Alaric was strong. Very strong.
That is, for a squire.
With countless treasures poured into his physical foundation, now coupled with minor mastery of throwing knives, even monstrous geniuses like Evan could only eat defeat.
He was practically at the peak of the Squire realm. The only thing standing between him and the Knight rank was the formation of mana channels.
However, that’s where the original young lord had remained stuck all this while.
Alaric had tried the breathing technique back in his study, and his talent was similarly crap.
Blood was no longer of any use to him. Forming mana channels could only be achieved through the breathing technique with exception of a few rare treasures which House Orlen could unfortunately not procure.
Alaric controlled himself from putting all twenty one talent points into the body path power system to increase his talent and glanced at Alice.
"Stay in the inn of a nearby town. I’ll be going in alone."
Alice couldn’t care less that he was going in alone. She had fulfilled her part of informing him of the danger to his life.
She nodded and drove the carriage away towards the nearby town.
Alaric watched her go before entering the forest. He of course wouldn’t expose his throwing knife mastery in front of her, so he had to send her away.
Anyway, she had signed the Divine Contract Scroll forbidding her from speaking of matters discussed between them, so he wasn’t worried about his secrets being exposed.
There were no methods of bypassing the Divine Contract Scroll in the tiny town near the Moliken Forest.
Even under bright daylight, as soon as he entered the forest, the dense canopy of trees immediately plunged the area into darkness.
He could only imagine how much darker it would be deep into the forest.
He took out throwing knives from under his coat and held them tight in his hands.
Minor Mastery of Throwing Knives involved far more than simply throwing them. It encompassed a myriad of skills related to the weapon itself.
He walked silently through the undergrowth, carefully watching for beasts hidden among the dense vegetation.
There was a difference between being vigilant and being paranoid. Alaric kept that distinction firmly in mind. Remaining on edge every second would only exhaust him.
Fortunately, his Minor Mastery of Throwing Knives was enough for him to stay composed while exploring the outer reaches of the Moliken Forest.
Roughly a minute later, he spotted unusual movement from the corner of his eyes.
His hand moved faster than his eyes could trace, throwing the knife with deadly speed and precision.
The minor mastery gave him exceptional accuracy, but it was his own physical foundation which allowed the knife to move at breakneck speed.
There was a dull, meaty thunk, as the knife struck the thick, coiled body of a serpent.
It let out a sharp hiss at the sudden grave injury inflicted upon it, and that was the final mistake.
The hiss allowed Alaric to pinpoint the location of the head, his sharp eyes spotting it around ten meters away from where he had struck with his knife.
The second knife moved with similar precision and speed, lodging itself deep into the still hissing head of the serpent.
CRAAACK!
Branches snapped one after another as the giant serpent’s limp body tore through the canopy.
Its enormous coils struck the earth with enough force to send dust and loose leaves billowing into the air.
This...was the power of Minor Mastery.
It was a realm that even most Champion Knights had yet to reach, let alone ordinary Knights. Yet Alaric, a mere squire, now possessed it.
The giant serpent simply hadn’t stood a chance, not unless it could wield mana.
He took out a special powder and sprinkled it around the enormous corpse of the serpent. It would keep the other beasts away from this corpse.
I’ll take it on the way back.
As for the corpse being stolen by humans? The hunting ground belonged to House Orlen, and their hunting squad hadn’t been dispatched yet.
No one else apart from the assassins who were passing through could possibly be present in the forest right now.
The beasts really are as enormous as the novel described. It’s fucking terrifying seeing them up close.
Even if he threw both arms around the serpent’s body, his fingertips would still be nowhere close to touching.
I just hope this one’s blood is potent enough to help Evan.
Alaric then took out the two knives lodged in the corpse and made plenty of other wounds on its body to make it look like a fierce battle.
He had no intention of leaving any traces of his skill in throwing knives.
Once he finished, he resumed his journey deeper into the forest.
The surroundings grew darker the deeper he ventured into the forest. It forced him to remain even more vigilant.
It was eerily quiet all around, with only the occasional chirp briefly disturbing the silence.
Yet it felt as though something was actively suppressing every sound, for the forest would inevitably fall silent again moments later.
Alaric had read about this phenomenon, which became more pronounced the deeper one ventured into the Moliken Forest, but it was never explored even until the end of volume one, leaving it as one of the many blanks in his knowledge.
He had refrained from asking Alice about it to avoid exposing his ignorance.
Approximately ten minutes later, he finally noticed something.
A shallow footprint.
Not a beast’s paw print, but the unmistakable imprint of a leather boot pressed into the damp earth.
Nearby, a branch had been cleanly severed rather than snapped by force. Someone had passed through not long ago.
He slowed his pace and followed the trail with renewed caution.
Then, in the distance, the ground suddenly trembled.
Moments after, several faint cheers could be heard.
Alaric froze.
Then he quietly moved behind a tree, and saw a terrifying scene.
A single man bore the front half of a bear the size of a two storey house, while fifteen others supported the rest of the carcass.
His pupils contracted when he witnessed this scene.
There were only three assassins at squire rank who came after the young lord in the novel.
But here stood at least sixteen people wearing the very same attire as the assassins from the novel.
Not to mention one among them was very likely a knight!