Entering the Spirit Realm Again

Some distance from the Northern Lands Society, in the Snow Bear Territory Snow Bear Territory, Lord Blake sat in a chair, still unable to believe he was still alive.

After driving those people away with the help of the Alliance, Blake got the truth of the matter out of several Mercenary.

He then realized that he had been very close to death, but Fran had just helped him at the crucial moment, saving him from death.

"At least I survived," Blake thought thankfully.

Just then, a sound accompanied by the sound of someone falling came from inside.

"Report... A person carrying the Alliance insignia has arrived at the city gate and is now heading towards the castle."

"From the Alliance..." Blake's eyes lit up, then he asked:

"Is the person coming a dark-haired individual wearing the robe bearing the insignia of the Northern Lands Society?"

The man got up from the ground, pushed open the door, and then answered:

"No, the newcomer was wearing leather armor and had a short bow slung over his shoulder..."

"Then why are you so nervous? Didn't I tell you to wait until that mage arrives before letting me know? Mercenary like that pass by every year, what's so strange about that?"

At this moment, the man finally caught his breath and spoke to Blake.

"But... that person was riding a Black Horse, the same horse the mage rode, and that person had even followed behind the mage."

Only then did Blake's expression change, and he quickly said:

"Alright, now go and inform all the servants in the castle to get ready. I'm going down now."

After some time, Blake, who had sweated profusely at the castle gate, finally saw a Black Horse carrying a man turn the corner and head towards the castle.

Blake took a closer look and knew immediately that the horse was Fran's; he had observed it closely before.

This horse is not the breed of the ponies found in the Northern Territory; it must have undergone some kind of magical treatment.

In addition, the Black Horse's color was too bright in the snow, making it easy to spot, so Black Horse was extremely easy to identify.

Furthermore, Blake had seen the man riding the Black Horse near Fran before, so he assumed that Fran had sent him.

By this point, Blake couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He had promised Fran he would do something for her, and only afterwards did he realize there were no restrictions.

Blake didn't have the ability to renege on his debt. Not to mention that he couldn't easily offend the mages of the Alliance, Fran's ability to instantly kill Second Order Profession User made him powerless.

Therefore, regarding the matter he promised Fran, he only had one option: to do his best to help Fran accomplish it.

The Black Horse stopped abruptly in front of the castle, and Anna, leaning back on its back, jumped to the ground.

Anna brushed off the few snowflakes that had fallen on her as the Black Horse galloped along, then stepped forward and said:

"I'm here on behalf of a mage, who made a promise with you that you would agree to something, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Blake twisted one foot on the ground, creating a crack in the slightly snowdrift that revealed the black floor underneath.

"Before I tell you about that, she asked me to ask you a question..."

Anna, holding a stack of papers in one hand and a pen in the other, said:

"She asked me to ask you, 'Can you sense the extent of your territory in real time?'"

Blake hadn't expected this question. He paused, even forgetting to smear his feet on the ground. After thinking for a moment, he said:

"Yes, that's possible. Once I become a lord, I'll be able to accurately determine the size of my territory."

In fact, a lord's territory is very clearly defined; the lord of two adjacent territories can clearly sense where the boundary between the two territories is.

These boundaries can even change in real time, shifting once the enemy captures a town or outpost.

In some lords' studies, they found that these boundaries were actually related to the people in the areas they ruled.

As long as the people move away from that boundary line, the boundary line will also recede, while the other side's boundary line will not advance immediately until the other side's people move forward.

A lord's strength largely depended on the size of his territory, and each lord's family also had rules that prevented the territory from shrinking at will.

Therefore, almost every competent lord would send many soldiers and civilians to guard the borders with other lords, preventing them from expanding their territory there.

This was always the case between his territory and other territories; there were garrisons in almost every direction, and Blake had to regularly pay them to prevent them from defecting to the enemy.

Aside from the direction of the Northern Lands Society, Blake did not place anyone there, nor did he allow the public to go there.

It wasn't just him; all the territories even slightly close to the Northern Lands Society did the same.

Because they were afraid that those stationed on the outskirts would run directly to the Northern Lands Society, which had actually happened before, they no longer wanted to expand their territory towards the Northern Lands Society.

Blake and Anna explained their understanding of the boundaries of the territory in detail, and Anna wrote down each sentence Blake said in her notebook.

After Blake finished speaking, Anna asked a few more detailed questions and wrote down all the answers.

