The morning campfire had long extinguished, leaving only wisps of smoke.
Gauss and Aaliyah, having washed up and eaten a quick breakfast, rubbed their cheeks, slightly stiffened by the cold, and went to today’s gathering point.
The group hadn’t fully gathered yet, but low whispers from nearby teams drifted over.
"Seems like a team is missing?"
"I heard they... unfortunately ran into a level 2 pure-blooded ogre..."
"Tsk, we have to be extra careful then."
"Logically speaking, if they couldn’t win, they should have been able to escape, right?"
"Maybe they were too confident in their own abilities?"
"..."
Gauss and Aaliyah exchanged a glance.
Could another team have met disaster yesterday?
"I’ll go find out." Aaliyah signaled with her eyes.
With Gauss’s approval, she approached a familiar female mage nearby.
A moment later, Aaliyah returned with a confused look on her face.
"What’s wrong?" Gauss asked.
"They said... it seemed to be that four-person team we dealt with yesterday." Aaliyah whispered, almost inaudibly.
"Huh?" Gauss raised an eyebrow. "Then how did it turn into an ogre encounter?"
Is he, Gauss, equivalent to a level 2 pure-blooded ogre?
"Maybe? Someone’s covering for us?" Aaliyah shook her head, she was equally puzzled.
"Forget it.... There’s no point in overthinking it."
Since it was over, and no one came to question them, it was a good outcome in itself.
So... eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink.
Though the adventurers raised their vigilance with the fall of a team, they weren’t overly shocked.
After all, those who volunteered for this winter hunt were prepared for unforeseen risks.
Before setting off, everyone had signed compensation agreements with the Adventurer’s Guild for casualties from demon eradicating, ensuring substantial reimbursement for families.
A considerable sum of cash, a dignified job arranged by the guild, or other compensations.
Yesterday’s team wasn’t the end; with a troop of hundreds, more deaths were inevitable.
Many believed that even if they encountered a level 2 ogre, if they couldn’t fight, they could at least run.
In a way, this was a good thing too.
It made those who had been slightly complacent due to smooth operations on day one more cautious.
...
A man stood high up for reconnaissance.
After observing for a while, he descended swiftly and skillfully like a monkey using ropes from a tree tens of meters high.
"Captain, there are people."
"How many? Do you need support?"
"Two, a man and a woman, very strong, seem to handle things easily."
"Tsk... Fall back."
The captain sighed.
On the second day, elite squads venturing out for "prey" clearly increased.
They thought they were the earliest movers, only to find this two-person team had already beaten them to it, and seemed not to need help.
Nevertheless, they had no intention of contacting Gauss and Aaliyah.
If Gauss and Aaliyah were overwhelmed, they wouldn’t mind stepping in, expecting fifty or sixty percent of the gains, but without benefit, they left it.
Conflict was too risky.
Moreover, old hands in winter hunts were aware of the terrifying intel capabilities of the Adventurer’s Guild, a behemoth that left no stone unturned, always capable of tracing clues even if they thought they were perfect.
"Hurry, find the next monster nest!"
The captain waved, and the group swiftly vanished into the shady woods.
After about ten minutes.
The battle ended.
The snow-covered ground was littered with monster corpses.
Aaliyah walked to Gauss’s side, noticing his eyes fixed thoughtfully deep into the woods and curiously asked.
"What’s up?"
"Just now... it seemed like someone was watching us."
"Like yesterday?" Aaliyah’s heart skipped a beat.
"Probably not..." Gauss retracted his gaze. "Now that feeling of being watched is gone."
"We’ll have to be careful nonetheless," Aaliyah said instinctively.
Then, she paused, realizing she seemed to be increasingly reliant on Gauss, thinking even his gut feelings were right, except for his occasionally questionable food judgments.
Gauss glanced at his Monster Atlas.
"Total monsters killed: 872."
The seventeenth ordinary monster entry was lit, [Frost Serpent].
A low-level demon active only in cold seasons, highly aggressive.
Body length between 1 to 2 meters, about the thickness of a child’s wrist.
Its two front fangs contained frost toxin, causing bitten areas to lose temperature rapidly and necrotize, enough to freeze and kill an ordinary person without timely treatment.
Though without a challenge rating, it posed significant threats to ordinary people.
It’s just that activities are limited in the winter, and since most victims are voiceless wild creatures, their notorious reputation isn’t as loud as the goblins’.
"I think there’s something in the ’cookbook’ about it... should be edible?"
Gauss picked up a slightly twitching frost snake, swiftly sliced off its head, and pressed the cut into the snow to freeze it quickly.
