CHAPTER 74: CHAPTER 74: SOLDIERS OF THE ICE CITY SETTLEMENT

The bone-chilling wind howled past Ethan’s ears. Right before the dagger could touch his body, he suddenly slid to the side and dodged without any warning.

[Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] Bloodthirst effect activated!

[Berserk Blood War God] class skill Bloodthirst Rampage activated!

In an instant, Ethan’s strength rose by 6 and his speed by 6.

The man behind him, who was trying to ambush him, hadn’t expected the sudden dodge and froze for a split second.

In that brief moment, Ethan had already adjusted his stance. The [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] in his hand lashed out like a cold viper, cutting toward the attacker’s neck.

The rogue in a white camo cloak went pale. He hurried to pull back his dagger, trying to use it to block Ethan’s swing.

"Clang!"

The [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] slammed into the dagger, sparks flying.

With both strength and speed boosted, Ethan’s full-force strike hit hard and knocked the attacker back.

Ethan was about to press the attack when, through the howling wind and snow, a sharp whistle split the air. Without hesitating, he pushed off with his legs and darted aside.

A heartbeat later, a fast arrow slammed into the spot where he’d just been and stuck in the ground, still quivering.

Ethan snapped his gaze toward the direction the arrow came from. Behind a snowdrift in the distance, three more figures in white cloaks appeared.

One of them held a bow, staring straight at Ethan.

Ethan frowned. He hadn’t expected this sudden twist. He had only sensed someone sneaking closer and planned to strike first and take out the ambusher in one blow.

But the ambusher wasn’t just fast—he also had teammates, including an archer who could attack from a distance.

That made things a bit dangerous. Ethan had almost no way to fight at range right now. If they stayed far away and kept hitting him from afar, he would be at a clear disadvantage.

Just then, the one who had tried to sneak up on him didn’t hesitate. He stepped back a few paces, gripped his dagger, stared at Ethan in confusion, and asked:

"How did you notice me?"

Ethan didn’t answer. In the biting wind, the attacker’s bad smell had been carried right to him.

Ethan took a deep breath. They had more people, and none of them looked weak. This was bad for him.

Taking a chance, Ethan used [Scan].

[Name]: Thief Simon

[Level]: 18

[Skills]: ???

[Weaknesses]: ???

[Description]: A thief near the Ice City settlement. He operates around Winter Valley, sneaky and crafty. At the first sign of trouble, he slips into the underground caves in Winter Valley without hesitation.

[Scan] only picked up info on the ambusher closest to Ethan. The other enemies were probably too far away, so it couldn’t scan them.

Ethan read the enemy details and was a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected that they weren’t players at all, but evil NPCs in the game.

This was Ethan’s first time facing NPC enemies, and they were tougher than he thought. NPCs are much smarter than the monsters he had fought.

If he hadn’t smelled the nasty stink on Thief Simon just now, Ethan wouldn’t have spotted him so fast.

Ethan kept making small adjustments to his stance, keeping his back toward the side with no enemies, then tightened his grip on the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife].

He planned to strike first: take down the one nearby, then find a way to keep the distant ones at bay.

But just as Ethan was about to move, a sharp bird cry tore through the air above the valley.

A huge eagle, five or six meters long, circled overhead, screeching as it flew.

Right away, the nearby Thief Simon went tense. His face changed, and he started to glance toward the valley entrance.

Ethan had been watching them the whole time. He wasn’t going to miss a chance like this.

He pushed off hard, snow spraying under his feet, and rushed at Thief Simon like an arrow.

The instant he left his spot, a bowstring twanged. The archer who’d been aiming at him tried to guess his path and shot an arrow ahead of him to force a dodge and buy his teammate time.

The arrow’s hiss grew louder. Ethan’s eyes went wide, but he only raised his left arm to shield his neck and head.

A moment later, the arrow slammed into his arm and stuck in the bone. The tip punched through and stopped about three centimeters from his head.

If the archer had been a bit stronger, or if Ethan had blocked a little off, that arrow would have gone straight into his head.

Even in that deadly moment, Ethan stayed calm. There was no relief in his eyes—only a cold will to kill.

He kept moving at full speed, closing in on Thief Simon fast.

By the time the archer released a second arrow, Ethan was already beside Simon. His long knife flashed, and he took Simon’s head in one clean strike.

Warm blood splashed on the white snow. Ethan didn’t slow down at all. He used Simon’s headless body as cover.

The whole thing happened in a flash. A purple glow lifted off Thief Simon’s corpse and slipped into the wristwatch.

Then the watch on Ethan’s wrist suddenly sent a faint wave of warmth into his body.

Looks like after killing the [Frost Black Wolf] and Thief Simon, he finally leveled up.

No time to check the watch. Using Simon’s headless body as cover, Ethan carefully watched the enemies in the distance.

From the blowing snow far away, Simon’s companions shouted in anger:

"No!"

"Damn it! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!"

"Don’t be rash! People from Ice City are almost here. Calm down! Move, we’re leaving."

Only then did Ethan realize it. The eagle circling above the valley was probably the thieves’ pet. When danger was near, it would warn them.

No wonder Thief Simon had made such a big mistake—he was scared of whoever was about to come in from the valley entrance.

Sure enough, the three of them took one look at their teammate’s body and ran deeper into Frost Valley.

Ethan let out a slow breath. If they hadn’t run, he would’ve been in for a hard fight.

He needed some kind of ranged attack soon—gear, items, anything.

Otherwise, next time this happens, he’ll be on the back foot again.

Looking at Thief Simon’s severed head on the ground, Ethan remembered that killing him dropped an Intel reward. Did that mean he was a monster too?

Or do NPCs in this game also drop Intel when killed?

Ethan didn’t think more about it. He quickly searched Simon’s body and found an extra surprise:

the white cloak was a Green-quality item, and the dagger was Blue-quality.

He put both into his [Inventory]. Just then, he heard fast, urgent hoofbeats closing in.

He looked up and saw five soldiers in black armor. They were riding warhorses with sharp twin horns on their heads, and they charged up to Ethan.

Ethan knew these must be the people from the Ice City settlement the three thieves had mentioned.

As expected, the leader took off the black iron mask on his face, glanced at the headless body on the ground, then looked at Ethan and asked calmly:

"You did this?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah. Three more thieves ran deeper into the valley."

The soldier on the two-horned warhorse looked toward the depths of the valley, sighed, then turned to his teammate and said:

"We’re a step late again. Those damn guys got away."

"They’re really cowardly. At the first sign of danger, they slip into the caves in Frost Valley, like rats living underground."

Ethan thought about it. Those three thieves were just like he said. Even after he killed their teammate, they didn’t hesitate—they just ran.

He checked the [Cave Treasure Intel] in his [Inventory] and fell into thought.

The cave with the treasure should be the underground caves in Frost Valley.

There were surely more thieves down there, and Ethan’s level was still low. Killing a [Frost Black Wolf] and one thief only raised him by one level.

If he went into the caves alone to look for the treasure, it would take a lot of time and be very risky.

Looking at the five fully armed soldiers in front of him, Ethan suddenly had an idea.