Blue Sprite

With the Hellhound and Headless Knight gone, the threat posed by the Dark Creatures immediately dropped.

Nalant lay on the ground for a moment before rejoining the battle.

A few minutes later, all the Skeleton Soldiers had turned into piles of white bones scattered across the ground.

"Oh! Victory! We won! We defeated the Dark Creatures!" With every Skeleton Soldier dead, the guards finally couldn't hold back their cheers.

Although Quick and his guards had been on battlefields before, those had all been fights against humans, fundamentally different from these fearless Skeleton Soldiers.

People were always afraid of death, and afraid of pain.

But as long as Dark Creatures could still move, they would fight to the death. Even if it meant mutual destruction, they wouldn't hesitate.

So when fighting Dark Creatures, the guards bore enormous psychological pressure.

"You all did very well tonight!" Nalant was delighted to see that none of his men had been seriously injured or killed.

"Long live my lord!"

"Long live my lord!"

Hearing Nalant's praise, the guards immediately changed their chant. The most formidable and dazzling person tonight had undoubtedly been their lord.

An Initial Bronze Knight who could single-handedly kill a Hellhound and a Headless Knight was probably a rare sight even across the entire duchy.

Most importantly, they had wiped out a large invasion of Dark Creatures without losing a single man. This was an unprecedented achievement, one they could boast about for the rest of their lives.

"Very good. You've also shown me your courage and loyalty. To reward you, I'll hold a victory banquet for you at the castle later. There'll be all the black bread and meat soup you can eat!" Nalant smiled and promised them a reward amid their cheers.

And honestly, once the battle was over, that feeling of surging adrenaline and a pounding heart was truly addictive. For someone who had merely been an ordinary person in his previous life, it was an incredibly novel sensation.

"Oh! Heavens! All the meat soup we can eat! Thank you for your generosity, my lord!"

"Thank you for your generosity, my lord! We swear to serve you unto death!"

"Thank you for your generosity, my lord! We swear to serve you unto death!"

The guards cheered even more loudly. Meat was a rare delicacy even for guards like them.

Especially for the ten newly joined Longbowmen. As serfs, they hadn't tasted meat in over half a year. Now their lord was offering them all the meat soup they could eat. Such a reward was no less valuable than a direct monetary bonus.

"Alright, hurry up and clean the battlefield. The sooner it's cleaned up, the sooner you can have your meat soup!" Nalant waved his hand and gave the order.

The guards immediately got busy again.

"My lord, this armor and weapon seem to be Inscribed Equipment!" Before long, Quick hurried over, holding the Headless Knight's armor in his arms and speaking with envy written all over his face.

"Hm? Inscription Armor!" Nalant immediately turned his attention to the armor. Sure enough, beneath the grime on its breastplate, he spotted intricate silver inscriptions.

This lucky?

Nalant quickly took the armor. The instant it touched his hands, he realized it was unbelievably light, at least two-thirds lighter than iron armor of the same size.

Of course, it wasn't so light because corners had been cut. On the contrary, it was far stronger than ordinary iron armor. The real reason was the few silver inscriptions etched into it.

The origins of Dark Creatures remained a mystery, but one thing was certain.

Before their deaths, Dark Creatures had undoubtedly come from a more glorious civilization, because their weapon- and armor-forging techniques were far more advanced and miraculous than those on this continent.

Take this Inscription Armor before him. Just the silver patterns on its surface could make the armor lighter, something that violated everyone's understanding.

Besides making armor lighter, these inscriptions could also make weapons and equipment sharper and more durable.

As for why inscriptions could produce such effects, no one yet knew.

"An armor like this should sell for at least ten gold coins, right?" Nalant couldn't help feeling delighted. This was an unexpected spoil of war.

Of course, this armor was roughly his size. If he could wear it himself, Nalant wouldn't sell it.

Looks like Dark Creatures aren't entirely useless. They're basically delivering packages to my door! If a few more packages like this came along, wouldn't I get rich?

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for completing the main quest: Second Nightmare Precognition. Twenty-eight Dark Creatures eliminated. Reward: 5 Energy Points issued!"

"Ding! Main quest: Third Nightmare Precognition has been issued. Please check it yourself!"

"Third Nightmare Precognition quest reward: 10 Energy Points. Quest progress: 0/168."

The next moment, a system notification suddenly sounded in Nalant's mind.

His body stiffened, and his expression froze. "Damn! One hundred and sixty-eight Dark Creatures? System, I was just joking. Don't take it seriously, alright?"

If he could, Nalant would rather not have this package...

The system ignored Nalant's plea. Instead, an image was already playing across his retina—the next Nightmare Precognition. This time, he could view it even without falling asleep.

Suppressing the urge to curse, Nalant quickly began watching the scene from the third Nightmare Precognition.

