"They're crystal clusters!"

At the sight of those crystalline bodies glowing with faint blue light, Avril and Galvez spoke at the same time before Roland could even open his mouth.

Roland was not surprised that they recognized the crystal clusters.

After all, Elven blood flowed in both of them, granting them long lifespans.

Combined with the rich collection of ancient texts preserved by the Elves, their breadth of knowledge was far greater than Bronson's.

So after briefly explaining the crystal clusters' properties to Teresa, Roland continued, his brow locked tight.

"I was attacked by the Church of Truth before. The attackers were Humans infected by crystal clusters. Their forms..."

As he recalled the attack on the estate, his voice sank.

"Some looked no different from ordinary people, but they kept moving even after suffering fatal wounds. Others became as strong as Giants. In terms of actual strength, though... at most, they had barely touched the threshold of the Transcendent realm."

"My experience was the same as Roland's."

Avril raised a hand, her bright smile undimmed by the appearance of the crystal clusters.

"When I acted with a Shadow Veil squad before, we also encountered attacks from Humans infected by crystal clusters."

Galvez pondered for a moment before speaking.

"I have only seen records of them in ancient texts. This is my first time seeing them in reality, but..."

The bard bent down and examined them carefully before adding, "Can the disease known as Crystal Devouring appear in monsters as well?"

"Most likely, the Church of Truth conducted some kind of forbidden experiment on monsters."

Combining the information they had, Roland quickly reached a conclusion.

"In other words... the abnormal phenomena in the Misty Lands may very well be the Church of Truth working behind the scenes. The powerful monsters that have appeared recently are probably connected to them too."

Thinking of this, Roland took a deep breath.

"Avril, please report this situation to Mr. Derek."

"Understood!"

After a quick sweep of the battlefield confirmed there were no other discoveries, everyone took the carriage back to the small town they had set out from.

Yet in less than a day, the town's defenses had changed dramatically.

The walls, which had once been thinly guarded, were now packed with fully armed soldiers. Strict inspection checkpoints had also been set up at the city gate, where people had once come and gone freely.

"What happened?"

Roland asked a guard at the gate, but the man was busy checking those entering and leaving. He only verified their identities in a hurry, then urged them to enter the town quickly, with no time to answer.

After entering the town, the group split up.

As usual, Teresa headed straight for the tavern in search of food, while Avril used Shadow Veil's special channels to transmit the information about the Misty Lands and the crystal clusters.

In the end, only Roland and Galvez remained. They went directly to the Adventurer's Guild.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, they found the guild hall unusually quiet. Only a few mercenaries and adventurers sat scattered in the corners. The atmosphere seemed calm, but the faint smell of blood in the air hinted that things were not so simple.

"You're back?"

The delicate-looking receptionist saw them and waved in surprise. His gaze swept over them. After confirming they had no fatal wounds, astonishment crossed his eyes.

"You... escaped alive from that Bugbear?"

"Hey! Friend, what kind of thing is that to say?"

Galvez grinned and laboriously flung a bulging cloth sack onto the counter. It landed with a muffled thud.

He untied the cord at an unhurried pace, revealing the Bugbear's savage head inside.

"This... this is..."

The receptionist's eyes widened. He leaned closer to identify it, then let out a long breath and slapped Galvez hard on the shoulder. His tone immediately turned respectful.

"I never imagined you could... this is... unbelievable! Please wait a moment!"

He hurried toward the back hall. Before long, the clinking of metal sounded from inside.

When he returned, the once-empty coin pouch was heavy with coins.

"One gold and eighteen silver in total. Would you... like to count it?"

"Of course!"

Galvez accepted the coin pouch without the slightest politeness and began counting the coins one by one.

Roland looked around, then asked, "Excuse me, may I ask..."

"Just call me Larry, Mr. Roland."

The receptionist bowed slightly, obvious respect in his eyes.

"All right, Larry."

Roland nodded and continued, "While we were gone, what happened in town?"

"Three more Bugbears appeared nearby..."

Hearing Roland's question, Larry sighed, then lifted the curtain behind him.

Behind the curtain was a relatively open space packed with burlap sacks.

Judging by the human hair protruding from the sacks and the faint smell of blood in the air, the sacks were obviously filled with corpses.

"In less than a day, five mercenary groups and three adventurer squads were wiped out."

A bitter smile appeared on Larry's delicate face.

"And that isn't all. Passing travelers and merchant caravans suffered too. The gravediggers have gone mad from overwork, and there are still several corpses backed up here with me. They said they won't be able to collect them until evening."

After listening, Roland remained calm. He only raised his brow slightly.

"Do you have information on those Bugbears?"

"Of course!"

Hearing the intent in his words, Larry hurriedly took several fresh sheets of parchment from the counter and handed them over.

