Full-Time Psychic Martial Artist

Tragedy did not occur. The young elf had just begun its descent when, less than a second later, its speed suddenly slowed down and returned to a constant rate.

Lorne breathed a slight sigh of relief. Luckily, he had learned the "Feather Fall Technique" beforehand; this was much more reliable than catching it with his psionic tentacles.

The next second, two invisible psionic tentacles reached out, caught the falling elf girl, and gently placed her in front of them to stand still.

The fear in the little girl's eyes had now turned into curiosity, and there was a hint of anticipation that she wanted to do it again.

Lorne's lips twitched slightly, but he forced a smile as he looked up at the elves on the cliff:

"It's alright, you guys keep climbing, I'll take her up in a bit."

The elves then withdrew their concerned gaze and continued climbing.

"My name is Lorne. What's your name?" Lorne knelt down on one knee so the other person wouldn't have to look up at him.

"My name is Shana, and I'm four years old," the little girl said in her childish voice.

Lorne noticed that Shana's clothes were too big. Even with the sleeves and pant legs rolled up, they were still loose and baggy, making it difficult to move around and letting in drafts.

"Little Shana, are you cold?" Lorne asked.

"Mmm!" Shana nodded, then sniffled.

Lorne exchanged the remaining available spells from the last upgrade for [Campfire].

~~~

[Campfire Technique] (Ranger, Druid, Spellcaster, Mage, Mechanist, Alchemist)

Magic tricks, spells, standard spellcasting, concentration.

Create a campfire in an open area within 20 meters that you can see, and place an iron pot filled with clean water on the fire.

As long as you stay focused, the campfire and the iron pot will remain, and the pot will automatically fill with water.

Ascending Ring Casting:

Each level up creates and sustains an additional campfire.

~~~

Lorne made a hand seal with one hand and chanted an incantation.

The magic quickly coalesced, creating a campfire in the open space, with an iron pot filled with water placed on top of it.

"Go warm yourself by the fire. I'll take you up after everyone else has gone up," Lorne said with a smile.

"Mmm!" Shana responded, obediently squatting by the campfire and stretching out her two little hands.

"Achoo!"

The campfire warmed her body, dispelling the chill from the wind and snow. Shana shivered comfortably and couldn't help but sneeze.

Lorne smiled slightly and said to the elves who were queuing up to climb, "Come and warm up. If your hands and feet are warm, you'll be able to climb up more easily."

Several elderly elves immediately came over, reaching out to warm their hands around the campfire. One female elf lovingly adjusted Shana's clothes and winter hat.

After this little incident, the elves knew that even if they accidentally fell, Lorne could protect them well, so the whole team climbed faster.

Lorne stood guard at the foot of the cliff until all the elves had climbed up, leaving only himself, Nelly, and Shana before he began his ascent.

Several elves peered down from the cliff edge, worried that it would be difficult for Lorne to climb with a child.

However, Lorne didn't touch the vine ladder at all. Instead, he carried Shana in his arms and went straight up the ladder.

Yes, they weren't mistaken, they did come up.

It was as if that vertical cliff was just an ordinary flat area.

The elves stared wide-eyed, not blinking, until Lorne walked up to them and said, "Excuse me, please move aside," at which point they snapped out of their daze and quickly moved aside.

"Comrade Lorne, is this also a divine power bestowed by the goddess?" an elf couldn't help but ask.

"Yes." Lorne smiled and nodded. He thought to himself: This [Swiftness] is not only useful, but also very cool.

"Brother Lorne, shall we go again?" Little Shana hugged Lorne's neck and acted coquettishly, not shy at all.

Lorne smiled slightly: "There are many more roads like this to travel, and plenty of opportunities ahead."

"Yay!" Little Shana cheered happily, raising her hands high, which immediately caused a group of elves to smile like doting aunts. Even Lorne couldn't help but smile.

"Your Majesty Lorne, let me hold you. I am Shana's mother." A female elf stepped forward, her eyes filled with gratitude.

"Don't call me Your Majesty, call me Comrade," Lorne said, handing over little Shana.

