You said you'd ensure my safety as long as we didn't encounter anything, but if I had known you'd say that, I would've put on my armor before leaving! Now I'm not even wearing leather armor!
It's fine, it's fine, don't panic. We're still just at the edge; there's still time to leave.
Roar!!!
Ellen's retreat was interrupted by a roar.
"Sir, hurry and leave! That sound is an adult Riot Bear; I'll cover your retreat." Knight Commander Hartefilia's voice was filled with urgency.
Then, he leaned forward, ready to charge and cover Ellen's retreat. He truly hadn't expected to encounter a High-level Magical Beast right after giving his assurance.
Ellen's initial emotions were cut off by Knight Commander Hartefilia's mention of a Riot Bear.
Ellen calmly said, "No, that roar was low and warning. The Riot Bear has been enraged."
"Yes, Sir, it's enraged, we should leave quickly!" Knight Commander Hartefilia's voice grew even more anxious.
Ellen ignored him, his voice instead filled with excitement: "The snow hasn't melted yet this season, and Riot Bears have a habit of hibernating. Perhaps it just woke up and discovered an intruder; or maybe it was directly woken up by an intruder."
After all, as a transmigrator, how could he not believe he was the protagonist?
The first day he read a book, he learned that Riot Bears love to steal magic stones everywhere and prefer to hide them in their lairs.
The next day, he saw a Riot Bear. And it was this classic '鷸蚌相爭' (the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits) scenario. Who could resist being the fisherman?
Taking a deep breath, Ellen ordered, "The four of you, first go notify the townspeople to prepare for evacuation, then quickly go find the Earl and have him fly here on Naz for rescue."
As soon as he finished speaking, Ellen froze. His father had gone to the Grand Duke's, so he might not be in the territory, and it would be too far for his Knight Order to rush over.
Knight Commander Hartefilia also thought of this situation and added, "Viscount William's fiefdom is not far from ours. He is a follower of the Earl, and with your status, you can ask him to come for support."
Ellen nodded and said to the Attendant Knight, "You heard Knight Commander Hartefilia; go quickly and do it."
Ellen waved his hand directly, then shifted his gaze from the Attendant Knight to Knight Commander Hartefilia, "Let's covertly observe the situation first."
"Sir, this is too risky. I can't guarantee your safety under a High-level Magical Beast's attack," Knight Commander Hartefilia said with concern.
"Tsk, that's why I said 'covertly'. Besides, didn't you follow me precisely because you valued my courage to act against Dragon Beasts? What's there to be afraid of with just a High-level Magical Beast?"
Knight Commander Hartefilia took a deep breath. He hadn't expected Ellen to use his own words against him, but he couldn't find any words to refute him.
As he hesitated, his heart still seemed to be wavering.
Ellen added, "This is the Lord's command."
Knight Commander Hartefilia exhaled, but could only reply, "Yes."
Then, the two quietly rode their horses into the forest.
Deep in the forest, a Riot Bear was confronting a pack of Spotted Hyenas.
The leader of the Spotted Hyena pack was a Phantom Beast, but the Riot Bear gave off a stronger presence. Its strength should have reached a second evolution, and with full energy, it could attempt to challenge a Dragon Beast.
Not far from where they were confronting each other, two heads peeked out from a small, leeward hill.
"Sir, we've observed that the Riot Bear is a Second Awakening Phantom Beast; the Spotted Hyena pack has one Phantom Beast, four Mid-level Magical Beasts, and the rest are all ordinary Magical Beasts. The intelligence has been gathered; shouldn't we retreat now?" Knight Commander Hartefilia said softly.
"They haven't started fighting yet, and their strength is that of a Phantom Beast. What if they turn around and attack the town? What should we do then?" Ellen quietly replied.
"This..." Knight Commander Hartefilia fell into a dilemma.
"Right? We need to nip the danger in the bud," Ellen coaxed, "I have a method: you secretly circle behind the hyena pack, shoot an arrow at the Riot Bear, and make them fight."
Knight Commander Hartefilia stared wide-eyed at Ellen: "This... Sir, your idea is truly too dangerous."
"Are you scared?" Ellen's tone contained a hint of temptation and provocation.
Knight Commander Hartefilia took a deep breath: "If we don't deal with this Phantom Beast, it will indeed cause a greater impact. Your subordinate will go and do it now."
After saying this, Knight Commander Hartefilia crawled backwards and descended.
Ellen had a slight smile on his lips and did not continue to observe the battlefield situation. Instead, he searched everywhere for the Riot Bear's den.
Finally, at the base of a tree, he saw an entrance mostly covered by branches and leaves.
After finding the entrance, he shifted his gaze back to the battlefield.
The Riot Bear was still growling low, while the Spotted Hyenas seemed to be retreating slowly, showing signs of wanting to back off.
Just then, an arrow whistled and shot into the Riot Bear's low-growling mouth.
The Riot Bear roared in pain after being hit by an arrow, its head twisting wildly, causing its body to stand up as well.
Seeing that it couldn't shake it out, it had to put its two front paws together and pull the arrow out.
The arrow was thrown to the ground, and the Riot Bear let out an angry roar towards the Spotted Hyenas, charging forward fiercely.
Knight Commander Hartefilia had secretly snuck back by then and whispered, "Sir, it's a success."
Ellen didn't reply, just waved his hand, signaling him to follow.
Once they reached the cave entrance, Ellen said to Knight Commander Hartefilia, "You keep watch here. If the Riot Bear returns, make some noise to alert me, and then stall it for a bit."
Without waiting for Knight Commander Hartefilia's reply, he immediately went down.
The cave was about 1.5 meters high, and after walking for a short while, it became too dark to see clearly.
Ellen took out a small bag he carried with him, pulled out a small magic crystal from it, and used his fighting qi to activate the magic within, making the crystal glow.
He continued walking forward, so nervous that he didn't know how long he had been walking. The cave continued downwards; the Riot Bear seemed to have dug very deep.
Just as he was thinking about whether to turn back, he saw a faint glimmer of light ahead.
It was somewhat similar to the process described in "The Peach Blossom Spring."
At first, it was very narrow, just wide enough for a bear. After walking several dozen more steps, it suddenly opened up.
Ellen entered a relatively spacious area and immediately saw stones emitting colorful light, all the size of ping-pong balls, piled into a circular nest.
They were all naturally formed gems. These gems were different from those produced by dragons and could not be inlaid to make gem weapons.
However, they could be ground into powder and added to magic potions to help with fighting qi sublimation.
Compared to gems produced by dragons, their price was equally high.
"Ho, I'm rich." Ellen didn't waste any more words. He stuck the glowing crystal he was holding into the ground, opened his small bag, and frantically started stuffing stones into it.
After filling the small bag, he found that it only held less than a quarter of the bear's nest.
He could only take off his clothes, tie up the two bottom corners of his shirt, and then continue filling it from the collar.
As he was filling it, he suddenly felt that one of the stones in his hand was off; it wasn't absorbing the surrounding magic.
He placed it next to the glowing crystal and took a closer look.
"My (sheep-eating)! How is it an unstable magic stone?" Ellen swore directly.