Marcus's Territory

After receiving the Bloodline Power bestowed by Marcus, Harrot's strength increased greatly.

Level: 7 Defense: 40

HP: 7777

50 (Base HP) + 27 (Strength Bonus)

Strength 27 (26 + 1 Ogre Gauntlets), Agility 15 (16 - 1 Encumbrance), Intelligence 9, Charisma 10.

Skills: Power Strike lv7, Athletics lv3, Weapon Mastery lv5, Inventory Management lv1

Heavy Strike, Light Strike, Dragon Slaying Sword Qi, Fire Resistance, Fire Absorption, Fire Enchantment, Fire Release

Two-Handed Weapons 150 (+15% Attack Speed, Attack Power)

Both his Strength and Agility had increased by 2 points, his base HP cap had risen to 50, and he had even mastered four extraordinary abilities!

Fire Resistance allowed him to ignore ordinary flames, while Fire Absorption allowed him to absorb fire and store its energy.

Fire Enchantment allowed his attacks to carry fiery energy, while Fire Release was like Count Sarik's earlier move, releasing fireballs with astonishing destructive power.

The Bloodline Power of the Elvin Family, to which Marcus belonged, was fire. Whether they were nobles who had awakened their bloodlines or Knights who shared in their glory, they could all master extraordinary powers related to fire.

Ordinary Knights could only possess two extraordinary abilities. Talented ones could master three. Harrot possessing four was truly far from ordinary.

Sun's Blessing allowed people to better adapt to Bloodline Power. After receiving the blessing, nobles could even awaken their bloodlines directly.

That was why Marcus and Sarik were so eager to win Harrot over.

Sarik's face darkened after his attack was blocked. If it had been anyone else, even a chief Knight, he would have killed them on the spot! As the Marquis's son and a Count with real authority, he feared no other noble in the Northern Province!

So what if Harrot had become a Knight and grown much stronger? This was Sarik's castle. He had hundreds of ordinary soldiers and five or six Knights under his command waiting on standby. No matter how capable The Bald Man and Harrot were, they would still die here.

But Marcus was his biological younger brother, and the Old Marquis was still the one in control of the Elvin Family. If Sarik killed Marcus's Knight for no reason, the Old Marquis would definitely punish him.

Although the Old Marquis did not like Marcus, there were only three nobles in the entire family who had awakened their bloodlines. No matter what, he could not allow Marcus to be bullied too badly. What if Marcus ran away in anger?

Marcus existed as insurance. If Sarik's children failed to awaken their bloodlines even after reaching adulthood, then Marcus would have to continue the family's bloodline.

Thinking of this, Sarik forcibly suppressed his anger. The Bald Man had not sworn an oath to become his Knight, so joining someone else could not be considered betrayal. Sarik truly had no legitimate reason to keep attacking.

"Fine. That brat Marcus did well, poaching both of you from under my nose!"

"You can get lost now. Go back and tell Marcus not to provoke me again. My patience has limits!"

Harrot quickly pulled The Bald Man away. Marcus had probably already taken all the gladiators from the Gladiatorial Arena, and that had definitely pushed Count Sarik past the limits of his patience.

They had to run before Sarik found out! Harrot had made blocking that fireball look easy, but his palm had been burned badly. He had crossed his arms only to hide his injury from view.

If not for the +40 Defense reducing the damage beforehand, combined with Fire Resistance and Fire Absorption working together, his hand would probably have been blown apart.

Even the same extraordinary abilities varied in strength. Although Harrot's compatibility was high, he had only barely reached the level of an ordinary noble who had awakened their bloodline.

A great noble like Sarik, who possessed outstanding talent and had spent years consuming herbs and magical beast flesh to strengthen his bloodline, was far more powerful than Harrot.

Sarik could throw fireballs a meter in diameter. Harrot could manage thirty centimeters at most, and the temperature of their flames was not even in the same league.

Harrot hurriedly brought The Bald Man to the meeting place Marcus had mentioned. Marcus had already bought enough horses with the gladiators and was simply waiting for them to arrive before setting off.

As soon as Harrot and The Bald Man arrived, they set out on their journey. Harrot's high Agility allowed him to easily grasp the skill of riding. He might not have been reliable in battle, but traveling was no problem.

Marcus's territory was quite far away, at the easternmost edge of the Northern Province. Even on horseback, it took them several days to arrive.

The territory was vast, fertile, and picturesque, with mountains, water, and forests. Its total area exceeded a thousand square kilometers! It was equivalent to five Maldiveses!

Harrot thought that such a large and fine territory was practically the limit for a Viscount. What was there to be dissatisfied with? The Old Marquis was not as biased as Marcus had claimed!

Marcus saw Harrot's confusion and answered, "My goal is not to become some rural noble. This land is indeed good compared to what ordinary nobles possess, but my father's directly controlled territory is ten times larger than mine!"

"Once you include the lands of those impoverished nobles dependent on him, his territory is forty times the size of mine!"

Harrot silently did the math. The Kingdom of Lucanir had roughly the same land area as a province from his previous life, around three to four hundred thousand square kilometers. As the head of one of the kingdom's four great noble families and the ruler of the Northern Province, it was perfectly reasonable for Marquis Harlaus to possess one-tenth of the kingdom's territory.

