“I know most of what I can tell you, but my strength is too weak, so I haven’t had access to the higher-ups,” Jackey said apologetically.
“That’s enough. What you’ve told me is already very helpful,” John replied gratefully.
From the village chief, John had learned that this continent was vast, with seven territories, each ruled by one of the Seven Great Kings.
The exact strength of these kings was unknown to the old village chief, but all of them were able to wield The Power of Laws.
Even the soldiers of the seven royal cities and the guards of the towns were capable of wielding The Power of Laws.
“First stop, Forest City!” John looked down at the crude map in his hands, one drawn from the old village chief’s descriptions.
Forest City was located in a dense, primeval jungle, and its lord, the King of the Forest, was brutal and vicious. His expertise lay in absolute physical strength, and those who had fought him before had all been slain in a single blow, without him even using The Power of Laws.
The reason John chose this place was simple: it was the closest to him.
“John, are you sure you want to leave?” The old village chief asked, his gaze heavy, wanting to convince him to stay.
It wasn’t just for the sake of the village, but also for his granddaughter.
John nodded, speaking with conviction. “Village chief, all good things must come to an end. Once I find the people I’m looking for, I’ll come back to visit. The crystal cores I left behind, both you and Spoorate can use them. Refining them will help you both protect yourselves here.”
“Sigh… Alright. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for you to head to the town and get your official identity,” Jackey said with a heavy heart, before falling silent.
Neither of them noticed, however, that Spoorate had been hiding by the window, listening to everything.
…
The night was deep and quiet.
The village gradually fell silent, and the surroundings were pitch dark.
Howl!
Suddenly, the quiet night was pierced by the haunting sound of wolves howling.
Outside the forest, a cavalry force of more than thirty men appeared, mounted on fierce demon wolves.
The leader, a man wielding a massive machete, had a hideous scar running diagonally across his face, almost splitting it in half. He looked vicious and brutal.
He licked his lips, narrowed his eyes slightly, and looked toward the village in the distance. “Cena, is this the place?”
One man crawled over quickly, his face full of flattery. It was Cena, who had run away from Apricot Village.
He nodded eagerly and said respectfully, “Yes, my lord. This is the place. But there’s a problem… the human here is quite powerful. These ferocious demon wolves were no match for him. He even tore them apart with his bare hands…”
Cena glanced at the demon wolves under the leader’s command, their eyes gleaming with malice. He involuntarily stepped back, swallowing hard.
The brutal scene of John slaughtering the demon wolves still haunted his mind.
“Hmph, what’s the big deal?” The scar-faced man sneered. “These weak demon wolves are nothing. I can deal with them just as easily.”
“Yes, yes, of course,” Cena quickly agreed, eager to stay in the man’s good graces.
He had seen the terrifying strength of the scar-faced man firsthand, and with over thirty of them here, their combined strength was no less than that of the human John.
“Lord, could you leave that human to me?” Cena thought of the humiliation he had suffered, and he longed to dismember John piece by piece.
“Fine,” the scarred man replied, his voice cold as he brandished his massive blade. “But if you’re lying to me, and they don’t have this many crystal cores, I won’t let you off.”
Cena swallowed hard and quickly reassured him, “My lord, when I left, that guy killed over two hundred ferocious demon wolves. They’ve definitely been busy these past few days. The number I’m giving you is only going to be more, not less.”
Cena knew the old village chief well. He wouldn’t casually refine the crystal cores; he’d have been saving them up for the upcoming months to offer as tribute.
“Make sure you leave none behind!” The scarred man barked the command, and immediately he urged his ferocious demon wolves forward, charging straight toward the village.
Howl…
The wolf howls echoed through the night.
Many of the villagers were awakened by the noise, but they didn’t think much of it. Ferocious demon wolves were known to roam the forest at night, but they rarely left the woods, let
alone attacked villages.
However, this time the howling seemed to be getting closer. It sounded as if it were coming straight for their village.
Inside his straw hut, John sensed something was wrong.
“Enemies!” he shouted, quickly throwing on his cloak and rushing out of the hut.
Jackey, on the other side of the village, was also disturbed by the noise.
Whoosh!
A fire arrow shot through the air and immediately set one of the straw huts ablaze.
John saw clearly now that the attackers were a group of cavalrymen riding ferocious demon wolves.
“Magical Wolf Thugs!” Jackey shouted in horror, his face paling as he immediately rang the alarm bell.
Puff!
Blood splattered everywhere as one man was caught off guard and swiftly cleaved in two by a merciless strike.
These thugs were like demons, storming the village, burning, killing, and looting.
Many were slain in their sleep.
The villagers, terrified, scattered in all directions. Screams and cries for mercy echoed
through the night as they were no match for the attackers.
The old village chief took out a longsword and shook Spoorate awake. “John, please look after
Spoorate. I’ll buy you some time, you need to run.”
John furrowed his brows and said calmly, “I can handle this.”
Several villagers had always treated him kindly, and he had decided to take action.
“Village chief, may I borrow your sword?” John asked, and before the old man could respond, the longsword was already in his hand.
Buzz!
A hum of sword intent rang out as the blade glinted with cold light. One of the thugs, along with his mount, was sliced in half in a single strike.
The old village chief wielded an Adamantine Sword, which was enough for him to fight with
full strength.