Looking at Aaliyah, he said.
"Why not give it a try at noon?"
"Are you sure it’s really edible?"
Aaliyah glanced at the corpse of a kobold nearby.
Two clear round bite marks surrounded by horribly bluish-purple skin were on its right thigh, which was stiff as if frozen for days.
If memory serves, the kobold accidentally stepped on the frost snake and got bitten.
"It should be fine, this is an authoritative book, and hasn’t shown any errors so far." Gauss patted the "Jade Forest Ingredients Atlas" in his hand.
Things like rust frog meat, although Aaliyah couldn’t enjoy it, don’t mean it’s inedible; as long as the slight side effects can be endured, it can fill the stomach.
For him, those slight side effects don’t even exist, and it’s a perfect ingredient.
He saved a lot on purchasing meat for meals because of this.
After processing and freezing the frost snakes, Gauss tossed them into the storage pouch, nodding.
One advantage of winter is that meat doesn’t spoil or rot easily.
"It’s a pity it’s another half-ogre."
After picking up all the frost snakes, Gauss sighed.
This was the fourth half-ogre he had killed; the other level 1 elite demons were still nowhere to be seen.
"After all, it’s a monster horde led by an ogre wizard, and perhaps the area we’re in just has a lot of this type of demon." Aaliyah, not understanding his sigh, spoke up. "Many elite demons of other races might be in the outer regions."
Gauss nodded.
The area they were currently in should be in the middle section.
Suppose he were the ogre wizard; he would have most likely stationed ’his people’ in a relatively safe area, having the outsiders launch charges as the vanguard.
So to kill elite demons such as the Big Goblin, Two-headed Goblin, and Goblin Warrior of level 1, one would have to move to the outer edges?
Forget it, let’s satisfy the thousand-kill milestone first.
872/1000.
The next upgrade was getting closer.
While the two rested, Raven Aik was still diligently working, scouting the nearby monster outposts.
"Caw caw caw!"
Aik flapped its wings and returned.
Aaliyah fed it ten pieces of pre-prepared jerky as a reward.
Only after it finished swallowing did she start asking about the locations of the outposts it had found.
The juvenile Aik, nurtured by Aaliyah’s natural force, grew rapidly, noticeably bigger since the initial contract, and its feathers were shinier.
This is why the beasts of a druid are no less powerful than elite demons.
Gauss’s gaze lingered on Raven Aik for a moment.
According to Aaliyah, its future strengthening routes might vary.
The first and most common is gigantification of size, like Gray Wolf Ulfen, whose current weight is several times that of its kind.
If the raven continues to grow larger, it could become a flying mount in the future.
Of course, reaching that level requires a significant natural force from its master.
The second possibility is to evolve towards becoming a "Lord," gaining the power to command its kind in the wild.
The third possibility is developing in the direction of casting; intelligent creatures have the potential to master casting.
After a brief exchange, Aaliyah learned the locations of several outposts discovered by it.
Raven Aik’s strength wasn’t great, but occupying the high ground provided a massive advantage in vision.
Ordinary scouting magic could hardly compare.
After resting, the two set off again.
They arrived at the first monster outpost indicated by Aik.
Gauss climbed a treetop and observed for a moment, his expression turning slightly grim.
This was quite a large monster outpost, with an estimated two to three hundred monsters scattered in the clearing and surrounding woods.
It was clearly beyond what their small team could handle.
The monster leader was a pureblood ogre, much larger than the half-ogres.
An ogre is a giant subspecies, typically about 3 meters tall, with weight easily exceeding a thousand pounds (450 kg).
Its challenge rating is at least level 2, and those with special abilities and talents could reach higher levels without much difficulty.
Its enormous body was like a movable small hill.
Even the spiked giant wooden club it held exceeded the size of an adult man.
Ordinary goblins at its feet were like skinny dogs, akin to small snacks to be filled in the teeth gaps anytime.
Beside it, two half-ogres and one fully armored jackal warrior stood on guard.
This was definitely an elite force within the monster horde.
"Let’s retreat for now. We’re not capable of dealing with a pureblood ogre and about three level 1 demons. The other subsidiary monsters also number two to three hundred."
Gauss didn’t look further, using the communication technique to convey a retreat signal to Aaliyah.
This area was very dangerous.
Even though Gauss had great confidence in his abilities, he didn’t believe he and Aaliyah alone could tackle such a monstrous outpost.
Gauss slid down from the tree.
As he landed, preparing to retreat with Aaliyah, a sharp screech suddenly came from the sky above.
"Screech---!!!"