First Battle

After accepting the quest, Ronan opened his eyes and cautiously turned his head to look toward the corpse-collection soldiers. They were roughly grouped in pairs, spaced only a few dozen meters apart. One pair was slowly making its way toward Ronan.

These corpse-collection soldiers were merely low-ranking Eagle Soldiers, basically farmers conscripted by their lords. But they could not be underestimated. The Eagle Kingdom lived by hunting and herding; nearly everyone knew how to use a hunting bow and curved saber, the kingdom's standard weapons. Coupled with their lifelong existence on horseback across the grasslands, every Eagle herdsman could be a warrior and rider. That was why they had defeated the Highland troops in the previous battle.

The two Eagle Soldiers approaching Ronan wore the Eagle-standard fur felt caps and leather armor, with hunting bows on their backs and curved sabers at their waists. They used wooden sticks to rummage through the piles of corpses, occasionally giving anyone still breathing a stab with a dagger.

The soldier closest to Ronan looked up and stretched, then suddenly spotted him lying on the ground. Ronan's armor, so completely out of place among the surrounding corpses, immediately caught his attention.

"Hey, this guy's armor is pretty unusual. Never seen anything like it before. Come take a look."

"Probably some mercenary. What's there to see? Check whether he has anything valuable on him. Finish clearing the battlefield so we can catch up with the main force."

The soldiers farther away also looked over when they heard them, and two of them even walked over to have a look.

Ronan's heart jolted when he realized he had been discovered, but he could only remain still. His right hand quietly gripped his sword hilt. When the four soldiers reached him and jabbed at him with their wooden sticks, Ronan suddenly sprang into action. With his left hand, he grabbed the ankle of the nearest soldier and yanked him straight to the ground.

At the same time, he kicked another soldier away, then quickly sprang to his feet. Drawing his sword, he blocked the curved saber slashing down from ahead. He stretched out his left hand, seized that soldier by the collar, and flung him into another soldier.

While they collided and lost their balance, he heavily kicked the head of the first soldier he had pulled down, who had just begun struggling to rise, knocking him flat again.

He then sidestepped the curved saber chopping down at his head from the soldier he had kicked away. As he dodged, he gripped his sword with both hands and slashed upward. The sharp blade sliced straight across the soldier's abdomen. His leather armor offered little protection, and Ronan's slash split his belly open, spilling his guts. Clutching his stomach, he collapsed to his knees.

Ronan immediately brought his sword down and beheaded him. Hearing the rush of wind behind him, Ronan instantly ducked beneath a sweeping strike aimed at his neck. Then, while the soldier was off-balance from missing, he thrust his sword upward. Blood sprayed across Ronan's helmet as the blade pierced straight through the soldier's chin, killing him on the spot.

"Ding. Achievement System unlocked."

The distant soldiers had also noticed the unexpected situation on Ronan's side. Some drew their curved sabers and charged over, while others took hunting bows from their backs and aimed at Ronan. Their leader, Amuda Canglang, immediately ran to his horse. It looked as though he intended to flee the moment things turned bad.

By then, the remaining two soldiers beside Ronan had also been killed by him. The soldier he had knocked down first never managed to get back on his feet before dying.

Having dealt with the four soldiers, Ronan had no time to check the system message. He hurriedly looked toward the other soldiers. The instant he saw several of them release their arrows, Ronan rolled aside to evade the incoming shots, snatching up a shield as he rolled. Then he hunched behind it and charged straight at the archers.

The two soldiers charging Ronan with drawn sabers immediately blocked his path to the archers. Ronan raised his shield and smashed it into the leftmost soldier. When that soldier lifted his saber to block, Ronan turned and raised his own sword to parry the curved saber chopping down at him. Although they stopped Ronan's charge, they also blocked the archers' line of fire. Seeing this, the two archers had no choice but to discard their hunting bows, draw their blades, and rush over to help.

But halfway there, they changed their minds and turned to run toward the horses instead, because the two soldiers fighting Ronan had already had their heads chopped off.

Seeing them flee, Ronan took a hunting bow from the soldier he had beheaded, nocked an arrow, and drew the bow to its limit at the two fleeing soldiers. Two arrows whistled out, striking both men accurately. Ronan then walked over and finished off the two soldiers writhing on the ground and wailing.

As for their leader, Ronan no longer wanted to chase him. Amuda Canglang had fled on horseback the moment he sensed danger, and by now, Ronan had no idea where he had gone.

"Quest complete. Rewards have been issued to your inventory."

"Congratulations, you have leveled up. Current level: LV2 (80/300). You have gained one free attribute point and one general skill point."

Ronan casually assigned the attribute point and skill point to Strength and Power Strike. He intended to become an outstanding young man with well-rounded development in virtue, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor, so he chose to improve his attack power first, even though the Great Serpent template had given him agility-focused starting attributes.

Only after the system prompt did Ronan realize that he even had an inventory. It had thirty slots, and each slot could only hold one type of item. In other words, Ronan could not place all his equipment into one slot; every piece had to occupy a separate slot. Each slot had a capacity of one cubic meter. Aside from the ten gold coins he had just received, his inventory was currently empty. Gold coins did not take up slots.

"So I'm actually this strong? If I'd known, why would I have hidden? I should've just gotten up and taken them on."

Perhaps because of the Great Serpent's experience brought by the template, Ronan felt neither discomfort nor excitement after killing someone for the first time. It was as if he had merely completed a job.

He put the two hunting bows and their arrows into his inventory, then walked over to the few horses left behind by the Eagle corpse-collection team. He searched the baggage on their backs and found some water, dry rations, copper coins, and daily supplies. After storing everything useful in his inventory, Ronan did not linger. He chose a horse that caught his eye and mounted it. After all, he had no idea how long ago the Eagle main force had departed. If that fleeing leader found them and brought soldiers back for him, things would become troublesome.

He definitely could not head toward Highland. Going that way would mean running straight into the Eagle main force, no different from throwing his life away. As for heading toward the Eagle Kingdom, Ronan did not know whether they might send carrier pigeons or something to issue a wanted notice for him. To be safe, he could not go there either.

After thinking it over, it seemed his only option was to head north through Ravenwood Forest and travel to another kingdom. Ravenwood Forest was dangerous, but Ronan was very confident in his current strength.

Meanwhile, the fleeing Amuda Canglang had already caught up with the main force. He entered the tent at the center of the camp and reported Ronan's situation to the Wolf Clan's chieftain.

Before long, a squad of roughly twelve elite riders emerged from the camp and headed straight for the Torrent Plains battlefield. The one leading them was none other than Amuda Canglang.