Pioneer Wizard's Notebook

Two hours ago.

The outermost edge of the Ice Mist Forest.

"Watch the enemy's movements, parry, and counterattack! Remember to aim for the Ice Demon's neck!"

Knight William shouted instructions.

He stood with his arms crossed, observing from a distance, with a wolfhound lying at his feet, its ears perked up in alertness.

And in the open space in front of him.

Four knights worked together to attack a humanoid Ice Demon whose right arm had been severed.

Broad and a small-town boy, armed with swords and shields, blocked their path from both sides.

Mark and another boy drew their hunting bows, waiting for an opening.

Without the protection of the wall, the four moved awkwardly and seemed somewhat timid.

Fortunately, the Ice Demon had one arm cut off by Knight William beforehand, and its strength was severely weakened, making it difficult to break through the barrier for the time being.

Seeing that it was being driven into a corner, the Ice Demon let out a roar.

Its ferocious, menacing appearance caused the four knights' squires to tense up instantly and involuntarily take a step back.

Seizing the opportunity, the Ice Demon kicked up a large cloud of snowflakes to obscure its vision and tried to escape through a gap.

"Monster! Don't even think about escaping from Broad!"

Brod reacted first, quickly raising his shield to block in front of him.

A menacing, icy blue arm slammed onto a shield wrapped in wolf skin.

A massive impact struck.

This time, Brod gritted his teeth and gripped the shield tightly, avoiding dropping it.

But he couldn't be happy.

The terrifying power of the Ice Demon's desperate struggle exceeded the limits he could withstand.

Brod was thrown off his shield and rolled around, feeling dizzy and nauseous.

"roar!"

The Ice Demon roared in fury, wanting to press its advantage and tear his neck apart.

At that moment, a wolf-tooth arrow suddenly shot out.

At the last moment, the Ice Demon lowered its head to dodge, and the wolf-tooth arrow struck its forehead instead of its eye.

The sharp, wolf-tooth-shaped arrowheads tore open the skin on its forehead.

Unfortunately, the hunting bow was too weak and was blocked by the hard skull, failing to penetrate it.

"Damn it, this monster is too fast!"

Mark cursed angrily, dropped his hunting bow, drew his wolf bone dagger from his waist, and charged toward the enemy.

The Ice Demon was too fast; after his first arrow failed, he had no further chances.

They could only physically block him, buying time for Brod, who was lying on the ground unable to resist.

The other two boys behind them snapped out of their fear and rushed forward to offer their help.

It was this anxious state of mind that caused them to reveal flaws they shouldn't have made.

The wolf bone dagger was deflected, and facing the four panicked teenagers, the Ice Demon raised his ferocious arm, about to stage a bloody massacre.

William, who was watching from a short distance away, made a move and disappeared from the spot.

The next second, a blinding sword light appeared.

The Ice Demon's head fell and crashed into the snow.

"Overcoming fear and impatience, and calmly assessing the battlefield situation, is the second lesson you must learn."

With a single stroke, William decapitated the boy, wiped the blade, and sheathed the sword. He then glanced at the four boys sitting on the ground, panting heavily.

His gaze lingered on Brod and Mark, a look of satisfaction on his face.

Despite their inexperience, they possess courage and strong drive.

This is enough to enable them to achieve far greater success than ordinary people on the path of chivalry; there are indeed promising talents among these young men.

"We'll rest for half an hour. Next, we need to patrol the area to the south."

William gave the order.

He and his knight squire are now in charge of patrolling the outskirts of the Ice Mist Forest.

Each time he went out, he would bring four people with him, letting these small-town teenagers challenge the lone Icefield Demon, experience the pressure of real combat, and accelerate their growth.

On the other side, upon hearing the call for a rest, the four boys disregarded the icy and snowy environment and lay down on the snow.

Their bodies were flushed with adrenaline from the previous battle.

After calming down, I felt exhausted and weak, and my legs felt limp.

Broad looked at his still trembling arm and said unwillingly:

"Failed again. I shouldn't have tried to block it head-on. That monster was in a hurry to escape and had already exposed its vulnerable neck."

"I should have swung my sword! I was so close, I almost killed an Ice Demon with my own hands!"

Mark, who was lying next to him, glanced at him.

"If you don't get rid of your bad habit of being impatient, it won't help no matter how many times you repeat it."

As he spoke, Mark recalled his own actions and sighed, "Well, me too. Holding a dagger in front of that monster was insane."

"Of course I'm anxious!" said Broad. "The lord and Sir William are teaching me precious combat skills and providing me with food every day. How can I continue like before, unable to help at all!"

"Then you should be even more careful not to blindly rush in and seek death."

Brod and Mark had a heated discussion about how to defeat the Ice Demon.

The other two boys soon joined the conversation.

The four chatted amongst themselves, and the boy named Warren brought up another topic of interest at the manor.

"That damned steward's wife and children are still in the manor. I really don't know why the lord is wasting food to support them. I should have kicked them out long ago."

Perhaps it was to escape the helplessness one feels when facing the Ice Demon.

When Warren spoke of Pullman's wife, his tone was one of superiority and disdain.

Broad disagreed, saying, "The butler has already paid the price for his actions, and his wife has been proven innocent, so of course she can stay at the manor."

"Letting them leave at this time is no different from murder."

Warren quickly retorted, "If it were the old barons, they would have been beheaded long ago!"

"Hmph, that's why I never dared to be a soldier before. If I died, Mom Beth wouldn't be able to survive either."

Brod complained, but quickly cheered up again, "It's different now! Families get a huge sum of money after they die in battle! And the lord promised to take care of the families of the fallen—the truth doesn't lie!"

Warren wanted to argue, but his attitude changed when he thought of his mother and younger sister at home.

"Okay, maybe you're right."

Thinking of the families in the town who received care after their husbands died in battle, Warren suddenly realized that this was actually quite good.

At least for now, he doesn't have to worry about his family freezing to death on the ice field after he dies.

After some casual conversation and a break.

Half an hour passed quickly.

The four boys got up from the snow, stretched their bodies to dispel the cold and stiffness in their limbs, and continued their patrol with Knight William.

Due to the devastating ice storm, the snow in the forest was exceptionally thick, with knees sinking into the snow.

The group advanced cautiously.

During the process, the wolfhound's nose twitched, as if it had smelled something.

The next instant, the fur on the wolfhound's back suddenly stood on end, its back arched, and then it curled up into a ball in fear.

"Something's up! Get on guard around the perimeter!"

William said in a low voice, drawing his sword as a warning.

This was the first time he had ever seen a wolfhound react with such fear; it must have sensed a terrifying aura that surpassed even that of the Icefield Demon.

William and the other three people present had their hearts in their throats, pounding with tension, fearing that a monster might suddenly appear around them.

Fortunately, there was no real danger, and the surrounding woods remained as silent as when we arrived.

William remained vigilant, picked up the huddled wolfhound, and approached the direction it feared.

William's pupils contracted as he stepped over a patch of frozen bushes.

Before him lay a fallen giant tree, with a huge claw mark left where it had broken off.

Judging from the marks, they were probably left a few days ago, marking the territory used by the monsters.

"A monster that has stepped into the realm of the extraordinary!"

William broke out in a cold sweat. This kind of monster was enough to destroy the entire Sunflower Manor, and no knight could possibly withstand it.

"Go, get out of here right now!"

Not daring to delay for a moment, he quickly took four knights and returned to the manor to report the situation.