Chapter 196: Upgrade

It was only after Wilson and the others had departed that Romalin opened his attribute panel.

[Level]: 4-Bronze Knight (344/800); 4-Grand Mage (0/1200)

[Attribute Points]: 564

[Energy Essences]: 1941

Today was the fifteenth of January, and the two heart-warming gift packs from earlier this month had brought him 40 and 50 attribute points and energy essences respectively.

Coupled with his daily check-ins at other times, as well as the achievement rewards he had just obtained, his current attribute points and energy essences had once again grown to a very considerable number.

"Over five hundred attribute points is already enough for me to max out my knight level!"

Without any delay, he directly consumed all of his attribute points.

[Level]: 4-Bronze Knight (800/800); 4-Grand Mage (108/1200)

In an instant, a mysterious energy generated out of nowhere entered Romalin's body, completely absorbed by his internal organs.

Romalin could only feel his heart beating powerfully, his blood flowing more furiously through his body, as though he could unleash infinite power if he so wished.

At the same time, the enhancement of his mental strength also made Romalin's five senses sharper.

He could clearly perceive the sensation of the wind blowing across his skin and hear the distant chirping of birds; everything around him seemed to have become vivid.

Romalin stood up, picked up the Flowing Flame Sword, and went into the courtyard outside the house, unceremoniously unleashing his fourth-tier battle techniques and magic, quickly diluting the pleasure brought by the rapid upgrade.

Chahar, who was waiting in the distance holding a kettle and a towel, discovered that he could no longer evaluate his Lord's strength level at all from some unknown moment onward.

After a long while, Romalin stopped his cultivation. While wiping his sweat, he said to Chahar, "Go and inform Rydal that I have something to discuss with him."

The energy essences had accumulated to nearly two thousand points; it was time to spend a wave of them.

Previously, considering his own low strength and the lack of danger around him, Romalin had invested all of his energy essences into Maken, which allowed the other party to skip the Bronze rank in one fell swoop and directly become a Silver Knight.

However, the situation was a bit different now.

Romalin's own strength had improved. As a peak Bronze Knight and a Grand Mage, enemies capable of leaving him completely defenseless—whether magical beasts or assassins—were not common.

At least within his own territory, he could move completely freely without needing anyone's protection.

Because of this, Romalin's reliance on Maken had decreased significantly.

On the contrary, as the territory developed further, Rydal's importance would become higher and higher.

Coupled with the expedition against the Black Collar Tribe this time, the commander had performed meritorious service. Even if the energy essences were treated as a reward, it should be time for Romalin to share some with Rydal.

In addition to Rydal, there also had to be a plan for the improvement of Elrond's abilities.

After all, whether Rulans could be cured was closely related to the level of this light-attribute mage.

"My Lord, you requested my presence."

That night, Rydal arrived in Romalin's room.

"How has the patrolling of Swamp Town been these past two days?" Romalin asked.

The public security problem in Swamp Town was more serious than that in Forest Town. On one hand, there were many people here, and the residential areas were very concentrated; on the other hand, the Lord had just changed, and some people might think the new Lord was easy to talk to, so they deliberately bullied their neighbors and caused trouble over these past few days.

Romalin noticed this problem and had Maken take the cavalry and infantry to handle the security here, locking up all those who argued and fought to do labor.

In addition to public security issues, there were also threats regarding survival.

The swamp was not peaceful; dangerous beasts and magical beasts could both exist, and the hunter squad established by Rydal was responsible for this type of problem.

"Over the past two days, I have already led the knights to search the dangerous areas reported by the fief's citizens."

Rydal reported, "Among them, three places showed no danger, while in another place, we found a three-meter-long crocodile, which has already been killed and carried back by us."

Romalin raised an eyebrow. A three-meter-long crocodile was not large, but it was still a threat to the citizens who farmed and fished in the swamp.

"Is it a magical beast?"

"No, just an ordinary wild beast."

Rydal shook his head and added, "Jennie knocked it unconscious with two water arrows."

Jennie was a water-attribute mage, and the environment of Swamp Town was quite good for her, allowing her speed in meditation and refining mana to increase considerably.

In the future, if Romalin established a new city elsewhere, he could instead let Jennie take over Swamp Town.

