Tristan began observing the entire village.
"The monsters attacking are just goblins, wolves, and a few orcs," he noted.
He then moved to the back of the village and found a black-robed sorcerer standing in the middle of a magic circle, protected by five ogres and two troll ogres.
Suddenly, the sorcerer shouted, "Hey, you stupid ogres! There are two strange men who came out of nowhere and killed my forces. Three of you, go over there and defeat them!"
"Understood, master," the three ogres replied, immediately heading toward the village.
Tristan, watching this, thought to himself, It seems like he's the one leading the monster army.
In the village, Rowen asked the villagers, "Are you all alright?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you for saving us," the villagers replied.
Rowen then asked, "Who's in charge of this village?"
A middle-aged man stepped forward and said, "I am, sir. My name is Weyler, and I'm the village chief here."
Rowen answered, "Good, I'm glad you're safe. Please help the injured villagers. My companion and I will take care of the monsters..."
Suddenly, a fireball came from behind Rowen. Boom!
"Master?!" Weyler cried.
"It's fine, I'm not hurt. How about the villagers?" Rowen asked.
Weyler looked behind him and said, "The villagers are safe, thanks to you, sir."
Rowen replied, "Alright, everyone, move back a little. I'll take care of the monsters."
Weyler then said, "But sir, they are ogres."
Rowen turned to look behind him. "Damn, they're ogres. Three of them, and one's an Ogre Shaman."
Rowen then looked over at Thoran. "Hey, Thoran, can you help? These monsters are huge."
Thoran answered, "Don't you see I'm busy?" He said while smashing goblins and wolves.
"Hey, they're just goblins and wolves. Why are you taking so long to deal with them?" Rowen asked.
"They have regeneration skills. No matter how many times I break their necks, they heal again," Thoran replied.
Suddenly, Thoran was stabbed by a knife thrown by one of the goblins. Ughhh Thoran immediately lifted the goblin and smashed its head.
"Damn it, because of you, I got stabbed by this lowly creature," Thoran said to Rowen.
"What? You were careless, why blame me?" Rowen retorted.
Then, Thoran suddenly knelt down.
"Thoran?" Rowen shouted.
"Damn, why does my body feel so tired? I've never felt this exhausted in a fight before," Thoran thought to himself.
He looked at his wound and said, "My wound isn't healing? What is this? What's happening?"
Suddenly, several goblins and wolves leaped toward Thoran, but Rowen quickly ran over and saved him.
"Hey, what happened to the former S-Class adventurer? Can't you handle a group of goblins?" Rowen teased.
Thoran looked at Rowen and said, "There's something off about these monsters, and my body is getting weaker. Something's definitely happening."
"Now that you mention it, I'm starting to feel it too. My body's weakening," Rowen responded.
Then Rowen asked, "Hey, can you still fight? At least until Tristan arrives."
"Of course, I can't show any weakness in front of my master," Thoran replied.
Rowen was surprised by that and thought to himself, An ex-S-Class adventurer who can't be controlled wants to follow Tristan?
Rowen then said to Thoran, "Alright, then let's finish off these monsters."
"Alright, let's slaughter them," Thoran said. He transformed into a werewolf and began slashing at the monsters with his claws.
Meanwhile, Tristan approached the sorcerer.
"Hello, uncle. What are you doing?"
The sorcerer was startled and said, "Hey, kid, why are you here? Did you run away and leave your parents?"
Tristan replied, "No, uncle. I just got here and saw you doing something interesting, so I decided to ask."
"Troublesome child, kill him," the sorcerer ordered one of the ogres.
The ogre didn't answer and began moving toward Tristan.
The sorcerer then focused again on absorbing the life energy of the villagers. Just as he was focused, suddenly Tristan was standing beside him and asked, "Uncle, what does this circle mean?"
The sorcerer was shocked to see Tristan and said, "Y-You, why are you still alive? Where's that stupid ogre?"
Tristan answered, "Oh, if you're looking for the ogre, it's over there."
Tristan pointed to the dismembered pieces of the ogre and continued, "The ogre was suddenly cut into pieces like that. I was so scared."
The sorcerer was shocked. "W-What? What happened? How could this happen?"
