Chapter 38 : Chapter 38
Chapter 38. Another Slave with Domain Aptitude, and Trouble in the Secret Realm
Over the next few days, the army continued to advance at an unhurried pace.
After camp was set up each day, Jessy would always come to find William on time. Sometimes she would probe indirectly, and sometimes she would feign curiosity, but no matter how she circled around the subject, she was always trying to find out how he distinguished the aptitude of slaves.
“Little William, do you have some kind of secret magic artifact? Like a mirror that can reveal a person’s bones and talent?”
“Or did you secretly learn Eastern Physiognomy? Teach your sister, won’t you?”
William was driven to a headache by her questions. Most of the time, he simply pretended not to hear her, but Jessy never grew tired of it, like a little sparrow chasing after candy.
At last, the outline of Dragonfang Fortress appeared on the horizon.
This fortress, which guarded the vital throat between the Central Region and the Northern Frontier, had walls built from dark gray stone. From afar, it looked like a crouching beast, giving off a grim and murderous aura.
The army set up camp on the plain outside the fortress. Tents rose and fell in long stretches, facing Dragonfang Fortress from afar.
William dismounted and immediately went to find the old Prince to request permission to leave the camp.
Jessy followed right behind him like a tail, her eyes full of expectation.
“Old Prince, I would like to go into Dragonfang Fortress and take a look,” William said with a bow.
The old Prince looked at him, then glanced at Jessy beside him, and nodded. “Go ahead. Return to camp before sunset.”
Jessy immediately stepped forward. “Old Prince, I want to go too!”
But the old Prince shook his head. “Princess, His Majesty has given orders. No one is allowed to leave camp today.”
Jessy’s face fell. She turned and tried to go plead with Kroll II in his main tent, but she had barely reached the entrance before the guards stopped her and sent her back. As expected, she returned with nothing but frustration.
She stormed back to William and stuffed a Spatial Ring into his hands.
“Then help me pick out a hundred people! I trust your judgment. Once you have chosen them, have the slave traders send them straight to Rose Manor in the Royal Capital. The money is inside the ring.”
Seeing how indignant she looked, William let out a helpless sigh and accepted the ring.
“Understood.”
William left the camp with the Royal Guard and entered Dragonfang Fortress, only to find it even more desolate than he had imagined.
There were few pedestrians on the streets, and several slave markets were nearly empty.
The soldiers guarding the city said that the situation in the Northern Frontier had been tense lately, so most of the slaves had already been transferred to the interior of the Central Region. Those left behind in the fortress were mostly the old, the weak, the sick, and the crippled—slaves with little value.
Even so, William patiently checked each place one by one.
His gaze swept over those numb faces, sifting through them like a sieve in search of hidden aptitude.
After one market after another, William was ready to give up.
“Your Highness, why not forget it?” Tos suggested in a low voice. “There really are no good seedlings left in this fortress.”
William shook his head and walked into the last slave market, which was just about to close.
In one corner, a skinny, emaciated boy was curled up on himself. Other slaves were shoving him around, yet his eyes were as fierce as a wolf cub’s.
William’s heart jolted, and he stepped forward.
The boy suddenly raised his head, a threatening growl rumbling from his throat.
“Him. I want that one,” William said, pointing at the boy as he spoke to the slave trader.
After quickly signing a Soul Contract, William ordered the slave trader to send the boy intact to the manor outside the Royal Capital. He even dispatched two Palace Knights to accompany the slave trader back to the Royal Capital.
Once everything was arranged, he returned to camp with the guard.
The moment he entered the camp gates, he saw Jessy waiting outside her tent. The anger on her face had long since faded.
“How did the selection go?”
William shook his head. “Third Sister, the quality of the slaves here is very poor. Let’s wait a little longer.”
After hearing that, Jessy grinned. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Little William, I trust you. Just let me know when you’ve found them.”
After dealing with Jessy, William turned and entered his own tent.
The harvest from Dragonfang Fortress was even greater than on the previous occasions. That fierce-eyed boy actually had Domain Aptitude.
With aptitude like that, as long as the resources kept up, advancing to become a Legendary Combatant would only be a matter of time.
William glanced at the darkening twilight outside the tent, then sat cross-legged on his campaign bed and took out a pale blue Meditation Potion.
As soon as the potion went down his throat, a cool stream of energy spread through his meridians, and he quickly entered a meditative state.
Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Secret Realm in the Northern Frontier, thousands of miles away, the atmosphere was as heavy as iron.
Eight white-haired elders surrounded a distorted Gate of Light. The old woman at their head wore a long robe patterned with dark designs. Her withered fingers clutched her staff tightly as she stared at the churning black fog within the Gate of Light, her expression ugly to the extreme.
“The pressure inside is growing stronger and stronger…”
One of the elders spoke with a trembling voice.
“That is clearly the aura of Domain-level combat power. It seems the Domain-level Foreign Race inside has fully awakened. We cannot stop it at all.”
The formation around the Gate of Light was already letting out a mournful hum, and the Runes flickered unstably. It was obvious that it was nearly at its limit.
These royal Ancestors had originally been the final safeguard standing watch over the Secret Realm. Yet now, they could only watch helplessly as the disturbance within intensified, without even the courage to step inside.
“Take turns reinforcing the formation. Do not let it stop for even a moment.”
The old woman gave the order in a low voice, though a faint tremor could be heard within it.
“We can only hope Lord Fenlilan arrives as soon as possible. Otherwise…”
She did not finish, but everyone understood the consequences. Once a Domain-level existence charged out of the Secret Realm, not only the Northern Frontier but the entire kingdom would be thrown into monstrous upheaval.
The freezing wind swept across the icy plain outside the Secret Realm entrance, carrying a piercing chill.
The light of the formation flickered within the black fog, like the last candle in a storm.
That very night, Kroll II received the news, but there was nothing he could do except worry.
His Ancestor was suppressing the native inhabitants of the royal family’s Secret Realm. He had no idea what the situation was like now.
He could not even contact them through the communication formation, and the anxiety kept Kroll II awake the entire night.
Inside the main tent, the Shadow Guards constantly relayed the latest news from the Secret Realm in the Northern Frontier. Fortunately, with the help of a group of Legendary Combatants, the formation had barely been stabilized.
After thinking it over, Kroll II decided to have all ten legions remain stationed where they were and advance no farther.
The risk ahead was too great. These ten legions were the foundation of his future royal legions. He could not simply throw them away like this…