“Clang!”

“Clang, clang!”

From the training grounds of Tie Mu Fort came the sounds of clashing weapons.

Richard was sparring with Viscount Soutte. The viscount, who excelled in both energy cultivation and combat technique, kept Richard firmly under his control.

Among the Hunter family members watching the match, including Richard’s second and third uncles, eyes were glued on the battlefield. After all, observing a duel between knights was an excellent opportunity to learn.

“Bang!”

“Ah!”

Spotting a weakness, Viscount Soutte kicked Richard hard in the chest, eliciting a cry of pain from the boy, who lost his balance momentarily. Seizing the opportunity, Viscount Soutte pressed his sword against Richard’s throat.

“Well, you’re defeated again. You’re still too young to best me.”

“Tch!”

Though he had won the match, Viscount Soutte received a chorus of boos from the sidelines, denied the adulation due to a victor. Losing interest, he sheathed his sword and turned to leave, but before he could, he slapped Richard on the shoulder. “You’ve improved, boy. You’re not much worse than I was at your age.”

Again, the crowd booed more loudly.

“Big bro, you weren’t even a knight at Richard’s age.”

Richard’s uncle was the one who tore down Sott’s facade; the two brothers were the only ones who dared to challenge the viscount, having known him since his youth.

“Nonsense! You must be mistaken!”

Viscount Sott retorted with a stiff neck, but anyone could see he was beginning to doubt himself.

“Forget it. There’s a new circus in town today, and I’ve got to go check it out.”

With that, Viscount Soutte hurried away.

As the main character left, the rest of the crowd dispersed to attend to their own business.

Soon, only Richard remained, rubbing the spot where Viscount Soutte had kicked him moments earlier.

“Shh…”

The pain in his chest hurt so much that Richard could only grit his teeth.

Viscount Soutte might have loved boasting, but his strength was not merely talk. His mastery of the common energy-refinement technique put him on par with the most elite knights. With Viscount Soutte’s natural talent, if he had received a better energy-refinement technique earlier, he may have already reached the rank of Great Knight.

The fact that Richard could exchange so many blows with Viscount Soutte indicated that he had made remarkable progress in a short span of time.

It had been barely a month since Richard acquired the Green Qi-Attracting Technique, yet he had already cultivated it to the intermediate level, significantly enhancing his strength once more. He was now evenly matched against a Crusader with the effects of both the Holy Grail and the Philosopher’s Stone.

After everyone else had left, Richard opened the System in his mind.

It’s a new week…

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Name: Richard

Level: 5 (1560/8000)

Strength: 14.1

Constitution: 13.6

Agility: 13.5

Spirit: 4.4

Skills: Beast Breathing Style (Grandmaster) – maxed, Green Qi-Attracting Technique (Intermediate), Attack Spell (Intermediate).

Specialty: Leadership

Units: Centaur Chieftain (20), Spearman (90), Archer (50), Royal Griffin (29), Crusader (19).

Now that Richard’s Green Qi-Attracting Technique had reached the intermediate level, his four attributes had grown a bit more. Judging solely by his physical strength, Richard was already stronger than some peak knights, and perhaps even stronger than the strongest among them. He still lacked in terms of energy reserves and battle technique, however.

As of now, Richard could manage two cities simultaneously: Boulder Fortress and TIE Mu City.

The advanced buildings in Boulder Fortress remained unbuildable, still grayed out. Richard wasted little time before upgrading the archer encampment into a marksmen encampment.

Marksmen could be considered one of the Human Race’s most important units in the early game. They had previously prioritized developing the Crusaders and griffins, which were aerial units, but now that the timing was right, Richard immediately chose to upgrade his archers.

After upgrading all of his archers to marksmen, he recruited a fresh wave of soldiers trained for the week.

Next, he clicked open the interface for Forest City. If Boulder Fortress still had other options, Forest City had none. He could only construct the second-level elven barracks, the Sword Dancer Encampment, and recruit all the troops trained within it.

Richard’s forces grew significantly stronger.

Army: Centaurs (40), spearmen (110), sword dancers (15), marksmen (65), royal griffins (35), crusaders (23).

After upgrading the first-level human foot soldiers, Richard was extremely satisfied with the Centaurs. These warriors wielded battle axes,

With Richard’s Intermediate Offensive Spell, these snow-white warriors were now on par with quasi-knights, and their charge was significantly more effective than that of cavalry. After all, the pinnacle of human-cavalry unity seemed to be “one with the horse,” but these centaurs were born as such—who could compare?

These centaurs truly deserved to be called king among first-class units, and in some aspects, they were even stronger than many second-class units.

However, the second-class sword dancers stationed in the barrier (fairy) main city left Richard feeling conflicted. These fighters possessed incredible attack power but very thin health, and they practically had no defense at all.

One glance at them revealed their fragile existence; Richard didn’t dare order them to spearhead any attacks. After all, excessive casualties would still be a cause for concern.

Fortunately, these sword dancers were quick and nimble in the forest, so Richard decided to deploy them in the ironwood forest for the time being, where they could serve as forest scouts.

“Sir!”

As Richard pondered the System, a messenger soldier interrupted his thoughts.

“Archduke Richard, an urgent report from the frontlines.”

The messenger soldier bore an emergency intelligence report from Yusi Du, sent via wind bird. Raising wind birds was difficult, so using them as messengers was extremely costly.

If it were not an emergency, Yu Si would have chosen to send a message via the traditional method of using a messenger steed.

In the entirety of the northern lands, aside from Flooding Snow City and a handful of other wealthy territories, only the Hunter family had access to the more advanced technology of wind birds for transmitting messages.

The fact that Yu Si resorted to using wind birds indicated the gravity and urgency of the situation.

Richard accepted a small cylinder from the messenger, which was likely where the wind bird’s message had been stored. The mouth of the cylinder was sealed with wax, which Richard slit open, then opened the cylinder and removed a slip of paper bearing a concise message.

“The Northern Expeditionary Army has suffered a devastating defeat. The cannibal demons have launched a large-scale invasion.”

The first line succinctly conveyed the most important information, while the few lines that followed offered a brief description of the battlefield situation, allowing Richard to gain a general understanding of the events that had transpired.

The Northern Expeditionary Army, which boasted an unparalleled record of victories, had suffered a devastating defeat.

To be honest, Richard had not predicted such an outcome.

At most, he had imagined the Northern Expeditionary Army might achieve an inconclusive stalemate with their enemies, but never defeat. Yet unexpectedly, not only did the Northern Expeditionary Army lose, they suffered a crushing defeat so humiliating they’d lost more than just their pants—certainly their dignity as well.

Richard read over the message several times, then clenched it into a ball in his hand.

Richard’s feelings regarding the Northern Expeditionary Army’s disastrous defeat were rather complicated. A setback to the powerful Flooding Snow City would not be a bad thing for the ambitious Richard.

However, it also meant that, for the time being, no one could check the orcs. The orcs would ravage countless human homes and lives.

As a human, Richard did not wish to see such a scene unfold.

Unfortunately, as a human, it was impossible for him to make every decision with unerring logic devoid of emotion.

“Command the officers of the rank of Colonel and above to gather at Tie Mu Fort for a meeting,” Richard said, having reached a decision.

“Yes, sir.”