were already surrounded by more than seventy B-ranked Rock Vultures, though the bald winged beasts seemed reluctant to attack.

Vultures were mostly scavengers, after all.

Perhaps this flock was simply waiting for a chance to swoop in and steal a few bodies.

However, Hal was certain that if their group had been smaller, the accursed avians would've attacked.

Their presence was a bit unsettling, but Hal eventually got used to them.

Fifteen more minutes later, their small yet terrifying force encountered their first real challenge: a pride of Canyon Lions.

Their males—including their S-ranked Alpha—had short and rather unremarkable gray and black manes, but only a fool would not be wary of their horrifyingly muscular arms and their sizes that averaged two meters tall on fours and five meters long.

A single clean swipe from their unusually long claws, which the beasts normally used to scale the steep and rocky canyon walls, would most likely result in instant death.

There were around sixteen of them.

Some were latched on the canyon walls like geckos, while the majority were walking towards the escort force, growling menacingly.

However, numerous and fierce as the beasts were, the wizards of the Imperial Wizard Guild were no pushovers, either.

They weren't half-fazed by the approaching beast pride.

"Into positions," calmly instructed Raiz, the only female S-ranked wizard among the five.

Fighting such mighty beasts wasn't new to her, and while some of the escort force's members were on the younger side, they were eager and extremely confident.

The beast pride was in for a rather nasty skirmish.

Hal wanted to join the battle, but he hoped he didn't have to, as that would mean that the escort force was already failing before even an hour had passed.

Human and beastly eyes locked for a few seconds before finally, the battle began.

The S-ranked Alpha Canyon Lion roared to the gray skies, calling upon a thunderstorm as it descended from a crag, leading its pride to attack the Escort Force.

The beast pride rushed, some directly leaping down from canyon walls.

The S-ranked wizards, however, merely sneered at the approaching Canyon Lions.

Two of them worked together to catch and restrict the Alpha mid-pounce, entombing it in ice before a dark, elastic veil covered it and locked it tightly in place.

The Glacial Tomb was only beginning to crack when, suddenly, Wind and Thunder converged in its location, detonating in a blast of pure devastation and sending glacial shards flying everywhere.

White smoke billowed after the explosion.

It was unclear whether the Alpha Canyon Lion survived the coordinated attacks of the S-ranked Wizards, but this didn't affect the skirmish.

The fifteen members of the beast pride were also rushing at the members of the Escort Force.

However, their attacks were dodged by a variety of defensive and offensive spells.

Some evaded the attacks using elemental step spells, others with Blink, while a few summoned thick earthen and glacial barriers, easily thwarting the opening assault of the beast pride.

In the next moment, the Escort Force fired back, the younger wizards yelling and screeching in arrogance and triumph as they bombarded the Canyon Lions and Lionesses with elemental spells, focusing on a few to whittle down their numbers.

The beast pride was eventually wiped out.

The Alpha Canyon Lion was able to tank an absurd amount of damage from the S-rankers, but ultimately, it went down.

It was a decisive victory for the Escort Force.

The Rock Vultures squawked in utter glee, delighted at the results of the chaos and carnage.

It didn't matter to them which side emerged victorious.

As long as there were corpses for them to consume, they would be happy.

Soon, the battle concluded.

"Butcher the corpses. Take the hide, fangs, and claws, but leave the meat for the vultures," commanded Raiz.

They didn't want the accursed avians making trouble for them later.

It was better to shake the annoying bastards off now, lest they join with another flock later.

The plan worked, and soon, Hal and the escort force continued their journey to cross the perilous canyonlands.

Unfortunately, the subsequent minutes weren't too peaceful for Hal.

"Hahahaha, did you see what I did earlier, brother Tas? I bet a certain someone here would've been a burden in that battle."

"Hahahaha, and who could that someone be?"

"I don't know…you tell me."

"Hahahaha."

"Hahahahaha!"

The provocations of the youngsters from the Imperial Wizard Guild were only getting worse, and Hal was truly beginning to lose his patience, especially when the bastards began insulting Loki, indirectly calling him the most useless beast companion they've ever seen.

Isolde could only sigh.