He then thought to himself, "Could this child have done it? No, no way children can do that. Oh well, I'll have another ogre take care of this child."
He then spoke to the other ogre, "You, take care of this child."
The ogre hesitated and slightly resisted the sorcerer's command out of fear, but its body could not disobey the sorcerer's order.
"Finish him quickly," the sorcerer said, then thought to himself, Let's see what happens.
The ogre approached Tristan, swinging its axe toward him, but suddenly—slash—the ogre's body was torn apart, just like the previous one. The sorcerer was shocked and muttered to himself,
"What? What happened? Who did that?"
The sorcerer looked around and then remembered the moment when Tristan slightly moved his hand as if swinging a sword. He turned his gaze toward Tristan and thought, "No, it's impossible for this child to strike with a speed I can't follow, right? But that explains everything."
Then, suddenly, Tristan spoke. "Did you see that, uncle?"
The sorcerer broke into a cold sweat and responded, "See what, you brat?"
Tristan replied, "See me sheathing my sword."
The sorcerer froze, sweating even more, and thought to himself, "Damn, so he really was the one who took down both ogres?"
Then he spoke to Tristan, "Do you think this is over, kid?"
"Step forward, you stupid troll. Finish off this kid."
The troll, a massive creature, began to rise. It was nearly twice the height of the village houses.
"Haha, you're dead now, kid," the sorcerer laughed.
Tristan smiled and said, "I could finish you off right now, uncle, but I want some information, so I'll let you live for now, okay?"
The sorcerer swallowed nervously, feeling a sudden chill in the air.
Tristan walked toward the troll, unsheathing his sword, and channeled mana into it, making the blade burn with blue flames.
The sorcerer watched in awe, stunned that a child could manifest a mana sword.
He continued to watch Tristan closely until, suddenly, Tristan turned and walked toward him.
"Haha, what? Why are you backing away? Are you scared, kid?" the sorcerer said, letting out a desperate laugh.
Tristan responded, "The troll is dead, uncle. Didn't you see my move?"
Then, the troll's body fell apart into pieces. The sorcerer was stunned, his mouth hanging open as tears began to fall, thinking to himself, "Damn, I'm done for. This child is no ordinary child."
The sorcerer collapsed as he saw Tristan suddenly appear right in front of him.
Tristan said, "So, uncle, is this circle what created the barrier that can absorb life force?"
The sorcerer asked, "How do you know?"
Tristan smiled and said, "Do you still want to live?"
The sorcerer nodded vigorously.
"Then follow my instructions, okay, uncle?" Tristan said with a smile.
The sorcerer was terrified.
Back in the village, Thoran and Rowen were fighting with all their might against the ogre and a group of goblins and wolves.
"Damn, why is my body so weak?" Thoran gasped for air.
"You're right, I've never felt this tired, except when I was running with Tristan all day at full speed," Rowen replied, catching his breath.
Then Rowen looked around and said, "By the way, where's that kid? He could easily finish off these monsters, right?"
The ogres attacked again.
"They're coming," Thoran said.
Rowen slashed at the ogre and killed it with a single strike. He was surprised and looked at his sword. "Did I just reach a new level of power?"
"New level, my ass," Thoran replied.
Rowen turned to see Thoran had already taken care of all the monsters in an instant. "Did you also reach a new height, Thoran?" Rowen asked.
"Height? My strength has returned. Didn't you feel your own power coming back?" Thoran replied.
Rowen moved his shoulders and said, "Yeah, you're right, my strength is back."
"It's not just back, but these monsters have become weaker, and their regeneration abilities are gone. I'm sure this is Tristan's doing, I know Tristan is dong something."
Suddenly, Weyler, the village chief, shouted, "What? Why? Why are these monsters dying so easily?"
Rowen responded, "Isn't that a good thing, Mr. Chief? The villagers are safe, and none of them is died."
Furious, Weyler replied, "Good? you stupid little knight. You should have all died here, and I would have gained your life force."
Thoran, realizing the situation, said, "So this was all your doing, huh?"
Rowen looked at Thoran, "What? You mean this is his plan?"
Thoran answered, "This is all part of that bastard's plan to burn this village to the ground so he can grow stronger, right, Weyler The Life Eater?"