Trip to the Murphy Forest

The presence of an Erdritter from Aomar made this delegation from the capital of Faustian a lot of people.

As small countries in the south-central part of the continent, Faustian, Karaman, Gondor, and even other kingdoms that were even more remote had almost all peak Ritters. Only Aigle in the far west had a level-two Erdritter.

If Ritters were said to be the cornerstone of a kingdom, then Erdritters were existences that everyone had to look up to.

An Erdritter's combat power was not inferior to that of a Magister's. In fact, it was much stronger. As a level-two creature in the Endless World, compared to a Magister who was still a level-one creature, an Erdritter could already look down on them.

It was also because of this Erdritter that the other kingdoms realised how much Aomar favoured Faustian. None of them chose to be enemies with Faustian at this time.

At first, Jose was the first to withdraw from Faustian's southwestern border, followed by Ligia Union and Gondor. Finally, Karaman reluctantly withdrew its troops after obtaining a worthless piece of land in the north of Shalor.

Karaman was very similar to Shalor in that they both had extraordinary magical powers. However, their spellcasters were not called casters, but wizards. Karaman had two level-one wizards.

Everyone thought that the Erdritter from Aomar had managed to save Faustian from the flames of war, but was that really the case?

However, Casia didn't think so. She was an Erdritter from the Aomar Empire's Royal Law Enforcer and a Punishment Paladin.

"Congratulations, Herr Romm!" Garcia was a good-looking woman. Compared to the rarity of women among knights, she was much more attractive in the eyes of all the men.

"Garcia, long time no see!" Romm stepped forward and saluted Garcia. Although they hadn't had much contact before, he had coincidentally been in the same team as Garcia during the few planar wars he had participated in. The two of them could be said to be acquaintances.

Garcia took off her helmet, flicked her long reddish-brown hair, and casually sat on the sofa. They were in the living room somewhere in the Faustian palace.

The king of Faustian hadn't arrived yet. Romm and Garcia chatted harmoniously about matters between knights and other planes.

To be honest, Garcia's looks could only be considered decent, but he still managed to capture the heart of our knight, Romm. Every knight hopes to find their other half. Romm, who had already advanced to an Earth Knight, could only find a knight of the same level as him to have a higher chance of continuing his bloodline.

Official Knights could have children with ordinary people, but it was impossible for Earthly Knights to do so. The two were fundamentally different. It could be said that Earthly Knights could no longer be considered 'humans'. When an Earthly Knight went all out, he was not much weaker than a Level Surpassing Magical Beast. This was not about strength, but appearance …

Romm's attempt to befriend her didn't pique Garcia's interest at all. She had seen too many knights trying to please her in the past hundreds of years. Romm, who was 198 years old, was too young for Garcia, who was 456 years old.

Romm also noticed Garcia's impatience, so he didn't say anything else. Instead, he took the opportunity to ask Garcia about the basics of Erdritch Knights.

The Faustian king's timely arrival made the two Erdritch Knights stop their friendly conversation.

Garcia stood up and greeted the Faustian king. Although she was a level-two lifeform that stood at the pinnacle of countless lives, she still couldn't avoid worldly entanglements. The Faustian king was powerful enough to talk to her as an equal.

Her main mission in coming to Faustian this time was to negotiate the corresponding conditions on behalf of Aomar and Faustian. Faustian had defeated Shalor and its territory had almost doubled. It was impossible not to give Aomar a share of the pie and make sufficient concessions.

The two who were at the pinnacle of power and authority in the secular world started a fierce confrontation somewhere in the palace hall of Felor.

Garcia had seen countless kings over the past hundreds of years, but the Faustian king in front of her could be ranked in the top ten. In the face of pressure from an Erdritch Knight, the king argued for what was right and refused to give in. Garcia admired his courage alone.

"The monster core export in Morphey Forest can be expanded by a third, but the tribute has to be reduced by 20% within fifty years!" The Faustian king didn't look old at all. The scattered white hair under his crown made him look even more flamboyant and domineering.

"Alright," Garcia agreed reluctantly after thinking for a while.

Aomar's territory was more than a million, so they naturally wouldn't be interested in a small place like Shalor. The only thing that could attract them was Morphey Forest, which was rich in magic plants, crystal cores, flesh and bones of major monsters. Aomar was also in short supply.

"However, I need you to go to Morphey Forest with me, Herr Garcia," said Romm at this moment.

"Why? You can't handle that scorpiondrake alone?" Garcia turned to look at Romm with a playful smile.

"Of course not. But it'll be more obedient if you go with me," explained Romm.

"Alright," replied Garcia. "It's on the way."

"Yes, thank you so much," said Romm happily.

