Torren and the other guards surrounded Lynn nervously, at a complete loss for what to do.
They watched helplessly as Lynn's skin turned crimson, veins bulging under his skin like earthworms, his whole body radiating a terrifying heat.
"My Lord! Are you alright? Should we fetch Maester Aemon?"
Torren was sweating profusely with anxiety.
"I'm fine."
Lynn slowly opened his eyes, a terrifying glint flashing in their depths.
"My Lord, you..."
Torren looked at Lynn, who had returned to normal, his face full of shock and doubt.
Lynn didn't answer.
He simply stood up and walked over to a dead pine tree nearby, thick enough that two men would be needed to encircle it.
Then, Lynn took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and punched it!
Bang!
A dull, tooth-aching thud.
Lynn withdrew his fist.
On the trunk, a shallow fist print appeared, surrounded by fine, spiderweb cracks.
It seems that a single attribute point provides an extremely obvious boost to strength, Lynn thought to himself.
Torren and the surrounding guards stared until their eyes nearly popped out.
This... what is this?
They were Northern elites, confident in their own strength.
But even with all their might, they would at most leave a scratch on the tree.
Yet Lord Lynn's punch had clearly surpassed them!
And just a few days ago in the training yard, he wasn't this powerful.
Could he have been holding back?
Their awe deepened.
Lynn stretched his body, feeling the unprecedented surge of power, his mood reaching a peak.
> [Strength: 6 (28%)]
Just one herb had allowed his Strength attribute to break through the bottleneck directly.
And it came with a bonus of nearly one-third of the progress bar.
This Haunted Forest was simply a treasure trove!
It was a pity Maester Aemon said Frostheart's effect would be greatly diminished after the first consumption.
However, using it to enhance the strength of his loyal subordinates seemed like a good choice.
After all, the stronger they were, the greater their ability to farm experience.
It was tantamount to enhancing himself.
"Clean this place up. We move on."
Lynn's voice held an irrepressible excitement.
"My Lord, still... still moving forward?"
Torren hesitated.
"We're already nearly thirty miles deep into the Haunted Forest. Any further, and we might encounter wildling clans."
"Isn't that perfect?" Lynn grinned.
That smile, in Torren's eyes, was more dangerous than any beast in the forest.
"My Lord, but..."
"No buts, Torren."
Lynn slapped his shoulder heavily as usual, the force making Torren stumble and almost lose his footing.
Lynn quickly grabbed him.
Amidst the awkwardness, Lynn quickly added:
"What are we here for? To hunt."
"Since it's a hunt, naturally we look for big game."
Lynn gazed into the depths of the forest.
His eyes were like a hungry wolf that had caught the scent of blood.
"These small fry aren't enough to fill the gaps between our teeth."
Torren looked at the crazy battle lust in Lynn's eyes and swallowed.
He didn't know what his lord had just gone through.
But he knew that the lord now was stronger than ever before.
"At once, my Lord!"
Torren stopped trying to dissuade him and shouted his acknowledgment.
He turned and roared at the other guards:
"What the hell are you staring at! Pack up, prepare to move!"
Startled by Torren's shout, the guards quickly sprang into action.
The column set off again.
Lynn rode his horse, feeling the power surging in his body.
He felt the effect of the Frostheart was even better than he had imagined.
This filled him with anticipation for this unknown forest.
Since there was the first Frostheart, there must be a second, a third!
He wanted to become stronger, stronger than anyone else!
And make his subordinates stronger too!
Only in this way could he truly control his own destiny on this chaotic continent.
Instead of being a pawn, manipulated by those so-called nobles and kings.
The column marched forward another ten miles or so.
The sky gradually darkened.
The light in the forest grew dim, and the surrounding tree shadows began to claw at the air like ghosts.
The scout responsible for pathfinding ahead galloped back.
"My Lord!"
The scout's face held a mix of nervousness and excitement.
"Ahead... there's a big discovery ahead!"
Lynn raised an eyebrow.
"Speak."
"Five miles ahead, there is a valley."
"In the valley... there seems to be a wildling clan!"
The scout swallowed.
"The scale is large. I took a rough look; there are at least a hundred tents!"
A hundred tents!
This number made everyone's breath catch.
Beyond the Wall, a hundred tents meant roughly three to five hundred wildlings.
Among them, the men capable of fighting with weapons should number at least over two hundred.
