Wizard starting from shoeing donkeys

The dark energy felt like a living thing, akin to a black octopus wrapping around an arm and ceaselessly tumbling.

Rein had never seen such a bizarre thing before.

But upon closer thought, it seemed somewhat similar to the green light emitted by the wooden amulet.

"Some kind of evil, mysterious side energy?" Rein wondered, filled with confusion.

"But how is this possible? Wasn't the barbarian squad off to kill the ogre?"

When that barbarian bounty hunter squad entered Flashgold Town, the exceptionally tall and robust barbarian leader Haral, nicknamed 'Giant', was still fresh in Rein's mind, to wound the shield maiden, one would probably have to get past him first, right?

"Now the shield maiden lies here, her fate unknown—could it be that the ogre was so fierce and knew witchcraft?" Rein thought it unlikely that the matter was that simple, and at the same time, a feeling of dread suddenly took hold of him.

"Regardless, I should first see if she can still be saved."

Rein immediately approached and began to carefully inspect her.

He slowly turned her over to lie on her back.

The girl's expression was one of pain, her eyebrows deeply furrowed, and blood trickled from the corners of her mouth, indicating she might have suffered some internal injuries.

Her forehead band was gone, and her pale yellow hair, drenched with blood and sweat, hung down in tangled locks, sticking to her forehead and cheeks.

Rein placed two fingers on the girl's pale neck artery, felt for a moment, and nodded.

"There's a pulse, faint breathing; good, she's not dead, there's hope," Rein breathed a sigh of relief. Before, he might not have been able to do anything, but ever since Anna had been able to control that miraculous green light.

He felt as long as the shield maiden wasn't dead, Anna should be able to heal her gradually.

Only this dark energy...

Seemed a bit tricky, mixing uncertainty into the healing process.

Just then, the young Whippet 'Cookie' barked furiously at something behind Rein.

With his danger perception triggered, Rein immediately put down the shield maiden and turned to look.

He saw several pairs of oily green eyes slowly approaching from the depths of the forest.

"It's forest wolves!" Using his Dark Vision, Rein quickly identified the creatures, seven or eight brownish-gray forest wolves closing in.

The wolves were larger than any North American gray wolves Rein had seen in his previous life. On average, each forest wolf was no less formidable than a grown man armed with a pitchfork.

"Whine~"

'Cookie' was clearly panicked and scared, shrinking closer to Rein's feet.

The wolf pack slowly advanced.

Seeming to see their opponent as 'weak', the pack leader - the size of a calf - emitted a low growl, prompting the charge.

Two to three meters long, the brownish-gray wolf-shadows streaked towards Rein like lightning.

"Strength Burst!"

Rein's body suddenly shot up twenty or thirty centimeters, his muscles bulged, and veins popped.

Then, a silvery arc of light flashed upwards, brutally opening the underside of the alpha wolf.

"Swoosh!"

The sound of flesh being sliced filled the air.

"Howl~~~"

A pitiful howl rang out as the alpha wolf, still twitching and weighing a couple hundred pounds, spilled blood and organs from its torn abdomen while airborne!

The next second, it landed heavily on the ground, its belly split open by Rein's sword.

This immediately caused the other charging forest wolves to shudder with fear, quickly turning away from the 'fierce man' that was Rein!

Rein kicked the alpha wolf's carcass back into the hungry pack with force.

Watching the intimidating Rein, the wolf pack whined and backed off.

At this moment, 'Cookie' seemed to sense the authority of its master and the retreat of the enemy.

It trotted forward a couple of steps and barked ferociously at the wolves, at least twice its size.

"Bark, bark, bark!"

It perfectly exemplified the phrase 'courting strength from its master.'

Rein quickly picked up the barbarian girl from the ground, grabbed the nearby battle-axe and broken shield, and turned to leave.

Saving her was the priority!

This was also why Rein chose to use the skill 'Strength Burst' to kill the lead wolf instantly; he needed a swift resolution.

After Rein left, the pack swiftly surrounded the still-twitching carcass of their former leader, indulging in a grisly feast.

They were entirely unconcerned that it was the body of one of their kind.

'A full belly' was their utmost priority.

...

Upon entering the house and seeing Rein holding a woman, covered in blood, his mother Emma gasped in shock.

"Anna, start getting things ready. Mother, it's only wolf blood," Rein said.

The astonished Anna immediately understood and ran upstairs quickly.

She knew Rein wanted her to prepare the miraculous amulet for healing.

"What... what's this?"

"Mother, I found her lying by the roadside while walking the dog, so I brought her back," Rein explained.

This reassured mother Emma somewhat, who said, "But shouldn't we call a doctor?"

"It shouldn't be a serious problem, I'll take her upstairs and let Anna take a look first," Rein added without elaboration and carried the barbarian girl upstairs.

Mother Emma was left surprised.