"My Lord, once we finish clearing Swamp Town in a few days, I plan to lead the knights to split up and take action."

Rydal reported, "Joffrey will take a group of people back to Forest Town to clear the area from the Ironwood Workshop toward Black Mountain, while I will take the remaining people north from the Black Collar Tribe."

Romalin nodded.

Both Knight Horn and Joffrey had mentioned that many people from the former wild tribe had died in the woodlands further north. Whether there was danger there, or what other circumstances existed, still required Romalin's people to investigate.

Now that the North Black Territory was all Romalin's domain, it was time to take a good walk through it.

"Very well, you can just be responsible for these matters. For the hunted prey, if it is a magical beast, you can hand it over to me; if it is a general wild beast, you all can divide it among yourselves."

Although ordinary wild beast pelts and the like could sell for a bit of money, the price was limited, and Romalin did not lack those few gold coins.

"Yes, my Lord."

Rydal smiled and accepted, "I really do want to use that crocodile skin to make a small leather armor."

Romalin smiled without speaking.

Although these three subordinates of his were all summoned, they were all living people with their own personalities, not NPCs, so it was normal for them to have their own thoughts.

"For this kind of thing, you can ask Chahar to help handle it, or you can entrust it to Tom's mother, Madam Lia."

Romalin said with a smile, "In any case, you have a salary every month. With money, are you still afraid you can't find someone to work for you?"

"What my Lord says is true."

Rydal smiled and said, "I only hope there can be more external merchant caravans in the territory, so it will also be more convenient for us to buy things."

"There will certainly be merchant caravans."

Swamp Town was not as remote as Forest Town; traveling merchants would definitely be willing to come over.

"Moreover, we will also establish a merchant caravan. In the future, if there is anything special you want to buy, you can also entrust our caravan to purchase it on your behalf, or take a leave of absence to go to Horse Pasture City to buy it yourselves."

The two conversed a bit more, and Romalin found that Rydal indeed knew a lot about commanding and governing the territory, making him worthy of more investment.

He glanced at the other party's cultivation progress, which was now at 29/800, basically increasing by one every day.

"There is another matter for which I called you here this time."

Romalin pulled the topic back from training archers.

Rydal stopped talking and gazed at the Lord, thinking the other party had tasks to arrange.

Yet to his surprise, an inscrutable and mysterious energy descended upon him, causing the battle qi and blood within his body to completely liven up, just like water boiling more and more fiercely.

"This is?"

In the long time from his summoning until now, Rydal had never experienced the pleasure brought by adding points; this was his first time.

"I will first raise your strength to the Silver rank."

While explaining, Romalin invested 771 energy essences into Rydal, allowing the other party to directly cross the peak of the Bronze rank and smoothly advance to a Silver Knight.

Buzz~

As his rank advanced, silvery-white mystical patterns emerged across Ridal’s skin—the hallmark of a knight ascending to Silver.

“How astonishing!”

Ridal clenched his fists, knuckles cracking sharply. “In the span of a single breath, my skin and internal organs have been inexplicably strengthened!”

He had heard of this miraculous ability from Macken and Elron, yet experiencing it firsthand for the first time still left him awestruck.

Ronin asked with satisfaction, “Ridal, do you have the confidence to challenge a Gold-rank knight despite your current rank?”

Once, Ridal had defeated the Bronze-rank Resen as a High Knight—overcoming a full rank difference.

Ridal closed his eyes, pondering for a moment. This breakthrough had also awakened a fragment of memory within him, aiding both his combat prowess and daily training.

When he opened them again, he shook his head. “At my current state, it’s difficult—unless the opponent is unskilled in battle.”

Ronin nodded slightly.

Gold knights typically spent decades honing their craft; while some might lack combat finesse, they were rare. Most possessed considerable skill.

For Ridal, a newly minted Silver knight, to challenge them directly was indeed a formidable task.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ronin said without a trace of disappointment. “Time is on our side.”

If he truly wished for Ridal to triumph over Gold, he could simply pour all 1,170 energy essences into him.

But for now, the Lordship of Wu Bei had no urgent need for Gold knights.

After all, a viscountcy with fewer than twenty thousand souls already possessing two Silver knights was an extraordinary feat indeed. (End of chapter)