Chapter 40: Boar-Men and Jackal-Men

One hundred and twenty miles southeast of the Silver Mane Tribe, a mysterious group of werewolf cavalry, their faces concealed entirely by masks, was making its way toward the southeast.

"Chief, let's take a break!" one of the werewolf cavalrymen said.

"Hm?"

"Cadia, have you forgotten what I told you again?" The lead werewolf cavalryman patted his war-wolf, and the beast immediately halted.

"Sorry, milord, I forgot. Heh..." Cadia jumped off her war-wolf and smiled sheepishly.

This cavalry was none other than the chief's guard led by Corvinus, heading toward Kassros Canyon.

"Quick, rest and eat something. Before nightfall, we'd better reach Kassros Canyon; otherwise, we'll have to camp out tonight," Corvinus removed his mask and sat down on a rocky mound.

The sun was already close to setting, and it would be dark in at most three hours.

"Milord, we're only about sixty to seventy miles away from Kassros Canyon now. If we pick up the pace, we'll make it without a problem!" Tyton glanced at the terrain, roughly estimating their position.

"I know, but look at this road. We won't be able to move very fast from here on out!" Corvinus took the gray bread Cadia handed him and pointed at the ground.

They had already crossed the wastelands and entered the Tara Hills. Compared to the flat terrain of the wastelands, this area was rugged and uneven, with large and small stones and boulders scattered all over the ground.

It was tolerable for a short while, but over a long period, it would be unbearable for humans, let alone war-wolves.

Tyton looked at the ground, his first time in the Tara Hills. In the distance, he could faintly see what seemed like stone mountains and rocky paths.

Corvinus watched as the cavalrymen dismounted their war-wolves and began to replenish their water and food supplies. He fell into deep thought. The technologies in the marketplace were dazzling, and he was torn. The more advanced technologies had higher profits, but he was reluctant to part with them. On the other hand, less impressive technologies might not catch anyone's eye.

At that moment, Tyton and Cadia both stood up, and Corvinus snapped out of his reverie and looked over. In the distance, two werewolf cavalrymen were leaping over the rocks, approaching their group. These two were the scouts they had sent out earlier.

After all, the terrain of the Tara Hills was complex, and who knew how many bandits were lurking within. Sending scouts ahead was necessary to avoid stumbling into a bandit stronghold.

After about five minutes, the two scout cavalrymen finally reached Corvinus.

The terrain here was so intricate that it seemed like one could tire out a horse just by looking at the mountains.

"Milord... sir, we've discovered that four miles ahead, a small caravan is being robbed by a small bandit group," the returning werewolf cavalryman dismounted his war-wolf, bowed respectfully, and reported.

"A caravan and bandits?" Corvinus was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect to encounter a robbery so soon after entering the Tara Hills.

"What's the situation?" Corvinus asked.

"We observed for a while. The small caravan has suffered heavy casualties, but it seems to have a few formidable warriors that the bandits can't get close to."

"But the bandits have the advantage in numbers, and there are a lot of jackal-men among them. The caravan probably won't last much longer," the werewolf warrior said.

"Jackal-men?" Corvinus's interest was immediately piqued.

This was a magical world, and orcs certainly weren't limited to just werewolves. There were at least a hundred different orc races.

Jackal-men were also orcs, but their reputation among the orcs was quite poor.

They were considered foolish, with low combat strength, almost on par with beasts. However, their numbers were vast because their reproductive capacity was astonishing. A litter could consist of more than a dozen offspring, an incredible rate of reproduction.

Of course, if it weren't for their exaggerated reproductive abilities, jackal-men would probably be considered an endangered species.

Many tribes loved to enslave jackal-men and goblins, and they could be considered the favored slaves of other orc races.

"Yes, more than two-thirds of them are jackal-men, and the rest are boar-men."

"Boar-men?" Corvinus was taken aback again. Well, that was another orc race.

Compared to jackal-men, boar-men had a much higher status among the orcs.

Not only did they have a decent reproductive rate, but their individual combat strength was also formidable. Of course, they were also quite voracious eaters.

"Jackal-men and boar-men together, that's interesting," Corvinus stood up and looked at Cadia and Tyton with a smile. "You two must also be curious to see boar-men and jackal-men, right?"

Tyton and Cadia exchanged glances. They were still young and had never ventured far from the tribe, let alone seen races other than werewolves.

"Order everyone to prepare. We'll set off in one minute!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

On a hill, Corvinus and his group looked down at the plundering below.

A bandit group of over a hundred, led by boar-men, was attacking a caravan guarded by dozens of escorts. The rocky ground was already littered with bodies and wounded.

However, it was clear that the bandits had suffered significant losses. Most of the corpses were from the bandit group, and the majority of them were jackal-men.

Corvinus now had a good idea of what jackal-men and boar-men looked like.

The boar-men below, though not as tall as werewolves, were probably around eight feet tall. Especially their lower bodies, topped with pig-like heads, were twice the size of a werewolf's, extremely robust.

And most of the nearly thirty boar-men had similar builds.

No wonder boar-men were known as one of the orc heavy-armored troops.

With such a sturdy physique, coupled with heavy armor, they were practically like tanks.

As for the jackal-men, they were a bit less impressive. They looked like werewolves, but their mouths and noses protruded much more than those of werewolves. Their heads were small, they had no manes on their necks, and they were only about five feet seven inches tall. They also seemed to have a bit of a hunchback, and all of them were like that.

"This caravan looks to be in trouble. But the equipment disparity between the two sides is really vast. If it weren't for the bandits' numerical advantage, they probably wouldn't even be a match for the caravan," Tyton, seeing so many different races for the first time, was very curious and speculated on the situation.

The others agreed, and Corvinus was no exception.

On the bandit side, apart from a few boar-men wearing armor, the rest, including some jackal-men with bare upper bodies and only a piece of animal skin around their waists, were in poor shape.

And even those few boar-men in armor had tattered and ancient-looking armor.

In contrast, the caravan guards were all equipped with fine armor, and it was all standardized.

...

"Filo, you two take the young master and go. We'll cover your retreat!"

In the caravan below, a fully armored leader, seeing that the guards around him were exhausted and some had serious injuries, realized they couldn't outlast the seemingly weak bandit group. So he quickly said,

"No way, Ksu, your injuries are getting worse. We can't leave you behind!" The person in the center, flanked by two guards who looked like leaders, resolutely refused.

Judging by the voice, it should be a young boy!