"Should Anna take a look at her?"

"Since when did Anna learn to heal?"

"Is Anna a physician?"

"I've never heard her mention that."

...

Once Rein gently laid the tall and graceful barbarian girl on the bed.

Anna, who had been waiting by the side, slowly stepped forward, but Rein stretched out his hand to stop Anna, who was about to start healing immediately, and pointed to the dark mist on the barbarian girl's left arm:

"Anna, be careful, that dark mist seems very strange."

"If it's not working, don't force it."

Rein's caring words made Anna blush; she obediently nodded her head and gave a firm "En."

Right after, Anna clasped the amulet with both hands, closed her eyes, and focused her spirit on the wooden amulet.

Soon, a thick green light appeared in the palms of Anna's hands.

Under Anna's control, the soft, rich green light quickly fell upon the barbarian girl's body.

In an instant, the girl's entire figure blazed with green light!

No, the left hand that held the shield alone still emitted a faint black mist.

The black mist, as if aware that the green light sought to expel it, was 'gnashing its teeth and flailing its claws' in a fierce struggle against the green energy controlled by Anna.

However, the green energy continuously supported by Anna seemed to be a step stronger than the black mist.

Soon, the green light forced the black mist to retreat bit by bit, moving up from the girl's left forearm to her palm.

At this moment, Rein noticed that Anna's forehead had begun to be dotted with fine beads of sweat.

Clearly, such manipulation was extremely draining on Anna's spirit.

Just when Rein was considering whether to advise Anna to rest for a bit, the green light suddenly flourished further, and he saw the black mist being forced out of the shieldmaiden's left hand, instantly dissipating into the air.

However, the air seemed to be filled with a faint stench of blood and rot.

It was like the smell that rushes out when an old house that hasn't been lived in for over a decade is suddenly opened.

At this point, Anna's slender frame wobbled; her originally rosy complexion turned into a weak pallor, and Rein immediately supported Anna to sit down at the edge of the bed.

"Anna, you pushed yourself too hard! Why didn't you split it into two sessions?"

"No, Rein, I could feel that the black mist was very terrible; if I had stopped, the black mist would have revived like a phoenix from the ashes and re-occupied her arm," Anna shook her head and explained earnestly as she looked into Rein's eyes, a hint of stubbornness hardly noticeable in her gaze.

"En?" So that was it, Rein nodded his head.

When Rein looked at the barbarian girl again, he found that her previously furrowed brows had now relaxed, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. From her face, she appeared to be much better than before the treatment.

After thinking for a moment, Rein turned to Anna and said, "Anna, you go rest for a while, I'll take care of her here."

"En." Anna obediently nodded and, assisted by Rein, went back to the adjacent room to rest.

Her current state was indeed not good; the recent healing had consumed too much of her spirit, and now Anna felt waves of dizziness sweeping over her, in desperate need of a good sleep.

....

Rein did not have to wait too long.

About half an hour after the treatment, the barbarian girl gradually came to.

With a soft moan, the barbarian girl opened her bewildered eyes.

"You're awake?" Rein said softly.

The girl shuddered and slowly turned her head to look at Rein, saying, "Awake?"

Her eyes gradually cleared, but the next second, as if remembering something, she uncontrollably curled up, hugged her knees, and started sobbing softly on the bed.

This reaction immediately puzzled Rein.

But quickly, he realized that it was very likely that something had happened to the rest of her squad.

"Um... would it be possible for you to tell me what happened to you?"

"I remember that day, your squad came to Flashgold Town," Rein chose his words carefully and spoke slowly.

After sobbing for a while, the girl slowly began to speak, "Is this... Flashgold Town?"

"Yes, this is Flashgold Town; you are safe here. By the way, may I know your name? My name is Rein," Rein was pleased they could communicate.

"My name is Lagaray, from the barbarian tribe of the Frostwind Prairie in the Northern Empire," she lifted her head, her red and swollen eyes looking straight at Rein, and although her eyelashes were wet with tears, her gaze revealed an unwavering resolve.

That resolve gave Rein the impression of a boulder standing unyielding amidst the howling northern winds.

This time, there was no need for Rein to ask again.

The barbarian girl named Lagaray slowly recounted the story that had befallen their squad two days before.

"The Falcon investigation report from the Habsburg manor wasn't wrong; there indeed was only one ogre, but what we didn't realize until we got there was that it was an old ogre, extremely cunning."

An old ogre?

Could it possibly wield witchcraft?

Doubts arose in Rein's mind, but he didn't interrupt, instead patiently listening to Lagaray's story.

"In reality, it had numerous minions, but they were spread out, stationed around the place it resided. This led us to misjudge the situation initially."

"When we launched our attack, that deceitful old ogre summoned its jackalmen and kobold minions to besiege us."

"Fortunately, my brother Haral is a ferocious Berserker, his physical liberation exceeds forty percent."