Chapter 209: Conflict
Thorn Valley.
The Big Ring Saber came down with the force of a splitting mountain, cleaving an Ice Crystal Spider in two as it spun its web in the dense woods outside Hutou Village.
[Congratulations, your Basic Blade Skill Level has reached Perfection.]
[Attribute points +0.5]
[Your Perfection Level Basic Blade Skill has triggered an Enlightenment, granting you the Combat Technique "Thunderous Triple Slash." Attribute points +1.]
"I’ve finally perfected it!"
Ever since getting Fur Ball, Duane had been so focused on traveling that he hadn’t had time to practice some of his Skills.
It was only by a stroke of luck that he ran into a Level 4 Demon Beast upon reaching the edge of the village, allowing him to perfect his Blade Skill.
’It’s a shame the Enlightenment from perfecting my Blade Skill only gave me 1 attribute point.’
Duane processed the information from the Enlightenment.
Thunderous Triple Slash was a Combat Technique that only a Celestial Tier Warrior could master. It required the user to unleash three consecutive slashes in an incredibly short time, with each strike more ferocious than the last.
When the final slash was delivered, it would be imbued with a "Thunderous" effect, making it incredibly destructive!
If Sword Rain Storm was an offensive Combat Technique that could be used for both area-of-effect and single-target attacks,
then Thunderous Triple Slash was a purely powerful, single-target offensive Combat Technique.
’Normally, only a Shooting Star Warrior can use Attribute Fighting Techniques. Does that mean that once I’ve trained Thunderous Triple Slash to a high level, it will be comparable to a strike from a Shooting Star Warrior?’
He thought of the giant Black Bear in the Secret Realm and the Giant Lynx he had encountered on the summit of the Heavenly Mountain.
With two more killing moves in his arsenal, he’d have a better chance of victory if he ran into them again.
Duane cleared his mind and allocated his newly acquired attribute points to his Spirit Attribute.
[Level]: Celestial Tier Warrior, Level 2 Mage
[Strength]: 45.0
[Spirit]: 17.7
’Becoming a Level 1 Mage requires 6 points in Spirit, and Level 2 needs 12. Based on the attribute gaps between Warrior Levels, the Spirit requirement for a Level 3 Mage should be 18.0.’
When a Warrior broke through to the next level, it required Duane’s Spirit to reach a certain threshold.
However, breaking through to the next Mage Level didn’t have that requirement for him, because his Strength Attribute was already high enough.
In other words, he only needed 0.3 more attribute points to advance to a Level 3 Mage.
That would be easy enough to get.
His Basic Breeding Skill Level was about to reach Mastery, and besides that, he still hadn’t learned Arcane Missile, Wind Blade, or the Magic Burst Technique.
CLOMP CLOMP CLOMP...
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed as Gaius arrived with a squad of men.
"My Lord?"
Gaius called out in surprise, then immediately ran over. "Is it really you?"
Duane nodded. "Are you in charge of defending this area again?"
Gaius explained, "Captain Kaelon adjusted our deployments after he returned. Because of the dangers in the Secret Realm, Raymond and I will be focusing our main efforts on this area from now on."
"The Hot Spring Mountain Range is relatively stable, so Hardy and Iron Hammer have been assigned to take charge over there."
With this arrangement, if anything unusual happened in Thorn Valley, the territory’s strongest experts could be notified quickly.
"I appreciate your hard work."
Duane glanced at the spider he had split in two. "This is a Level 4 Demon Beast, an Ice Crystal Spider. It must have wandered here at some point. You should check the area to see if there are any others."
"Yes, sir!"
Gaius was secretly alarmed, first by the danger of the Ice Crystal Spider, and second by his Lord’s strength.
There were no signs of an intense struggle. It looked as though the Lord had dispatched the Level 4 Demon Beast with a single move.
He couldn’t help but recall the scene of his Lord charging through more than a thousand Frog Fish Monsters. The Lord’s current power was as deep and unfathomable as a well.
