《The Lord of Staves》 Chapter 1: Wheres the undo button? ¡°I don¡¯t know how it happened, it all occurred too fast.¡± ¡°If I remember correctly, it was raining heavily. I was waiting at the train station when¡­¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right. I was pushed. Wait, where am I?¡± The consciousness attempted to look around, but all it could see was utter darkness surrounding it. ¡°This is¡­ creepy. I can¡¯t even see my hands even if I try to wave it in front of me.¡± ¡°Am I even waving them? I couldn¡¯t feel it¡­¡± All of a sudden, a blinding light penetrated the darkness. It was so bright that the consciousness didn¡¯t even notice its own lack of physical form as it was too distracted by the light. ¡°Welcome to the afterlife.¡± A monotonous voice of a woman suddenly spoke inside its head. ¡°Wha-!? Who are you? Where am I?¡± ¡°Unable to process your first query. As previously stated, you are in the afterlife.¡± ¡°Afterlif¡ª¡° Just as the consciousness was about to speak, it was interrupted by a loud ¡®ping¡¯ sound followed by a gray box appearing in front of it. [SYSTEM] Please determine your race. ¡°Ehh? What the hell is this?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Race? I, well, I¡¯m Asian¡­?¡± [SYSTEM] Error, no such race as ¡°Asian¡±. ¡°What? Isn''t that racist? What do you mean by ''race'' then?¡± [SYSTEM] There are two types of races, Anthropoid and Non-Anthropoid. ¡°That¡­ doesn¡¯t really give me anything you know?¡± [SYSTEM] Anthropoids are humanoid creatures, anything that walks upright, has more or less four limbs and vaguely resembles a human. Non-Anthropoids are any creature other than those. ¡°Eeeeeeh? Are you asking me if I¡¯m a human or anything else? I¡¯m obviously human!¡± [SYSTEM] Your race is [Human]. Do you confirm? ¡°Of course! What, do I look like a frog to you? I¡¯m¡ª¡± The consciousness paused. It tried to look at itself but sees nothing. ¡°Whaa¡ªwhat¡¯s happening? Where¡¯s my body? What the hell is happening?¡± [SYSTEM] Confirmed. Your race is [Human]. Acquired: [Human Ingenuity] Passive Skill, [Stamina Regeneration 1] Passive Skill. ¡°Hey, answer me! Where is my body?¡± ¡°As of the moment, your body is being recovered from the incident which has caused your death.¡± The female voice once again echoes inside the consciousness¡¯ mind. ¡°D-death¡­ You mean, I¡¯m dead?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± It replied unfeelingly. ¡°¡­¡± The consciousness fell silent. [SYSTEM] Please determine your class. The consciousness ignored the gray box in front of it, only contemplating the fact that it is, in fact, dead. ¡°I¡¯m really dead, huh? Well, that makes sense. I was pushed to the train tracks after all. Why am I even denying it right now?¡± It sighed softly. ¡°I don¡¯t even care. Choose whatever you want.¡± [SYSTEM] Choosing randomly¡­ ¡°Ehh? Wa-wait, I was just¡ª¡° [SYSTEM] Your class is [Arcane Artificer]. Acquired: [Wood Crafting 1] Passive Skill, [Arcane Crafting 1] Passive Skill, [Craft] Active Skill. ¡°Eeeeeeeeeh?¡± ¡°Wait a second, undo! Undo! I was just¡­ won¡¯t you even ask if I confirm the class or not?¡± [SYSTEM] Please determine your subclass. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Whatever. If I¡¯m already dead I might as well enjoy this last bit of fantasy.¡± ¡°Fine then, show me all the available subclasses.¡± [SYSTEM] There are 1,716 subclasses. Please choose from #1 - #858 or #859 - #1716. ¡°T-THAT MANY? T-then, show me a random one instead.¡± [SYSTEM] Blacksmith / Subclass A crafting-type class focusing on forging metallic weapons, armors and accessories. ¡°Uh, well, it¡¯s a typical blacksmith alright. Show me another one.¡± [SYSTEM]The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Summoner / Main Class / Subclass Summoners specialize on conjuring monsters and other entities to fight in their stead and do their biddings. ¡°You can pick a main class as a subclass? What¡¯s the difference then?¡± ¡°¡­¡± It appears that neither the voice nor the box answered the question. ¡°Er, can I have additional information on the subclass system?¡± [SYSTEM] Subclasses are a lesser type of class that serves to support the individual at a minor degree. It is possible for one to pick a main class as a subclass but its effects and abilities will be greatly reduced to a supporting role as opposed to picking it as a main class. ¡°I see¡­ Well, that¡¯s to be expected. It would be overpowered otherwise.¡± Suddenly, the consciousness remembered the main class that was randomly picked for it. ¡°Wait a second¡­ Can you show me the details of Arcane Artificer?¡± [SYSTEM] Arcane Artificer / Main Class / Subclass A crafting-type class, Arcane Artificers produces works imbued with magic such as enchantments. It is also the only class capable of creating pure magic items. "My main class is a crafting-type? How am I supposed to fight and grind then?What a terrible game design." ¡°And what''s with pure magic items? Well, anyway, show me another random class.¡± [SYSTEM] Ruler / Subclass A social class that focuses on controlling and commanding others through non-intrusive means. The consciousness spat out its non-existent saliva. ¡°Whaaat? Isn¡¯t that too strong? And what do you mean by non-intrusive means?¡± [SYSTEM] Intrusive control attempts to influence the target by applying debuffs onto them. These includes hypnosis, mind control, fear etc. while non-intrusive control influences the target by affecting the caster/user¡¯s characteristics. "Uhhhhhh..." ¡°Oh, I see. Basically, intrusive control forces you to do what a person says while non-intrusive control makes the person worthy of obedience so that people willingly follows them¡­ am I right?¡± No response. ¡°Hmm... Being able to control others huh? Hehe, maybe~¡­¡± After contemplating for a while, the consciousness finally decided. ¡°I pick that Ruler as my subclass then!¡± [SYSTEM] Your subclass is [Ruler]. Do you confirm? ¡°Yes!~¡± The consciousness joyfully agrees with its mind filled with malicious intent. "Still, this is awfully elaborate for something like a dream... I¡¯ve heard stories of people¡¯s lives flashing before their eyes but this is too different and bizarre. The human mind really is vast." [SYSTEM] Confirmed. Your subclass is [Ruler]. Acquired: [Charismatic 1] Passive Skill, [Subject] Active Skill. You will now be transferred to the world in (5) seconds¡­ ¡°Huh?¡± (4) ¡°W-w-w-wait, wait, wait! What?¡± (3) ¡°Aren¡¯t I dead? Isn¡¯t this just some kind of near-death hallucination?¡± (2) ¡°At least tell me where I¡¯m headed!¡± (1) Suddenly, the darkness that was surrounding the consciousness appeared to get sucked away to a single point and replaced by a vivid blue sky light. Within just a split second, it went from floating in the middle of total darkness to falling from a very high altitude towards the ground. ¡°WHAT THE HEEEELLL!?¡± ¡°What is happening!? Why am I falling!? This feels all too real!¡± [SYSTEM] You have now arrived in the world of Drasil! For immersive purposes, your body has retained your gender (Male) from your previous life. Your appearance has also been copied as much as possible, adjusting to the new characteristics of your body. Enjoy your stay! "P-previous life? What, you mean, I''ve been reincarnated or something?" He quickly examined his body, touching every possible part and confirmed that it was indeed his body with minor changes. "I have a body! I can touch things! I can''t believe this... Am I really alive?" He pinched himself, skeptical of the idea that he''s alive again despite dying just moments ago. The sharp, stinging pain that caused his forearm to swell red was a welcomed pain. A confirmation that he''s been given a new chance, a new life to live. "I''m really alive! I''m really alive!" Yet the lush, green land that''s rapidly approaching him reminded him that this wasn''t the time to rejoice. "Crap, I forgot! How am I supposed to break my fall!?" "Crap, crap, crap, crap..." "Uh... uh.... System!" [SYSTEM] Level: 1 HP: 100 MP: 100 [Inventory] [Skills] [Map] "I, uh, I would like to see my skills! Hurry!" [SYSTEM] Passive Skills: [Arcane Crafting 1] [Charismatic 1] [Human Ingenuity] [Stamina Regeneration 1] [Wood Crafting 1] Active Skills: [Craft] [Subject] "What? That''s all?" "..." "How am I supposed to save myself with these? I¡¯m falling to the ground!!" Strangely enough, although he sound and acts panicked, he¡¯s not as panicked as someone would normally be in this situation. Perhaps his first-hand experience of being run over by a train has affected him in other ways¡­ ¡°No way, I¡¯m done already? I was given a second chance only for me to die at the very start?¡± He closed his eyes and waited for his inevitable death once again, as he did before. However, just when he was about to hit the ground, mysterious colorful circles with unfamiliar characters written on them suddenly appeared on the ground where he was supposed to land, significantly slowing down his fall. He was now slowly descending. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not dead?¡± As he slowly opened his eyes, what he saw was not the same darkness engulfing him but the lush, green forest of narrow trees. With his legs slightly shaking, he took a single step forward and thoroughly examined the sensation of grass. The smell that it gives off, the sound of its crunching, he took it all in. He was alive. His body could no longer hold the weight. His legs collapsed to the ground, while his hands grasped the grassy soil. He was so overwhelmed that he didn¡¯t notice the small, green creature that¡¯s wielding a crude spear sneaking up behind him. And then¡ª "Spat!" A sharp pang of pain suddenly permeated throughout his left shoulder. Blood trickled down from it as he slowly looked at it with great distress and confusion. Protruding out of it is what looks to be a rusted tip of a poorly-made spear. Jagged and deformed, it sticks out of his left shoulder likethe head of an arrow coated in blood-red paint. ¡°Eh?¡± Chapter 2: What do we say to the god of death? ¡°Yhaaaargkh!! Hak! Hak! Hak!¡± The goblin lets out a cry of victory as it stabs him, flailing its arms in the air like a child that had just received a present. Meanwhile, the man just knelt there, staring ignorantly at his bloodied shoulder. After celebrating for a while, the goblin began to approach the man, reaching for the handle of the long hunk of metal, crudely fashioned into a spear. ¡°AARRGHH!¡± *Ping!* The man screamed dreadfully as the goblin quickly and savagely plucks out the spear embedded into his left shoulder. The pain was stinging, electrifying, even. Only at this time was the man able to comprehend his present circumstances. ¡°I have to run¡± was the only thing going through his mind right now. Summoning all his remaining strength, the man plants his right foot to the ground while slowly raising his left. And then, with an explosive burst of movement, he sprinted as fast as his legs could take him, not even trying to look back if the goblin was giving chase. It was giving chase, although its tiny legs could not keep up with the man¡¯s long strides. ¡°Run. Run. Run. Run. Just keep running!¡± *Ping!* With blood slowly trickling down from him, he tore straight through any obstacle that blocks him. Leaves, branches, brushes. He simply shrugged it all off in an impressive attempt to preserve his second life, even when they¡¯re directly hitting his face, causing small, inconsequential cuts on it. *Ping!* He does not even remember the route he¡¯s taken. He recalled that he may have passed through a shallow creek and that his boots are currently soaking wet but apart from that, he didn¡¯t bother to think where he¡¯s headed. *Ping!* ¡°How long have I been running?¡± He was totally unaware of the passage of time or the distance he¡¯s travelled since running as adrenaline forced his body to run. He could''ve been running for a minute, or maybe an hour. It may have even felt like an entire day if he thinks about it. However, the adrenaline began wearing off since then and his heart beat started to slow down. As his panic slowly dissipates and reason begins regaining control, he turned his head back to look if that creature was chasing him. There was nothing. No rustling, no sound of footsteps, nothing. He stopped by the trunk of a gigantic white tree, leaning himself onto it to catch his breathe. His panting is so heavy it could be heard from several meters away. ¡°What the hell. What just happened?¡± He looked at his left shoulder, afraid that he may have lost too much blood from the escape. To his surprise however, the wound was now smaller than it previously was. The blood has also stopped spilling, although the bloodstains still remain. This would also mean that at some point during his run, the blood trails must have stopped. ¡°Is this¡­ Is this real?¡± Surprised, he thoroughly checked the wound, from the front to the back. He even lightly pressed onto it but the jolt of pain reminded him that it was not completely healed after all. ¡°Wait¡­ Don¡¯t tell me¡­¡± ¡°System!¡± [SYSTEM] HP: 66/100 MP: 100/100 [Inventory] [Skills] [Map] [Notifications: 4] There was now another tab available in the gray interface. ¡°Notifications?¡± As if on cue, the interface showed him the contents of the notifications tab. [SYSTEM] You have acquired the following: [Piercing Resistance 1] Passive Skill, [HP Regeneration 1] Passive Skill [Stamina Regeneration 1] Leveled up to [Stamina Regeneration 2] [Stamina Regeneration 2] Leveled up to [Stamina Regeneration 3]If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. His guess was right. While he was running, he would occasionally hear a subtle ¡®ping¡¯ sound, but he would just ignore them. Or rather, he was too preoccupied of running away to even care about them. ¡°My stamina regeneration leveled up?¡± ¡°I see. That would explain why I was able to continuously run that long.¡± He was not a very athletic person in his previous life and he would often find himself getting tired faster than most, so the fact that he was able to run this much surprised him. ¡°Speaking of which, why is there no stamina bar in my status?¡± He looked at his status interface again, but to no avail. The only difference this time is the notifications tab have disappeared. [SYSTEM] HP: 69/100 MP: 100/100 [Inventory] [Skills] [Map] All of a sudden, he heard rustlings on the bushes about four meters to his left. He immediately retreated back to hide behind the trunk of the giant white tree that he was leaning on and waited to see what comes out of the shrubs. ¡°Crap. What do I do if it¡¯s that creature from before?¡± He looked around him and saw a fist-sized rock lying beneath his feet. He picked it up with his right hand and readied himself to throw it any moment. The leaves kept rustling, and every second of waiting makes his heart beat faster and louder. He could feel cold sweat falling down from his nape and unto the ground below. The anticipation is shaking him. He tightens his grip on the rock and swallows his saliva. He blinks his eyes for a couple of times to moist them and he wipes off the sweat trickling down his forehead with his left hand. But then, the shakings stop. ¡°¡­¡± That was not a relief though, as the silence has only made him more anxious around his surroundings. It was deafening. He waited for a couple of seconds for something to happen, but nothing did. No creature came out of the bushes, nor was there any sound that noised anywhere. Only the shifting of the tree¡¯s leaves caused by the wind propagated in the whole forest. He was convinced that the threat has now disappeared. He gulped once more, and decided to come out of his hiding. However, just as he was about to step out, the bushes rustled once again and out of it comes the goblin. No, that may be wrong. It was indeed the goblin that had stabbed him earlier, with its primitive clothing adorned with small bones and dried animal leather. But what had truly shocked him was the gigantic snake that clutches the lifeless goblin on its fangs. He took no time to hide himself once again, petrifying his body on that small corner of the tree not to alert the monster that¡¯s about five meters in length and with a body as big as the trunk of the average trees around. He covered his mouth, desperately trying to calm his breathing down. ¡°This is bad. I don¡¯t want to be here anymore. Is there even any civilization here? I WANT TO SEE A FELLOW HUMAN!¡± ¡°Hisssss¡­¡± The snake hissed as it moves. ¡°Don¡¯t notice me, don¡¯t notice me, don¡¯t notice me¡­¡± *Ping!* As if to grant his wish, the gigantic snake passed by him unhindered. Perhaps it didn¡¯t really notice him, or maybe it did notice him but it had already hunted its food for the day so it simply ignored him. Either way, he¡¯s managed to safely leave the area unharmed. Calming himself down, he carefully backtracked his route, lying low within bushes and flora not to attract unwanted attention. ¡°What should I do? Where should I go? Maybe¡­ for now I should go back where I came from.¡± ¡°Also, I need to find a way to fend for myself.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Ah, that reminds me. I haven¡¯t checked my inventory yet, have I?¡± He has also discovered that he can call forth the interface box without having to command it every time. He just has to think it, and it will come. Furthermore, he can skip the choosing of tabs and immediately open it without going through the stats window. [SYSTEM] [Equipments] [Materials] [Miscellaneous] However, when he looked into them, they are all empty except for the equipments which currently only display the clothes he¡¯s wearing. [SYSTEM] Common Cloth Shirt: 1 Def / Durability: 39/50 Common Cloth Pants: 1 Def Common Leather Boots: 1 Def ¡°Durability, huh? Well, it did get damaged from the stab¡­¡± While he¡¯s walking the less-dense part of the forest, he somehow came across a wooden hut by a creek. For a while now, he¡¯s just been going east, returning to the place that he came from before he ran away as looking at the map showed him that he ran towards west. ¡°Are you telling me I managed to miss this hut while I was running?¡± ¡°Well whatever. I hope whoever¡¯s in there is hospitable¡­¡± He approached the hut slowly, careful not to slip by the rocks and wet his boots more than it already is. However, as he gets closer and closer, he began to notice the small cobwebs and cracks of decaying, old wood on it. ¡°Is it abandoned?¡± He went onto the door and gently touched it with his index finger. The dust that allocated on it confirms that it has long been abandoned. ¡°That¡¯s fine. It¡¯s getting dark already, no time to be picky.¡± He softly pushed the door open, careful not to apply too much force lest it breaks. It did not, fortunately. But the eerie creaking sound that it made as it opens couldn¡¯t help but make him a little bit nervous. He thoroughly scanned the whole interior. There¡¯s a hearth on the right, to the far left is where the bed is with a chest next to it, and at the center are the table and four chairs surrounding it. At the left side of the door is what appears to be the kitchen. Aside from the aging of the wood and occasional spider webs, it looks like a typical hut that one would find in the forest. After dusting off the table and one of the chairs, he sat on it and took out of his inventory some berries that he managed to forage along the way. *Grooowl* His stomach rumbles. ¡°Well, I hope these aren¡¯t poisonous.¡± He took a red colored berry, but just before he places it into his mouth, he noticed something at the lower right corner of his vision. It was a green bar. STA: 50/50 ¡°STA? Stamina?¡± ¡°Wait, why is it only out of 50 when my HP and MP are out of 100?¡± He begins to think as he was eating the berry. ¡°Am I debuffed or something? But there¡¯s nothing on my status that says so¡­¡± All of a sudden, the bar updated and changed. STA: 60/60 ¡°Huuuh?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s weird¡­ I could¡¯ve sworn it was 50/50 just moments ago.¡± ¡°Wait a second¡­¡± He took another berry and ate it whole. STA: 70/70 ¡°I knew it! My maximum stamina decreases as I get hungry!¡± ¡°Phew! I thought for a second there that something was wrong.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, I have a notification that I haven¡¯t checked yet.¡± [SYSTEM] You have acquired the following: [Stealth 1] Passive Skill ¡°Must have been that time I was hiding from that giant snake. Still, I have a feeling this is going to be tremendously useful later on.¡± As soon as he finished eating all the berries and replenishing his stamina bar to 100, he went over to the bed and dusted it. That was when he looked at the chest that was right beside it. ¡°It¡¯s not locked¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not robbery if no one owns it, right?¡± He approached the wooden chest and slowly opened it. It was incredibly dusty and webbed but something was inside it that immediately piqued his curiosity. He took it amidst the filth and the gray interface suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. ¡°Is this a¡­¡± Chapter 3: Im not an elf! [SYSTEM] Obtained: [Branch of the World Tree] ¡°Branch of the World Tree?¡± ¡°¡­¡± He held it in his right hand, examining it thoroughly. It looked just like a typical tree branch, about 1.5 meters long. However, the color of the bark is unlike he¡¯s ever seen before. It glows and sparkles, ever changing by the second like twinkling stars in the night sky. It was like the stars themselves where pasted into this long twig. No, not pasted, more like trapped inside it. Looking at the branch felt like he was stargazing with a telescope, reminding him of the various colorful pictures of space taken by NASA. He looked at it again on the interface and noticed the text color of its name. ¡°Why is it purple? Is this some sort of a rare item?¡± ¡°Err, let¡¯s see. How do I put this in my inventory?¡± Just as he says that, the branch he¡¯s clinging on with his right hand fades away into nothingness, which made him panic for a couple of seconds. However, his panicking was immediately stopped when he opened his inventory and sees it safely stored under the materials tab. ¡°Oh, ok good. Phew, that scared me a little. Still, materials huh? If I remember correctly, crafting is one of my active skills¡­¡± As he thought of the skill, the gray interface suddenly changed to show him his all of his current skills. [SYSTEM] Passive Skills: [Arcane Crafting 1] [Charismatic 1] [Human Ingenuity] [HP Regeneration 1] [Piercing Resistance 1] [Stamina Regeneration 3] [Stealth 1] [Wood Crafting 1] Active Skills: [Craft] [Subject] *Yaaawn* ¡°Uh, I¡¯m getting sleepy. I guess I¡¯ll just check on it tomorrow.¡± As he wiped off the yawn-induced tear in his left eye, he checked the bed once again for any remaining dust and proceeded to lie down on it. ? ? ? ¡°Y-your Majesty!¡± The man, who looks to be in his mid-40¡¯s, hurriedly knelt down with one knee in front of the throne. ¡°I-I¡¯m terribly sorry! Please, just give me one more week and I p-promise I¡¯ll get it done!¡± He uttered while stuttering, beads of sweat trickles down his head. ¡°¡­¡± The crowned person sitting on the throne stares at him with eyes full of contempt. He took a chalice from the small table next to him and poured a crimson-red fluid onto it from a bottle. ¡°I gave you two weeks and a thousand men, and you dared come to my sight fruitless?¡± The king monotonously says as he drinks. ¡°B-but sire, the forest is home to dangerous beasts! Just earlier three of our men were eaten by some kind of giant plant! We¡¯re treading on the nest of¡ª¡± ¡°SILENCE!!¡± He slammed his chalice on the small table, spilling some of the red wine on his hand. ¡°We need to get that as soon as possible! A storm is brewing that will shatter our realms if we¡¯re caught unprepared! Do you think the dead cares if the forest is dangerous? Do you think those long-eared bastards would sit with us on a negotiation table and listen about how we¡¯re not ready to fight them because we couldn¡¯t enter the forest?¡± The king says as he wipe off the wine with a cloth. Deafening silence pierced the throne room. Everyone was cautious not to make a sound as to not put the attention onto them. ¡°One week¡­¡± ¡°H-huh?¡± ¡°This is your last chance, and I won¡¯t hear any more of your excuses. LOOK AT ME!¡± ¡°Hiiiiiih!? Y-yes, I understand, your Majesty! I shall get it done within one week.¡± ¡°¡­And if you don¡¯t?¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The kneeling man gulped as he looked up to his sovereign. ¡°I-I shall accept any punishment that you may give me, your Majesty¡­¡± ¡°The only punishment is fire.¡± The king says with a cruel, contemptuous tone. ¡°Y-yes¡­¡± ? ? ? Dawn breaks and along with it comes the chirping of the birds. ¡°Uuuhh, shut up!¡± The man weakly shouts as he hides behind the covers of the blanket. Yet the birds didn¡¯t stop. Accepting his defeat to the forces of nature, the man sat up from the bed, his hair as messy as someone who had just woken up. He looked at the coverless window, and outside is still the similar creek in the middle of a sea of trees. His eyebrows furrowed. ¡°Oh shut up already!¡± He shouts to the wilderness. Perhaps the birds were startled by the sudden shout that the chirpings did indeed stop. He touched his left shoulder and looked at it to see how the wound was going, only to find out that it has now completely healed! Not even a scar remains of it. "Huh, I guess my HP regen did its thing while I was asleep." *Grooowl* ¡°Ugh, time to find some berries again. Would be useful if there¡¯s some kind of foraging skill that increases the number of fruits I find¡­¡± He started to walk towards the door when he noticed a square white thing placed on top of the table. It took him two glances to actually realize that it wasn¡¯t there last night. ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Is that¡­ paper? Hold on, did someone come here while I was asleep? Wait, is someone actually living here and I just barged into their home?¡± All these questions immediately flooded inside his head. ¡°No, that can¡¯t be. It was incredibly dusty and worn-down. Was I just seeing things back then because I was tired? Wait, so does that mean that I stole that item after all?¡± ¡°Crap. There¡¯s no use thinking about it now. The die is cast; I¡¯ll just have to improvise.¡± He walked closer to the table while carefully examining the white paper. Looking at it closely, it is just a typical, harmless paper folded in half. He could also faintly see that there are writings inside of it. He slowly reached unto the paper with his right hand. ¡°Well, nothing¡¯s happening so far.¡± After confirming that nothing¡¯s out of the ordinary, he immediately took the paper and unfolded it. What was written inside surprised him. Not because of what the writings said, but because of the writings itself. He couldn¡¯t understand them. ¡°What language is this?¡± He thought that it may be some kind of code or something, so he started to flip the paper in different ways, looking for any vague resemblance of understandable message. ¡°I can¡¯t understand it¡­¡± ¡°Greetings, adventurer.¡± Suddenly, a soft voice of a woman was heard coming from behind him. ¡°! ! !¡± The voice startled him and he immediately began to distance himself even before seeing the source of the voice. ¡°Please don¡¯t be alarmed. I don¡¯t mean to harm you.¡± He turned around to see who the first person he¡¯s ever met in this world is, and saw that it was indeed as the voice sounds like, a woman. She¡¯s standing right outside doorway. However, the woman seems¡­ different. For one, she doesn¡¯t seem to be wearing any traditional clothes. Instead, her body is covered with foliage. Plants, vines, flowers and other greenery fashioned into something that resembles a robe or a dress. Furthermore, her ears are extremely long, almost the length of his forearm, and that her hair is green as the leaves and plants covering her body. Aside from that though, she¡¯s more or less ¡°normal¡±. Beautiful, even. ¡°W-who are you?¡± The man asks. The woman chuckles. He would have found that little laugh cute in any other circumstance. Unfortunately, the situation prevents him from thinking that. ¡°I should be the one asking you that, no?¡± The woman replies. ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s your name, stranger?¡± ¡°My name¡­? Come to think of it, what IS my name? Should I just use my previous name in my previous life?¡± He racked his brain in contemplation. ¡°Wait, no. That person is dead. I¡¯m a new person now, although I may resemble him, I¡¯ve been reincarnated already.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± He paused, not sure of what name he should give. ¡°This is the perfect opportunity to choose a name for myself that I really like. Let¡¯s see¡­ it should sound cool and awesome but not too over-the-top. It would just be ¡®chuuni¡¯ otherwise.¡± ¡°Uhm¡­ hello?¡± The woman just stands there, confused at what¡¯s taking the man so long. ¡°You know I could tell if you¡¯re lying or n¡ª¡° ¡°Reinhard!¡± It took him a while and an awkward silence before he realized what he just said. ¡°Craaaaaaaaaaaaaap! I accidentally said my in-game name from an MMORPG I¡¯ve been playing.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°This is bad, now I just have to hope that name is normal in this world or I would be a laughing-stock by everyone for having a weird name.¡± ¡°Uh, huh. Well, you¡¯re not lying¡­ at least.¡± The woman replied in confusion. ¡°Ah, heh, heh, yeah¡­ So uh, who are you?¡± Reinhard asks while awkwardly scratching the back of his head. ¡°Oh, apologies. My name is Fraenis.¡± She replies while doing a curtsy with her plant-dress. ¡°Erm, pleased to meet you then, Fraenis. So are you an elf?¡± Reinhard is unsure if he just saw Fraenis¡¯ eyebrows furrow upon asking that. ¡°The pleasure is all mine, sir Reinhard, and no, I am most. Certainly. Not. An. Elf.¡± She said with a wry smile. ¡°I, along with others of my kind, am a dryad. We¡¯ve been living in this forest since time immemorial. As a matter of fact, elves are the descendants of us dryads. I don¡¯t know if you are aware, but elves have shorter ears than us, and their hair is glittering silver, as opposed to our lush green color. I trust that you would make the correct distinction the next time you see one of us.¡± She added after calming down. ¡°Did I piss her off?¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Mockery 1] Passive Skill. ¡°What the hell is this!?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Okaaaay¡­ So uh, so you live here?¡± ¡°Oh, no. No one¡¯s lived here for a very, very long time. Or more like, no one can live here. At least that¡¯s what we thought, until you slept in here last night.¡± ¡°Huuh? I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to rush.¡± She said as the innocently cute smile returns on her face. ¡°Please, come with me.¡± ¡°To where?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Reinhard followed Fraenis outside of the hut where she stopped walking after a few couple of steps. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± She said as she turns around to face Reinhard. ¡°Uhm¡­¡± Reinhard looks back to the hut and sees it about four to five meters away. They most certainly have not travelled far. ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s here?¡± He asked as she faced her again. ¡°Tylla!¡± Fraenis shouts seemingly towards nowhere, making Reinhard confused of what¡¯s happening. ¡°Just a second!¡± All of a sudden, a childish voice sounded from¡­ somewhere. Reinhard doesn¡¯t know where it came from, but it was loud enough to discern that it was somewhere near him. And then, as if the space in front of him dissolves into nothingness, the trees, and all the other plants behind Fraenis appear to warp into something different. They were changing¡­ The trees started to bore holes, some big, some small, and yellow light can be seen glowing from within those walls. ¡°Are those¡­ houses?¡± Petrified by the spectacular and mystical scene unfolding before his eyes, Reinhard did nothing but stand in his place, watching as a small area of the forest get transformed into what looks like a village carved inside various different trees, with dryad children running around and adults going about their daily lives. ¡°Welcome to Garden.¡± Chapter 4: I am a cliched Chosen One? ¡°Welcome to Garden.¡± Fraenis said as she bows and motions her hand to show Reinhard the village. ¡°This is how we have isolated ourselves from the outside world for the longest time.¡± ¡°I¡­ uh¡­¡± Reinhard didn¡¯t know what to say. He was just too mesmerized to respond. ¡°A-are you sure it¡¯s ok to show me this?¡± ¡°Of course! The World Tree accepted you, after all!¡± ¡°Eh?¡± The unconvinced, surprised voice of a girl suddenly asks. ¡°Is that true, Fraenis?¡± Finally, the source of the voice came out. It was a little girl, about half the height of Reinhard, coming out from one of the tree houses in disbelief. ¡°Yes! The branch is actually in his possession, in fact.¡± Fraenis replies as she turns around to meet the little girl. As soon as she said this, many dryad children and adult who overheard her began flocking him, all asking more or less the same question. -¡°Is that true?¡± -¡°He really has the branch?¡± -¡°How did you do it? Did you just take it normally?¡± -¡°Can I see it?¡± -¡°Wow, you really were chosen?¡± As Reinhard get flooded by multiple questions from multiple individuals, Fraenis stepped in to disperse the small crowd that has begun to gather. ¡°Okay everyone, back away! We¡¯ll save the questions for later!¡± Then she turns to Reinhard and whispers ¡°Sorry about that, they¡¯re really enthusiastic about the branch after all... I say that but, I am too, actually. I¡¯m pretty sure no dryad would just ignore the holder of the branch.¡± She then took Reinhard¡¯s hand and guided him away from the crowd, into the village. Reinhard on the other hand, has completely shut down his brain. Everything had happened all so suddenly that there was no time for him to process things. ¡°What? Branch? Accepted by the World Tree? Huuuuuuuuh?¡± ¡°Well, here we are. The elder¡¯s house.¡± Fraenis, still holding Reinhard¡¯s hand, stopped in front of a relatively bigger tree house. On top of the door are unknown characters carved onto the wood. It contained the same characters as the ones that was written on the paper. ¡°What do those writings say?¡± He asked Fraenis while they were entering. ¡°Oh, that? It just says ¡®Welcome¡¯.¡± *Ping!* Suddenly, the pinging sound that Reinhard has already been accustomed to ringed. He brought up the interface to take a look at it. [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Dryad Writing 1] Passive Skill. It seems like he had just learned the written language of the dryads. "Oh, what about..." He gave Fraenis the paper that he found on the table earlier. ¡°Then what does this say?¡± She took it and looked at if for a few couple of seconds. "..." ¡°Where did you find this? It says ¡®Yo¡ª¡° ¡°Oh, Fraenis! And who¡¯s that human over there?¡± Suddenly, they were interrupted by an elderly looking dryad sitting next to what looks like a carved-out stump. Fraenis hurriedly gave the paper back to Reinhard and bowed to him. ¡°Elder, this is Reinhard. I brought him here because he is in possession of the branch.¡± The elder immediately stopped stroking the leaves covering his shoulder. He proceeded to stand up, albeit looking like he might fall any second, and slowly walked up to Reinhard. He looked at him straight into the eyes, as if he can look through Reinhard''s very soul. ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you have a lot of questions, young man. You are troubled.¡± He then slowly walked back to the stump that he was sitting on. ¡°Very well, ask away and I will answer to the best of my abilities. However, you must also answer my questions in return. Is that alright?¡± The elder said as he sat down. ¡°I, uh¡­ ok. So, first of all, where am I?¡± ¡°You are in the Garden, the last bastion for dryads such as us. If you¡¯re asking for the whole area, you are inside the Forest of Sok.¡± Reinhard mentally commanded the interface to show the map.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. When he looked at the map previously, all it showed was the immediate surroundings and the revealed path that he travelled, but now, it has revealed and included the ¡®Garden¡¯ as well as the name of the forest, the Forest of Sok, on the top right corner of the map. It appears that he would need to manually discover the contents of the map himself. ¡°Is this the only civilization in the forest?¡± ¡°No. There are many civilizations in the Forest of Sok. Goblin camps, Orc tribes and Naga nest just to name a few.