He flashed into the wolf pack, his blade flashing coldly as he ruthlessly slaughtered.
In just one clash, more than a dozen men were instantly slain by his sword.
“My lord, that’s John!” Cena pointed at John, his voice trembling, unable to stop himself from
taking a step back.
“Hmph, he has some skill. But that’s all!” The scarred man sneered, shouting angrily as he urged his ferocious demon wolves forward. His long knife howled through the air, aiming
straight at John.
Buzz!
The cold gleam of the blade flashed, and John’s figure passed by him in a blur.
Boom!
A deafening crash sounded behind him, and the scarred man tumbled to the ground, along with his ferocious demon wolves, rolling in a pool of blood that stained the surrounding
earth.
The scarred man, along with his mount, had been cleaved in two with a single strike.
The surrounding area fell into complete silence.
The thugs, along with the villagers, stared in disbelief at what had just happened.
“Bastard Cena, you lied to us!” One of the thugs shouted in rage, charging directly at the
stunned Cena.
John’s strength was far beyond what Cena had claimed. With one sword strike, he had killed
the scarred man- at least the strength of a first-tier Awakener was needed for that.
“Th-That’s impossible…” Cena stood frozen, hastily trying to explain.
He had witnessed John struggling to fight the high-level ferocious beasts like Saber-toothed
Tigers just days ago.
How could his power have grown so terrifying in such a short amount of time?
Splash!
Blood sprayed into the air, and before Cena could even speak, he was instantly cut down by
the angry thug.
“Run!” The remaining dozen or so thugs, already terrified by John’s overwhelming strength,
scrambled to flee.
“Hmph, do you think you can escape?” John coldly remarked, his form flashing like Bonnie’s,
quickly catching up to one of the ferocious demon wolves.
The cold gleam of his sword flickered again, and another thug was cleaved in two.
These thugs were nothing more than prey in front of him.
Screams echoed as John slaughtered the thirty or so thugs and their ferocious demon wolves,
leaving none behind.
The villagers watched in stunned silence.
Those who had mocked him before were now shaking in fear, their bodies trembling.
In this world, strength held absolute power. If John decided to kill them, even the most
powerful would be powerless to stop it.
But he didn’t even care about these people.
After finishing off the last of the thugs, John returned to the village and handed the longsword
back to Jackey. “Village Chief, these people likely have quite a few crystal cores on them. You
should have someone clean up.”
By killing these thugs, John’s Plunder ability had activated, restoring quite a bit of his
attributes.
As for the spoils from these people, he wasn’t interested at all.
Jackey instinctively took the longsword, swallowing hard in shock. “John… did you… have you
already mastered The power of laws?”
“No, I haven’t,” John replied casually. “I’ve just recovered some basic attributes. Dealing
with these thugs was nothing.”
Basic attributes?
Jackey was even more stunned. The power John had just displayed was no weaker than that of
a first-tier Awakener. How high must his basic attributes be?
He looked at John deeply but didn’t ask any more questions. Instead, he instructed the dazed
villagers to clean up the battlefield.
The thug attack had resulted in significant casualties, and even two of the hunters had died.
“Damn Cena, he actually colluded with the demon wolf thugs to harm us!” One of the
villagers spat angrily on Cena’s corpse.
“Thankfully, Lord John was here, or we’d all be dead,” several others remarked, their eyes now filled with admiration and awe as they looked at John.
The villagers finished cleaning up the battlefield, but sleep had long left their minds. They
were all submerged in grief.
But it wasn’t all without gain.
From the bodies of the thugs, they found over five hundred crystal cores, most of which were
mid-tier or low-tier.
Adding to the haul from the beasts John had hunted in recent days, they would no longer have
to worry about tribute supplies for the next few years.
“Big brother, will you take me with you when you leave?” The little girl, Spoorate, once again
clung to John, her eyes full of admiration as she pleaded.
“No, it’s too dangerous.” He refused decisively. Although he liked the little girl, the outside world was fraught with unknown dangers, far
beyond the weak beasts they had encountered so far. His strength was only enough to barely protect himself, let alone ensure her safety.
“Why not?” The little girl pouted, looking displeased.
“Spoorate, stop being troublesome,” Jackey approached and gave her a disapproving look.
“Hmph!” Spoorate huffed and ran back to her room.
The old village chief sighed helplessly as he watched her retreating figure, then shifted the
topic. “John, after this incident, no one is in the mood to sleep anymore. We’ve decided to head out to Peach Town now to deliver the tribute.”
“Alright,” John nodded in agreement.
Although it was still dim outside, with him around, they didn’t need to worry about beast
attacks.
Soon, the preparations were complete.
In addition to the 100 low-tier crystal cores they needed to hand over, there were also some
materials from the beasts.
These could be exchanged for weapons, armor, and other items.
The world’s circulating currencies were beast crystal cores, spirit beast cores, and
magical beast cores.
However, crystal cores had to be handed over as tribute; they couldn’t be used for trade, only
for bartering.
Under the cover of night, a caravan set off.
Apart from John and the old village chief, there were three hunters.
The remaining villagers stayed behind to protect the village.
At the village entrance, Spoorate, noticing the others’ distraction, quietly slipped out of the
village and followed them stealthily.