Chapter 171: Neighbors

Chapter 171

Neighbors

Seeing the man’s expression as he glanced at her, almost as if he wanted to complain, Ellie nearly burst out laughing. His demeanor made it seem like she was bullying him. Ellie understood why. Initially, he had told her about the special properties of the Pure Flame Dragon herb and how crucial it was to the second young lord of the family. Deep down, he had hoped that Ellie would give it to the Second Young Lord Aman.

Who would have thought that after chatting with him for a few words, Ellie would then negotiate with that strange orb and toss the precious herb to it? To him...finding such an herb in one’s lifetime wasn’t easy. He had previously heard of a kingdom that had obtained it, ultimately giving it to a member of the Guardian Association, which granted them the special privilege of calling for the Association’s protection once. It could be called that it was a highly sought-after privilege.

When talking about the "Guardian Association," one of the 7 great and fearsome associations, some say they were more powerful than any single kingdom. This was because they were an organization that gathered the strongest individuals who met their required criteria. Due to their inclusion of many powerful figures, they had members from various kingdoms. Although no one knew the exact extent of their strength, no one dared to challenge them.

In Ares Kingdom, there was someone chosen to join the Guardian Association as well. However, the one chosen was a "priest." At that time, the Sacred Church wasn’t as prosperous as it was today. After that priest was selected to join the Guardian Association, the church’s reputation rose significantly. Additionally, the training methods they received covertly from the former priest turned the church into a powerful cult within the Ares Kingdom.

No one knew the criteria for selecting members, but it likely wasn’t based solely on strength. Otherwise, Owen would have been called to join at a young age.

The whole point was, even powerful groups sought out level 5 herbs like the Pure Flame Dragon herb. And yet, Ellie tossed it into a contaminated pond. Wasn’t that a waste?

Ellie led the large man, who looked like he was about to cry tears of blood, out of the tunnel. Once they were outside, she stopped and smiled at him.

"Why do you look so sad?"

"I-I apologize, my lady." No matter how hurt he felt inside, his duty was not to make the young lady uncomfortable. Instead of expressing his regret over the valuable herb and causing her distress, he chose to remain silent.

"I think you are regretting the loss of the Pure Flame Dragon herb, aren’t you?" Seeing his demeanor, Ellie felt sorry for him. It seemed the Setter family had a deep love and reverence for their lineage. Even though the herb wouldn’t be used on him, he still regretted not being able to give it to someone important in his family.

If it was her who had such loyal subordinates, Ellie would be quite happy...

"You don’t need to worry about the herb. I know how beneficial it is for your young lord."

"If that’s the case..." If that’s the case, why did you give it to the orb? This was the question he wanted to ask but didn’t dare to voice. However, his face clearly conveyed his thoughts.

"In that case...I didn’t give the orb all of it."

"Huh?" The man’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Ellie’s words weren’t difficult to understand, but...they seemed they shouldn’t be understood.

What did she mean by "I didn’t give the orb all of it"? What did "all of it" imply? Could it mean she had an abundance of such valuable herbs? Surely not...right?

There was no need to wait long for an answer. With a simple flick of her finger, Ellie produced an herb identical to the previous one. And this time, not just one, but 2 of them appeared!!

"Th-This, this is!!"

"Yes, this is the Pure Flame Dragon herb you were thinking of giving to your young lord."

"B-But, why...?" The large man’s face turned pale. He felt as if he were encountering a ghost.

It was true that he knew this young girl was the savior of his master, the eldest young lord of the Setter family. However, he didn’t know the details of how she had helped. He also knew she was a scholarship student from the top institute, specializing in botanic elemental magic. Therefore, their master had sought a city occupied by beasts that used powers of botany or old cemetery of equipment left by elves.

Because of this, it took quite some time to find such a place. They had passed through many cities, but none of them interested their master until they spent 3 days and 3 nights before finding a city inhabited by trees.

This city didn’t seem to have much value, unlike those surrounded cities occupied by beasts. However, one advantage of this city was its location amidst high-level races. To reach this city, one had to pass through many others controlled by high-level beasts, making it nearly impossible for other families to easily take control. Even if someone wandered in, they would likely die without a chance to scream!

If the master sought privacy, this place was indeed suitable. Additionally, the surrounding cities didn’t interact much with each other. These beasts were intelligent; many cities had their own civilizations. Like this city, which appointed a king and a commander, something lower-level cities couldn’t comprehend.

When the master chose this city as a target, many felt there was nothing to regret if they had to give it up to someone else. But for previous cities, even those with lower levels, the abundant resources were truly valuable. This mindset displeased the master, leading to several people being excluded from the task of protecting this city.

He himself shared the same thoughts but never underestimated the master’s savior. Hence, he was entrusted with this duty, to take care of the young lady alongside one other companion.

Even though he never looked down on the master’s savior, he never imagined that this first-year student with botanic power would be so intriguing!

"This is Aman’s share. Please give it to him and make sure he provides a worthy return," the girl said with a bright smile. However, the large man didn’t find her as cheerful as she appeared.

