Michael wished to spend more time with his brother, but the protection barrier would be lifted soon. Furthermore, Danny was also busy with his expedition.
Danny didn’t say a lot about the expedition, the desert region that surrounded his territory, or his life and experiences as a Lord. However, that was fine. It was not as if Michael was willing to reveal everything he had experienced, either.
They spent a few hours together and talked far more about the Origin Expanse and the livelihood of Lords than ever before. They had a great time together catching up with each other and their experiences, but they had to separate now.
Michael entered the Runic Gate his War Rune materialized, and he returned to the Origin Expanse.
The apartment that had been filled with noises seconds ago returned to peaceful silence as the brothers returned to their territories to live the life of busy and hard-working Lords.
Like always, Michael first smelled the aroma of the Untamed Jungle’s flora and fauna. It was incomparable to the smell outside the Origin Expanse and had an almost addictive quality to it.
He stretched his body when he emerged on the other side of the Runic Gate and looked at his surroundings.
It was already afternoon, but that was something Michael had already expected. He walked over to the wooden manor where he received his daily report.
He moved the books and recipes he had purchased into one of the wooden manor’s empty rooms and told everyone to use them. Michael had also purchased a big stash of paper, several bottles of waterproof ink, and a pen that could be easily filled with the ink. These were all items needed for the Scholars and Librarians to replicate the books and the Sun Soldier techniques for everyone to read without the need to wait several days due to having limited copies.
Once most items had been stored neatly, Michael met up with Tiara. He gave her the Antler Bow, two-thirds of the arrows he had purchased for himself, and the leather armor sets for her and the Warriors, who’d spawned without an armor.
“Master, you’re way too generous with us…wasn’t all of this way too expensive?” Tiara asked in shock. She hadn’t expected her Master to go out of his way and generously spend a small fortune to buy them tempered Tier-1 leather armor sets, and to give her the Antler Bow Artifact and refined arrows.
“If you think that I’m too kind and generous, you can thank me by continuing to give your best to protect the territory,” Michael responded with a light smile. He didn’t mind spending a small fortune on his warriors if it allowed them to survive the ordeals they encountered every day.
They fought for him and his territory, so it was only fair to give them what they deserved. In that regard, Michael was certain that he should reward his people more than what he could provide for now.
“In that case, I hope you’re satisfied with the 63 monsters we hunted when you left the Origin Expanse!” One of the Warriors exclaimed proudly. He was overjoyed with the tempered Tier-1 leather armor and couldn’t even hide his emotions at this point.
Michael smiled when he saw the Warrior’s reaction. He had already noticed that some of his combat units had grown stronger, but he hadn’t expected them to have hunted 63 monsters. Even half of that number would have been more than what he expected from them after hunting for half a day.
“You guys left the protection barrier to hunt, didn’t you?” Michael asked after he turned to Tiara. He didn’t look at her as his maid anymore. Tiara was more like his commander-in-charge.
She nodded her head and explained, “With Ms Kelia by our side it is much more secure than you might think. Her control of the Water Element is exceptional, and the high humidity in the air plays in favor of her ability. She is great!”
Ms. Kelia was the Water Elemental Mage. Michael could tell that she was powerful simply because she was a 3-Star Elemental Mage, but it seemed as if she was even more resourceful than expected. After all, it was not easy to hunt 63 Tier-1 monsters when they had only one Tier-1 combatant in their group.
“That’s great. Maybe, I’ll be able to summon a few more Warriors to aid you in battle once I finish extracting the carcasses!” Michael exclaimed and the others nodded their heads vigorously.
They were excited at the thought of their military might expanding further. Tiara’s ears perked up when she heard ‘summon’, and the hint of a smile appeared on her face.
“After you left this morning, two subjects emerged from the Summoning Gate. They’re both 1-Star Summons just like the knights in training from yesterday!” She said with a bright smile.
Michael was stunned. More 1-Star Summons?
He sensed the Links of Loyalty connected to his War Rune and realized in astonishment that two more Links of Loyalty had been formed. They were stronger than ordinary Links of Loyalty, similar to the bonds of the Knights in training.
Did that mean, getting two 1-Star Summons like the Knights in training was not a one-time reward, but a reward he could claim daily?
That would be great!
‘Should I start conquering more territories to procure more Summoning Crystals? That should increase the number of daily summons…I could earn a bunch of SoulStar Fragments and Soultraits on the side as well!’ Michael mused, even though he knew that it was not easy to conquer other territories.
Michael was not even sure where the closest Lord territory was located, in the first place. He might be the last Lord in the entire Untamed Jungle region without realizing it.
Even if he was the last Lord, it was fine. He could find other ways to procure what he desired.
But for now, Michael had to take care of his territory. He extracted the monster corpses like always and ordered his subjects to store the near-perfectly dissected body parts in the warehouse.
Meanwhile, Michael’s full attention was on the seemingly ordinary piece of parchment he had extracted from a ferocious wolf’s corpse.
“Another fragment of the Untamed Jungle’s Map? Is it actually a map, or a treasure card?” Michael murmured to himself as he stared at the third piece of parchment that showed the topography of the Untamed Jungle.
‘How many more pieces do I need to complete the map? Will I be able to find out more about the Untamed Jungle once I find the remaining pieces?’
Either way, Michael stored the parchment in his War Rune while being deep in thought.
He received the energy share from the monster killed by his subjects and could clearly feel that his War Rune’s refinement degree would soon reach the Late stage.
‘Great. Everything will work according to my plan.’