¡± ¡°Then, where can I find a human civilization?¡± ¡°Ah, you would have to go all the way to the north to find the realms of man. Oh, and to the east of us lies the elven city-state, Meir.¡± ¡°What do you want with me? What¡¯s this branch thing? Why am I here?¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Interrogation 1] Passive Skill. ¡°Easy now, young man. We¡¯re not enemies.¡± The elder took a book from a bookshelf to his side. The book itself appears to be worn down and covered with vines, but that just seems to be the theme of this place, Reinhard thought. He began flipping the pages of the book. ¡°Now, where do I begin?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Ah, well, for starters¡­ We want you not to leave this village forever.¡± ¡°Whaaaaaat?¡± ¡°Hahahaha! I can already see your expression without even looking up to you.¡± The elder laughed while continuing to read the book. ¡°The Branch of the World Tree that you currently possess is¡­borrowing the words of men, ¡®dangerous¡¯. You see, for countless millennia, blood has been continuously spilt by many races calling themselves ¡®intelligent¡¯, all for the sake of obtaining that branch... Or at least, taking control of it one way or another.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to spare you the details as I¡¯m sure you¡¯d want this to be as short as possible as well¡­ We want you to stay here in the village, or at the very least, not leave the Forest of Sok, because the moment someone finds out you¡¯re in possession of the branch, they would do everything in their power to make you serve them.¡± Fraenis looks at the elder as he¡¯s talking. ¡°Then¡­ What do they mean when they say I¡¯ve been chosen, or something like that?¡± ¡°The hut that houses the branch that you have just spent the night on cannot be entered by just anyone. It¡¯s bound by magic that even we are unable to comprehend. Legends say it was Divine Magic... we don''t know. Although, every once a couple thousand years, someone comes along who is able to enter. We don¡¯t really understand how they were able to do that despite the length of our lifetime, so we just started saying they were ¡®chosen¡¯ or ¡®accepted¡¯ by the World Tree. Disappointing, isn¡¯t it?¡± The elder smiles as he reminisced about the past. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Possessor of the Branch of the World Tree] Title. ¡°What the hell is with that ridiculously long title? And why did it only appear now?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Is there even some benefit to it or is it just for aesthetics?¡± [SYSTEM] Title: [Possessor of the Branch of the World Tree] +500 MP ¡°That¡¯s all? That seems underwhelming for something so ¡®dangerous¡¯, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Then, what do I do with it?¡± ¡°Frankly speaking¡­ we don¡¯t know. It depends on the possessor. A thousand years ago, the last possessor of it fashioned the branch into a spear that could pierce the heavens themselves. A thousand years before him, the possessor used it as a materials for his armor that could withstand any attack, and even before that¡ª¡± ¡°Wait a second, if they turned it into those things, then how come the branch still looks like this¡­ like a branch?¡± ¡°Because once the possessor dies, the branch returns to the World Tree and a new one takes its place¡­ in that very same hut.¡± ¡°Why in that hut specifically? And if that¡¯s the case, wouldn¡¯t the kingdoms just assume control of the hut and wait for the next branch?¡± ¡°As I have told you before, it is magic that we cannot comprehend. No one in all of Drasil, not the mages in their high towers, not the sorcerers dancing in the rhythm of mana, no one understand why it only always appears there. As for your second question, multiple attempts to seize control of this area have been made in the past, all for naught. This forest is too hostile for the outsiders, so the best that they can do is establish their kingdoms in the borders of it. In fact, the magic that hides this village is not only for the kingdoms, but also for the hostile monsters living in the forest.¡± ¡°So I just have to stay here?¡± ¡°Ideally, yes.¡± ¡°Until when?¡± ¡°Until you die.¡± ¡°Until I die, huh.¡± "..." ¡°I¡¯ll think about it.¡± ¡°Please do. Now, I believe it is my turn to ask questions?¡± ¡°Oh, right¡­ I hope I don¡¯t mess something up.¡± ¡°First, where did you come from?¡± ¡°Eh? That question already? Hold on, I¡¯m not ready to answer that¡­ Should I tell them ¡®I came from another world¡¯ or something like that? Crap, what do I say?¡± ¡°I, uh, well¡­ I came from¡­ somewhere very far away¡­ I guess.¡± "You fell from the sky, yes?" "Ehhh? How does he... wait a second. Was he the reason I survived the fall?" ¡°So based on how your face looks right now, it appears I am correct? Hmm, I see. That coincides with the stories of how the ¡®chosen¡¯ ones appear. Very well.¡± ¡°Huh? What? You mean, the others are also like me? Eeeeeeh?¡± ¡°Wait, what do you mean it coincides with the others? Did the other ¡®chosen¡¯ ones also came falling from the sky?¡± ¡°Indeed, that is the one known common thing about them.¡± Fraenis answers. ¡°Then, next question. What do you plan on doing with the branch?¡± ¡°Honestly, I have no idea.¡± He answered immediately. ¡°I see, very well.¡± The questioning lasted for longer than Reinhard had expected, and is mostly about information about him and such. It may have also been a test to gauge his character. After the questioning, Fraenis brought him to an unoccupied tree-house and served him food after Reinhard¡¯s stomach growled so loud that both Fraenis and the Elder laughed uncontrollably. Needless to say, Reinhard completely devoured the food consisting of meat and vegetables, as it was the first ¡®proper¡¯ meal he had ever since coming here yesterday. In the afternoon, he walked around the village and saw a woodworker carving things on a piece of log. This reminded him about his main class, the arcane artificer and one of its passive skills, which is wood working. [SYSTEM] [Wood Crafting 1] Passive Skill The user is able to create works made out of wood. These can range from different kinds of objects, to weapons, armors and accessories. ¡°I almost forgot about this¡­ Let¡¯s see¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Craft] Active Skill The user creates objects in their own preference. ¡°Okay¡­ Let¡¯s use it.¡± [SYSTEM] What would you like to create? [Accessory] [Armor] [Objects] [Weapons] ¡°Hmmmm, let¡¯s make a weapon, since I currently don¡¯t have any way to fight.¡± [SYSTEM] [Weapon Crafting] [Melee] [Ranged] [Magic] ¡°What¡¯s this? Weapon types?¡± ¡°Melee weapons are out of the question, since I¡¯d imagine you would need the necessary strength to wield them. So it¡¯s just between ranged and magic¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Ranged Weapons] [Common Wooden Short Bow] [Common Wooden Long Bow] [Common Wooden Arrows x10] [Common Wooden Light Crossbow] [Common Wooden Heavy Crossbow] [Common Wooden Bolts x10] ¡°Hmm¡­ Looks interesting but let¡¯s see the magic weapons for now.¡± [SYSTEM] [Magic Weapons] [Common Wooden Wand] [Common Wooden Staff] ¡°Just two, huh¡­ Well, considering the fact that I currently have 600 MP, magic weapons might be the one to go for now¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see the wand.¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Wand] -[Common-Grade Wood x1] -[50 MP] [CRAFT] ¡°Eh? You need MP to craft? Well, I guess that makes sense since it¡¯s a magic weapon¡­¡± ¡°What about the staff then?¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Staff] -[Common-Grade Wood x5] -[Common-Grade Monster Orb x1] -[100 MP] [CRAFT] ¡°Hmmm¡­ Yep, this one also requires mana, and more at that!¡± ¡°But there¡¯s also that monster orb thing, what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Monster orbs are the monster¡¯s life essences. You can get it from their bodies if you kill them.¡± Fraenis suddenly says from behind Reinhard. Reinhard was slightly startled, but not so much that it was noticeable. ¡°Do you like sneaking up on people?¡± ¡°Haaa? What do you mean by that?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, whatever. We¡¯re going to go hunt some monsters, do you want to come? Maybe you can get that monster orb that you¡¯re muttering about yourself¡­¡± Chapter 5: Finally, my first weapon! Reinhard, Fraenis and two other dryads were walking southwards from the Garden. Fraenis and one other wield a short bow while the last dryad uses what looks to be a thin club covered with thorns. Reinhard doesn¡¯t have any weapon. When he asked them to lend him anything, the other two declined, saying that they don¡¯t want the possessor of the branch to participate in combat at all as it would endanger him. Instead, they opted to protect him with all their capabilities. Although Reinhard isn¡¯t in the position to complain, he still didn¡¯t like being treated like a child who needs protecting. The four of them are following the flow of the creek, walking beside it about two to three meters away from the bank. ¡°So, uh, are those ¡°clothes¡± made or are they natural?¡± Reinhard whispered to Fraenis. ¡°Clothes?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Oh! This is actually part of our skin. We don¡¯t have them when we are born though, they slowly grow as we get older, just like hair¡­ or, you know, any plant¡¯s leaf.¡± ¡°I see, so that¡¯s why the elder¡¯s leaves are more¡­ well, bushy.¡± ¡°Bushy?¡± Fraenis asks while tilting her head towards Reinhard. ¡°Well, a lot¡ª¡° ¡°Shhh!¡± All of a sudden, one of the dryad companions urged them to keep quiet and lay low. It appears that she has spotted a group of monsters further ahead. The one with the club automatically assumed the front, while Fraenis and the other bow-wielding dryad immediately began flanking Reinhard to protect him. ¡°If I just have a weapon, I can fight too¡­ probably.¡± ¡°They¡¯re coming¡­¡± The club-wielding dryad whispers. As if on cue, three large snakes appeared from the shrubs ahead of them. It was similar to the one that Reinhard saw yesterday, although significantly smaller. It¡¯s still as big and tall as an average person though. Fraenis and the other bow dryad immediately began shooting the ones to the left and right of the club dryad respectively, but the scales of the snakes are too hard for the shortbow with relatively weak power to penetrate, so after realizing that the arrows are not really doing much, they stopped shooting as to not waste them. The club dryad on the other hand raised his club in front of him as a guarding stance while slowly retreating towards the three behind. In response to the arrows, the snake on the side left size started advancing towards Fraenis. ¡°Can you two shoot while moving?¡± Reinhard asks the two shooters in front of him. ¡°Yes, why?¡± ¡°We shouldn¡¯t be held in place, it only makes us easier to attack. Let¡¯s slowly move to the right, keeping our distance while facing them.¡± The left snake halted its advance as soon as it sees them moving to the right. The snake on the right side however saw it as an opportunity as they¡¯re moving closer to it. It tried to advance but a rain of concentrated arrows prevented it from going any further. The group is now slowly trying to circle the three snakes by going in a counter clock-wise movement. Every time a snake would try to attack, the arrows would concentrate on them, and even if they managed to get close enough, the dryad with the club would strike them. At this point, all the snakes could do is stage a coordinated attack on each of the dryads individually. The snakes did just that, they all simultaneously attacked from left, center and right. However, this is just what Reinhard was expecting them to do. ¡°Now! This is our chance to break the stalemate!¡± Before the snakes decided to attack all at the same time, the field was in a stalemate, Reinhard¡¯s group cannot attack due to two of them being ranged, and they can¡¯t just keep shooting either as arrows are limited. On the other hand, the snakes couldn¡¯t just advance haphazardly as every time they do, concentrated arrow fire would reach them. All three snakes then began their advance on their respective targets. However, when Reinhard gave the signal, all four of them immediately began rushing towards the right snake as it was currently the closest. This forced the snakes to move in a straight line, perpendicular to Reinhard¡¯s group as opposed to being parallel to them. Fraenis and the other bow dryad shot at it while covering for the club dryad as he advances towards the right snake. The concentrated fire has effectively pinned the snake down on a defensive position, similar to their reaction earlier, protecting their eyes and mouth. This made it easier for the club wielder to hit it. He raised his spiked club while running towards it, and with a great big leap forwards, he smashed his club onto the snake¡¯s head, cracking it in one blow and squirting crimson-red fluid around it. The two other snakes continued their attack however, despite seeing one of them get killed in one shot. The middle snake, who was now the closest to them, tried to go in for a bite, but the club wielder narrowly dodges its fangs laced with venom by diving sideways at the right moment. This was now the perfect opportunity for the two bow dryads to pin it down with arrows as the club dryad was out of the firing line. Fraenis and the other speedily released arrows to it, made possible by the shortbow¡¯s design. The snake, like the previous one, automatically assumed defensive position against the projectiles, and was ultimately punished for it by the club wielder.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. This all happened before the left snake, who was the furthest, could even come to the battlefield, so as soon as it realized that it was the only one left, it immediately began a hasty retreat. The battle was over. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Commanding 1] Passive Skill. ¡°That was amazing! How did you know the snakes would do that?¡± Fraenis asks Reinhard in disbelief. ¡°Er, well, it was the only action they can take. That, or retreat. Since they can¡¯t attack individually, they will decide to attack simultaneously from all sides, and that makes them open for defeat in detail.¡± ¡°Defeat in detail?¡± ¡°Uh, it¡¯s a military tactic where you divide the enemy¡¯s forces while concentrating your own to one of those divided forces, and then defeating those said divided forces one-by-one with relative ease as you outnumber and out-power them.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad all those years of playing real-time strategy games has finally paid off! Thank you, Total Warfare series!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really get it but¡­ Good job!¡± ¡°Thanks, but you did well too. It wasn¡¯t just me that won the battle.¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Charismatic 1] Leveled up to [Charismatic 2] After the fight, the club wielding dryad took the two snakes and carried them both in each of his shoulders back to Garden, dragging their long tails along the ground. There, they began to slaughter the carcass of the snakes for its meat and other useful parts. Naturally, one of the orbs was given to Reinhard. [SYSTEM] Obtained: [Venom Orb] ¨C Common ¡°Venom orb, huh? I wonder what the description says¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Venom Orb] A monster orb from a creature that utilizes venom. ¡°Ah, well, that¡¯s obvious enough.¡± ¡°So now I just need wood¡­¡± Reinhard went to the woodworker from before and asked him where he could get ¡®common-grade wood¡¯, to which the woodworker replied by just giving him 20 of it for free, just for being the ¡®chosen one¡¯. The woodworker also told him that he can easily get it by chopping trees with brown bark. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Obtained: [Earthwood x20] ¨C Common ¡°This feels like cheating, doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Well, anyway, at least I know where to get them now.¡± He sat on one of the available chairs in the woodworker¡¯s shop and immediately started creating the staff. He placed 5 Earthwood and the Venom Orb on the table together and opened up his interface. [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Staff] -[Earthwood ¨C Common x5] -[Venom Orb ¨C Common x1] -[100 MP] [CRAFT] ¡°Now, let¡¯s see¡­¡± As soon as he began the crafting, the Earthwoods and the Venom orb placed unto the table started to glow brightly. It was so bright that it had attracted the attention of everyone that was currently passing by. The woodworker, the owner of the shop, was no different. He had dropped whatever he was working on and just stared at Reinhard and the glowing table in front of him. A couple of seconds passed and the glow started to diminish. At this point, a large group of people has already crowded towards the shop, hoping to take a look at what the possessor of the branch is up to. And then the light completely fades, and what remained was a staff, about a meter and a half long, with a purple-green orb attached to the top part of it. The orb itself was wrapped by entangled wood, as if visually showing that the wood is ¡®grasping¡¯ the orb. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Wood Crafting 1] Leveled up to [Wood Crafting 2] [Arcane Crafting 1] Leveled up to [Arcane Crafting 2] Reinhard quicklylooked at his stat window to see his mana. [SYSTEM] HP: 100/100 MP: 500/600 ¡°Okay, good. It looks like it only uses mana, not consumes it. That would¡¯ve sucked if I lose a portion of my maximum mana every time I create something.¡± -¡°What¡­ Is that a staff!?¡± Someone from the on looking crowd shouts in disbelief. -¡°YOU CAN CREATE STAVES?!?¡± Suddenly, the entire crowd was once again in an uproar. This feels all too familiar for him. ¡°Uh, well, yeah, I guess I can¡­ He, he~¡± Reinhard, unaware of the sheer gravity of this, replied half-heartedly. He looked at the staff that he had just created and examined it. [SYSTEM] [Common Earthwood Staff of Venom] Sprays a torrent of venom in a line or in a cone. Line attacks travel further and more accurately, but only hits a single target while cone attacks travel shorter but hits multiple enemies. Applies the [Venom] debuff. Unique effects: [Earthwood]: Deals additional elemental damage to creatures of water element. ¡°Venom?¡± [SYSTEM] [Venom] debuff continuously damages the target while also lowering and draining their stamina. ¡°As expected, it¡¯s like a burn or poison. Hmm, I wonder what the poison debuff does.¡± [SYSTEM] [Poison] debuff halves the target¡¯s maximum HP and STA and decreases the rate of all types of regeneration. Needs to be ingested to take effect. If the target''s lowered maximum hp falls beyond a certain threshold, the target will begin taking continous damage. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not what I expected, but that makes sense. People would often interchange venom and poison most of the time.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°And what of burn?¡± [SYSTEM] [Burn] debuff continuously damages the target based on how much maximum HP they have. ¡°I see¡­¡± ¡°Well, time to check it out.¡± As he looked up, he had almost forgotten about the massive crowd that had been looking at him all this time. ¡°Er, well, is there something wrong?¡± He asked the crowd. -¡°MAKE ME A STAFF PLEASE!¡± -¡°NO, ME FIRST! I¡¯LL PAY YOU DOUBLE!¡± All of a sudden, the people began getting into a commotion, attracting even more people and further fueling the crowd. ¡°WHAT¡¯S HAPPENING HERE!?¡± A commanding shout coming from the back of the crowd immediately silenced them. It was a familiar voice, for it is the voice of the elder. The elder began to slowly approach to the front. As soon as he sees Reinhard holding a staff, he immediately understood the situation. ¡°I see.¡± He sighed. He turned around to face the crowd, puffing up his chest as much as his old body can take. ¡°Now, listen here, everyone. Making a staff isn¡¯t just as easy as crafting a bow or a club. Did you really think that something like it could just be created so easily that you can just casually buy them? Why don¡¯t we ask Reinhard himself how abysmally hard it is to create one?¡± He then looked at Reinhard with the eyes that¡¯s almost saying ¡®just go along with it¡¯ or somewhere within those lines. Reinhard, taking the hint from the elder, went along with it. ¡°That¡¯s right. It was¡­ uhm, incredibly hard and¡­ uh, life threatening!¡± *GASPS* The entire crowd gasps heavily. ¡°So, yeah. Uh, sorry, everyone.¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Deception 1] Passive Skill. "Don''t make me feel guilty about it!" -¡°It¡¯s alright!¡± -¡°Sorry for pressuring you!¡± -"That''s too bad, but still, you can create staves huh..." Then the crowd started to disperse, leaving only the elder and the woodworker with Reinhard. The elder jolts his head, giving the signal that Reinhard should follow him. "..." ¡°Thank you for that, elder.¡± Reinhard said after he placed the staff in his inventory and catches up to the elder. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It appears that I may have to teach you what the common sense is around here¡­¡± Chapter 6: Level Up! ¡°So, uh, elder, I¡¯m wondering¡­¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Why do you have to hunt and farm for your food? Aren¡¯t dryads, like¡­ one with the nature? Couldn¡¯t you just ask the trees and animals?¡± Reinhard asks as they pass by the slaughterhouse with the two snakes they just hunted earlier. ¡°You were asking about the time before the elves? Yes, it is true that a very long time ago, even before I was birthed by the forest, dryads were said to be physically and spiritually immortal to the point that even if their bodies get destroyed, their souls will just be transferred to another body made by the earth. However, that time has long since passed. We have already lost the favor of nature ever since a small group of dryads got blinded by the outside civilization and decided to imitate them and their cities and castles of stone and marble. Mortal vanity¡­¡± The elder began to narrate in an obvious angry tone. ¡°Look at them now¡­ Fashioning themselves with gold and silver while the rest of their fellow brothers die for them in battle against the human kingdoms. Repulsive.¡± ¡°I see. So when the group of dryads that would later become the elves left, they doomed the entire race along with them¡­¡± ¡°Well, enough of my ramblings. First of all I have to ask you, did you really make that staff by yourself?¡± ¡°Huh? Oh, well, yes. Is something wrong?¡± ¡°Ah, hah! No, nothing is wrong.¡± The elder smiled. ¡°You know, staves are¡­ well, let¡¯s say incredibly sought out by anyone¡­ I trust you know at least why, no?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­ afraid not¡­¡± The elder laughed at to what would count as a face palm. ¡°Staves, unlike wands, do not use their caster¡¯s mana when casting spells. Instead, they have their own mana much like any living being. Mana that can be used to cast and when drained, would regenerate in time. That is why staves are incredibly rare. That, and the fact that not many people know how to create them. In fact, I¡¯d say only two individuals exists that can create staves, three including you.¡± ¡°Wait, are you saying that¡ª¡° ¡°I¡¯m saying that if you want to hide the fact that you¡¯re in possession of the branch, avoiding attention from the warring states is of utmost importance. If they learned that someone other than the two could make staves, the humans, the elves, even the drakkens would definitely look for you. We dryads would never tell anyone that you hold the branch because it¡¯s in our nature to protect it, but I don¡¯t know if they can hide the fact that you can make staves.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s¡­ So I can¡¯t use my staff after all?¡± Reinhard disappointingly sighed. ¡°What? No, no, you can use them normally. Many mage adventurers use staff as their weapon. What I¡¯m saying is, you need to keep your ability to create one a secret.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Do you understand, child?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Good. Thank you for escorting me all the way to my house.¡± The elder patted Reinhard on the back and proceeded to enter his home. Reinhard, on the other hand, decided to go outside of the village to test his staff, but when he was about to cross the barrier that separates it from the outside, he was stopped by the child-like voice that morning. ¡°Halt!¡± The voice shouts. It attempted to be commanding but utterly fails to do so due to the childishness of its voice. ¡°Dusk is falling, monsters become more aggressive at night. What is your business outside, possessor?¡± The female child revealed herself from inside the tree house closest to the barrier. ¡°Tylla, is it? I was just thinking if I could practice my abilities by hunting monsters.¡± ¡°No can do.¡± ¡°Eh? B-but, I can protect myself!¡± Tylla thoroughly looks at him, from head to toe. ¡°I have judged that you cannot.¡± ¡°Ehhhh? C¡¯mon, I won¡¯t be long. I¡¯ll be back before nightfall.¡± ¡°Nnnooo, nu-uh. It¡¯s dangerous outside.¡± Reinhard sighed. ¡°Alright, fine. What do you want me to give you?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Suddenly, Tylla looked at Reinhard, dumbfounded. ¡°Are you bribing me?¡± ¡°Uh, well, I was just¡ª¡° ¡°I¡¯ll have you know, child, that despite how I look, I am a hundred years older than you!¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Your dark intentions will never corrupt me, the trusted gatekeeper of Garden!¡± As they were conversing, a dryad woman carrying an empty basket suddenly came. ¡°Hey Tylla, I¡¯ll be out for a while collecting nightshrooms, okay?¡± ¡°Sure, be careful!¡± ¡°I will!¡± Then she passed through the barrier uncontested. ¡°Huuuuuh? Why can she go but I can¡¯t?¡± ¡°Hmph~¡± ¡°Eeeeeeh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s because¡­ you have dark intentions!¡± ¡°Wha¡ª. I was just trying to test my abilities!?¡± ¡°You tried to bribe me!¡± ¡°Because you wouldn¡¯t let me out!?¡± ¡°See? I told you, you have dark intentions!¡± Reinhard noticed that another dryad was approaching. It was the woodworker, carrying an axe. ¡°He must be going out to collect wood. This is my opportunity.¡± He immediately ran towards the approaching woodworker. ¡°Hey, wa¡ª¡° Tylla shouts as Reinhard run. ¡°Hey, sir¡­ uh¡­¡± ¡°Oh hello there, Reinhard. How may I help you?¡± ¡°Crap, what¡¯s his name again? Wait, did I even ask for it? Bah, never mind that.¡± ¡°So, you going out to collect wood?¡± ¡°That, I am!¡± ¡°But isn¡¯t it dangerous with all the monsters around?¡± ¡°Monsters? Oh, no.¡± He laughed. ¡°There¡¯s a magic within the hut just outside the village that repels all monsters away. It should be safe if you¡¯re within fifty meters of the hut.¡± ¡°Wha¡ª¡­¡± ¡°That little kid¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Oh, uh, nothing. Thank you for that!¡± ¡°Okay¡­ then¡­ Hey Tylla, I¡¯ll be out getting wood!¡± ¡°Okey-dokey! Hey, you!¡± She points to Reinhard. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°Going out?¡± ¡°I told you, it¡¯s dangero¡ª¡° ¡°You lied.¡± ¡°What?¡± Tylla replied, utterly shocked. ¡°The hut prevents monsters from getting near¡­ doesn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°How did you¡ª? That Lem¡­¡± She then began to mumble to herself, although her mumblings can be easily heard by Reinhard. ¡°So the woodworker¡¯s name is Lem¡­¡± Reinhard thought as he slipped past Tylla outside of the barrier without her noticing. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Stealth 1] Leveled up to [Stealth 2] The sun hasn¡¯t gone down yet, but the sky is definitely turning black. Not far to the right, across the creek was the woman from earlier, gathering what looks to be mushrooms that glow. Even further than her, within the trees was Lem, chopping down a tree. Reinhard decided to go west, the same route that he had taken when he was running just yesterday. With the map interface, he doesn¡¯t have to worry about getting lost. After about a minute and a half of walking, he finally spotted his first prey, a horned warg. It had spiky fur that runs from its nape all the way across its spine to the end of its long tail. It seems to be eating a corpse of a goblin. ¡°Phew. Okay, stay calm. It¡¯s defenseless, so it doesn¡¯t know I¡¯m here. Don¡¯t mess this up, Reinhard.¡± Reinhard materialized his [Earthwood Staff of Venom] and wielded it on his right hand. ¡°Breathe in.¡± ¡°Breathe out.¡± ¡°Breathe in.¡± ¡°Breathe out.¡± After trying to ease his nerves, he pointed the staff¡¯s orb towards the feasting warg. Upon a closer inspection at the warg, Reinhard noticed that it was a level three, with a leaf symbol on the left side of its name. ¡°What¡¯s that? Is that its element?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, whatever.¡± ¡°¡­wait, how do I use a staff anyway? Is there some kind of trigger or something? Do I just will it?¡± Upon saying that, a small, purple magic circle appeared on the orb pointing towards the warg. It didn¡¯t give off a sound, but it did give off a light. Fortunately, it was not bright enough to alert the warg. Then, after a split second of appearing, the magic circle sprayed a line purple liquid all the way towards the warg that¡¯s about five meters away. It was caught so off guard that it was pushed away towards the ground by the force of the impact. It immediately tried to get up and run towards Reinhard, but only three to four steps later, it began to significantly slow down and pant heavily. ¡°Its stamina was drained, huh? Not long after the attack, Reinhard fired off the staff again. This time, killing the warg for good. ¡°So it¡¯s one of those types of games where the enemy doesn¡¯t have HP bars, making it rather difficult to ¡®min-max¡¯ your attacks¡­¡± *Ping!* *Ping!* ¡°It looks like there¡¯s a charging time of 0.5 to 1 second before being able to fire again.¡± Reinhard looked at his staff and noticed that there was a blue bar with numbers hovering on top of the staff. MP: 80/100 ¡°80/100? So every shot costs 10 mana?¡± He observed at it closely, wondering at the rate at which the staff recovers mana. About three seconds later, the bar changed. MP: 82/100 And then it changed again after another second. MP: 84/100 MP: 86/100 MP: 88/100 ¡°I see, it appears that there¡¯s a three second delay after casting before mana would start regenerating at a rate of 2 mana per second¡­¡± ¡°Well, time to head back. I hope that warg isn¡¯t too heavy.¡± After dragging the warg by the hind legs for more than fifty meters, Reinhard finally reached the barrier to Garden, past the hut. ¡°Good thing my stamina regeneration was able to keep me from getting tired. I¡¯m surprised I didn¡¯t get some kind of strength-related passive skill for doing that though¡­¡± ¡°Tylla, it¡¯s me, Reinhard!¡± However, there was no response. ¡°Maybe she didn¡¯t hear me? ¡°Tylla, I¡¯ve c¡ª¡° Suddenly, the barrier warps open, letting Reinhard enter. ¡°What took you so long?¡± Tylla complains by the entrance. ¡°Well, I was dragging this.¡± Reinhard then showed her the warg that he had just killed. ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not that heavy¡­¡± She retors smugly. ¡°This girl¡­¡± ¡°Well, whatever.¡± He brought it to the slaughter house to have the body looted. The fangs, spiked fur, tail, claw, horns and orb were all taken by Reinhard. The rest, he has no need for. [SYSTEM] Obtained: [Warg Fangs x2] ¨C Common, [Warg Fur x10] ¨C Common, [Warg Tail x1] ¨C Common, [Warg Claw x4] ¨C Common, [Warg Horns x2] ¨C Common,[Earth Orb] ¨C Common He then returned to the tree house that he was staying on to check on the notifications. [SYSTEM] You have acquired the following: [Staff Proficiency 1] Passive Skill You have leveled up to level 2! +1 skill points ¡°Skill points?¡± [SYSTEM] Skill points can be used to instantly level up a skill or learn a new skill from the available ones. ¡°Hmm, what should I use it for? Should I learn a new one? Well, for now let¡¯s see what the available skills to learn are.¡± [SYSTEM] Learnable skills: [Weaving 1] Passive Skill [Metallurgy 1] Passive Skill [MP Regeneration 1] Passive Skill [Fortify 1] Passive Skill [Clarity 1] Passive Skill [Enduring 1] Passive Skill [Enchant] Active Skill ¨C Learned at [Arcane Artificer Level 10] [Dual Wield Staff 1] Passive Skill ¨C Learned when [Staff Proficiency] Passive Skill reaches Level 20 ¡°¡­¡± ¡°This is going to be a long night¡­¡± Chapter 7: Dual swords are overrated. How about dual staves? Reinhard did ended up staying awake for a long time, reviewing the skills and planning how he¡¯s going to approach it. He automatically removed [Weaving] and [Metallurgy] from the choices since he could just learn them by engaging on activities that involves those skills. [MP Regeneration] was also out of the question as he¡¯s really not using his mana when fighting, only when crafting and he thought that a larger mana pool would be more beneficial. It turns out that it¡¯s exactly what [Clarity] does, increase his mana pool by 50. [Fortify] increases his HP by 50 while [Enduring] increases his stamina also by 50. He¡¯s not too excited about acquiring [Enchant] as upon reading on it, it turns out that only non-magical items can be enchanted. Since he uses a staff, which is a magical item, it¡¯s going to be useless. He¡¯d have to wait to get armor before using the enchantment system. Besides, he can get the skill once he reaches level 10 in Arcane Artifice. At first he thought that he¡¯d ignore [Dual Wield Staff] for now since he can also get it later on when he levels up his [Staff Proficiency] but upon closer consideration, he remembered that earlier, he just got another monster core and can create yet another staff. After thinking for a while, which is not actually a while, it took him about three minutes, not counting the reading, and careful consideration if he really wants to take the [Dual Wield Staff] skill, he ended up taking it anyway. Before going to sleep though, he remembered that he hasn¡¯t really checked what the [Subject] skill does, so he looked at it last before sleeping. [Subject], it turns out, is an active skill which lets you take any creature as a follower upon defeating it in combat. However, the skill must be cast before the combat with the given creature starts, whereupon, the creature is notified of the challenge. If the caster wins the battle without any outside help, the creature willingly accepts the caster as its liege. The skill [Subject] can only be cast on creatures that are lower in level than the caster by five or more though, that means to even start using it on level 1 creatures, Reinhard would need to be level 6. Furthermore, when a creature is under the [Subject] skill, its HP can never fall below 1, even if it receives a fatal blow from the caster. The next morning, after eating breakfast with the elder and Fraenis, he immediately went to Lem to ask about other types of wood. Since the orb that he got yesterday was of an earth element, he thought it would be a waste to pair it up with a handle that¡¯s also of earth element, so he inquired Lem if there are other trees here that yields woods of different elements. Lem said that there are, and in fact, Reinhard had already seen one of those. They¡¯re called Sylpheim Trees and they¡¯re the bigger ones with white bark. They¡¯re of the wind element. He would¡¯ve gone out by himself and looked for these Sylpheim Trees but Lem stopped him. He said that he¡¯d come with Reinhard because he can¡¯t just chop trees as he wants in this part of the forest. So, the two of them went out of the village, Reinhard acting as Lem¡¯s guard against any monsters that might attack. ? ? ? ¡°Your Grace, the two scouts we sent out has returned. It appears that there¡¯s a basilisk nest straight on our path. If we keep advancing in this direction, we¡¯re bound to encounter it sooner or later.¡± The kneeling knight said to a middle aged nobleman. ¡°Then get rid of them! His Majesty has gracefully given us one week to correct our failures! If we walked around this nest, who knows how long it will take us to get there?¡± The nobleman complained while being carried in a litter so he would not be dirtied by the mud and muck. ¡°B-but, your Grace, the environment and terrain are not ideal for our knights. Fighting would only lead us to unfavorable circumstances.¡± ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of bringing you lot here if you¡¯re not here to fight?