Chapter 214: Chapter 213: Advancement in Swordsmanship

Colin asked curiously, "What bounty?"

"That goat that likes to headbutt people, its bounty is up to thirty Gold Coins now," Kase said with a serious expression. "God knows what that thing’s been up to."

"That thing is still alive?" Colin remarked with a sigh.

"The headbutting goat? I actually interviewed the person who posted the quest before I went to the Northern Lands," Ale said. "But he was very secretive about the reason for the bounty, so no one knows the specifics. Is that goat related to you two as well?"

Kase shrugged. "You bet it is. Back then, Colin and I..."

The group chatted as the carriage moved forward.

Compared to when it was just Colin and Kase traveling together, it was much livelier now.

While Kase was exaggerating the story of their Earthworm hunt, Colin reviewed his recent training progress.

His Skill Levels had reached: Casting 1368/2000, Armor 639/1250, and Swordsmanship 1253/2000.

Colin had spent most of his time training his Swordsmanship recently, and the Skill Level for his Silent Sword Skill had finally maxed out.

However, he didn’t receive a new Specialty this time. Instead, the one he already had was upgraded.

[Silent Sword Dance (Middle Level): Your Swordsmanship has improved further. 1. Magic failure rate is reduced by 10%.

2. You have learned to weaken an enemy’s resistance to your Magic with weapon attacks. When you hit a creature with your weapon while in a Sword Dance, its Exemption against your Magic is reduced by four for the next six seconds.]

The new effect stacked with the Specialty’s original one.

This meant the Specialty could now reduce his Magic failure rate by a total of 20%. Additionally, attacking while in a Sword Dance could apply a debuff to the enemy.

Colin had figured it out completely over the past few days.

This debuff lowered an opponent’s probability of resisting his Magic. Specifically, it would make control-based Magic like [Radiant Sword] and [Tasha’s Hideous Laughter] more likely to succeed.

But so far, Colin hadn’t had a chance to test it.

After all, the Specialty required injuring an opponent to take effect, and he certainly couldn’t practice on his own people.

WHOOSH!

Just as Colin was lost in thought, a gust of wind suddenly blew overhead.

He looked up to see three giant, armored beasts—half-lion, half-eagle—soaring through the sky. The knights on their backs held Riding Lances wrapped in colorful banners, looking quite magnificent.

’Aren’t those the Griffin Knights from the New Blood welcoming ceremony?’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Colin was a little surprised. ’To think they’d even dispatch such elite troops. Thousand Masts City is really sparing no expense to protect this trade route!’

The carriage drivers immediately raised their right hands and cheered upon seeing the knights, only quieting down after the Griffins had flown away.

After this small interlude, the convoy continued onward and soon arrived near Flint Village. They barely saw any monsters along the way; after all, those Griffin Knights weren’t just out for a stroll.

"Look! It’s the Wolf Hunter!" "Welcome, Mr. Colin and Mr. Kase."

As soon as the convoy approached the main gate, the two Guards on duty recognized Colin. They waved and greeted them, causing passersby to turn and stare.

Not wanting to attract too much attention, Colin simply smiled, nodded, and quickly led Kase and the others into the village.

Of course, it was impossible for their little group to go unnoticed anyway.

Under the gazes of the pedestrians, the group arrived once again at the tavern in Flint Village.

To his surprise, there were two pieces of Wolf Hide hanging by the tavern entrance. Written on them were the words "Visited by Wolf-Hunting Heroes."

’The owner’s probably using us as a living advertisement,’ Colin grumbled inwardly.

Stepping into the tavern, the owner recognized them at a glance.

He quickly called out, "Isn’t this Colin the ’Wolf Hunter’? Come on in, find a place to sit!"

"I..."

Before Colin could reply, the owner strode out from behind the counter and led the group to a large table.

"What can I get for you today? Don’t worry, everything’s on the house for you folks!" The owner’s attitude was even better than last time, his face practically splitting from smiling so wide.

"We’ll have the Treasure Stew, then. The one we had last time."

Everyone in the tavern was staring at them, and Colin felt sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

"You mean our Wolf Hunter Set, then?"

"S-Set? Alright, that’s the one. Four orders," Colin said.

"See that! I’d like to see anyone dare say our set meal is a scam now!" the owner shouted to the rest of the tavern before smiling and giving the order to a waitress.

"Mr. Colin and Mr. Kase are really popular," Orelia said timidly. Although she was shy around strangers, being stared at as part of a group seemed to have calmed her down a bit.

"Let’s just eat quickly and go check the bounties," Colin said.

Everyone around them was staring, but no one dared to approach and strike up a conversation, likely because of Orelia and Kase. The scene was actually quite unnerving.

A short while later, the so-called "Wolf Hunter Set" was served.

The "set" was really just the Treasure Stew, bread, and beer—the same things Colin had eaten on his last visit.

The Treasure Stew tasted the same as last time; the rich creaminess, the saltiness of the seafood, and the freshness of the vegetables were perfectly balanced. In Colin’s memory, it was one of the few meals that could rival a Halfling’s roasted lamb.

After they finished eating, the group went to the notice board.

"Goblin Cave," "White Frost," "Northern Half-Giant"... Compared to before, there were fewer bounties on the board, but it was still covered in notices.

Kase asked eagerly, "So, do we tear a few of these down and head straight for them, or what?"

"No need for that. We just need to remember the bountied monsters and collect proof if we run into them on the way."

Colin said, "How about this? That Goblin Tribe probably isn’t going anywhere. We’ll head straight for it and kill whatever we run into along the way. We just have to remember to collect proof for any of the bountied ones."

"Let’s do it!" Kase rubbed his hands together, looking quite excited.

Once Colin and Ale had more or less memorized the bounties, the group rented a large room at the tavern and stayed the night.

Early the next morning, they packed their things and set off toward the north.

Just like when they were gathering herbs last time, the group made their way into the rocky wilderness. The weather had probably been good for the past couple of days, as the snow on the hills wasn’t thick, just a thin layer.

The shrubs and weeds had all withered into clumps of dry branches and dead leaves, making the area look much more desolate.

Colin had originally planned to return to his old trade and gather some herbs, but seeing the state of things, he figured he was unlikely to find anything valuable.

The group continued on, following the rise and fall of the hills and searching for places where monsters might be hiding.

After searching the wilderness for two days, the party hadn’t seen so much as a stray dog, aside from a few pitifully skinny rabbits.

"Why aren’t there any monsters!"

Kase complained as he climbed up a small slope. "Where are all the monsters hiding? No monsters means no Gold Coins for us. Man, what bad luck."

"My evaluation form, too," Orelia said with a sigh. "It would be great if a horde of monsters just fell from the sky specifically to fight us. That way, no one would be in danger, we could make money, and I could write something on my evaluation form."

"I feel like the only thing that could satisfy that request would be a Giant Dragon," Ale said.

"Ah? On second thought, never mind."

Colin, who was looking down as he climbed, said, "No monsters is a good thing, isn’t it? If we go a little further, we should be close to the Goblin Cave from the bounty list. We should at least be able to secure that one."