Chapter 145: Pure-blooded Ogre

Early morning at the camp, the bonfire had long since gone out, leaving only wisps of blue smoke.

Gauss and Arya washed up, hastily ate a simple breakfast, rubbed their faces stiffened by the cold, and headed to today’s meeting point.

The crowd had yet to fully gather when the low murmurs of several nearby small teams drifted over.

“Seems like a team’s missing?”

“I heard they—unluckily ran into a Tier 2 pure-blooded Ogre—”

“, so we’d better be extra careful.”

“That’s strange, though. Normally, if they couldn’t win, they should at least have been able to run away, right?”

“Maybe they were overconfident in their own strength?”

Gauss and Arya exchanged a glance.

Could it be that another team met with disaster yesterday?

“I’ll go ask around.” Arya gestured with her eyes.

With Gauss’s silent approval, she walked over to a familiar female mage not far away.

Moments later, Arya returned wearing a puzzled expression.

“What is it?” Gauss asked.

“They say—it seems to be that four-person team we dealt with yesterday.” Arya lowered her voice to a whisper.

“Huh?” Gauss raised a brow. “Then how did it turn into them running into an Ogre?”

So, Gauss equals a Tier 2 pure-blooded Ogre?

“Maybe? Someone covered for us?” Arya shook her head, honestly just as baffled.

“Forget it…” Just thinking about it led nowhere.

Either way, the matter had passed. No one had come to question them, and in the end, this rumor worked in their favor.

So… eat when it’s time to eat, drink when it’s time to drink.

For the destruction of a team, the other adventurers, though more alert, were not overly horrified.

After all, those who volunteered for this Winter Hunt had already mentally prepared themselves for unforeseen dangers.

Before departure, everyone had signed compensation agreements with the Adventurer’s Guild. Those who died in the monster purge would have their families receive generous benefits—

A sizable sum of cash, a respectable job arranged by the Guild, or other forms of compensation.

The loss of that team yesterday wasn’t the end—over the coming days, there would surely be more deaths among the hundred-strong group.

Moreover, many believed that if they ran into a Tier 2 Ogre and couldn’t win, they could still escape.

So the matter was quickly pushed aside.

From another angle, it was even a good thing—

It made the slightly complacent crowd, emboldened by the smooth first day, more cautious.

A man was standing high up, scouting.

After observing for a while, he slid down from a tree tens of meters tall, using a rope with the agility of a monkey.

“Captain, there are people.”

“How many? Need backup?”

“Two—one man, one woman. Strong. Looks like they’re handling it easily.”

“Fall back.”

The captain sighed.

On the second day, elite teams crossing boundaries to “forage” had clearly increased.

They had thought themselves among the first to act, but this two-person team had beaten them to it—and apparently didn’t even need help.

Still, they had no intention of contacting Gauss’s pair.

If Gauss and Arya couldn’t handle it, that was different—they wouldn’t mind stepping in for a 50–60% cut of the spoils. But as things stood, they’d likely get nothing and risk being seen as provoking them.

Conflict was too risky.

Besides, seasoned Winter Hunt veterans knew well the terrifying information network of the Adventurer’s Guild. Even if you thought you’d done something perfectly, if the Guild wanted to investigate, they’d find clues.

“Hurry, find the next monster stronghold!”

The captain waved his hand, and his team vanished into the shadows of the forest.

Ten or so minutes later—

The battle was over.

The snowy ground was now littered with monster corpses.

Arya walked over to Gauss, noticing that he was staring thoughtfully into the forest in a certain direction. She asked curiously:

“What is it?”

“Felt like someone was watching us just now.”

“Like yesterday?” Arya tensed.

“Probably not…” Gauss withdrew his gaze. “That feeling of being watched is gone now.”

“Still, let’s be careful.” Arya said instinctively.

Then she paused—realizing she was becoming increasingly reliant on Gauss. Even if it was just one of his baseless feelings, she instinctively believed it—well, except for his opinions on food.

Gauss glanced at his Monster Encyclopedia.

This was the second monster stronghold cleared today.

It was already afternoon.

“Total Monsters Killed: 922.”

The seventeenth normal monster entry lit up—[Frost Serpent].

A low-level monster active only in cold seasons, with strong aggression.

Body length ranged from one to two meters, as thick as a child’s wrist.

Its two front fangs contained cold poison—bites would rapidly freeze and necrotize flesh. Without timely treatment, it could freeze an ordinary person to death.