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If we fight, more than half of our forces will suffer. This is a basilisk we¡¯re talking about, your Grace. I¡¯m sure even his Majesty under¡ª¡° ¡°HIS MAJESTY WOULD BURN US IF WE DON¡¯T COMPLETE THIS MISSION. Do you want to burn at the stake, Sir. Velram?¡± ¡°N-no, your Grace.¡± ¡°Then do your duty, unless you want me to report to his Majesty of your insubordination¡­¡± ¡°Y-yes¡­¡± ? ? ? ¡°Wow, it¡¯s even bigger than last I remembered.¡± Reinhard awed at the size of the Sylpheim Tree that he and Lem found.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Of course they are! Sylphs reside on them after all, hence the name.¡± ¡°Sylphs?¡± ¡°After the dryads were¡­ ¡®punished¡¯ by nature, it was the sylphs that took our place as the custodians of the forests. They live in these trees, forever guarding nature¡­ isn¡¯t that right?¡± Lem touched the Sylpheim Tree. All of a sudden, white lights could be seen floating down from its leaves. ¡°That¡¯s right, Reinhard!¡± An unnatural, high-tune voice suddenly spoke. It was coming from the lights. All of a sudden, the lights began to get dimmer and the form of what appears to be humanoid creatures floating in the air emerged within the lights. ¡°Your encounter with the basilisk a day ago was scary, wasn¡¯t it?¡± The sylph said as it flies towards Reinhard¡¯s nose, poking it lightly. ¡°Basilisk?¡± Reinhard asked, unsure of what the sprite was talking about. ¡°You know, that giant snake that ate the goblin? You were reaaaaaally lucky back then. If it was you that it saw first instead of the goblin, you¡¯d be a dead man!¡± -¡°Dead man!¡± -¡°Yeah! Ha ha ha ha!¡± The two other sylph joyfully spoke as they play around in the air. ¡°So, here for the wood again?¡± The sylph asked Lem. ¡°Yeah, if it¡¯s alright with you.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine. Consider this a ¡®thank you¡¯ for what your ancestors did to us.¡± ¡°His ancestors?¡± Reinhard suddenly asks out of curiosity. ¡°Yup!¡± The sylph proceeded to sit on Reinhard¡¯s right shoulder. ¡°You see, a long time ago, before there were elves, there was an ancient darkness that almost consumed all of the forest. Many animals were killed, monsters too. Even sprites such as us weren¡¯t spared. And it was the dryads that helped us all survive. They housed us inside Garden until the darkness was fully expelled. That¡¯s why we owe to them our existence. I know that they¡¯re just doing their job back then as custodians, but still, if it were not for them, there would be no sylphs right now¡­¡± The sylph narrated while Lem was chopping of a part of the tree¡¯s trunk. -¡°They saved us!¡± -¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°What was that ancient darkness?¡± ¡°In the end, we never found out. All the races that had already existed at that time set aside their differences and banded together to push away that darkness. People just called it The Smoke though, since it was literally a gigantic smoke that kills anything in its path.¡± Lem said all of a sudden. ¡°Correct!¡± The sylph replied. ¡°This should about do it, what do you say?¡± Lem asked Reinhard while carrying a bundle of chopped wood. It was not much, and he didn¡¯t chopped the entire tree, only parts of it, but it was enough to craft a staff. ¡°That should be enough but, is it really alright for us to take pieces of your home?¡± Reinhard replied then asked the sylphs. ¡°Oh, its fine. As long as it¡¯s not fully chopped down, this tree will regenerate at an unprecedented speed! But only when no one is watching¡­ It¡¯s really shy!¡± -¡°Really shy!¡± -¡°Embarrassed!¡± ¡°A tree that¡¯s shy? That¡¯s¡­ something, I guess.¡± ¡°Well, we better get going now. Thanks again!¡± Lem said while the two of them were walking away. As they walked away, the sylph shouted one last thing to the two of them. ¡°Oh, and by the way, be careful of the metal guys!¡± Although their distance was too far away so the two of them may have not heard the sylph¡¯s shout. After returning to Garden, Reinhard just took five of the Sylpheim Wood and went to his tree house. The last time¡¯s commotion has made him realize that he probably shouldn¡¯t make those things in public. He placed the Sylpheim Wood and the Earth Core on a mini-table next to his grass-bed and immediately began crafting. [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Staff] -[Sylpheim Wood ¨C Common x5] -[Earth Orb ¨C Common x1] -[100 MP] [CRAFT] ¡°Aaaaaand craft!¡± Just like last time, the materials on the table began glowing tremendously for a short time, and as the light fades, the created staff is only what remains. As usual, he examined the staff that he had just crafted. Unlike the strong, "blocky" feel of his first staff''s handle, this one looks more serene, smooth and harmonious. The white handle is carved with multiple fine lines that circle and whip around it in a graceful manner. It stands in contrast with its orb that sits at the end, looking like a sphere of rock pierced by the handle, or a ball of magma that''s in the process of flowing down the handle but then cooled off. [SYSTEM] [Common Sylpheim Staff of Earth] Binds the target in a mound of rocks that rises up beneath the earth. Alternatively, the caster can instead produce a shield of rocks in front of him that blocks attacks. Both continously uses the staff¡¯s mana to maintain. Unique Effects: [Sylpheim]: Deals additional damage to creatures of fire element. ¡°So it¡¯s a CC (crowd control) and a shield staff at the same time, huh, neat.¡± ¡°Well, now that I have another staff, time to use my skill point on the [Dual Wield Staff] skill. [SYSTEM] You have acquired: [Dual Wield Staff 1] Passive Skill. ¡°Awwww yeaaaah. This is gonna be great!¡± Reinhard is unable to contain his excitement. He hastily went out of the village to test his new battle-style. He equipped the venom staff on his right and used his left for the earth staff. ¡°God, I feel like a total badass commando who¡¯s using two machine guns on both hands!¡± He was totally unable to control his excitement. He found a protruding rock not too far away and decided to use it as a target practice. However, while he was playing around with his two staves, he was suddenly able to hear voices coming from across the creek, as well as the growing noise of something hitting the leaves and branches. He immediately hid behind the rock that he was practicing on as it was big enough to hide his frame. There, he saw what looked to be men wearing armor, swinging their sword to clear away the path. They all looked gloomy and sad though, and some of them are even heavily wounded and had to be carried by the others. ¡°What happened to them? Why are they here?¡± Not too far behind the knights was a blue litter with ornate silver designs on it being carried by four knights on all four sides. Reinhard saw that there¡¯s a slightly-fat adult man inside it. He looks to be on edge and impatient. Upon exiting the trees and into the clearing where the hut was, the first knight that emerged suddenly shouted. ¡°We¡¯re here! We¡¯re here! There¡¯s the hut! That¡¯s it, right?¡± Then, the four knights carrying the blue litter hurriedly went. They gently placed it on the ground and the man inside it arduously climbs out. ¡°I-it¡¯s so hot in here!¡± The man says after exiting his litter. ¡°That¡¯s the home of the gods? It looks¡­ underwhelming.¡± He added after wiping of his sweaty forehead. ¡°Fine then. Go ahead, knights. Search the whole area. If you see movement among the bushes, look into it immediately. It might be the possessor.¡± ¡°What? They¡¯re¡­ looking for me?¡± Chapter 8: The Knights and the Dryads I Three weeks ago, in the Kingdom of Belm, human territory. ¡°Your Majesty!¡± A robed old man knelt in front of the king, his great white beard almost touching the floor. ¡°Master Mulk? It¡¯s rare for you to bother yourself and leave your studies¡­ Is something the matter?¡± ¡°W-well, yes, your Majesty. Our Oracles¡­ received a vision.¡± The atmosphere within the courtroom immediately began to turn serious. The king slowly placed his chalice on to the table and eagerly awaits what the man before him is about to say. ¡°¡­and?¡± ¡°They saw a man¡­ falling down from the sky.¡± ¡°¡­¡± A long, painful silence. ¡°We have good reason to believe that this is the chosen one.¡± The king sighed. ¡°Of course, it is the chosen one. So, did they see where he supposedly fell?¡± ¡°In the forest¡­ your Majesty. In the Forest of Sok¡­¡± The king breathed deeply, as if a huge weight has been lifted off of his chest. It was known that the location of the falling chosen ones would happen randomly anywhere in the world, and it is a given that whichever nation the chosen one falls on are the ones who greatly benefits from his abilities, so it was a huge relief that this time, the chosen one would fall on the Forest of Sok itself, a completely neutral territory. That means that everyone has an even chance. No, they, the humans and the elves have in fact, better chances than the others since they¡¯re the only ones directly bordering the forest. ¡°How long?¡± ¡°Your Majesty?¡± ¡°How much time do we have until the chosen one appears? We must make sure to welcome him immediately.¡± ¡°Oh, well, unfortunately, our Oracles are not sure of the exact time, but it should within this month, your Majesty.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ I see. Very well.¡± The king stroked his chin. ¡°Lord Tali!¡± ¡°Yes, your Majesty?¡± The man replies as he bows. ¡°You are to lead an expedition towards the home of the gods. You have two weeks. Bring a thousand men and make sure that you¡¯re there when the chosen one arrives. Understood?¡± ¡°Yes, your Majesty. I shall get it done at once!¡± ? ? ? Three weeks later, in the Forest of Sok. ¡°Their hairs aren¡¯t silver so they¡¯re not elves. Humans?¡± ¡°I need to inform Tylla about this¡­¡± Reinhard looked at the tree that¡¯s supposed to serve as the landmark to where the entrance of the barrier is. As he was hiding behind the rock, he would be about six to seven meters away from the barrier of the Garden. ¡°Crap, I¡¯m too far¡­ What do I do?¡± ¡°If what the elder said was really true, then they¡¯d probably cast some spell on me that would make me obey them, making the branch effectively theirs¡­¡± ¡°What do I do? Should I just run away? But there¡¯s too many of them¡­ Should I just sneak out? My stealth skill is at level 2. Is it enough?¡± ¡°Aaah, what am I supposed to do?¡± ¡°Hmmm? Hey, Sir Velram. Is the door of that hut open or am I just seeing things?¡± Lord Tali asked the knight commander beside him. ¡°I believe the door is indeed open¡­ *cough* you Grace.¡± The knight commander replied as he clutches his abdomen tied up with bandage. There¡¯s a subtle tinge of blood surfacing from it. ¡°Aha¡­ The possessor has already arrived, it seems. Then that means¡­¡± Suddenly, a bush far behind the hut started rustling. Everyone¡¯s attention snapped to it, Reinhard included. Lord Tali signaled one of the knights to come check it out, which the knight did. He slowly approached the rustling bush, walking past the rock and Reinhard who¡¯s hiding behind it.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Stealth 2] Leveled up to [Stealth 3] He tightly held up his sword, ready to swing it downwards to whatever may come out of it. Slowly but surely, he walked towards the rustle, with silent, big steps. One could see the utter effort in his graceful movements as not a single clanking of metal could be heard from him even though he¡¯s currently wearing full plate armor. In fact, every single knight present wears full plate armor, which just shows the wealth and capability of the kingdom that they¡¯ve come from. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising to say that they¡¯re some kind of an elite force, though their sheer numbers seem to suggest otherwise. After an incredibly long hold of breath, the knight finally made it to the rustling bush, and with a quick, explosive movement, he swiftly swayed the bush open, revealing what was moving within it. It was a dryad woman. The one that was picking nightshrooms last night, though this time it looks like she¡¯s collecting brown colored ones. The dryad woman was totally unaware and was caught incredibly off-guard. The moment the knight swayed the bush aside, all she did was stare at him, unmoving. After what feels like an eternity of staring, the knight grabbed her by her arms, dragging her towards Lord Tali who was yet to cross the creek. ¡°Oh, hoh~. What are you doing there, young lady?¡± He asked the dryad while the knights around him force the dryad to kneel down with a sword on her throat. The dryad however did not utter a single word. In fact, she was exhibiting a rebellious behavior by looking up at the lord with furious eyes despite the knights forcing her to bow down. ¡°You heard him miss. Just answer and we won¡¯t hurt you any further.¡± The knight commander beside the lord said to the dryad. His voice was empathetic, yet detached at the same time. You could tell he was feeling sorry for her but can¡¯t do anything. Compliance is the only path. In response to this, the dryad woman spat on the lord¡¯s shoes, looking at him with resentful eyes even more furious than the one she had just earlier. It was an incredibly stark contrast to the way she behaves normally. It¡¯s as if she was suddenly a different person altogether. The lord immediately got furious and kicked her face as strong as his fatty legs could. ¡°Y-YOU IMBECILE! H-how dare you d-d-d-disrespect me!? Me!? YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!¡± Everyone there, even the knights and the knight commander himself was shocked at the scene. For Reinhard though, all he could see was the lord suddenly kicking the woman in the face. This enraged him, but he knows he can¡¯t go out. Not anymore after what he had just saw. The woman¡¯s cheek grew purple and her nose began spilling blood, yet her eyes and expression never changed. The lord held her by her green, florally hair. He grasped it so tight that some strands began to get uprooted. ¡°Now listen here you little elf. You¡¯re going to take us to the Garden, you hear me? If you do, I might just reward you by sparing your life and making you my bed wench.¡± Lord Tali menacingly whispered to the dryad woman. The knight commander beside him couldn¡¯t help but turn away at the sight of it. ¡°Your Grace. I-I believe that if we threaten them like that, then the chances of us actually getting to the Garden would be lessen.¡± Sir Velram, the knight commander said, trying to stop the lord¡¯s actions while looking away because he¡¯s unable to bear witness to the man¡¯s repulsive actions. The woman on the other hand, whose head was held up by the pulling of her hair, once again spat on the nobleman¡¯s face. This time, a mixture of blood and saliva. ¡°I¡­ am¡­ not an elf!¡± She said, struggling to get her voice out. *Slap!* The lord slapped her so loud that even Reinhard was able to hear it. She collapsed to the ground. Soil kicking up on her bruised and swollen face. She¡¯s still fully conscious, however. ¡°Tie her up.¡± The lord commanded the knights around him, where they immediately carried it out. ¡°Your Grace, what do you plan to do with her?¡± The knight commander asked, looking pitifully and sorry at the woman as she was being tied up. ¡°We¡¯re taking her hostage.¡± Lord Tali replies with obvious annoyance as he wipes off the bloodied spit off of his face. ¡°THOSE BASTARDS!!!¡± Reinhard, incredibly furious at the disgusting display of the man, tightly clenched his fists out of anger. He knows by intuition what they¡¯re after, and what they¡¯ve probably asked of her, so he can¡¯t just casually go out, reveal himself and act like the hero. He knows that the dryad woman was probably getting hurt because she¡¯s not divulging the information about him, about the branch. What he has no idea however, is what they¡¯re going to do to her next, and this is making him nervous. ¡°Gaaaaa! These kinds of people really make my blood boil.¡± He materialized his [Earthwood Staff of Venom] and held it firmly. Deep in thought, he weighed all the possibilities, all the steps he could take, all the tactics and moves that would allow him to save that woman and get out safely. ¡°If I do that¡­ no, that would only lead us to be surrounded. Wait, if I try to¡­ Bah! I¡¯m not fast enough. Maybe I could try killing him then¡­ but then the other knights¡­ Aaaagh! What could I do? What the hell should I do?¡± While he was racking his brains, trying to come up of the most optimal course of action, the lord began getting inside his litter once again. The litter was lifted by four knights, possibly the same who did it earlier, and crossed the creek towards the side of the hut. After successfully crossing, they placed him down and the lord emerged from the litter. He took the dryad woman and held her by the throat from her back, pointing a dagger at her heart. ¡°Listen, those who call yourselves ¡®dryads¡¯! I have come here to talk about the possessor of the branch! I demand that you give them to me or I will kill this woman right here.¡± He shouted as loud as he can, to all the direction that he can possibly face, then he began to tighten his grip around her throat, choking her, which made her struggle for air. After a while though, he stopped the choking, but only when the dryad was almost purple already. She desperately gasped for air the instance the throat was open again. ¡°Well!?¡± ¡°¡­¡± No response. ¡°Y-you¡­ are¡­ full of yours¡ª *cough* yourself¡­¡± The dryad woman softly said. Despite the small tears forming up on her eyes, her spirit remains unbroken. ¡°Shut up wench. I¡¯ll be having fun with you later¡­¡± The lord said to her as he shakes her body by jolting her neck. At this point, the knight commander didn¡¯t even bother paying attention to what¡¯s happening. Or rather, he does not want to pay attention, as his face that¡¯s turned away from the scene is the one that reflects of not just disgust and repulsion, but also of hatred and pure anger. It would be the face that¡¯s saying ¡°if I¡¯m not forced to obey your commands, I would have stabbed you right then and there.¡± ¡°Your Grace, I told you. Threatening them will just make it harder for us to¡ª¡° Before the knight commander could even finish, the space near the tree that¡¯s supposed to mark the barrier to Garden suddenly warped and contracted. At first no one was able to notice it, but then the knights closest to it started to notice something¡¯s amiss with the space, so they started making a commotion, catching the attention of everyone present. And then, the space tore open, vision on that area melted into something else, revealing within the secluded village of the dryads: the Garden. Everyone stared at it both in awe and confusion. Even Reinhard, but he¡¯s mostly just confused. ¡°What? She¡¯s opening the barrier? But why? No! Don¡¯t open it! That¡¯s what they want you to do! As the full view of the village come to surface, everyone can only see one individual standing on it. A little girl, barely a meter tall, looking at them in full of contempt, anger and pity for the female dryad. It was Tylla, and she¡¯s taking no effort to hide her animosity. Chapter 9: The Knights and the Dryads II The very exemplar of a gatekeeper stands alone in their presence. With a green longbow that¡¯s almost her height, she lays before them full of hostility and hatred. She looked at the lord with a gaze that could seemingly pierce him and the knight behind him. Her appearance immediately kicked the knights into action. They all suddenly assumed combat stances, yet only stood in their places, waiting for whatever comes next. Waiting for her move. There was a long silence. Not even the trees, which you would normally think sways by the wind, are making any noise. It¡¯s as if the whole forest itself is colluding. If one has good enough hearing, they could probably hear the breathing and raised heartbeat of knights facing her. If they had the choice, they¡¯d probably just lower their weapons and peacefully walk away from the scene, not trying to provoke her. Unfortunately, they don¡¯t have the luxury. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°W-well? A-aren¡¯t you going to l-l-let us in?¡± The lord said as he drags the dryad woman closer to her, highlighting the blade that¡¯s pointed in her heart. And while he tried to act tough and unfazed, his stuttering implies the opposite. And besides, everyone can visibly see the twisted alarmed expression in his face. Sweats pouring down on him like he had just taken a bath. ¡°Let. Her. Go.¡± Tylla uttered slowly. Giving emphasis on each word and each tone. Yet there were no response. ¡°I said¡­ LET HER GO!¡± She shouts on top of her lungs in utter rage. Knights who were close enough from here could see the veins becoming more defined in her nape and neck. It was enough to startle everyone presence. In fact, it was enough to startle the whole area of the forest. Birds flew away, and small critters and animals instinctively took shelter to wherever they can find. The wind blew past them, as if to match the loudness of her shout. Instead of gently caressing the trees and the leaves, it¡¯s more of a careless fanning, causing the trees to sway violently for a short time. ¡°Hiiiih!?¡± The lord let out an expression unbecoming of a nobleman such as himself. That is understandable though, as even the knights around him who were trained in combat and has probably seen their share of violence also couldn¡¯t help but gasps and flinch. Even Reinhard, who¡¯s had casual interaction with Tylla, was startled at the sudden explosive anger she¡¯s emanating. ¡°W-we will let her go, but only if you tell us where the possessor is!¡± The lord, slightly trembling with his grip, replied with fake bravado. Reinhard, who was helplessly watching the scene unfold before him in great irritation about how he¡¯s unable to help, suddenly heard a whisper coming from somewhere behind him. ¡°Hey! Reinhard, over here!¡± He looked back to see who that was. Initially, he was unable to see anyone due to the shade of the forest canopies and the sheer lushness of the shrubs but after carefully looking, he saw Fraenis hiding in one of the shrubs, signaling him to come. Trying as hard as he can not to get noticed, Reinhard tiptoed backwards while laying as low as he possibly can. It seems that the three levels he has on [Stealth] is paying off. Occasionally, when a knight would look in his general direction, he¡¯d lie down on the ground, letting the shadows of the canopy mask him in darkness. After about half a minute of moving undetected, he finally reached Fraenis and took great effort in trying not to sound the brushes as he moves into them. ¡°What¡¯s happening here?¡± Fraenis asks in a whisper, her voice carries a great deal of confusion. ¡°Why are there humans here?¡± ¡°I-I don¡¯t know. They seem to be looking for me. They arrived just earlier and took her hostage.¡± Reinhard replied. His tone sounds like one that is powerless to do anything. All this time, he felt like this all happened because of him, and the inability to resolve it was gradually consuming him from within. Guilt mixed with hatred slowly starts to build up inside him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not your fault.¡± Fraenis said, trying to comfort Reinhard after seeing him struggling to contain his guilt. ¡°How is it not? They came here for me, they beat her because of me, and I couldn¡¯t do anything! I was weak, some ¡®chosen one¡¯ I was, I couldn¡¯t even stand in the same breath as the previous ones!¡± Reinhard snapped. Uncaring of how loud he speaks, he replied to Fraenis, letting out all the suppressed feeling of uselessness. ¡°Okay, okay. Shhh.. Lower your voice, they will hear us!¡± Fraenis whispered to him, trying to calm him down. Unfortunately, it¡¯s too late. ¡°Hey! There¡¯s people here!¡± Suddenly, a knight that came to check out what the noise was found them and immediately shouted. He instantly drew his sword and the others near them followed suit.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Who are you?¡± Reinhard immediately stood up and materialized both of his staves, dual wielding them on both of his hands and pointing them at the knight. Seeing this, Tylla, who was currently trying to convince the lord that the possessor wasn¡¯t in the village, hastily knocked her bow as tall as her. There was no physical arrow though, what pulled the string was a green haze of magic energy on the shape of an arrow. She pointed it towards the lord. Everyone is now on the edge, waiting for the first move. That first attack, the signal that combat has begun. The one foolish enough to break the fine line was the knight that found Reinhard and Fraenis. He held his sword high upwards and sprinted towards their position. Fraenis immediately begun to knock an arrow on her shortbow but it appeared that she wouldn¡¯t make it. When the knight was about three meters from them, he was suddenly pushed back by a torrent of purple liquid. He landed a meter away from where he was hit, clanking the armor for everyone to hear and kicking-up the dirt on his landing site. ¡°K-knights!¡± The lord shouted upon seeing the display. In a timely and orderly fashion, the knights near the Tylla immediately began rushing towards her, and so does the ones near Fraenis and Reinhard. ¡°Tsk!¡± Tylla expressed in annoyance. Then, she loosened the hold on her longbow¡¯s string, releasing the immaterial arrow on it. It traveled through the air like a speeding bullet, and all that the knights could see was a green afterimage. However, Tylla could see more. She could see the knights¡¯ running slowly, the trees¡¯ swaying. She could also see the arrow as it travels slowly in the air, heating up its surroundings due to the friction. Without even a blink¡¯s time after releasing the arrow, the knight that she had just pointed it to was knocked away about five meters, clashing with everyone in his path and equally impaling them with the immaterial arrow. By the time that he stopped being flung away, he has already taken three other knights with him to the grave. Even their full-plate, incredibly priced armor did nothing against it, almost as if it were mere butter. In fact, it had only increased the weight of the impact on those unlucky enough to be hit. Seeing this casted doubt and hesitation on the minds of the knights currently charging towards Tylla, making them freeze in their tracks and be on the defensive. After all, none of them wanted to be at the receiving end of that monstrosity. Meanwhile, Reinhard and Fraenis are struggling to hold their ground against another detachment of knights. Reinhard is unsure exactly how many knight he¡¯s currently facing, although a quick guess would be about seven to eight just basing it on what he currently sees. The knight that was pushed down to the ground by Reinhard¡¯s venom staff has already stood up. They¡¯re not just haphazardly charging though, as they were very wary of what his other staff could do. After all, they¡¯re not just a bunch of brigands with swords. They¡¯re trained knights of a kingdom. Glancing at the knights surrounding them, Reinhard had determined that the average level of them would be about level 15 as the lowest to 20 as the highest, except for the one knight that¡¯s beside the lord, which is a level 30. Above that level 30 knight was his ¡®name¡¯. Unlike the warg and the ¡°snakes¡±, there¡¯s no symbol of any element besides his name. ¡°You there, you¡¯re a human are you not? Why are you taking their side?¡± The knight who was just attacked by Reinhard suddenly asked. By the looks of it, it appears that the [Venom] debuff isn¡¯t doing that much to him. He¡¯s breathing faster than before, but it can just easily be because of the adrenaline and not his stamina being depleted. He also doesn¡¯t seem to be suffering from the continuous damage of the debuff. ¡°Not being able to see the enemy¡¯s HP makes it extremely difficult to gauge their situation¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°If only I have some way of looking at their more detailed status¡­ Even if it¡¯s just for combat! Not having information on the enemy makes it hard to strategize around them.¡± *Ping!* All of a sudden, a notification appeared in front of him, hovering in mid-air in that familiar gray interface. [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Arcane Eyes] Passive Skill. ¡°What is this? Eh? I don¡¯t remember this being in the available skills to learn?¡± He may have not noticed it, but his pupils have suddenly grew a shade of red on them. Although it¡¯s not really noticeable at first glance, only when you stare long enough at it will you see that it¡¯s now red-brown in color. While he was busy being confused, the knight that had asked him earlier once again spoke. ¡°Well? Are you mute or are you deaf? I asked you a question! Why is a human like you taking the side of the long-eared?¡± When Reinhard glanced at the speaking knight, he saw that there is now a red bar in top of his name and level. There was no number on it, however. ¡°Is that his HP?¡± The bar was depleted by about 20%, and it¡¯s still continuing to lessen, although the exact numbers of how much it loses isn¡¯t revealed, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be affecting the knight in the least. Furthermore, Reinhard could now also see that below the HP bar and the name is a purple box with the ¡°Venom¡± written on it. ¡°So he was afflicted by venom. But why is it only doing that much? Is it because of his level? Possibly¡­ He¡¯s a level 20 after all, he may have a lot of resistances and a large pool of HP. This is fine, at least I can now measure the effects and extent of my attacks.¡± ¡°What are you saying? Aren¡¯t you lot the aggressors here?¡± He replied to the knight. His intentions weren¡¯t to provoke or to intimidate. No, the only thing that¡¯s going through his mind right now was ¡°I need to dispatch of these worms.¡± ¡°If only your long-eared friends complied, this wouldn¡¯t have to turn violent. This is their fault, they should have just obeyed and told us where the possessor is!¡± ¡°Complied? Obeyed? You march into their land, take one of their kind, beat her and then took her hostage, and you¡¯re saying they¡¯re the ones at fault!?¡± Reinhard thought, grinding his teeth in outrage. ¡°Unacceptable. Unacceptable. Unacceptable! They want to find the possessor? Fine! I¡¯ll show them who the [Possessor of the Branch of the World Tree] is!¡± He held out his earth staff and pointed it towards the damaged knight. In response, he, and the other knights with him, took a stance that¡¯s readying themselves to dodge whatever projectile comes out of it. However, they did not anticipate what happened next. The ground beneath the damaged knight suddenly sprung up, like a vague hand made out of earth and rock came out to grasp him. However, it did more than just grasping him. The rocks and earth moved in an impressive way, skillfully warping and navigating itself on his limbs and joints, and then¡ª ¡°AAAAGGGGGH!!¡± *Crack! Crack! Crack!* The knight suddenly screamed of pure agony. What now lays before them was a knight, held up by the earth, with his hands and legs twisted and bent by the rocks in unnatural manner. ¡°S-stop! Please! Stop!¡± He begged while tears, snot and saliva flows down from his facial orifices, but it didn¡¯t stop. Instead, the grip only grew tighter. The knight was now struggling to even breathe. ¡°S-s¡­ Shtohp! I¡¯m begging you¡­ Pwease¡­ Shto¡­¡± Then the knight went limp, like a broken mechanical doll that had stopped functioning, or a puppet whose strings had been cut. It was only then that blood began to escape his body wherever it can. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Killer] Title. Chapter 10: The Knights and the Dryads III *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Killer] Title. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to level 3! You have leveled up to level 4! +1 skill points You have leveled up to level 5! HP Permanently increased by 100 MP Permanently increased by 100 STA Permanently increased by 100 You have leveled up to level 6! +1 skill points You have leveled up to level 7! You have leveled up to level 8! +1 skill points You have leveled up to level 9! You have leveled up to level 10! +1 skill points HP Permanently increased by 100 MP Permanently increased by 100 STA Permanently increased by 100 Acquired: [Human Adaptability] Passive Skill [Staff Proficiency 1] leveled up to [Staff Proficiency 2] [Dual Wield Staff 1] leveled up to [Dual Wield Staff 2] The lifeless carcass of the knight held by what looks like the twisted form of a titan¡¯s hand rising from the ground dropped its sword. A loud metallic sound clangs as the dropped sword hits the base of the grasping rocks. Despite the relatively large area, the total silence that the sound broke felt like it could be heard from miles away. Suddenly, the earthen formation began shrinking down, retreating back to the earth from whence it came, leaving the broken body of the knight onto the ground, laid bare for all to see its disturbing form. Reinhard couldn¡¯t stop the shaking of his left arm as he lowers his earth staff. Despite this trembling however, his facial expression and posture remains unfazed. He killed a person. A human being, who probably has a wife and a child waiting for him back at wherever kingdom they came from. He killed him, a person who may have just been following the orders given to him by his superiors. And yet, the feeling of empathy, of remorse towards the dead knight, suddenly disappeared from Reinhard. He didn¡¯t know why, nor he even bothered to know why, it could have just been the effect of the [Human Adaptability] skill he just acquired earlier, forcing him to mentally adapt to the situation, or it could mean that he himself has already been desensitized by the circumstances. Whatever may the reason be, the truth is there: He didn¡¯t care, He didn¡¯t care¡­ yet why is his left hand still shaking? Why is his grip on the earth staff still so needlessly tight? Why does his left arm feel so heavy, making him struggle to raise the staff once more? No, this isn¡¯t the time for pity. He raised his earth staff once again, pointing it to another knight. He didn¡¯t even bother to see how much mana the staff has remaining. ¡°Yiiiah!¡± A grunt came from his left side. As he looked on that direction, he saw a spear, flying towards him as well as the knight that''s in a position which gave away that it was that man that just threw it. With one quick motion, he swiftly pointed the earth staff towards the flying spear and conjured an earthen shield to block it. It looked like he wouldn¡¯t make it as the spear was flying at a relatively fast speed, but he was able to block it after all. The round earthen shield, possibly as big as his entire torso, suddenly materialized out of thin air from the magic circle that the staff produced. The spear stuck onto the shield and even penetrated into it for a couple of inches before finally stopping. He quickly ¡°de-casted¡± the earth shield, making it disappear to nothingness. The spear that was stuck on it fell down to the ground point-first, sticking to the soil below. Afterwards, he looked at the knight that just threw the spear. His face was a mixture of regret and disbelief. But then it suddenly got replaced with the look of anguish and horror as the earthen hand crushed him. Another knight has once again fallen lifelessly onto the ground. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to level 11!The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. You have leveled up to level 12! +1 skill points This time, Reinhard closely watched the knight as he struggled to free himself from the hold. It surprised him how this and the previous knight¡¯s HP bar went down so quickly, but then he noticed that a brown box was present beneath the knight¡¯s name. [Constrained] ¡°Constrained¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Constrained] debuff is applied when a target¡¯s movements is being limited by outside forces. Targets wearing heavy armor takes quadruple the damage from the initial effect. ¡°I see. So that¡¯s why they¡¯re just dropping like flies that¡¯re getting squashed.