Strange

What happened before them soon passed.

Looking at the sword mark over three meters long beside him, Laman's expression crumpled.

The arrogance vanished from his face, replaced by a respectful smile, as though he were greeting the most honored guest.

Seeing him act this way, Arthur gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. His expression remained unchanged, making his thoughts impossible to read.

He declined the horse offered to him and walked alongside the others instead, slowly making his way forward.

As they proceeded, the village gradually came into view. Buildings stood scattered throughout, most of them looking quite old, as if they had been built long ago.

"Erui, take this gentleman to that house over there, then get someone to clean it. Make sure he's satisfied!"

At the very front of the group, they reached the center of the village. Raman turned to the Laman standing nearby and barked at him to take Arthur there and make him comfortable.

Arthur instinctively looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the tall building there.

Compared with the other old homes around it, this building looked much newer. It had probably been built only a few years ago, and the materials used were clearly of much better quality. It was one of the better places to stay in this little village.

Apparently eager to please Arthur, Laman not only put him up there but also sent several people over to clean the rooms and take care of various chores for him.

Over the next few days, Laman came to visit him every day. Even knowing Arthur couldn't understand his language, he never stopped.

Three days later.

On a flat stretch of ground, Arthur practiced with his sword for a while, then stopped and stood to the side to rest.

The Life Seed is becoming more and more active. It looks like I'm close to that next step.

Feeling the Life Energy surging within him, Arthur rested his left hand against his chest and thought.

Thanks to that unknown force, his physical attributes had improved greatly during this time. He had reached the peak of the Knight Rank, attaining a certain limit.

The transformation of his body had also driven the Life Seed to keep growing. It, too, had reached a limit; just one more step, and the transformation would be complete.

"A Great Knight?" Standing still, Arthur murmured to himself, then gave the Chip an order. "Chip, based on the available data, simulate the conditions for advancing to Great Knight!"

"Simulation complete!" A mechanical voice sounded in his mind.

"To advance to Great Knight, the basic requirements are for all physical attributes to reach at least 5, followed by stimulating the body through a special method to complete the Life Seed's transformation and drive further improvement in physical attributes!"

"Stimulate the body?" Arthur asked, puzzled. "What methods could do that?"

"High-intensity combat or the preparation of a special potion," the Chip replied mechanically.

Hearing this, Arthur felt a little more at ease and looked at his physical attributes.

"Name: Arthur Falkus. Strength: 5. Agility: 4.9. Constitution: 5."

These were the results of the past few days. He was already very close to meeting the basic requirements for advancement.

"My Agility still hasn't reached the mark, and the other attributes have only just met the requirements. Looks like I'll have to keep working for a while."

Looking at his attributes, Arthur shook his head, picked up his sword, and headed forward.

Compared with the knights of his previous world, Arthur had a great advantage in this one.

He didn't need to risk his life fighting on a battlefield to stimulate his body. He only needed to keep hunting mutated monsters to make progress. The gains were slow, but it was still much safer.

He walked much faster than an ordinary person could run, and soon reached the outskirts of the village.

A few warriors were standing guard there. When they saw Arthur approach, they looked at him with reverence and watched him leave.

"Quick, go get a few people. There'll be more corpses to collect soon."

After Arthur had gone some distance, one of the guards said excitedly, looking around.

A man beside him immediately headed into the village. Before long, he returned with several others, and they rode after Arthur from a distance.

"Ding! Hunt seventeen more Knight Rank insect beasts to increase all attributes by 0.1!" The Chip's mechanical voice sounded in his mind again.

Beneath a tree whose entire trunk was black, Arthur stood quietly. He kicked the towering insect beast before him, which stood over three meters tall, sending it flying. It slammed into a boulder, and the sharp points of the rock pierced its massive body. It was clearly dead.

"Seventeen more."

Hearing the Chip's message, Arthur sighed, feeling rather helpless.

There were plenty of monsters in the wilderness, but most were weak. Unless he killed several thousand of them, they wouldn't provide much benefit.

Powerful mutated monsters existed, too, but many of them still felt dangerous to him. Finding suitable prey to hunt under these circumstances was no easy task.

Over the entire morning, Arthur had found only the few insect beasts before him. After that, he hadn't found anything else.

The slow progress left him feeling helpless. He found himself missing the black Crystal Core he had obtained before.

Compared with laboriously hunting mutated beasts, that Crystal Core had been the real prize.

Most of the attribute gains Arthur had made during this time were thanks to that Crystal Core.

Footsteps gradually sounded behind him. Several figures on horseback were hurrying toward him.

They had come specifically to collect the corpses. The bodies of these mutated beasts were valuable food, something that only a handful of people got to eat once in a while.

They would haul Arthur's kills back, then return a portion of the food to him. The rest would be their payment.

Arthur paid no attention to what they were doing. He looked in one direction, ready to search for his next target.

After taking a short break at noon, Arthur hunted three or four more beasts that afternoon. Only when the sky began to darken did he decide to return to the village.

The nights in this world were far more dangerous than the days. All kinds of bizarre things seemed to happen, and even Arthur didn't want to get involved.

When he reached the village entrance, Arthur paused in surprise.

Several people lay on the ground, surrounded by a large crowd. Everyone looked grim.

At the sight, he quickened his pace and went forward to examine the figures on the ground.

They were corpses. Judging by their clothes, they were all hunters from the village. Whatever had happened to them, it had left them like this.

"What happened?" Raman came from the center of the village and asked, frowning as he looked at the bodies.

"We don't know yet," a guard replied at once. "These men didn't come back two days ago. This morning, someone found them in the wooden hut by the river. They were already dead."

At this explanation, the people around them paled.

In this world, a few deaths were nothing unusual. People died all the time.

But if someone died under normal circumstances, their body would never remain intact in the wilderness. In a single night, monsters of all kinds would tear it apart.

At the thought, Raman's face darkened. His outstretched right hand began to tremble slightly.

He forced down his fear, went forward with the others, and examined the bodies. Then he spoke in a shaking voice. "There aren't any wounds on them."

At this, everyone around them went pale. They immediately backed away from the bodies as if they were looking at a plague, their eyes filled with unmistakable terror.

"Take these bodies and burn them at once. From now on, no one is allowed to go to that hut by the river!"

Raman's face turned ashen. Fighting down his fear, he gave the order to those around him.