"Mr. Roland, given the emergency, the guild has not only increased the bounty for the Bugbears, but is also offering an additional Combat Technique as a reward!"

"A Combat Technique?"

Heat stirred in Roland's chest.

At present, the only Combat Techniques he had mastered were [Cleave] and [Crescent Moon Draw]. Although he did not have many, their effect in real battle was not to be underestimated, which was enough to prove the value of Combat Techniques.

Because of that, the offer made him even more determined to hunt the Bugbears.

After all, he was only one requirement short of completing the job change conditions for [Knight Apprentice]: "organize a squad to defeat two powerful enemies."

He had already experienced a Bugbear's strength firsthand, and it was not a match for their four-person squad.

He could complete an advancement condition, earn a high bounty, and obtain a Combat Technique for free. Why would he refuse?

Even so, Roland was not carried away by the generous reward. He carefully examined the information on the parchment, and his expression tightened.

"It looks like there is no difference from the Bugbear we just killed..."

Seeing Roland remain silent, Larry licked his lips and asked cautiously, "Mr. Roland, what do you think..."

"Let me consider it a bit longer."

Roland set down the parchment and did not accept the commission immediately.

After the battle just now, he had clearly realized that the information provided by the Adventurer's Guild was incomplete.

The commission had mentioned neither the crystal clusters in that Bugbear's body nor the magical item it carried.

Moreover, his body still needed several days to recover. Acting rashly would be too risky.

With this in mind, Roland asked, "Have those important figures in the River Kingdoms taken no action at all?"

"Ha..."

Larry gave a bitter laugh and helplessly shook his head.

"The Royal Capital is not exactly nearby. The news was only sent out today. By the time they make a move, it will be at least half a month later..."

"I understand."

After asking a few more questions, Roland pulled Galvez back onto the carriage.

"Roland, what are you still hesitating for?"

The bard tossed the coin pouch into Roland's arms, gripped the reins, and said urgently, "As a future hero, how can you tolerate these filthy monsters slaughtering innocents?"

Roland put the coin pouch into his belt pouch as he answered, "I have no problem hunting the Bugbears, but we need enough information and a detailed plan before acting."

"Now that's more like it!"

Seeing that Roland had no intention of backing down, Galvez instantly beamed.

He drove the carriage with one hand and took out paper and pen with the other.

"Right, Roland. While we have time, tell me the details of how you killed that Bugbear just now. Trust me, after my embellishment, your heroic deed will definitely..."

Amid the bard's endless chatter, the carriage headed back toward the inn.

In a deep, shadowed forest.

Most of the towering ancient trees had been cut in half, the solid ground was covered in spiderweb-like cracks, and pits of every size dotted the area.

Viewed from above, a huge clearing had appeared in the center of the once-lush forest, silently telling of the battle's ferocity.

At the edge of the clearing, Roland flicked the remaining blood from his mithril longsword and drove the sharp blade deep into the soil beneath his feet.

"Hah..."

Looking at the Bugbear corpse on the ground, still gushing blood, he let out a long breath.

"No wonder some mercenaries and adventurers complete countless commissions and earn rewards commoners could never hope to touch in a lifetime, yet still end up spending more than they make..."

Roland lowered his head and examined the fine iron round shield in his hand, which was almost falling apart, then shook his head.

"The cost of repairing or replacing weapons after every battle alone probably eats up most of the payment, not to mention other expenses during a mission..."

Because the River Kingdoms were relatively short on mineral resources, even the ordinary fine iron round shield in Roland's hand sold for dozens of silver coins.

If not for Colin, his financial backer, supporting him from behind, there was no way he could fight in such an "extravagant" manner.

"As Mana Elements recover, the enemies I encounter in the future will only grow stronger."

Roland thought silently.

"When I return to the Royal Capital this time, I have to think of a way to obtain weapons and equipment of the same quality as the mithril longsword. Otherwise, if a weapon breaks in battle, it may create a fatal variable..."

While he was deep in thought, Teresa finished inspecting the Bugbear's corpse and walked up to Roland.

Her voice was grave.

"Mr. Roland, this Bugbear is the same as the previous two. Crystal clusters were also found inside its body... and their number has clearly increased."

"I understand."

Roland stared at the Bugbear's corpse, his brow drawing tight.

A month had passed since they first encountered this type of creature.

During this time, they had continued acting according to their established strategy.

Teresa and Avril were responsible for gathering information, while the four of them jointly developed meticulous battle plans.

Although the two later battles had been just as fierce, their previous experience and tacit cooperation allowed them to kill both Bugbears without any real danger.

However, the process of those two battles had been entirely different from the first.

The first Bugbear had been cunning and cautious. When it realized the battle was turning against it, it had even tried to retreat. Its intelligence had been no worse than a Human's.

The two they encountered later, however, were more like ordinary low-intelligence monsters.

Savage. Frenzied.

