Chapter 17

I led the villagers northward for five days straight. The pursuit stopped after Hamlon’s death, and we had ample food thanks to the endless supply of wild boar legs. As a result, the condition of the villagers wasn’t bad. In fact, they were improving.

“The faces of the villagers are becoming fuller. I can feel their stamina gradually increasing.”

“It is because they are eating better and sleeping more than when we were at the territory.”

The villagers woke up completely after sunrise, ate a hearty breakfast, and walked towards the north for four hours. Unlike the forced marches over the past few days, this pace allowed even the children to keep up without any problems.

At lunchtime, they would have another hearty meal. They spent at least two hours preparing soup with water from nearby sources and gathering edible greens or fruits for their meals. Afterward, they walked for four more hours until dinner time arrived. Once again, they enjoyed a bountiful meal before settling down to sleep. They covered themselves with coats made from abundant animal hides.

After five days of walking…the once-weary villagers began transforming. The color returned to their faces as they ate well and built up stamina through regular exercise. Moreover…

Before long, all one thousand villagers were wearing leather coats made from wild boar hides. This was easily accomplished since the wild boar skins dropped by Revenge had already been tanned. Among both villagers and soldiers, those with larger builds and higher stamina received Leather Shields (Ordinary) and Bone Long Swords (Ordinary). The less robust men were given Bone Daggers (Ordinary) alongside their long swords. Women, elderly individuals, and even children carried bone daggers for self-defense.

“By any chance, are you from Bronze Sword Territory?”

“Yes, I am a bronze sword feudal lord.”

“I suspected as much. It is an honor to meet you, Lordship.”

Upon entering Muksung Village, surrounded by a wooden fence, its headman greeted me along with two knights. He appeared quite nervous.

“By the way, why are you leading an army north?”

“Army?” Absentmindedly, I looked back at the words of the headman and saw 1,000 villagers wearing brown coats.

“Ah, it might seem like that.”

Their unified uniforms and attire made them look like an army to anyone. Of course, unlike an army, there were women, elderly people, and children mixed in but they were blended well within the group so it wasn’t noticeable.

“It seems you don’t know the situation on the continent.”

The headman’s face hardened at my words. He bowed deeply and said, “If you enlighten us, we will do our best to repay you.”

I was inwardly impressed by his courteous yet dignified attitude.

‘I heard many stories but this is quite impressive. Well, it makes sense considering he runs a village of this size on the outskirts.’

In this medieval land, ‘accurate information’ was as valuable as gold. It was a world where huge sums had to be paid for one word or a meal bought just to hear unverified rumors. I spoke to him:

“Still, have you seen any floating letters?”

“Of course, Lordship. In Golgol Plain, Altein obtained Heavy WE X. The meaning is difficult to understand.”

His words helped me organize my thoughts.

‘This is the level of information available outside the dragon’s veins.’

Every dragon’s vein had territories or cities located on it, but not all territories and cities were situated on a dragon’s vein. The distance between dragon veins was about 100 kilometers. Once you moved beyond the border regions, there were several territories between dragon veins, as well as cities far from both dragon veins and spiritual veins. There was even a country formed by four dragon veins with no magic beasts remaining.

“Is that all the information here? Have you seen any unusual monsters?”

“A group of wolves moving northward was reported along the patrol routes to the east and west.”

“They have been pushed out.”

“So…is that right?”

In places like the Killian Mountains on the outskirts, every village was located above spiritual veins. While not as strong as dragon veins, magic beasts rarely approached these areas.

“Let me explain briefly.” I explained the situation to the villagers, including the headman. Dungeons emerged from locations with dragon veins, and overwhelming monsters poured out by hundreds of thousands. It was speculated that this phenomenon occurred at all dragon veins across the continent, with the strength of the monsters increasing towards the central regions.

“We also had to abandon our territory and escape. Numerous countries have likely been destroyed, and even the Empire might collapse. This place is just on the outskirts… but sufficient preparations will be needed to maintain the village.”

“Such…”

“Well, I want to make a deal while we’re at it.”

I brought the villagers into the village. The headman could’ve refused due to their size, numbering around 1,000 people, and closed the gate. However, he didn’t do so, allowing them to sleep under roofs for the first time in a long while.

“This much meat and leather. Is it okay to give us such generous gifts? We only have twenty carts with basic necessities and seasonings.”

“I’m giving it because you deserve it, so accept it. And take these as well.” As I spoke, soldiers behind me placed down items they had prepared earlier. The sight of the contents made the headman’s face stiffen.

“Weapons…you are giving them?”

