Watching the Vigier Soldiers form a battle formation to block the charging Gnolls while the Nordic Archers provided support from afar, Ronan charged toward the Gnoll chief. Soldiers against soldiers, commanders against commanders—perfectly reasonable.
The Gnoll chief sidestepped Ronan's thrown Wooden Spear. Seeing Ronan charge at it, it bared its teeth, let out a low growl, and began running with its Chain Mace raised.
When they were less than three meters apart, Ronan suddenly dropped to both knees and leaned backward, using his momentum to slide across the ground. His knee guards carved two tracks through the soft earth. In that posture, he dodged the Gnoll chief's swinging Chain Mace and slashed its unprotected calf, but its fur was tough, and he could not put much force into the strike. The wound was not deep.
Sliding behind the Gnoll chief, Ronan pushed off the ground and sprang to his feet. Before it could turn around, he slashed the back of its right knee again.
This time, it cried out in pain. Its right leg buckled, and it nearly fell to its knees. It turned and angrily swung its Chain Mace, but Ronan avoided it with a backward leap.
The Gnoll chief had learned its lesson. It whirled its Chain Mace with such force that everything within a meter of it became a forbidden zone. Ronan could not get close at all and could only use his nimble footwork to keep circling it, waiting for his subordinates to finish off the other Gnolls and join him.
Their chase-and-retreat struggle lasted nearly three minutes. By the time the Gnoll chief came to its senses, it had already been surrounded. The Vigier Soldiers had picked up the Gnolls' Wooden Spears and formed a complete encirclement with shields in one hand and spears in the other. Looking at the Gnoll corpses scattered across the ground and the burning thatched huts, sorrow and fury filled its eyes.
It threw back its head and roared, then charged forward like a trapped beast. It knocked aside the thrusting Wooden Spears and swung its Chain Mace into the shield of a Vigier Soldier before it. The tremendous force sent the soldier sprawling, leaving a deep dent in his shield.
But at the same time, Wooden Spears from the other four directions pierced its body. It spat out blood and raised its Chain Mace to attack again, but Ronan stepped onto the tilted shield of a Vigier Soldier behind it, using it as a springboard to leap into the air. He brought his blade down on the unarmored back of its neck. The heavy blow did not sever its thick neck, but it did break half of its cervical vertebrae.
Blood continued to pour from its mouth. It dropped helplessly to its knees, then its upper body slowly collapsed onto the ground.
"A formidable enemy, but what a pity. Your equipment was too poor, and your subordinates weren't much better."
Taking out a scrap of cloth, Ronan wiped the blood from his blade and returned it to its sheath before saying to the men beside him:
"Clean up the battlefield, gather the loot, and keep the fire under control. Don't let it spread. I want to inspect the quest rewards."
Starfall was a katana roughly the same length as Dianfu, but its attributes were far superior. Unlike Dianfu, its blade was black as ink, with only its edge gleaming white. Its guard and hilt were both plain. According to its description, it was forged from meteoric iron—sharp, durable, and not easily damaged. Ronan tested it against the Eagle Saber and confirmed this. Starfall was completely unharmed, while the Eagle Saber was left with a deep chip.
The Wolf Fang Necklace really was just a necklace made from wolf fangs. Three wolf fangs, each a size larger than ordinary ones, were strung on a thin cord. However, wearing it increased agility by 1 point. Ronan thought it looked pretty cool after putting it on.
By then, his subordinates had already finished clearing the battlefield. Aside from some herbs and jerky the Gnolls had stored, there was not much else to gain. Since he had no idea what the jerky was made from, Ronan threw it away. He had heard that wild Gnolls sometimes ate their own kind, and he had no interest in eating Gnoll meat. After resting briefly for a few minutes, Ronan and the others prepared to return to the temporary resting place they had found earlier.
The battle had gone fairly well. Aside from the soldier whose arm might have suffered a fracture from the Gnoll chief's blow against his shield, most of the others had only minor superficial injuries. The Wound Salve they had obtained from the previous quest finally came in handy.
After walking through the forest for nearly another two weeks, Ronan and his group finally emerged from it. During that time, they encountered two Savages tribes, a Gnoll tribe, a Lizardmen tribe, a group of Forest Goblins, and several attacks by ferocious beasts.
But the most dangerous encounter had been with a Feral Black Bear. When it stood upright, it was nearly three meters tall, massive in build, and arrows striking its body barely seemed to bother it. Fortunately, Ronan had previously recruited two groups of Rodok Veteran Spearmen. These soldiers, clad in chainmail shirts and hooded nasal helmets and armed with long spears and great shields, formed a spear formation. With assistance from the Vigier Soldiers and Nordic Archers, they had barely managed to kill the black bear.
However, Ronan's forces had suffered severe losses as well. The soldiers simply could not withstand even a single attack from the black bear. Its final desperate counterattack killed six Rodok spearmen and three Vigier Soldiers. One Nordic Archer was seriously wounded and, lacking proper medical treatment, later died during the journey. Ronan could only bury them where they fell.
Ronan skinned the black bear. He ate what meat he could and threw away the rest. He also got to taste bear paw, something he had never been able to eat in his previous life, but perhaps because of the cooking method and seasonings, he did not find it particularly delicious.
After recruiting the two groups of Rodok Veteran Spearmen, Ronan had also completed the Knight's Path quest. However, he did not claim the reward immediately. A full set of Knight Plate Armor was heavy and inconvenient for moving through the forest, suitable only for the battlefield. Moreover, the forest terrain was unsuitable for warhorses.
Over those two weeks, Ronan also reached level 10 through weekly quests and killing enemies. After raising his agility above 20, he felt a clear change. Twenty points seemed to be a threshold. Once his agility reached 20, he could easily see the trajectories of arrows fired by the Nordic Archers. He could even catch arrows fired from weaker bows with his bare hands. He had discovered this while fighting a Savages tribe.
Therefore, Ronan planned to first raise his strength and endurance to 20 with future level-up points, then add points to charisma. He would strengthen himself first before increasing the size of his force.
Ronan also discovered that he could unlock one specialty every five levels to strengthen himself. Each time, he had to choose one out of three. At level 5, he chose Keen Intuition, and at level 10, he chose Ape Arm.
Keen Intuition: Your intuition is enhanced, warning you when danger approaches.
Ronan tested it by having a Nordic Archer aim an arrow at him from behind. The moment he was targeted, he felt his back go numb.
Ape Arm: Your arms are exceptionally strong. Your arms gain +1 strength, and you can wield ordinary two-handed weapons skillfully with one hand.
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