Encounter in the Red Pine Forest

Barok moved swiftly among the trees, like a gust of wind passing through, so fast that his figure was almost invisible. Even the elves, known as children of the forest, were no match for him. At this moment, he felt a sense of exhilaration, like a bird taking to the sky or a beast breaking free from its cage. Even without standing beneath a totem pole, he felt a sensation akin to transforming into a wolf, with the power of ice surging uncontrollably outward. As he traversed the forest, the ice rings collided with branches, continuously cutting through weak twigs. When they struck thick tree trunks, they left deep scars before shattering, only to reappear as Barok continued his journey, in a continuous cycle.

"Heh, even if I can't unleash them fully, I've become a human meat grinder now," Barok couldn't help but mock himself!

After more than half an hour, Barok began to feel exhausted as the ice rings ceased to appear, leaving only a circle of frost-like white mist. If he were beneath the totem pole, he could maintain the ice rings for three hours, but away from it, he could only endure for ten minutes. In other words, his most powerful abilities could only be exerted for one-twentieth of the time. He wondered if breaking through the critical point would bring any improvement. Being bound to the totem pole was a major issue that needed to be resolved sooner or later!

As he prepared to sit down and rest, Barok was puzzled by the fact that after being in the forest for so long, he hadn't encountered any wild animals. Then, he suddenly stood up and saw a wild boar not far in front of him, panting heavily. Barok turned to look and couldn't help but smile wryly; behind him was a large pine tree, most of its bark worn away, oozing layers of resin. It turned out he had been using the tree to armor himself against the wild boar!

Wild animals were not very intelligent, so Barok didn't attempt to communicate or resolve the dispute peacefully. Moreover, there would be food for the night, so he had no choice. Almost as the wild boar charged towards him, Barok's body leaped high into the air, landing behind the boar. With a short spear in hand, he precisely stabbed it in the weakest spot behind its ear, a move that even a normal grizzly bear would retreat from. The wild boar collapsed to the ground, dead.

Barok had not been idle during the year he spent with Maximo. The old man had been a gladiator for half his life, able to live to old age, which was almost a miracle. His skills must have been the most practical and effective, whether in killing or defense. Even if disregarding Qi, even ten so-called high-level Qi warriors combined might not be able to defeat Maximo alone. Barok had used his extraordinary learning ability to master the old man's skills in just half a year.

And he had indeed killed before. Shortly after mastering the old man's martial skills, he had left Red River Valley Town for several days, even Maximo didn't know where he had gone, and had even thought he had run away. What they didn't know was that a bloodbath had occurred hundreds of miles away in Black Crow Town. The owner of the only blacksmith's shop in town was found dead in bed. And a group of over a dozen gravediggers and drunkards in the tavern were suddenly slaughtered by a masked man who burst in, then left without anyone daring to stop him. It was said that... those drunkards were boasting about how they abused and slaughtered orcs on the plains at the time. Later, this incident became a cold case, causing the people of Black Crow Town to refrain from discussing orcs recklessly!

Barok placed the wild boar under a tree and continued on his way. Most of the trees in the forest were thick and tall, making it difficult to discern directions. Without making markings, it was easy to get lost, unless one was an exceptional hunter. Barok, being cautious on his first venture into the Thraum Forest, made a notch on the tree trunk every so often. After advancing rapidly for over an hour, he climbed onto a tree branch to survey the area and suddenly saw a vast expanse of fiery red ahead.

It was a large area of red trees, resembling burning flames. It was hard to believe that from the branches to the needles, the pine trees were completely red, which meant it was indeed the Red Pine Forest!

Barok cautiously stepped forward, knowing that such strange and special places often housed peculiar creatures. It was best to be careful, lest he not find the Green Arrow Squirrel but instead encounter other terrifying magical beasts.

Surprisingly, Barok ventured deep into the forest without encountering any creatures, not even a bird or an insect. If this wasn't a dead zone, it was full of vitality. Frowning, he suddenly smiled, sitting down gently on the ground, setting down his short spear, spreading his arms, and unleashing the power of a shaman. With almost inaudible whispers, it was as if he sat beneath a totem pole, opening his soul to feel!

Soon, a marvelous world unfolded before him. He could touch with his soul's tendrils, discovering numerous creatures with magical camouflage abilities, peering out from all the dark corners. They might be small and weak, but they possessed remarkable intelligence. With cute little faces, fluffy tails, raised front paws, large teeth exposed, they were a group of adorable squirrels!

Barok opened his eyes and walked towards the largest and strongest-looking red pine tree. Climbing onto its branches, he ascended to its crown, where there was a particularly large tree hollow. There, a robust squirrel seemed to be waiting for him. Its fur was almost entirely red, with only a green stripe running down its back, resembling an arrow from head to tail.

