Floki’s torso blurred forward as he switched to the Battle-mage path and activated Stone Reinforcement, forming a layer of defensive stone armor over his body. In the same motion, he swiftly latched onto the gigantic tail of the serpent king before it could destroy anything.

The resulting sound was thunderous, and a shockwave of wind spread across the area, swift and lethal as it tore through everything in its path.

Fortunately, Breeze reacted in time and moved some of the people standing in harm’s way of the wave. However, he was not fast enough to save all of them, and a few were still pushed away, sustaining serious wounds. None were killed.

Even so, witnessing the power behind a failed attack from the serpent king was enough. The people feared not only its size and appearance but also the terrifying extent of its capabilities.

It did not take long for them to realize that their Baron was the one battling the beast, and a chant began among a few before quickly spreading to the rest.

"White Tempest!"

"White Tempest!"

Their voices rose loud and unified. The chant was motivating for Floki, yet it distracted the serpent king. With a violent motion, it freed its tail and, once again, attempted to knock the chanting people away.

"You’re very bold to attempt the same thing again in my presence," Floki spat.

He used [Air Cannon Barrage] instantly.

With precise control over the magic, he caused dozens of magic circles to appear several feet above the serpent king. As the serpent king stared at the formation above it, the barrage began. Large-scale wind attacks descended from all directions, blasting into its body and forcing it to wail in pain as its massive form writhed violently, twisting and shaking under the assault.

By the time the Air Cannon Barrage faded, the serpent king was badly wounded.

Its movements became sluggish, and its breathing turned ragged as it writhed weakly while still glaring at Floki.

The serpent king began to hiss.

Yet, unlike before, Floki felt nothing behind the sound. There was no trace of emotion, only a raw, animalistic noise.

That confirmed his theory. Another effect of the Beast Tamer path allowed him to gain a subtle understanding of nearby beasts, even untamed ones.

’Well, I do not need to understand you. Your child is now my pet, and it has a lot of potential. I can’t give it back.’ Floki shook his head inwardly, feeling only a slight trace of pity.

He summoned his sword and stepped forward toward the anguished serpent.

He laced his blade with wind affinity, then transferred that same power into his foot, launching himself into the air. He followed the serpent king’s gaze, its eyes locked onto him without wavering.

The serpent king was not out of moves.

Seeing Floki deliver himself directly to it, the serpent king formed a shadow ball in an instant, preparing to fire.

Garrick, who had just recovered, noticed this immediately. He judged that his master would not be able to evade at that height and acted without hesitation.

He launched himself forward like a bullet and slammed into the serpent’s neck, disorienting it and causing the shadow ball to collapse before it could be released.

Breeze had already begun moving earlier. He reached the base of the serpent’s body and prepared to deliver lethal attacks.

Floki thanked his knights inwardly and reproached himself for assuming the serpent king was out of moves. He focused instantly and, gathering all his strength along with the swiftness granted by wind magic, he struck.

In one clean motion, he beheaded the serpent king.

Even as its head separated and its eyes rolled across the ground, they remained fixed on him. The hatred within them did not fade, not even in death.

[ You’ve slain x1 Boss, Shadow Serpent King, EXP +1000, Skill points +75 ]

[ 100x multiplier applied. EXP +100,000, Skill Points +7500 ] ...

...

Floki landed softly. He wiped the blood from his sword and turned toward his people.

They began to gather around him, their voices rising once more as they chanted his nickname.

Floki only smiled and waved at them before climbing onto the serpent king’s corpse and digging into its head to retrieve its monster core. It was nothing special, merely a gold-rank monster core of higher quality than that of the serpent queen.

He stored it in his inventory.

Cale, Jabba, and Anton appeared behind him, and he asked the important question of whether the serpent king was edible.

"No..." Breeze was the one who responded.

Garrick, dragging his badly fractured hand, came closer and gave the same answer.

Floki asked why, and Garrick began to explain.

"It is generally safe to consume demonic beasts, but it is not the same for those with rare dark affinities like shadow," Garrick said.

Floki noticed his injured hand and handed him a healing potion. Garrick gulped it down quickly before continuing.

"The first reason is digestion. If the person has no mana, consuming it could cause mana overload. Their body would not be able to handle it since they have no monster core."

Everyone listened closely, nodding as they understood his reasoning.

"Secondly, if the person already possesses a mana core, their body may attempt to absorb the affinity. In that case, there is a high chance of corruption. Their body could become a dark vessel, carrying out the beast’s lingering will."

He finished speaking. Cale, who had been about to suggest a feast from the serpent king’s corpse, immediately regretted the thought.

"What if that person has a tolerance to absorb the shadow affinity?" Floki asked.

Garrick studied him for a moment, reading the determination in his eyes, and quickly understood his intent.

"The chances of obtaining shadow affinity from consuming the corpse are extremely low. You have a higher success rate of awakening it by consuming the monster core instead. Even then, it requires a special skill."

"Understandable," Floki said with a nod.

He turned toward the gathered people.

"Well, unfortunately, my good people, we cannot make a feast out of this beast that threatened our peace," he said with a small smile.

"But do not worry, tomorrow morning, you will wake up to good news."

The chants of the people thundered across the town for several minutes before, one after another, they began to bid farewell and return to their homes.

The family whose hut had been destroyed joined another family.

Soon, everyone had returned to their houses except Floki and his five strongest soldiers.

None of them seemed ready to sleep.

In the end, the six of them strolled toward the village square.

Floki used the opportunity to discuss his plan to attack Wayan Village with them.

None of his men objected. In fact, Anton was ready to give his all to ensure the success of the mission. He had heard of the evil of Wayan Village and was eager to bring it down.

"Tomorrow morning, the mission will begin. To save time, I will go alone with Angelina and Garrick," Floki said.

Anton and Jabba were instantly saddened.

Yet they did not complain. They understood how important time was, and they believed that their Baron, who had defeated both a calamity and a serpent king, would be able to handle a village head.

Breeze, however, felt relieved that he would not be taken out of town so soon, as he only wished to sleep and laze around all day.

That relief did not last.

Floki instructed him to take over training that day.

Breeze grumbled for a long time, trying to convince Floki of how important rest was for him.

Floki, already familiar with his personality, ignored every excuse.

Their meeting ended quickly. It took less than thirty minutes to settle their course of action for the next day.

To pass the remaining time, since none of them were willing to sleep, Floki began issuing quests on the spot.

It was then that he noticed something interesting.

[ Your follower ’Cale’ has completed quest ’200 Pushups without rest’. 100 EXP has been distributed ]

[ Lord of Growth’s effect is active. Cale has gained 500 EXP ]

[ Your follower ’Jabba’ has leveled up from the distributed EXP. Current level: 7 ]

Floki struggled to hide his surprise from the others.

’So the skill does not only improve their learning and mastery rate. It also multiplies their progress by five times. It is much stronger than I imagined,’ he thought, a hint of excitement surfacing.

He continued assigning quests one after another.

Cale rose from level 7 to level 12.

Jabba and Anton reached level 14.

Garrick and Breeze joined after noticing the rapid progress of the others.

However, due to their already high levels, they did not experience any level up by the time morning arrived.