¡± Fraenis on the other hand did nothing but watch while dumbfounded as the scenario unfolds before her. All she sees is Reinhard raising his staff then all of a sudden a rock mound rises up and instantly kills the knights¡­ As the second victim falls to the ground, the four knights looked at each other in disbelief. And then, as if they were able to read each other¡¯s minds, they all nodded at each other and simultaneously attacked, heading straight for Reinhard. This reminded Reinhard of that time with the three snakes yesterday, however unlike that time, there¡¯s not much room for movement as the terrain is filled with trees and shrubs. So instead of moving, he casted the earthen shield and placed it in front of him while still having an opening to cast with his other staff, and then he waited. The four knights gradually began to converge towards Reinhard, three level 15¡¯s and one level 17. He readied his venom staff, waiting for the right chance to present itself. When the knights got about two meters from him, he quickly used his venom staff, which immediately sprayed a burst of venom in a cone, hitting all the knights and pushing them away a meter or so, knocking them all down to the ground. Seeing this, Fraenis quickly loosened her shortbow in a blinding speed. A volley of arrows punched through one of the knight¡¯s exposed parts such as the joint and groin area of the armor. Reinhard on the other hand had just finished quickly crushing one of the level 15 knights that had been knocked down. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to 13! You have leveled up to 14! +1 skill points [Staff Proficiency 2] leveled up to [Staff Proficiency 3] [Dual Wield Staff 2] leveled up to [Dual Wield Staff 3] The one that Fraenis is shooting has now also been killed. However, Reinhard immediately regretted his decision of killing this one instead of the one that Fraenis killed as it was the level 17 one. If it was Reinhard that killed him, he could have gotten a lot more exp than what was given to him by the level 15 knight. ¡°That just leaves these two, huh¡­¡± Sparing no effort, he crushed another one of the remaining level 15 knight, dropping him to the ground limply after. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to 15! HP Permanently increased by 100 MP Permanently increased by 100 STA Permanently increased by 100 The last one, seeing that there¡¯s no way for him to win alone, tried to flee. He dropped his sword and helmet in an attempt to lessen the weight but was ultimately crushed by the earth anyway. ¡°I didn¡¯t level up from that? Oh well.¡± He looked at how his earth staff¡¯s mana was going and saw that it¡¯s at 42/100 and continuously regenerating while his venom staff is at 94/100 which is also regenerating. Fraenis however looked around suspiciously, trying to see if any other knights would dare to come to them, but she found out that the rest of the knights are actually currently storming the Garden. ¡°Hey, why isn¡¯t Tylla closing the barrier?¡± Reinhard immediately asked Fraenis upon seeing the knights entering the barrier en masse. ¡°No¡­ no way¡­¡± She suddenly said in disbelief without replying to Reinhard¡¯s question. ¡°Tylla! Tylla, where are you!?¡± She then rushed towards the barrier, running as fast as her nimble feet could take her. Reinhard, confused at what¡¯s happening, had no choice but to follow her. While running towards the barrier, Reinhard saw that near the hut was the dryad woman that was previously taken hostage. She¡¯s lying on the ground, in her own puddle of blood, eyes wide open reflecting fear and pain. She¡¯s dead. Reinhard was instantly filled with grief, however, he can mourn the dead later. For now, the safety of those still alive comes first. Along the way, the two of them could also see numerous piles of knights with massive holes the size of a small plate on their chests littering the area like gravestones made of men. In any other circumstance, Reinhard would have stayed and wondered what may have caused these peculiar deaths of the knights, but now was not the time. Not soon after, they finally reached the entrance of the village, the barrier still held open. There were no longer any living knights outside so they managed to reach there unhindered. However, as they approach the barrier, what they saw beside the tree that marked the entrance was a bleeding body of a little girl with short, green hair. Her right hand is placed on her bloodied stomach, presumably in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. Fraenis immediately knelt beside her without hesitation and held her head in her arms, not even looking towards the village that¡¯s currently being sacked by foreign soldiers. Men, women and children, all dying both inside and outside of their tree houses. It appears that these knights were ordered to spare no one. ¡°N-no¡­¡± Fraenis said softly. Her voice being barely audible, as if something was clogging her throat. ¡°Hey¡­ Tylla¡­ Wake up¡­¡± *Sobs* Unable to contain herself anymore, Fraenis bursts out into tears. ¡°No, you can¡¯t go¡­ You need to close the gate! Didn¡¯t you tell me that you¡¯d be the gatekeeper forever? Didn¡¯t you?¡± She said as tears drop down from her eyes uncontrollably. ¡°No¡­ Not like this¡­¡± Reinhard too was visibly disturbed by what¡¯s happening. He knows how it feels to die. The pain, the shock, the realization that this is the end of your story¡­ but most importantly, the final seconds before you lose consciousness where you desperately cling on to your last remaining breath, hoping that all of this was just a bad dream and you¡¯d wake up in your bed, all safe and sound. He could only look at the body of Tylla with great sorrow and anguish. Suddenly, Tylla¡¯s body started to sink to the ground. Roots and bramble grew out of the soil and wrapped her body, as if hands and fingers of the earth dragging her down beneath the land. Fraenis immediately let go of her hold to Tylla. ¡°zhe¡¯ Vek-gha¡± She uttered one last time after wiping off the tears from her eyes. The two of them watched as Tylla¡¯s body slowly gets consumed by nature. ¡°Endow the land.¡± She added as she turns around to look at Reinhard after Tylla¡¯s body fully sinks into the soil. Her sorrowful, depressed face just moments earlier have now disappeared, although it¡¯s still too farfetched to call her happy. It¡¯s more of an expression of acceptance. The feeling when you let someone go even though it hurts and you would rather not, but there¡¯s nothing you can do so you just accept the circumstances. Her face stayed like that for only a split second though, before returning back to her anger-filled expression as she looks towards the village. She picked up her shortbow and knocked an arrow onto it. ¡°Sorry for taking so long. Let¡¯s go.¡± Her ice cold voice said. It was so chilling that even Reinhard almost got scared of her. Reinhard looked back at the dryad that was previously held hostage and saw that her body too has disappeared, leaving only the puddle of blood behind. ¡°I see. They return to that which gave birth do them¡­ Perhaps this is for the best.¡± Having come to terms with their swelling grief and sorrow, the two of them rushed inside the village with the full intention of killing every single offender that they see. Chapter 11: The Knights and the Dryads IV The village was in utter chaos. Everywhere you look, a fight is happening. While there are dryads that could certainly fend for themselves and even hunt monsters, that was just a handful of them compared to the number of the knights. Add that to the fact that the knights are just overall better equipped with full-plate armor and steel weapons whereas the only metallic weapon that the dryads have were their axes for wood chopping. They make their bows and clubs out of wood as they don¡¯t have any source of metal and they don¡¯t trade with the outside world. The only reason why the knights have not immediately taken over the village and struggled to fight the dryads was because a large portion of their forces were injured even before coming here, and those that were not injured were outside the village, corpses piled up on top of each other. Reinhard immediately sprang up into combat as soon as he stepped into the village. He saw three dryads to his left, a woman and a child being protected by a dryad wielding a club against two injured knights. He raised his staff and crushed the one that looked to be the less injured between the two, leaving the more injured one for the dryad. In response, the dryad nodded to him as a sign of gratitude for helping him. Not further ahead are three knights, one appears to be dragging a female dryad by the hair. Reinhard looked at Fraenis. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of him. Take down any of the other two.¡± He said, Fraenis, in response, nodded to him and immediately shot her bow. Reinhard raised the earth on the knight that was dragging the woman, his screams were loud and haunting, but amidst the noisy chaos of the entire village, it was pretty much unheard by anyone. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to level 16! The last knight of the three, seeing his two other comrades lifeless on the ground, grabbed the woman and tried to threaten to kill her. Unfortunately, Fraenis¡¯ hands were faster. She instantly shot the knight¡¯s sword hand before he could even raise it to the woman, causing him to drop the sword and submitting himself to Fraenis¡¯ rain of arrows. Fraenis then hastily walked towards the scared woman. ¡°Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?¡± She asked. The woman didn¡¯t say anything. She was tremendously trembling and all she could muster as a reply was a nod that says ¡°no¡±. ¡°I see. Then please hide inside your house. We¡¯ll deal with them, trust us.¡± After the woman entered her house, the two of them resumed their walk in what looks and feels like a middle of a warzone. Blood spilling everywhere, bodies falling to the ground with a thud, people screaming in pain. One could see that the scene was incredibly traumatizing for an average person. It reminded Reinhard of those war films where the protagonist would get shell shocked while in the crossfire of bullets that flies past them with a wheezing sound. Despite the chaos, the two of them continued to look for any dryad that might have been having a hard time and needs help. Many able-bodied dryad were successful in defending themselves against the already-injured knights, however the number pales in comparison to the amount of dryad that had already died, and continues to die where the two of them couldn¡¯t help. One might say that it is a futile, vain attempt and that in the end, their efforts in helping the others wouldn¡¯t really amount to much in the long run, but they still decided to fight anyway. Fraenis shot her bow with deadly precision and blinding speed, while Reinhard casts with his staff, crushing anyone foolish enough to get near, and spraying venom on those who are still far enough from him to be a threat. They fought there, in the middle of the battlefield, without knowing if what they¡¯re doing is really changing things or not. Without knowing how much time has already past. Without knowing how many do they still need to kill to end this all off. They fought, until Fraenis finally runs out of arrows and Reinhard¡¯s staves lost the glow of its orbs. Now, they were in the middle of the battlefield, with no way to defend themselves. The knights have also seemed to notice. Five injured knights, who have probably been more injured now than they were earlier, began to circle Fraenis and Reinhard. Swords drawn and pointed towards them. ¡°Aye, where¡¯s your fancy spells now boy?¡± One of the knights retorted. Reinhard is unsure if he¡¯s deliberately trying to intimidate him or if the knight¡¯s reasoning and sanity has just been clouded by all the fighting. Either way, the fact remains. They¡¯re now totally helpless. Reinhard looked at his earth staff, the mana has now regenerated to 24/100 and is still increasing since it was completely depleted earlier. However, the orb is still lightless even though he should be able to cast again as every cast only uses 10 mana and the staff has more than 20. The knight that had spoken earlier stepped forward, drawing his sword higher.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°How about we test it, aye?¡± He said, looking at Reinhard straight in the eyes. ¡°Go ahead.¡± Reinhard replied monotonously. In a burst of movement, the knight sprinted towards Reinhard, sword¡¯s tip pointing forwards. Reinhard held up his earth staff towards the sprinting knight and tried to bind him, yet nothing happened. ¡°What?¡± Even though it now has more than 30 mana. Even though the target¡¯s within the range of the spell. "Why isn¡¯t it casting?" He looked at the staff, trying to see what might be wrong with it, however nothing is out of the ordinary in its interface. All that¡¯s different is that the orb isn¡¯t alight. ¡°Are you telling me¡ª¡° ¡°WATCH OUT!¡± Suddenly, Fraenis¡¯ shout snapped Reinhard back to reality, allowing him to narrowly avoid the charge of the knight. He dived unto the ground to dodge, but now he¡¯s in a very vulnerable position. The knight immediately regained his composure and looked at Reinhard, lying down on the ground at his back. ¡°Pfft. Ha ha ha ha ha!!¡± He laughed. Slowly, he began walking towards the proned Reinhard, swinging his sword in the air as to practice his chops when Fraenis blocked him in his tracks. Before the knight could get close, Fraenis placed herself between Reinhard and the knight, hands held sideways. ¡°Run.¡± She softly said to Reinhard. ¡°B-but¡­¡± ¡°Just go!¡± She shouted. ¡°Aww. Isn¡¯t that touching?¡± One of the knights encircling them commented sarcastically. ¡°Well¡­ it¡¯s not my style killing defenseless people but¡­ if that¡¯s what you want, so be it.¡± The knight currently in front of Fraenis said as he raises his sword, preparing to hack Fraenis with it. ¡°No! Don¡¯t!¡± Reinhard desperately shouts. However, right before the blade successfully falls down to Fraenis, a strong gust of wind fell down from the sky. Everyone was dumbfounded, unsure of what just happened. Then, the knight that was just about to strike Fraenis dropped his weapon. No, not just his weapon. His entire arm all the way to the shoulder dropped with it to the ground. Blood immediately gushed out of it. ¡°AAAAAAAGH!!?¡± He screamed. He tried to block the gushing blood but the opening is just too big. His hands were barely doing anything to stop it. ¡°He, he, he. I haven¡¯t done that in a long time!¡± -¡°Yeah, very long time!¡± -¡°That was nostalgic!¡± Suddenly, a familiar, high-tuned voice could be heard coming from above. Reinhard looked at it. It took him a second for his eyes adjusts to the light of the sun, but after it does, he saw three orbs of light slowly descending towards them. It was the sylphs. Fraenis¡¯ legs suddenly grew shaky and she suddenly collapsed into a kneeling position. It turns out that she wasn¡¯t brave enough to accept death after all. ¡°W-what the hell is that?¡± One of the knights shouted in confusion. ¡°What are you? Y-you¡¯re a¡ª¡° He tried to add something to his dialogue, but was immediately silenced when a thin blast of wind suddenly sliced his head off, decapitating him. ¡°What are you still doing there?¡± The sylph asked Reinhard, who was still prone on the ground. ¡°We¡¯ll take it from here. Go ahead and find the elder.¡± ¡°Will you be okay?¡± He asked the sylphs. ¡°Yeah, we are. We¡¯ll take care of her too so you don¡¯t need to worry about it.¡± The sylph replied, pertaining to Fraenis who was now unmoving. ¡°U-uh, s-sure¡­ Thanks.¡± He stood up immediately and took one last glance on Fraenis before finally heading off. As he walked along the village, it appeared that the numbers of the knights were diminishing. Some knights can be seen tied up to trees and poles while the others are on the process of surrendering to the dryads. Much of them though were dead bodies littered along the tree houses and corners. Finally, Reinhard has reached the elder¡¯s house. But something made him uncomfortable though. It was open. He slowly walked in, trying to be as silent as he can. There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything out of the ordinary in the first room where the dining table and the chairs are. However, when he got to the elder¡¯s room, what he saw shocked him. The elder was sitting on the floor, leaned on his bed with blood pouring down from his guts. To his right was a knight, wielding a sword freshly stained with blood that it¡¯s still dripping down to the floor. The knight seemed to be searching for something on the elder¡¯s bookshelf. The elder sees him and shakes his head, signaling that he shouldn¡¯t come. Yet Reinhard ignored him however. He looked at his earth staff and sees the orb finally lit up. The mana is now also at 100. He pointed the staff towards the knight and released the spell. The wooden floor beneath knight started rumbling, which made him drop whatever he was doing and be on alert. He turned towards the door and sees Reinhard standing there. He raised his sword and immediately began to charge but only after a single step, the wooden floor beneath collapsed and a mound of rock and soil came out to grasp and crush the heavily armored knight. He struggled at first, futilely swinging his sword for naught, He spouted blood before his last breath finally escaped him. The flailings have stopped. Reinhard withdrew the spell, causing it to return back to the ground. Surprisingly, the wooden floor that was also opened to allow the mound to rise returned back to normal as if nothing happened. However, this was the least of his worries. He approached the elder who was now smiling at him as if he¡¯s not currently bleeding to death. ¡°I leave¡­ everything up to *cough*¡­ up to you¡­¡± The elder said, struggling not to cough blood more than he already has. ¡°What? L-leave what?¡± ¡°T-the village¡­ Please¡­ Lead them¡­¡± ¡°Why me? I¡­ I just came here a day ago! I¡¯m not even a dryad!¡± Reinhard, incredibly confused, asked. ¡°You have a great *cough*¡­ potential¡­ child. Chosen ones are¡­ *gasps* destined for greatness¡­¡± Reinhard was silent. He didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°You will do it¡­ won¡¯t you¡­?¡± ¡°B-but¡­ I don¡¯t think they will accept me¡­¡± The elder laughed at what Reinhard said despite the pain of even just speaking. ¡°Ha, ha¡­ They will, child. The World Tree itself accepted you¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± "Me? Lead?" He thought for a while. "The... *cough* The humans now know... where the Garden is... Continuing to hide is futile. Right now... What they need is... someone.... some... someone strong." The elder slowly raised his left hand and touched Reinhard''s shoulder with it. "And... who would be best... other than the possessor?" "..." "I''m sorry... for leaving this much responsibility to you..." ¡°No, it''s fine... I¡¯ll do it. I promise. I will lead them, and bring them along with me to my greatness. And then¡­ maybe¡­ maybe I can erase the sins of the dryads.¡± The elder looked at him with joyous eyes. Reinhard''s slighty red-brown eyes began to shimmer with liquid. ¡°That will really make me happy. I long for the day when¡­ children will be born without... without carrying the sins of their ancestors. Oh, and please¡­ lay me¡­ on earth¡­. *gasps* Thank¡­ you¡­¡± The elder says as his eyes slowly close until they no longer opened anymore. Chapter 12: The Knights and the Dryads V Reinhard went outside the elder¡¯s house, wielding both of his staves and fully expecting to continue fighting, but he was surprised to see that¡­ the fighting has stopped. There stood a couple of dryads, Fraenis included, as well as the sylphs that helped them. It appears that they were taking the defeated knights who were still alive and tying them all together in one place. He didn¡¯t want to leave the elder¡¯s body behind inside the room and would have preferred to lay him into the soil as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t strong enough to lift the elder himself, so he had hoped to find someone else who can. ¡°So, how is he?¡± Fraenis asked as soon she saw Reinhard coming out of the house. Her voice still carries timidness. ¡°He¡¯s¡­ dead. Sorry, I didn¡¯t make it in time.¡± Reinhard replied as he looks down in defeat. The atmosphere turned even gloomier than it already was earlier. ¡°Someone who can carry him, please do so. He¡¯s in his bedroom.¡± After a short pause, a relatively muscled dryad went inside the house. He emerged outside just moments later, carrying in his arms the elder. Even in his death he was still smiling. They took him towards an Earthwood Tree behind his house and laid him beneath it. Afterwards, the similar roots and vines came out of the ground and slowly dragged his body down to the soil below. ¡°zhe¡¯ Vek-gha¡± The dryad that carried him said. -¡°zhe¡¯ Vek-gha¡± -¡°zhe¡¯ Vek-gha¡± And then everyone followed, Reinhard included. They did not mark the place with a grave or anything, as the dryads that were consumed by the soil weren¡¯t really ¡°buried¡± there. They¡¯re brought back to nature, quite literally. Hence, ¡°the dead isn¡¯t down there, they¡¯re all round them, in nature¡±. Reinhard finds this fascinating. It prevents those left behind from looking back to the past by visiting their ¡°graves¡±, and it gives them encouragement, knowing that their loved ones are just around them, in the trees and in the grass. The sylphs that were there didn¡¯t say anything. They just watched as the elder returns to the land. Afterwards, they all began to slowly leave the area and return back to the bound knights. The sylph that had saved Reinhard flew towards him, landing and sitting on his right shoulder. ¡°Well, he¡¯s had a long run¡­¡± The sylph said with familiarity, seemingly unfazed. ¡°You personally know him?¡± Reinhard asked the sylph who was now tinkering with a light that it produced using magic. ¡°Of course! I¡¯ve known him since he was a child.¡± The sylph replied with a nostalgic smile on its face. ¡°By the way, did you know what his name was?¡± Reinhard was taken aback. That¡¯s right¡­ he never knew what the elder¡¯s name was. He couldn¡¯t believe himself that he never even bothered to ask about it. Suddenly, the sylph laughed. ¡°Ahahahahaha! You should look at your face!¡± It said joyfully. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he doesn¡¯t have one.¡± ¡°Ah?¡± ¡°He was born before the elves, when the dryads were still the custodians, so he doesn¡¯t have a name, just like how we don¡¯t. Names are for mortals.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°So? What are you planning to do now? Go on an adventure?¡± The sylph added. ¡°No, I was given the responsibility by the elder to lead the village.¡± ¡°Hm, I see.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t seem surprised¡­¡± ¡°Huh? Why would I be?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m not a dryad. I¡¯m a human¡­ just like those knights that attacked. And I¡¯m supposed to lead a village of dryads.¡± ¡°Ah¡­ Then do you think that all the dryads were responsible for the actions of the few that severed themselves from nature?¡± ¡°What? Of course not!¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s the same case with you.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well in the end it¡¯s your choice.¡± The sylph says as it flew away. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what you do, as long as you don¡¯t bring about something that may forsake the safety of nature, it¡¯s fine, no?¡±You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°¡­and by the way, I really liked what you used our wood for. You¡¯re a crafty one, aren¡¯t you?¡± It said one last time, before flying away with the two other sylphs towards the barrier. Due to there being no Sylpheim Tree inside the Garden, the sylphs would have to physically travel on the forest so they could return to their homes. Reinhard returned to the place where the remaining dryads were gathering, in front of the elder¡¯s house. He looked around each and individual knights that were bound together and saw that the level 30 knight commander was there. ¡°Where¡¯s your lord?¡± He menacingly asked the knight commander as he approached him. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Interrogation 1] leveled up to [Interrogation 2] ¡°¡­¡± But the knight only looked up at him, not uttering a single word. Irritated that he had just been ignored, he materialized his earth staff and pointed it towards the knight commander. ¡°I trust you know what happens if I use this on you?¡± He said in a cold tone. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Intimidation 1] Passive Skill The knight commander sighed. ¡°Go on, kill me.¡± He said. ¡°I have failed as a knight. I took an oath to forever protect and help the weak, and yet here I am¡­ watching as a village of innocent dryads gets slaughtered whose only sin was that they¡¯re trying to hide the possessor from selfish humans. Tell me¡­ you are the possessor, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reinhard didn¡¯t say a single word nor even reacted to what he said. He has no obligation to confirm or deny his allegations. ¡°It¡¯s fine, you don¡¯t have to tell me. Take my life if you want, but please I beg of you, spare my knights. They had no choice but to follow. I take full responsibility of their actions.¡± -¡°Sir!¡± -¡°No, you¡¯re not at fault, commander!¡± -¡°We¡¯d gladly die by your side!¡± ¡°Shut up!¡± He shouted. ¡°You¡¯re all still young. You have bright futures ahead of you. The Kingdom will probably pronounce you all dead anyway once that bastard Tali returns, so you could start a new life somewhere far away!¡± ¡°I see. So your lord has escaped huh?¡± Reinhard said while listening to the display in front of him. ¡°That¡¯s not good. He¡¯s surely going to tell his king where the Garden is. It doesn¡¯t help that we can¡¯t close the barrier either¡­ Tsk!¡± ¡°Are there any prisons here or anywhere we can keep them locked up?¡± He asked to the dryads who were listening with him. ¡°There isn¡¯t. We have no need for those after all. We can just tie them to a tree, can¡¯t we?¡± One of the dryads replied. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± ¡°Do we tie them to a tree, chief?¡± Another one asks. It took Reinhard a couple of seconds to come up with the decision. ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. Yes, we¡¯ll tie them to a tr¡ª¡° ¡°Wait, chief?¡± He suddenly asked as realization dawned on him that someone had just called him chief. ¡°Y-yeah, didn¡¯t the elder appoint you as the new chief?¡± ¡°He did but¡­ how did you know? I was actually thinking how I was going to tell you all¡­¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say that your conversation with the sylph isn¡¯t really that quiet.¡± Fraenis retorts. ¡°So¡­ you¡¯re all okay with it¡­?¡± Every dryad present there agreed. -¡°The elder has the wisdom of a thousand years. I¡¯m sure he saw something in you.¡± -¡°Yeah. And you fought and killed your own kind to protect us. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s good enough reason for us to trust you.¡± -¡°I don¡¯t think no one can deny the extent of what you¡¯ve done to help us.¡± -¡°Indeed.¡± -¡°And besides, you are that person, you know.¡± ¡°What person?¡± Reinhard wondered what the dryad woman was implying when she said ¡°that person¡±, so he was about to ask it to her when something clicked in his mind that made him realize. ¡°Oh, I see. The possessor¡­ right.¡± He exhaled heavily. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well¡­ I hope I do my job right.¡± [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Village Chief of the Garden] Title. ? ? ? There were, in total, 18 knights that had surrendered and were tied around the biggest tree within the Garden. The knight commander is one of them. They were all tied by a rope created from the twisted bark of an Earthwood Tree. It was provided by Lem as he claimed that this is much stronger than traditional ropes. Reinhard has also requested that some form of cover from the rain and sun be created for the bound knights while they decide what to really do to them. ¡°I suggest we just kill them.¡± Said by a male dryad as Reinhard asks them about their opinions. ¡°We give them back to nature, and our problems will also be solved.¡± He added. ¡°I understand your point, Phyllos, but they already surrendered! To kill someone who has already yielded is¡­ barbaric.¡± Replied by Metha, the village¡¯s herbalist. ¡°But they killed our families! Our neighbors! You¡¯re going to let them live just because they surrendered?¡± Phyllos retorted. ¡°Some of them didn¡¯t.¡± Suddenly, Lem spoke out amidst the two¡¯s arguments. ¡°I saw that many of those knights didn¡¯t even lay a single finger on anyone upon entering our village.¡± He continued as he glances towards the bound knights. ¡°And besides, even if some of them did, they had no choice but to do so, otherwise they¡¯ll face the gallows back in their kingdom for insubordination.¡± ¡°So they¡¯re absolved of their crimes just because they were following someone¡¯s orders?¡± Phyllos replied. At this point, the discussion has becoming a heated argument, and Reinhard who¡¯s managed to keep his opinions for himself up till now, is finding it hard to manage them. ¡°Erm¡­ Everyone, I have a proposition.¡± He said. However, the exchange of words between Phyllos and the others were just too heated up that either they didn¡¯t hear Reinhard or they weren¡¯t paying attention. ¡°Uuuhhh¡­¡± He continued to try and butt in but couldn¡¯t find the opportunity to do so. ¡°SILENCE!¡± All of a sudden, Fraenis shouted on top of her lungs, catching the attention of everyone, even by the knights. ¡°Reinhard was about to speak.¡± She nonchalantly says. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Thanks, but¡­ you didn¡¯t have to do that.¡± Reinhard said. ¡°Well, everyone, both sides are correct. We have accepted their surrender, so we should at least honor our actions, but then again we can¡¯t let those who have wronged us get away with it, so I was thinking we should only punish those who actually participated in the battle.¡± ¡°I mean¡­ isn¡¯t that obvious enough?¡± No one said anything. ¡°I agree.¡± Fraenis said after the long, awkward silence. ¡°Well? What do you guys think?¡± ¡°If that¡¯s your decision, then so be it.¡± Lem says. ¡°Very well.¡± Phyllos added. ¡°Eh? You just accepted it like that? I mean, I get that it¡¯s the most obvious course of action but, at least say something!¡± ¡°Hmm. I see, then we¡¯ll go with that.¡± Reinhard walked towards the bound knights, following him were the four dryads present at the discussion. He first cleared his throat before speaking. ¡°So¡­ Tell me truthfully¡­ Who among here participated in the battle and has killed or hurt a dryad? I suggest you tell the truth as dryads can discern whether you¡¯re lying or not.¡± Five knights admitted that they did. Reinhard looked at Fraenis, whereby she nodded as a confirmation that they were telling the truth. Then, he asked the four dryads to individually ask the knights who didn¡¯t admit to see if they really didn¡¯t participate. It was the truth. Only the five that admitted has either killed or harmed in the village. He then had them lined up in a row, asking them individually about why they did those things, whether they sacked the houses and whatnot. They dared not lie while in the presence of four dryads. It appears that all five of them really only did those because they were ordered to, and none of them sacked or looted anything. ¡°I see. Very well.¡± He had the five returned back to being tied to the tree. Then he took the knight commander to a room in the elder¡¯s house, which is now his. Only three people were there, Reinhard, the knight commander Sir Velram, and Fraenis. ¡°I¡¯ll cut straight to the point¡­ If I ask you and your knights to work for and guard the village, what are the chances that you would backstab and betray us?¡± Chapter 13: The Knights of Garden Sir Velram was astounded and shocked. All this time he thought that he was getting the death penalty to atone for the crimes of his subordinates, but instead he was offered a deal. ¡°I¡­ Are you saying that¡ª¡° ¡°Just answer the question.¡± Fraenis interrupted him. He looked at Fraenis whose expression is that of impatience. He sighed. ¡°Never.¡± Reinhard looked at Fraenis to see what her reaction is, but she¡¯s just watching him, perhaps not entirely believing whatever she¡¯s discerned. ¡°We took the oath of honor. We lived by a code. Now that we¡¯ve broken that, all that awaits us is death. If you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re willing to spare our lives in exchange of pledging our loyalty to you, to start over and correct our mistakes, then we would gladly accept the offer. At least, I would. If you want to know the true opinions of my subordinates, I suggest you question them too.¡± Velram added while looking down in self-disappointment. Reinhard once again glanced back at Fraenis. This time, she has confirmed that Velram was not lying. ¡°How many knights returned with your lord?¡± Reinhard asked him. ¡°I¡¯m not sure. If I had to guess, maybe about ten. But I doubt they¡¯d be able to leave the forest alive, especially if they¡¯re taking the route that we came from which passes through the basilisk nest.¡± ¡°Basilisk nest?¡± ¡°What, you don¡¯t know? North of here, about halfway between this and the border of the kingdom is a nest full of basilisk. Originally, we entered the forest with about a thousand men... I¡¯m sure you know just how much were actually present when we have arrived.¡± ¡°What happens if your lord doesn¡¯t make it out alive?¡± ¡°His Majesty, King Garom desperately wants to have the chosen one as his subject. I mean, that¡¯s just common sense. War is coming, and the existence of a chosen one would basically give us the easy road to victory¡­ If Tali don¡¯t return, the King may assemble an even bigger search party. Either way, it doesn¡¯t matter if they return or not, the King would still come here sooner or later.¡± ¡°If they did end up coming here, are you prepared to fight your own countrymen?¡± ¡°Former countrymen.¡± Velram corrected him. ¡°And that depends on you if you accept our allegiance.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just going to cast aside your loyalty to the throne just like that?¡± ¡°My loyalty is not to the throne, chosen one. My loyalty is to the people. The weak and the innocent.¡± ¡°Wow that¡¯s so clich¨¦d.¡± ¡°Ahem. I see.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You mentioned war earlier. War with whom, exactly?¡± ¡°The Sunkha Alliance. It¡¯s an alliance of the elven city-states north-east of here. The closest one would be Meir.¡± ¡°War is not coming¡­¡± Fraenis suddenly spoke. ¡°Ever since I can remember, the Kingdom of Belm and the Sunkha Alliance has always been at war against each other. War is not coming because it¡¯s already here. It¡¯s always been here.¡± ¡°The War of Thorns ended fifteen years ago at the signing of¡ª¡° ¡°That was just an armistice!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Perhaps. But at the very least, it brought peace to the lands for fifteen years, did it not? Now tensions at the border are starting to rise once again because of that accursed incident.¡± ¡°What incident?¡± Reinhard curiously asked. ¡°A year ago, there was an elven boy who was killed by his friends. Apparently they were bullying him for being an elf in the Kingdom. One day, they decided to push him to the river just for fun, but he ended up drowning. That incident brought light to the discrimination that the elves have been suffering in Belm. Now, word started to come from the various city-states that the humans there were being abused by the elves, which only further fueled the discrimination that the innocent elves are experiencing in the Kingdom. It¡¯s just become a cycle of the same thing happening no matter where you go.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°What about the other countries? Are they doing anything in this matter?¡± ¡°Ah, the northern states have their own problems to deal with.¡± ¡°Hmm. I see. I guess for now I¡¯ll talk to each and every one of your knights first before making my decision.¡± And so each of the remaining 17 knights were brought to the same room where Reinhard and Fraenis questioned them similar to the one they asked to Velram. All 17 of them said that they were willing to go where their commander would without any hesitation or lies. Afterwards, Reinhard talked to the dryads about this. He told them that he planned to have the knights be the guards of Garden. At first some didn¡¯t agree, but after they relentlessly questioned Reinhard about the specific details, and Reinhard answering them to the best of his abilities, they ended up agreeing anyway. This process took several days however as there was just so many questions, and add to that the reconstruction of the parts of the village that was destroyed, the compensation for the dryads, the distribution of food after the granary has been sacked and just all sorts of administrative work. Reinhard was so busy that he wasn¡¯t even able to take a look at his stats. He was barely even able to sleep for more than 8 hours. Now, all of the 18 knights stand orderly in front of Reinhard¡¯s house. Reinhard cleared his throat, his eyebags are already starting to form. *cough* ¡°So¡­ uh. Valiant¡­ knights!