After encountering the first group of barbarians, Liam and the soul gang came across a few more groups. Surprisingly all of them were lower leveled so the minions took care of them with complete ease.
Liam also used this chance to forge a new set of minions, the barbarians. These guys had a strong physical build and were naturally combat oriented so even if their level was low, they were performing better than many other minions.
"Higher beings are higher beings." Liam clicked his tongue as he observed the new additions. He had managed to forge five whole barbarians, preserving their souls perfectly.
Their forging difficulty was at par with human soul forging so this process was very time consuming. This was his main limiting factor at the moment.
Since he was currently in enemy territory he couldn't freely set up camp and do as he pleased. If a horde of barbarians swarmed him then it would be game over.
Another big issue at the moment was that he was basically going in blind. Liam had no idea what the map on the other side looked like and what he would be facing when he stepped into the next territory.
So far he had played it safe because he had the knowledge from his previous life but now, he was winging it. There was no other way. He had to take this risk.
"Should I just go through the middle?" He paused at the fork. Basically now would be the time to decide if he was going straight or right or left.
Logically right down the middle would be the riskiest option because he would then have to travel through the barbarians' territory. Left or right was better as he could perhaps sneak through the northern or southern borders.
But at the same time, there could be stronger opponents here for this exact same reason to prevent trespassers like him.
"Hmmm." Liam thought about this for a minute and then took out something from his inventory. It was an old map torn at the edges and the second reason why he was traveling to the elven lands.
This map was none other than the 'treasure map' he had obtained from the three-headed raven in the beginner's dungeon. Of course, now he knew better.
Just like the amazing PVP tower tournament with bountiful rewards, this treasure map was also probably a honey trap. He was definitely walking into danger. There was no doubt about it.
But Liam still decided to go through with it because… when the apocalypse eventually descends on earth and he stood tall as a powerful force, what would happen if instead he was attacked by a bunch of ravens?
All of his buffs, his hard work, his soul army, everything would become a waste and he would end up getting skewered by a bunch of ravens. Just thinking about it gave him a headache.
The map was also a 'bind to user' item so he couldn't even drop it. He really had no other choice. He had to do this quest or find another way to remove this damned curse once and for all.
"Treasure map huh? Show me what you got." Liam opened up the old scroll and laid it flat on the ground. He had looked at it earlier as well but it didn't show anything then.
However, now he was standing at the border of the barbarians' territory. He had a hunch that the map might show something now. Since the quest was forced to this extent, there was a good possibility.
And just like he expected, when he opened the map on the ground, the system interface opened up and the world map flashed in front of him.
And surprisingly, this time it was not empty. Veins started sprouting on the map and soon he had an almost complete picture of the area he was currently standing on.
"So you are telling me how to go in…" Liam's gaze turned cold. The map was surely luring him to a trap but right now he needed its help to safely cross the barbarians' territory into the elven territory past it.
He checked out the new paths that appeared before him and they were rather detailed. Immediately Liam was relieved that he checked the map.
Both the northern and the middle parts were chalked full of barbarian settlements. Only the south was relatively empty. There were only a few sparsely located settlements. So it would be the easiest to travel through this region.
Liam noted down all the significant landmarks and then finally stepped forward taking the path that lead to the south. For a few miles, it was smooth sailing, but soon the forests started to grow thicker and thicker.
Once in a while, Liam also heard loud noises coming from afar. Something did not feel right. He immediately stopped moving and looked around to find a burrow. He then placed Luna inside it and entered stealth to go ahead and scout the area.
It was extremely difficult to maintain stealth in the dense forest as several little details gave away his position. Even if he was very careful, a twig snapped every now and then because of him.
Luckily for him, the place seemed to be deserted. Just as Liam was about to turn around, he suddenly heard a loud voice.
Not too far away from him, a few barbarians were casually walking by. They were chatting and laughing boisterously, everyone in some sort of celebratory mood.
When Liam looked closer, his eyes slightly widened. The group was not alone. They were roughly dragging along a few elven women on the ground by holding their hair.
The elves were all looking ragged and half-dead. However, surprisingly none of them were shrieking or crying out for help. They had blank indifferent expressions on their face as if they had already checked out of this world.
"Hmmm…" Liam pondered over this situation. Clearly, the bunch of elves in front of him had been taken into captivity. The question was whether he should rescue them or not?
And no matter how he thought about this, in this case, rescuing them seemed to be the better option.
Not because he wanted to help them out of the kindness of his heart but because he did not want to let this golden opportunity slip by.
If he rescued these elves, then he would have a valid reason to travel to the elven territory. He could know more details about the best route to that zone and perhaps he would also be able to meet them on friendlier terms.
"Yup, this is my ticket into the land of elves." Liam silently stood still for a minute and then stepped forward, deciding to take action. His gaze sharpened as he followed the group of barbarians from a distance and observed them carefully.
Just from seeing them afar, he could tell that these guys were not as weak as the ones he had faced earlier. This group of barbarians was strong.
He moved a little closer and he was able to see their levels. Almost instantly, Liam was shocked. Everyone in front of him was at least Level 70. The strongest one was almost level 80.
Nope. If he gets caught in this group at the moment, he would definitely be done for.
He waited and watched from the shadows to observe more first. Perhaps an opportunity would present itself. The group continued happily cheering and came to a clearing in the forest.
The bunch of them tossed the women in the center and all took deep energetic breaths in anticipation of the feast that was about to come.
But right at this exact moment, one of the barbarians cursed out loud. "Fuck! This bitch is cockblocking me on purpose!"
His voice was gruff and burly but he undoubtedly spoke in the same language of humans, perhaps a dialect as some of the pronunciations were different. Thankfully, Liam was able to grasp the gist of it.
"You three morons, did you not finish the task properly? The boss is calling us back."
"UGHH! I did it just fine. Why are we always stuck on clean up duty anyways?"
The group started arguing loudly after that and Liam could no longer make out what they were saying. A few seconds later, four among the five left the clearing in a huff leaving behind the single barbarian to guard the elven women.
Liam grinned. His window of opportunity was here.
But he did not take any risks. He waited some more time until he was very sure that the group had walked away to a safe distance.
Unfortunately, the guard dog did not stay still until then and already started violating one of the elven women.
The barbarian was deep inside the elf, rocking back and forth and his eyes closed in ecstasy when suddenly a group of soul minions pounced on him from all directions.
