010. Just Another Camping Day to Utone

The smell of dew on the grass greeted the day, Zhen opened his eyes with a yawn and stretched immediately.

"I think I can move normally now," Zhen said, moving every joint in his body to make sure.

"Time to go, Mister Zhen," said Zaltar who was preparing the two horses to be tied back on the carriage.

"Wait a minute, we're not leaving today, I'm not feeling well," Zhen replies, leaving Zaltar confused.

"But we're riding a carriage and you can sleep during the trip as usual. Sick or not, it won't matter."

"I refuse to elaborate and you can't force me."

Zaltar let out a very long heavy sigh. "Alright, we camp again today, I want to take a short walk before going hunting. You don't mind, Mister Zhen?"

"Not at all. Oh yeah, take this dog for a walk with-"

The wolf bit Zhen's ankle and headed straight for Zaltar.

Zhen winced in pain and looked at the wolf. "Sometimes I start to think I should start teaching it discipline."

Zaltar and the wolf set off into the dense forest while Zhen stood up and stretched his entire body.

"It feels so amazing, not even the beasts can detect you, the soldier of Eleindal."

Several people suddenly came out from behind the trees, and even some who were previously invisible, suddenly revealed themselves from the thin air. There were 20 of them in total and all of them wore hoods that covered their entire bodies and even their faces.

"Looks like what was said wasn't an exaggerated lie," said one of the hooded troops who walked up to Zhen.

"So, what do you want? The two assassins should already tell you how strong I am, right?"

"Yes, and we're sure, the current you is not as strong as when fought Reginald yesterday."

"You know I defeated Reginald but still challenged me? I don't know if you realize it or not, but Reginald is much stronger than you guys."

"It's true, 7 of us aren't even strong enough to fight Reginald, but 20 of us and with your current condition. You won't be able to stand a chance."

"Heh~ Is that so? But there's one-"

Zhen suddenly jumped high as one of the hooded troops tried to slash his leg.

"Hey, that's rude." Zhen landed safely on the ground then looked at all the hooded troops.

[ Point shifter... ]

All the hooded troops blitzing at Zhen.

[ ...60% Agility, 35% Strength.]

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"So, this is the person Mister Zhen fought yesterday," Zaltar said while looking at Reginald's tombstone.

The wolf accompanying Zaltar suddenly growled and the big man immediately became alert and noticed the surroundings.

From the bushes, several wolves with deep red fur and fiery red eyes watched as they slowly approached.

Zaltar grasped his scimitar and prepared to fight, "Hellhound, why is this species here?"

Zaltar looked at Reginald's grave and then back at the hellhounds. "That's what it looks like, if this species are coming, this guy must be a very strong person."

Zaltar stood up straight and regulate his breath, maximizing his focus.

One of the hellhounds jumped up to pounce on Zaltar's head, but he managed to dodge and slash straight through it while floating in the air.

"Ouch!" Another hellhound bit the leg and Zaltar instantly decapitated the hellhound.

However, just as he succeeded, another one sank its fangs into his shoulder. The wolf jumped up and bit the hellhound until it fell to the ground and Zaltar immediately kill it.

There were still about 10 hellhounds circling and Zaltar just laughed, "Successfully killing one is not enough, I need speed to perfecting this technique, faster, more accurate, more-"

The group of hellhounds immediately jumped together towards Zaltar.

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Zhen sat on top of the 3 corpses piled on top of each other and tried to regulate his own breath.

"Wow, you guys are pretty strong too, I thought I'd be able to clean you up faster," Zhen said, looking at one hooded troop holding a dagger with trembling hands.

Many of the trees around had been cut down, hollowed out, and destroyed. The ground around was pitted, cracked, and exploded.

The 19 hooded troops that should have ambushed Zhen were now lying on the ground.

There were several weapons lying around and they all emitted a strong magic aura, including the dagger belonging to the one person who was still standing.

"H... H... How come? I thought in the report, you were weakened, how come?" asked the hooded troop with cold sweat pouring down his face.

"The report wasn't wrong, look, I'm having trouble to breath right now. In fact, I'm still in poor condition," Zhen replied while massaging one of his shoulders.

"L... Lies, so why, why did we lose?"

"What do you mean why? Me getting weaker doesn't mean you guys are getting stronger."

