Chapter 62: Lizardman
3950 points of Killing Experience.
Even after deducting the more than 900 points gained from killing the Goblin tribe, each advanced Werewolf warrior still granted Soren nearly 300 points of Killing Experience. Creatures that naturally possess a Biological Level of 3, along with one or two levels of Profession Level, provide this much experience, but they are also much more difficult to deal with. Soren ended up using nearly half a bottle of Bipedal Dragon poison against them, and he would only be able to support one more battle before running out.
There were no rewards from the Werewolves, as their broken weapons were hardly worth anything.
After resting for a bit, Soren moved toward the Werewolf lair. He certainly couldn’t pass up the spoils after such a hard-fought battle; the group of Werewolves he scared off probably wouldn’t dare to return. Soon, he was back near the lair, and the fleeing Werewolves hadn’t returned. These Werewolves would become Wanderers in the wilderness until they were accepted back into their tribe by stronger kin. The lair had a terrible smell, filled with a pungent stench and the odor of bl**d.
Soren saw many bones of beasts, humans, and humanoid creatures, along with traces of campfires nearby.
The loot collected by the Werewolves was quite disorganized, with many items still stained with bl**d. He even saw flayed human skin; Werewolves would use the hides of all their prey to make simple leather armor. The lair held a considerable number of weapons, suggesting they had attacked humans; these ordinary swords and knives would not be taken. Soren only managed to find the gold (Gind) among them. There were also some ordinary goods, likely from previous merchant caravans they had attacked, but there wasn’t much of value.
In the end, he found about a hundred gold coins, along with a couple of amber stones.
What a surprise!
These Werewolves surprisingly had less gold than the Goblin Sorcerer.
Soren washed his hands somewhat dejectedly and then packed the valuable items away. It was impossible to carry the goods and weapons; they were too heavy and also wouldn’t fit. When he returned to the village tonight, he could tell them; perhaps they might be interested in sending someone over to transport it, since those were everyday supplies that they could definitely use.
Soren was ready to leave.
However, just as he was about to exit, a glimmer caught his attention.
“Hmm?”
He carefully pried open a stone wall with his curved blade and discovered a hidden gemstone inside.
“Wow!” Soren couldn’t help but curse as he took out the gemstone. He held it in his hand and looked at it under the sunlight, immediately exclaiming, “I didn’t expect these guys to have such a good item, and well hidden at that.”
It was a pink diamond.
It was only half the size of a fingernail and had not been polished. Had it not been for that slight glimmer catching Soren’s eye, he would have likely missed it. Some merchants would buy uncut diamonds after making money to carry them around; they are discreet compared to carrying a large sum of gold, and they can make a profit once back home. Such diamonds are popular among nobles, and some wizards love them, making them easy to sell.
“Probably worth around five or six hundred gold coins?”
Soren had not studied diamond prices much before, but diamonds are generally not cheap; ordinary diamonds might fetch about two to three hundred gold coins, and pink diamonds are valued approximately twice as much. This being an uncut diamond, it would be smaller after cutting, but its value should not be less than five hundred gold coins.
Soren smiled as he tucked the pink diamond away.
Although he had found many valuable items on the body of the Grey Dwarf Wizard, those items were inconvenient to sell. Even low-tier wizard rings are hard to sell, whether for Vivian or for his own use after he takes on a side job; they are life-saving gear. As for items like the “Shadow Black Tentacle” spell scroll, those should never be sold. Although he couldn’t use them now, copying a scroll isn’t easy at all, with the basic materials amounting to hundreds of gold coins.
And it isn’t a hundred percent success rate!
Not counting the items found on the Grey Dwarf Wizard’s corpse, Soren’s total earnings only added up to about three to four hundred gold coins, barely enough to buy one or two extraordinary pieces of equipment.
Of course, these would be lower-tier extraordinary equipment; the high-tier ones are terrifyingly expensive.
Soren carefully searched the area again to ensure he hadn’t missed any other good items before quickly leaving the Werewolf lair.
It was getting late.
If he didn’t want to camp out in the wilderness, it would be best to return now.
Before nightfall, he could make it back to the village and get a good night’s rest before heading to check out the area where the Ogres appeared tomorrow.
Those creatures were much more dangerous than Werewolves.
Ogres have a Basic Biological Level of 5, most of which also have Advanced Professions; the majority are Warriors, with a few becoming Wizards and Sorcerers. If they maintain their totemistic faith, the Ogre Tribe can also train Shamans. They are essentially another type of Priest, but they do not worship Deities. Ogre Shamans rarely appear in the wild but play a crucial role within the Ogre Tribe.
Ogres have a Challenge Level of 6, and the number of their groups in the wilderness is about 35.
If given the chance, Soren would try to eliminate them; if the enemies were too powerful, he would abandon the target and move on.
Ogre Strength Gauntlets.
This piece of equipment represents their dangerousness; an adult Ogre has a strength of at least 18 points, and if advanced, it could be 20 points of extraordinary strength, allowing them to wield weapons weighing over 100 pounds. Given Soren’s current strength, he could withstand a few blows from a Werewolf without dying, but getting hit by an Ogre would likely mean d*ath.
The only obvious weakness is that Ogres are inherently a bit slow, and their attack speed is not fast.
If in small numbers, one could rely on agility to dodge and fight.
Under normal circumstances, adventurers prefer to face a large group of Werewolves rather than a small group of Ogres, because even a strong shield warrior would get hurt from an Ogre’s attack. They naturally favor heavy weaponry, and equipping armor does little good. Handling these creatures must avoid contact; getting hit could lead to loss of limbs, which isn’t unusual.
Of all attributes, strength has the most significant impact on damage output.
Therefore, the challenge difficulty of most creatures with high strength attributes is raised by one level, especially against giant creatures.
Soren had deeply experienced this when he hunted the Hill Giant; one careless brush against it could result in losing an arm. He had to exhaust all his savings to have a Priest heal the broken bone. However, he did eventually k*ll the Hill Giant, avenging himself.
Night fell.
As Soren retraced his steps, he immediately sensed something was off when he returned to the village.
The Militia were fully armed and guarding nearby; many locations had torches lit. Upon seeing someone approach, they quickly drew their bows, relaxing only when they recognized Soren.
“What’s going on?” Soren stepped inside the village gate and inquired, “What happened?”
The Militia Captain emerged with a grave expression. He glanced at Soren and said solemnly, “Lizardmen! The Lizardmen from the swamp have come. They are well-armed and ambushed our patrol team.”
“We suffered heavy losses; two dead, five injured.”
Soren’s face immediately became serious. He looked around and asked, “How many of you are left? Don’t count ordinary people; I mean those who are equipped and have received training as warriors.”
The Militia Captain hesitated for a moment and slowly replied, “There are thirty of us left. But there are many able-bodied men in our village who can fight if armed.”
“Too few.” Soren frowned and looked at him, saying gravely, “This number isn’t enough to deal with the Lizardmen.”
“I suggest you migrate to elsewhere as soon as possible.”
