Chapter 115 : Freedom! Threefold Advancement!
Chapter 115: Freedom! Threefold Advancement!
“Victor, what exactly is this Leo’s background?” Several followers behind Victor were extremely curious, whispering among themselves.
However, their focus was somewhat different from Victor’s.
The fact that Victor paid such attention to Leo made them feel that his identity must be extraordinary.
But for Victor, he didn’t dare speak carelessly about Madam Manta’s matter—after all, this was Laforin’s Blackstone City.
Damaging the reputation of the ruling family was no small matter for a noble.
So he kept his mouth shut, letting the other noble youths continue speculating.
Meanwhile, the Quasi-Knights from the Battlefield Faction were equally puzzled.
However, compared to the noble faction’s focus on Leo’s background, their attention lay elsewhere.
What they cared about was Leo taking three missions.
Although they didn’t know why Leo had such privileges,
in their eyes, whether he took three or thirty missions, the result would be the same—it was just for show.
“This kid is going out hunting for the first time and already playing with privileges, acting like he can actually hunt something.”
“Yeah, typical noble brat. Listened to too many Kingdom stories and thinks that just because he piled up his realm with resources, he’s invincible.”
“Just wait. Once he gets into the wilderness, I bet he won’t even know which direction is north.”
Compared to the noble faction, the greatest advantage of the Battlefield Faction was their rich wilderness combat experience.
Every bit of their resources and Merit Points had been earned through fighting and hunting in the wild.
So they deeply understood the hardships of the wilderness.
Anyone who had truly been outside knew how dangerous it was for someone who had never left the city.
Let alone hunting—even simply determining direction was difficult.
…
However, Leo, who had already left the city, seemed to encounter no difficulties at all.
Outside Blackstone City, the sunlight was bright, and the azure sky was cloudless.
Warm sunlight fell upon the road, and horse hooves kicked up trails of dust as they sped forward.
At this moment, Leo lay back leisurely on the broad back of the Giant Horse Dragon-Elephant.
With both hands behind his head, he admired the sky outside the city.
Above him, Fulei the eagle glided with outstretched wings, its sharp eyes vigilantly scanning the ground.
Within a radius of three kilometers, any disturbance would be reported to Leo immediately.
The warm spring breeze whistled past his ears, and the fragrance of wildflowers and grass continuously filled his nose.
It was truly the feeling of galloping freely in high spirits.
A smile curved at the corner of Leo’s lips. “This is what freedom feels like.”
Since arriving in this world, Leo had not left Blackstone City for a long time.
To put it bluntly, over the past half year, he had felt like a prisoner.
In his previous life, he loved riding his small electric bike at high speed on the roads.
But due to safety concerns, he had been forced to remain inside the city.
Now, however, he could finally gallop freely outside without restraint.
Even so, Leo did not lower his guard just because he had broken through to the Knight Realm.
Fulei maintained constant vigilance in the sky.
Leo himself activated Hunting Moment periodically, scanning with a combination of vision, hearing, and smell.
Meanwhile, the Giant Horse Dragon-Elephant continuously monitored suspicious sounds and scents around them.
At this moment, Leo felt like a moving surveillance radar.
By now, he had been outside the city for half an hour. Estimating the distance, he had likely traveled about fifty li.
Coniferous trees of varying heights began to appear around him.
Searching through the map in his mind, he concluded that he had reached the vicinity of the Shadow Forest.
Just as he was thinking, Leo’s ears twitched slightly, and he suddenly sat up.
Alert, he turned his head, drew the Beast Bone Longbow from his back, and nocked an arrow.
Creak creak creak—
The bowstring tightened, emitting sharp tension sounds.
Bang!
With a dull thud, dozens of meters away, a deer as tall as half a person collapsed instantly.
The arrow pierced directly into its eye socket. Its slender legs twitched twice before going still.
【Basic Archery (White) Level 2 88/100 (Strength +0.2, mastered archery skill, one arrow every two seconds)】
Archery gained a bit of experience.
