Martial Era: Starting With The Strongest Talent-Chapter 71: Sudden Guests

The sudden drop in temperature hit the group the moment they crossed the boundary.

Cold air rushed into their lungs, frosting their breath almost instantly, but everyone had been prepared for it and no one panicked.

The group moved forward smoothly.

Leading them was the acolyte captain, Mark, as Adam had learned his name not long ago, followed by three acolytes.

Behind them were Abigail, Dickson, and three of their people, including the long-eared elf.

And bringing up the rear, unbothered by formation or hierarchy, was Adam.

Ten people.

A clean, efficient number.

The rest had been left outside the incursion, and that was intentional. With the after effects of the pulse container, monsters wouldn’t approach the perimeter for at least seventy-two hours.

Those guarding the fence didn’t need extra protection yet, and there was no point risking more lives than necessary.

Besides... numbers weren’t exactly required.

Not when Adam was here.

Despite his injuries, he was still the most reliable combatant in the group.

His head was freshly bandaged, healing pills already doing their job. To anyone watching, he might have looked battered, but functionally, he was as dangerous as ever.

Mark moved at the front, eyes sharp, steps measured.

"If we stay on this route without interruptions, we’ll be out in under an hour. So let’s keep the pace."

The three acolytes nodded immediately. One was here to handle readings and investigation, the other two purely as backup.

Adam and Abigail, however, weren’t focused on Mark’s words.

Their gazes swept the tundra as they walked.

Frozen ground crunched beneath their boots. Jagged ice formations rose from the earth like broken teeth, and a pale mist clung low to the surface, distorting depth and distance.

It was too quiet, but both of them knew better than to relax.

The epicenter was where the answers would be.

Until then, everything else was noise.

Adam kept [Connect] active the entire time. To his vision, the tundra was anything but empty. Dozens of slow, heavy, and hostile soul flames flickered beneath the surface and beyond the ice ridges.

Frost Golems.

Lots of them.

Suppressing a sigh, Adam subtly adjusted their route, shifting them just far enough to skirt around clusters of dormant monsters. It went against his instincts, against his pleasure, but this wasn’t a hunt.

It was an investigation.

Even so, there was only so much one person could do, because some monsters didn’t wait to be avoided.

Adam’s steps slowed.

His gaze narrowed, locking onto a group of soul flames that had begun moving, fast.

"It seems, we’re about to receive some guests."

The group reacted instantly.

They spread out without needing orders, muscle memory taking over as battle formation snapped into place.

One by one, martial spirits manifested behind them like guardian phantoms, beasts, and spectral warriors radiating essence and intent.

Everyone.

Except Smor.

Adam noticed immediately.

"What’s holding you up?" Adam asked, not turning his head.

Smor glanced at him, then gave a wry smile.

"I just broke through recently. Haven’t had the time to manifest my martial spirit yet."

Adam’s eyes flickered with understanding.

"I see."

Essence surged.

As Adam activated Rapid E and Poison F simultaneously, pressure rolled off him like a lightning storm.

"Then I guess, the both of us will have to rely on our special talents."

Smor’s grin widened.

In the next moment, a powerful wave of force burst from his body as he activated Enhancement F.

His muscles tightened, veins faintly glowing as his physical presence doubled in intensity.

He nodded at Adam.

Adam returned the nod.

Then...

The ground trembled.

At first it was subtle, barely noticeable beneath the crunch of frozen earth.

Then it grew louder and heavier.

thud... thud... thud, a deep, rhythmic pounding that thundered through the tundra.

The ice shook. Frost cracked.

And then they came into view.

Frost golems.

More than a dozen of them.

Each stood nearly fifteen feet tall, massive bodies formed from compacted ice and frozen stone, resembling grotesque hybrids of snowmen and ancient constructs.

Their hollow, glowing eyes locked onto the group, drawn by the warmth of living bodies like predators sensing prey.

The golems radiated cold and menace.

But something was wrong.

They didn’t understand why, but their instincts screamed that the group in front of them was different. They didn’t have time to second-guess, though, as Adam stepped forward.

One slow step at a time.

His killing intent seeped outward, dense and oppressive, each footfall carrying murderous weight.

Behind him, martial spirits flared brighter. Smor watched his back, Enhancement F roaring through his veins.

Adam stopped.

"I’ll take one and a half," he said casually. "You handle the rest."

Then he vanished.

The next thing anyone saw.

BOOM!

The head of a frost golem detonated midair, ice and stone exploding outward like shrapnel.

For a split second, the battlefield froze.

Then the remaining golems roared in fury, their thunderous bellows shaking the tundra as they charged.

Martial spirits surged. Essence clashed.

And all hell broke loose.

Despite Adam’s wretched state, with his armor shattered, small bruises lining his body and a blood-stained bandage wrapped around his head, Adam fought like a madman.

The first frost golem’s body crashed into the frozen ground, shattering into chunks of ice and stone, and that was all it took.

As all hell broke loose.

Adam didn’t pause to admire the kill. He was already moving.

He shot toward the next golem in a blur of motion.

The towering construct barely had time to register his presence before it swung its massive right arm down in a crushing swat meant to turn him into paste.

Adam slipped past it effortlessly.

He leapt onto the descending arm, boots running across ice as if it were an ascending ramp, and in one smooth motion he drove his blade through the creature’s neck.

The head tore free and exploded into shards before the body could even react.

Two down.

The frost golems numbered twenty-four in total.

Adam had claimed one and a half’s worth, eighteen.

With two already destroyed, that left sixteen still bearing down on him.

Behind him, the others were dealing with the remaining six, but this was no longer a casual skirmish.

This was a real fight.

Adam launched himself at the next golem.

And then it happened.

A sudden, crushing weight slammed down on him from above.

In that instant, his speed vanished.

It was as if gravity itself had multiplied, dragging at his limbs, pinning him in place. His boots cracked the ice beneath him as his knees bent under the pressure.

What?

He didn’t have time to finish the thought, as a massive fist descended from the sky, blotting out his vision as it crashed toward him with enough force to pulverize steel.