The Herb King



After recuperating for two days, Aethelwolf and the other leaders of the allied army mobilized all the soldiers who could still fight to attack the Underworlders' camp in the Northern Region. 

Their battle cries echoed in all directions which scared the magical beasts and forced them to retreat far from the battlefield. 

The two armies once again clashed for a war that would dictate who would rule the Regalis Continent for the next generations to come. The epic clash between both sides resulted in heavy casualties and the corpses of their soldiers littered the battlefield. 

The people who showed the most spectacular fighting prowess were Argus, Empress Shiphra, and a few other Level 5 Espers. Even the Level 5 warriors of the Underworlders couldn't beat them in a fight. They were like fierce beasts on the battlefield and they always leave a trail of corpses in their paths. 

Meanwhile, among the foot soldiers of the allied army, Janrose, and the other young experts who joined the grand competition also displayed powerful abilities on the battlefield. Anyone who was on the same level as them would be killed with just one strike from their weapons. Some of these geniuses even leveled up in battle, making them a lot stronger.

On the fifteenth day of the war, Holy General Victor, the expert ranked third in the Heavenly Might Rankings died in battle. He fell after saving the princess of the Mystic Island who was surrounded by enemies in all directions. Holy General Victor together with a few more experts from the Mystic Island charged into the encirclement and dragged out Nocturna. They succeeded in saving her, but Victor and many Level 4 Espers died in return. Furthermore, Holy General Eliazar and Estes were both severely injured. 

On the twenty-first day of the war, Aethelwolf killed Zorzoch and reached Transcendence! 

The Underworlders temporarily retreated to the Underworld under the leadership of Semias. He was the only Underworld King left after the death of Zorzoch and Gozgel. 

"We won! Victory!" 

"Ahhh! I survived!" 

"Victory!" 

On the twenty-second day of the war, the allied army announced their victory to the entire continent. Everyone was in jubilance by the news and there was a month-long celebration after their victory.

***

Five years later in the Barden Territory, Aethelwolf was sitting on a reclining chair, looking at the dozens of people in front of him. They were the new batch of Alchemists that he had trained for the territory. Their ages ranged between 12-60 years old. Aethelwolf didn't discriminate against the old people. In fact, most of the people in front of him were from the older generation. People their age exhibited the highest potential in Alchemy.

Suddenly, Aethelwolf stood up and pointed at someone as he yelled in a stern voice. "You right there at seat number 12, didn't I tell you that a Blue Ice Fern has to be refined for three minutes in high heat? By doing this, the amount of world essence you can extract from a single leaf would be a lot! In addition, the quality of the world essence you could gather would also be higher. Furthermore, you can..."

The person in seat number 12 was a middle-aged man who was wearing tattered clothes. He was once a beggar in the Leone Empire. However, by some stroke of luck, he passed the Alchemist examination hosted by the Barden Territory. This was his third day of training so he was still unfamiliar with most things. 

He became nervous when he heard Aethelwolf calling his seat number. 'Am I going to be kicked out?' He thought in fear and disappointment, but to his relief, that didn't happen. Instead, Aethelwolf gave him all sorts of advice to prevent him from doing the same mistake. 

He stared at the man who was sitting leisurely on the reclining chair and thanked him with all his heart. 'Thank you so much for changing my life, King Aethelwolf! I will be loyal to you forever!' He promised.

It wasn't just this person whose life changed because of Aethelwolf. In fact, many of the people here had similar stories. 

Aethelwolf's unique examination didn't test anyone's alchemy skills, but their potential. By doing this strange but unique examination, the Barden Territory managed to discover so many talented people. 

After a long tiring day, Aethelwolf headed back to his castle to rest. His life continued in such a manner during the past five years.

***

In the last five years, the Barden Territory developed at a steady pace. Aethelwolf introduced the technology of his past life to the Regalis Continent and the Barden Territory became the center of trade and the most visited place in the continent. 

Four-wheeled vehicles powered by Spirit Crystals were invented and their appearance shocked the continent! There were also flying vehicles, and many other advanced technologies introduced to the market, but the invention that made the continent go crazy was the mobile phone. 

Aethelwolf followed the designs of the mobile phones in his past life. 

Now, only the rich could afford to purchase mobile phones, but things would change soon after Aethelwolf's researchers could make new products using cheaper materials. 

On the balcony of the castle, Aethelwolf could see the beauty of the territory. The houses were neatly built and they all followed a strict requirement to maintain the cleanliness and beauty of the territory. 

"Five years have passed, but our men still haven't found the Underworlders' territory in the Underworld. What's going on?" Aethelwolf muttered in a cold voice. The allied army sacrificed a lot in the war five years ago. He had also lost a few friends. He wanted to avenge everyone and eradicate the Underworlders!

The person standing behind him, Ramiel, shivered upon hearing his cold voice. "I went down the Underworld a couple of times myself and there seemed to be a Transcendent-level rune that prevents us from entering the central parts of the Underworld. However, I'm not sure about this conjecture so I didn't tell you about it." 

Hearing this, Aethelwolf furrowed his eyebrows. "A Transcendent-level rune? There's a high-level Engraver in the Underworld? It should be Bralgorach, the Ancient Lord of the Underworlders." He learned about Bralgorach from Xymera. She told him everything she knew about him. However, she didn't tell him that Bralgorach was an Engraver. 

"I'll go down there myself. If there is indeed a Transcendent-level rune in there, I'm the only one who could break it. Even Xymera might not be able to do anything." Aethelwolf muttered. 

Hearing this, Ramiel's eyes lit up with excitement. "King Aethelwolf, I'll follow you down there!" 

"Let's go! There's no time to waste!" Aethelwolf said as he grabbed Ramiel. He then teleported at the entrance of the Underworld which was located in the Northern Region. This was also the hole created by Semias and Zorzoch back then when they came to support Gozgel's army.

There were soldiers from the allied army patrolling the entrance and the sudden appearance of Aethelwolf and Ramiel stunned them, but when they saw who they were, they quickly saluted. 

"Greetings, Sir Aethelwolf and Sir Ramiel!" 

"You guys can go back to your posts. We will enter the passage alone." Ramiel told the soldiers. 

The two of them entered the passage and they walked the long path. Aethelwolf noticed that his world essence was weakening as they walked deeper into the passage. 

When Ramiel noticed the change in his expression, he quickly explained. "According to our researchers, only a small amount of world essence could be found in the Underworld so it is normal for Espers to feel a huge drop in their power. Down there, my power is only limited to that of an early stage Level 5 Esper. The others are also the same." 

Hearing this, Aethelwolf nodded his head in understanding. He was too focused on the advancement of the Barden Territory so he didn't know most of the things happening in the Underworld. 

When they reached the Underworld, Aethelwolf saw a completely new world. The color of the land was a combination of brown and red. It looked gloomy and filled with a deathly aura. However, there were strange plants everywhere. There were also magical beasts that he had never seen before. 

"We were also shocked when we first saw this place. We never thought that there would be other life forms other than the Underworlders in this deep gloomy world." Ramiel remarked when he saw the surprise in Aethelwolf's expression. 

The two flew for over two hours before they stopped in the middle of a land filled with blood-colored soil. 

"That is was where I sensed the rune..." Ramiel pointed at the massive grayish-brown mountain. 

Aethelwolf looked at the direction he was pointing and he immediately noticed the invisible rune carvings on the mountain. "It seems like you're right. There is indeed a rune here and it is a Transcendent-level protection rune. What we see right now is only an illusion created by the rune. The Underworlders might be living behind this illusion..."