Chapter 62: Accident

Due to time constraints, Dean did not hide the Snow Bear’s Corpse in a remote place where no one ever went, but it was still hard to find.

At least, it took Dean about twice as long to dig out that massive corpse as it had before.

Next, Dean did not hesitate at all. The eerie blade of the Demon Blood Dagger stabbed straight into the Snow Bear’s eyes—Dean hoped not to damage the bear’s fur, because the Snow Bear’s fur was one of the most high-end decorations near Tier Territory.

Its value was very high.

Whether in Tier Town or among the Barbarians’ tribes.

And as a negotiator, Dean naturally understood that he needed to bring enough gifts to show his sincerity.

However, facts do not change according to personal Will. At least, the current one would not—

Just like that bandit leader, this Snow Bear was not only flesh and blood, but its skin was also consumed by the Demon Blood Dagger. The white fur quickly turned yellow and withered, just like the wild grass at the end of autumn.

Then, it completely lost its Life Force.

[Strength +0.1]

Finally, when the sulfur scent faded, such a prompt appeared on Dean’s character panel.

Undoubtedly, just one percent more Strength was far beyond that of an ordinary Knight, and it was only natural that he could crush ordinary Knights.

Even by pure Strength conversion, a Grand Knight would not be a match for this Snow Bear, almost comparable to a Silver Knight.

But in reality, a Grand Knight could completely fight against, and even easily slay, a Snow Bear; after all, apart from Strength itself, a Grand Knight also possessed Techniques and Talent.

This was enough to erase the gap between the two sides.

In fact, the fact that Dean was able to kill the Snow Bear was enough to explain some things.

Purely strong attributes might be power ful, but they were definitely not absolute.

Looking at the [Strength +0.1] prompt, Dean raised an eyebrow—clearly, Dean was hesitating whether to kill a few more Snow Bears to quickly improve his Strength; after all, this was originally one of his plans when entering the Snowplains Dense Forest.

However, the task of finding troops quickly surpassed such thoughts.

If he could turn the tide of a war with his own strength, Dean would definitely improve his strength.

But obviously, this was impossible.

Let alone the ‘Blood Moon War’ having less than ten months left, even if it were twice that long, Dean could not raise his Strength to a level where he could turn the battle situation with his own strength.

As for assassination?

Unless he killed King of City, no matter how many generals died, it could not change the ‘Blood Moon War’.

But trying to assassinate King of City was even more difficult, after all, King of City himself possessed the power of a Gold-rank Knight—unlike Dean’s incomplete Gold-rank power, King of City not only had complete Gold power but also, due to special Talent, far exceeded the ordinary Gold level; at least, in Dean’s memory, no assassination attempts against this King of City had ever succeeded.

Not only Emerald and Goth had done such things, and the final result was the loss of three Gold-rank experts.

Let alone Dean reaching the Gold-rank level. Just asking Dean to raise his Strength to the Gold-rank level in less than ten months was itself a fantasy.

So, unconventional moves could not be implemented, leaving only ‘face-to-face confrontation’.

Then, troops were naturally what Dean needed most at this moment!

…

According to the memories in his mind, Dean began to move towards the Snowplains Dense Forest—of course, for the sake of safety, his speed was not very fast.

After all, he was not yet at the level to ignore the entire Snowplains Dense Forest.

Whether it was the appearing Snow Bears or the Thieves that might be lying in ambush, Dean needed to avoid them one by one carefully.

The former, once he came into direct contact, would definitely mean death for Dean with no chance of survival.

As for the latter, although Dean was not afraid of direct contact, if he stepped into the opponent’s ambush circle, it would obviously be a fierce battle.

Therefore, he had to proceed carefully.

So, when the night of the second day once again covered the Snowplains Dense Forest, Dean finally reached the original destination: a tribe that was not very large, or even considered small, with a population of less than a hundred—the Barbarians’ tribe—such a small tribe could certainly not provide Dean with enough troops.

But such a small tribe was a necessary step Dean had to take before contacting those larger tribes.

After all, although he was now the Regiment Commander of the Ferrchelen Knight Order, the Lord of Tier Territory was still Baron Tier. Moreover, he did not even have the identity of a real Knight.

It was completely impossible to meet the Leaders of those large tribes.