Zhen suddenly stood up and made the hooded troop sit down in surprise.

"By the way, do you guys have some kind of precious gem? Normally I don't kill before getting payment agreement, but you guys didn't give me time to negotiate," said Zhen walking up to the last hooded troop.

"O... O... Our captain wears an emerald necklace."

Zhen walked over to one of the corpses and searched for the emerald necklace, it was quite large as long as his 2 middle finger and as wide as 3 middle fingers.

"Woah, look at that, what a beautiful gem. You don't mind if I take all your magic weapons?" asked Zhen while picking up the magic weapons lying around.

"B... B... But... Those weapons belong to the kingdom, you can't take them."

"Don't blame me, I tried to negotiate the price for your head, but you wouldn't even listen."

"But..."

Zhen pointed at the hooded troop. "Even Reginald is more polite than you."

"Eh?"

Zhen picked up all the magic weapons again and put them into his [ Inventory ].

"Now that the price of you guys has been paid, let's talk about something more serious," Zhen said, approaching the last hooded troop.

"Normally I would kill everyone without leaving any witnesses, but I need you," Zhen said as he pointed him with a magic sword he had just looted.

"Y... Yes?"

"Tell the people who sent you, if they are serious about fighting me, they should use whole army. Can you say that?"

The hooded troop nodded quickly, "Yes, I can, I really can."

"I honestly don't care about your politics. If you want to coups, revolutions, civil wars, territorial expansion, invasions, colonization, I don't care. The only reason I want to go to Eleindal is the hot springs."

"Yes?"

"That's why, tell them, if they don't bother me, I won't bother them. Do you get my message?"

"Yes! Totally."

"Good, now go back and deliver my message."

The hooded troop stood up, although a bit shaky, he could breathe a sigh of relief that at least he could return safely. As he turned around and took a step to leave, Zhen suddenly called out to him. The hooded troop stood still and turned around slowly.

A quick slash suddenly severed the troop's left arm.

The troop cried out in pain while shedding tears, "Why? You said you wouldn't kill me. What did I do wrong?"

"I forgot to tell you one thing, the fact that you know who I am and the tradition of killing heroes, knowing this knowledge is an act of criminal based on the inter-kingdom agreement and punished by death sentence."

The troop lost his breath, his heart raced quickly and he peed his pants.

"But since I need you as a messenger, I'll only take one of your hands," Zhen said while closing the slash wound using level 1 healing magic.

The troop's face was pale, and his lips were trembling, "Am I... not going to die?"

"Of course not, I'm too lazy to deliver the message myself." Zhen patted the troop's shoulder. "If you've finished your duty, I suggest you retire and spend the rest of your life as a farmer. The information you have is too dangerous."

Zhen helped this hooded troop to his feet. But a pack of hellhounds came around the corner.

Zhen took a deep breath then looked at the hooded troop, "Don't tell me, the kingdom of Eleindal is expanding southward?"

"I... Yes, two months ago, we took control of the Arret forest."

Zhen sighed again, "Why, why south?"

"What? Can I be free?"

"Yes, go now," Zhen replied with despair look on his face.

As the troop walked away, one of the hellhounds tried to pounce on him, but the beast's head suddenly exploded.

The troop was startled and looked at Zhen who was holding some pebbles. He swallowed his own saliva as he realized that this elf had just destroy the head of the beast by throwing pebbles.

"Take it easy, just go," Zhen reassured.

The troop immediately ran as fast as he could and every time the hellhound wanted to pounce on him, the hellhound's head exploded.

"Should I go to Eleindal and finish them all off?" Zhen monologue while looking up at the blue sky.

The hellhounds were still circling Zhen vigilantly, but the elf was in no mood to move. The hellhounds leaped towards Zhen.

He instantly emitted a killing aura so powerful that made the beasts freeze in midair. When the hellhounds landed on the ground, their legs trembled and some of their hair fell out.

"You guys like to eat the corpses of strong people, right? Just take the corpses of those people," Zhen pointed towards the pile of hooded troop then took a lying position on the ground.

The hellhounds watched Zhen who just wanted to lie down. The beasts retreated while carrying all the scattered corpses. 

"If they expanded into the Arret forest, chances are, they leveled that mushroom's habitat," Zhen monologue again with a long sigh.

"I hope the demons infested that kingdom immediately."