Bartlett did not participate in the conversation about gold coins and women. Although such a topic is of great interest among most adventurers, who could excitedly talk about it all day long over a pint of inferior rye beer and even continue it in their dreams, he wasn't in the right mood for that.
The barbarian adventurer looked over the bounty lists posted one after another along the tall walls of Mist Castle, seeing those familiar names and portraits. Behind each name was the life of numerous adventurers:
"Ghost Howl", the werewolf mentioned in the Half-Elven language, seemed to still be lurking in the unique Silverspine Forest within the Foggy Forest. As far as Bartlett knew, there was only one Silverspine Forest in the whole Foggy Forest. Among the ubiquitous towering fir trees, the Silverspine trees stood like dwarves amidst giants.
In the magic imaged portrait, the werewolf was pitch black, crouched slightly, with its wolf snout tightly shut. Its hands with sharp claws were curved upwards, and there was a frightening calm in its blood-red eyes, mixed with a hint of subtle madness. If you took a closer look, you would find that this madness wasn't like that of a beast, but rather, it had something in common with the frenzy of purgatory creatures.
Bartlett had heard other adventurers say that Ghost Howl never seemed to leave the Silverspine Forest. It was like a ghost trapped in the forest, only letting out painful, tearing howls from time to time, and did not actively hunt humans. Nonetheless, for valuable, bright brown Silverspine cones, some fearless adventurers would venture in.
According to the records of Mist Castle, Ghost Howl had killed nearly one hundred adventurers over the years. Those who had seen it fight described its attacks as precise and deadly as a seasoned high-ranking warrior, without any redundant movements. Wherever its claws swept, lives were taken away, as if it was a gardener trimming branches, emitting an unusual calmness.
There were quite a few adventurers who had managed to escape from the Silverspine forest. Because when Ghost Howl was in a good mood, it would surprisingly have a short conversation with the adventurers and let the lucky one live.
Those who had the "fortune" to chat with it described that Ghost Howl's Common language was extremely standard, his conversation was refined, and he even had an accent unique to the holy Kingdom of Alaso from the east of the continent.
Therefore, the origins of this werewolf seemed quite mysterious in the eyes of the adventurers. Some said he came from an ancient family in the holy Kingdom of Alaso, a family plagued by a werewolf curse, and that he was cursed to become a "beast", then unluckily transformed by the corrupt energy of the abyss, switching between calmness and madness.
But others sneered at this because werewolves were essentially mad creatures, devoid of rationality, governed by primal desires to kill. So judging whether it had been tainted by the abyss energy solely by its madness was not accurate.
Moreover, if it really came from an ancient family from the holy Kingdom of Alaso, why would it cross the entire continent from the far east to arrive here in Foggy Forest in the far west? Why not seek help from wizards to solve these tricky problems? A werewolf cursed and tinged with abyss energy would be quite intriguing to wizards, no doubt.
Regardless, as a known unstable factor in the Foggy Forest, if an adventurer could cut off its head, Mist Castle would pay a handsome reward for it.
Next to the werewolf's bounty notice was a one-eyed Bloodfang crocodile; Bartlett knew its name was "Sally." He had dealt with this beast before and knew that its remaining amber vertical eye was full of hatred for humanoid creatures.
Sally usually lurked near the only little pathway that allowed for passage through the Rotten Swamp, patiently waiting. It sat still when fierce rabbits hopped cautiously about in the swamp, and showed no interest when wounded, blue-antlered gazelles helplessly awaited their demise in the mire. But once humans attempted to pass by, Sally would seize the opportunity to spring forth from the dense reeds or wild mushrooms in the swamp, bite down on their legs, and drag them into the depths of the Rotten Swamp.
If someone was successfully dragged into the swamp by Sally, very few would attempt to rescue them. This was because aside from the narrow pathway, like a chicken intestine, the rest of the Rotten Swamp was filled with quick mud that could swallow a person whole if they stepped in it recklessly.
