Hmm? This Weak?

Looking from the shore of Killer Lake, a small tower, dark red with an eerie blue hue, appears sparsely hidden among the dead trees in the forest.

Looking into the distance, Ailin noticed that the "bricks" that made up the small tower looked like human heads.

What is that?

"How come I didn't notice this small tower during the trial the day before yesterday?"

The bloody scene caused the blue Cat Eyes to shrink instantly, and Ailin couldn't help but tighten the Swamp Hag around her and quicken her pace.

As the distance closed, the shapes of those "bricks" became clearer and clearer, and they were indeed the heads of water ghosts.

At the same time, a red figure flashed past in the bushes below the tower.

"Etc!"

"There seems to be something moving there!"

Ailin stopped abruptly, and as he looked over carefully, a sense of familiarity welled up within him.

"Wait, isn't this the place where I killed those two Foglet?"

He still remembered the illusion of the little boy played by the Foglet, who was squatting in the bush where the red shadow appeared.

Turning my head to the right, I saw that Killer Lake was narrowing at that spot.

That's right.

This is the place where the Foglet appeared during the trial.

Taking a few more steps forward, the red figure flashed past Ailin's sight once more.

Not only that.

Jingguan water ghosts, there seemed to be several other hunched figures, swaying back and forth in the bushes.

Something's not right!

That must be some kind of monster!

Ailin immediately became alert.

"Snap~ Snap~ Snap~"

Given the bizarre situation, Ailin had no intention of taking any risks. He retreated through the snow, making his way towards Killer Lake.

Unfortunately, fate did not grant our wishes.

The wind direction suddenly changed again.

The blood-red figure in the bushes raised its head almost simultaneously with the change of wind direction.

Bloody, unidentified chunks of flesh fell from his mouth.

The bloody and terrifyingly ugly faces twitched their noses slightly and suddenly turned to look in his direction.

Ailin felt a chill run down his spine.

"Clang!"

The silver sword was drawn.

With magical energy flowing within him, he slightly bent his thumb and forefinger and drew a triangle in the air in front of him.

Quen Sign.

A pale golden light flashed across Ailin's body.

Immediately following, amidst the clattering of the bottles and jars, he took out the last bottle of Necrophage Oil from his medicine pouch at his waist and quickly poured it onto the silver sword.

They have arms and legs similar to humans, but walk on all fours like dogs or badgers.

Without a doubt, these monsters are Ghoul.

The target of the Necrophage Oil.

"Snap~ Snap~ Snap~"

Before I could even apply the Sword Oil, the four ferocious Ghoul had already charged over.

Its massive size created a whooshing sound, sweeping away the snow on the ground.

This imposing aura put immense pressure on Ailin, making him feel as if four small mountains were rushing towards him.

In the blink of an eye,

The Ghoul, with its overwhelming aura, entered within five steps of Ailin.

"We can't let them charge in like this!"

With a thought in mind, Ailin quickly threw away the crystal bottle, took a few steps back, and stood next to a rock about half the size of a person.

Then, channeling the magic within him, he bent his right middle finger and thrust it forward with a sudden burst of energy.

Alde Sign.

"Bang!"

A semi-transparent shockwave, carrying snow, rushed towards the four Ghoul in an instant.

Their momentum was interrupted.

"Roar!"

The Ghoul roared loudly, provoked by the shockwave of the Alde Sign.

Unfortunately, unlike water Ghoul, ghouls are on all fours, and their center of gravity did not shift due to this attack.

However, this gave Ailin some confidence, since these Ghoul couldn't be high-level if their charge could be interrupted by the LV1 Alde Sign.

The snow, blown away by the shockwave, fell from the sky.

Ailin caught the Ghoul in the shockwave, causing it to stagger, and stepped to the side, using the Ghoul in front of him to block the bodies of the other monsters.

Immediately following this, he spun around and delivered a side slash.

As the silver light flashed, the Ghoul also met Elsa's attack with its sharp and sturdy claws.

"Whoosh!"