Different perspectives led to different desires. In his previous life, Harrot had been an ordinary Commoner living in a house of less than one hundred square meters. When he fantasized about a grand villa with a private garden and swimming pool, he had only imagined something spanning a few hundred or perhaps a few thousand square meters. But Marcus's goal was to reach—or even surpass—his father, command vast lands, and rule a region alone. Naturally, he could only reclaim wilderness, expand his territory, and struggle in the east.

Seeing the longing in Harrot's eyes, Marcus pointed at his territory and said, "Do you like a territory like this? Fine. I promise that once I successfully carve out territory in the east, I will reward you with land just as large!"

Although Commoners and impoverished nobles in this world had no possibility of awakening a bloodline, they could still own and inherit land as long as they attached themselves to nobles who had awakened theirs.

These families were also the main source of Knight candidates for nobles. Many families had served a particular noble family as Knights for generations.

After all, the number of nobles in this world was limited by bloodlines. There were simply not many of them, and they could not manage so much land themselves. Granting land to families dependent on them still meant that the land belonged to them, and they could reclaim it whenever they were unhappy.

The moment Harrot heard those words, he felt as though it were unreal. His dream had been nothing more than this, yet it had suddenly come so close. As long as the reclamation succeeded, could his dream truly come true?

Harrot took a deep breath. It was only a promise, not an oath. Don't get excited. Whether Marcus would truly reward him would depend on how great his contributions were!

Even so, Harrot was incomparably excited, and the delight on his face could not be suppressed.

Marcus was very satisfied with Harrot's reaction. He was not a stingy man. As long as Harrot worked hard for him, he would give him more than a thousand square kilometers of land without hesitation!

The Bald Man and the other gladiators heard their conversation and were filled with enthusiasm as well. They all supported and joined the plan to reclaim land.

Others might be afraid, but gladiators like them, who had long been accustomed to fighting desperately between life and death, did not care at all. In the past, winning only meant living a few more days. Now, victory came with rewards!

The Bald Man was especially excited. Like Harrot, he had received a share of Marcus's power. As a Knight, he also had a chance to receive land as a reward!

Marcus did not take Harrot and The Bald Man around the territory much. Since they would soon be heading east to reclaim land, they went straight to the castle to rest.

Marcus fulfilled his promise quickly. As soon as they arrived, he sent over 1,000 gold coins and allowed Harrot to choose his own male and female attendants from the territory.

Because of this, Harrot unlocked the Troop System. Its effect was excellent: through the system interface, he could examine the character panels of everyone willing to become his attendant.

He could use the Troop System to upgrade his subordinates! It was very similar to upgrading troop types in a game.

Troop upgrades differed from player upgrades. Upgrading changed their troop class, and their attributes were distributed automatically. Harrot discovered that different people had vastly different troop classes.

Most Commoners were farmers. Their attributes were terrible, and even after upgrading into militia or scouts, their combat strength remained weak.

Some Commoners who had trained and looked noticeably strong were Lucanir Recruits. They could be upgraded into Lucanir Infantry or Lucanir Skirmishers, both of which had decent combat strength, with Strength and Agility above 12.

The rarest were Newborn Northern Explorers. Harrot examined nearly a thousand people before finding only two who belonged to this troop class. Based on his gaming experience, their ultimate form was the Northern Rogue Knight, possessing Strength and Agility above 20 and extraordinary combat power.

Harrot had selected more than a thousand people in a row without deciding on his male attendants. Marcus did not say anything, but he still found it strange. He could understand taking a long and complicated time to choose female attendants—after all, they were men!

But why be so meticulous when choosing male attendants? Couldn't he just find a few who were strong and clever?

Could it be... Marcus gave Harrot a strange look for a moment, then silently moved several steps away from him.

Harrot wanted to cry but had no tears. He could only endure the strange rumors and continue selecting. In the end, he finally chose five Newborn Northern Explorers.

Choosing three female attendants was not much trouble. His male attendants would become his personal guards and subordinates, so of course he had to choose those with potential. He had to use the system to check their troop classes and attributes and select the best ones.

As for female attendants, looks were what mattered most!

In the end, Harrot chose one who cooked well, one who washed clothes cleanly, and one who was good-looking with a voluptuous figure! All three were Lucanir Recruits as well.

Female Lucanir Recruits could only be upgraded into Lucanir Skirmishers and female scouts. Even with the same troop class, their attributes were considerably lower than men's. That was understandable, since women were naturally physically weaker than men.

Harrot had also wanted to choose three beautiful, voluptuous women as female attendants, but he simply did not have that luxury.

The status of male and female attendants differed greatly. Male attendants were Harrot's trusted subordinates, who would accompany him onto the battlefield, kill enemies, and earn achievements. It was an enormous opportunity.

Female attendants, however, were merely servants who waited on Harrot. Although they would not need to worry about food or clothing, it was not considered a particularly good position.

Far fewer people were willing to become his female attendants than his male attendants. On top of that, Commoner women generally had mediocre qualities, and beautiful ones were especially rare.

After all, women with outstanding looks had no need to become his attendants. Wouldn't it be better to become the lawful wife of a guard or wealthy merchant?

Harrot could only accept reality. Even if Marcus did not mind, Harrot himself was unwilling to forcibly seize innocent women!

After selecting his male and female attendants, Harrot began taking part in military training as well, preparing for the impending journey east to reclaim land!