Night Ranger

Constantine arrival made Marvin loosen up, and also sped up many of his plans.

Necromancer Fidel’s arrival also made him overjoyed. That guy had nothing to do since Sasha left and thus simply decided to temporarily settle in White River Valley. It could be seen that he was very satisfied with the environment there.

Unconventional Necromancers like him were very rare; he deeply studied Necromancy, but very rarely used it.

If it was in the game, Fidel might have already gone out of control and begun to think of foolish ways to turn into a Lich.

But this time, his fate was thoroughly changed due to Marvin’s intervention.

He apparently found a resting place in White River Valley… Hold on, maybe calling it a resting place wasn’t too suitable.

...

”Idiot, you incorrectly transformed this rune. This thing is to be used to raise the strength of living people and not the undead, didn’t you get it?”

The Alchemist dressed like a peacock jumped about while pointing at Fidel’s forehead and cursing.

Veins could be seen palpitating on Fidel’s forehead. He originally was quite the chatterbox, but he hadn’t expected to meet an even more talkative chatterbox in White River Valley.

What left him speechless was that the other side could yell at Fidel using his name, but when Fidel wanted to roar back, he could only say, ”Hey you!”

Because the other side really didn’t have a name.

This guy was a wanderer, and who knew why he wandered to White River Valley? After Marvin’s fight with Bamboo, he had thoroughly investigated the Alchemist.

He was stunned to discover that this guy seemed to have no past.

The Alchemist himself said, ”The first half of my life was ruthlessly erased by someone. Thus, I think that having a good second half is essential.”

Marvin tested him, and found that it wasn’t a common Memory Removal.

To find out who erased the Alchemist’s memories, they would need a Legend Wizard that was an expert in divination to find some clues.

Hathaway might not be able to do so because she was specialized in destruction. This was why her tower, within the Three Ring Towers, was called the Ashes Tower.

In any case, the alchemist was a nameless person. He only knew he was the Greatest Alchemist in all history.

This claim was questionable, or at least Marvin thought so.

When he was dealing with Bamboo, that Alchemist really did show some skills.

But he didn’t come out afterwards and ate his meals alone, apart from when he was working with Fidel, jumping about and pointing while giving confusing orders.

But Fidel was actually able to endure in the end. Marvin felt strange when seeing this odd pair.

They were in the middle of working on those coffins Marvin had brought back.

These coffins were extremely rare objects. In those days, the Lich, who was now sleeping, had spent quite a lot of time and energy in order to make those coffins.

Fidel immediately became fascinated with those coffins. He started his own research right away.

And two days later, he had an understanding of the general structure and operating mechanism. He had to admit that the Alchemist also had some contributions during that time.

Whenever Marvin tried to make the Alchemist craft some items, he would always enter a state of memory loss state, as if something was blocking him from using those alchemy formulas he knew.

But it didn’t block him from spouting a few enlightening words when working as Fidel’s assistant.

These words were proper nouns.

When Marvin heard those while listening at the side, he would be puzzled. Fidel however would display an expression of realization after hearing them.

This 2nd rank Necromancer had fairly high comprehension. After Marvin roughly described the means of the transformation, with the help of the strange Alchemist, he only used three days to finish transforming the first coffin… No, it should be called a [Cultivation Tank] now.

The role of the cultivation tank was very simple. It was to slightly increase the physical abilities of those who entered.

This thing’s prerequisite was pretty harsh though. Only 1st rank lifeforms could enter.

After ensuring the cultivation tank was safe and that it wouldn’t turn people into Corpse Seekers or other monsters, Marvin picked the weakest volunteer within his loyal guards.

The youth laid down in the cultivation tank for a long time, as Fidel and the Alchemist busied themselves outside.

Marvin had been paying attention from the start, and he was also rather nervous. After all, turning the Corpse Seeker’s coffins into a cultivation tank for other kind of lifeform was feasible in theory. If by any chance it really produced monsters, this youth who had always been loyal to White River Valley would have sacrificed his life in vain.

This was something Marvin was very unwilling to see, and thus he repeatedly asked Fidel for probabilities.

”90% chance of strengthening, 8% chance of failure without much damage to the human body.”

”And only 2% that something unexpected might happen. But these accidents would be controlled. With me and that guy here, the entire process is under control.”

”If an issue arises, we can stop the entire process at any time.”

This was Fidel’s guarantee.

