I can evolve everything

Without further ado, Renn waved his hand, and the streamlined squad left the encampment and headed west.

This area, known as "Shattered Tooth Canyon," has a landscape that lives up to its name.

The cliffs on both sides look as if they have been repeatedly ravaged by ancient giants, with all sorts of jagged fractures on the rock face.

The howling winds from the north poured in through these cracks, converging into erratic currents at the bottom of the canyon.

The procession moved in silence.

Due to the rugged terrain and deep snow, Renn and his group of fifteen did not ride horses and instead walked.

Renn walked at the front, the snow under his feet had hardened into an ice shell, and it would break open with every step he took, making a constant sound.

Ella walked beside him, and even in this environment, her steps were as smooth as if she were walking on flat ground.

As a half-elf, and with the blessing of the Wind Whisperer's Breathing Technique, she left almost no footprints on the snow, floating in the air and being carried by the wind behind her.

"It's so quiet here."

After walking about five miles, Ella suddenly pulled her hood down, hiding her pointed ears even more, and muttered another complaint:

"It was so quiet it was deafening. Not even the sound of snow raven could be heard."

"We've almost entered the territory of those monsters."

Hank followed behind, carrying a longsword and two large bags of kerosene at his waist. "Although the Snow Ravens have been here for a long time, they are very clever. As soon as they smell the White Frost Spider, they fly faster than anyone else."

We walked for about a few hundred more meters.

The surrounding scenery began to look rather eerie.

The gray-black rocks were dotted with white spots, just like the one Renn had seen at the encampment.

The wind here became sharp, howling and wailing.

"We've arrived at Crying Rock."

Hank stopped, pointed to the jumbled rock formations ahead, and whispered to the guide:

"Sir, it's just ahead. Those spiders are in this stone forest."

Renn squinted.

In his view, the rocky forest ahead seemed to be shrouded in a layer of snow and mist.

But upon closer inspection, Renn realized that what was obscuring the air wasn't fog, but rather a dense network of spiderwebs. Some of these webs even spanned two massive rocks several meters high, trembling slightly in the cold wind.

"I've never seen a spider like this before," Ryan said matter-of-factly.

His original body's memories only included street fighting skills and experience as a noble young master; he knew very little about these northern monsters.

"I have heard my father mention it."

Ella came closer and poked at a clump of spider silk on the ground with her sword sheath:

"White Frost Spiders are arthropod monsters that prefer cold, dark environments. They have no eyes and rely entirely on their fur to sense vibrations. Their venom, while not fatal, can slow your blood flow, rendering you as still as a stone, before slowly draining your bodily fluids."

"The knight is right," Hank added. "However, they are not considered dangerous among the monsters of the North, and are even among the easier ones to deal with. They have a fatal weakness: they are afraid of fire, and even more afraid of high temperatures. Although their shells are quite hard, once the fur on their bodies catches fire, they become immobile."

Renn nodded, having made up his mind.

"Prepare kerosene."

He gave the order in a low voice so as not to alert the monsters ahead, "Split into three groups. Hank, you take the men to block off the left flank. Gru, you go to the right flank. Burn the outer net first, force them out."

"Yes."

The veterans deftly unfastened the oil pouches from their waists. They were filled with a mixture of sulfur and grease, a potent fuel for fire.

"Let's do it!"

At Renn's command, seven or eight oil sacs were quickly thrown into the rocky forest.

The oil sac shattered upon impact with the rocks, splattering black grease everywhere. Immediately afterwards, several lit torches were thrown in.

Flames erupted instantly.

This kind of kerosene is clearly a specialty of the North, and it still burns quite fiercely even in such a low-temperature environment.

The orange-red flames spread wildly along the spiderwebs in the air.

"hiss--!!"

From the depths of the chaotic rocky forest, countless howls suddenly rang out.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of grayish-white shadows emerged from various rock crevices and caves not far ahead.

Their bodies were about the size of a washbasin, their eight long legs were covered with white barbs, and blue liquid dripped from their mouths as they opened and closed.

This is the White Frost Spider.

There were more of them than expected, densely packed, like a white tide.

"Maintain formation!"

With a roar, Renn swiftly swung his longsword, cleaving a spider that had burst out of the sea of ​​fire in two.

The soldiers did not panic. They quickly formed a human wall with their shields and pierced through the spiders that tried to break through one by one.

However, there were simply too many spiders. And they didn't just charge head-on; many also climbed up the rock walls and overhead pillars, attempting to ambush from above.

"above!"

A soldier exclaimed as a huge spider leaped down from the rock above him.

