Log village is a village with quite a good population, comparable even to some of the smaller towns.
Not many villages in this kingdom could compare to the prosperity that the Log Village has, which comes from mainly two reasons.
First being the mountains and hills surrounding the village, which are blessed with abundant and rare woods, resulting in much of the population's class being involved in the wood business.
Second it being a border city, causing it to be one of the main entrances to enter the kingdom, bringing trade and more specifically tax.
Though, the biggest reason would be the village chief.
The village chief is not of noble descent, even his class may very well belong to the Administrative category, some may even call it the cheap copy of Ruling Category Class, only for the skills.
But he has worked hard for the prosperity of the village, and mainly avoided any noble to take control of it, hoping to gain the title himself, though who knows whether his wish would be granted.
"We have reached our destination, M'Lord."
The driver said, making the carriage stop near an inn, hoping to resupply his carriage for traveling back to Amber City.
Kain did not say anything and merely exited the village, looking at the inn.
It can't even be compared to one of the minor inns in Amber City, but for a 'village' it sure looked quite appealing.
"Um…M'Lord…"
Kain looked at the Driver, whose head was bowed down, staring at the ground with a bit of worry on his face.
Kain understood the Driver's intention, and took out a silver coin from his pocket, giving it to the driver with a statement:
"Keep the rest for yourselves."
40 cooper was no small amount, especially for Kain who was apparently running low on funds, but it was worth it considering the Drivers struggle.
The driver instead stared at the coin with wide eyes, a commoner like him does not deal much with silver, hence the shock and the words of Kain intensified it even more.
"Thank you very much, M'Lord."
The driver did not dare reject the price, some noble scions can think of it as an insult, well, they may even consider breathing an insult.
Kain did not say anything and went into the inn directly, he checked in and bought some food, actual food not makeshift one he had been eating while camping.
After that, he went up, took a shower and relaxed for an hour, before coming downstairs, with the inn owner rushing towards him.
Kain didn't linger for long in the inn before stepping out and exiting the village because his destination was further away from the village.
Kain's gaze shifted towards the north of the village, as he started walking towards that direction.
The moment Kain entered the woods, he saw various wood cutters chopping down woods with their axes.
He went further in and stopped only after they were no longer visible, deeper into the woods, where there might be threats or monsters.
From his spatial pouch, Kain removed a folded map opening which he studied for a few seconds.
I need to cross three valleys before reaching the mountain with the cave, where the dungeon is located.
It would take at least two days, meaning Kain would have to survive a night into the forest.
Fortunately, the monsters in the forest were only slightly stronger than those in the woods of Amber City.
Storing the map back into his pouch, Kain started walking quickly but cautiously, with his right hand resting on the sword handle, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
Kain was expecting company, in fact he wanted it, cause even though he has learned to coat his blade with his skill, he still hasn't tested it on a target.
Not long after, even this wish of Kain was granted as a monster appeared in front of him.
*Grrrr…*
[Lesser Wood Wolf]
A monster native to the wolf, stronger and quicker physically compared to individuals with an agility attribute at 5 points but without any special abilities.
[Conqueror's Suppression]
Kain drew his sword and activated his skill right away focusing on the blade, his eyes gleaming with the tremor of Authority and so did his sword.
Still just 60% as the damn wolf is what I am more focused on.
The remaining 40% was of course targeted towards the wolf, albeit unintentionally.
Though, it only caused the wolf to flinch, as it became more aggressive and cautious but still, it lunged at Kain.
Kain did not move until after the wolf was within attack range, before taking a step back.
He had practiced against faster individuals with more points in agility before at the academy, this wolf's speed was nothing.
The wolf took a second to stabilize itself, the second which Kain exploited without any mercy as he swung the sword on its back.
A deep gnash appeared on the back of the wolf, which in most cases would have caused the wolf to burn with fury but the effects of the skill became apparent.
The legs of the wolf faltered, moving a step back with his tail tucked back and his ears dropped, aggression still in his eyes but eclipsed by fear, fear that this individual is going to claim his life.
A low whimper escaped from his mouth, resulting in a wide grin appearing on Kain's face.
Kain took a step forward, swinging his sword with more strength and confidence than before, causing the gnash on the wolf's back to become even wider.
The wound became unbearable to the wolf as he fell down, trying to run away from the inhumane human.
Though Kain didn't prolong his suffering or allow him to run, he slashed at its neck killing it on the spot.
Kain didn't waste any time as he stored the wolf's corpse into his pouch before another growl fell on his ear, then a few more.
*Grrr…* *Grrr…* *Grrr…*
Kain looked up and saw three more [Lesser Wood Wolf], one ready to pounce on him which he did in the instant Kain's gaze fell on him.
Kain avoided the wolf by taking the right step, though barely.
With a cold-glint in his eyes, Kain aimed for the neck of the wolf, for an instant kill.
But the wolf moved slightly, the attack landing on its ear instead, cutting it.
*Awooo…*
The wolf cried out in pain, and the effects of the skill caused it to falter but before Kain could attack again another wolf came forward.
The wolf tried to bite Kain's leg off but Kain avoided it, though not completely as blood trickled from the torn pants.
Kain ignored the pain, it was nothing compared to the injuries he had gained in [Hollow Puppet Dungeon] & during friendly duels.
He raised his sword and swung, landing and cleaning on the attacking wolf's neck, though instead of smooth slicing, there was the resistance of bones, dealing blunt damage.
However, the impact shattered the spinal cord, causing the wolf to die on the spot.
The third wolf was preparing to attack him but before that Kain killed the earlier injured wolf who wasn't prepared for his attack, splitting his body into two.
Fuck…
His control over [Conqueror's Suppression] broke as the skill was released outward, creating small waves to the pool of blood and the wolf to cower, wanting to run away.
But Kain didn't give it any chance, he aggressively threw two consecutive slashes towards the poor wolf, killing it as well.
Kain started panting after slaying all the wolves.
But before he could do anything else, a strange pain and tiredness washed all over him causing him to kneel down with the support of his sword.
Kain was confused, he had fought way longer before but never something like this has happened.
Is it the Authority attribute?
Too much continuous usage of the Authority Attribute, which is only at one point, caused a strain to appear on Kain's body as well as mind.
Authority is a powerful attribute, hence it is also one of the few which could kill one if over-exerted too much as it breaks both body and mind.
Though in Kain's case, the effect didn't last long as he was not using the skill any longer and rested his body for a few more minutes.
If I have to rest every time I use the skill, I won't reach my destination in time.
Kain decided to avoid engaging in combat, he can do so after conquering the dungeon and unlocking his class, increasing the value of Authority Attribute.
With that, the rest of the journey was quite uneventful, there were some monsters but Kain avoided those he could.
At night, Kain had to hide for 3 hours, as he saw alpha of these wolves, not one but three at varying instances.
The next day, Kain finally reached his destination, with the towering mountain in front of him.
Now, according to the information, I just have to find the cave facing in the direction of the Village. There is only one cave.