"Already?!" Michael asked, a little surprised but he calmed down quickly.
He had expected the Gogis to attack after he returned, and not before sunrise. Fortunately, their attacks were not his immediate concern because the protection barrier was still intact. It would take a little bit more to destroy the protection barrier than some Tier-1 Gogis.
"Where is Tiara?" He asked the woman, who was about to reply when a weak, hardly comprehensible voice rang through the room.
"Fighting the Gogis…" Blaire Tracer replied in the woman's stead. She forced her eyes to open just a bit and look at her Lord, "...sorry…"
Michael looked over to Blaire with furrowed eyebrows. He didn't expect Blaire to be up because the healing potion had been less efficient on her than he had expected. However, it was good to see that her mentality was quite strong.
"It's good that you woke up, but focus on getting better," He told Blaire. Afterward, he turned to the woman standing next to Blaire's bed and instructed, "Please take care of her."
Wasting no time, Michael rushed out of the room and the wooden manor. He was not sure about Tiara's exact position but dashing to the border of the protection barrier where most noises came from was the best bargain.
It took no time for him to reach the border to his territory and a Battle Maid from the Silverfang Tigerfolk, who looked like she had taken a bath in crimson blood.
Her ears twitched in excitement and her tail wagged from left to right as she threw the corpse of a large Gorilla-like monster on top of a small pile of corpses.
There were, at least, ten Gogi corpses thrown haphazardly at each other, forming the small mountain. Each of them was roughly 2.5 meters tall with a great physique that had been trained to the peak. The Gogi were extremely bulky, to the extent that one might question whether they got steroids for all three meals of the day. In addition to that, long, black hair covered their entire body.
'Yetis should look similar,' Michael thought at first glance. He then turned over to Tiara, who began to smile brightly upon seeing him. She rushed over to him, her ears perking upward and her tail curling up.
"Master, you've returned!" Tiara exclaimed, bowing deeply. "I dealt with some of them!!"
"...I can see that…Good job, Tiara," Michael appreciated her efforts while giving her a forced smile. Tiara was only 1.6 meters tall, but she carried around the Gogi corpses as if they didn't weigh anything.
'She is not injured either. That's the most important,' He thought while glancing at Tiara, who was excited, 'Looks like the Silverfang Tigerfolk is quite powerful, or is it just Tiara? No, she seems excited to be able to fight instinctively. Is everyone from the Silverfang Tigerfolk a warrior? … It would be great to have them here then…'
Michael was in dire need of powerful warriors, but it was not as if he could snap and the Silverfang Tigerfolk would gather in his territory.
The spot he was currently in was well secured and the protection barrier was hidden from the dense flora and fauna of the rainforest. As he was deep in thought, Michael took a while to notice until he heard the loud thuds that were coming from the protection barrier. And when he did, his curiosity was piqued, and he moved around to look behind the thicket.
What appeared in front of him were close to 30 2.5-meter-tall Gogis towering behind the protection barrier, throwing spears and stones at the barrier from two dozen meters.
"After I killed some of them, they retreated. I cannot reach them anymore – not if I don't want to sustain severe injuries in the process." Tiara explained, feeling slightly disappointed, and her ears drooped.
"It doesn't look like they'll leave anytime soon either. You did a good job hunting ten Gogis without sustaining any injuries," Michael acknowledged her efforts before he added, "How much energy do you have left?"
Michael used his Eagle Eyes to collect all the necessary information. He then hid behind the thicket while retrieving the 1-Star Tierless Antler Bow.
'If they stay here, I won't be able to hunt properly. Their attacks will stagnate my progress…' He thought before another thought flashed through his mind, 'The more Gogis I hunt right now, the fewer opponents will I have to face once I clash with their leader!"
Tiara's ears perked up again upon hearing the praise. Her grip on the silver spear tightened and she was about to turn around to return to the battlefield. She was extremely motivated and wanted to receive more praise from her master when Michael suddenly threw something in her direction.
"Bind them to your War Rune. The boots have a passive enchantment that drains a bit of energy every few seconds. In exchange, you will have an easier time maneuvering through the rainforest, and evading attacks," Michael summarized the effect of the Boots of Taran after he handed them to Tiara.
She had a War Rune and should thus be able to bind Artifacts.
Tiara didn't tell him how much energy she had left but he was able to make a rough guess seeing how excited she was and feeling their strengthened Link of Loyalty.
"Are you sur–..." Tiara began, only to see that Michael's attention had already diverted to binding the Antler Bow to his War Rune.
Now that his strength and refinement increased a little, he could bind another Artifact to his War Rune. Tigerfang enhanced his Agility, Strength, and perception. As an Epic Artifact, the enhancement was drastic, which was not the case for the 1-Star Tierless Antler Bow.
It enhanced his perception a little, but that was already it, which was an advantage. Michael didn't want to burden his body too much with the artificial enhancement he received from Artifacts because his body was already under a lot of stress from the toll of his refined War Rune.
His body had yet to fully adjust to the War Rune's refinement degree increasing at a rapid pace within the first three days it manifested.
Unfortunately, Michael didn't have enough time to fool around and adapt to the changes inside his body. He was in a dangerous territory and one of the Lords near his territory was already hostile to him. Michael had to deal with the issues at hand before he could pay attention to his body and other needs.
Meanwhile, Tiara bound the Boots of Taran to her War Rune and put them on. Their size increased slightly after she summoned them from her War Rune, fitting her feet perfectly.
"Are you confident that you're nimble enough to evade the stones and spears thrown at you?" Michael asked seriously.
Tiara looked at him for a second or two before she nodded her head, "I can use the surrounding environment to block most attacks. Their attack pattern is nothing special, either. I won't have a problem getting closer to them. The only issue is close combat. Once I reach them, I won't be able to deal with all of them at the same time, Master."
"There is no need for you to enter close combat until the end," Michael revealed mysteriously.
"I don't have to do that? Did you already come up with a plan, master?"
The glint in Tiara's eyes intensified upon hearing that Michael had a plan, and her eyes widened upon seeing what emerged in front of her a moment later.
"That is your plan, master? Amazing!"