At this point, the two of them were standing at the door and talking.

After answering a few questions, Blake finally came to his senses and quickly said:

"Why don't we go inside and sit down? Standing here..."

Blake was interrupted by Anna before he could finish speaking. Anna said:

"No need, my question is finished, I have other things to do later."

Anna put away her pen and paper, then took out two folded maps of the Northern Territory from her pocket. These maps were drawn by mages of the Northern Lands Society and were more accurate than most others.

She unfolded one of the maps and said:

"Listen, this is what the mage wants you to do. This is your Snow Bear Territory..."

"She wants to hand over ownership of all three villages to her and remove all appointments made in those villages."

"I'm going to conduct an experiment on this land. If you sense any changes in your territory, send someone here to find me."

Blake looked at the territory boundary represented by the three villages above, and the thought of losing these three villages and his territory shrinking by a small amount made him feel a pang of heartache.

However, he made it very clear earlier that he had no power to negotiate with that monk and could only passively accept the terms.

He gritted his teeth and said:

"Can."

He could accept the loss of these three villages; most of his territory was still intact, and that was enough. Even if his ancestors came here, they couldn't say anything.

Even his ancestors couldn't withstand the combined attack of those Mercenary and orcs, and could only eke out a living like this.

In fact, this was the best possible outcome; he didn't lose most of his territory.

Fran arrived at the place where she and Nora had entered the Spirit Realm last time. After arriving, she set up a few Magic Trap and then entered the Spirit Realm with Nora.

After Fran opened her eyes in the Spirit Realm, she heard Nora say this:

"Hopefully, this trip to the Spirit Realm won't be so unlucky."

Fran paused for a moment, then said nothing. However, she felt that the other party was probably alright this time, since even the troublesome Lord of Radiance had stopped causing trouble last time.

As a large marketplace in the Spirit Realm, its defenses are not so easily breached.

She could see the words "[Heart Lake Market]" written on a stone tablet nearby.

After Fran obtained the Spirit Realm Guide to the market, she said to Nora:

"I'm going to sell some things to earn Spirit Crystal myself. You go and do your own thing."

Nora nodded. She knew that Fran had lost a weapon she had made herself last time, and the Emerald Market hadn't reopened yet. She could let Fran go and check if she could get compensation.

The Spirit Crystal used to ascend to the Spirit Realm this time were all provided by Nora for Fran, so it's normal that Fran doesn't have any Spirit Crystal on her own.

A little further away from Nora, Fran walked behind a rock and used the method taught to her by the Lord of Radiance to enter the Monsa City.

Upon arriving in Monsa, Fran found herself back in her house in the Material Realm, which was now piled high with Spirit Crystal.

"This must weigh over ten tons. I wonder if the Lord of Radiance really gave it to me proportionally."

Fran took a hundred kilograms of Spirit Crystal and went to the market. She estimated that one hundred kilograms of Spirit Crystal would be enough to buy what she needed.

What she wants to buy now are Guide of the Spirit Realm, and she needs to choose a realm where Deity reside. She won't be able to buy many guides, and it won't cost her many Spirit Crystal.

The other item she wanted to buy was the ' Song of the Deep Sea ' modification sequence from the Transmutation School. She already had more than enough Spirit Crystal to buy the materials for Sequence Four and below.

As for materials of Sequence Five and above, Fran had no hope of buying them all at once here. Such materials were extremely rare and could only be obtained by placing a request with the Adventurers Guild.

She wasn't going to just take a bunch of Spirit Crystal Spirit Crystal her to accept quests; she decided to observe first whether it was safe to use them before going to the Adventurers Guild.

Having made up her mind, Fran arrived at the street where Magic Creature materials were sold. With a wave of her hand, she spent less than a kilogram of Spirit Crystal to obtain all the modification materials she needed, from Sequence Four down to the lowest level.

Fran experienced the joy of being a tycoon for the first time in a long time. Her Spirit Crystal, measured in kilograms, seemed a bit too much in this market where some transactions were even conducted in milligrams.

Then Fran arrived at the street that specialized in selling Spirit Realm Guide. Looking at the Spirit Realm Guide such as spoons and shovels, she was amazed. How could there be such Spirit Realm Guide in this world?

Just as Fran was carefully examining these Spirit Realm Guide, a shout rang out.

"Those damned yellow-robed men are here, let's get out of here!"