Chapter 107: The Magic Plant, Konjac
Konjac, a low-level magical plant.
It has an oval shape, dark black surface, and brown wrinkled texture, with its roots spreading in sheet-like formations.
Konjac has many uses: it can be eaten raw to detoxify and is also used in potion-making. Many basic potions, such as mana recovery potions, basic healing potions, and stamina potions, require konjac.
Its market value is quite high, but it is difficult to harvest.
Konjac is favored by some magical creatures.
The areas where it grows are always inhabited by numerous magical creatures, making harvesting quite challenging.
This time, the difficulty had reached its peak.
Ogres are not creatures to be trifled with!
They are lazy yet violent, found in nearly every region of the western continent.
Ogres are enormous, averaging 3 meters in height and weighing over 300 kilograms with ease.
In terms of size and strength, they far surpass trolls!
Every adult ogre possesses more than 20 points in extraordinary strength, and some ogre warriors also have berserking abilities, making their melee combat power extremely formidable.
The average challenge level of an ogre is a solid 9+!
Encountering an ogre in the wild is far more dangerous than encountering a troll!
Though trolls have excellent regeneration abilities, their melee power doesn't match the crushing force of an ogre's charge.
Ogres have a broad diet and often live near their prey's habitats as omnivorous creatures.
They frequently feast on intelligent beings, particularly enjoying elves, dwarves, and halflings!
The most important factor is that ogres not only have strong individual combat abilities, but they are also communal creatures.
The ogre tribe occupying the konjac-growing area was a rare large tribe.
An experienced roguish adventurer, intent on claiming the full bounty, used special techniques to hide for three days, thoroughly scouting the numbers.
"Sixty adult male ogres, forty adult female ogres, twenty ogre cubs, and one ogre chieftain!"
"While female ogres typically don't participate in combat, they still possess formidable fighting strength and will intervene if necessary."
"On paper, this lineup is more dangerous than 200 troll soldiers..."
It wasn't that 60 male ogres had more fighting power than 200 troll soldiers.
It was simply because ogres are far more terrifying in the art of bullying the weak!
Junior shield-bearer soldiers can barely withstand troll attacks with the help of magical scrolls and auras.
But when faced with an adult ogre, they might be killed with a single blow!
If all the soldiers were brought into formation to battle the ogres, a single misstep could result in catastrophic losses.
And to top it off, Matthew had only brought 15 people with him this time.
However, Matthew's face was full of smiles, carrying the anticipation of leading his group into a high-difficulty dungeon.
While Matthew was contemplating what strategy to use against the ogre tribe, the convoy quickly made its way into the Dark Forest.
Before long...
The convoy arrived at the lumber camp.
The lumber camp had undergone significant changes since just a few days ago.
The outer walls made of large stone bricks now stood 7 meters high, giving a strong sense of security and sturdiness.
The tireless kobolds were largely to thank for this.
Working in shifts day and night, they steadily brought about tremendous progress.
The wide moat was now almost complete, its clear water revealing the bottom, and occasionally a few fish darted about.
From the top of the tall watchtower, concealed eyes surveyed the area below, confirming that all was well with the perimeter checkpoints before retreating back into the shadows.
The soldiers patrolling the walls in neat formations occasionally cast envious glances toward the convoy.
Beyond the workers, the adventurers were already up early, and the adventurer hall was bustling.
"Did you hear? Alice's group got a special commission from the lord, and they've recruited 30 people in just the past few days."
"Of course, I heard! I've also heard some insider info: their mission's bounty is a full 500 gold coins!"
"Ha! 500 gold? That's nothing. In the past few days alone, they've captured over 20 trolls from the valley—that's over 1,000 gold coins right there!"
"You don't know shit! Sure, 500 gold coins isn't much, but if they complete the mission, each one of them gets an enchanted piece of equipment—that's the real reward!"
"Enchanted equipment? For real? That means each person gets at least 100 gold coins worth, right?"
"100 gold coins? Don't kid yourself. These aren't your average enchanted items—they're way better than the ones you can buy in other cities!"
"You mean the kind you can only buy if you have over 100 contribution points and 100 gold coins?"
"Exactly! You saw Alice's enchanted longbow, right? It shot through a troll's knee from 200 meters away!"
"Whoa, they've hit the jackpot! Why don't we have that kind of luck?"
"Luck? Heh, the last time we fought trolls, only Alice's group stood up to them. That's not luck..."
"…"
The adventurers spoke openly, without bothering to lower their voices.
Hearing this, the members of Alice's adventurer party couldn't help but smile brightly.
Chris, in particular, was full of anticipation as he looked at Alice, muttering to himself:
"Thank goodness I listened to Alice's advice; otherwise, how could we have earned the lord's favor?"
The new recruits also felt a sense of relief.
However, while her team was filled with joy and excitement, Alice, as the captain, wasn't quite as optimistic.
After a few days of exploration, Alice had come to understand the dangers of Troll Valley much more clearly.
Though she had recruited more people, keeping them all alive and unscathed wouldn't be an easy task.
Moreover, Alice still had concerns about the mission from the lord.
"Is it really as simple as just finding konjac?"
As Alice pondered, she suddenly noticed the surroundings had fallen silent. She looked up and saw the approaching carriage.
At the front of the carriage was the towering figure of Beelzebub, someone every adventurer now recognized.
During the troll battle, Beelzebub had single-handedly held down half the defensive line, a feat that left a strong impression on everyone.
Next to Beelzebub were the familiar faces of Leon and Old Village Chief Field.
The other soldiers were all tall, well-built, and exuded a fierce aura!
What made the adventurers most envious was that every soldier wore gleaming, sturdy armor, with magical auras flickering upon them!
Each one had enchanted armor!
Seeing this, Alice felt a wave of relief—Bay Village had sent out its main force, so the lord clearly wasn't using them as bait.
Yet she still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.