Though it had no Challenge Rating, it was still dangerous to ordinary people.

Its winter activity range was limited, and most victims were voiceless wild animals, so its notoriety was far less than that of Goblins.

“I think the ‘recipe book’ mentions it—should be edible?”

Gauss picked up a still-twitching Frost Serpent, neatly severed its head, and pressed the cut into the snow to freeze it quickly.

He looked at Arya.

“How about we try it tonight?”

“You sure it’s edible?”

Arya’s gaze shifted to a nearby Kobold corpse.

Its right thigh had two clear circular bite marks—the surrounding skin a ghastly purple-blue, the whole leg stiff as if frozen for days.

If she remembered right, this Kobold had stepped on a Frost Serpent and got bitten.

“Should be fine. This is an authoritative book—hasn’t been wrong so far.” Gauss patted the Complete Ingredient Guide Around the Emerald Forest.

Like Rust Frog meat—though Arya couldn’t stomach it—it was still edible for those who could tolerate the slight side effects.

For him, those side effects didn’t even exist—it was a perfect ingredient.

It had saved him a lot in meat costs.

After freezing the processed Frost Serpents and tossing them into his storage bag, Gauss nodded to himself.

Winter had its perks—meat spoiled less easily.

“Shame, another Half-Ogre.”

Gauss sighed after picking up the last Frost Serpent.

This was the fifth Half-Ogre he’d killed—no other Tier 1 elite monsters had shown up yet.

“This is an Ogre Shaman-led monster army, after all. Maybe in our area, there are just more of these.” Arya said, unsure why he was sighing. “Other races’ elite monsters might be in the outer regions.”

Gauss nodded.

They were likely in the middle area now.

If he were that Ogre Shaman, he’d place “his own kind” in the relatively safe interior, letting other races charge first.

So, to kill Tier 1 elite monsters like Large Goblins, Two-headed Goblins, or Goblin Warriors, they’d have to move outward?

Forget it—better to hit the 1,000-kill milestone first.

922/1000.

The next breakthrough was getting closer.

While they rested, Raven Ike was still hard at work, scouting nearby monster strongholds.

“Caw caw caw!”

Ike returned, flapping his wings. Arya fed him a dozen prepared meat strips as payment.

Once he finished swallowing, she began asking about the strongholds he’d found.

In his youth and nourished by Arya’s Nature’s Bind, Ike was growing quickly—his size already a circle bigger than when contracted, feathers glossier.

This was why a Druid’s beast companion could rival elite monsters in strength.

Gauss’s gaze lingered on Ike.

According to Arya, there were a few possible growth paths for him.

The first was the common giant-size route—like the wolf Ulfen, whose weight now was several times that of his kin. If the raven kept growing, it might become a flying mount.

Of course, reaching that point would require stronger Nature’s Bind from the master.

The second was evolving toward a “lord” form—gaining the power to command his wild kin.

The third was developing into a spellcaster—since all intelligent creatures had spellcasting potential.

After a brief exchange, Arya learned the locations of several strongholds he’d found.

Though Ike’s power wasn’t great, his aerial vantage was a huge scouting advantage—beyond what most detection spells could match.

Rest over, they set off again.

They reached the first stronghold Ike had pointed out.

Climbing to the treetops for a look, Gauss’s expression tightened.

This was a massive stronghold—roughly two to three hundred monsters spread across a clearing and surrounding woods.

Clearly not something their small team could take on now.

The leader was an Ogre even larger than a Half-Ogre—a pure-blooded Ogre.

Ogres, giant kin, typically stood around three meters tall, weighing easily over a thousand pounds (450 kg).

Challenge Rating at least Tier 2—those with special abilities could reach even higher levels.

Its massive body was like a moving hill.

Even the spiked wooden club in its hand was bigger than a grown man.

Ordinary Goblins at its feet looked like skinny dogs—or snacks for its teeth.

Flanking it were two Half-Ogres and an armored Gnoll warrior.

This was definitely an elite force in the monster army.

“We should fall back—this isn’t something we can handle. Pure-blooded Ogre, plus about three Tier 1 monsters, and two to three hundred lesser ones.”

Gauss didn’t linger, using Message to quickly relay the retreat to Arya.

This area was dangerous.

Confident though he was, Gauss didn’t think he and Arya could take such a massive stronghold alone.

Sliding down from the tree—

Just as he landed and was about to retreat with Arya, a sharp cry rang out from the distant sky—

Followed by a rush of rapid footsteps from afar.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.