“Victory!”

Experience points gained: 6,000.

With nothing else to do, Richard collected the experience reward for the battle. A few hundred man-eating demons provided a relatively generous reward.

Richard now had 6,560 experience points in total, not far from the 8,000 needed to reach the next level.

Based on the reward from the last mission, he estimated that he would reach level 5 after turning in this quest.

Richard’s party traveled quickly. The pace of a small elite force was naturally much faster than that of a large army.

Richard, Ron, and the others soon caught up to the soldiers of the Flying Bear Army who had departed earlier, but Richard didn’t stay long. After giving Quill a few instructions, he set off with his men toward Boulder Fortress. With the promise of leveling up just around the corner, Richard couldn’t wait to get there.

Fortunately, the soldiers produced by the System were all quite strong and resilient. Richard marched them through the night without any falling behind.

After rushing at top speed, Richard finally arrived at Boulder Fortress early the next morning.

From the outside, Boulder Fortress seemed to have remained largely unchanged, though many new buildings could be seen within.

The castle had been emptied by Richard’s orders, and the area within a half-mile radius of the fortress had been designated as a restricted zone to ensure the fortress’s secrets remained hidden.

Richard walked into the Boule Chamber alone. The hall looked much the same as when he’d left; thanks to financial support from the Hunter family, Richard had yet to upgrade the chamber into an administrative office.

Hundreds of gold pieces were the most plentiful, but Richard was no miser. Money had to be spent where it would yield the greatest returns; money stored away in a warehouse had no value.

“Eliminate 278 out of 500 man-eating demons. Mission accomplished. Do you wish to claim your reward?”

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, Richard submitted the mission.

“Congratulations! You have earned 3,000 experience points.”

“Congratulations! You have acquired five crusaders.”

“Congratulations! You have acquired Divine Traveller’s Boots (speed +2).”

“Congratulations! You have been promoted.”

New mission:

Eliminate man-eating demons (500)

Eliminate man-eating demon warriors (10)

The new mission was not just one level more difficult than the last. Based on the System’s past behavior, a mission with a quota of five hundred likely meant facing at least a thousand demons, not to mention more than ten man-eating demon warriors. Even Richard felt a headache coming on at the thought of it.

What worried Richard most was that the System’s issuing of this mission served as a kind of warning. There would likely be a massive incursion of giants in the near future.

But whether by fire or flood, one must meet adversity with resistance. Though giants were formidable foes, neither Richard nor the Hunter family were pushovers. The outcome of this battle was yet to be determined.

The most important thing right now was to continue strengthening his forces, but first, he needed to collect the reward for completing the mission.

The reward this time around was truly bountiful, leaving Richard somewhat dazzled.

A pair of exquisite beast-hide boots appeared before him, and upon feeling them, Richard could tell they were both supple and durable, though he was unsure what type of beast hide had been used.

He tried on the Divine Traveller’s Boots, which fit comfortably and snugly. After taking a few steps, he could tell his stride had become noticeably lighter.

Richard walked around a bit more, then called Ron over. “Ron, do you feel any difference?”

“The armor feels a bit lighter.”

A seasoned knight like Ron was highly sensitive to even the slightest changes in his equipment. From the moment Richard donned the Divine Traveller’s Boots, Ron could tell something was different.

This is a strategic bonus, Richard thought, if all the soldiers in the System can enjoy the effects of the Divine Traveller’s Boots.

After all, speed was vital for a military force. The System’s soldiers were already more capable than an ordinary army; if they also used the Divine Traveller’s Boots, they could pull off incredible feats such as surprise attacks from afar.

Having determined the effects of the Divine Traveller’s Boots, Richard turned his attention back to his character sheet.

Name: Richard

Level: 5 (1560/8000)

Strength: 13.1

Constitution: 12.0

Agility: 12.5

Spirit: 4.3

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

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

Skill Points: 1

Acquired New Traits: Heart of Leadership (the effects of my skills can be combined with those of my subordinates’ traits)

Richard wasn’t sure how to use this skill point. To upgrade Intermediate Attack Spell to Advanced would require at least two points, and he could cultivate Green Qi-Attracting Technique slowly on his own without wasting skill points on it. Richard decided to save the point for later.

This new “Heart of Domination” ability came as a pleasant surprise to Richard.

With this, the intermediate Offensive Spell that Richard possessed and Ron’s Crusader ability could complement each other. Richard’s trump cards, the Crusaders, would once again receive a significant boost in battle prowess.

Adding the twenty percent and thirty percent bonuses together wasn’t as simple as it sounded; the actual effect meant that Richard’s Crusaders enjoyed a near sixty percent increase in battle strength.

“You, attack me,” Richard ordered, walking onto the training grounds and selecting one of the Crusaders to spar with him.

Clang

Clang, clang, clang.

The selected Crusader showed no hesitation, his longsword whirling through the air so quickly it was barely visible as he launched a ferocious attack against Richard, who struggled to block, having no time to counterattack.

The Crusaders’ swordsmanship was brutally sharp; Richard’s skills were inferior to theirs, strictly speaking.

These Crusaders, tempered on the battlefield, were all experienced fighters. Earlier, they had been held back by their relatively low attributes, unable to compete with Richard’s skills. But with the dual boost of the Holy Sword and the Bloodlust Aura, their attributes were no longer a weakness, and they easily overpowered him.

“Stop! Stop!”

At Richard’s command, the Crusader halted his attack and sheathed his sword.

Whew.

Richard let out a long breath. He suspected these ironheads must have had granite for brains—if he hadn’t called for them to stop, he really feared they would hack him down without hesitation.

Nevertheless, Richard was quite pleased with the Crusaders’ current capabilities. If their abilities before could be likened to newly promoted knights, some of the weakest in the hierarchy, then now they were undoubtedly at the upper echelons, even stronger than Richard himself.

This improvement bolstered Richard’s confidence for future battles.

“Let’s go. Back to TIE Mu City.”

After leaving a small contingent of spearmen to guard Boulder Fortress, Richard rushed back to TIE Mu City with the remaining soldiers.

The spring planting season had ended, leaving the peasants with nothing to do but train under the direction of the local constables, and even the villages that had once belonged to the House of Wil now followed Richard’s rules.

Along their journey, traces of the great battle between the Hunter and Wil families vanished, as though the existence of the House of Wil had been wholly erased from this land.

The subjects were beginning to accept the rule of the Hunter family; life must go on, and under the Hunter family, it was not so bad.

After a cursory inspection, Richard did not linger and rushed at top speed back to Tie Mu City. With the aid of the Divine Traveller’s Boots, Richard and his retinue arrived back in Tie Mu City before sunset, while the Flying Bear Army, which had departed earlier, had only just arrived.

Upon returning to Tie Mu City, Richard rushed straight back to Tie Mu Fort. He first checked in with his mother to assure her of his safety, lest she worry, then endured a scolding or two before seeking out Viscount Souter.

The viscount’s attention remained focused on military matters; after offering a detailed account of the battle, Richard left Souter somewhat speechless—it seemed Richard lacked any inclination to lead from the front lines, unlike himself.

After returning to the castle, revealing his true identity, and having a brief discussion with his parents, Richard rushed back to the military camp.

A reward system was essential after a major battle, as it was the long-term guarantee of a military’s combat effectiveness. Richard insisted on personally overseeing such a system, as he knew the value of securing the loyalties of his subordinates.