After the death of the King of Cave Dwellers, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Even an injured King of Cave Dwellers required their combined strength to kill.
The power gap between a Knight Level and a Knight Attendant is still too great, making it difficult to deal with the other side under normal circumstances.
The group then started searching the cave, and upon entering, they witnessed a horrific scene, with many eaten remains and some prepared for drying.
The smell in the cave was extremely unpleasant, a mix of blood and the stench of excrement, and with no ventilation, it made people nauseous.
Duke and the others gathered all the remains in the cave and set them ablaze, as a way to console the departed souls.
Lu Ping and others gathered around the King of Cave Dwellers, discussing something, all of them noticing the wounds on the king's chest.
These wounds could not have been caused by ordinary means, the charred flesh must have been scorched by extremely high temperatures.
Duke also observed the wound, thinking it indeed looked like it had been struck by lightning.
This is a cold weapon era, without any heat weapons.
He looked at the corpse on the ground, wondering, "Could this guy have been struck by lightning by chance?"
Duke felt something was off but couldn't pinpoint it; the wound didn't quite look like a lightning strike to him.
Lu Ping was silent for a moment before saying, "It seems some Magical Beast with magic power severely injured this King of Cave Dwellers, forcing this cave-dweller community to migrate."
"Magic power?" The others listened with some apprehension.
Duke listened on, thinking: "So this world indeed has magic power..."
Knights already count as extraordinary power, not part of the normal human scope.
Duke initially believed knights were the pinnacle and strongest power in this world.
However, now learning that Magical Beasts also possess magic power was unexpected.
One could infer that perhaps within humanity, some might also wield magic power.
Thinking of this, Duke couldn't help but ask, "Can Official Knights handle such Magical Beasts?"
"It's difficult, depending on what rank the Magical Beast is. If it's a Knight Level rank beast, the average Official Knight has almost no chance of victory," Lu Ping pondered for a moment and said.
Above high-rank Magical Beasts are the Knight Level beasts, known as rank beasts.
And above rank beasts are the legendary extraordinary beasts.
Duke subsequently learned that magic power is extremely bizarre and troublesome.
Armor can resist blades and cold arrows but can't defend against magic.
Like the lightning burn marks on the chest of this corpse on the ground, no armor can block such lightning.
Even an Official Knight is helpless against this kind of power, no different than being stark naked.
Magical Beasts capable of using magic power are extremely rare; such beasts haven't appeared in the Vera Kingdom for decades.
Lu Ping and the others looked grim; they needed to report this news back as soon as possible, thinking of solutions in advance.
If such Magical Beasts indeed appear, it might lead to another brutal battle.
During their silence, Duke couldn't help but think of a question and asked, "Can humans use magic power?"
Lu Ping paused and then said, "There are rumors of such people, who can call the wind and summon the rain, change the world, capable of anything. But those are just legends, not necessarily true.
In the legends, these people are called Wizards."
"Wizards..." Duke felt he needed to go back and consult some ancient texts and stories to understand better.
He thought, since Knights with fighting spirit truly exist, then Wizards might not just be legends; they could very well be real.
"It's said in legends that this world was created by Wizards, but those stories are just to be listened to; creating a world isn't much different from a God," Lu Ping laughed.
...
After the cave dweller incident subsided, the group led by Nightingale returned to Fengqiu City to be rewarded.
According to previous regulations, slaying a cave dweller rewards one gold coin.
Considering the existence of elite cave dwellers, one elite cave dweller is worth three gold coins.
Duke alone received fifty-five gold coins, thirty of which were rewards for assisting in killing the King of Cave Dwellers.
After receiving these rewards, his purse became full again, with over seventy gold coins.
Lu Ping immediately went to report the entire incident to Earl Hardy, including his findings and some conjectures.
Duke wasn't privy to the specific content; he already took this money and returned to Fengqiu City, purchasing ten pounds of pre-cured Magical Beast Meat at once.
Duke bought a few smaller pieces to eat separately.
Estimates suggest consuming four to five pounds of Magical Beast Meat a month; ten pounds are enough for two months of training.
After purchasing the Magical Beast meat, Duke entered several days of peaceful training life.
Since there weren't any more tasks issued, he changed into the outfit previously gifted by Wood and headed to Fengqiu City.
Duke arrived again at the Adventurer's Tavern, ordered a cup of butter beer, and sat at an empty table.
The tavern was lively; the noise was jumbled as groups of people gathered, each discussing their own matters.
These adventurers mostly had loud voices, some speaking even louder after drinking too much, mixing into noise that made people's eardrums buzz.
Duke tried hard to sift through this chaotic information, attempting to select some useful information.
He noticed a Minstrel telling a story, surrounded by many listeners.
Minstrels are essentially wanderers, long roaming everywhere, earning a living singing and telling stories.
Like this Minstrel, others simply ask him for a drink and he shares tales from other places.
Many people haven't actually traveled far and have extremely limited understanding of other regions, lacking reliable information sources.
Upon encountering a Minstrel, they couldn't help but be curious.
Upon listening, Duke too became interested as the Minstrel's story happened to be about Wizards.
"Official Knights are impressive enough, right? But do you know, long, long ago, even Great Knights were only fit to serve as Wizard Attendants," the Minstrel said slowly.
"Nonsense!" A bearded man listened, full of disbelief, thinking it was nonsense.
"Exactly, Great Knights are legendary figures; how could they possibly be attendants to others! Are you trying to deceive us?" someone questioned.
The Minstrel was evidently accustomed to such occasions and wasn't flustered, laughing, "How dare I deceive you? What I narrate is documented historical fact. It's just that Wizards have been absent for so long, people slowly forgot them."
"In fact, many countries still bear traces of Wizards' existence, and many possess mysterious items whose power actually comes from Wizards. That point you should know, right? Just like Earl Hardy's Red Glove..."