Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Upon returning to the estate, Alaric headed to his father’s study to report what he had heard from William.

“Barbarians…” Lucas frowned.

He participated in the war with the barbarians a few decades ago. The battle made him famous and cemented his name as one of the strongest in the empire.

He dribbled his fingers on the table, seemingly in deep thought.

“The Barbarian King is not a foolish man. Something must have happened for him to send his warriors near our borders.” Lucas muttered.

“I think so too.” Alaric nodded in agreement.

Lucas stared at his son and said. “This matter is indeed suspicious, but let’s leave it for the time being. We have more important matters to take care of.”

Alaric was taken aback. “What is it, Dad?” He asked with a baffled look.

Lucas adjusted his sitting posture before he replied with a smile. “What else? Of course your wedding!”

Alaric’s smile stiffened upon hearing this. He thought that there would be another war. It turned out his father was talking about his wedding.

“You are right. I cannot let Hershey wait any longer. It is time to announce our wedding date!” Alaric responded, feeling a bit emotional.

In his past life, he had never married Hershey and just kept her waiting for him. He couldn’t let that happen again.

“Good! She is a good girl so you must treasure her, my son.” Lucas didn’t want his son to make the same mistake he did when he was younger.

“Yes, Dad! I know…” Alaric smiled in response.

After some small talk, he left Lucas’ study.

Oh! I forgot to ask Dad if he knows something about Mystic Cloud. Never mind, I will ask him some other time.

Alaric clicked his tongue.

Although he had told his father that he would focus his attention on his wedding, he still sent Franklin and a few warriors to investigate the barbarian sightings in Turtle Fort.

He then went to find the freed women to check on their situation.

“Greetings, Lord Alaric!”

“My lord!”

The women revealed looks of excitement upon seeing him. This man had freed them and gave them the chance to turn their lives around.

Alaric smiled upon seeing the huge improvement in their complexion. When he had first met them in the slave wagon, they looked listless. Only a few days had passed and they were already filled with energy and hope.

“I am glad to see you all in good shape.”

Alaric exchanged greetings and polite remarks with them. He then asked them about their accommodation and their new jobs to which the women replied with great enthusiasm.

Knowing that they were satisfied with their arrangements, Alaric excused himself and was about to head to the training grounds when he heard someone calling him.

“My lord, please wait a moment!”

Alaric raised an eyebrow and turned his head. The one who had called him was Lyanna.

“Lyanna, is there something you need?” Alaric had placed special attention on her because of her unique talent. He had specifically given her an important position in the household’s army.

He noticed that her younger sister Emma was just right behind her.

“My lord, there is something that I want to tell you. Can we talk somewhere more private?” Said Lyanna as she looked around with cautious eyes.

Alaric revealed a look of interest. He wondered what she wanted to tell him for her to be this secretive.

“Alright. Follow me.” He beckoned to them.

Lyanna nodded her head. She then grabbed her younger sister’s hand and whispered. “Things will be alright. I promise you.”

Hearing her sister’s words, Emma meekly nodded. “Mn.”

Alaric brought the two to his study. “Do you want tea or coffee?” He asked them as he pointed to the vacant seats adjacent to his desk.

“There’s no need, my lord.” Lyanna rejected his offer.

Alaric didn’t insist. He took his seat and indicated for them to speak.

Lyanna took a deep breath to gather her thoughts. She then opened her mouth. “My lord, we are from House Jillings, a small merchant family based in Hairo. Our family’s business is mostly related to herbs and medicine so we usually spend our time gathering unique herbs and elixir from the mountains…”

She gave him a short description of their family before she went straight to the topic.

“One time when we were searching for herbs, we discovered something unusual…” Lyanna described the characteristics of the flowers they had found on a mountain near Hairo.

Alaric listened carefully. At first, he didn’t treat the matter too seriously, but when he heard her description of the flowers, he thought about one event that happened in his past life.

It was the discovery of the ultra-rare elixir, the Bedeviled Cornelia!

This flower looked like a hybrid of a rose because of the similarities in their appearance. However, this was far from the truth.

The Bedeviled Cornelia wasn’t an ordinary flower. It was an elixir that fed on corpses!

At first, it was only treated as a strange flower, but it was later discovered to be extremely useful in growing monsters. If a wild beast consumed one petal from its flower, it would have a high chance of becoming a monster!

If he got his hands on these flowers, he could boost the growth of the Saber-fanged Wolves!

While he was immersed in his thoughts, Lyanna’s voice drifted into his ears.

“There’s just one problem, my lord… There is a pack of powerful monsters in that mountain and I think they are waiting for those flowers to bloom.”

“When you discovered those flowers, what was their color?” He asked.

The Bedeviled Cornelia would fully bloom once their petals turned pink. It was also when their boosting properties started to manifest.

Lyanna thought for a moment before she replied. “I think they were white with some hint of pinkness.”

Alaric frowned. This means that those flowers were about to bloom! If that happened, those monsters would definitely devour them!