Chapter 42: Local forces

On the distant shores of a vast continent, the landscape is dominated by a fiery red hue, barren of any vegetation due to the presence of several massive volcanoes.Atop one of these volcanoes stands a castle built from obsidian. Inside, the Lord of the castle is a young man dressed in black shorts, his upper body bare, his complexion cool and handsome, his body slick with sweat due to the scorching heat around him.

This man is Lord [Flame Spirit], known as Cain.

At this moment, Cain is looking at the information on the trading post, his face a picture of shock.

"Hamburger can kill Commanding level already?"

Cain prides himself on being stronger than Alex and other Lords, but it seems he's fallen behind.

Cain's troops are Flame Spirits, elemental beings naturally endowed with fire elements and lacking physical bodies. They don't need to eat or sleep and can grow stronger by absorbing the power of fire elements while bathing in magma.

Most outrageously, the Flame Spirits survive on Essence Shards within them, meaning each Flame Spirit represents an Essence Shard.

Conversely, Cain can summon Flame Spirits by acquiring Essence Shards, quickly boosting his strength. This ability allows Cain to rapidly increase his power, though acquiring Essence Shards is challenging, significantly limiting his potential.

However, Cain is not without danger, his situation mirroring Alex's and perhaps even worse.

The volcano where Cain's castle stands is not the largest; within the magma at the top of the central, largest volcano resides a Magma Dragon, posing the greatest threat Cain might face in three days. Fortunately, the Magma Dragon spends most of its time asleep and has not shown much hostility towards Cain's castle.

Spurred by Alex's progress, Cain's resolve to become stronger is more urgent than ever. He immediately orders all Flame Spirits to leave the volcano and level up in the wild.

Another classic protagonist template, a Lord facing both pressure and opportunity.

With billions of Lords on the continent of Eldoria, there's no shortage of those with both opportunity and strength. Although Alex is currently powerful, it's improbable that she ranks first among billions of Lords.

Unaware in her sleep, Alex doesn't know that at the location of the Goblin tribe, two tall humanoid creatures stand atop a hill, overlooking the ruins of the Goblin village below.

"They're all dead, not a single body left, and the cave is emptied. Must be the work of those extraterrestrial visitors again. What are they really after?"

One of the men, his voice hoarse, speaks to the other.

"I don't know. The latest message from above says these extraterrestrial visitors are all humans, and their castles are protected by a powerful force. Our leader tried to intervene but failed."

"What, a protection not even a demigod can breach?"

"I heard there's some friction between the Moon Silver Wolf tribe and these extraterrestrial visitors. Tell them to stop provoking these humans for now."

The two men transform into giant black wolves and vanish like the wind.

On the snowy mountain, the leader of the Moon Silver Wolf tribe kicks the she-wolf beside him, "Damn it, this is too much!" seaʀᴄh thё Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"It's all because of your damn bad ideas!" he kicks the she-wolf again.

"All the other wolves are sent to the Dark Forest to enjoy themselves, and just my luck, I'm stuck in this godforsaken Frost Wind Snowy Mountain. I've had enough, it's been a hundred years, how much longer do I have to stay here!"

...

Alex groggily opens her eyes, sits up in bed, and feels refreshed under the bedroom's restorative effects, compensating for the mental energy spent summoning earlier. ϺƲ∟ΞᎷƤႸᏒ.СӨМ

Checking the system time, it's already noon. She goes to the window and sees a pile of animal carcasses, along with wood and stone, at the castle gate.

Alex recycles the wood and stone with a single click.

[Congratulations Lord, you have obtained 4000 units of wood and 2000 units of stone.]

Wearing slippers, Alex goes downstairs to the outside of the castle, instructing her undead to throw the carcasses into the Blackwater Altar, adding fifty new members to her undead army.

"Disassemble!"

[Congratulations Lord, you have successfully disassembled 30 wild boar carcasses, obtaining 600 units of food, 60 wild boar tusks, 30 wild boar hides, and 20 magic crystals.]

[Congratulations Lord, you have successfully disassembled 20 antelope carcasses, obtaining 400 units of food, 20 antelope hides, and 10 magic crystals.]

A total of 1000 units of food, just enough to earn back the processing fee given to [QuartzStriker] this morning.

"Only 30 magic crystals after a morning's work, that's too few. As her strength grows, Alex is gradually becoming dissatisfied with the meager resources she's obtaining."

"Let's see if the equipment has been traded yet."

Alex checks her orders at the trading post and finds that all but the evil tree spirit set have been traded. Perhaps the evil tree spirit set is too expensive; poor Lords can't afford it, and rich Lords aren't interested.

"Let it hang there, someone will buy it eventually."

Thinking this, Alex then collects the materials from the trading post.

[Congratulations Lord, you have successfully traded 2266 pieces of regular equipment, obtaining 20,000 magic crystals and 3110 iron ingots.]

[Congratulations Lord, you have successfully traded one Commanding level equipment, obtaining 500 magic crystals.]

That's a direct gain of 20k magic crystals!

At this moment, Alex feels only one thing: exhilaration, sheer exhilaration!

In addition, she has gained 3110 iron ingots. Indeed, Lords capable of refining iron ingots are numerous; to those without iron ingots, they are valuable, but for those who can produce them, they are not as precious.

Compared to magic crystals, they naturally use iron ingots for trading, which is exactly what Alex currently needs most. Including the iron ore processed by [QuartzStriker], Alex now has over 9000 iron ingots, just a step away from upgrading her town.

"Hehe, I'm rich again, indeed the most profitable role is that of a merchant."

Alex rubs her hands together, her face breaking into an excited smile.

If she had to rely solely on wild hunting for magic crystals, who knows how long it would take to accumulate 20,000.

[QuartzStriker]'s furnace can refine up to 3000 iron ingots a day, and Alex's 4500 iron ingots will take at least two days to process. If Alex can secure another 1000 iron ingots within two days, she can upgrade to a town by the sixth day.

Alex doesn't know the exact strength of the upcoming beast tide, but it's undeniable that the beast tide in seven days will likely kill a large number of negligent Lords, so Alex wants to become as strong as possible before then.

"Ah, the protective shield will disappear in three days, I'm really 'scared'."