The seemingly sharp and sturdy claws were instantly split in two.

"Roar~"

Red blood spurted out, and the Ghoul let out a scream, leaving Ailin completely bewildered.

"So weak?"

Ailin was stunned for a moment and almost got hit by the Ghoul's counterattack.

He thought he would have to hit Elsa a few times with "crackling" blows, but his claw broke after just one chop.

"I was still fooled by the Swamp Hag's strength. My attributes are already so high, how could I possibly be unable to defeat a random monster?"

Although the Swamp Hag was of a high level, being suppressed by the power of a common monster still brought Ailin some frustration.

This gave him some misconceptions about the true strength of the monsters at Killer Lake.

"Pfft!"

With a whirlwind, he severed the head of the wounded Ghoul.

Then, he slightly tilted his head, easily dodging the blood spurting from the broken end.

Ailin channeled his magic power, bent his right index finger, and swiftly extended it forward.

Igni Fire Sign.

The shockwave, carrying intense heat, quickly spread to the remaining Ghoul as the right hand slid.

Unfortunately, it was freezing cold by Killer Lake.

Ghoul aren't like water ghosts; they don't secrete flammable fluids, so their bodies didn't burst into flames.

Caught off guard by the shockwave and intense heat, they scattered and fled in all directions.

But that's enough for Ailin.

"Roar roar roar—"

Amidst the rising and falling screams, Ailin charged forward, spun around, charged forward again, and spun around once more.

On the snow-white earth, the blood of Ghoul splashed ink, creating landscapes.

When Ailin finally stopped his spinning sword dance, his surroundings were already a blood-red mess.

"Bite!"

[Slay the Level 14 Ghoul Horde!]

[Rewards Settlement: Victory over the Enemy, Base Rating D, Decapitation Intimidation +3 - C, Victory with Fewer People +3 - B, Overpowering the Weak -2 - C+]

Final rating: C+

[Loot obtained: Ghoul Heart Essence Fluid *4, Lesser Experience Orbs *7, Ghoul's Chest *3]

[Ding! The "Ghoul" Monster Bestiary has been activated]

[Ding! Hunting Quest: Ghoul I (0/200 Ghoul Kills) has been activated. Accept?]

"Phew~"

When the "ding-ding-ding" sound in her mind stopped, Ailin let out a soft breath.

The System Notification during each raid settlement is quite noisy.

Fortunately, the Witcher's Handbook seems to only settle the score after confirming that there is no danger in the surroundings, so the impact is not significant; it only lasts for a short while.

Ailin opened the system message for the battle results with his mind, glanced at it briefly, and then sighed.

These Ghoul were indeed of a very low level. Although they were higher than ordinary water ghosts, they still fell into the category of level penalties.

He discovered this before the Trial of the Mountains.

Once a character's level exceeds that of a monster by five levels, a penalty clause for "bullying the weak" will appear.

Moreover, it differs from other reviews by a maximum of three points.

The more significant the difference in the rating for the term "bullying the weak," the more points will be deducted, until the rating is reduced to F.

An F rating means you don't even get the Heart Essence Fluid that's a must-have for hunting monsters.

Fortunately, the term "winning with fewer troops" only adds a maximum of three points, but the extra points can offset the deductions from the term "bullying the weak".

After accepting the hunting mission, Ailin sighed as he looked at the evaluation, which was only one level above passing.

"If only we could control when the settlement would happen!"

Then, he put away his Witcher's Handbook and looked into the forest.

The eerie water ghost Jingguan is now without its guardians.

New author, new book! Please subscribe, comment, add to your favorites, and vote with monthly tickets!

The first day of the week-long, weekend-saturated plan.

Thanks to the generous "Soda0" for being the patron, I probably won't be able to post the extra ten chapters tonight.

Starting tomorrow, I'll try updating an extra chapter every day. I'll indicate the extra chapter in the title.

I'll try writing it out on the 8th of tomorrow. If my ability is limited, I'll extend it to the 6th of the day. Of course, I will definitely try my best to finish writing it as soon as possible.