It was noon.

A man, looking exhausted, his clothes somewhat tattered, and holding a longsword, appeared outside the dense forest, stepping on the accumulated snow.

"Whew… I finally made it out. This wilderness survival is not for ordinary people, especially not in such a dangerous primeval forest."

Liens shielded his eyes from the dazzling sunlight, then looked around, letting out a long sigh.

Since entering the Monster Forest that night, it had been almost a month, and he had finally emerged from the forest.

That period was, for him, a torturous experience.

At first, before he delved deep into the Monster Forest, Liens was relatively relaxed.

Because the monsters in the outer areas posed almost no threat to him; with his sharp blade, he could typically take down a small animal with a single strike.

During that initial period, he feasted on succulent monster meat for every meal.

Even the most troublesome issue in the wild, rest, was resolved due to the existence of the Instance .

He could simply build a makeshift wooden hut, lie down, close his eyes, and get ample rest, without worrying about the quality of his sleep.

As for the cold, ever since he gained control over elements, he no longer had to worry about the external temperature… Wind would naturally shield him from the frost.

However, this pleasant situation drastically changed after he ventured deeper into the Monster Forest.

Because the monsters in the depths of the forest were too dense; often, as soon as he killed one, another would appear, and some even came in groups.

For example, Wind Wolf…

Can you imagine being chased by a large pack of Wind Wolf?

He nearly died under the overwhelming Wind Blade.

Fortunately, he was a knight attuned to the Wind Element, so he was fast, and coupled with his perception of wind, he managed to escape successfully.

Since then, he no longer dared to underestimate this former "sword-testing object."

Besides that, ensuring rest became very difficult later on.

Every time he entered the Instance for a short nap, his body's sword-fighting instincts would quickly wake him up.

Part of a series hosted by My Virtual Library Empire (MV&LEMP&YR).

Because another unknown monster would launch a sneak attack on him while he was sleeping.

It was tough!

He didn't know why, but the monsters in the depths of the forest harbored strong hostility towards humans.

During his time in the depths of the forest, he encountered monsters and triggered battles almost every few steps.

It was incessant; every day, he was either fighting, or on the way to fight or flee for his life.

He had almost no time to rest.

Even the potions and magic scrolls he brought from Kara City were used up, including several bottles of Stamina Potion.

From this, one could see how many dangers he had experienced.

If it weren't absolutely necessary, given his aversion to Stamina Potion, he would never have considered drinking that stuff.

Fortunately, the Glenbagen Family's refined longsword proved quite durable.

Although it had some chips now, it at least managed to accompany him out of that place.

With continuous battles and lack of rest, during that period, he even began to detest fighting.

Fortunately, he made it out.

Thinking of this, Liens couldn't help but sigh inwardly about the difficulties of that period.

"Young man, who are you?"

A woodcutter, who was adding firewood for his family's winter supply, gripped his axe tightly and looked at Liens somewhat warily, then asked.

It wasn't surprising that he was wary… mainly because Liens's appearance was a bit strange.

He was dressed in tattered clothes, held a sharp blade, appeared suddenly, and was muttering to himself, sighing frequently, which made it hard to feel at ease.

If he hadn't clearly seen that Liens was a human, he would have almost thrown the axe he was holding.

Hearing someone call him, Liens turned his gaze to the uncle in front of him.

He briefly assessed him, confirmed there was no elemental reaction from him, and no sense of threat, then revealed a smile.

"Uncle, no need to be nervous. I am an Adventurer, an official Adventurer of the Adventurers' Association."

"Look, this is my identification. Do you recognize it?"

Liens took out his "Adventurer's Proof" from his pocket and waved it, showing the uncle in front of him that he had no ill intent.

Perhaps moved by Liens's display of goodwill, the uncle lowered his guard and responded with a bit of embarrassment:

"Uh… I can't read, but I've heard of what you call Adventurer."

"I hear those Adventurers always like to enter dangerous forests to hunt monsters. From your situation, is that what you were doing?"

"Yes, yes… I took on a commission to hunt a certain monster in the forest, but I got lost as I walked,"

"I've been lost in the forest for almost a month, and I only just managed to get out."

Liens nodded, "explaining" as he followed the uncle's words.

"Are you Adventurers all monsters? To be able to survive alone for a month in a forest full of monsters like this?"

"No wonder everyone in town says that if you encounter trouble, you can always solve it by finding you all."

The uncle was surprised to hear Liens's explanation.

Although he had already guessed Liens was a formidable person from his attire.

After all, being able to travel through the snow in such thin and tattered clothes in the dead of winter, and seemingly showing no signs of feeling cold, what else could he be if not a formidable person?

But he found it hard to imagine how one person could survive among a pile of monsters.

"I'm just a little bit stronger than ordinary people… By the way, Uncle, can you tell me where this is?"

"You know I was lost, so I don't know where I am right now."

Liens humbly replied, then asked the uncle about the geographical location of the place.

Liens wasn't lying about being lost; he didn't have a map, so he had no idea where he had ended up.

And even if he had a map, it would have been difficult for him to guarantee finding the right direction in the Monster Forest.

"This is Hughes Town. If you walk that way, you'll see everyone's houses."

The uncle pointed in a direction and said.

"Can you explain it more specifically? For example, in which country, which territory, or near which city?"

Liens slightly frowned and continued to press the uncle for more information.

He had never heard of the so-called Hughes Town.

And while he hadn't visited the towns around Kara City, he at least knew their names.

From this, it seemed he had at least not walked back.

"Uh…"

Hearing this question, the uncle froze. After a moment of thought, he stammered out his reply:

"Uncle here hasn't really left the town much in his life, so he doesn't know a lot."

"I only know that outside Hughes Town, you have to walk a long way to reach a big city."

"That big city seems to be called Colbert, or maybe Gilbert?"

"As for the country's name… why don't you ask others in town?"

The uncle finished speaking with an awkward smile, clearly a bit embarrassed that he couldn't answer Liens's question well.

Upon hearing this, Liens didn't mind, just smiled and said it was fine, then continued:

"Thank you very much for your guidance, Uncle… I have nothing much, but perhaps these dried meat chunks can be of some help to you."

Saying this, Liens took out some dried meat chunks from the package on his back and handed them to the uncle.

These meat chunks were all monster meat, and they were also his rations throughout his journey.

As for the drying process, he achieved it by influencing external elements with the Wind Element within his body, causing the meat chunks to quickly air-dry and dehydrate.

After going deep into the Monster Forest, he rarely had time to build a fire and cook food, so he could only use this method to fill his stomach.

The operation of influencing external elements with internal elements, according to Lucrezia's notes, was a technique only usable at the Great Knight stage.

It was also from these notes that Liens realized he had taken a big step towards becoming a Great Knight.

Although currently, the Wind Element within him had not yet accumulated even halfway.