"Apart from that, there's one more thing I'd like to tell you, Your Majesty," said Garcia in a relaxed tone.

"What is it?" The old king was puzzled. They'd already talked about what needed to be said. Was there anything else to add?

"On behalf of the royal academy, I'd like to invite Princess Angelina to report to the caster faculty of the royal academy in February next year," said Garcia in one breath.

The king's expression changed abruptly.

The heat of June didn't knock him down. His skin had only become a little darker, but fortunately, it didn't affect his overall appearance.

It had been more than three months since he'd returned to his hometown. If it wasn't for the armour hanging by his bed that constantly reminded him that he was a knight, he would've suspected that he'd been farming for the past 19 years.

As a low-rank Knecht, not only did he finish his family's farm work in half a month, but he also helped many families in Maple Village. It couldn't be helped. The land was wasted due to the lack of labour, and more than half of the people in Maple Village would have a hard time in the second half of the year.

Especially those whose men had died at the frontline. And these were the families that Locke helped.

The busy June had just passed, and before Locke could catch his breath, he suddenly received an order from the royal capital.

He was told to go there immediately? Locke held the transfer order in his hand, his face full of doubts.

Could it be that Angelina was looking for him? That was the only explanation. Cardoj didn't ask the other soldiers to report to the royal capital. What else could it be?

In the past few months, he'd been going back and forth to visit Suzanne and the others almost once a week. As for Angelina, although he often thought about her, the difference in status made him feel unrealistic.

The transfer order was issued in the name of Falcon. After saying goodbye to his parents, sister, Suzanne, Glace and the others in the baron's territory, Locke rode to the royal capital at full speed.

Locke's journey was unimpeded through the relay stations and strongholds that Falcon had set up throughout the country. In just two days, he arrived in Felor.

As soon as he arrived in the royal capital, he was immediately taken away by a team of well-equipped and well-organized troops.

The group of soldiers in black gave Locke a sense of déjà vu. After thinking about it carefully, the Blood Red troops that he'd encountered in the Bering Mountains came to mind. Yes, this group of men in black gave him a very similar feeling to the Blood Red troops.

The soldiers in black didn't make things difficult for Locke. Instead, they politely invited him to the carriage. The journey was bumpy, and he didn't know where they were taking him.

Two days later, he was sure that it wasn't a kidnapping.

Because he saw Angelina.

"Where are we going?" Locke asked Angelina who was in the carriage.

Unlike the carriage that the group of men in black had arranged for him to stay in, the carriage that Angelina was in now couldn't be called a carriage anymore. It was more like a temporary residence. It was nearly a hundred square metres large and had a complete sofa and living room. There were even several maids and guards standing around.

"We're going to Morphey Forest." Angelina took a sip of the tea on the table and dismissed the servants around her.

After everyone left, the two of them finally relaxed. They hadn't seen each other for a few months. Not only did Locke miss Angelina, but Angelina missed him even more.

Angelina, who was only fifteen years old today, had already given half of her heart to Locke. The other half was shared between her father and brother.

"The ones who brought you here are the shadow guards." Angelina leaned on Locke's shoulder.

Locke had heard of the shadow guards in the army before, but he'd never seen them in person. He was surprised to see them for himself this time because he felt that at least three of the shadow guards who brought him here were as strong as him. This was just a small team of shadow guards.

"I was the one who asked us to come here. I want to bring you to meet the overlord of Morphey Forest and broaden your horizons," said Angelina playfully.

Through Angelina's narration, Locke roughly understood what was going on.

Morphey Forest was a famous large forest in the surrounding countries. There were countless types and numbers of major monsters in it.

Of course, there was also a hierarchy among major monsters, just like in human kingdoms. Unlike the bloodline inheritance system of human nobles, major monsters were divided based on their strength.

In Morphey Forest, the overlord of major monsters, the king of all beasts, was a scorpiondrake. Its full name was Lord Akanasd, also known as a crystal scorpiondrake.

This scorpiondrake and its family members ruled over countless major monsters in Morphey Forest.

The strength of a high-ranked scorpiondrake was equivalent to that of a level-one Ritter. Because of its hard shell and poisonous barbs, its specific strength could be classified as a top level-one Ritter. More importantly, there were two of them here, one male and one female.

This was also the reason why Romm, who was an Erdritter, didn't want to face them alone. He could definitely beat them, but he'd just become an Erdritter and didn't want to fight for nothing.

If they wanted to explore the treasure trove of Morphey Forest, they didn't need to kill these two high-ranked major monsters. They only needed to negotiate a price with them in advance.

High-ranked major monsters were considered intelligent creatures that could speak human language.

-----