"Thank you, Comrade Lorne." Shana's mother took her daughter and bowed to Lorne again in thanks.

"You're welcome." Lorne smiled and ruffled Shana's little head, which was covered by a winter hat.

At that moment, Monteridge squeezed through the crowd, and through two rows of elves, said, "Comrade Lorne, come and take a look at this."

The elves immediately made way.

Lorne followed Monteridge a few steps and saw two pieces of broken hemp rope tied to iron stakes on the ground about five or six steps from the edge of the cliff.

He had been wondering where the rope ladder that was supposed to be there had gone, and now it seems that it was deliberately destroyed.

"This break doesn't look man-made, at least not by a snow elf," Lorne judged based on his observation.

"Yes. I checked it, the break looks like it was gnawed, and there are some blurry footprints over there." Monteridge said, continuing to walk forward.

Lorne followed behind and walked about ten meters before seeing the footprints Monteridge had mentioned in a patch of mud.

"What kind of creature is it?" Lorne asked the experienced ranger.

“I don’t know,” Monteridge said. “At first, I thought it was a Yeti. But Yeti footprints are wider and shorter than this. This shape is somewhat like a Frost Giant, but much smaller. I don’t think a young Frost Giant would come here alone to do this.”

Lorne crouched down to examine the area more closely, and a message popped up from the system:

[Survival check successful. You recognized these as Frost Ogre footprints, left approximately one day ago.]

[Nature] Check successful. You have gained knowledge of [Frost Ogre].

~~~

Frost Ogre

Ogres are a subspecies of giants, and there is no reproductive isolation between the two.

Some scholars speculate that the Frost Ogre may be a hybrid subspecies of Frost Giants and Ogres.

Frost ogres, like frost giants, are naturally resistant to cold and typically live in snowfields or near snow-capped mountains.

Unlike the frost giants, they do not have fixed territories. Instead, they roam around, eating all the food they can find in one area before moving on to the next.

Ogres generally have an extremely keen sense of smell.

However, after dissecting and comparing the odors, some alchemists speculate that the frost ogres have a sense of smell that is at least ten times more sensitive than that of ordinary ogres.

Some frost ogres can awaken the same spellcasting abilities as frost giants.

In conclusion, while Frost Ogres are few in number, they are several times more dangerous than ordinary ogres.

~~~

"It was left by the Frost Ogre a day ago," Lorne said.

Monteridge paused for a moment, his eyes widening suddenly, then his expression turned serious: "This is not good news."

"Okay." Lorne nodded, stood up and said, "We need to get to the snow elf village as soon as possible. I hope they're alright. Also, let's tell them about the frost ogre footprints we found, so everyone can prepare for battle."

"good!"

……

About 20 minutes later, Monteridge, who was scouting ahead, sent a message via QQ:

"The village has been overrun by frost ogres, and they haven't finished devouring the livestock yet; the snow elves are still alive."

Hearing this, Lorne breathed a sigh of relief and replied, "Let's find a safe place first and settle the elderly and children in the group."

Although there were only three people in the team, including the elderly and children, Lorne still did not intend to risk taking them with him to wipe out the Frost Ogres.

Monteridge had the same thought, and he immediately replied, "The place has been found, and Huhu will take you there."

The owl perched on the cedar tree let out a whoosh, spread its wings, and flew away.

Lorne led the team behind and soon found a cave.

A giant bear with snow-white fur was squatting at the entrance of the cave. When it saw the elves, it raised its arm and waved to greet them in a very human-like manner.

The elves all stopped in their tracks, not daring to approach.

Lorne stepped forward alone, connected the giant bear to his mind network, and communicated telepathically, saying, "Monteridge said it's safe here."

The giant bear paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously: "Elf, kill the ogre. My child and I are safe."

After the mother bear finished speaking, she stood up and stepped aside, revealing the two little bear cubs hiding behind her.

Lorne nodded knowingly, turned back to the group, and explained the situation to the elves.

But just to be on the safe side, he didn't just leave behind the old people and children; he also left 20 adult elves as guards.

The giant bear did not object to this, but simply kept a closer eye on its two cubs.