Barok had some knowledge of magical beasts and knew that solitary creatures tended to be of higher rank, and therefore more fierce and powerful. If it was a group-dwelling magical beast, its rank would often be lower, but there would always be one particularly wise leader, possessing the intelligence of a six or seven-year-old child, which could be called a king, leading the entire group to evade predators or hunt for food. The squirrel before him was obviously the king of the Green Arrow Squirrels.

Barok sat down in front of the squirrel, silently watching it. The squirrel gnashed its teeth, its eyes seemingly flashing with blue light, as it spat a water arrow at a pine cone on a nearby branch with a 'plop,' causing it to drop to the ground, as if it were demonstrating its power!

Barok chuckled and shook his head at the squirrel. His power was slightly revealed, and the temperature around him instantly dropped, causing frost to form and ice rings to appear. With a shrug of his shoulder, the ice rings collided with the tree branches, knocking off large chunks of wood. The squirrel king instantly lost its vigor, realizing that it was much weaker and no match for Barok.

The squirrel king seemed to change its strategy, jumping back into its tree hollow and pushing out a pile of pine cones in front of Barok, as if offering these food items in exchange for something. Barok shook his head again and pointed to the squirrel itself. The squirrel king displayed a human-like expression of despair. Barok believed he wasn't mistaken; it really did show a look of despair. It turned its body around, revealing its belly to Barok.

Barok could clearly see a very prominent scar on the squirrel king's belly, seemingly caused by a dagger or something similar. It tilted its neck, revealing a clear ring mark around its throat. Barok immediately realized that this squirrel king had once been captured by humans, kept as a pet, and had suffered torture before miraculously escaping to save its life.

The shamanic ability of orcs to communicate with animals lies in their ability to sense the joy and pain of animals. Faced with the squirrel king's desperate plea, Barok suddenly found it difficult to help humans capture Green Arrow Squirrels! However, he couldn't stop Lady Celine and her party from finding the Red Pine Forest. After some consideration, he gestured and communicated with the squirrel king for a long time, finally gaining some clues. The squirrel king pointed to a distant snow-capped mountain, chirping and squeaking. Although it would be risky, it was worth a try.

Of course, he couldn't let his efforts go to waste. Barok almost eagerly grabbed the squirrel king, indicating for it to release another 'water arrow'... Finally encountering a magical beast (though a bit weak, it was still a magical beast), he had to experience the process of it casting magic!

Poor squirrel king, it was treated as a test subject. Every time Barok pulled its tail, it had to puff up its cheeks and, with a flash of blue light in its eyes, 'plop' out a water arrow. Barok closed his eyes, concentrating on understanding the process of the Green Arrow Squirrel releasing the water arrow!

After a dozen pulls, the poor squirrel king had rolled its eyes and couldn't spit out a single drop of water anymore, so Barok had to reluctantly let go. Its magic power was too weak, and the process of release was barely perceptible. He vaguely felt a wave of fluctuation passing from its abdomen to its mouth, then condensed the elemental power of water in the air into a water arrow and shot it out. As for the method of triggering, it was completely unknown.

Well, since he had already agreed to help, he had to follow through. Barok released the Green Arrow Squirrel and waved goodbye, jumping down from the pine tree and heading towards the mountain.

Barok deliberately increased his speed, darting through the forest like lightning. Soon, he arrived at the foot of the mountain, where there was also a large Red Pine Forest, much larger than the previous one. However, it was too close to the mountain peak, indicating that there was likely a terrifying magical beast residing there, which was why the squirrel king hadn't chosen this area as its home.

Looking up at the towering mountain, covered with snow from halfway up, Barok wondered what kind of magical beast lurked there. After some thought, he decided not to take the risk and turned back! As long as he led Lady Celine and her party to the Red Pine Forest, his mission would be accomplished. After all, he was only here to scout, and no one had ordered him to find the Green Arrow Squirrel!

Intentionally bypassing the Red Pine Forest where the squirrel king lived, he returned to the tree where he encountered the wild boar. Surprisingly, the boar hadn't been dragged away by any other animals, so he hoisted the hundreds of pounds of wild boar and headed back!

This time, his scouting took over three hours, and everyone was impatiently waiting. Just as Myra was about to prepare to move forward again, they finally saw Barok's figure.

Dropping the wild boar, Barok smiled before anyone could reproach him. "I found a large swath of Red Pine Forest, right at the foot of a mountain. Perhaps we'll find traces of the Green Arrow Squirrel there!"