Barbarians, like normal humans, had their own class system, which was even more strict—Patriarchs, Elders, and others, completely controlled the survival of a tribe, and could decide the life and death of others with a single word.

Whether it was people inside the tribe or outsiders!

So, when Dean saw that tribe, he expressed his ‘friendliness’—

“I mean no offense. I am just a lost Mercenary. I hope to spend the night here. Of course, I will offer equivalent items in exchange!”

Dean raised his hands high, and placed his Longsword, Longbow, and other weapons on the most conspicuous positions.

As for equivalent items in exchange?

The Barbarians’ unique civilization had not established a real Transaction system, and currency did not truly exist. Any needs could be met through barter.

“Keep your hands raised and walk towards us!”

A voice in common tongue with a strange accent rang out, and Dean, as the other person said, executed it meticulously.

Although the night had already covered the entire Snowplains Dense Forest, Dean could still clearly see that in the Stockade in front of him, there were no less than ten people holding their Spears and javelins.

It was easy to imagine that if he had any improper movements, the next moment he would be the target of attack.

And Dean absolutely did not want to test the Barbarians’ ranged attacks, just like their close combat that was famous near and far, their ranged combat was also not to be underestimated.

At least, no less than an experienced hunter.

“Are you from Tier Territory?”

When Dean walked to the entrance of the Stockade, where the lights gathered, that strange voice sounded again, and at the same time, a tall and strong figure walked out—the oil paint on the other person’s face allowed Dean to confirm that he was the Patriarch of this small tribe.

In the Barbarians’ tribes, the Elder was the one who mastered Secret Techniques.

And the Patriarch was the strongest and most skilled in combat—even in such a small tribe, those who served as Patriarchs were the Braves among the Barbarians.

Brave was similar to the rank of Knight.

“No, I am a Mercenary from the Three Southern Counties, who came here due to an escort mission for a caravan to White Night—but a few days ago, in a battle, my escort mission ended… We were defeated by bandits, and the employer also died under the bandits’ butcher knives. Only I, the poor survivor, am looking for the way back!”

Dean simply introduced himself.

“You can keep your weapons, but you must ensure they do not cause trouble!”

The Barbarian Patriarch pointed to the weapons on Dean.

For weapons, the Barbarians had a special tradition—weapons could not leave one’s side, so they would not confiscate others’ weapons.

Of course, this only applied to strangers and friends.

What if they were enemies?

They did not mind stripping you naked and hanging you in the Snowplains Dense Forest until you froze into an Ice Sculpture.

As for Dean’s words?

Undoubtedly, such things happened in the Snowplains Dense Forest every day, so they would not be suspected at all.

“Thank you, thank you!”

Dean thanked them while taking out a flask and handing it over—obviously, this was his accommodation fee; and seeing the flask in Dean’s hand, the Barbarian Patriarch’s eyes lit up, and he directly pulled out the stopper and took a big gulp.

As the Patriarch, one always had some privileges.

For example: choosing the spoils first.

“Ha, it’s Tier Town’s Strong Liquor!”

With a heavy breath, the Barbarian Patriarch seemed very satisfied. He patted Dean’s shoulder, pointed to the felt-roofed tents in the distance, and said, “You can rest there. There is a stove for warmth and some food inside; however, the guests who came before have already taken most of it… Oh, by the way, they seemed to be merchants heading to White Night. If you want to look for work, you can go ask them!”

Obviously, the ‘gift’ Dean chose had worked.

This Barbarian Patriarch frankly said everything he could—the Barbarians were generous and frank just like their bravery, but as a Patriarch, besides that, he also needed a certain amount of brains.

Therefore, this Barbarian Patriarch only said what he could say.

However, this was enough to make Dean pause—for Dean could not imagine that a caravan would really appear here, and even in winter, when it was almost too late!

From the Emerald Kingdom to the White Night Kingdom, even starting from Tier Territory on the border, one needed to cross the entire Snowplains Dense Forest, and then pass through the Northern Ice Plains, before stepping onto the Territory of White Night—And everyone knew that crossing the Snowplains Dense Forest and the Northern Ice Plains, summer was the best choice.

Even if one wanted to reach White Night for sufficient profit, one needed to make sufficient preparations.

Then Tier Town was the last supply point!

But Dean was sure that there had been no such large-scale supply teams in Tier Town in the recent days.

“What exactly…”

Dean pondered.