The moment they discovered Roland and the others, they charged in desperately to kill them. Their attacks had no pattern, relying only on brute physical strength to crash through everything.

Even though their strength and speed had been slightly superior to the first one's, their fighting style was too primitive. Roland and the others quickly found openings and killed them with decisive strikes.

Because of this, those two battles had been much easier than the first.

"Was it because of the influence of those crystal clusters?"

Recalling the Bugbears' almost mad methods of attack during battle, Roland fell into thought.

"Roland!"

Just then, a bright voice came from behind him.

Before Roland could turn around, Avril had swept to his side like a light breeze.

Amid the mottled shadows of the trees, the Elf girl's short brown hair shone with a soft luster as it swayed with her movements.

"How was it? That arrow I shot just now..."

She playfully mimed drawing a bow and even imitated the sound of an arrow cutting through the air.

"'Whoosh,' and it hit the monster right in the eye!"

"You did very well, Avril."

Roland looked at the arrow still trembling in the Bugbear's right eye and did not hold back his praise.

Immediately after, a faint doubt passed through his eyes.

Over the past month, the two Bugbears they had killed had shared one thing in common.

There should have been other monsters entrenched around their lairs.

Yet every time Avril went to scout, she brought back the same news: there were no other monsters nearby.

This ran completely contrary to Roland's previous experience.

When he completed the task of "using a breathing method to kill one hundred hostile creatures," he had clearly observed that the monsters in the River Kingdoms all had an extremely strong sense of territory.

Even when facing powerful enemies like Bugbears, those lower monsters should have fought to the death to defend their territory.

Yet when they arrived at the scene, not only was it exactly as Avril said, with no trace of other monsters, but they could not even find the slightest sign of fighting.

"Could this... also be an arrangement by the Church of Truth? Or..."

Roland's gaze fell on the Elf girl, who was delighted at being praised, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Did Avril clear out the surrounding monsters ahead of time?"

While he was thinking, a horse's clear neigh broke the forest silence.

Galvez stroked his harp, and amid the melodious music, drove the carriage up to them.

The bard spread his arms as though reciting an epic.

"Ah! Let us praise this warrior whose sword light shines like moonlight! That fleeting sword technique just now would make even ancient Elven trees tremble, and even Dragons withdraw their arrogant scaled claws!"

"My dear hero, every mark left by your sword is worthy of being written into a sonnet, and every step you take should be recorded according to the golden ratio..."

"Enough, Galvez..."

Roland pressed a hand to his forehead, cutting off the bard's increasingly exaggerated praise. Then he pulled the mithril longsword from the ground, turned, cut off the Bugbear's head with one stroke, and tossed it into the bag he carried.

"Tsk..."

Seeing that Roland had no reaction to his performance, Galvez lowered his arms in disappointment and curled his lip.

"Right, Roland. What do we do next?"

"Return to the Royal Capital."

Roland signaled Teresa and Avril to remain on guard while he threw the bag of trophies onto the carriage.

"We're going back already? But..."

The bard took a slightly yellowed notebook from his coat and flipped through its pages regretfully.

"My Demon-Slaying Aria is still missing its final stanza..."

"Just make one up."

"Hey! Roland!"

Galvez closed the notebook in dissatisfaction.

"I am not the same as those third-rate bards! My stories must be based on real events, with only a little... artistic embellishment."

"A little... artistic embellishment?"

The corner of Roland's mouth twitched.

He had once had the honor of glimpsing the Heroic Epic Galvez had written with him as the model.

If he had not known himself clearly, he might have thought he truly was some chosen child of destiny meant to save the world.

"Enough, Galvez. The other Bugbear has already been dealt with by the local guards. There is no need for us to waste more time hunting ordinary monsters..."

Roland called Teresa and Avril onto the carriage.

"For now, we'll go to a nearby town to hand over the commission. After resting, we'll set out for the Royal Capital."

"Fine..."

Seeing that Roland's mind was made up, Galvez could only sigh and raise the whip.

Before long, the carriage left the devastated clearing behind.

Sitting in the jolting carriage, Roland thought of the Combat Technique he would soon obtain from the Adventurer's Guild, and heat rose in his heart.

But what made his blood surge even more was...

[Upon inspection, Host has learned a knight breathing method. Higher occupation Knight Apprentice can be unlocked]

[Requirements: Strength 20, Agility 18, Spirit 12, Lv.3 any knight breathing method, 1/1 max-level Basic Riding, 5/5 max-level short-haft weapon combat techniques, 5/5 max-level long-haft weapon combat techniques, 3/3 max-level ranged weapon combat techniques, 1/1 max-level shield block/defense technique, use a breathing method to kill 100/100 hostile creatures, command a squad (3 or more members) in battle to defeat hostile targets stronger than Host 3/3 times]

[Proceed with job change?]