However, Hunting experience did not increase.
At this stage, ordinary animals no longer provided experience for his Hunting skill.
Along the way, Leo continuously scanned for any approaching living beings.
But he had not encountered any Beastkin.
Just now, Leo had used the deer as a tracking target to grind Tracking experience.
But now, the deer was no longer needed for tracking—it had become hunting material.
Because at the far edge of his vision, a familiar Beastkin figure appeared.
It was a hunched, wretched-looking Beastkin, hiding behind a withered tree, revealing half its head in an attempt to ambush him.
Leo had long understood the danger of such Headhunters.
Among Beastkin, the Headhunter Tribe were extremely cunning and dangerous hunters.
They ambushed prey by throwing spears and using poisonous stingers hidden beneath their tongues.
But at this moment, it had no idea that Leo had been observing it for quite some time.
As early as two kilometers away, Leo’s aerial vision had already detected the sneaky figure.
He simply avoided alerting it and waited until it entered his attack range.
The Headhunter’s maximum attack range was about fifty meters.
Leo’s precise shooting range was around one hundred meters.
Thus, the distance between fifty and one hundred meters was his safe attack range.
As the bowstring snapped like thunder—
the Headhunter, still gripping its spear, suddenly had an arrow embedded straight into its eye socket.
The spear slipped from its hand and fell crookedly to the ground.
Two seconds later, it collapsed with a thud.
Leo’s first Beastkin prey had come easier than expected.
They said hunting Beastkin was dangerous.
But from Leo’s personal experience just now, it didn’t seem troublesome at all.
With the Dragon-Elephant and Fulei identifying direction and locating prey,
Leo simply needed to sit calmly on the mount and shoot once within range.
This type of Headhunter had already been recorded in Leo’s mental database of prey.
【Headhunter: A tribe formed from several small fox-type subspecies living in the dense forests south of Elf Valley. Slender in build, standing between 1.7 to 1.9 meters tall, they merged hundreds of years ago through a bloody “Totem Contract.” To resist the southward invasion of Minotaur tribes, they accepted the blessing of ancient and evil wilderness spirits. They harbor innate hatred toward the Elf Race and instinctive fear toward brutal Minotaurs.
Characteristics: Skilled at forest concealment, sharp molars, flexible spring-like spine, adept at spear throwing, lethal venomous stinger beneath the tongue
Weaknesses: Slow movement speed, weak physical defense
Special Value: The calf muscles can be consumed directly to aid the cultivation of the Furnace Breathing Technique; the venom sac can be used to produce Toxic Potions】
Leo was already thoroughly familiar with all information and anatomical structure of the Headhunter Tribe.
To him, they were merely moving targets.
After dealing with the first prey, Leo did not intend to exchange it for Merit Points.
Since he had started Alchemy,
compared to Body Tempering Potions, he now lacked Beastkin Meat more—so he would first replenish his supply.
If there was excess later, he would exchange it for Merit Points.
Moreover, the venom sac of this Beastkin was also useful to him.
It was likely a material for crafting Tier 3 Toxic Potions, so he intended to keep it.
On one hand, this natural toxin could be applied to arrowheads to assist in hunting.
On the other hand, it would serve as preparation for future potion crafting.
Leo spent half a minute dismounting and efficiently processing the Headhunter.
His movements were swift—he collected the valuable meat and venom sac, storing them in the leather pouch on his mount.
Then Leo mounted again and continued forward, though he slowed his pace.
He glanced at the panel.
【Hunting Level 4 94/100 (Insight into prey weaknesses, obtain comprehensive information of hunted species) (Effect: Hunting Moment Level 3)】
This skill would level up soon.
But before that, during the earlier pursuit,
another of Leo’s skills had already upgraded.
【Tracking (White) Level 2 1/100 (Agility +0.2, mastered the ability to mark prey locations, number of marks: 2)】