Who would have thought this woman was not only deceiving him but also the orb? She acted as if this precious herb was not easily obtainable. In front of the orb, she suggested that if it didn’t take it, she would give it to someone else, meaning it would lose the chance to receive this valuable item forever.

If the orb knew that Ellie had many such herbs in her possession, it wouldn’t have been so anxious to join her. Which in reality...even if it wasn’t the orb, even if it were the master himself, he might not believe that Ellie had such a substantial stock of these precious items!!!

So that’s why the young girl revealed to him, after coming out of the tunnel, that she had a large stock of these herbs. She just wanted to keep this a secret from that greedy orb...

Ah...he didn’t know how many more times he would have to say this, but it seemed this young lady was indeed a perfect match for his master!

The girl casually tossed the Pure Flame Dragon herbs to him, making him wonder if she had more of these herbs or if she didn’t understand their true value.

Regardless of the reason, the large man quickly stowed away both herbs. When the master arrived, he would immediately hand them over for safekeeping. Otherwise, he would constantly worry about losing them.

Ellie led the way, as today was meant for exploring the surroundings while spreading her spores across various areas. She had been advised to stay within the city for now and not venture out to face the ferocious beasts. The surrounding beasts were intelligent, unlike the typical level 4 beasts, making this area the high-class zone of the 4th floor.

She spent the entire day inspecting the city until the sky began to change color. The large man led her to the stone hall where they had first gathered. A large tent was already set up there, complete with torches, giving it a campsite feel. Ellie didn’t think much of it and went to rest in the tent as night fell, while, of course, using her spores to survey various areas.

Using the city entrance as the midpoint, about 5 kilometers away on the opposite side was a group of large ape-like beasts ruling the area. Their dwellings resembled ancient human caves. They communicated with calls and chest thumping. As dusk approached, some climbed trees to sleep while others rested comfortably in the caves.

Their bodies were quite robust. Upon closer inspection, most were at level 2, with a few at level 1, and 1 at level 3—a notably strong level. However, their level 3 was different from level 3 in the 6th floor of the tower, where level 3 beasts had considerable special traits. The level 3 beasts there were so powerful that level 3 beasts from lower floors were only considered level 2 in their eyes.

Seeing that the beasts nearby were quite terrifying, Ellie realized that this city was indeed very dangerous. She was puzzled why this city hadn’t been taken over by them until she investigated further and found that, besides the beasts in the city across from hers, there were 3 other beast tribes occupying nearby cities.

kilometers behind the city were beasts resembling demons from anime. They were definitely “goblins.” Their intelligence granted them a slightly higher level of civilization, allowing them to create some usable weapons and tools. This intelligence enabled them to maintain control over their city despite being physically weaker than the ape-like beasts.

To the right, slightly ahead, there were bizarre-looking beasts with triangular bodies. Their heads protruded horizontally, with arms and legs extending from the sides. Their long tails connected to the corner of the triangle shape, and the most terrifying feature was their tails because of the blazing flames at the tips. Because of this, the area around them consisted only of rocks and soil, as any vegetation had likely been burned away.

Their appearance was truly frightening. Some, too lazy to stand, acted like pools of lava, flowing and melting around, while others lay as burning pits. If someone unaware were to step on them, they might die instantly.

Such terrifying creatures were thankfully more than 14 kilometers away, otherwise, they could pose a problem for the Metises. Despite their intimidating looks, they were physically quite weak and could be killed by a sudden attack from the large ape-like beasts without realizing it.

The final tribe intrigued Ellie the most. They resembled wolves from fairy tales, with sleek silver fur that appeared powerful. Their speed and attack strength were not to be underestimated, though their appearance conveyed elegance and beauty.

This tribe was slightly farther away, beyond the goblins’ city, but still within reach of her Pan 4 city at a distance of only 16 kilometers.

Beyond this area, other cities were over 30 kilometers away. Ellie wasn’t worried about beasts from those cities. It was the 4 neighboring cities that might pose a danger. Even so, there were numerous beasts living in the lower right and upper left directions, but they didn’t have city-controlling stones.

According to what Young Lord Owen had mentioned, she could hunt beasts to train as Luke, but she had to do it in unclaimed areas. Otherwise, it would signal a declaration of war between cities.

If she tried to take over a nearby city, a fierce battle would likely ensue, potentially resulting in the other 3 cities launching an ambush. Perhaps because of this, the 4 cities maintained peace. If they wanted to fight or hunt, they could just find prey outside their cities.

The 4th floor was not as cramped as the 1st floor, meaning there were vast hunting grounds. One could travel for a whole year and still not cover the entire area. Without the random spawns from the test stages, it would be impossible to end up around here. Perhaps Young Lord Owen had also arrived here by chance...right?

Of course, Ellie didn’t know how much effort the eldest young lord of the Setter family had put into finding a suitable city for her. If Ellie knew that he had spent 3 days and 3 nights searching for this gift, her heart might start racing again unknowingly...