Next to Sally's bounty notice was Rock Golem "Shatter," a powerful earth elemental trapped in the Prime Material World. Bartlett had been chased by it for a day and a night before. He had attacked its arms, torso, skull, and neck with his weapon, the "Iron Bride," but aside from knocking off some stone fragments, his attacks had no effect.
Without magic, it was difficult for adventurers to truly harm these elemental beings. As for dealing with this mighty rock golem, the "Iron Bride" was evidently less practical than an ordinary pickaxe.
Bartlett also noticed that the gnoll "Hogan" and his river-claw tribe were on the list. The Golden Clover Knight Corps of Mist Castle had tried to encircle and eradicate this gnoll tribe several times. Every raid resulted in the collection of numerous gnoll heads, but because of the protection of the fog, total annihilation was clearly not an easy task.
In the heart of the Foggy Forest, due to the terrain and environment, organized military forces weren't useful.
Bartlett passed the bounty notices of various creatures such as the dark web spider "Leixis", the ooze monster "Rotten Linia", the Giant Troll brothers "Longtooth" and "Broken Tooth", and many more.
By the bounty notice of "Venomous Bane" — a mutated, venomous echo bat, he stopped. His gaze was fixed on a bounty board that was much bigger than the others.
The bounties that were pinned on it were all already claimed, all of them were marked with a big red cross. Among all the bounties, Bartlett's eyes immediately fell on the four-armed Demon Ape.
The Four-Armed Demon Ape 'Caesar', a nightmare of the Foggy Forest. The number of Adventurers it had slaughtered was still the highest among all creatures in the forest.
It was as robust as an Ogre, as nimble as a forest elf, and its thick and resilient fur effectively withstood many weapon's assault. It moved silently as a ghost panther, crafting traps and controlling the battle like the most cunning hunter. Its four brawny arms were full of strength, a single punch was enough to easily crush a human's skull. Moreover, its hatred for humans was several times greater than that of Bloodtooth Crocodile Sally.
Four-Armed Demon Ape Caesar usually moved through the towering fir trees, peering at its prey — the Adventurers who ventured into the Foggy Forest — from the dense branches and leaves. Always strategising before making a move, adventurers in its sights rarely survived.
But Bartlett was an exception. It had attacked him, caused a fatal wound on his throat, but Norde's mortal-born Barbarian was still stubborn and survived. The scar from the wound still formed an ugly line across his neck like a centipede.
Bartlett encountered Four-Armed Demon Ape Caesar four times. At first, he was utterly defeated and escaped by a hair's breadth with a fatal injury. During the second encounter, he lost six men from his squad and himself broke four ribs, while Caesar was only slightly injured. The third time, a magic apprentice helped Bartlett sever one arm of the Four-armed Demon Ape, greatly reducing its combat effectiveness. The fourth time, Bartlett and his then Dwarf companion tracked it for six days. They hovered on the brink of death multiple times, but in the end, they managed to bring back Caesar's skull.
That skull was preserved and hung on the main gate of the Mist Castle for almost a month. Many people, whether they were on good terms with Bartlett or not, congratulated him sincerely.
That hunt not only gave Bartlett a lot of honor but also brought him a considerable amount of reward. In addition to the generous bounty offered by the Mist Castle, many noble families also offered a lot of rewards.
Because Caesar had also killed many knights of the Golden Clover Knights and many knights in the knight corps were the second sons of various noble families in Griffin Kingdom.
The second sons, who couldn't inherit the family property and titles, mostly made their own way, but they still carried the family bloodline. In turn, Bartlett had indirectly avenged those noble families and took their rewards without any guilt.
Whether in terms of power or the rewards brought, Caesar was the most crucial prey for Bartlett. Even the Fake Dragon could not compare.
To this day, Bartlett could still clearly recall that skull hanging above the main gate of the Mist Castle, and the solidified, substantive hatred in the eyes of that skull.
All adventurers in Pig Bay knew that Caesar was a four-armed demon ape with history. But no matter what its story was, no matter how deep its hatred was, it all disappeared with its death.
...