Chapter 31: Don't Come Over!

"Scale-patterned Starfall Meteoric Iron? Good heavens, Lord Gervas, where did you get this?"

Inside the castle, as Luca looked at the five pieces of meteoric iron Gervas had placed on the table, this man, who had once served as the Count's chief blacksmith, also had eyes shining with light.

"I got it by accident. I received word in advance that five wasteland refugees had picked them up, so I spent fifty silver coins to buy them."

"Fifty silver... silver coins? Lord Gervas, are you sure you didn't mean gold coins? No, wait, even if it were gold coins, it wouldn't be enough! These five pieces of meteoric iron are worth at least one hundred and fifty gold coins or more!"

"It is fifty silver coins, not a penny more or less. Luca, look at these materials and tell me what weapons or equipment can be made from them?"

Luca's expression turned serious. "Lord Gervas, as a senior blacksmith, my suggestion is that you should wait a bit longer, because if Mithril can be added to the Starfall Meteoric Iron, then enchanted weapons and equipment can be crafted in the future."

"If forged directly now, it would be at most three to five times stronger than ordinary weapons and equipment; that is already the limit. That would be too much of a waste of such precious materials!"

Mithril is an essential item for all magical artifacts.

Its preciousness is beyond doubt; one can see this from the fact that Luca, the chief blacksmith, had to flee after being falsely accused of stealing Mithril.

"Mithril, then? Alright, let's wait a bit longer!"

Luca breathed a huge sigh of relief. As an excellent blacksmith, he could not bear to waste such rare and hard-to-find materials.

At noon, Knight Captain Lei Meng, five formal knights, and one hundred guards all assembled at the castle, filling the somewhat cramped courtyard of the Baron's castle.

"Depart!"

At Gervas's command, the entire column surged out of the castle and headed southwest.

Half an hour later, Gervas arrived at the designated location with his subordinates.

"My lord, look over there!" Knight Captain Lei Meng immediately reminded.

On the distant horizon, a string of black dots was slowly approaching, and among them, one large shadow was particularly conspicuous.

No need to think much; that was the monster column coming to invade today.

"Knight Captain Lei Meng, the Swamp Trolls are in your hands!"

"My lord, your subordinate will definitely complete the mission!"

Knight Captain Lei Meng rode his Fire Steed toward the Black Pine Forest of the Death Mountains.

Time ticked by second by second; the distant monster snake column drew closer and closer. When the forms of the monster snakes and the Swamp Trolls could be clearly distinguished, the column stirred with unrest.

After all, they were only new recruits recruited a day ago, essentially no different from serfs. Facing so many monsters, and those detestable Swamp Trolls, the only reason they hadn't run was because Lord Gervas himself was holding the line.

"Everyone, be quiet! If you run, what will happen to your families in the town behind you? Can you face Lord Gervas? Can you face the black bread the castle has provided you these days?"

"I, Lauren, put my words here: Lord Gervas is the most benevolent lord I have ever seen. Following him in the future, we will surely eat our fill every day and live a good life!"

"So, whoever dares to run, I, Lauren, will be the first to object. We will deal with him immediately according to military law and kill him!" Centurion Lauren immediately suppressed the situation, calming the originally restless new recruits somewhat.

At this moment, Gervas spoke: "Military orders are like a mountain. I, this lord, fully support Centurion Lauren's actions, but..."

Gervas scanned the crowd. "Similarly, if anyone performs with sufficient bravery and excellence in this battle, then rewards must also be given."

"I now announce that the top five individuals with the most bravery and outstanding merit in today's battle will be selected to become Knight Squires!"

Huh!

The guard unit instantly erupted; if not for the great enemy at hand, they would probably have all jumped up and cheered.

Knight Squires!

An opportunity to become a knight, to learn the Battle Qi.

This is the dream of all serfs.

Instantly, even the new recruits showed determination in their eyes.

Compared to going hungry and cold every day, if risking their lives could truly change their fate, they certainly had the courage to do so.

"Of course, for fairness, besides this battle, in the subsequent battles, I will select a batch of Knight Squires each time, until the Knight Squires are fully recruited."

"Alright, Knight Captain Lei Meng is here. Everyone, perk up! Listen to my orders in a moment!"

At the same time, a cloud of dust rose from the direction of the Black Pine Forest. Along a straight line on the road, many trees were seen with the naked eye being pushed down in rows at speed; obviously, a giant beast was raging there.

And this was Lei Meng's mission: to lure the Iron-Shell Fire Salamander.

The reason the Iron-Shell Fire Salamander could be so frantic was that Lei Meng held the blood of an Iron-Shell Fire Salamander cub in his hand.

The moment the Iron-Shell Fire Salamander, who had lost its beloved child, smelled the cub's blood, how could it remain calm?

It chased Lei Meng relentlessly all the way.

With Lei Meng's luring, they drew closer and closer to the monster snake column.

Babali was the leader of a small monster snake tribe.

Last time, he had received orders from Lady Snake Woman to participate in the action attacking the human border.

He split his column into two groups: he led one to attack a larger town, while the other group attacked this Storm Domain.

Originally, according to intelligence, the strength of this Storm Domain was very weak, and the number of people was also very small.

But unexpectedly, his other group of clansmen did not return. Later, according to the report from the clansmen who managed to escape, his entire group of clansmen was wiped out.

To avenge his clansmen, and also to capture enough human food to offer to Lady Snake Woman, Babali came again today, bringing the tribe's guardian Swamp Trolls.

The power of the Swamp Trolls is beyond doubt; their massive size causes the earth to tremate heavily with every step they take.

Boom! Boom! Boom-boom! Boom-boom...

"Hmm?" Babali suddenly sensed something wrong. Why had the originally monotonous rhythm become double?

He looked up toward the Guardian Troll.

The Guardian Troll's movement rhythm had not changed, and walking on two legs, it was completely impossible to make sounds like "boom-boom."

"Ah, Leader, look over there!"

The cry of a subordinate came; Babali followed his gaze and saw a human knight charging toward them.

Even more terrifying was that behind that knight, a third-order Iron-Shell Fire Salamander, already driven into madness, was in pursuit.

The terrifying nature of the Iron-Shell Fire Salamander was something they, living in the wilderness, understood best; even with the Guardian Trolls present, they dared not provoke it.

"Is that human knight mad?" Barabli thought to himself.

But very soon, his initial mockery turned into terror.

"Don't come over here!"

They saw the knight charging straight toward their formation.

In Barabli's terrified gaze, the knight suddenly revealed a sinister smile, then violently hurled a cloth bag from his hand at the Swamp Troll.

The Swamp Troll reacted swiftly, immediately raising a hand to block, and firmly gripped the leather pouch in its palm.

The Swamp Troll raised the pouch to sniff, its eyes instantly lighting up, and it immediately tilted the pouch toward its mouth to pour the contents down.

"Don't..."

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The Swamp Troll, whose intelligence was not high, poured the fresh, crisp blood of the Iron-Shell Fire Salamander into its mouth, splashing it everywhere.

Of course, even if the Swamp Troll had not actively picked it up to drink, the moment it caught the pouch, a large amount of the young salamanders' blood had already stained its body.

Thus, there was no way for them to escape this calamity!

Roar!

Sensing the even stronger scent of the young ones' blood, combined with the Swamp Troll's swallowing motion, the Iron-Shell Fire Salamanders' eyes turned completely red!