Spring is in full bloom, ice and snow are melting, and everything is reviving.
In the Moonlight Forest, Duke crouched by a small stream and washed his face with the icy stream water.
This water all came from the distant snowy mountains, all melted snow, bone-chillingly cold.
Vivian and the other three were behind him, and after a simple meal of dry food, they continued heading towards the Moonlight Forest.
Aside from Vivian, the four with Duke were all high-level Knight Attendants, possessing considerable strength.
This time, they were on a reconnaissance patrol mission, aiming to understand the situation deep within the Moonlight Forest.
Duke learned from Vivian that the higher-ups in Maple Hill County merely speculated that formidable monsters might have appeared within the Moonlight Forest, causing the series of events recently.
But the specifics were unknown; the heavy snow blocked the mountains recently, making exploration impossible. Now that spring has arrived, they must go in to find out.
Finding out the situation early would allow for some preparation, preventing things from being too passive.
This time, Vivian personally led the team, enough to show her concern for the matter.
Based on current speculation, the worst-case scenario is the appearance of formidable monsters in the Moonlight Forest.
Such monsters are comparable to Great Knights—legendary beasts that ordinary knights cannot handle.
If that truly is the case, Earl Hardy would have to seek assistance from the royal family of the Vera Kingdom.
The appearance of such monsters has gone beyond his capabilities, and it isn’t just a matter for the Maple Hill County territory.
Duke and the others chose a particularly remote route, a path too difficult for horses.
However, the advantage was that it bypassed many areas active with wild beasts and monsters, directly reaching the depths of the Moonlight Forest.
With the strength of their group, walking in such a virtually untouched primitive forest was relatively easy.
During the last winter, Duke—assisted by the Giant Whale Secret Potion—practiced the Giant Whale Breathing Technique to the sixth level.
But the Giant Whale Secret Potion had also run out, and his cultivation speed returned to its former pace.
He shamelessly asked Vivian about the Giant Whale Secret Potion, only to receive a rolled eye in response.
Vivian’s own stock was limited, just enough for her own practice, with none left to spare for Duke.
After Duke improved the Giant Whale Breathing Technique, his constitution, strength, and agility attributes also reached 9.9 points.
This seemed like another watershed; crossing it would likely bring qualitative change.
Duke always kept his three free attribute points unused.
The later the free attribute points are used, the higher the cost-effectiveness; unless absolutely necessary, they shouldn’t be used hastily.
Vivian still wore her full armor, with an oversized giant axe on her back. While moving through the primitive forest, her form was agile and her body extremely light, with no sign of the five to six hundred pounds she carried.
This was already their third day in the Moonlight Forest, having crossed several hills and traversed large areas of the primitive forest.
Two days later, they finally made a discovery.
Duke and the others crouched their bodies low, hiding within the dense bushes, observing ahead.
Ahead was a flat valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a steep cliff to the north.
Beyond the cliff was another flatland, and beneath the cliff was a rapid stream, its rushing sound audible from afar.
In front of them, many simple tree shelters stood, with various humanoid creatures moving about.
"Goblins, cavemen, gnolls, wild boar men..." Beck, the veteran, immediately recognized the types of these humanoid creatures.
These humanoid creatures were all gregarious, previously widespread across the Vera Kingdom, seen in many places.
But as humans gradually grew stronger and occupied vast areas, the living spaces of these humanoid creatures shrank, living in these remote deep forests.
Duke was also seeing such a variety of humanoid creatures for the first time, finding it rather fascinating.
"Strange, these humanoid creatures usually operate in tribal forms. How can they gather together and coexist peacefully?" Beck was puzzled.
Whether goblins or cavemen, they were savage primitive tribal groups; not only were they hostile to humans, but also to each other.
Normally, these races would be unable to coexist; they would fight to the death over living space.
But now, these races living together baffled Beck and the others.
"Look over there," Vivian whispered, pointing to a large wooden house in the distance.
The group then observed carefully, realizing the wooden house was indeed unusually large, the door alone being seven or eight meters high.
The size of such a door indicated a very large creature lived inside.
The group realized that these humanoid creatures were living together harmoniously because a stronger being had gathered them under its banner.
Duke thought of the previously seen cavemen and fishmen tribes, likely forced to move away and seek new habitats for this reason.
"What kind of creature..." Beck was trying to recall what kind of creature had such intimidation, making several humanoid tribes willingly work for it.
Before he could figure it out, the group already saw the answer.
A five-meter-tall ogre with greenish-blue skin emerged from inside.
This ogre had two heads.
Witnessing this, Duke instantly felt the surrounding air solidify, and even Vivian and the others seemed to stop breathing.
Vivian didn’t speak but signaled with her eyes for everyone not to move or attract the two-headed ogre’s attention.
Ogres themselves are strong humanoid creatures, often recruiting gnolls, cavemen, and the like as subordinates.
A typical adult ogre has the strength comparable to an Official Knight and can easily defeat a Knight Level caveman king.
And a two-headed ogre is even more terrifying; it doesn’t belong to the formidable beasts category but is almost there.
Besides its exceedingly strong physical power, the two-headed ogre has casting ability, making it a very rare humanoid creature.
Vivian, considered a strong human knight, had virtually no chance against this two-headed ogre.
Her heavy full armor seemed like a thin sheet of paper before the spell-casting two-headed ogre.
Even without its casting ability, the two-headed ogre’s five-meter-tall massive size possessed strength that an ordinary Knight Level could not withstand.
Fully aware of this, everyone was understandably nervous.
Luckily, the two-headed ogre seemed not to notice the few hiding in the bushes and walked north.
Along its path, nearby cavemen and gnolls all knelt to show respect.
As it walked, its two heads muttered in an unintelligible language, as if arguing.
When it was displeased, it crushed a kneeling caveman underfoot, making all the surrounding humanoid creatures tremble even more.