After Duke practiced the Giant Whale Breathing Technique to the second level, the green sprout on the skill tree didn't change, which was somewhat different from before.
"It seems the level cap for the Giant Whale Breathing Technique is indeed not LV5." Duke confirmed his previous speculation.
Previously, at LV2, it would already be in the form of a green leaf, but now it remains a green sprout.
Duke speculated that he probably needed to practice to the third level and become a mid-tier Knight Attendant before it would transform into a green leaf form.
After this breakthrough, the Magical Beast Meat he previously bought was almost consumed.
Duke was planning to go to the city to purchase more the next day, but unexpectedly, he received a mission in the middle of the night.
A small village called Ravenna Village, north of Fengqiu City, encountered an attack by Cavemen, and only one child in the entire village escaped the catastrophe.
The child survived by hiding in a bucket in the well, and it was a passing Hunter who pulled him up.
The entire village was in ruins, with unfinished corpses scattered everywhere.
"Cavemen..." Duke had only heard about these creatures before and hadn't seen them firsthand.
Cavemen are a type of Sub-human, and although their name includes "man," they lack the civilization that humanity inherently possesses, being not much different from wild beasts.
To Cavemen, humans are just another type of food.
In the past, there were frequent incidents of Cavemen attacking humans.
However, rarely have there been such large-scale Cavemen attacks, where an entire village is slaughtered.
This naturally crossed Earl Hardy's line, who immediately ordered the Nightingales to handle the matter overnight and eliminate these Cavemen that endangered the territory's people.
The Nightingales quickly assembled more than sixty people, with Lu Ping, a high-tier Knight Attendant, leading the group.
The sixty-plus people were divided into six squads, each squad consisting of three to four newcomers.
Duke was in the squad led by George, and Hewen was also part of this team.
This operation did not include any Knight-level experts, as Cavemen have relatively low combat strength.
Ordinary Cavemen are just slightly stronger than militiamen and weaker than low-tier Knight Attendants.
Only some elite Cavemen possess strength comparable to mid-tier Knight Attendants.
With the Nightingales' strength of over sixty people, wiping out a Cavemen community was simply effortless.
Duke equipped himself with a long sword and longbow and checked his pouch for essential items like dry rations before mounting his horse.
Everyone received a horse for traveling purposes.
The distance from Fengqiu City to Ravenna Village takes at least a day and a half.
Duke and the others departed overnight, expected to arrive at Ravenna Village by noon the next day.
The group gradually left the manor, galloping down the road on horseback.
Veteran soldiers were more relaxed with jokes and laughter among them.
Many new recruits were silent and tense; many had never killed anyone before and were instinctively afraid of the prospect of fighting Cavemen.
Lu Ping noticed this and, having encountered similar situations before when taking new recruits on their first training mission, said, "Relax, boys, those Cavemen don't even reach your knees when they jump, so there's no need to fear!"
"That's right. With your strength, you can easily handle these things. Besides, Earl said that for every Caveman killed, there's a gold coin reward. So make sure to be quick," an experienced soldier chimed in.
The atmosphere in the team lightened, making the new recruits less anxious.
In fact, these veterans would take care of the newcomers, not letting them fall into perilous situations.
Cavemen, with their low combat strength, are perfect for honing skills.
...
By noon the next day, everyone arrived at Ravenna Village.
The entire village was eerily silent, with no one left here.
The bodies in the village were already dealt with, but the ground still bore many bloodstains.
These bloodstains were still fresh, narrating the horrific scene that unfolded here a few days ago.
Lu Ping quickly began commanding the crowd to guard, patrol, and stay vigilant around the perimeter. They planned to rest for the night before exploring the surrounding forest for signs of Cavemen.
Several experienced veterans were quickly dispatched to gather clues for the next day's operation.
Duke wandered around the village, observing that it was just a very ordinary small village, even smaller than Yining Village.
He saw many signs of fingers clawing at the ground, accompanied by drag marks that extended into the nearby forest.
These tracks were accompanied by blood, giving a sense of what the scene must have looked like at that time.
The group began setting up camp, building fires for cooking, and constructing small shelters to shield against possible rain as the weather in the forest changed unpredictably.
About two hours later, the veterans sent out on reconnaissance began returning.
They had found traces of the Cavemen in the forest ahead, estimating their number to be around a hundred.
"Such a large number, something's unusual," Lu Ping said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
Normally, Cavemen reside deep in the forest, mainly surviving by hunting wild animals.
They generally don't leave the forest in such large numbers to reach the outskirts like this.
Based on the reconnaissance clues, this group of Cavemen intends to settle here for the long term.
This is the forest's edge, with nowhere near as many wild animals to provide food.
For these Cavemen, the easiest food to obtain is the nearby human villages.
Lu Ping exhaled with relief, "It's fortunate we discovered this early, or else the nearby villages would suffer."
They promptly took out maps to devise a battle plan.
The Cavemen had not discovered them yet, and the scouts brought back all the positioning information, marking them on the map.
That night, while eating, they assigned tasks.
Divided into squads, they would enter the forest from different routes, surround the Cavemen, and aim to annihilate them completely.
After a night of rest, they began moving at dawn.
This surprise attack timing could catch the Cavemen off guard.
Duke followed closely behind George, moving silently through the forest.
About half an hour later, everyone reached their designated positions and saw the Cavemen ahead.
The Cavemen were short, averaging only a meter tall, with pale red skin, typically wielding wooden clubs as weapons.
Some held short daggers, evidently looted from the village.
Duke noticed a few Cavemen who were visibly taller and more robust, likely the elite-level Cavemen.
"Can these things have mid-tier Knight Attendant strength?" Duke doubted.
To him, the elite Cavemen still seemed weak and didn't pose any sense of threat.