Winter was very cold.
Before long, the 'blood lake' had frozen over.
By the lake, Allen and Paul were squatting like they were taking a dump, looking at the monster burrows in the sliced-open snow.
"There's wind."
Allen held his hand at the entrance of a burrow for a while, then looked at Paul with a grave expression.
The latter scratched his head.
"Huh? Is there?"
"Yes, it's very faint, but my 'Flowing Sensation' tells me there's definitely wind."
Paul's mouth twitched.
"I still find it hard to believe that your self-created secret art actually incorporates one of the five great secret arts of the Water God Style, and you even mastered it completely two months ago. At this rate, if you master two more, you won't need to be a Water Saint. Mastering three qualifies you for the title of Water God, right? You can just go back to the Water God Style's main dojo and be crowned Water God."
Allen glanced at Paul's half-closed eyelids, understanding that he needed to talk some nonsense to distract himself from his fatigue.
"I came to the Water God Style's main dojo at the age of four, and from the moment I saw Leda use 'Flowing Sensation,' I have been thinking about and studying it constantly. I've watched it countless times over the years, and only now have I fully mastered and integrated it. How can it be as simple as you say, uncle?"
"If you put it that way, I also had an epiphany about the Silent Sword, but I still don't know the Sword of Light."
Paul rubbed the dark circles under his eyes, feeling that what Allen said made no sense.
"Huh? If I don't know it, where would you learn it from?"
Allen's eyes lit up. He bent down and reached into a dark burrow at his feet. To Paul's surprise, he pulled out a Saw-Spiked Rabbit.
It was dead.
Its body was covered in wedge-shaped teeth marks and small, deep blood holes the size of a fingernail.
Sylphie, Roles, and Rudeus gathered around.
It's worth mentioning that after the three of them regrouped with Allen, although their expressions each held a 'story,' they didn't ask about Roxy again, which made Allen breathe a sigh of relief.
Allen pointed to the lower half of the Saw-Spiked Rabbit, which was almost completely devoured, and the dense blood holes near its head.
"The Great-Toothed Rats ate the lower half, and the brain in the upper half was eaten by the Forest Snakes. The two types of monsters had been fighting over it for a while, but were suddenly scared away by me, so they left the carcass behind without either of them taking it."
"The marks on the lower half are consistent with the characteristics of Great-Toothed Rats. Their teeth are very hard, and they like to gnaw on the bones as well. But..."
Allen pressed his finger on the Saw-Spiked Rabbit's neck, and blood mixed with ice was squeezed out of the blood holes on its face.
Rudeus's eyes widened.
"This is..."
Hearing this, Sylphie finally tore her gaze away from Allen's face and looked at the rabbit carcass.
"The Forest Snake's fangs are hollow, and they prefer blood. But this carcass still has blood... This is not in line with the Forest Snake's hunting habits."
Allen ran his hand through the fur on the rabbit's neck. Tiny ice crystals fell like dust around him.
"The Forest Snake's slime. It was fighting with the... rats for food. Logically, the Forest Snake should have drunk all the blood first, but it seems it preferred the flesh..."
Rudeus tilted his head.
"Rats?" (TN: The text uses a homophone for "uncle" that sounds like "rat")
Allen ignored him, squeezed the rabbit carcass again, looked at the not-so-thick blood, and after exchanging a glance with Paul, made a judgment.
"The body is not dehydrated. There's a monster gathering place near running water."
Rudeus blinked.
"That's not right, is it? It's snowing, so of course there's no shortage of water."
Allen stirred the blood on the ground and said to Rudeus.
"Eating snow to replenish water needs to be done in small amounts over time. Eating a lot at once can cause severe hypothermia and lead to death. The monsters have brains and aren't stupid. But this rabbit's blood isn't thick at all, which means it had a large amount of running water a few hours ago, not replenished by eating snow."
Allen turned to Paul, who was looking at the forest with a grave expression.
"What do you say, uncle? Any clues?"
Under Roles's slightly grave gaze, Paul pointed to the dense forest to the northeast, his voice a little hoarse.
"Twenty kilometers away, there's a valley with a geothermal lake..."
He turned to Allen and hesitated for a long time before asking.
"Are we really going?"
Allen squinted and smiled.
"This is the fastest way, a permanent solution. Guarding here all winter is not an option. If I get worn out like you, uncle, and the monster tide hasn't receded, it'll be trouble."
As soon as he said this, the still-confused Rudeus reacted, his face turning a little pale.
Why was the monster tide endless? Because too many had reproduced last year. So was Allen's one-time repulsion effective?
No.
The number of kills was far from enough. The monsters had just mistaken Allen's attack for some kind of natural disaster.
They would be back.
So Allen's meaning was clear: instead of passively waiting in this harsh weather for the monsters to come again, it was better to take advantage of his peak energy now—
To attack the most densely populated monster gathering point, perform a few more of those 'Avalanche Crashes,' and the number of kills might be more than guarding here for ten days or even a month... but the attack range of Allen's move wasn't that large. It was not as good as large-scale magic... wait, wouldn't using magic kill even more?
Thinking this, Rudeus finally understood why Allen had to put on a show of explaining for so long. He craned his neck and slowly turned to look at Allen.
Allen looked at Rudeus with bright, shining eyes.
The map of the State of Yan, Allen had already unrolled it too far...
Rudeus instantly understood the meaning of Allen's expression. He struggled to speak, trying to resist one last time.
"I've never cleared out monsters before... I'm still a few months away from being seven years old..."
Allen smiled brightly back at him.
"What a coincidence, this is my first time too."
Rudeus was stunned.
Afterward, Paul and Roles discussed for a long time and decided that this monster clearing really had to be done this way. If they slacked off again this year, or retreated further to ensure they had the energy for a defensive stalemate, then next year there would be another monster tide, and the number of monsters would definitely be even greater than this year.
The two tentatively agreed to Allen's suggestion.
But they were still not at ease letting a few 'children' do this alone and decided that Paul would accompany them.
But this decision created a new problem: who would guard the protective net at the edge of the forest?
Normally, in this situation, Paul and Zenith, as the former main DPS and main healer of an S-rank adventurer party, would be the most suitable to hold down one side each.
But Zenith needed to take care of the children.
So, the final plan was as follows:
Wait for the next monster attack, repel them, then immediately dismantle the protective net, retreat to the outer edge of the forest, and set up the net in a position that the villagers could barely handle.
Then—
During the monsters' respite.
Wipe out their nest and complete the slaughter.
Personnel configuration:
Advanced Swordsman, Paul—Vanguard, clearing the way.
Water Saint, Allen—Flank support, protective role.
Hunter, Roles—Scout, logistical support, route recording.
Intermediate Mage, Sylphie; Water Saint-rank Mage, Rudeus—Center, firepower output.
Finally, three hours later, the monsters attacked again.
This time, with Rudeus's magic, the monsters retreated even faster.
Dismantling the net, retreating, setting up the net again.
Everything went according to plan.
In the afternoon, the wind and snow subsided, and the sun dyed the white snow of the forest golden.
The hunting party set out.
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