¡± ¡°Crap, what do I say? I should have asked Velram first before assembling them all here.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Fraenis, noticing that Reinhard was struggling to come up with what to say, took the initiative. ¡°You, who were former honorable knights of the Kingdom of Belm, whose honor and duty have been tainted by the corruption and misdeeds of the very lords you serve, you now stand here, hoping to correct your crimes and your conscience. Do you accept Reinhard as you rightful lord and vow to be his sword until the last whisper of your breath?¡± ¡°YES!¡± All 18 of them, with Velram at the front, answered simultaneously. Their resolute shout echoed throughout the whole Garden. ¡°Then, Chief Reinhard. Do you promise them that so long as they¡¯re in your service, that you would do anything in your power to bring honor and glory to their names, and not bring shame to their ranks?¡± ¡°Eh? What?¡± ¡°¡­uh, I do!¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t this just like a wedding?¡± ¡°Then the pact is sealed. The vow has been spoken. Subjects, kneel before your Lord!¡± Suddenly, the 18 knights that were standing in front of Reinhard all began to kneel with one knee in coordination. Even Fraenis to his right faced him and knelt to him. Seeing this, the dryads that were just on looking at the sides had now also begun to kneel. ¡°Wait, Lord? I¡¯m now a Lord? Okay, phew, calm down¡­ Don¡¯t mess this up. I''ve practiced this particular speech already...¡± ¡°I now pronounce you¡­ the Knights of Garden! Carry your names with pride and honor.¡± Reinhard said as strong and regal as he could. ¡°Yes!!¡± Then they all stood up just as coordinated as they knelt. ¡°I now pass on my judgement to the five knights that have committed crimes in the Garden. Step forward.¡± The five of them stepped out to the front. They didn¡¯t know what punishment they¡¯ll get, but they were prepared to accept it with no hesitation. ¡°The five of you¡­ as atonement for your crimes¡­ you shall, to the absolute best of your abilities, be the ones responsible for the combat training of the others who wish to join your ranks in the future. That is all.¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord!¡± Then with a quick, snappy motion, they all returned back to the line that they came. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to [Ruler] level 2! All social skills gained a boost of exp You have leveled up to [Ruler] level 3! You have leveled up to [Ruler] level 4! All social skills gained a boost of exp You have leveled up to [Ruler] level 5! Your [Subject] Active Skill has now changed to [Subjugate] Active Skill You have leveled up to [Ruler] level 6! All social skills gained a boost of exp *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Charismatic 2] Leveled up to [Charismatic 3] [Commanding 1] Leveled up to [Commanding 2] [Commanding 2] Leveled up to [Commanding 3] [Deception 1] Leveled up to [Deception 2] [Deception 2] Leveled up to [Deception 3] [Interrogation 2] Leveled up to [Interrogation 3] [Intimidation 1] Leveled up to [Intimidation 2] [Intimidation 2] Leveled up to [Intimidation 3] [Mockery 1] Leveled up to [Mockery 2] [Mockery 2] Leveled up to [Mockery 3] *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Your [Village Chief of the Garden] Title has now changed to [Lord of the Garden] Title *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Ruler] achievement get: Obtain a Knightage. You can now create your own banner for your knights to rally on. The banner you create gives passive area effects to those rallying to it. ¡°¡­¡± Reinhard just stood there, dumbfounded of the amount of pinging, notifications and interfaces that popped out all of a sudden. His lack of sleep has begun to make his head spin. ? ? ? ¡°Your Majesty! Lord Tali has returned from the expedition!¡± ¡°Oh? Let him in.¡± ¡°Yes!¡± The nobleman casually walked towards the throne. However, he¡¯s drastically changed since the last time he went there. The once fat man had miraculously lost a lot of weight! ¡°Hmmm? Where did all your mass go?¡± The king asked in surprise and jest. ¡°Your Majesty! We didn¡¯t find the possessor¡­ However, I managed to find out where the Garden is located! We killed the gatekeeper, so the barrier shouldn¡¯t close anymore. The dryads are hiding the possessor, your Majesty! We need to quickly storm Garden with a larger force!¡± Suddenly, the King¡¯s joking demeanor disappeared. ¡°A thousand men isn¡¯t enough?¡± He said. ¡°Your Majesty, by the time we made it to the home of the gods, there were only about a hundred men left alive. Most of them are even heavily injured due to our encounter with the basilisk nest. On our way back we had to go around it, and that is why I have lost this much weight, your Majesty.¡± ¡°So you failed in the end after all¡­¡± The nobleman suddenly gasped as he looked up his King. ¡°Your Majesty, I know the way and I can lead an army to¡ª¡° ¡°ENOUGH!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You have failed me, Tali. Not once, but twice. TWICE! I can¡¯t afford to send an army to the forest when the long-eared are poking their sticks in our borders! You managed to lose what, nine hundred men on a couple of snakes?¡± ¡°Your Majesty, please, I swear¡ª¡° ¡°Do you even know what¡¯s currently happening? While you were out in the forest, wasting 900 men that could¡¯ve been put to better use, the Sunkha Alliance has already made their move. They¡¯ve already taken Fort Gol and Fort Teya! And all you had to do was find the damned possessor! And you couldn¡¯t even do just that!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°As promised, the only punishment is fire¡­ Assemble the stake! Get this man out of my sight and bring him to the plaza. Our citizens would bear witness to the consequences of your failure, Tali.¡± Battle of Shining Hill Shining Hill, west of Fort Gol in the Kingdom of Belm, human territory ¡°General, our scouts have reported that a large force of the elven army has left Fort Gol and are marching on our way. The scouts estimate the numbers to be twelve to thirteen thousand!¡± ¡°What? Why would they leave the fortifications of the fort?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Assemble the rest of the officers for an emergency meeting!¡± ¡°Right away!¡± The human army, numbering ten thousand men, are camping on Shining Hill under the orders from King Garom to retake Fort Gol. It has now been three days since the start of the campaign. ¡°If what the scouts¡¯ reports are true, then that¡¯s got to be the main force of them long-eared.¡± A bearded old man in red armor says. Although he looks past his prime, he¡¯s still as physically built as any soldier you¡¯d find around. ¡°If they¡¯re marching overnight, they should reach us before dawn breaks tomorrow. We need to be prepared. Let¡¯s have the soldiers sleep early so they¡¯re not sleep deprived tomorrow morning. Tighten the security. We don¡¯t know what those bastards are plotting¡­¡± A young man clad in shining black armor comments. ¡°They¡¯re most probably going to march overnight, and we¡¯d have to rely on the sound of their advance since they won¡¯t be needing torches to see. In contrast, our campfires give away our position pretty easily¡­¡± Another man, presumably also an officer, says. ¡°Curse that darkvision¡­¡± The man in red armor retorts. ¡°We¡¯ll move the camps of the battlemages towards the rear end and the camps of the vanguards at the footof the hill.¡± The general said while he¡¯s looking at the map of the area. ¡°Fortunately for us, the main road to the kingdom is just beneath the hill, making retreat easier¡­¡± ¡°If you¡¯re already thinking of retreat even before the battle begins, then you have no place in this council, kid.¡± The red armored man says as he leers at the young knight. ¡°Huuh? Isn¡¯t it more incompetent to not be prepared on any eventual outcome?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not. But concerning yourself with retreat before formulating the battle plan is just plain cowardice.¡± ¡°This is what I hate about old men. Your time has passed gramps. The battlefield is evolving and I can assure you that you won¡¯t be able to catch up.¡± ¡°WHAT DID YOU SAY!?¡± Angered, the old man draws his blade and points it towards the young knight. ¡°ENOUGH!!¡± The general shouts as he slams his fist on the table. Hearing him, the two quieted themselves down and returned to their respective chairs. ¡°As long as we could maintain control of this hill, we¡¯ll have the higher ground, making the spells of our battlemages reach further.¡± ¡°I doubt they¡¯d come to us¡­ Those long-eared vermin would probably just position themselves within our vision but outside of the range of our spells. They¡¯d try to¡ª¡° ¡°¡ªlure us out¡­¡± The young knight finished the old man¡¯s sentence. ¡°Yes, exactly.¡± ¡°And we will take the bait.¡± The general nonchalantly said. The three others who were present were surprised at what he said. ¡°What do you mean? If we advance towards them not only would we discard the advantage of a higher ground, we would also make ourselves vulnerable to flanking! And besides, we would risk our battlemages to their arrows when they could easily cast their spells from atop this hill without being counter attacked!¡± ¡°Calm down gentlemen. There¡¯s a reason why I had the vanguards camp down the foot of the hill.¡± Eight hours later, before the break of dawn, the horns signifying the appearance of the enemy sounded, waking the whole camp. Immediately, everyone began falling on to their respective positions extremely coordinated, as if they¡¯ve been practicing it their entire lives. The young knight with black armor rolls a piece of paper and ties them unto the feet of a pigeon before realeasing it to fly south. At a distance, the army of the elves and their hosts can be seen flaunting their banners to the air. They¡¯re not moving. They were right. The elves were trying to lure them closer into a trap, a trap that they¡¯d be willing to fall into this time. The vanguard, comprising of five thousand men wielding shields and spears and lead by the old man wearing red armor stands unmoving at the foot of the Shining Hill. Behind them, at the slope of the hill between the foot and the peak lie the archers, numbering in two thousand, led by the young knight in black armor. Finally, at the peak of the hill, the one thousand battlemages ready their wands and staves, helmed by the other commander. All of the soldiers, except for their commanders, averages at about levels 20-30. ¡°Sir, it¡¯s about time.¡± One soldier says to the old man. ¡°Very well. Sound the horn!¡± *Dooooooooooooooooo!!* With the loud cry of the horn, the vanguard began slowly advancing. ¡°I don¡¯t know why them long-eared left the fort, but it¡¯s a good thing we won¡¯t have to use our siege engines!¡± The old man laughed as he watches the vanguard uniformly march towards the enemy from atop his horse. *Doooooooooooooooo!!* After marching for a short distance, a second horn blew, prompting the archers to begin climbing down and following the vanguard. ¡°Stay with the rhythm!¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The young knight says. ¡°Don¡¯t walk too fast or too slow!¡± The vanguard was subdivided into 5 blocks, each block consisting of a thousand men. They marched in unison, four blocks formed into a square behind the fifth block in front, acting as the spearhead. ? ? ? ? ? About 50 meters behind them marched the archers, their lines extended to achieve the maximum amount of arrows that can be fired at once. Steadily, the vanguard began to draw near the enemy¡¯s frontlines, which are also lined up with shield and spears. Their banner, that of a yellow star with seven rays that symbolizes the seven city-states in the alliance, heavily sways with the wind. There are also other banners that can be seen within their ranks, presumably the banners of those specific city-states. The kingdom¡¯s banner stands erect at every block of the vanguard. A crown on top of a hammer and a sword crossed together, signifying the monarch as the head, and the workers and soldiers as co-equal and both important as pillars of the kingdom. It was the alliance that made the first move. As soon as the kingdom¡¯s vanguard marched at a certain distance, about 300 meters from their frontlines, they instantly fired all their longbows in a huge arc towards the advancing force. Seeing this, the one in charge of the vanguard, a soldier situated at the spearhead block gave immediate orders. ¡°Blow the horns!! Assume Testudo formation!¡± *Dooooo, dooooooooooo* A different sound from the same horn rang throughout he battlefield. Hearing this, all the blocks immediately raised their shields in unison, protecting their front, top and sides from the incoming rain of arrows. The five blocks now look like a walking black cube, steadily advancing towards the elven forces. A cloud of arrows that had almost blocked the sun descended upon them, yet their sturdy shields took it all with no problems. Seeing this, the elven commanders issued their battlemages to act. They started to conjure up spells in coordination and after a short while, they casted them. Several arcing balls of fire flung out from the elven army¡¯s backlines, headed straight for the advancing vanguard. ¡°Meeeeeeen!¡± The other commander, steadily watching atop the hill shouted. Suddenly, the one thousand battlemages that were positioned at the peak of the hill casted their spells, firing off a line of blue, homing energy that targeted the elves¡¯ lobbed fireballs, disintegrating those that it hits. Some fireballs did manage to fall down though, although unfortunately for the elves, and fortunately for the humans, they landed at the space between the blocks, ultimately hitting no one. When the vanguard were about 100 meters away from the elven frontlines, they quickly withdrew their shields and waited for the horn. ¡°SOUND THE CHARGE!!¡± The one in charge shouted. *Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!* His shout was immediately followed by a long horn that echoed throughout the battlefield. Instantly, like rabid beasts that had just escaped from their confinements, the vanguard bursts out into action. They began charging towards the elven frontlines as fast as humanly possible. While others may think that this charge was the perfect opportunity to use their momentum and break through their ranks, you cannot apply that this time, not to them. Though charging at full speed like a galloping horse, the human vanguard still miraculously held their formation tightly. One quick glance and it becomes apparent the amount of discipline and training that these soldiers has undergone. This display of what could only be described as ¡°organized berserk¡± immediately pierced through the elven frontliner¡¯s hearts, casting fears and doubt within their men, lowering their overall morale. Their commanders desperately tried to quell the soldier¡¯s unease, but only for naught. After all, this was the human¡¯s vanguard they were facing, the ones famous for enduring against incredible odds. There was even a rumor that the human kingdom submits their soldiers under hellish torture as part of their training, which would explain their nigh-unbreakable will. The sounds of the vanguard¡¯s screams grow louder and louder as they get nearer to the elven frontlines. ¡°Ready your spears.¡± An elven commander atop his horse says. As he says this, all the elven soldiers at the very front pointed their spears forward and braced themselves for the ensuing impact. And then, the two sides collided like a gigantic wave of water suddenly impacting the side of a rocky cliff. Both sides immediately sustained damage from the clash alone. When the battle lines have now been formally established, the human soldiers that were not at the front all began launching their spears forward, aiming them at the enemy¡¯s back line to thin out their ranks. And then they drew their swords. Another volley of elven arrows launched, also aimed at the vanguard¡¯s back line. The ones in charge attempted to give out the order to raise shields but the battlefield is extremely chaotic and noisy. His commands reached no one¡¯s ears. Everyone was fighting, spears hit shields, swords clashed with swords, and blood gushes out at any given moment. The four blocks behind the spearhead block has now fanned out in a line, serving as the right and the left wing of their formation. The battle line is now clear and defined. ¡°Nock!¡± The young knight in black armor says. In response, the human archers who were about 250 meters away from the battlefield began to nock their arrows into their longbows, waiting for the command. ¡°Aim!¡± The young knight says once more. They aimed their bows at an angle towards the sky, aiming for the elven archers at the rear. ¡°Fire!¡± And then they released. The arrows flew into the sky, flying with great speed and piercing the winds. Then they began descending down as they reached the peak of their flight, landing straight at the enemy archers. The elven commander only noticed the human archers¡¯ dangerously close position when they fired at them, killing many of the elven archers. In retaliation, he ordered a counter attack to launch arrows at the human archers that were within their range. While this was happening, the elven frontlines have started to push the vanguard back, leveraging their superior numbers. What was once a straight battle formation of the vanguard has now become a ¡°¡É¡±, although the elves are still yet to break through the ranks. The only thing that they¡¯ve done is compress and surround the vanguard with sheer force. ¡°Just hold it, men!¡± The one in charge of the vanguard shouts as he pushes back with his shield. Arrows fly over their heads, headed straight for the archers at their rear. Meanwhile, the elven battlemages fires another round of fireballs. The kingdom¡¯s battlemages reacted by once again casting the spell they used earlier to disintegrate the elven spells, however, the blue line of homing magic fizzled out of existence even before reaching the fireballs. The battle was now out of the range of their spells. The human archers sustained heavy losses, as they have no shield to protect themselves. All they could do right now was to exchange arrows and casualties with the elven archers. The fireballs landed towards the backend of the vanguards. The only hit that it gained was the projectiles caused by the fireballs hitting the ground and expelling rocks and dirt. Once again, the fireballs claimed no life. That doesn¡¯t matter though, as the battle seems to have been decided already. The elves are steadily compressing the vanguard onto themselves. They do this so as to not push them away towards the range of the human battlemages. In the eyes of the elves, they have already won. Their superior frontline numbers are continuously weighing on the vanguard, and their archers, though trading equally with the opposition, also have the advantage of the numbers. Not to mention that their battlemages could cast spells while the humans cannot. Victory was assured¡­ or so they thought. Suddenly, faint sounds of galloping horses could be heard to their left side, which would be to the south as they¡¯re currently facing west. The elven general immediately climbed the wooden command tower built to have a bird¡¯s eye view of the entire battlefield, whereupon he saw a mass of horses bearing the banner of the kingdom. It was the cavalry, and at the forefront of them rides the human general, Kaest with his infamous lance, the [Deisen]. Eight hours ago, at the peak of Shining Hil. "I''ll take my two thousand heavy cavalry tonight. We will camp about a kilometer south of here. When the elves arrive, send me a pigeon and I will ride them north back here. I''ll punch through their flanks from the side." The general says as he place points to a flat ground at the map. "So in the meantime, we''d just have to hold them off?" "Correct." The commanders were all deep in thought. "Very well. We''d have to come up with a hell of a strategy to hold twelve thousand men with eight thousand..." The elves had almost no time to react. Just as the vanguard crashed on to the frontlines like a massive wave hitting a cliff earlier, so did the cavalry crashed on to the archers and the battlemages at the rear, mowing them down in a flying wedge, or a ¡°?¡± formation. The elven rear was, for the lack of a better word, massacred. They swept through them like farmers culling the weed. The defenseless mages and archers fell down en masse, yet the cavalry didn¡¯t stop. Soon as it swept across the ranks of the mages and archers, it maneuvered towards the elven frontlines, sweeping them also from their backs. This gave the vanguard the opportunity to push back. The elven frontliners were now stuck between an advancing vanguard in front of them, and the cavalry whipping past behind them. They were stuck in hell with nowhere to retreat to. The two thousand heavy cavalry made multiple trips across the battlefield, running the enemy underfoot with horses galloping at full speed. It proved to be an effective shock tactics, ultimately making the elven commanders and those who still survived in the rear lines rout. However, those who were in the frontlines, who had nowhere to escape, were abandoned to die. Seeing their rear line retreat at full haste, they had no choice but to drop their weapons and surrender to the kingdom. Thus, the Battle of Shining Hill ended. Yet the war has only just begun... or rather, restarted. Chapter 14: With great power comes great sleep deprivation ¡°Raise!¡± The knight shouts as he oversees four dryads who were wielding wooden swords practice their swordsmanship. Hearing this, the four dryads all raised their swords with two hands above their heads and paused. ¡°When striking from above, you must first take care of your posture and balance. Your feet must be firmly planted on the ground, otherwise, once you finally make the strike, there¡¯s a high chance that you would be thrown off-balance by either your own strike or by the enemy¡¯s block.¡± He added as he walks around the four dryad that¡¯re seemingly frozen in time in their stance. He eyes them, studying their feet, waist and joints. ¡°Hmm. Your knees are too straight.¡± He said to one of the dryads. ¡°You need to bend them, lower your knees slightly so you have room to adjust when something unexpected happens.¡± The dryad bends his knees slightly in response. ¡°Right, just like that. Now strike!¡± Then the dryads struck the dummies, sending a loud ¡°thud¡± in the area. ¡°Conserve your stamina! It¡¯s important to put your strength into your strikes, but putting all of it every time you swing your sword only puts a strain on yourself and consumes your stamina faster. Learn to moderate the force! Besides, if the enemy manages to parry or block off your attack, you¡¯d be the one suffering as they leverage your attack against you!¡± ¡°Again! Raise!¡± The training continued. Around them, the entire village is busy doing all sorts of things. Some are still reconstructing minor structural damages while the others are hauling things left and right, digging graves and burying the dead knights or are gathering the weapons and armor left by said dead knights. Some knights that aren¡¯t even on patrol are helping with the villagers do those things. There isn¡¯t a single person who is idle in the village. Everyone seems to be on the move¡­ everyone, except for Reinhard. The past week has been utter hell for him. After inaugurating the Knights of Garden, he thought that he¡¯d finally be able to get some much needed rest, but how wrong he was. Fortunately, Fraenis and the other dryads were there to provide him with support. This ordeal of him wasn¡¯t all that negative though, as this made him realize the logistical flaws and shortcomings of the village. For one, everyone relied on him. Every little thing requires his attention and approval. People may think that having all the power for yourself is a good thing but Reinhard¡¯s experience proved otherwise. If anything, it just made his responsibilities and workload increase more than necessary. Thus, he thought that if he¡¯s going to lead everyone to ¡°greatness¡±, the first thing he needs to do is initiate a structural reform with regards to administration. A bureaucratic heirarchy that divides the responsibilities would be a big step. This way, the problems in the grassroots level would have to come to their superiors first, instead of jumping all the way towards him. "All those painful years of me studying political science would finally be put to good use" was what he thought. Reinhard wakes up after a full twelve hours of sleep. This was the most satisfying sleep that he¡¯s had in a while. He felt like all the energy within him has just been reinvigorated and he could do anything. That thought immediately shattered when he looked at the bottom right corner of his vision and sees that his stamina is at 70/70. Upong seeing this, his stomach began to roar like thunder on a soundless night as if to really shove into his face that he was very hungry. *Groooooowl!* ¡°Ugghh¡­¡± So the first thing he did after waking up was eat. A lot. He ate until he was full and his stamina was back at 400/400. Only after he ate did he finally have the most needed free time. He once again thought about all the things that needed to be done, mentally checking them one-by-one if he¡¯s already assigned specific orders and roles to everyone regarding those. In the end, he did manage to sort out everything. Now, all that¡¯s left is for the villagers to actually execute them, meaning that right now, Reinhard is free to do what he wants. He immediately checked his status, as he hasn¡¯t even taken a single glance at it ever since the fight. Rather, he totally forgot about them due to the sheer number of problems that keep popping up, adding more to his already numerous responsibilities just days after being the Chief and then the Lord of Garden. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have looked at the pop-ups back then so they would pile up as notifications, making it easier to review them. Now I have to find them all individually¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s start with my level¡­¡± [SYSTEM] Level: Human 16 / Arcane Artificer 1 / Ruler 6 HP: 400 MP: 900 ¡°Oh? That¡¯s new¡­ Now it shows my class and race level?¡± He then looked at all of his skills. [SYSTEM] Passive Skills: [Arcane Crafting 2] [Arcane Eyes] [Charismatic 3] [Commanding 3] [Deception 4] [Dryad Writing 1] [Dual Wield Staff 3] [Human Adaptability] [Human Ingenuity] [HP Regeneration 1] [Interrogation 3] [Intimidation 4] [Mockery 4] [Piercing Resistance 1] [Staff Proficiency 3] [Stamina Regeneration 3] [Stealth 3] [Wood Crafting 2] Active Skills: [Craft] [Subjugate] ¡°Ugh¡­ That¡¯s a lot.¡± ¡°Time to check all their descriptions out one by one¡­ yay.¡± [SYSTEM]Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. [Arcane Crafting] Passive Skill The user is able to create works imbued with magic or is magical in nature. [SYSTEM] [Arcane Eyes] Passive Skill ??D?©Õ???¡ª ???? ¡°Huuuh? What the hell?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hold on¡­ is this bugged?¡± Reinhard closed the interface and opened it again, but the description didn¡¯t change. No matter what he does, it still stays the same so he decided to just let it go and proceeded to check the other. [SYSTEM] [Charismatic] Passive Skill The user continuously radiates an aura of charisma that inspires positive opinions from others. [SYSTEM] [Commanding] Passive Skill The user¡¯s commands carry more weight and authority, making them more compelling. [SYSTEM] [Deception] Passive Skill The user¡¯s lies and untruthful statements seem real and convincing. [SYSTEM] [Dryad Writing] Passive Skill The user¡¯s fluency in the written language of the dryads. [SYSTEM] [Dual Wield Staff] Passive Skill The user is able to wield two staves at once more effectively. [SYSTEM] [Human Adaptability] Passive Skill The user gains slightly more experience in any area and acquires skills slightly faster. [SYSTEM] [Human Ingenuity] Passive Skill The user is slightly better at coming up with new ideas, concepts and solutions. [SYSTEM] [HP Regeneration] Passive Skill The user¡¯s HP passively recovers over time. [SYSTEM] [Interrogation] Passive Skill The user¡¯s questions become more compelling to answer. [SYSTEM] [Intimidation] Passive Skill The user¡¯s attempts to fear or frighten someone become more effective. [SYSTEM] [Mockery] Passive Skill The user¡¯s attempts to ridicule or make-fun of someone becomes more effective. [SYSTEM] [Piercing Resistance] The user becomes more resistant to piercing damage. ¡°I didn¡¯t know what I expected¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Staff Proficiency] Passive Skill The user wields staff/staves more competently. [SYSTEM] [Stamina Regeneration] Passive Skill The user¡¯s stamina passively recovers over time. [SYSTEM] [Stealth] Passive Skill The user¡¯s attempt at hiding becomes more effective. ¡°That should be all of my passive skills. I¡¯ve already seen wood crafting before so no need to check it out¡­ Now, what about my active skill [Subjugate]?¡± [SYSTEM] [Subjugate] Active Skill [Subjugate] must be casted on a target before combat with them begins, whereupon the target creature is notified of the challenge. If the caster is able to defeat the creature in a duel, that creature willingly accepts the caster as its liege. Attacks from the caster cannot kill the targeted creature, even if it¡¯s a fatal blow. This spell can only be casted on creatures of the same racial level as the caster or lower. ¡°So it¡¯s basically demanding that creature to be vassalized?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I should level up my arcane artificer. I¡¯d assume as it increases, the quality of items that I craft also increases¡­ but then the quality and quantity of ingredients required would also increase¡­ hmm¡­ you can¡¯t really escape grinding after all.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reinhard thought for a while. ¡°Okay, fine. I¡¯ll bring my arcane artificer¡¯s level up to craft better gear. My classes aren¡¯t combat-type anyway so I could only rely on equipments. Lucky for me staves are incredibly strong even just as common rarity¡­ Well, even the ¡°common¡± staves are pretty rare to find, so I heard.¡± He opened his crafting interface and wondered what he should craft to grind exp. ¡°I don¡¯t have any orbs so I can¡¯t craft anymore staves¡­ Should I make a bow? But then there¡¯s already a ton of bows here in Garden, maybe even better than what I¡¯d make. I don¡¯t really want to waste those that I craft¡­¡± ¡°Come to think of it, I¡¯ve never looked at armors and accessories¡­¡± He opened the [Armor] tab, but was disappointed to find absolutely nothing listed on it that he can craft. ¡°I guess armor made out of wood doesn¡¯t exist here. The Japanese used wooden armors right? Then why aren''t there any here? Ah, whatever, I should probably learn weaving or metallurgy soon. Should I just use my skill points on those?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Nah.¡± He rejected the idea after thinking hard for a while. Seeing as he wouldn¡¯t be able to craft any armor just yet, he opened the [Accessory] tab instead. [SYSTEM] [Accessory Crafting] [Rings] [Necklaces] [Earrings] [Bracelets] ¡°I¡¯d guess rings would be the cheapest to craft¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Ring] [Common Wooden Ring of Slashing] ¡°Of Slashing? So it buffs slashing damage? Well, I¡¯ll take a look at the wooden ring first¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Ring] -[Common-Grade Wood x1] [CRAFT] ¡°Why doesn¡¯t this one uses mana? Can I look at its descriptions?¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Ring] A ring made out of wood. ¡°Thanks captain!¡± He snorts sarcastically. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Then what about the ring of slashing¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Ring of Slashing] -[Common-Grade Wood x1] -[Common-Grade Claw x1] -[10 MP] [CRAFT] ¡°Ah, I see. It only consumes mana if the object I craft has magical properties¡­ That makes sense. I think I can make four of these since I currently have four warg claws but¡­ Should I?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ I guess it¡¯ll be fine. Wargs are pretty common and are easy to kill anyway. Let me just look at the description¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Wooden Ring of Slashing] Increases the inflicted damage of the user¡¯s slashing attacks. ¡°Riiiiight.¡± With that, he began crafting four of those rings, using the Earthwood that he has left. Instead of lighting up just once, the table where he placed the materials on lit up four times, signifying that the rings are being crafted individually instead of all at once. [SYSTEM] [Common Earthwood Ring of Slashing] Increases the inflicted damage of the user¡¯s slashing attacks. Unique effects: [Earthwood]: The increased damage is doubled against creatures of water element. ¡°Huh, I guess the unique effects changes depending on what equipment it is, even though the material is the same. Now the question is¡­ who do I give these to?¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Wood Crafting 2] Leveled up to [Wood Crafting 3] [Wood crafting 3] Leveled up to [Wood Crafting 4] [Arcane Crafting 2] Leveled up to [Arcane Crafting 3] [Arcane Crafting 3] Leveled up to [Arcane Crafting 4] *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have leveled up to [Arcane Artificer] level 2! You have leveled up to [Arcane Artificer] level 3! ¡°I guess some classes are just relatively harder to level up than others¡­¡± All of a sudden, the door of Reinhard¡¯s room suddenly bursts open. ¡°What¡¯s that light!?¡± Fraenis, wielding the longbow of Tylla that they found in the hands of a dead knight, shouted as she enters the room. There she saw Reinhard sitting on the chair, with four rings adorned with what looks like claws placed on top of the table. ¡°Erm¡­¡± Reinhard uttered, unsure of what to say. ¡°I was¡­ making rings?¡± Chapter 15: Salutations! After explaining things to Fraenis, Reinhard placed the rings to his inventory and the two of them went outside of his house. It would appear that Fraenis automatically assumed the role of Reinhard¡¯s protector without any word or discussion. She¡¯d follow Reinhard everywhere during the past few days, always stalking him from his back. When Reinhard enters the privy or wants to be in private, she would stand guard at the door. In fact, she was just doing that earlier before Reinhard woke up, hence, her reaction towards the light that just suddenly emanated from within the room. Everyone seems to realize this and is okay with it though so Reinhard just let things be. Still, this feeling of importance that someone would be constantly protecting you as bodyguard feels weird and alien for him, as he¡¯s never experienced this in the previous life. They arrived at the treehouse by the barrier. It was previously Tylla¡¯s house but now it¡¯s been re-purposed both as the knight¡¯s barracks as it was tall enough to fit more than nine rooms on the upper levels, with two knights per room, and as the guardhouse on the ground level. This reminded Reinhard of the subdivisions back in his old world. In fact, it wouldn¡¯t be farfetched to say that he¡¯s turning the village into one. Upon arriving, the knights that saw him immediately began to kneel with their fists onto their chest, the typical knight¡¯s salute. Reinhard saw this and remembered the scene when he inaugurated the knights. He thought that it was needlessly ¡°motion-heavy¡± and something simpler would suffice, so he approached the knights. Sir Velram was also watching so he thought this would be the perfect opportunity to change it. ¡°Has that bow always been the way to greet your superiors?¡± Reinhard asked the two knights calmly. ¡°Yes my Lord! Everyone, even the peasants would be taught at a very young age how to show respect to their sovereign.¡± The knight on the left replied immediately, cutting off the knight on the right as he was about to open his mouth to reply. ¡°I see. Well, I¡¯d like to change it.¡± He said before continuing, so as to gauge the reaction of the knights. To his surprise, they didn¡¯t seem confused or wondering why he would change a long-practiced custom. ¡°Very well, my Lord. How shall we greet you from now on?