Tracking

Soren's slightly blurred figure hid within the shadows at the corner of the City Wall. Calmly putting away his Heavy Crossbow, he wiped the blood from his Scimitar with an old cloth.

He had taken out six people.

They looked like veteran gangsters from the old district. He had gained over a hundred points of Slaughter Experience from each of them, while the innkeeper alone had given him more than three hundred. Unfortunately, time had been too tight. He had had no chance to search the bodies or look for loot, only to retreat at top speed after killing his enemies. Those things would likely end up benefiting Amber City's guards. They would surely pocket a little something while examining the corpses.

Killing people was a small matter.

But arson was serious!

Amber City did not care much if a few shady people died, but it investigated anyone daring enough to set fires within the city very strictly. Once a blaze spread, the consequences would be extremely severe. The casualties and property damage would be far worse than the deaths of a few gang members. Soren estimated that someone would be investigating the matter before tomorrow. If the Guard Force took it seriously, they might invite certain special people to act. In that case, uncovering Soren's identity would not be impossible. He had to leave now!

Soren glanced at the chaotic scene in the distance and followed the City Wall's shadows onward. Only after reaching an area with no light and no sign of guards did he stop beside the wall. He took a rope from his Bag of Holding, tied an iron hook to it, spun it several times in his hand, and hurled it hard toward a recess in the City Wall. After pulling the rope taut to test it, he kicked off and climbed up the wall.

His 20 points of Superhuman Dexterity made him exceptionally agile. In less than a minute, he had climbed the City Wall, which stood over twenty meters high.

He warily scanned his surroundings.

After confirming that no one was around, he secured the hook in place and slid down the City Wall along the rope.

Soren gripped the rope and gave it a hard shake. The hook came loose naturally and fell from the City Wall back into his hand. The wilderness was shrouded in darkness, but the Half-Elf's unique night vision still allowed Soren to see. He put everything back into his Bag of Holding, then bent down and slipped into the distant woods.

Naturally, this was not over just because he had killed those people!

Soren planned to travel the road from White Horse City toward Falling Leaf City first. On one hand, he could hunt monsters to accumulate Slaughter Experience, raising his class level when necessary or looking for opportunities to advance through multiclassing. On the other hand, he could inspect the road, learn the distribution of nearby monsters, and gain more confidence when bringing Vivian through this route in the future. At the very least, once he had traveled it once, he would never forget the terrain or directions. Villages surrounded the city.

Because they were close to the city, these villages had no fences. White Horse City's guards patrolled regularly, and if wild beasts or monsters appeared nearby, someone would naturally clear them out. Soren walked several kilometers through the night before entering a small village. Villages now had many haystacks nearby, mainly for making fires and bedding. Poor commoners could not afford cotton quilts, so they could only spread the soft straw over their beds. In winter, they even used it as blankets.

Heated kang beds were rare in the South; only the North had many of them.

Soren lay down directly atop a haystack. It was a little itchy at first, but he quickly got used to it.

After years of wilderness adventures, he had already adapted to many things.

The night passed just like that.

Soren was awakened by barking the next day. Some household's mutt had discovered him and was barking wildly beneath the haystack.

He drew his Scimitar and turned around, originally intending to kill it for a snack. But when he saw the mud-brick thatched huts in the distance, he sheathed his weapon. To these poor farmers, a dog was important property. Dogs in this era were fairly fierce, and when monsters came, some even dared to rush forward and bite them.

Soren had once seen a mutt fight a Gnoll. It had been bitten to death while protecting its owner, but its courage had been admirable.

Perhaps it was because he had thought of Heath, that loyal and courageous old dog.

Soren took out a piece of jerky, tossed it in his hand, and threw it to the mutt below. The food falling from the sky lowered the dog's guard. It watched Soren suspiciously, but in the end, it could not resist picking up the jerky. Soren brushed the straw from his body, flipped down from the haystack, looked around, and headed toward the distant wilderness.