"Five Hellhounds, ten Second-Tier Headless Knights, and one Third-Tier Death Knight?"

"The next invasion will be in three months."

"At least I still have time to prepare. If they were coming next week, then I'm done playing. Some earl's daughter, some territory—whoever wants them can have them!" After a moment, Nalant finished watching the third Nightmare Precognition. He didn't know whether to cry or feel fortunate.

Half an hour later, in the castle's front courtyard.

The guards sat around several large outdoor tables, their eyes gleaming as they watched servants bring over huge pots of meat soup.

The pots weren't really filled with soup alone. Beneath the broth were huge chunks of bone and meat, packed to the brim. The rich aroma made the guards swallow repeatedly.

"Alright, warriors of Nalant, eat your fill! However much you can eat tonight is up to your ability!" The black bread and meat soup had been served. Seeing that everyone's eyes were practically falling into the pots, Nalant stopped delaying.

"Thank you for your generosity, Lord!"

The guards cheered, then scrambled to seize soup ladles. For a time, cries and curses rang endlessly through the courtyard.

Seeing such a barbaric scene unfold inside the castle, Butler Thomas frowned slightly. But knowing that this was a victory banquet, he didn't say anything.

As the guards began devouring their food, Nalant smiled and walked away. Just as he was about to ride out alone to handle another important matter tonight, Vivian approached him.

"My lord, are you leaving the castle?"

"Hm? Vivian, why aren't you eating? They'll snatch it all away soon!" Though Nalant had been the most dazzling person tonight, Vivian's achievements were no less impressive. She had killed twelve Skeleton Soldiers by herself. Otherwise, the guards wouldn't have suffered only six minor injuries.

"My lord, I'm not hungry!" Vivian replied softly. After pausing, she finally gathered her courage and said, "My lord, I'm sorry. I brought misfortune. How about... how about you..."

Vivian thought of tonight's Dark Creature invasion and Anthony's words. She felt that everything tonight had been caused by her.

Seeing Vivian like this, Nalant's heart ached. She had clearly come to protect humanity and had rendered great service tonight, yet at this moment she was still doubting herself.

"Vivian, I told you that I received a revelation from the God of Glory. You won't bring misfortune. On the contrary, you'll bring good fortune! Do you understand?"

"I..." Vivian hesitated, but under Nalant's deep gaze, she nodded and replied, "I believe you, Lord!"

"Very good! So don't let your thoughts run wild from now on! Vivian, get on the horse. Come with me!" Nalant nodded in satisfaction, swung himself onto the horse, and held out a hand to Vivian.

"Yes, my lord!" Vivian didn't hesitate. Her fair hands rested on Nalant's, and with a gentle pull, Nalant safely lifted her in front of him.

Once she was seated securely, Vivian felt the warmth of her lord behind her back, and a faint blush finally appeared on her fair face.

"Hyah!"

Nalant didn't notice Vivian's reaction. He lightly tapped the horse's flanks with his legs and rode out through the castle gates.

Seeing this, the guards all wore indescribably wicked grins. As for their lord's safety, now that he had become a Title Knight, even ten of them might not be able to defeat him.

Nalant had brought Vivian out of the castle not to do what the guards were imagining, but to head straight for an open area two li from the castle.

The side quest reward had told Nalant that a Sprite would descend upon Storm Territory tonight, and naturally, he hadn't forgotten.

He had already spent one Energy Point to locate where the Sprite would land.

Soon, he and Vivian discovered a meteor crater in the clearing.

"My lord, this... this is a Sprite!" Vivian stared at the blue Sprite in the crater, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"Yes, this is a Blue Sprite!" Nalant was actually no less surprised than Vivian.

Under normal circumstances, most Sprites that appeared were Green Sprites. Yet he had obtained Sprites other than green twice in a row. That would probably make other lords die of envy.

A Blue Sprite could turn land into a habitat favored by a certain creature. In other words, its purpose was to attract a particular animal to settle there.

Don't think this ability lacked value. In this resource-scarce world, obtaining meat was extremely difficult, and people basically relied on hunting.

But with a Blue Sprite, it was equivalent to obtaining a free ranch. And this ranch didn't even require anyone to feed the animals or spend money buying young livestock.

As long as they weren't exterminated all at once, they would reproduce on their own and continuously provide meat for the territory.

Of course, what sort of creature it attracted would depend on luck. It might attract birds, or it might attract horses. In short, anything was possible.

"My lord, congratulations on receiving the God of Glory's favor!" Watching Nalant pick up the still-unawakened Sprite from the crater, Vivian sincerely offered her congratulations.

Obtaining two Sprites in only two short weeks—other than the God of Glory's favor, there truly could be no other explanation.