Using his "Speed" ability, Todd rushed in front of the griffin, extending his right arm to protect his head and taking a heavy blow from the iron wings. Due to the powerful impact, his feet slid backward a full thirty centimeters, barely stopping in front of the barbarian mother and child.
"Go back inside!" Todd gritted his teeth and desperately resisted the griffin's attack, shouting loudly behind him.
Perhaps she truly understood what he meant, or perhaps it was simply a survival instinct, but the mother grabbed her son and ran back into the house in a flash, locking the door behind them.
With no worries about the rear, Todd mustered all his strength, took a big step forward, and forcefully pushed the griffin back.
This power drew loud praise from the barbarian onlookers.
The griffin cried out in alarm and stretched out its beak to peck at Todd's head.
The latter dodged the attack by turning its body to the side, then touched the ground with its mutated right arm and used its "Earth Manipulation" ability to turn the soil into a swamp, trapping the griffin's limbs. Then it stretched out its left hand and firmly grabbed its beak.
The "Weakness" ability spread outward from the palm of his hand, and visible black energy enveloped the griffin's head. The griffin's eyes instantly turned white, it became weak, and it lost its balance and fell to the ground.
Seeing the once invincible monster brought down, the barbarians erupted in thunderous cheers.
Todd watched as the griffin's eyes slowly cleared, and said with a wry smile, "Victory is still a long way off."
The griffin suddenly stood upright, its two sharp, blade-like forepaws stabbing fiercely at Todd. Then, it crouched down, assuming a pouncing posture.
Todd rolled backward on the ground, narrowly dodging the attack. He braced himself with his arms outstretched, ready to defend against the next attack, when the griffin suddenly turned its head, flapped its wings, and flew away...
"That beast..." Todd watched the departing figure in the sky, dusted himself off, and muttered helplessly, "He's not stupid, he even knows how to use a feint."
"Hilder! Hilder!" The barbarians in the camp came out of their houses and the woods and gathered around Todd, cheering loudly.
Looking at the respectful and admiring expressions of the people around him, Todd was somewhat unable to adapt to the huge difference in attitude before and after, and for a moment he did not know what to do.
“The northern barbarians believe in strength, and military might is enough to change the people’s opinion.” Rachel, who had been watching the battle closely, slowly lowered her arms and walked to Todd’s side, saying this.
Aisha, leaning on her cane, looked at Todd, who was surrounded by people, her eyes sparkling, but it was unclear what she was thinking.
The barbarian elder Fried squatted down, first examining the broken wooden cage, then looking at the broken hemp rope on the ground. When he stood up and looked at Todd, a smile inexplicably appeared on his lips.
Following the "Griffin Attack Incident," Todd's treatment improved dramatically.
The barbarians gave Todd and his two "companions" the best wooden house in the village, and their food changed from grass seed cakes to precious dried meat. Some even tried to send their daughters into his room under the cover of night.
The barbarians' reverence for power was an eye-opener for Todd. Just one defeat of the griffins was enough to turn these villagers, who viewed the mutants as demons, into loyal worshippers.
On the fifth night at the barbarian camp, the locals held a small party.
When food was scarce, people used sour wild fruits as the main course at their feasts; when there was no decent wine, they used sweet mountain spring water as the intoxicating brew.
From top to bottom, Todd sat in the fourth seat at the party.
Fried sat in the third seat, an elderly female shaman sat in the second seat, and the first seat was empty, with no one sitting there.
Watching the barbarians singing, boasting, and wrestling around the campfire, Todd, with the help of Rachel's translation, chatted idly with them.
After some inquiries, Todd learned that this barbarian tribe called "Froststone" had not been settled for long. About a year and a half ago, these people, who were strangers to each other, fled the Silver Ring Kingdom under the leadership of a barbarian chieftain named Boyle, crossed the Falling Star Mountains, and came to the wild north in search of survival.
When they first arrived here, this basin was not their first choice for settlement.
This group of barbarians tried many other settlements, but without exception they were driven out and attacked. Finally, they had no choice but to settle in this basin.
At first, Todd didn't quite understand why this group of people didn't think highly of this settlement, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Upon further inquiry, the problem boils down to one thing—the soil.
Unlike the black and brown soils of other parts of the North, the soil at this settlement is red soil, a rarity in the North, due to the warm and dry environment of the basin and the high altitude of the terrain.
Red soil has strong leaching properties, low mineral nutrients, high acidity, is prone to aluminum and manganese toxicity, has poor fertilizer retention, and is heavy and sticky. Therefore, in short, it's unsuitable for growing any crops.
After trying farming a few times, the villagers of Froststone finally gave up on farming. They picked up their hunting bows and wooden baskets again and began to meet the tribe's daily food needs through hunting and gathering.
However, this method of survival might not be a big problem on the Moon Creek Plains, but on the Barbarian Continent, it has become a synonym for hanging by a thread.
Soldiers from the northern barbarian kingdoms were hunting down southern residents, while all sorts of mutated monsters roamed freely. The Froststone people often had to pay the price of a life for just ten kilograms of meat.
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