Dawn was just breaking.

Farmers had already risen to tend the Farmland. As humans, they did not possess the many innate gifts of other races, so the skill they had to master was farming. Children in villages began following their elders into the fields at five or six, gradually learning from their fathers how to farm and work, when to sow, when to harvest, how to tend the Farmland, and what to do when pests struck.

They were the most ordinary people in this world!

The paths between the fields were rather muddy.

Soren soon found the main road leading to Falling Leaf City and headed toward White Horse Plain.

This route took quite a long time, requiring an entire week. It first passed near Black Qi Swamp, then crossed the edge of White Horse Plain, and finally entered the territory of Falling Leaf City. The first day was fairly peaceful, because this was still within the range of human activity. The Militia Corps was stationed nearby, along with a small number of Regular Army troops.

Soren did not stop along the way. When he was tired, he rested for a while, then continued onward once he had recovered.

Only on the second day, as he gradually left the range of human activity, did he begin to encounter more and more trouble.

The settlements here were rather scattered.

Only in flat areas convenient for irrigation did humans establish settlements. More accurately, they were fortified villages, enclosed by walls on all sides, with watchtowers and Arrow Towers above them. The villages trained their own militia, working during the busy farming season and undergoing simple training during the slack season. These villages always had young people unwilling to settle down and eager for adventure. Some never returned after leaving, while others came back to their hometowns after giving up adventuring. They formed the main force training the militia.

Some of these people had astonishing class levels, but most were around Tier 2 Adventurers, and many bore injuries.

If nothing unexpected happened, they would marry, have children, and live out their lives like this. When they grew old, they would drink at Twilight and brag to their children and grandchildren about their past adventures.

This was their life.

After the excitement of the past, they returned to ordinary lives, occasionally remembering fallen companions.

"Kobolds?"

Soren pushed aside the grass to inspect the footprints on the ground. Then he placed a hand on his Scimitar and continued forward along the trail. Wilderness Tracking was a skill Adventurers had to master. The best at it were undoubtedly Rangers and Druids, followed by Rogues like Soren. They needed to learn how to judge their targets through footprints and traces. This ability had developed from the foundational skill of Wilderness Survival. For now, Soren still relied mainly on his past experience when assessing targets.

"Looks like there are quite a few."

As the ground ahead grew harder and the footprints became fainter, Soren examined the surrounding environment and thought to himself, There are probably thirty or forty Kobolds!

Has a larger tribe moved into the area?

Without a Kobold settlement, these creatures usually moved through the wilderness in small groups, much like hyenas on the African plains. Individual Kobolds in smaller groups were somewhat stronger, because surviving in the wilderness meant the survival of the fittest. Larger Kobold groups could be numerous, especially those occupying mines, which might have more than three hundred members. With sufficient numbers, Kobolds could even produce natural-born Sorcerers.

I'll use them to warm up and see whether I still have my old experience fighting groups.

Wilderness adventures were naturally not foolish one-on-one duels. Group battles and chaotic melees were extremely common. You had to learn how to face multiple enemies at once. If you could not Dodge or Parry their attacks, you needed to learn how to take as little damage as possible. In a melee, even 20 points of Superhuman Dexterity could not avoid every attack.

At times like this, you needed armor.

Soren put on a set of ordinary Leather Armor, then wrapped cloth strips around his arms and tied his leg bindings securely.

Kobolds could use weapons and traps.

Those crude traps naturally could not hurt Soren, but their homemade shortbows were somewhat dangerous.

Kobolds fought with clubs, Daggers, shortswords, and shortbows!

Soren's figure gradually faded beneath the shadows of the trees. Unless someone watched that area carefully, it would be difficult to notice him at a glance. He drew his Scimitar and slowly ventured deeper into the dense forest along the mottled shadows.

This battle would be more dangerous than the previous ones!

Because he needed to face a Kobold tribe numbering more than thirty.