¡± The knight on the right was finally able to speak. Reinhard straightened his body, head facing straight forward. He pointed his equally straight right arm at a 45 degree angle towards his forehead, where his index finger is touching just the outer tip of his right eyebrows. He was doing a military salute in his previous world. ¡°Like this.¡± He replied. The two knights tried to mimic him, with minor mistakes to which he proceeded to correct. ¡°I want you to tell every knight and anyone who will join in the future that this is how you greet me. There¡¯s no more need for flashy and pointless bowing. If the point is to show respect, then this does the job just fine.¡± ¡°Yes my Lord!¡± The two knights replied in unison. He thought that maybe he¡¯d also change the reply to ¡°Yes, sir!¡± instead, but he realized that knights are actually titled with ¡°Sir¡± in this world and that would just lead to a lot of confusion so he decided to just let it be. He approached Sir Velram, with Fraenis naturally following behind him. As he was watching earlier, Sir Velram immediately did the salute that he had just taught the two knights, surprising Reinhard. After a few blinks though, he responded properly by also saluting, as that was the proper way to reply to a salute. Sir Velram¡¯s head flinched a little when he saw Reinhard also doing it. In his mind, it was basically just a replacement for a bow, so the thought of his liege also bowing to him just didn¡¯t feel right and utterly shocked him. Reinhard must¡¯ve saw through his shock and explained after dropping the salute. ¡°This gesture does not depend on the person¡¯s social standing or whatnot.¡± He said loudly so that even the two knights at the back could hear. ¡°As I¡¯ve said earlier, the purpose of this gesture is to give respect to the person. In my homeland, soldiers were saluted by their Presiden¡ª *cough* by their ¡°king¡± due to their bravery in combat and their willingness to sacrifice their lives for their country. That¡¯s all there is to it. There¡¯s no hierarchy on who could receive it and who could not. If you feel like the person is worthy of respect and recognition, then salute to them to show your appreciation. Think of it as clapping to someone¡¯s performance. It doesn¡¯t matter who they are or where they came from¡­ You¡¯re clapping at them because you were awed by what they had just performed.¡± ¡°I see. Your homeland has an interesting culture, your Majesty.¡± Sir Velram replied while smiling. ¡°I¡¯d like to go there one day.¡± ¡°That¡¯s going to be hard. My homeland is¡­ incredibly far away from here.¡± Reinhard said, going along with Sir Velram. ¡°Well, anyway, I came here because of this¡­¡± He then took the four rings from his inventory, materializing it into his right hand. ¡°I made these just earlier. These rings enhance the damage of the wearer¡¯s slashing attacks. It works even more effectively against creatures of water element.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Ooooooh?¡± Sir Velram awed upong receiving them with two hands from Reinhard. The two knights behind them also couldn¡¯t help but sneak a peek. ¡°I want you to give those to who you think needs it. I could make one for all the knights but I ran out of claws which are one of the two ingredients so I could only make four.¡± ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s okay to just give it to us, your Majesty?¡± Sir Velram replied, still unable to believe it. ¡°What? Of course! They¡¯re not that hard to make and they¡¯re basically the lowest quality that I could create. Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯m giving one of them to you, by the way. I know you¡¯d probably give them all to the others if I don¡¯t tell you that.¡± ¡°T-then, we humbly accept this gift, my Lord.¡± He almost did a bow but had managed to stop himself while on the process of kneeling and quickly corrected it to a salute. Reinhard snorted upon the display while smiling and then saluted back to him. Then Reinhard left the guardhouse and stepped outside of the barrier with Fraenis still following him. ¡°Heading out for a walk, my Lord?¡± One knight on guard duty asked him. ¡°No.¡± He replied smiling. ¡°I¡¯m heading out to hunt.¡± Then he materialized both of his staves, flaunting it to the knights there as subtle as he could. ¡°A-are those the earth and the venom staves, my Lord!?¡± The one knight asked in surprise. ¡°Indeed, they are¡­¡± ¡°Well, they are my only staves though.¡± ¡°Wow! They¡¯re so majestic!¡± The other knight next to him said. Reinhard turned around to face Fraenis. ¡°So, will you still be accompanying me?¡± He asked her. ¡°Of course! Wouldn¡¯t this be the most important part instead? I can¡¯t have you dying from a warg after all.¡± She replied at his question jokingly. ¡°Hm, mm. Well, I hope you don¡¯t KS (kill steal) me.¡± ¡°KS?¡± ¡°Oh, uh, I mean, I¡¯d like to see how much I¡¯ve improved in combat so I¡¯d like you to just stand watch as much as you can¡­¡± ¡°Ah! Sure. Although, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s much room for improvement when you¡¯re wielding a staff, isn¡¯t there?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reinhard¡¯s mind went into deep-thought mode. ¡°Ugh. That¡¯s true. Staves have fixed damage and attacks so the only improvement for a staff wielder like me is equipment changing¡­ It¡¯s not like the damage I inflict increases as I level up.¡± ¡°Uh, well, improvement with regards to combat movements, I mean.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Okay then, sure.¡± Reinhard smiled internally. He was relieved that even after everything, Fraenis still treats him more or less the same way as from when they met. Of course, now they¡¯re more familiar with each other, in contrast with the knights and other dryads who could only call him ¡°my Lord¡±. Reinhard doesn¡¯t hate being called that way though, but he doesn¡¯t like it either. If possible, he would like everyone to just call him by his name instead of a title that he¡¯s not used to. Thinking about this, he¡¯s really grateful for Fraenis for her to keep calling him Reinhard. Only when the situation demands for it does she attach a title to his name. ¡°By the way¡­ How do magic casters usually cast spells?¡± Reinhard asked Fraenis while they¡¯re walking westward, away from the barrier. ¡°Most casters just cast with their hands, though those who are having difficulty with hand casting or would like to further improve the spells that they can hand cast would use a wand as a focus.¡± ¡°Spells, huh. I guess that¡¯s also one downside of using a staff. I¡¯m basically stuck with using the same kinds of magic, depriving me of versatility¡­¡± ¡°Can all spells be casted with hand?¡± ¡°If the caster is good enough, yes. The highest recorded level of spell that was casted by hand was a Level 10 spell called [Black Inferno] by a Sunkhan battlemage named Iser zeVhan during the War of Thorns sixteen years ago. It had instantly killed seven thousand men in the blink of an eye, burning them in a jet-black pillar of flame that not even bones remained. That was the only time that the human vanguard was forced to retreat.¡± ¡°That sounds badass¡­¡± Reinhard couldn¡¯t help but mutter. ¡°Well he was immediately killed after when the very same spell he casted erupted at his feet just seconds later. It turned out that the human battlemages set that as a trap. They preemptively used [Thaumic Entanglement], a Level 8 spell, on that very ground where the vanguard would stand, reflecting the spell casted to it towards the caster.¡± ¡°O-oh¡­ That¡¯s genius, but they sacrificed seven thousand men for that?¡± ¡°Well they ended up killing the most powerful caster of that time, so I guess they thought it was worth it.¡± ¡°True¡­ If he could kill seven thousand men in just a few couple of seconds then he¡¯s pretty much a one-man army.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°So who¡¯s the most powerful caster now?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Many lay claim to the title, but if you ask me personally, I¡¯d say it¡¯s a tie between Meshken and Nere yoKhin. Meshken is a former earth sprite, now a lich, who dedicated thousands of years of his life studying and steadily building an undead army, while Nere was Iser¡¯s brightest and most promising pupil.¡± ¡°An undead army!?¡± Reinhard choked at the revelation. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The northern states are dealing with him so he won¡¯t be coming here anytime soon. We should be more worried of the destruction that Nere might cause if the war really would resume¡­¡± ¡°Why is that? I thought the forest¡¯s native creatures pose enough threat not to make this place their warzone¡­¡± ¡°Once the elves realize that the humans don¡¯t have you, the chosen one, they¡¯d send their own expeditions in the attempt to take control of you for themselves. What do you think happens when the two forces meet here in the forest?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reinhard was annoyed. Not because of how Fraenis talked to him, nor because of the actions of the two countries. He was annoyed because it was the truth, and he can¡¯t avoid it. The only way for him to ensure the safety of the forest is to leave it, but then that would mean exposing himself in plain sight to the other countries which would use everything in their power to take a hold of him. Who knows what they might do to the branch, an object so powerful that its appearance defines the era? Well, that¡¯s not entirely true. There is another way for him, a way to save both him and the forest¡­ although it would seem too farfetched and the very idea itself is laughable. As they were walking, the brushes around them suddenly started shaking. They both immediately assumed combat stance. It didn¡¯t take long for the cause of the shaking to reveal itself. It was one of those giant ¡°snake¡±, basilisks. It towers over them, about three to four meters not counting the rest of the unseen body and tail behind the bushes. One glance at it would tell the person that this basilisk is different though. Unlike the glimmering black or corrosive dark purple scales that Reinhard had encountered before, this one¡¯s scales fashions a bright red color, its eyes included. *Hiss¡­* It stares at them, seemingly waiting for their move. Reinhard looked at its name, and besides it is a symbol of a flame, revealing its element. ¡°Fire type huh?¡± ¡°Be careful of its breath. Don''t die...¡± Fraenis says with a more serious tone than earlier as she slowly backs away to give Reinhard the space to fight. Chapter 16: Ddraig ¡°Well I don¡¯t plan on dying.¡± He replied to Fraenis jokingly, attempting to ease his nerves. Suddenly, a spark of realization appeared in him. ¡°Hold on, I could use that now¡­¡± Reinhard brought up the interface. ¡°I don¡¯t know how much mana this will use but¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Subjugate!¡± He used the skill [Subjugate] on the basilisk. The moment that Reinhard used it, the basilisk¡¯s eyes went wide as if in response to his declaration. It hissed at him, lowering its head to meet Reinhard¡¯s height as if preparing for a lunge. ¡°Right. I only need to CC it with my earth staff and continuously spray venom at it¡­ Well, that¡¯s basically what I¡¯ve been doing all this time up till now.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I really need new staves¡­¡± The snaked leered at Reinhard. It gave off a one last hiss before finally closing in on him at blinding speed, attempting for a quick bite. Reinhard dodged by throwing himself sideways. This would have been a terrible move if he was against an opponent with limbs as they can easily change their course, but this has been proven effective before against giant snakes on his first hunt, since they can¡¯t just easily pivot towards his direction and would have to make a ¡°U turn¡± to face him. He hurriedly stood up while the snake was still turning. He did manage to stand up in time, but he was not fast enough to use his staves. The snake lunged at him once again as soon as he enters the snake¡¯s line of sight, giving Reinhard no choice but dive sideways once again. This process repeated for a couple of times to the point that Reinhard was starting to feel like the basilisk was merely toying with him. *Hisss* ¡°Ugh. I can¡¯t find an opportunity to attack!¡± He looked at his stamina and sees that it¡¯s already been depleted to 280/400. The basilisk lunged at him once again after hissing, prompting Reinhard to dodge or take the full brunt of the snake¡¯s bite¡­ which he imagined would instantly kill him due to him basically having non-existent armor. Suddenly, amidst the constant dodging and rolling to the ground, Reinhard had an idea. He stood up, clutching both of his staves. Just as he predicted, the basilisk is already on its way to bite him, which he once again dodges just like before. However, this time around, things will be different. He didn¡¯t bother to stand up. Instead, he rolled on his back, facing the still-turning basilisk. ¡°Why haven¡¯t I thought of this before?¡± This was the moment he was waiting for, a chance to counter attack. He began casting both of his staff. At the same time, the basilisk has just finished turning and is now opening its jaws, fangs bared towards him at full speed. And then¡ª The earth beneath the basilisk¡¯s ¡°neck¡± bursts open, revealing an earthen hand made of rock and soil. It grasped the basilisk tightly, to which the basilisk responded by flailing its entire body, twisting and turning as it desperately try to break free for naught. That attack alone took a massive chunk of the basilisk HP, about 40% as there¡¯s really no number on it to have an accurate reading. Reinhard remembered that his earthen staff¡¯s handle was made of Sylpheim wood, giving it the unique effect of additional damage against fire elemental creatures. Almost immediately after, purple torrents of venom began spraying the basilisk¡¯s head. The basilisk couldn¡¯t do anything other than close its eyes and mouth to protect against the fluid. Every fire of the venom would take out 5% of the basilisk¡¯s HP. Add to that the damage-over-time and Reinhard speculated that this battle would end sooner or later. The basilisk has now stopped flailing its body around. It could no longer contest the earthen hand¡¯s grasped as its stamina has now probably fully drained by the venom, though this made Reinhard curious as to why a snake creature like this isn¡¯t immune to venom¡­ The torrent would occasionally stop for time, but then would spray once more after about a second. Reinhard paid no mind to this though, and would soon make him realize a terrible mistake he¡¯s doing. The Basilisk¡¯s HP is down to about 20% and the staff of venom just finished its last torrent so now it¡¯s on a 1 second cooldown to cast again when the basilisk suddenly opened its mouth. Reinhard didn¡¯t have time to process things as he was now just standing in front of it, waiting for the next torrent to come. The basilisk opened its jaws, its fangs as long as a dagger and as thick as an arm. Yet that wasn¡¯t what made Reinhard¡¯s heart stop for what felt like eternity in shock and fear. The basilisk¡¯s inner mouth is glowing red, even brighter than its scales. Reinhard has now realized his mistake.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The staff of venom has finished the 1 second cooldown and now sprayed the torrent of venom, yet it didn¡¯t even reached the basilisk. It was far from reaching the basilisk as just four meters of being sprayed into the air, it quickly evaporated into nothingness as soon as it collided with the searing hot flames that the basilisk breathed out. Reinhard saw everything in his eyes moving slowly. The flames flowing out the basilisk¡¯s jaws, the venom torrent that instantly turns into gas as soon as it hits the flames, and his terribly slow movements as he makes a last ditch attempt to avoid the flames. But he failed. Six meters away from the basilisk, Reinhard was engulfed in flames. The woman who was watching far away widened her eyes. She immediately sprang into action, not sparing a single second into anything. She ran as fast as she could, as fast as her legs could. If she could run faster in exchange for damaging her legs, she would certainly do so. ¡°NOOOOOO!!¡± Fraenis could only scream in horror while she runs towards the battle. She now cursed herself for backing away for such a long distance, she cursed herself for not noticing sooner despite having lived in the forest for so long, she cursed herself for even agreeing to Reinhard¡¯s demands that he would fight alone in the first place. More than anything, she cursed herself as she watch Reinhard fall to the ground in a mass of flames. Her chest sank deep into her. It was like a massive, incredibly heavy object was suddenly placed onto her chests, making it difficult for her to breathe. She does not know why this happened though nor did she have the time to wonder. All that she¡¯s thinking right now is to save him. Fraenis was about halfway between her starting position and Reinhard when she heard something that made her stop in her tracks. ¡°DON¡¯T COME!¡± Suddenly, like a frozen fish that was placed on warm water, the weight in her chest disappeared. She looked at the basilisk and sees that the earth is still grasping it. ¡°My clothes have become crisped¡­¡± The familiar voice said. She couldn¡¯t help herself anymore and ended up losing all her strength as tears fall down her face. Unlike before though, her cries were not that of grief or regret, but of happiness and relief. It turns out that Reinhard was standing far away enough that the flames that reached him weren¡¯t that concentrated anymore. He did suffer some minor second-degree burns mostly on his forearms that he tried to use as a shield to his face, but other than that and the now crisped clothes, nothing much has been done to him. His HP is now down to 312/400. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] Acquired: [Fire Resistance 1] Passive Skill He stood up, still clutching both his staves with his seared hands. ¡°That really scared me. I thought I was going to die again¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± He pointed his venom staff towards the basilisk and fired it. This time, he has learned his lesson and moved towards its side where its flames wouldn¡¯t reach him no matter how much it spews. Before long, the basilisk has been defeated with 1 HP remaining. However, as if staying true to its words, the [Subjugate] effect on the basilisk disappeared and with it, so did the venom debuff. In fact, as soon as the effect disappeared on the basilisk, it was healed for about 10% of its HP. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Dual Wield Staff 3] leveled up to [Dual Wield Staff 4] [Staff Proficiency 3] leveled up to [Staff Proficiency 4] Reinhard released the earth staff¡¯s hold which now has 30/100 mana. The basilisk collapsed into the ground, unmoving. It blinked and hissed a few couple of times, and then rose once again, making Reinhard cautious. However what it did next shocked him. It didn¡¯t really shock him per se, as this was what he had intended to happen in the first place, but the fact that it worked still shocked him. The basilisk slowly slithered towards him while gradually lowering its head. Before, it lowered its head to meet Reinhard¡¯s height and see him eye to eye, but now, the Basilisk¡¯s head is almost touching the ground already, as if bowing to him. *Hissss* It hissed at him. He immediately understood the situation, so he stepped forward. He knelt towards it with one knee and placed his right, slightly burned hand on its head. *Hissss* ¡°So you¡¯re a male huh¡­ What should I name you?¡± He said as he pets the basilisk¡¯s head. ¡°Wait¡­ How do I know that?¡± *Hissss* ¡°Oh I see¡­ mental connection hmm.¡± ¡°¡­¡± And then realization dawned on him. ¡°Wait, you can talk!?¡± *Hissss* ¡°O-oh¡­ is that so¡­ I thought you can really talk.¡± Meanwhile, Fraenis was just watching dumbfounded as Reinhard talks to a basilisk. ¡°How about I name you¡­ Ddraig?¡± *Hissss* ¡°No! I want you to tell me if you like it or not!¡± *Hisssssss* ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± *Hissss* ¡°Okay, then Ddraig it is!¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] You have gained a follower! Reinhard lifts his hands from Ddraig¡¯s head and stood up. Then he slowly walked towards Fraenis who was still on the ground with the dried tear drops on her face. ¡°Hey, uhh, sorry for¡­ making you worry.¡± ¡°My god, that¡¯s so clich¨¦d!¡± ¡°¡­¡± And then there was awkward silence as they stared at each other. ¡°Pfft, pffffftahahahaha!¡± Suddenly she started to bursts out into laughter. ¡°What was that? Ahahahahahah¡± She continued laughing until she runs out of breath. Reinhard on the other hand was struck with extreme confusion. ¡°Wha¡ª what do you mean ¡®what was that¡¯?¡± Fraenis didn¡¯t answer and instead continued laughing, leaving Reinhard tremendously confused. After a while, the two, or rather the three of them decided to head back to the village. The hunt and the fight took quite a while and so by the time that it¡¯s finished, there¡¯s already a tinge of orange in the sky. Reinhard is walking at the center between Fraenis and Ddraig. It seems that Fraenis is still cautious about the basilisk, in contrast to Reinhard who¡¯s currently talking to it as if he can understand the hissing. ¡°Ah, yeah, I made these staves.¡± Reinhard said to Ddraig showing it the two staves he used earlier. ¡°They¡¯re just common quality though¡­¡± *Hissss* ¡°That reminds me, Fraenis, can I take a look at your longbow, the one that Tylla used?¡± ¡°Hm? Oh, sure.¡± Fraenis handed the green long bow adorned with vines and brambles to Reinhard. [SYSTEM] [Tylla¡¯s Regards] A bow that was personally created by Tylla, the famous gatekeeper of Garden using nature magic and enchanted by the Lake Queen. This bow requires no arrows and uses the wielder¡¯s mana instead. Unique Effect: [Weighted Magic]: The weight of the magical arrows depends on how much mana the wielder pools into its creation. However, no matter how heavy the arrow gets, the speed and maximum distance it could be launched with does not change. ¡°Oh wow.¡± Reinhard could not help but gasp and amaze. ¡°So if you drain all your mana into a single arrow, what would happen?¡± He asked Fraenis who¡¯s watching him examine the bow. ¡°Well first of all, the creation of that arrow would take a long time and would leave you vulnerable. If you¡¯re asking for what the effects of an arrow that heavy would be, it¡¯s certainly going to be devastating as the speed and distance doesn¡¯t change no matter how heavy the arrow gets.¡± ¡°That¡¯s OP¡­¡± ¡°OP?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing. I was just talking to myself.¡± Fraenis pouted in defiance. Chapter 17: First step towards... Reinhard noticed the item name¡¯s color was green. ¡°Hm, this one¡¯s different too. I wonder what the rarity hierarchy is¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Common] ¡ú [Uncommon] ¡ú [Rare] ¡ú [Epic] ¡ú [Legendary] ¡ú [Mythical] ¡ú [Ancient] ¡°So I have an ancient-tier material and a mythical-tier passive skill¡­ I never liked those shows where the main character was incredibly OP from the start but this is nice.¡± ¡°By the way¡­ Who¡¯s the Lake Queen?¡± He asked Fraenis as he returns the bow to her. ¡°Oh she¡¯s a water sprite that resides at Lake Nymue further west. She¡¯s not really the queen of that place though. People just gave that title to her because she¡¯d help lost travelers as long as they don¡¯t have evil intentions.¡± ¡°When did the Lake Queen enchanted that bow and why?¡± ¡°She enchanted it back when Garden became the last home of the Dryads. As for why, well, Tylla and the Lake Queen are long-time friends.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°That reminds me¡­ We should inform her of Tylla¡¯s passing. I don¡¯t know if she already knows but we should still go sometime.¡± ¡°Sure. I¡¯d want to meet her too.¡± ¡°I wonder how she was able to enchant¡­ Maybe I could just learn it from her instead of using my skill points or grinding my arcane artificer to level 10.¡± Fraenis leered at him. ¡°Ooh? And why would you want to meet her?¡± ¡°Hm? Well I was thinking how she was able to enchant Tylla¡¯s bow. She must be a pretty high level enchanter with that quality of enchantment¡­¡± ¡°Mm, is that so¡­¡± She continues leering at Reinhard. ¡°W-what?¡± He asked after noticing her. ¡°Oh, nothing.¡± Then she looked away. The rest of their walk was an awkward silence, with Ddraig occasionally hissing and Reinhard replying briefly. After walking for a while, they finally came across the hut and naturally, the Garden¡¯s barrier not too far behind it. It looked like the knights on guard duty have shifted. The three of them walked towards the barrier, however, when they came out of the trees before even reaching the hut, the knights that looked in their direction to see what the movement was immediately widened their eyes. ¡°M-my Lord! Behind you!¡± One knight shouts as he carries his sword while running towards them. Reinhard, realizing the situation, instantly sprang into action. ¡°No! Wait, calm down!¡± To which the knight, and the one behind him following, stopped. ¡°This is Ddraig, he¡¯s my follower.¡± Reinhard explained as he pats Ddraig¡¯s ventral scales, his underside. ¡°See?¡± He added in an attempt to quell the knight¡¯s alarms. Ddraig on the other hand hissed and lets out a small puff of fire into the air. ¡°F-follower? You tamed it, my Lord?¡± The second knight on the back asked. ¡°Tamed? Mmmm, no, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the word for it¡­¡± Reinhard went into his ¡°deep-thought mode¡± once again. ¡°Ah, well, basically I challenged him into a duel. If I win, he¡¯ll serve me.¡± He finally replied after giving up on thinking what the most fitting explanation is. ¡°A duel¡­ How did he accept?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a great question¡­ How did you accepted it, Ddraig?¡± He asked as he turns towards Ddraig. *Hisssss* ¡°Ahh, I see. Well, he said that the fact that we fought was a sign of acceptance. Otherwise he could¡¯ve just run away after receiving my challenge if he didn¡¯t want to participate.¡± ¡°Still, I thought there would be some interface that popped up asking if he accepts or not¡­ Does that mean I¡¯m the only one in this world using the game system?¡± ¡°Ahem. Well, now that that¡¯s settled, can we all calm down now?¡± Fraenis suddenly said to interrupt the staring contest between the knights and Ddraig. The two knights, having their senses seemingly brought back by Fraenis¡¯ comments, sheathed their swords and saluted to Reinhard. It seems that they were already informed about it. Reinhard saluted in response before continuing to the village.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Inside, he, or rather Ddraig, was continuously met with both startled and unbelieving eyes by the people as they walk along Garden towards Reinhard¡¯s house. Many didn¡¯t even greet him as they were too preoccupied by the towering red basilisk following Reinhard. He was fine with it though, as he¡¯s not really a man of formality. After arriving at his house, Reinhard was met with yet another conundrum. Where would he put Ddraig? He¡¯s too big to fit inside the door, and although he may just barely fit in the living room if he really coiled himself, Reinhard could imagine how uncomfortable that would be, and there¡¯s also the matter of punching a huge hole in the wall. He stood in front of his house, thinking of this problem. *Hisss* Ddraig hissed at him, breaking Reinhard¡¯s concentration. ¡°Eh? Are you sure?¡± *Hisss* Then, Ddraig start climbing up the huge tree trunk of the house, ultimately resting himself along the equally huge branches. There was now a huge snake hanging itself on the branches of his house. This sight reminded Reinhard of a Christmas light hanged on a Christmas tree, as Ddraig¡¯s bright red scales reflects a great deal of light by itself. ¡°Well¡­ If you¡¯re okay with there, then sure.¡± He said, still undecided if it¡¯s really fine. What Freanis said helped him come to terms with it though. ¡°Basilisks that are outcast from the nest, which I imagine Ddraig is being of a different element and color, often take residence on top of big trees like these and underground holes that can fit them. Don¡¯t worry, I assure you he feels perfectly fine on being up there. In fact, I¡¯d say he feels too fine about it.¡± Reinhard looked back up and saw that Ddraig has now gone into a deep sleep, coiling himself into a circle while the thick branches support him from beneath. ¡°I sure hope he doesn¡¯t sneeze flames while sleeping¡­¡± Reinhard was about to step inside his house when Fraenis stopped him. ¡°Hey, Rein.¡± ¡°Rein? When did she start calling me that?¡± ¡°Uh, yeah? Something the matter?¡± ¡°Well, no, I just¡­ Don¡¯t do that again.¡± Reinhard immediately began thinking of the things that he may have done wrong to her. ¡°Do what?¡± He asked after giving up as the silence has already became awkward. ¡°Risk your life. Not picking your battles¡­ You know what I mean!¡± She raised her voice, seemingly unware that she just did. ¡°I see. She must have been so worried.¡± ¡°Alright. I won¡¯t. Again, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± ¡°Hmm, hmm.¡± With that, Reinhard¡¯s one day of freedom came to an extremely satisfactory end. He went to sleep, bracing himself for what¡¯s going to happen tomorrow, because tomorrow would be the start of him implementing his plans for the village. The next day, he was woken up by the familiar chirping of the birds. He had recalled that he¡¯s experienced this before but he was still half-asleep and paid no mind to it. After fully coming to his senses, he got everything ready, wearing his replacement clothes and exited his room where he found Fraenis standing on the side of the door as usual. ¡°Did you even get enough sleep? I appreciate you standing guard here but you shouldn¡¯t push yourself.¡± He said as soon as he sees Fraenis. Fraenis, in response, looked at him and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, sleep is the second thing that I enjoy the most.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s the first?¡± He asked while walking towards the living room. ¡°Take a guess.¡± She said as she gives a smile that¡¯s saying ¡°I bet you can¡¯t guess it.¡± ¡°Hmm, hunting?¡± Fraenis furrowed her eyebrows. ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°Really? I thought you really loved hunting. Well, anyway, can you please call Lem, Phyllos, Metha and Sir Velram here? Thank you.¡± He told Fraenis as soon as they reached the living room. Fraenis replied yes and immediately set out for the door. Meanwhile, while waiting, Reinhard sat on one of the chairs closest to the window. There, he began to rack his brains, formulating everything and making sure that things are set before he presents his plans of the village to the five. It took about three minutes of him intensely staring at nothing while in deep-thought before the door finally opened and the four, along with Fraenis came in. ¡°You called for us, my Lord?¡± Sir Velram spoke first after entering. ¡°Ah yes. Please take a sit. You too, Fraenis.¡± The five, upon hearing this, began to sit on the remaining chairs in anticipation and curiosity. And then they all looked towards Reinhard, waiting for what he¡¯s about to say. ¡°Well¡­ How should I put this¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Is anyone here aware of what departments are?¡± He asked. The five looked at each other, looking if anyone knows what Reinhard had just asked, but no one spoke out. ¡°I see. Well, no matter. Basically, departments are a division of a government tasked with the responsibility of a specific thing.¡± He looked at the five, seeing how they would react. No reaction, either they were following with him, or they¡¯re just waiting for additional things that he would say. ¡°Ah, you know what? I guess it¡¯d be much simpler if I show it this way¡­¡± He then began to breathe in heavily, assembling his thoughts and plans carefully and concisely. ¡°Metha¡­ You¡¯re a herbalist, yes?¡± She asked Metha sitting at the far right chair, next to Fraenis who¡¯s sitting right of him, and Sir Velram sitting in front of him. ¡°Uh, I, yes¡­¡± ¡°Then I name you the head of the department of¡­ let¡¯s see¡­ food and agriculture.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­¡± Metha mumbled, unsure of what those words meant and what sort of reaction she should give. ¡°You must be wondering what the department of food and agriculture do, yes? Well, in short, you will be the one in charge of dealing with problems that arises regarding food, farming and really, anything that involves plants. For example, if by some stroke of bad luck, our one and only farm suffered from blight, instead of going to me to give approval to resolve the issue, you have the power to do that. I¡¯m basically giving you a portion of my power as the Chief, or Lord of Garden, but only anything regarding food and agriculture. Are you following?¡± ¡°I-isn¡¯t that a very high position then??¡± She asked flustered. ¡°It is, but I¡¯m giving this position to you because I¡¯m not knowledgeable about these things unlike you. And besides, it lessens my responsibilities so I could deal with the more pressing matters.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, do you accept this position?¡± ¡°I, uh, I do, but I¡¯m going to need further clarifications, Chief.¡± ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll answer all your questions later. For now, let¡¯s move on.¡± ¡°¡­¡± He looked towards the man right of Metha, Sir Velram. ¡°Sir Velram. You are in charge of the department of defense. You have the power to decide everything regarding¡­ well, defense of Garden. If there are minor problems in the Garden¡¯s defense, you are free to solve them by yourself without having toconsult me. Do you accept?¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord. But like Ms. Metha, I¡¯d like to ask a few questions later too.¡± ¡°Very well. Next is Lem. You¡¯d be in charge of the department of construction. If you think that we¡¯re lacking some infrastructures, you can take the initiative and inform me. If I agree about that project, then you have the power to supervise the entire process of construction. Naturally, if there are problems concerning our structures, they would go through you first to see if you can resolve them yourself. How about it?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d take on that.¡± ¡°Glad to hear that. Then Phyllos. Unlike the three of them you won¡¯t be heading a department. Instead, you¡¯d be my secretary as well as my advisor. These past few days, I¡¯ve seen how you approach things as logically as possible, and that is why I¡¯m giving this position to you. You¡¯d be in charge of advising me as my advisor, but only when I ask for it. As my secretary though, you¡¯d be filtering the requests and problems that people would like to present to me. You are to determine if they¡¯re major enough to warrant my ultimate decision as head of the Garden.¡± ¡°Sounds like a lot of work, but I accept nonetheless. I¡¯m curious about this system.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s not that much work.¡± *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Deception 4] leveled up to [Deception 5] ¡°Shhh!¡± ¡°As for you Fraenis, I suppose you just want to keep doing what you¡¯ve been doing?¡± ¡°Hmm, hmm!¡± She nodded, seemingly relieved that her job wouldn¡¯t be changed. ¡°Now¡­ I know what you might be wondering¡­ ¡®Why? Why do all these, what¡¯s the point?¡¯ Am I correct? Well, I¡¯ll tell you my plans¡­ I¡¯m planning to expand Garden.¡± Everyone¡¯s eyes widened, further catching their already caught attention. Chapter 18: Bureaucracy! Reinhard interlocked his fingers together and rested his chin on top of it. ¡°Sooner or later, the humans and the elves would come here, seeking to gain hold of the branch with their armies in tow. When that happens, do you think we can protect ourselves? Sir Velram, as the head of the department of defense, what are your thoughts on this?¡± ¡°Uh, well, if they bring their armies with them, at our current state we¡¯d have no chance against them, my Lord.¡± ¡°That is correct. So, as someone who¡¯s been on battle before, how do you deal with their armies?¡± ¡°You send your own armies to fight them, my Lord.¡± ¡°Once again, that is correct. However, Garden is but a mere village. Our forces comprising of only 18 knights, and while many of the dryads might be able to fight, in the end, it¡¯s still inconsequential. That is why, if we want to fend off for ourselves, we need an army. And to have and sustain an army, we need to expand Garden.