“Yes. There are 300 each.”

Although they were only ordinary rank weapons, the sharpness and strength of bone swords and daggers weren’t bad, so it wasn’t surprising that the headman was amazed. In Ardenia, the continent of barbarians, the value of weapons was particularly high.

“The entire continent will be plunged into chaos. You need power to survive.”

I cleared out all the equipment, wild boar legs, leather, etc., from my inventory at the village. In return, I received various necessities, timber, carts, horses, and donkeys from the village. We even had a lot of gold obtained by killing monsters.

“I want to tell you beforehand that the value of gold will collapse soon.”

“Is it because nations will fall?”

“That is also true, but the problem arises when new monsters appear and drop gold.” The headman tilted his head, not understanding my words.

“Because nations would collapse?”

“No, it’s not quite that. Well, you’ll understand once you experience it.”

As our conversation concluded, Hundred SilverSword, who had been commanding the soldiers, approached to report.

“We have enough wagons but lack horses, Lordship.”

“Oh, that’s no problem. Stonestone.”

“Yes, Lordship?”

“Pull them along.”

”…?”

”…?”

”…?”

When I pointed at the heavily laden wagons, everyone around me looked at me as if I were speaking nonsense.

I inadvertently became a collector of hooks for a reason.

“They should be well-trained by now. Pull those wagons.”

“Now that you mention it…it might just work. Understood, Lordship.”

“But Sir Knight Stonestone, what are you talking about? That wagon requires two horses.”

Hundred was utterly flabbergasted. After traveling for some time away from the village, his bewilderment slowly turned to amazement.

Clomp-clomp.

The cart started moving faster than any human could run. Even after several hours, Stonestone showed no signs of fatigue, which made perfect sense given his stats:

[IMPERIAL KNIGHT (HERO)]

Strength: +80

Agility: +40

Stamina: +80

Health: +160

Mana: +40

[Decreases damage by 50 percent.]

[Unyielding]

Originally possessing 41 strength points due to rigorous training, Stonestone now boasted 131 points with the additional 80-point class buff and ten free skill points jae-yeon had allocated. This rendered two horses’ power insignificant in comparison. A simple calculation would suggest he possessed slightly more than four times a human’s physical power, but every hundred stat points increased their effectiveness exponentially.

But that wasn’t all. He had invested most of his free stats from leveling up on stamina, which also received an eighty-point class bonus like strength did. Additionally, Stonestone was an aura user, and he was the sole practitioner of Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing, or Muscle Transformation Art, which I had been memorizing for some time now.

Although it could be found in libraries and YouTube videos on Earth, this martial art was considered so exceptional here that wars would likely break out over its possession during these Late Middle Ages times. Had Stonestone started practicing Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing just ten years earlier instead of waiting until adulthood, he might have surpassed me as a formidable warrior by now.

“No… This can’t be happening.” Initially dumbfounded at the sight of Stonestone pulling the carriage, Hundred groaned hours later when Stonestone appeared unfazed despite the strenuous task.

It was impossible.

“That can’t be true! No matter how great his training regimen is, it’s not possible to use an aura for that long…”

“Stonestone wasn’t using an aura. It’s purely physical ability.”

“That makes even less sense. He exceeded human limitations!”

There were limits to what a human body could achieve. Despite having access to optimal diets and exercise routines, no amount of strenuous training could push past a certain threshold. This was the biological limit inherent to the species Homo sapiens.

The only way to surpass these boundaries is through mana.

Mana alone held the key.

Only mana could elevate humans beyond their limits. It allowed wrinkled old men to collapse mountains with one punch, traverse space without any equipment, sleep through nuclear explosions, and fly around the cosmos.

But what if there was a way for humans to surpass these boundaries without using mana? Everyone would dismiss it as a scam or trickery.

However, it’s not impossible.

As someone who knew about the great Game Master from Earth 34 and divine beings extremely rare even in the vast multiverse, I am aware that there exists a power superior to mana.

Authority and Grace.

Of course, I only heard about it and didn’t know exactly how to achieve this process. At one time, I desperately sought power and grace to surpass my limits but ultimately couldn’t obtain any of them. However, just as you can order delivery without understanding the principles of warping or change TV channels without knowing its mechanics, if there was something available for me to use, then utilizing it seemed obvious.

“Hundred, you must be aware that the world is undergoing drastic changes.”

”…Yes.”

“And you likely have more insight into the situation, don’t you? As a member of the Silver Sword family, you should have access to urgent information from your clan.”

My calm words caused Hundred’s previously confused face to harden like stone.