Chapter 29

  { The Lake Problem }

  Day Four.

  Titan Village.

  Human forces: 19 { Chris, Liu, Noa… }

  Goblin forces: 42 { Tori, Boban… }

  Non-combatants (Humans): 6 { Yora, Aliano, Martin, the old woman (cook), two newcomers (builder, farmer) }

  Non-combatants (Goblins): 5( … )

  Total population: 72

  Overall loyalty rate: 83%

  Ruler: Lord Ian { Not counted among combatants or workers }

  First-level combatants: Chris, Liu, Tori, Porto

  Then the beasts—

  White Tiger (Level 1, Step Eight)

  9 strong wolves (Level 0)

  War Horse group: 122, plus current reproduction 2 → total of 124 War Horses

  The village had developed greatly in a short period of time… especially with the addition of the farmer and the builder.

  The builder would construct some simple huts for the villagers, while the farmer would take care of the land Ian had cleared yesterday.

  Ian could now ease his mind from one concern and focus on other aspects.

  As for the food problem: chickens and rabbits were being provided on a daily basis, along with some cleaning operations that would increase food supplies while also granting the village certain resources. The three new knights would be responsible for this.

  Among the five new summons were two middle-aged men—one whom Ian ordered to become a builder, and the other a farmer. The remaining three were all girls, but that did not stop Ian from making them knights.

  It was a beautiful sight atop the war horses. The only issue was that they did not possess spears yet, but swords would suffice for now.

  Knight Profession:

  Allows its holder to use two different weapons and gain 10% of the mount’s strength.

  Of course, this was because the profession was Common. If it were of a higher grade, they would have gained more—but an additional 10% strength was still good.

  Ian looked at one of the girls who possessed a Normal grade.

  “Lily… you will be responsible for cleanse the borders. You will use the Heavenly Mirror to continuously transmit items and information to Chief Yora.”

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Yes, my lord!” Lily shouted.

  A beauty with short hair and heroic eyes.

  Ian smiled… the village was moving forward more and more…

  Many gaps were being filled.

  Small steps… for the sake of greater steps.

  Ian left them and headed toward the others.

  “Liu… you and Porto will move toward the orc village. I want detailed information about them—the patrols, numbers, those working in their service, and especially that human village,” Ian ordered.

  The two bowed, determination burning in their eyes. They would not repeat that foolish mistake.

  “Tori… you will go with the new knights. Protect them and act as their guide and instructor,” Ian ordered.

  “As you command.”

  “Chris… train the forces. Focus on wide-area combat. You saw the mistakes yourself when we fought the skeletons—I don’t want to see them again. And train them in defense. We don’t know when enemies might reach our gates,” Ian ordered.

  “At your command, my lord,” Chris bowed.

  “Hmmm… send the wolves with the knights. They’ll help with scouting,” Ian ordered, then left.

  “As you command…”

  He took Noa and the White Tiger with him—only them.

  Chris wanted to send someone else along, but Ian refused.

  Ian mounted the War Horse King, with Noa walking beside him on foot, and the White Tiger in front.

  They encountered no dangers along the way until they reached the lake.

  A vast, pristine lake.

  It covered roughly half a mile.

  Honestly, it wasn’t that large—but the problem Ian noticed was…

  The depth.

  Extremely deep.

  Deep beyond measure.

  “The water is so clear I can see everything inside—and that’s what scares me. It’s like an ocean disguised as a lake. And worse… the fish inside.”

  They were all ferocious fish.

  From swordfish, to jellyfish, to crabs, to sharks.

  Even the fish that looked ordinary were surrounded by an aura of lightning or poison.

  This place… wasn’t just a lake.

  It was an ocean—truly an ocean—only its outward appearance was that of a lake.

  “I had previously thought of draining all the water and letting what’s inside die so we could claim their bodies, or capture them and raise them to create another food path. But now… even if we flooded the entire Forest of Horrors, we wouldn’t empty this water,” Ian frowned.

  “Let’s ignore it, my lord,” Noa said

  “The problem here, Noa, is that this lake is strange… not simple. And the unknown is the most frightening thing. What if there’s a monster hiding inside that will attack us from behind? And don’t forget—it lies within the village’s borders. When we expand in the future, we’ll be forced to deal with it. What if we later discover that we can’t deal with it? What if we discover then that it’s far stronger than our current capabilities… or that there was a huge opportunity here and someone else took it?” Ian spoke deeply.

  “Forgive my ignorance, my lord,” Noa bowed.

  Ian waved his hand dismissively.

  Roar.

  “You feel danger from it too.”

  The White Tiger nodded.

  Ian sighed and was about to leave when a thought struck him. He took out a Heavenly Mirror and said, “Yora… tell Aliano that I want—”

  “As you command, my lord.” Yora’s image appeared on the other side.

  She was inside the warehouse, surrounded by stacked papers, with a large number of items behind her—coins, swords… even food.

  She was managing everything at once while also monitoring the exploration team’s route, overseeing the village, and receiving Ian’s orders.

  Since they had found the two mirrors during the skeleton campaign, their drop rate had increased, and within just a few hours they had gathered a whole batch…

  Ian continued waiting, with Noa beside him, both he and the White Tiger carefully watching the surroundings, until a skill stone arrived through the mirror.

  This was the benefit of having a legendary-grade researcher along with the Science and Research building.

  Another lord would, at best, obtain one skill stone per day—or one profession stone every two to three days. But Ian only had to wait about an hour to obtain a skill… and a special one at that.

  Ian saw it and smiled.

  He shattered the stone—usable by only one person—then activated the skill and jumped into the lake.

  Noa and the White Tiger stared in shock.

  They hadn’t expected this at all.

  What astonished them most was Ian himself— the moment he jumped, he transformed into a small blue fish.

  Transformation

  Common

  Effect: Transform your body into a fish for one hour.

  Cool down: 3 hours.

  There were many restrictions—Ian couldn’t transform into anything other than fish, and the duration was limited to one hour—but it was more than enough.

  Under the water, Ian smiled, recalling a famous saying:

  “Strange problems require even stranger solutions.”