¡± ¡°That is reasonable, chief, but where are we going to get the population? We can¡¯t just go to the kingdom or to the alliance inviting random citizens there to live with us¡­¡± Phyllos suddenly commented. ¡°A very observant question, Phyllos. I¡¯m glad I appointed you that role. Now, answer me, how many creatures are there in the whole Forest of Sok?¡± Everyone stiffened as they had just realized what Reinhard¡¯s plan is. ¡°T-there¡¯s too many to count¡­ chief¡­ But, incorporating the locals into our village is easier said than done! There¡¯s just too much conflict between species, not to mention if they would even accept you to rule over them!¡± Phyllos retorted instantly. ¡°Oh, then have you not seen the fire basilisk sleeping atop of my house outside?¡± Suddenly, Fraenis slammed her hands on the table while standing up. ¡°No! You promised me that you won¡¯t risk yourself again! You¡¯re planning on fighting every single creature in the forest?¡± She said. No, she shouted, uncaring about the other people present who were shocked by her sudden outburst. ¡°Relax¡­ Easy, I promised you I¡¯m not risking my life again and I intend to keep that. There are other ways to get them to our side¡­ What I¡¯m saying is that if push comes to shove, I can always attempt to [Subjugate] them as I did with Ddraig. And even that isn¡¯t foolproof as they can just run away to escape.¡± Fraenis, realizing her sudden outburst, began calming down as she slowly sits back on the chair in embarrassment. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Charismatic 3] leveled up to [Charismatic 4] ¡°First, I¡¯ll attempt to talk to the creatures that can be reasoned with. I will leave to talk to the sylphs later as we pretty much have the same goal which is to protect the forest. In the meantime, I¡¯d like a list of every creature that you think we can convince, Phyllos. I¡¯m not familiar with the forest¡¯s inhabitants yet.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see to it.¡± ¡°Also, how big is the space within the barrier?¡± ¡°As big as the village itself.¡± ¡°Can it be expanded?¡± ¡°Currently not. Only Tylla may be able to do it, but even then it¡¯s not for sure.¡± ¡°So we would have to build outside the barrier¡­¡± The village, and subsequently the barrier, is big enough to house around 70-100 individuals in the available space. The village itself is relatively huge, but about half of the area is the farm that grow ¡°softrocks¡±, a fast-growing vegetable that develops beneath the soil at the roots of its leaves. When dug out, it looks like brown rocks entangled within the roots of the plant. Reinhard once decided to look at the harvesting of it and concluded that they¡¯re basically potatoes, only the average size is bigger and the leaves of the plant are sharper. This softrock is the staple food of the village and contains most of the nourishments that the dryads get. The knights also have no problems eating it, which showed Reinhard that this plant is a common food not just in Garden. ¡°Maybe we could move the farmland outside and free half of the village¡¯s area for construction¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Metha, how rich is the soil outside the barrier compared to our farmland?¡± ¡°The same.¡± She says. ¡°The soil of the entire forest is the richest in all of Drasil.¡± ¡°Hmm, then, what do you think of moving the farmland outside the barrier and using the would-be freed space inside the barrier for buildings?¡± ¡°It would take time, not to mention we would need to cut a lot of trees for the space, but it¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°Then I would like you to start preparing it as soon as possible. Lem, please help with the cutting of the trees.¡± ¡°Sure thing. Most of the village has been repaired already anyway.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Also, Metha, do you know where we can get wheat?¡± Metha tilted her head. ¡°Wit? Wiht? I¡¯m sorry Chief, but I don¡¯t know what that is.¡± Metha replied, seemingly under intense confusion. ¡°Oh. I see¡­¡± Reinhard then began to explain to them, to the best of his abilities and knowledge from the previous world, what wheat is. ¡°My Lord, that sounds a lot like noblegrass. Back in the kingdom, we use them to make bread.¡± Reinhard was extremely delighted to hear Sir Velram¡¯s reply, even notifying him that it could be turned into bread, which was what he planned to do to it. ¡°Ooooh! Then how can we procure seeds for it?¡± He asked joyfully. ¡°Well it¡¯s going to be hard. As the name implies, noblegrass seeds can only be afforded by nobles, which is why only farms owned by nobility plants them and only the nobility enjoys the bread. Even though noblegrass grows and yields significantly faster than softrocks, those greedy nobles seem to have an unspoken rule not to share it.¡± ¡°Then what do the common people normally eat?¡± ¡°Steamed softrock and porridge, my Lord. Sometimes meat if they managed to hunt in the wilds.¡± Garden does not use any form of currency. Due to its small size and disconnection with the other nations, the main form of trade between the villagers is through barter, but most of the time through their connections and friendship. ¡°So we¡¯re going to need money after all¡­¡± Suddenly, an imaginary light bulb lit up on top of Reinhard¡¯s head. ¡°Phyllos, how many unusable armor and weapons did we collect from the attack?¡± ¡°Hm, not much, Chief. About 26 armor, helmet, chest plate and greaves included, were heavily dented and pierced beyond repair, and about 7 swords showed signs of massive chipping and jagged edges.¡± ¡°And how much would those hunks of metal cost if we sell them to merchants?¡± ¡°That, I unfortunately do not know.¡± Phyllos replied sighing. Reinhard looked at Sir Velram who he thought might know about these things, but he shrugged his shoulders, saying that he doesn¡¯t know either. After a long pause that what felt like ages, Reinhard exhaled heavily, making up his mind. ¡°I¡¯m postponing going to the sylph for now. Instead, I¡¯d be travelling to the Kingdom of Belm with those unusable armors and weapons and attempt to sell them, where I¡¯ll use the money I got to buy some noblegrass seeds.¡± Almost everyone immediately sprang into action to protest the idea. The only one who remained seated and calm was Sir Velram, who was waiting for his Lord¡¯s next words. ¡°Chief. I know that you said I should only advice you when you asked for it, but I must say right now, that is not a good idea.¡± Phyllos said, not believing that those words just left Reinhard¡¯s mouth. ¡°Now, now. I know what you¡¯re all thinking, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be going to the kingdom under the guise of an adventurer. Surely, an adventurer who emerged from the forest isn¡¯t all that suspicious, is it?¡± ¡°No, my Lord. Adventurers would often, and foolishly enough, enter the forest seeking for lost treasures only to come back half dead, or get forgotten by time as they lay rest within the trees or eaten by the local wildlife. Of course, if one sticks to the borders, it¡¯s more than possible to come out unscathed.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. I¡¯ll go to the kingdom, disguising myself as an adventurer and sell those metals that I ¡®found¡¯ in the forest. Sounds good to me.¡± ¡°Take me with you then!¡± Fraenis said, accepting defeat. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s only going to cause problems, Ms. Fraenis. If they found out a dryad is in the kingdom, who knows what will happen to you¡­ or worse, what will happen to Lord Reinhard?¡± Sir Velram said as calmly and reasonable as he can. ¡°Trust me, I¡¯d like to accompany my Lord as well, but an adventurer being followed by a knight would only arouse further suspicions. Furthermore, our faces are known throughout the kingdom by now as thosewho died at the forest expedition.¡± Everyone was silent. Some may be thinking about how to convince him not to go after all, and some had just accepted it and waited what happens next. After a long, grueling silence and looking at each other, Reinhard pierced the atmosphere of awkwardness by clapping once. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful if that¡¯s what you all¡¯re worrying about. Anyway, if I remember correctly, there are some questions that are to be raised? You first, Metha.¡± Metha jumped up at the mention of her name, then proceeded to collect herself and ask her questions. ¡°Right. So, as head of these ¡®deparments¡¯, we have the freedom to do whatever we want in that specific field? For example, if I want the farms to abandon planting softrocks and plant silkleaves instead, I can do so?¡± ¡°Yes, but you would need to notify me about every move that you make as ¡®reports¡¯.¡± ¡°I see. I understand.¡± She nodded. ¡°Then, Sir Velram, do you have any questions?¡± ¡°Yes, my Lord. You said earlier that it falls unto us to solve minor problems that do not need your attention, and only seek for you when the problem is big enough, yes? Then how exactly do we determine that a problem that arises is small enough to put into our own hands?¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Part of determining that falls to you as department heads. If you think you can solve a situation by yourselves, then do so. However, as I said earlier, every single move you make must be reported to me. These reports will be submitted to Phyllos, who will then arrange it on the degree of urgency. This is also the same process when submitting problems.¡± ¡°Thank you, my Lord.¡± Sir Velram said upon having his question answered. ¡°Anything else?¡± "..." ¡°Chief Reinhard¡­¡± Lem said after seeing that no one has questions to raise. ¡°Yes, Lem?¡± ¡°What of our usual jobs?¡± Reinhard was surprised that the question he thought would be asked first was instead asked this late into the discussion. ¡°Nothing will change of your usual jobs. At least, not right now when the village is still small. You will still continue to go about your daily routines, in fact, I encourage you to do so. But when a problem arises that concerns your department, you will deal with it in absolute priority. Think of it like this, you four will become the ¡°village chiefs¡± of the village, but only concerning those under your department. Does that sound clear?¡± Lem thought for a while, looking into the air before speaking again. ¡°Okay, I understand now.¡± ¡°Hmm, mmm. By the way, I would like a bulletin board to be erected in front of my house so we can post the news there and anything important that the people should know about.¡± ¡°Also, I¡¯d have to learn the dryad writing too.¡± After the meeting has finished, the four that was previously called gave their respects and went outside. Reinhard and Fraenis on the other hand began to eat. He offered the other four before they left but they all said they¡¯ve already eaten, so only Reinhard and Fraenis remained to eat. After that, Reinhard left the house to get some fresh air. He looked up, hoping to see what Ddraig was doing only to find out that he was gone. ¡°Huh? Where¡¯s Ddraig?¡± He asked Fraenis. ¡°I-I¡¯m not sure¡­ He was here when we entered¡­¡± Suddenly, the dryad that was living nearest to Reinhard approached him. ¡°He left earlier, Chief. It scared everyone that he passed by!¡± ¡°Left? Where did he go?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, he just went outside the barrier¡­¡± ¡°I see, thank you.¡± Hearing this,Reinhard immediately hurried outside the barrier. There, he saw Ddraig, clutching in his fangs two burnt bodies of what looks like wargs. ¡°T-that¡¯s your basilisk isn¡¯t it, my Lord?¡± One knight said with a trembling voice. It took great self-control in his part not to immediately charge at it with his sword. ¡°Ah, yeah, he is.¡± Ddraig slithered closer as he sees Reinhard and Fraenis emerging out of the barrier. He dropped the two burnt wargs to the ground, in front of Reinhard¡¯s feet. *Hissss* ¡°What? Ah, no, I just ate earlier¡­ You can have them.¡± *Hisssssss* Ddraig then hastily swallowed the wargs whole, one at a time, much to the discomfort of the knights. Chapter 19: Armor Types After the spectacle that Ddraig just performed at the entrance of Garden, he slithered back inside the barrier and proceeded to head towards Reinhard¡¯s house, the shock and caution of the dryads who still haven¡¯t gotten used to him flooded the streets. In fact, Fraenis might be the only person in Garden who quickly got accustomed to Ddraig, except Reinhard of course. ¡°So what are your plans for today?¡± She asked Reinhard as she watched Ddraig parade through the village streets heedless of the dryads and knight¡¯s shock towards him. ¡°Well¡­ I¡¯m going to prepare for my journey to the kingdom.¡± He replied as he suppresses the thoughts within him saying ¡°I can¡¯t believe they really agreed to that. This is great, I can finally explore the outside world! Thank you, Sir Velram!¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you really take anyone with you? It doesn¡¯t have to be me, just anyone that can protect you is fine!¡± She said, attempting to protest one last time. ¡°I can protect myself.¡± He sighed as the two of them enter the barrier again. ¡°If I encounter a creature that I haven¡¯t seen yet or is stronger than me, I won¡¯t fight it.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll go along with you until the border and wait for you to return there!¡± ¡°No! I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll be at the kingdom! It could be weeks at most. Besides, what if other people see you waiting at the edges of the forest?¡± Fraenis suddenly grew silent. ¡°I¡¯m going to be fine¡­¡± After reaching his house, Reinhard saw Ddraig was now once again back at the branches, sleeping as if nothing had just happened earlier. He laughed internally and then went inside. ¡°Time to spend my skill points.¡± He went inside his bedroom, at which point Fraenis automatically stood beside the door, facing the walkway. ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep standing there, you know? You can enter if you want¡­¡± ¡°Eh?¡± Fraenis¡¯ head suddenly snapped towards Reinhard who¡¯s in the middle of entering his room. ¡°I-I, uh¡­ I-it¡¯s fine! D-don¡¯t worry about it!¡± She flusterdly and hastily said. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Well, if that¡¯s what you want¡­¡± Reinhard closed the door behind him and sat at his bed. He opened the interface to see which skills are available to be learned. [SYSTEM] Learnable skills: [Weaving 1] Passive Skill [Metallurgy 1] Passive Skill [MP Regeneration 1] Passive Skill [Fortify 1] Passive Skill [Clarity 1] Passive Skill [Enduring 1] Passive Skill [Enchant] Active Skill ¨C Learned at [Arcane Artificer Level 10] [Multi Wield Staff 1] Passive Skill ¨C Learned at [Dual Wield Staff 10] [Leather Crafting 1] Passive Skill Not much has changed on it, except for the two new skills that had immediately caught his eye. In particular, the multi wield staff skill which, by the coloration of its name, is an uncommon skill. ¡°How would that even work? Do I hold it in my mouth Zoro-style?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Guess only one way to find out.¡± [SYSTEM] [Multi Wield Staff] Passive Skill The user is able to wield more than two staves more effectively. ¡°YES, BUT HOW!?¡± ¡°¡­¡± Seeing as his question wouldn¡¯t be answered anytime soon, he dropped his focus towards the skill below it, the leather crafting skill. ¡°I bet it¡¯s just going to say something obvious if I try to see its description so I¡¯ll just save it. The question is do I want to learn it?¡± ¡°¡­and what¡¯s the difference between cloth armor and leather armor anyway? Except for the obvious amount of armor...¡± [SYSTEM] Clothing have very weak defense, but it¡¯s the lightest in all of the armor classes and has the highest magic potential. Light armors have mediocre defenses, weight and magic potential. Heavy armors have the strongest defenses, but are the heaviest and have the lowest magic potential. ¡°I guess leather is on light armor and metal is on heavy armor but¡­ what the hell is magic potential?¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. [SYSTEM] Magic Potential is one of the three stats of armors, along with the defenses and weight. It is the armor¡¯s ability to contain magic in itself such as enchantments. Magic Potential also determines how many of that armor type is a pure magic item. ¡°What the hell is a pure magic item!?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m slowly going down the rabbit hole of terms that I don¡¯t know¡­¡± [SYSTEM] Pure magic items, or just magic items, are items that hold magical properties but are not enchanted. This means that the item in itself is magical in nature, as opposed of being a normal item that is given magical properties through enchanting. ¡°Ahh, I get it now. Pure magic items are natural while enchanted items are artificial.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m most certainly not wearing heavy armor. I doubt I even have the strength to wear them, so the question is clothing or light armor? Hmm¡­¡± ¡°If I choose clothing, I have less defenses but I can have more unique effects on it, on the other hand leather has more defenses but less unique effects¡­¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t seen the kinds of unique effect a material have on armor though. I¡¯d imagine it¡¯s going to be different from weapons and accessories¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference between unique effects from a magical item and enchantment anyway?¡± [SYSTEM] Unique effects of a pure magic item is determined by its materials, while unique effects from enchantment is determined by the enchanter¡¯s skills and level. ¡°Interesting¡­ I should grind my Arcane Artificer class to level 10 soon so I¡¯d get the enchant skill¡­ Aaaah, but to even start grinding I need a steady supply of materials, and I can¡¯t use the ones in Garden either since they¡¯re just enough for the daily needs of the village¡­¡± Reinhard stared at nothing, carefully thinking how he¡¯s going to get himself the amount of materials for grinding levels. ¡°If I send some villagers to get the raw materials for me, not only will that slow down the current activities of Garden, as the recent battle already took a significant toll on the work force, but that would also run the chance of pissing off the sylphs if I just haphazardly chop trees left and right¡­ Well, the latter can be solved by just moderating it, but the former¡­ Aaah, I need the population after all to make anything¡­ but to sustain the population I need the farms. Ugh, this is just turning into a circle of problems that causes themselves. Okay, calm down¡­ Let¡¯s get our priorities straight.¡± He looked down on the floor while mumbling¡­ ¡°First, I will travel to the kingdom with Ddraig to protect me¡­ Then have him stay at the border until I return. He can hunt by himself and he can hide atop the trees, so no problem with that. Worst case, if someone finds him they might be able to recognize that he¡¯s someone¡¯s follower. Then I will go and sell the armor and weapons that I brought, and then use that money to buy noblegrass seeds and anything else that might help if I have any spares. This will significantly boost the food production as noblegrass grows faster than softrocks. Then I¡¯d instruct Lem to build a watermill at the creek outside the village. Wait, do watermills even exist here or do they grind the wheat¡ªerr, noblegrass by hand? Well, no matter. The principles of milling are easy to understand, I just have to explain it if watermills don¡¯t exist here. If needed, we could also make a dam at the creek to make it more effective. Only once that¡¯s all done and food production is steady would the village be able to support additional population. Tsk, that problem with the granary really held us back¡­¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°Yep, that sounds like a solid plan. Now onto my immediate concerns¡­ I¡¯ll have to ask Sir Velram about the way to the kingdom. With any luck he¡¯ll have a map with him, if not then that¡¯s fine. I just need him to draw the way and important details to take notice. Then there¡¯s the food situation. I don¡¯t think it would take us an entire week as I could just ride on top of Ddraig, although I¡¯ve never tried it before. Well I¡¯m not too worried about the food, we can just hunt local wildlife and Ddraig can produce fire for cooking¡­ or, well, cook it himself so long as he don¡¯t burn it entirely. Still, I should bring some emergency food since they don¡¯t appear to rot in my inventory anyway.¡± ¡°Hmm, mmm.¡± Satisfied with his plan, Reinhard nodded to himself and resumed his browsing of the skills. ¡°¡­so in the end, which do I choose?¡± He placed his left thumb below his lower lip in deep thought. ¡°The protection offered by the leather armor sounds enticing but the drawbacks are¡­ unsatisfactory. Limiting the unique effects on my armor would only make me vulnerable to unforeseen attacks.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°So clothing¡­?¡± He thought for a while. He was so engrossed with his thinking that he didn¡¯t even notice that he¡¯s been walking all around his room for a long time now. ¡°Ugh, fine. I¡¯ll just save some skill points if I don¡¯t like it.¡± And with what seems like a snap decision, he opened up the interface to try and learn [Weaving] using a skill point. [SYSTEM] You have acquired: [Weaving 1] Passive Skill He immediately opened his crafting interface on the armor tab to see what he can craft. [SYSTEM] [Armor Crafting] [Clothing] ¡°Yep, here it is.¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Shirt] [Common Cloth Shirt of Physical Defense] [Common Cloth Pants] [Common Cloth Pants of Physical Defense] [Common Cloth Robes] [Common Cloth Robes of Physical Defense] [Common Cloth Hooded Robe] [Common Cloth Hooded Robe of Physical Defense] ¡°Uuuuuh.¡± *Cough* ¡°Well, for now I¡¯ll check at the cloth shirt¡­¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Shirt] -[Common-Grade Cloth x5] [CRAFT] ¡°Hmm, pretty basic. What about the magic item one?¡± [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Shirt of Physical Defense] -[Common-Grade Cloth x5] -[Common-Grade Fur x5] -[50 MP] He proceeded to check every single recipe, looking at their materials and making a mental note of it. [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Pants] -[Common-Grade Cloth x5] ? [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Pants of Physical Defense] -[Common-Grade Cloth x5] -[Common-Grade Fur x5] -[50 MP] ? [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Robes] -[Common-Grade Cloth x7] ? [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Robes of Physical Defense] -[Common-Grade Cloth x7] -[Common-Grade Fur x7] -[70 MP] ? [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Hooded Robe] -[Common-Grade Cloth x10] ? [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Hooded Robe of Physical Defense] -[Common-Grade Cloth x10] -[Common-Grade Fur x10] -[100 MP] After checking them all out one-by-one, he found himself looking at the interface of the last item, the hooded robe of physical defense. ¡°I don¡¯t have any cloth on me right now but¡­¡± He walked towards a brown basket by the window and took out of it a shirt that¡¯s been slightly browned and crisped by flames. It was his clothes when he fought Ddraig. ¡°Let¡¯s see if this works¡­¡± Suddenly, the burned shirt on his hands dematerialized into blue bubbles of particles. He had placed it in his inventory. [SYSTEM] Obtained: [Cloth Shirt 14/50] ¨C Common ¡°Yep, it¡¯s damaged alright.¡± He checked the crafting interface again if the materials available has now updated. To his dismay, it has not. It looks like you can¡¯t use an existing crafted item¡¯s materials as another material. ¡°Hmm¡­ Do I have to salvage it first? Rip it apart?¡± ¡°¡­¡± He did try to rip them apart and placed them in his inventory to see if it works, however, no matter how much he rips it apart, the item only stays at [Tattered Cloth] and doesn¡¯t change, so he gave up about the third time. ¡°Guess I¡¯m going to have to get some actual cloth¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if the people here get their cotton from cotton plants but I know for sure silk is obtained from silkleaves. I might have to ask Metha about this.¡± Chapter 20: Preparations Reinhard decided to go outof his house and see Metha. Upon arriving, the two of them, Reinhard and Fraenis, saw that just outside of Metha¡¯s house are numerous pots and planters of different herbs and leaves with varying colors and shapes. Some are placed on the ground and some hang on the walls. ¡°Yep, you can¡¯t miss this.¡± Reinhard thought at how ¡°herbal¡± Metha¡¯s home was. They went in with a slight creek of the door. There, they saw Metha tending to one of her plants that are on a pot. The ones outside couldn¡¯t even compare to the sheer number of those inside her home. It was like the walls themselves were made of pots and planters. Metha looked at the door as it opened. ¡°Oh, Chief and Fraenis! What brings you here?¡± Reinhard walked a bit closer to Metha while Fraenis looked at the planted herbs at the sides. There really were a lot of different kinds of plants, as if all the flora and foliage in the whole forest were gathered there. Fraenis could identify some of them at a first glance, such as dragonwyngs, which only grows at the base of Surtyr, a huge volcano at the Flaming Peninsula far south of the forest. She wondered just how Metha got a hold of this herb and even kept it growing away from the volcano, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that the soil that the dragonwyngs were planted on is darker in color compared to the rest. Metha smiled as she looked at the curious Fraenis looking at the plants like a child. Then she looked back at the approaching Reinhard. ¡°Hey, sorry if you¡¯re busy.¡± Reinhard says upon reaching her. ¡°Oh, no! Not at all! I was just tending to my plants.¡± ¡°Hmm. Well, I was just wondering where I could get silk or cotton?¡± Metha raised both of her eyebrows and her eyes glimmered. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re in luck chief! I just harvested some silk from my silkleaves!¡± She said while clapping once, and then immediately went inside one of the three doors inside her house, the one on the right. Loud and hasty rummaging could be heard from inside it. Not too long after, she emerged, carrying with her a medium sized box. Upon attempting not to stumble multiple times and barely keeping herself upright, Metha placed the box down in front of Reinhard. There, inside of it are multiple bundles of gray strings, filling almost 75% of the box. ¡°Are these all silk?¡± He asked in surprise. ¡°Yep!¡± She said as she smiles gleefully, utterly proud of her work. ¡°That is a lot of silk¡± ¡°That is a lot of silk¡­¡± Both his inner thoughts and his mouth said the same thing without him even noticing. ¡°He, he~ It is! I¡¯m the only one that supplies it after all! All the sheets and blankets in whole Garden came from me.¡± ¡°But¡­ Just to be sure, you harvest them directly from the plant right?¡± ¡°Yes¡­? Is something the matter?¡± ¡°Uhm, so no worms or anything?¡± ¡°Worms?¡± ¡°Like, the silk comes from the plant itself?¡± ¡°¡­yes?¡± ¡°How does it produce it?¡± When Metha mentioned in the meeting about planting silkleaves, Reinhard thought that it was just the best plant to house the silkworms, but now he¡¯s beginning to realize that the silk from this world comes directly from the plant, and not the worms. In fact, there¡¯s no involvement of any worms at all. ¡°It grows and accumulates beneath the leaves¡­?¡± ¡°Uh, and how much would it take for a single plant to produce this much?¡± Reinhard looked down at the box once again. ¡°Hmm¡­ I¡¯d say about a month if it¡¯s just a single plant. I have three silkleaves so it doesn¡¯t take that long.¡± ¡°Uh, then, what would you like to trade in exchange for ten of these silk?¡± Metha was surprised. ¡°Trade? Oh, no need for that. If it¡¯s for the Garden you don¡¯t have to¡­¡± ¡°Ah, well, it¡¯s not really for the Garden. I was going to use it for myself.¡± ¡°Please, just accept them. We dryads believe that for any good deeds we do, nature will return the favor¡­¡± Metha protested. ¡°¡­and as nature gives us, we give ourselves to nature.¡± Fraenis suddenly said, popping out behind Reinhard¡¯s back. ¡°Indeed.¡± Metha smiled. Reinhard just stood there, between the two dryads.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°W-well, if you insist, then¡­ thank you.¡± Then he took exactly ten silk bundles from the box. [SYSTEM] Obtained: [Silk x10] ¨C Common After refusing Metha''s urges to take more than what he already took, Reinhard and Fraenis began to leave Metha¡¯s house when Reinhard realized something and turned back towards Metha before exiting. ¡°Oh, by the way, since you¡¯re not busy with the farm thing just yet, I assume that Lem¡¯s doing the cutting for now?¡± Metha looked back to them while continuing to tend to her plants. ¡°Ah? Ah, yes. I¡¯m waiting for Lem to finish clearing the area.¡± ¡°Then while that¡¯s happening, do you think it¡¯s possible to plant a Sylpheim Tree inside the Garden?¡± ¡°Sylpheim Tree? Well, it is, but they grow incredibly long. Why?¡± ¡°I was just thinking, it would be great if the sylphs could just instantly enter Garden without having to fly outside.¡± ¡°I see. I¡¯ll look into it, Chief.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± After leaving, Reinhard immediately set out to the newly repaired granary. ¡°So what are you planning to use the silk for?¡± Fraenis asks while trailing behind him. ¡°Preparing for my journey¡­¡± Upon hearing this, Fraenis lowered her shoulders and looked at Reinhard¡¯s back with defeated face. They walked at the streets for a while, greeting those that they meet along the way to the granary. When they reached the granary, there was a male dryad there, carefully checking the crates and barrels. He notices them and immediately went towards them to greet. ¡°Chief?¡± The man says as she walks closely. ¡°Hey there! How¡¯s the food situation going?¡± ¡°Ah, well the decrease in our population caused us to have a little bit of surplus food for now. Although that surplus could¡¯ve been significantly more if the granary didn¡¯t get looted and damaged.¡± ¡°I see. You see, I¡¯m going to go on an important journey. I was wondering if I could take provisions enough for 3 days of travel.¡± ¡°Just 3 days¡¯ worth of food?¡± Fraenis suddenly asked as she butts in. ¡°The journey will take you at least a week! Not to mention how slow you¡¯d be going if you want to stay hidden! 3 days of food won¡¯t last you that long!¡± ¡°I¡¯m planning to ride Ddraig on the way there so we¡¯d be faster rather than on foot, plus he can protect me. In fact, it¡¯d be better for both of us if some monster attacks us as we¡¯d get free food.¡± ¡°R-ride Ddraig¡­¡± Fraenis¡¯ face was painted with confusion and disbelief. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. With Ddraig we can cook and hunt anything. I¡¯m only taking 3 days of food just for emergency. And besides, I don¡¯t want to put that much strain in our reserves.¡± ¡°Every idea that you¡¯ve ever had seriously makes me question your sanity¡­¡± Fraenis said under her breath. It was silent enough for Reinhard and the other dryad not to hear it. After taking exactly 3 days¡¯ worth of provisions, Reinhard and Fraenis returned to his house. On the way, they passed through Lem¡¯s workshop, where they saw him carving something made out of wood. ¡°Oh? What¡¯s that?¡± Reinhard asked as he approaches Lem. In response, Lem looked up to him and smirked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you want a something-board placed in front of your house?¡± ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s it. You¡¯re already working on it?¡± ¡°Well, yeah. Not much to do while the boys are cutting the trees.¡± ¡°Wow they work fast.¡± ¡°You think the sylphs wouldn¡¯t mind us cutting that much?¡± ¡°It should be fine if we tell them it¡¯s for farmlands. That¡¯s the way nature works anyway, isn¡¯t it? Some life dies to pave the survival of the others. The sylphs only wouldn¡¯t like it when we forsake nature altogether and exploit it to our selfish vanities.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Ah! Be sure to make that big, alright? I have a feeling that many things are going to be posted on that in the future.¡± ¡°Sure thing.¡± He was about to continue walking when he suddenly remembered something. ¡°Do you know how to make watermills?¡± Reinhard asked Lem. ¡°Watermeals? Well I¡¯m not a cook so I probably don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Cook? Why would you bring up cooks?¡± ¡°Well you said watermeals right? Is that some kind of food made out of water?¡± ¡°Huh? How the hell did he come into that conclusion?¡± Reinhard thought for a while, looking at Lem in confusion before he was finally able to realize. ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not watermeal, it¡¯s watermill¡­¡± He said, emphasizing the end of each word. ¡°You know, for grinding grains?¡± ¡°Hmm, I don¡¯t know anything about that.¡± ¡°I should probably ask Sir Velram about this first. Maybe they just call it differently in this world¡­¡± ¡°I see, well, thank you for the hard work.¡± Because of that recent happening, instead of going immediately to his house, he instead went to the guardhouse by the barrier to ask Sir Velram about it. The entrance wasn¡¯t doing anything differently. Knights could still be seen patrolling the outside while four knights are posted at the barrier, two outside and two inside. Those knights that saw him immediately saluted to him, to which he replied by saluting back. Even Fraenis was doing it too. They entered the house, looking for Sir Velram who was sitting at a chair, discussing with one of his knights wearing the ring that Reinhard made. From what he could hear, they were talking about patrol paths and whatnot. He approached them. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not disturbing.¡± He said without them even noticing that he¡¯s already there. As soon as they saw him, they immediately snapped into salutations. After an exchange of that gesture, Reinhard began his questioning. ¡°So, Sir Velram, about that noblegrass¡­ how do people normally grind the grains?¡± Sir Velram looked into the air, trying to remember. ¡°Hmm, if I remember correctly, they use two disc-shaped stones together, put the grains in the middle of those stones and spin it to grind. I¡¯m sorry if that¡¯s too vague as I¡¯ve never really paid any attention to it, my Lord.¡± ¡°Ah, no, no. That¡¯s exactly what I was expecting. That is all, thank you.¡± ¡°No problem, my Lord.¡± Sir Velram said as Reinhard and Fraenis exit the guardhouse, confused as to why Reinhard would be asking those questions. ¡°I see, so they do it by hand. Normally that¡¯s a very time consuming process but I guess for a nobleman they could just have their serfs do it.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Which means watermills are going to be a new thing and no one knows how to make them¡­ I just wish I still remember how to make those from that random youtube video I watched at 2 in the morning.¡± ¡°Well, the future me can handle my future problems¡­ right now I should prepare for my journey. And by prepare I mean make my hooded robes as I can¡¯t exactly tread the forest wearing simple cloth shirt and pants to protect me.¡± "Hmm... Why do I feel like I''m forgetting something that I should ask about Sir Velram? Well, whatever." Finally, after all that walking around all the corners of the village, Reinhard and Fraenis returned to his house. As usual, Fraenis stayed outside his room. He placed the 10 silk bundles and 10 warg fur in the table and immediately opened the crafting interface. [SYSTEM] [Common Cloth Hooded Robes of Physical Defese] -[Silk ¨C Common x10] -[Warg Fur ¨C Common x10] -[100 MP] [CRAFT] The familiar light suddenly began to lit up the room. It shone through all the cracks and gaps outside, from the door to the window. Fortunately, Reinhard has already informed Fraenis of this so she wouldn¡¯t do what she did last time. *Ping!