Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Alaric didn’t bring Zephyr with him since it was too big and conspicuous. Instead, he rushed towards the location on foot. With his speed, he could even run faster than some Disaster-grade beasts.

No mission is notified this time. What a pity.

He volunteered to take care of this task because he hoped to receive a mission from the system, but he didn’t get any notification.

A few hours later, Alaric finally saw the Purple Mist Tree.

He wasn’t familiar with its appearance, but based on the description and illustrations written in books, he could tell that this was what he was looking for. Moreover, he also discovered the monster outpost built atop the branches of the tree.

Hold on… I thought this tree could only produce ten fruits every decade, then why is there an extra fruit?

Alaric was confused.

Hanging from one of the branches was a purple fruit which was significantly darker than the normal Purple Mist Fruits. Furthermore, it was twice as big and it was wrapped in some kind of mana membrane.

With one look, Alaric’s instincts told him that this particular fruit was a treasure.

Not bad… This trip is not wasted.

As he moved closer to his target, Alaric removed all traces of his mana to prevent the monsters from discovering his presence.

There are more monsters here than I thought, but the strongest is just an entry-level Disaster-grade beast.

We have plenty of warhorses that are stronger than it.

He thought to himself as he stuck his body to a tree.

There are about fifty Fatal-grade orc warriors and one Disaster-grade orc general.

Alaric calmly assessed the enemy’s strength and numbers while preparing his attack.

Just as he was about to make his move, he saw the orc warriors dumping monster carcasses on the roots of the tree.

What are they up to?

Alaric was curious about their unusual actions he decided to observe the situation.

Why are they dumping monster corpses on…

Just then, the roots of the tree suddenly moved like tentacles to grab the monster carcasses.

The carcasses quickly shriveled up and were soon reduced to bones.

Seeing this, Alaric was stunned.

So they are using monster corpses to nourish the tree…

Alaric had never heard of this nourishment method before.

Much to his surprise, he could sense that the mana inside the fruits was getting increasingly dense.

So the monster carcasses can speed up the nourishment of the Purple Mist Fruits. Who would have thought that monsters would discover this unusual method?

Alaric’s eyes lit up with this discovery.

It’s about time!

With quick, ghost-like movements, he rushed towards the Purple Mist Tree. He moved so fast that none of the Orcs managed to detect his presence.

Alaric targeted the orc warriors at the bottom of the tree. With a series of quick stabs, ten orc warriors were killed!

The Purple Mist Tree seemed to have sensed their death and quickly grabbed their corpses.

Alaric ignored this eerie scene and went to kill the remaining Orcs.

In just the blink of an eye, half of the orc warriors had already been killed. Their corpses weren’t even spared and served as nourishment for the Purple Mist Tree.

When only a fourth of the orc warriors were left, the orc general finally sensed that something was amiss.

It looked down from the outpost and saw Alaric killing its subordinates with ease.

“Enemy attack!” The orc general shouted, its voice attracting the attention of the remaining orc warriors.

Hearing this, Alaric clicked his tongue.

Tsk!

Since he had already been discovered, he no longer decided to be discreet with his attacks.

He jumped directly towards the monster outpost and began his carnage.

It has been a while since I killed some Orcs!

His eyes turned red as he recalled the bad experiences he had with the Orcs in his past life.

Unknowingly, his Ruthless Slaughterer trait began to take effect. His physical strength was amplified, but negative thoughts also began to surface in his mind.

I didn’t notice it in the battle in Aklan Pass… but these negative emotions… are increasing my desire to kill.

It’s controllable, but I shouldn’t be reckless.

In less than half a minute, all the orc warriors had been killed, leaving the orc general as the sole survivor.

“Human!” Backing off, the orc general revealed a trace of fear.

Alaric didn’t give it a chance to escape and swiftly cut off its head with a single slash.

Whoosh!

The orc general’s headless corpse fell to the ground and was sucked dry by the roots of the Purple Mist Tree.

After killing all the orcs, the negative thoughts in his mind gradually vanished.

Alaric lifted his head and looked at the dark purple fruit.

This one is still not mature so I should cover it with leaves so others won’t notice it.

Alaric covered the fruit in thick leaves.

That should do it.

Once the war is over, I will bring a researcher to inspect this fruit.

Alaric observed the vicinity.

After ascertaining that there was no one nearby, he left and rushed back to the main army.

***

Meanwhile, the ten-man scout team had already traveled more than ninety miles.

Along the way, they encountered three undiscovered monster outposts which they reported back to the main army.

“We aren’t even in the 100-mile mark, but we have already found three undiscovered monster outposts. It looks like His Highness Alaric’s intuition was right.” Someone said in a grave tone.

“Keep quiet! There are enemies ahead!” Bane warned the group, his face looking incredibly serious.

“Sir Bane, how many enemies can you see and how strong are they?” Varys asked while looking at the barbarian warrior.

While keeping his eyes in front, Bane responded. “There are sixty goblin warriors, ten hobgoblins, and they also have a Disaster-grade goblin chieftain!”

Hearing this, Varys frowned.

“Defeating them isn’t a problem, but it wouldn’t be good if the colony discovered us this early. We need to make a detour.”

“It’s too late. They have already discovered us.”