And Lynn's group had only a hundred men.
Although they were well-equipped, well-trained Northern elites.
Facing an enemy twice their number, and on the enemy's home turf, was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous gamble.
"My Lord?"
Torren looked cautious.
"Should we... retreat first?"
"Bring the news back to Castle Black and let Lord Commander Mormont send a large force?"
This was no longer a scale their hundred-man squad could handle.
Charging in head-on was no different from suicide.
The other guards also turned their gazes to Lynn.
They weren't afraid of fighting, but they didn't want to die for nothing.
"Retreat?" Lynn laughed.
His gaze swept over every guard's face.
"Why retreat?"
"Torren, tell me, what are we?"
Torren paused, answering instinctively:
"We are Lord Stark's guard, soldiers of the North."
"No."
Lynn shook his head.
"We are hunters now."
"And those wildlings in the valley ahead are our prey."
"Are you afraid?"
No one answered.
But their hands gripping weapons tightly and their tense bodies said everything.
"It's right to be afraid."
Lynn's voice suddenly softened.
"Facing an enemy twice your number, if you weren't afraid, that would be stupidity."
"But, you must remember."
Lynn's gaze sharpened.
"We are different from them."
"They are just a bunch of savages with stones and bones."
"And we!"
Lynn pointed to himself, then to the iron armor on their bodies and the steel swords in their hands.
"We are warriors from the civilized world!"
"We have sharp weapons, sturdy armor, strict discipline, and... brains smarter than all of them put together."
Lynn tapped his temple.
That powerful confidence seemed magical, dispelling much of the fear in the guards' hearts.
"My Lord, you mean..."
Torren asked tentatively.
"We won't fight them head-on."
"We will use our brains to defeat them."
"Now, everyone dismount and follow me."
Lynn left the horses with a few guards to watch over, then led Torren and several squad leaders to quietly approach the valley.
They climbed a ridge on one side of the valley, hiding behind a dense grove of sentinel trees, and looked down.
The sight before them made everyone suck in a breath of cold air.
In the valley, densely packed, were over a hundred crude tents made of furs and dried bones.
Countless campfires burned between the tents, smoke billowing.
Crowds of wildlings—men, women, and children—gathered around the fires.
Some were butchering game, some were sharpening weapons, and children were chasing and playing in the snow.
The whole valley was like a chaotic anthill.
Noisy shouts, women's laughter and scolding, children's crying, all mixed together and echoed in the valley.
"Gods..."
A young guard's voice trembled.
"There... there are at least five hundred people here!"
"More."
Lynn's gaze landed on the largest, most ornate tent in the center of the valley.
That tent was sewn from complete giant bear pelts.
At the entrance hung the skull of an unknown beast.
Several exceptionally burly wildlings, painted with blood-red totems, stood guard with spears at the entrance.
Clearly, that was the residence of the clan chief.
"This is a medium-sized clan."
Lynn's tone was calm.
"To feed so many people, their leader shouldn't be a simple character."
But Lynn's mind was calculating rapidly.
Five hundred wildlings.
If he killed them all, how much experience would that be?
The moment this thought appeared, Lynn's heart pounded uncontrollably.
This was a huge crisis.
But at the same time, an unprecedented opportunity!
He had to take this clan!
And since the two sides were already hostile, Lynn didn't need to be merciful.
Turning them into experience points was the best destination for this group of wildlings.
"My Lord, what do we do now?"
Torren's voice pulled Lynn's thoughts back.
"Wait."
Lynn spat out a single word.
"Wait?"
"Yes, wait for dark."
Lynn's gaze swept quickly over the terrain of the entire valley.
The valley had only one narrow exit.
Steep cliffs lined both sides.
This was a place easy to defend and hard to attack.
But at the same time, a perfect trap.
"Torren, go do a few things immediately."
Lynn lowered his voice and began issuing orders.
"First, have the archers prepare all our poison arrows."
"Double the concentration of the poison on the arrowheads. Use up all the remaining paralytic poison!"
"Second, send a squad to the valley exit. Set traps for me. The more the better, the more hidden the better."
"Dig pits, bury spikes, set snares. Use every method you can think of."
"Third, let everyone eat a full meal and rest up."
Lynn's eyes shone startlingly bright in the darkness.
"Because tonight, we're going to pull off something big."