Chapter 116 : The Second Mark! An Unexpected Turn!
Chapter 116: The Second Mark! An Unexpected Turn!
“Tracking skills still level up faster in open areas.”
Earlier, Leo had already used the Shared State with the eagle Fulei, gaining quite a bit of experience in this skill while tracking members of the Wilderness Knight Order.
Just now, Leo’s hunting had directly pushed this skill to level up.
At this moment, within Leo’s attribute panel:
【Strength: 3.5
Agility: 2.6
Spirit: 1.9】
After Agility increased by another 0.1, the gap between Leo’s Agility and Strength had finally closed to within 1.0.
This was the first time in such a long while.
Leo felt his body—his flexibility and suppleness seemed slightly improved compared to before.
Moreover, Agility mainly affected muscle response. Leo did not want to become a bulky mass of muscle.
What he pursued was a hexagonal warrior with strong practical combat ability.
According to the barrel theory, for the current Leo, when equipped with weapons, the value of increasing Agility might even be more important than increasing Strength.
And after this Tracking skill leveled up, the number of marks Leo could use had finally increased.
For such a long time, the special effect of this skill had barely played any role.
That was because, in his haste last time, he had placed the mark on that damned Goblin.
After that, there had been no way to change it.
But now, this trouble was finally resolved.
He now had one more vacant mark available for use.
However, perhaps due to the arrival of spring, the number of Beastkin outside the city was not as many as Leo had expected.
After riding along his route for about another half hour, Leo finally discovered his second prey of the day.
Glancing at the map, Leo was currently at the boundary between the Endless Plains and the Shadow Forest.
In this area, the tall trees had gradually thinned out, replaced mostly by shrubs taller than a person.
Leo’s eyes were sharp—he noticed that behind a distant cluster of shrubs, there seemed to be a massive figure.
As if sensing danger, the figure squeezed out from the bushes, revealing a large horn.
“It’s actually a lone Minotaur.”
According to the information provided by the panel, this kind of Minotaur was a tribal, group-living Beastkin.
If one was found, it was highly likely that a whole group was nearby.
Leo grew excited.
At this moment, the creature was more than two hundred meters away.
Yet Leo had already dismounted in advance, slowly approaching on foot.
As if sensing danger approaching, the Minotaur poked its head out of the bushes, its thick horn still carrying a clump of green branches.
With its vision, it did not see any human.
But it smelled something—a scent engraved deep into its bones, one that filled it with excitement.
A Headhunter.
It had caught the scent of a Headhunter.
The Minotaur’s eyes instantly glowed red.
A trace of brutality and bloodlust filled its gaze.
Minotaurs mainly fed on vegetation, but they also consumed meat.
Without meat supplementation, they would lack strength.
And their greatest source of meat was the Headhunters.
Headhunters were slow, had low attack power, and the spears they threw could not even pierce their skin—perfect prey.
It stamped its hooves and charged toward that familiar scent.
However, it suddenly heard a strange sound.
In the distance stood a human figure holding a sword, with a chunk of Beastkin meat in hand.
“Haha, it really took the bait.”
……
Meanwhile, inside Blackstone City.
In a building with a somewhat peculiar shape, Anthony was resting in his room.
He reclined sideways on his bed, a thick book placed before him, while holding a steaming bowl of tea.
“The mental tempering method of Sage Kaja is indeed very effective.”
He blew aside the scattered tea leaves floating on the surface. This tea brewed from Calming Herb was his daily drink throughout the year.
Tap tap tap tap.
As he was thinking, heavy footsteps suddenly sounded outside the courtyard gate.
Hearing the footsteps, Anthony closed the book and stored it in a hidden compartment behind him. “He’s here again.”
Knock knock knock.
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in.” Anthony sat up on the bed.
With a creak, Laforin pushed the door open and strode in.
“Anthony, how’s your condition?” Laforin approached with a concerned expression.
This time, he brought some potions obtained from Lady Manta, along with a package of butter pastries, placing them all on the table.
Ever since Anthony was injured in his battle with the Underground Lord, Laforin had come to check on him every other day without fail.
“I’m fine, Laforin. My condition has basically stabilized. I just need to recuperate slowly from now on. You don’t have to come see me every two days.” Anthony smiled, lifting the teapot from the stove and pouring Laforin a cup of tea.
“This tea of yours is still as bitter as ever.” Laforin took a sip and grimaced. “It’s so bitter it makes me nauseous. Forget it, I still can’t get used to it.”
“Hahaha, this is Calming Tea. I’m used to it.” Anthony looked at Laforin, seeming to notice something. “Laforin, your injuries… seem to have worsened?”
“No…” Laforin thought of Leo, a trace of embarrassment appearing on his face. “By the way, there’s some good news I wanted to tell you.”
“Good news? What good news?” Anthony was puzzled.
Laforin seemed a bit impatient. “Our city’s seventh knight has appeared.”
“The seventh?” Anthony was momentarily stunned.
After hearing Laforin, the first person he thought of was his attendant, Tita.
Before this, Zoro had been the quasi-knight most likely to become the next knight.
After him, it should have been his attendant Tita.
That was also one of the reasons he had chosen Zoro as a pawn.
Tita had followed him since childhood and was absolutely loyal to him, so her becoming a knight would be a great boost to him.
But clearly, Anthony could tell that Laforin was not referring to Tita.
“It’s Leo.” Laforin spoke the name.
“Leo? Leo Laide?” The teacup in Anthony’s hand paused mid-air.
He had noticed Leo before—during the year-end assessment, Leo’s performance had left a deep impression on him.
But at that time, it was only within the scope of a quasi-knight newcomer.
Yet now Laforin said that Leo had already broken through into the Knight Realm—he found it hard to believe.
“That’s impossible. I remember his Breathing Technique progress was only in the forties.” Anthony’s expression suddenly darkened as if he had realized something.
During the Beast Calamity, everything had originally been within his plan.
Including Zoro obtaining the Codex, summoning Calamity, the Underground Lord’s ambush, and the Centaur attack on the city.
This entire play had been directed by him.
And his ultimate objective had basically been achieved.
He had successfully obtained that Dragonblood Horse.
The Dragon Root in his memories—the key to the lost world.
At the same time, Zoro had been pushed forward as an Abandoned Piece to take the blame.
Everything had seemed within his expectations.
However, one step had gone wrong.
According to Anthony’s plan, Zoro had still had one final task.
After Laforin’s battle with the Centaurs, he would have arranged for Laforin to discover Zoro’s betrayal.
Thus, there should have been a master-disciple battle between Laforin and Zoro.
With Zoro’s strength at that time, having learned the second chapter of the Divine Sacrifice Method, even if he could not defeat Laforin, he could have used emotional leverage to severely wound the already injured Laforin.
In that case, the power ranking within Blackstone City would have been rewritten.
Then, once he made his move, the entire situation would have been completely under his control.
That was the ending that should have occurred—Blackstone City entirely within his grasp.
But everything seemed to have gone wrong from the very beginning.
He could never understand why Zoro had suddenly died in the city.
He hadn’t even needed to summon Calamity himself.
Before that, Ross and Ray had been sent by him to Elf Valley.
Clarsen and Eve Sova had been dispatched to the town to support Laforin.
Within the entire castle, there should have been no one capable of killing Zoro, who had mastered the second-tier Divine Sacrifice Method.
But now, he realized that he seemed to have overlooked one person.
A person whose growth in strength had exceeded all his expectations.