"By the way, how are things in the territory?" Duane asked.
"Simone has returned."
Gaius replied, "I heard the negotiations didn’t go very well."
Duane’s brow furrowed. "Didn’t go well?"
"We don’t know the specifics. He needs to report to you first."
Gaius scratched his head. "Also, my Lord, we’ve had a conflict with people from the Holy Radiance Court."
Duane was taken aback again and asked in surprise, "What happened?"
In his view, the people from the Holy Radiance Court shouldn’t have had any major conflicts of interest with the island’s inhabitants.
How had they ended up clashing directly with his subordinates?
Gaius began to explain.
It turned out that a Church Guard Knight named Kendrick couldn’t buy any Frog Fish Monster meat, so he set his sights on a farmer in Broken Wave City who had managed to get some.
But who would have thought that the farmer, who had bought the twenty-two pounds of meat to help boost his son’s abilities, refused to sell any of it.
Kendrick flew into a rage on the spot. He not only beat the farmer’s entire family to the ground but also took all twenty-two pounds of meat.
As the sheriff of Broken Wave City, John immediately contacted Jack, and the two of them led the city guard to the Medical Sanctuary.
The two of them had intended to be polite and ask Manny to hand over the assailant voluntarily.
But to their surprise, Manny simply shut the gates of the Medical Sanctuary.
They not only denied the assault and robbery but even claimed the farmer was making false accusations, urging Jack and John to investigate thoroughly.
The city guard was naturally not very powerful, so the matter was reported up the chain of command to Kaelon.
Although the territory’s Guard and Defense Army were powerful, Kaelon, Raymond, and the others were hesitant to storm the Medical Sanctuary by force.
"Right now, our men are blockading the gates of the Medical Sanctuary. They can’t get out, and no one from the outside can get in."
Gaius concluded, "I imagine it won’t be long before their food stores run out and they’re forced to open the gates and release him."
Duane never expected that the Frog Fish Monster meat would cause such an incident.
He was almost at a loss for words.
"You did the right thing. A direct conflict causing mass casualties would have been inappropriate."
Duane gave his approval.
However, he also understood why Manny wouldn’t open the gates, release the man, or admit to what had happened.
After all, assault and robbery were heinous acts.
The Holy Radiance Court’s doctrine was to uphold light and justice.
And now, they had only just arrived on Black Forest Island to spread their faith, and such a vile incident had already occurred within their ranks. It would make anyone distrust them.
Therefore, their only option was to staunchly insist they had been framed and absolutely refuse to confess.
"Is the evidence solid?" Duane asked.
"Solid!"
Gaius’s tone was firm. "Besides the family involved, their neighbors and a patrolling member of the city guard saw it with their own eyes."
"Ralph the butcher also said that someone from the Medical Sanctuary did indeed try to buy Frog Fish Monster meat from him that day, but it was sold out. The man even demanded that Ralph set some aside specifically for him!"
Duane nodded. "I understand the situation. You can resume your patrol."
With that, he took the Demon Core and started walking back toward the territory.
After Duane left, the Guards gathered around the corpse of the Ice Crystal Spider.
"Wow, is this a Level 4 Demon Beast? It doesn’t look all that tough."
"Obviously! That’s because our Lord is so powerful! You think you could’ve killed it?"
The men all began talking at once.
Gaius, however, was more interested in how Duane would handle the dispute with the Holy Radiance Court.
Still, based on his understanding of his Lord, the man who committed the assault and robbery would definitely be punished.
’To think they’d dare challenge the Lord’s authority on Black Forest Island... I really don’t know what those people are thinking.’
Gaius shook his head. Privately, none of them were very fond of the Holy Radiance Court.
Of course, their healing abilities were certainly worthy of praise.
"Let’s go, no more slacking off here!"
Gaius shouted, "Didn’t you hear what the Lord just said? We need to search this area and see if we missed any of them!"