* [SYSTEM] [Weaving 1] leveled up to [Weaving 2] A gray hooded robe lay folded in the table as soon as the light faded. Reinhard took it and spread it in front of him, hanging it by the shoulder part. It looked like an average robes that one would think of when imagining a wizard, although this one is not colored red or blue, but gray and one can see the occasional furs of the warg on some parts of it. He equipped it and was surprised that it didn¡¯t unequip the cloth shirt in its place, rather, it was worn on top of the shirt. [SYSTEM] [Common Silk Hooded Robe of Physical Defense] A simple silk robe that gives minor defenses against physical attacks. Unique Effect: [Silk]: There is a very rare chance that physical attacks that hits this clothing will slide off, cutting the damage inflicted by 25%. ¡°The unique effect came from the silk and not the warg fur¡­? I guess it was the warg fur that gave it the physical defense property anyway.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Phew, okay. I should be good to go tomorrow.¡± Chapter 21: Lets go on a field trip! The next day, perhaps due to his excitement of adventure, Reinhard only ate his breakfast and then immediately went straight for the barrier with Ddraig, leaving Fraenis tagging behind. ¡°Are you really going to be fine?¡± She asks worriedly as she trails behind Reinhard who¡¯s struggling to balance himself atop of Ddraig¡¯s head. ¡°Y-yeah¡­ I should be¡ª¡° Reinhard tipped a bit to the left and almost fell. Fortunately for him, Ddraig¡¯s quick tail stopped him from being outbalanced and recalibrated his position. ¡°¡­fine.¡± He added upon repositioning himself. Fraenis let out a heavy, concerned sigh. By this time, the villagers and the knights were starting to get used of Ddraig just casually slithering on the streets without a care in the world. Of course, seeing that Reinhard was riding atop of him just left people questioning instead of cautious. They reached the guardhouse by the barrier. However, Reinhard was too excited on his adventure that he didn¡¯t even stopped by and just went straight outside. When he finally was outside though, he remembered one of the most critical information that he has yet to obtain. ¡°Ah.¡± He quickly re-entered the barrier and unmounted from Ddraig to go inside the guardhouse. He scanned the whole room and saw Sir Velram with his back turned on the door, talking to knights. ¡°Hey there Sir Velram!¡± He exclaims with pleasure. ¡°My Lord, is there something I can help you with?¡± ¡°Yes, actually, I was wondering if you have a map of the way you and your knights took on your expedition here.¡± ¡°Apologies, my Lord. I unfortunately do not. However, I can still more or less remember the way.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s fine¡­¡± Sir Velram and Reinhard went outside the guardhouse where he drew, to what he remembers, the way that they took from the kingdom to the Garden on the dirt with a stick. He had also highlighted the landmarks and their campsites, and most specifically, the basilisk nest which Sir Velram and the other knights desperately warned him to steer clear of. The path was not a straight north as what Reinhard had expected. There was actually a mountain range at the direct north near the tripoint of the Kingdom, the Alliance and the forest called The Fjallfels. This mountain range extends a little bit further to the east and curves inwards like an inflated and widened ¡°©·¡±, as if barring passage to Garden. It does not extend to the sea though, as at the eastern end of the mountain range lays the elven city-state of Meir, while at the western end of it, which is to the north-west of the basilisk nest, is the Kingdom¡¯s border city of Resa. Sir Velram explained that the best path to avoid the basilisk nest was to take a detour towards the base of the mountains, meaning go east of the nest, as merely following the mountains¡¯ path leads you to the city while moving away from the mountain range, to the west of the nest, just unnecessarily lengthens the travel. Sir Velram also notified him that he would be crossing the main river, from which the creek beside the Garden branches off of. After looking at the knight commander¡¯s amateurish doodles on the soil for about thirty or so seconds, trying to imprint it as much as he can into his memory, particularly the location of the landmarks, he finally nodded a ¡°got it!¡± to everyone. He was giving farewell to everyone there and was about to once again mount Ddraig when Sir Velram suddenly spoke. ¡°My Lord, do you really have to leave right away?¡± ¡°Mmm, the faster it gets done the better, right?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Besides, I won¡¯t be that long. Soon as I get the seeds and maybe some other things I take fancy on, I¡¯ll return immediately. This is also a good way for me to scout the kingdom¡­. well, one of their cities anyway.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t you at least make some kind of public departure so the entire Garden could send you off?¡± ¡°Eeeh, that¡¯s not really my thing. Once the signboard gets installed in front of my house just post it there that I¡¯ve gone on a journey and would be back soon.¡± Sir Velram sighed, finally accepting defeat. ¡°Understood.¡± Meanwhile, Fraenis only looked with concerned eyes as Reinhard and Ddraig rides off into the wilderness. ? The sight on top of Ddraig was exciting, yet the mere 3-4 meters of elevation isn¡¯t enough to pierce the thick and blanketing canopy of the forest trees, so Reinhard couldn¡¯t really see the mountain range just yet.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. It was, however, faster than just walking. In fact, Ddraig¡¯s casual slithering was faster than Reinhard¡¯s jogs, which made him slightly unsatisfied. The speed felt like he was taking a casual bike stroll. ¡°Whatever. Humans are not known for their speed anyway.¡± Reinhard¡¯s mind then began drifting to a video he watched on youtube about how ancient humans would hunt using persistence and not by outrunning their prey. He thought how fascinating it was that since they knew they were slower than the animal they¡¯re hunting, they would just stalk the prey, making it flee until it runs out of stamina and is too exhausted to continue running, which then makes it easy pickings for the humans. As a child, Reinhard was that kid. The nerdy stereotype that would spend most of their time reading books about science and history. Even when he stepped into teenager years he would just continue blabbering to his friends about the things in nature that fascinates him. Looking back at it now, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh at how annoying he must have been back then. ¡°Well at least they learned things that mostly aren¡¯t taught in school.¡± He thought while reminiscing about his high school friends. *Hisssss* His revisit in the past took longer than he had expected, however. In what felt like just a blink of an eye, Ddraig informed him that they¡¯re about halfway towards the basilisk nest. ¡°Hmm. Do you think now¡¯s a good time to start heading north-east?¡± *Hisssss* ¡°But you¡¯re the one that knows where it is!¡± *Hisss* ¡°You¡¯re hungry already? Well, I suppose we¡¯ve already gone quite a long way. Alright, I¡¯ll stay here and you can hunt, but don¡¯t take too long!¡± *Hissssss* Reinhard sat on a gigantic protruding root of a tree while checking his inventory and stats as Ddraig go off to find a creature to eat. By his estimation, it has been about an hour or so since they left. ¡°If the distance between the basilisk nest and Resa was roughly as far as what Sir Velram drew, we should be able to get there in at most, a day and a half.¡± He materialized both his staves for protection just in case something comes by him. Yet when he did so, something moved around the bushes not far to his right. The sudden rustle was incredibly hard to miss, and it couldn¡¯t have been the wind either as it was the only bush that moved. He looked at that direction while holding his staves, trying to see what the movement was. ¡°Ddraig?¡± He asked. No response. He waited for a second or so, until finally deciding to point his staff of venom towards the bush. He was going to spray venom to whatever was behind it. He was in such a dangerous position to take any chances, he thought. When the magic circle appeared on his staff, ready to spray the venom at any moment, the cause of rustling finally revealed itself. ¡°W-wait!¡± The creature that suddenly jumped out revealed itself and exclaimed. This sudden movement almost made Reinhard release the venom torrent, but thankfully, he was able to stop himself when he saw what the creature looked like. At first glance it looked like a human girl, however, the name hovering above its head proved otherwise. Reinhard looked at her closely and soon realized that apart from her face and neck, her entire torso, at least the part that¡¯s not hidden by the bushes, is covered by shiny blue scales. She didn¡¯t have the bodily features that one would expect of a girl, specifically in the chest area. It looked just like a man¡¯s torso, albeit less muscular and fully covered in scales. Her eyes were also serpentine, glowing yellow as it stares at him in shock and desperation. ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me! I was just¡­ W-were you just riding that red basilisk from earlier!?¡± Reinhard tightened his grip at his staves. He won¡¯t make the first move, of course, but if he even gets a glimpse that his life would be in danger, he¡¯d stop at nothing to preserve his life, even if it means killing her. ¡°Yeah? What of it?¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re one of them, aren¡¯t you!? You¡¯re the reason why the nest is attacking us!¡± Suddenly, the girl grew angry upon Reinhard¡¯s reply. She looked like she didn¡¯t have the intention to attack though, it¡¯s more like she¡¯s just showing Reinhard how she despises him but can¡¯t do anything about it. ¡°One of them?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about, girl. If you¡¯re here to harm me I can assure you, you¡¯d be dead even before you get near.¡± ¡°Y-you would dare say that when you¡¯re the reason why we are suffering!?¡± She shouted all of a sudden. ¡°Is this a trap? Is she calling for the attention of her friends? Tsk, I need to get out of here. She¡¯s just stalling time¡­¡± Reinhard began shifting his vision without moving his head all around him, looking for any signs or clue that he may be getting surrounded, and also of paths where he can escape. ¡°I should run towards where Ddraig went¡­¡± ¡°Please! I beg of you! Stop it whatever you¡¯re doing! We haven¡¯t done anything wrong¡­ please¡­¡± ¡°What is she talking about!?¡± ¡°And neither did I. I don¡¯t know what your deal is but I¡¯m pretty sure I have nothing to do with that. This is the first time I¡¯ve come this far from Garden, you know.¡± The girl flinched upon hearing Reinhard¡¯s remarks. ¡°G-garden? Y-you¡¯re with the dryads??¡± The look of shock and disbelief paints on her face. ¡°Crap. Should I have not said that?¡± ¡°T-then, please help us! If you¡¯re not really the one causing it you¡¯ve got to help us!¡± She unconsciously went closer to Reinhard in desperation, revealing the lower part of her body. It didn¡¯t shocked Reinhard to see that her upper body is human and her lower body is that of a snake since the name ¡°Naga¡± kind of gave it away to him. ¡°Stay back! Don¡¯t come any closer.¡± He says to her, flaunting his staves. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you! I was just looking for food when I saw you riding from that red basilisk¡­ come to think of it¡­ that couldn¡¯t have been from the nest as it would be an outcast¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Are you¡­ are you really not our enemy!?¡± ¡°So far it doesn¡¯t seem like anyone¡¯s around us. If she¡¯s here alone then I should be the one stalling time for Ddraig to return.¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± He sighed. ¡°What are you talking about anyway?¡± ¡°You really don¡¯t know huh¡­¡± The naga visibly grew sorrowful as she reminisces about her story. ¡°It was about more than a week ago¡­ Some humans, like, a lot of them just passed by the basilisk nest not too far from here. I was there¡­ I watched them fight those basilisks. A lot of them died, but many of the basilisks died too. But that¡¯s not the problem¡­ The problem was what happened after that. The surviving basilisks grew more aggressive. They began hunting day and night, and at a larger area than before. They were trying to recover their losses as fast as possible. We used to be safe from them and would only be at a dangerous place if we stray too close to their nests, but now, our own nests gets attacked day and night... Many of my friends have *sobs* ¡­¡± She started crying in front of Reinhard. Reinhard, on the other hand, didn¡¯t know what to do or how to react. ¡°Err¡­¡± That was when Ddraig emerged out of the direction that he went to hunt. Despite the crying girl in front of him, Reinhard couldn¡¯t help but laugh internally at what Ddraig¡¯s reaction was when he saw the naga. His bright red eyes widened and his grip of his hunt loosened, causing him to drop it on the ground. His jaw was literally gaped open as he looked at Reinhard in confusion. If Ddraig had facial features like that of a human, his face would be that of ¡°What?¡±. Chapter 22: Naga nest *Hisss* Ddraig¡¯s hissing snapped the naga girl back to reality. Her head jolted towards the source of the sound and, after seeing Ddraig towering over her, she immediately went to a defensive position. ¡°You can¡¯t defend yourselves against the basilisk attacks?¡± Reinhard asked after hearing her story to break the tense atmosphere in the air. ¡°N-no¡­¡± She replied, still being cautious of Ddraig. ¡°I-if it¡¯s just one to two basilisks we can, but they¡¯ve been going to our nests with more than ten basilisks at once!¡± Reinhard lowered his weapons but still kept them ready. ¡°How many nagas are there in your nest?¡± ¡°There used to be more than fifty of us, but now, only about twenty of us are left, most are women and children¡­¡± She replied while a slight tremble on her body could visibly be seen. ¡°If¡­ if this keeps us¡­ We would all be killed¡­¡± ¡°Why not just move your nest? Surely the forest is big enough to find another home?¡± ¡°This part of the forest has the least amount of competition, which is why we were barely able to survive here. If we move somewhere else, I don¡¯t even know if we can keep up with the other creatures¡­¡± ¡°Are they that weak? Or are the creatures on other parts of the forest just that dangerous? I guess it¡¯s the latter as even other nations would not dare expand here. I really haven¡¯t seen anything yet, have I?¡± ¡°Please¡­ I¡¯m begging you! You¡¯re a friend of the dryads right? The former custodians? Maybe they can help us? W-we¡¯re not asking for the total eradication of the basilisks¡­¡± She took a glance towards Ddraig. ¡°¡­we just want to leave peacefully amongst these parts¡­¡± Reinhard went into deep thought, weighing his options. On the outside, he may seem like he¡¯s looking directly towards the naga girl, but in actuality, he¡¯s just lost in his thoughts, staring at nothing that just so happens to be the direction of the naga girl. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯m not really in a hurry to get to the kingdom¡­ Am I?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°No, I¡¯m not. Should I go back and inform them about this problem? Ah, but even if I did, Garden is busy as it is with its own things¡­¡± He snapped out of his daydreaming and asked the naga girl standing not too far in front of him. ¡°You say you just want to live peacefully, right? What do you nagas eat?¡± ¡°Eh? Ah, it depends. If we had a successful hunt, we eat meat. If not, we eat the fruits and berries we foraged while on the hunt.¡± ¡°Foraged? Do you not farm?¡± The naga grew embarrassed. ¡°N-no¡­ None of us know how to farm¡­¡± She replied while looking down on the ground. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°I could teach you if you want? I mean¡­ As much as I know, anyway, which is just the very basics.¡± The naga girl flinched back. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry¡­ I lied. It¡¯s not that we don¡¯t know how to farm. It¡¯s just that¡­ we can¡¯t do it. Some of us say it¡¯s a curse from nature, some say this is the way nature intended us to live. Either way, it would be like trying to teach a bird how to wield a spear. We just can¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°¡­¡± At this point, Reinhard hadn¡¯t noticed it yet, but his cautiousness has already dropped. ¡°Would you mind if I go and see this nest of yours?¡± He asked the naga. The naga, in response, immediately looked up to him in shock. ¡°W-what? No! You¡¯d be killed by my brothers! They¡­ they hate humans, because they believe the humans are the root cause of this by invading the basilisk nest¡­ They might even think you¡¯re one of those humans.¡± She looked at Ddraig once again. ¡°Then I just have to convince them otherwise, right?¡± ¡°No! You¡¯d be killed even before you utter a single word!¡± ¡°Hmm, not if I ride atop Ddraig. He can spit fire, you know?¡± Reinhard retorted, somewhat proud of what his follower can do. Ddraig, in response, let out a triumphant hiss.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The naga girl appeared to be thinking for a while. Her eyes furrowed just like that of a normal human. Silence followed for about a minute and a half before she spoke again. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me if something happens to you¡­¡± She said, finally giving in to Reinhard¡¯s request. [SYSTEM] [Charismatic 4] leveled up to [Charismatic 5] Unbeknownst to her, Reinhard actually had ulterior motives on why he¡¯d want to go to their nest. ¡°If things start turning south, I¡¯d just run away.¡± ¡°...Fine. Follow me.¡± The naga girl sighed. Ddraig went closer to Reinhard and lowered his head so he can hop on top of him, then they began following the naga girl westward, opposite of where they had intended to go to avoid the basilisk nest. ¡°By the way, do you have a name?¡± Reinhard asked to her while riding on Ddraig. ¡°Ah, yes. I¡¯m called Hebi.¡± She shortly replied. Reinhard looked at her movements. It did seem very snake-like the way her lower body traverses across obstacles and terrain, but the difference is that she does not slither like Ddraig does. Instead, she moves straight forward, dragging her lower body along. At least, it would seem that way. It almost looks like she have unseen wheels beneath her due to the lack of visible motion in her movements. ¡°I wonder how she manages to move¡­ It also appears that she doesn¡¯t hiss like a snake would. Hmm, I should stop bringing the logic of my previous world in here¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°This is a different world with a different set of rules, after all. Wait, does that mean some universal laws are different? I mean¡­ It¡¯s obvious enough that magic exists, but aside from that, I wonder if there are other changes¡­ And what causes this?¡± He then brought up the gray interface. He made some basic tests regarding it before, and it turns out that only he can see it. All of a sudden, Hebi stopped in her tracks and looked back at Ddraig and Reinhard. It didn''t felt like they''ve travelled far, but that''s only because of the speed of both Ddraig and Hebi. ¡°We¡¯re here. Beyond this wall of bushes is our nest. Are you sure you want to do this?¡± In response, Reinhard talked to Ddraig. ¡°Are you ready to look as intimidating as you can, Ddraig?¡± *Hissss* ¡°Yep! We¡¯re ready.¡± Reinhard said. Hebi on the otherhand, looks unconvinced. Then, they went through the shrubs. Reinhard prepared himself for the worst reception he would receive, so he readied the earth staff to cast a shield the moment someone shows hostility to him. ¡°A BASILISK!¡± Someone shouted just mere moments after they emerged. ¡°PROTECT THE CHILDREN, THEY¡¯RE ATTACKING AGAIN!¡± Another one says. The entire nest immediately fell into chaos. ¡°No! Wait! Calm down!¡± Hebi desperately says as she puts herself in between the assembling naga guards wielding spears and Ddraig. ¡°Is that¡­ a human!?¡± ¡°There¡¯s a human here? What is the meaning of this, Hebi!?¡± ¡°CALM DOWN! This human is a friend of the dryads!!¡± She shouted on top of her lungs to catch everyone¡¯s attention. The four assembling guards paused and looked up to Reinhard in disbelief. They all look somewhat the same to Reinhard, except for their faces and the overall size of their bodies. He scanned the entire area. It¡¯s a circular space barricaded by various sticks and logs. Inside, one can see the multiple thatches littered in the area seemingly without organization. Some thatches have giant eggs on them while some are empty. The nagas inside are all huddled in one area, protecting their young behind their backs. ¡°Wait, there are only four guards?¡± ¡°How do you know that!?¡± One guard shouts at Hebi. ¡°H-he told me.¡± ¡°And you believed him!?¡± Hebi was speechless. She didn¡¯t know how to respond. ¡°Leave now, human, unless you want to die right here and now¡­¡± Despite the obvious threat to his life, Reinhard remained unfazed. He tapped Ddraig¡¯s head twice. *Hisss* Then, in a spectacular and at the same time frightening display of power, Ddraig let out a breath of flames above the guards. It was high enough not to harm anyone or anything, but they could certainly feel the heat of it. ¡°Craaaap, it¡¯s so hot being this near from it!¡± Reinhard thought as he struggles to maintain his composure against the incredible heat. He¡¯s certainly had it worse than the guards, but they were affected by it more than him. The guard on the far left dropped his spear in fear and just froze there, staring at the flames while the rest of the guards couldn¡¯t help but retreat a little bit. The plume of flames subsided, and all the nagas could see was Reinhard sitting on top of a red basilisk, emotionless. ¡°I am the current chief of Garden.¡± Reinhard says as confident as he can while getting off of Ddraig¡¯s head. "Eh?" Hebi couldn''t belive what she just heared. ¡°Hebi here has told me everything. The basilisks, the humans, all of it. I¡¯m not going to help you, because frankly, I don¡¯t know how. Have you tried asking the sylphs about this?¡± ¡°T-there are no Sylpheim Trees in these parts.¡± Hebi replied to him from his right side, still shocked at the revelation. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m trying to expand Garden, you see. I came here not to offer a solution to your problem, but a way for you to avoid it. Come to Garden. Live with us and you will be offered protection. In exchange, you are expected to work for the benefit of Garden. How¡¯s that sound?¡± ¡°SAVE US YOUR LIES, HUMAN!¡± One guard shouts after regaining his senses. ¡°Chief of Garden? Hah! You? A human? The Smoke would consume all of Drasil first before the dryads trust a mortal!¡± Reinhard sighed. ¡°Should I do it? Show them I possess the branch?¡± Reinhard thought for a while and, once again, weighed his options. In the end though, he went against it and decided to convince them himself. ¡°It¡¯s true. I don¡¯t need you to believe me. All you had to do is see for yourself.¡± He replied. ¡°And how would we do that? Garden has been hidden from the outside world for thousands of years! You think we could just walk in there?¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Well. Tylla is¡­ dead.¡± He replied with a gloomy tone. ¡°Those same humans that attacked the basilisk nest came to Garden looking for the holder of the branch and they thought the dryads were hiding him. It just turns out that I was there and saw that¡­ injustice happening, so I decided to fight for the dryads. One thing led to another and now I¡¯m the chief. Tylla was killed while the barrier was open, so it cannot be closed as of yet. If you go to the hut you would see it.¡± ¡°Lies! You think we¡¯ll believe any¡ª¡° ¡°Enough.¡± Before the guard could even finish speaking, he was interrupted by an older looking naga from inside the nest. ¡°I apologize for the attitude of these young ones. Over the years, we¡¯ve just learned not to be trusting of humans. Now, I have to ask you¡­ Is what you said really true? That you¡¯re the chief of Garden?¡± The older naga looked at him straight in the eyes. This feeling reminded him of the elder from Garden, as if years of accumulated experience and wisdom were bearing down on him. ¡°Yes, it is.¡± He replied with a straight face full of confidence. ¡°I see. Let him in.¡± ¡°Wha¡ª? But he¡¯s¡ª¡° ¡°Let him in!¡± ¡°Y-yes¡­¡± He and Ddraig were let in after the intense piercing gazes of the guards that seem to protest the idea. While inside the barely secure fence of wood and sticks, two of the guards tailed behind him while the other two remained at the entrance. The nagas huddling on one side have now began to disperse, but still distancing themselves from him and Ddraig. They stopped at one of the elevated thatches where the older naga rested himself on. ¡°Now¡­ I¡¯d like to hear more.¡± He said as he coil his snake body on itself. Chapter 23: A test of ability ¡°Your basilisk there, how did it come to your service? Did you tame it?¡± The old naga asked while looking at Ddraig. ¡°His name is Ddraig, and no, I didn¡¯t tame him.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± The old naga raised an eyebrow. Reinhard then explained how he was able to gain Ddraig as his follower. The old naga and Hebi seemed to be very impressed and engrossed at it while the two guards behind him just gave reactions of smug disbelief. ¡°Interesting¡­ Anyway, about your proposal.¡± ¡°Hm? Ah, yes, how about it?¡± ¡°What exactly do you expect of us nagas to do?¡± ¡°Before I could decide that, I¡¯ll have to know first what nagas are good at, don''t I?¡± ¡°True, but unfortunately, I am in no position to know that. All that we¡¯ve been doing is hunt for our food to survive another day, and we¡¯re not even that good at it. Legends say that thousands of years ago, we nagas once stood on equal footing with the humans and other races. We had our own nation and borders. We don¡¯t know the validity of it however, it could be true or it could be just that¡­ a legend.¡± ¡°¡­¡± Reinhard was mildly intrigued by this. ¡°Well it¡¯s not that impossible, as civilizations do rise and fall. What I''m curious about that is how they declined from an entire nation to a mere camp somewhere in this forest.¡± Reinhard sat across the old naga while leaning his back on Ddraig, thinking. ¡°Have you ever fought creatures other than the basilisk and those that you hunt?¡± He asked. ¡°Yes, although rarely. Our hunters would occasionally say that they encountered a group of goblins or orcs. Goblins are utterly no match against us, but orcs could rival us in sheer strength alone. Thankfully, we don¡¯t just rely on sheer strength.¡± ¡°Oh? Then what do you rely on?¡± ¡°Would you like to see?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm. This could be good. It¡¯ll allow me to assess their abilities¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯d like to see how good your guards are, if that¡¯s okay.¡± He suddenly said, getting the attention of the two guards behind him. ¡°Sure, but, are sure you want to fight them?¡± ¡°Ah, no, it¡¯s not me that¡¯s fighting.¡± Reinhard stood up and pats Ddraig¡¯s resting head. ¡°He will.¡± Hebi and the old naga¡¯s reaction grew wider at Reinhard¡¯s decleration. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t permit him to use his flame breath and this would only be a test of skill, so Ddraig, don¡¯t bare your fangs, okay? In return I¡¯d like the challenger to remove the tip of his spear.¡± ¡°B-but¡­¡± One of the guards started to mutter, but he was interrupted by the sudden laughing of the old naga. ¡°HA HA HA HA! Interesting. I like your idea. Very well. Anyone of you two would like to show the chief of Garden your skills? This isn¡¯t going to be a fight to death, don¡¯t worry.¡± Suddenly, one of the guards from the gate came towards them. It was that same guard that threatened Reinhard earlier. ¡°I came here to check what¡¯s going on and find out that you¡¯re challenging us? Very well, I shall do it.¡± The guard said, calmer than he was previously at the gate. ¡°There¡¯s your challenger!¡± The old naga said, utterly enjoying every second if it. ? They were in a somewhat empty part of the nest as there were no thatches laid on the ground. Many nagas surround them though, hoping to take a look at the battle. Some children were questioning why they let a basilisk inside, while others are murmuring amongst themselves on who would win. It turns out that the challenger was one of the strongest guards they have, even before their numbers had been significantly reduced. ¡°I am called Sawha.¡± The challenger said as he remove the tip off of his wooden spear. ¡°This is Ddraig.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Reinhard replied as he pats Ddraig¡¯s sides. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t use your flame breath. If you¡¯re going for a bite, just fold your fangs, alright?¡± *Hisss* Ddraig and Sawha faces off against each other in the middle of the circle of crowd. Reinhard stands by the side of the older naga and Hebi. ¡°Let the fight¡­ commence!¡± Hebi says after a long silence. As soon as she says that, Sawha immediately began to charge towards Ddraig. ¡°He¡¯s fast!¡± Reinhard thought. Sawha was leaning so much into the ground that his face almost touches the soil while he¡¯s charging. Although Reinhard couldn¡¯t find a reason for this, it made him admire the strength of his lower body nonetheless. Meanwhile, Ddraig was standing still, waiting for Sawha to come into his range. It was unlike how he fought Reinhard where he went on the offensive and aimed for the lunges. Reinhard observed every movement and every second of the battle. It was just like with Hebi and the other naga. Sawha¡¯s lower body does not slither but instead move in a straight line. This made him wonder just how in the hell were they moving forwards, and so fast at that? When Ddraig deemed that Sawha was in range, he immediately lunged towards Sawha with his fangs folded, but Sawha¡¯s leaning was so low that Ddraig just skimmed the air above Sawha. This gave him the opportunity to hit Ddraig¡¯s underside while moving sideways, which he did. ¡°Hit!¡± Hebi shouts as Sawha scores a hit on Ddraig. What Sawha didn¡¯t realize though is he¡¯s now in the striking range of Ddraig¡¯s tail sweep. When he saw Ddraig¡¯s tail coming at him, it was already too late. He tried to block it with his tip-less spear, but was flung about two meters anyway. ¡°Hit!¡± Hebi shouts once again. The two combatants have now regained their stances, eyeing each other as they slowly prepare for their attack. This time, Ddraig dropped the height superiority and instead laid himself into the ground, countering Sawha¡¯s approach. He slowly slithered towards Sawha who¡¯s on a defensive position, waiting for Ddraig¡¯s move. Instead of fully committing to a full lunge, Ddraig, as soon as he entered into striking range, instead attempted multiple bites at Sawha by doing a ¡°mid-lunge¡± and quickly retracting himself for another attack. To Reinhard, it looked like a fencer trusting his rapier, then backing away only to thrust it again repeatedly. Yet what really caught his attention is how nimble Sawha¡¯s dodging is. It¡¯s almost as if he could dodge at any direction except for upwards. ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect this much mobility on him, especially someone who lacks legs¡­¡± Sawha was twisting and turning around and under every attack of Ddraig. He was unable to counterattack though as Ddraig was also equally fast at retracting his bites. Seeing as nothing is really happening with the present situation, Ddraig, on his final bite, retreated his entire body sideways and attempted to slam Sawha with his tail once again, this time while Sawha is still in the process of recovering from the dodge. Ddraig¡¯s tail kicked up the dirt towards the audience as it explosively accelerates towards Sawha who¡¯s about to prone to the ground to avoid it. Just like last time, he didn¡¯t manage to dodge it, but unlike last time, he didn¡¯t manage to block it either. His right arm took the blunt of Ddraig¡¯s tail, cushioning it using his biceps. Once again, he was flung away, rolling into the ground as he lands. ¡°Hit!¡± That wasn¡¯t the end of it though, as while Sawha was prone on the ground, Ddraig immediately followed up with a bite downwards him. Sawha managed to dodge it this time by rolling sideways, putting Ddraig in a vulnerable position as his head is now on the ground. Sawha immediately took the opportunity and swept his stick with all his might horizontally towards Ddraig. The force of it hitting Ddraig¡¯s scales was so strong that the sound it gave off was like that of hitting a drum full of water. The stick, on the other hand, instantly splintered and snapped. A testament to the hardness of Ddraig¡¯s scales and Sawha¡¯s strength. ¡°Hit!¡± The other half of the stick flew towards the audience. That was the signal that the battle has ended with a tie. Ddraig and Sawha looked at each other. It was impressive enough that Sawha was able to score melee hits on Ddraig, as Reinhard knew full well how difficult that was even when he was using staves, but to also be able to withstand the force of Ddraig¡¯s blows made Reinhard even more impressed. The two combatants then stood side-by-side in front of Reinhard and the old naga. ¡°Excellent moves!¡± Reinhard commended. As Reinhard was in no way a fighter, it was the only thing that he could say in response to the fight itself. However, he can see the incredible and numerous applications of individuals like the naga in actual battle. ¡°Yes, both sides fought with incredible skill. I¡¯m not going into any details, but if all naga moves and fights the same way that you do, or at least, has the potential to be, then you¡¯re certainly going to be excellent shock troops!¡± ¡°Shock troops?¡± Hebi questioned under her breath. ¡°I would like you all to come live in Garden. There, you would be provided with food and protection, but in return, you would enter its workforce as hunters and, if the situation calls for it, conscripted soldiers.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really understand some of those, but you¡¯re saying that in return for giving us protection, we would hunt food for Garden?¡± Hebi finally asked what everyone might have wanting to ask but could not step forward to do so. ¡°Yes! Essentially, it wouldn¡¯t be any different from what you¡¯re doing now. Those who cannot hunt can help with other things that contribute to Garden. How¡¯s it?¡± The audience surrounding them looked and discussed amongst each other. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a problem if at least five of them hunt regularly and continuously to replenish the food reserves. It would be the only thing they do though, so I hope they don¡¯t get bored of that.¡± The old naga was about to stand up and say something to the crowd as well when a sudden shout permeated throughout the silent murmuring of the discussing audience. ¡°BASILISKS! THEY¡¯RE HERE!¡± Everyone instinctively looked towards the source of the sound and found that one naga had emerged from the trees to the north-east. Sawha immediately bursts into action. He dropped the broken stick he was holding and took another one near the old naga¡¯s nest before finally hurrying towards the entrance. Hebi, Reinhard, and Ddraig went too, while the rest of the naga huddled together like they did earlier. They met the naga that shouted at the gate. At first he let out a ¡°hiiih¡± when he saw Ddraig but was calmed down by the guards. Apparently, he was overlooking the basilisk¡¯s nest from a treetop and saw that they¡¯ve all began to move towards this direction. Every single basilisk there left the nest and decided to attack here. Unlike humans or most animals, newborn basilisks only need two to three days after hatching to be able to hunt by themselves. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we evacuate everyone then?¡± Reinhard told the guards who were questioning the one that just arrived. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Hebi! Tell everyone to get out of here and head towards the hut. You go with them too to protect them!¡± Sawha ordered to Hebi. She immediately left without question after hearing this and went to the rest of the naga, but it was too late. One by one, silhouettes began to appear from within the trees. Not long after, the basilisks emerged. The sight was chilling to Reinhard. Not because of the way the basilisks slowly crept into the light, but because of the sheer number of them. There were about ten to fifteen basilisks, some have shiny black scales while others have dark-purple ones. They all lined up at the edge of the clearing, looking around at the seven individuals standing at the entrance.