Chapter 344: Evolved Ogre

"There are tasks that I need of you all." Arthur stood up from his chair after he assigned the role of each person. "Everyone should finish this task in two days."

"As you wish, Seika!" Ma nodded and began to jot down notes. Arthur felt like a teacher for a second.

"Ma, I want you to create a plan for our marketing campaign. Make sure to choose the best method to portray us as an inexpensive trading hub. Reach out to nearby cities and take approval to create a ship's route."

"Yes!"

"Gruen, create the smithy and create a report of how many items you can produce in a month. I want us to be ready for the auction house in two weeks."

"Who is going to run the auction house?" Gruen nodded and asked.

"I think you have someone for that, someone you just hired." Arthur smiled, and Gruen's face turned joyful.

"What about me, Seika?" Gala asked while crossing her arms on the table.

"I want a list of the potions we can create with the materials we want and a separate list for potions you can create with rare materials that we don't have and a list for those missing materials."

"Ah, sounds boring. I'll have my disciple write it down." Gala sighed.

"As long as I have the lists in two days." Arthur smiled and turned to Big Bear. "After I'm done with clearing the monsters away, please create barriers and watchtowers around the city."

"Aye," Big Bear nodded.

"As for the Knight of Courage, please make a list of all personal we have, their professions, special skills, and even their dreams. I'll be interviewing them all in two days. Assign people for each department based on their expertise, but don't let them work before I meet them."

"As you wish, Seika."

"As for my first task, it'll be to clean up the place of monsters by tomorrow." Arthur grinned. "Rest for tonight. We'll be working hard the next morning."

Everyone took their leave except for Gala, who seemed to have something on her mind. After everyone left, and only the two of them remained, Gala stood up and handed him something.

"What is this?" Arthur looked at the hand mirror with confusion. He could feel a rune inscribed on it, a telepathic rune.

"Nothing but a messaging device," Gala said with a smile. "I think I also forgot one in Dia's room. I'm not sure." She bolted out before Arthur could reply.

After watching her run away with amusement, Arthur turned to the mirror he was holding. As he injected mana, the runes activated to record his face and voice.

"Hey," Arthur said awkwardly. "Gala gave him this item, and I think it records messages? I don't know what to say since I saw you a couple of days before."

He tried to think of something to say before choosing the perfect topic. Then, coughing with a grin, he proceeded to tell Dia about his day.

"Have you ever tried to stop a meteor?"

***

As the chilly morning breeze made its way down the valley, Arthur was awake already. He stretched his body that hasn't fought in a while and prepared himself.

[Scholar Guardian's Legacy]

[Level: 39 (34%)]

[Legacy Points: 8]

[Stats Points: 16]

[Strength: 196] [+75]

[Agility: 192] [+75]

[Stamina: 182]

[Perception: 171]

[Mana: 300/300]

[Abilities: Beginner Runes Wordsmith (58%), Useable Runes: 24]

[Skills: Lesser-Mana Breathing Skill (F – 65%), Poison Strike (F – 39%), Camouflage (F – 26%), Earth Manipulation (E – 69%), Bladeless Wind Storm (D – 22%), Shadow Space (D – 19%), Monster Claws (D – 42%), Iron Skin (D – 43%), Wings of Wind (C – 2%), Goblin's Bond (Unique – 90%)]

[Arts: The Art of Creation – Part One, Creator Art: Submission, Basic Dagger Art (21%)]

'It has been a while...'

Arthur looked at his stats, which had changed a lot, but also haven't changed at all. His mana maxed out after his Souls Restructure for some reason, but all of his other stats were the same. He gained a new art, but every skill and rune were the same.

'I've neglected my level, but it's not like I had the time.' Arthur sighed. He was at the peak of the Rei-rank now, but he needed to max out his other stats to evolve.

That's why today was solely for leveling up. Arthur used his detection rune, and his mana washed over the land. He sensed a cluster of monsters nearby, and he teleported toward their location.

Arthur found a group of apes with sharp teeth lining protruded jaws. They lived inside the forest, a fair distance away from their camp.

"Greetings, gentlemen." Arthur appeared on top of a branch in the forest. The apes turned upon hearing his voice and roared. "No need to be so loud. If nicely asking you doesn't work, I'll have to kill you all."

The apes roared and dashed, using the trees to jump toward him. Three of them were inches away from him in an instant, trying to rip his limbs off.

"Brutes, tsk, tsk." Arthur shook his head as liquid fire exploded from his body like ropes, cutting apart the apes closest to him as the scent of roasted meat filled the forest.

"AWWOO!!" The apes roared as they ran toward Arthur at the same time. In an instant, his view was filled with apes of every size.

Golden mana exploded from within his body as Arthur grabbed the nearest ape with his right arm. His Release Rune amplified his stats, and he used the ape as a bat to bash the others.

Throwing the ape over its friends, Arthur created the ethereal arm using spiritual power as he did before against Traitor. His golden mana seeped into the ethereal arm as Arthur punched, not worrying about any limits.

His punch traveled toward the cluster of apes and turned their bodies into a mushed lump of meat. Blood spurted everywhere as the trees were upturned, but more apes rushed to attack the intruder.

"Burn." Arthur clawed with his hands as flames appeared between his fingers. The fire exploded around him, making the apes howl in agony.

The screams of the monsters echo to the camp, making the city's residents fearful of what kind of power their new lord had.

***

As he appeared in front of the monster, it bared its teeth toward him. It was a giant wolf with its cubs, which made Arthur frown.

"Why did you have to be a wolf?"

Arthur scowled at the monster as memories of Kira resurfaced in his mind. He looked at the cubs behind the wolves with a bigger frown.

At first, he didn't kill Kira because he wasn't used to killing, but that made him survive the Trial of The Holy Crown. Now, every time he saw a wolf, he was reminded of Kira.

"Scram from here." Arthur's aura exploded as he threatened, but that only made the wolf growl at him, shielding its cubs. As he observed the wolf, Arthur realized it was a male, making him wonder where the mother was.

'Did it die at birth?' Arthur retracted his aura and pointed away from the camp. The wolf looked at him with unease before picking up its three cubs with its mouth and running away.

He knew that all monsters were monsters, and only Demis had the faculty of reasoning, but he wanted to avoid killing wolves if he can. As Arthur looked for his next prey, he found a cluster of Ogres descending from the mountain toward their camp.

Teleporting toward the Ogres, Arthur appeared in the middle of the mountain's trail and waited. The Ogres appeared after a while, giant creatures that had dark green skin, hideous faces, and protruding bellies.

"Judging from your weapons, I don't think you've come here for tea?" Arthur crossed his arms in front of him.

The Ogres noticed his presence in an instant and took their formation. Arthur was surprised at their caution, as he expected reckless behavior.

A giant ogre strode from the group and said some stuff that Arthur couldn't understand. As he looked at the ogre, he found him to have scales on his body.

'A mutation? Maybe an evolved ogre?'

Arthur wondered as the giant ogre looked down on him. After saying a bunch of stuff, the ogre swung his hammer toward Arthur, trying to flatten his existence.

"I wasn't ignoring you, man. I just have no idea what you're saying." Arthur sighed, and his spiritual powers defused to block the attack.

'Hm?' Arthur was surprised when the hammer began pushing his power back, as that never happened before. He double-glanced at the ogre who was struggling against his spiritual energy with interest.

'High-True-Rank.' Arthur realized, wondering how he became this strong to hold back a true-rank monster. However, he can tell that the ogre was about to break through his defenses.

"Let's see how strong the Soul Restructure made me." Arthur grinned, and the muscle on his right arm bulged, brimming with power.