"Whoosh—"

A red figure flashed by.

Ella held a sharp blade in each hand; her right hand held a long knight's sword, and her left hand held a short sword in reverse.

She used a protruding rock for leverage and leaped onto the top of the frost spider.

"Too slow."

With a soft hum, she slashed out with her two swords in a crisscross motion.

puff!

The spider, which was leaping in the air, didn't even have time to land before its four legs were severed, and then the short sword precisely pierced its abdomen.

Ella landed lightly, her figure disappearing from the spot once more, heading off to find the next Frost Spider.

The Windtalker's Breathing Technique made her incredibly agile. Watching this from the front of the group, Renn sensed that Ella's speed had increased considerably compared to before.

She moved through the rocky forest, and with each strike of her sword, a frost spider fell to the ground.

"Impressive skills..."

Standing at the back of the line, veteran Gru couldn't help but admire him in his heart.

He had served in the North for fifteen years and had seen many knights, but a skilled knight like this half-elf girl, who could traverse such rocky terrain with ease, was extremely rare.

But the next second, Gru's attention was drawn to the commotion on the other side.

Over there stood Rein, blocking several Frost Spiders from the front of the group.

Faced with three white frost spiders attacking him at the same time, Renn did not retreat even a step.

"when!"

He swung his longsword like a shield.

It didn't look like swordsmanship; it looked more like a pure outpouring of power.

A tremendous force erupted from the sword, and the first spider to pounce was smashed in two by the sword's spine, its carapace shattered, and its crimson sap splattered across the surrounding snow.

Immediately afterwards, Renn took half a step forward.

【Half-Step Collapse Sword】.

The power traveled from the soles of his feet to his fingertips, and the longsword pierced out instantly, so fast that only a cold glint could be seen.

Before the two spiders could even bite together, the longsword pierced through them instantly, pinning them together.

With a flick of his wrist, Raine sent the two spider corpses flying, smashing over a patch of debris behind them.

"this……"

Gru was slightly dazed, unable to recall the words that were on his lips.

He glanced instinctively at the knight's badge on Renn's chest.

Having served in the patrol for many years, Gru had encountered various knights or apprentice knights from the Northern Fortress. He could tell that the insignia on this knight's chest indicated that he was only an apprentice knight.

"Internship? Are you kidding me?"

Gru cursed inwardly.

He had witnessed battles fought by formal knights, and the power unleashed by those knights was indeed quite imposing.

But Gru had almost never seen anyone else fight in a way similar to that of Rein before him. The pressure Rein exerted on Gru was not too strong, but he was extremely heavy.

That feeling was like a wild bull wearing human skin.

Each strike was unreasonably heavy, like a human-shaped self-propelled battering ram.

Is this kind of physical ability really something a trainee knight can possess?

Thinking of this, some memories deep in Gru's mind seemed to surface: when he was young, he had once seen Karen, the legendary knight of the Northern Fortress, fighting in a sea of ​​monsters from afar.

At this moment, Renn seemed quite similar to that knight.

"It seems... the knight who came this time is a monster." Gru licked his lips, his eyes filled with even greater awe.

The battle lasted for about fifteen minutes.

With the help of the oil and two apprentice knights, the group of white frost spiders that had been forced out of their temporary nest were quickly wiped out.

Seeing that all was lost, the remaining few screamed and scurried back into the depths of the rock crevices.

"Clean up the battlefield!"

Hank shouted, panting but his face full of excitement.

This battle was much easier than he had expected; he rarely saw a battle with zero casualties.

The soldiers began skillfully collecting the spider's venom sacs and silk threads, which they could then sell for a good price when the people from the Northern Fortress came to collect them.

Ryan did not join the celebration.

He shook off the slime from his sword, sheathed it, and then walked alone into the depths of the chaotic rock forest.

That's where the spiders came from.

The further you go in, the fainter the burnt smell becomes.

"Did you find anything?"

Ella walked over, wiping the stains off her short sword with a cloth, her red ponytail swaying behind her head.

"That's strange."

Renn crouched down and looked at the frozen spider carcass on the ground.

This body wasn't left from the battle just now. Judging from the extent of the snow cover and the stiffness of the body, it had been dead for at least a week.

"This spider wasn't burned to death, nor was it killed by us just now."

Raine reached out and gently touched the carapace on the back of the corpse with his fingertips.

There was a neat crack there.

The cut was smooth and even, with not even the surrounding fuzz messy.

"This is..." Ella leaned closer for a look, her expression changing slightly. "A longsword? And an extremely sharp one, capable of killing with a single blow."

Renn nodded without saying anything.