Thus, the first volunteer’s strengthening began.

Marvin named it the ”White River Valley Soldier Enhancement” project. If this one was successful, then there would be a follow up and at least twenty loyal White River Valley guards would be strengthened.

As for the adventurers who had joined the guards, including Gru, who had already become White River Valley garrison’s vice-leader, they would have to wait for now.

Marvin had to make sure those strengthened were loyal. Strengthening wasn’t free after all. According to Fidel’s calculations, each strengthening would need at least 500 silvers worth of enchantment materials.

The first strengthening was using the coffin’s materials and could be considered free of charge, but then he would have to pay a large amount.

...

”He came out.”

In the evening, that young soldier crawled out of the first cultivation tank, staggering.

He touched himself all over and mumbled, ”Looks like nothing changed.”

Marvin chuckled and had Fidel lead him to the training ground for testing.

Half an hour later, the test report came.

This level 4 young fighter obtained at least four attribute points through the strengthening. Two points of Constitution, one point of Strength, and one point in Dexterity.

In other words, going through this strengthening was the equivalent of eight levels worth of attribute points!

The effect was outstanding!

The youth didn’t appear to have any side effects in the following days. It was exactly like the information from the game. The coffins transformed into cultivation tanks would be incredibly useful for training low level soldiers.

Marvin waved his hand, signaling for the remain nineteen guards, including Andre, to start the strengthening.

This would keep Fidel busy. For this reason, Marvin looked for an Apprentice in River Shore City to be his assistant. This Apprentice didn’t have the gift to become a Wizard, but the Apprentice had a bit of experience with Alchemy.

Marvin gave the order to keep this plan hidden. He established a laboratory in the castle basement for the Necromancer to use.

Fidel did his work, and the physical strength of those twenty guards who followed Marvin since the start got different amounts of strengthening.

Some got three points, some four. Even though they couldn’t choose what attribute would be raised, their physical strength would be improved to some extent.

This was enough.

After advancing, they would become the core of the White River Valley’s patrols.

And not those bold adventurers.

...

As for the advancement, Marvin had always wanted to hire one or two class trainers from Jewel Bay.

But he hadn’t expected that Constantine on his ”vacation” would bring him a nice surprise.

He brought two disabled veterans.

These two veteran were soldiers who had participated in the fight against Red Dragon Ell in Tornado Harbor. Their levels weren’t very high, only level 9.

But they had a strength. It was training.

After that battle, regardless if it was Tornado Harbor’s city guards or other patrols, many people retired due to injuries.

These two were a simple example. They had a very good relationship with Constantine and were thus brought here by him since they were looking for a place to recuperate in the wake of the Red Dragon’s attack.

At least this place looked pretty peaceful.

Marvin hired these two veterans as military instructors for White River Valley’s guards.

Of these two military instructors, one was a regular Storm Swordsman and the other was a Knight. White River Valley didn’t have the ability to develop a large cavalry for now, but this Knight could still teach the guards.

As for these guards’ path of advancement, Marvin considered that they would mainly be patrols, so he decided on [Storm Swordsman], this relatively easy to master class.

Thus, all the guards would have a general advancement path.

They would no longer have ineffectual training, after they began to train under the lead two military instructors.

This made Marvin very grateful to Constantine.

...

Following Marvin and Wayne’s arrangements, the territory’s matters were clearly organized. The Northern Mine was once again being mined. After sending a six man team to reside there, a small number of miners began working.

As for the southern part, Marvin sent some farmers to repair the abandoned wharf.

Even if this wharf wasn’t big, in the future it would become an important hub connecting the east and the west of the territory, and it would also link with River Shore City.

It was now the time when seeds were sprouting, so farmers had nothing to do at home. They didn’t complain about being conscripted by the Overlord to work.

Moreover, they were paid. Most people would be motivated.

...

Soon, most matters of the territory were already on the right track. With Constantine overseeing it, Marvin wasn’t worried about people looking for trouble.

Thus rather than rest for a few days, he once again set off.

This time, his goal was Jewel Bay.

He had to recruit enough adventurers, then apply for a wilderness clearing order. If things went smoothly he would think about visiting Cursed Pearl Island.

There were too many things to do, and he could only do them one by one.

Marvin rode on a horse, and as he quickly approached the Spider Crypt, that girl’s face appeared in his mind.

‘Lola…’