Dunul's barracks weren't much, as would be expected of a small village. It consisted of a wooden building around a large training yard where four recruits took turns sparring with wooden swords.
Not far away, in the corner of the yard, ten men sat around a table, six of them wearing leather armor with the emblem of Dunul, - a simple purple shield - on their chest, and bows and long swords at their backs and waists.
The other four were dressed more simply, wearing long pants, long-sleeved shirts, and straw hats. They were hunters and were also armed, but only with bows, short swords, or daggers.
"She may have followed the valley here, on the slopes of the northern peaks. It's close to the goblin camp, but it's poorly guarded." One of the guards pointed to a rustic-looking map, his hand running down the slope of a small mountain range to a red mark.
"If she went that way, she must already be dead or captured by the goblins." One of the older hunters shook his head, "I've hunted in these areas, access is difficult and it's full of mana beasts. Besides, most of the paths she could follow lead directly to the goblin camp."
"But that's still the most likely way," Lugh spoke, pointing to a small hill on the other side of the Lirna River. "They were here, if she had crossed the Lirna River she would have arrived here by now, and we had some patrols in these regions."
Lugh then pointed to another position, just below the hill and following the banks of the Lirna River, "If she had followed the flow of the river, they would have found her by now".
"Hm... then we have to search the valley. Even if we only find her body, we need something to appease Owen," the older hunter exhaled, "The snow will come in a few weeks... if we don't leave soon, we won't have much time to search."
"I'm expecting someone, they should be here soon." Lugh said before ordering the guards accompanying him, "Gather the supplies and eat well, we leave at noon."
Hearing this, the guards and hunters dispersed, leaving only Lugh and the new recruits in the courtyard.
It wasn't long before a new figure appeared in the courtyard, slowly walking over, and finishing the last piece of pie.
"Arthur!" Lugh waved for the young man to approach, "I see you've had a good breakfast." Lugh smiled and turned to the young men who were still fighting and hadn't even noticed Arthur's arrival.
Without much thought, he simply put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, causing the recruits to immediately stop fighting and turn to Lugh, their eyes studying the new face beside him with curiosity.
"Captain, who is this?" One of the recruits, who was level 23 and had a much more robust and stronger body than the other three, took the initiative, he had green eyes and short black hair.
"This is Arthur, one of the survivors of Conrad's group," Lugh replied.
"Ah," the young man extended his hand to Arthur, "It's good to meet you, my name is Robert.
"My pleasure," Arthur returned the handshake politely.
Immediately afterward, Robert pointed to the other three recruits behind him, who simply nodded at Arthur. "This is Rupert, Clyde, and Jhon."
"Arthur has just made his breakthrough to the second stage and needs someone to test his new powers," Lugh put his hand on Arthur's shoulder, "but don't think he's easy to handle, he got a B grade."
"B?" Robert's eyes widened and he looked at Arthur in a new light as the other three recruits backed away, B was the same rating as their former master, a being they had no desire to fight. But unlike them, Robert seemed even more excited.
"I can fight him!" Robert shouted and took a step towards Arthur, waiting for an answer.
Lugh did the same, he had only suggested that Arthur train with one of his recruits because he was curious about the boy's strength and had not yet received the young man's full approval.
In the end, Arthur just nodded in agreement and walked with Robert to the center of the courtyard.
"What are the rules?" Arthur asked.
"Just don't kill and don't die." Robert took a wooden sword from a small weapons stand in the corner of the yard and threw it at Arthur while the other three recruits quickly moved away.
"Those are fair rules..." Arthur smiled as he got into a fighting position. His eyes scanned the young man coolly as he extended his mana senses.
Robert didn't seem to notice even a hint of Arthur's mana flowing through his body, but Arthur could sense everything.
From Robert's breathing to the slightest muscle contraction and even the way he distributed mana throughout his body, Arthur felt it all.
"Aaaah!" Robert roared and advanced on Arthur, raising his sword above his head in preparation for a powerful strike.
Arthur was aware of this attack before Robert even started to advance, but he didn't move.
'So slow...' He thought as he watched Robert approach, his mana senses studying his opponent carefully so that Arthur could feel and process Robert's every move as if in slow motion.
To everyone in the village, Robert was an extremely talented young man with a bright future ahead of him, but in the face of geniuses like Safira or Gabriel, he could hardly be considered mediocre.
Arthur didn't even use his sword, and with a casual step to the side, he raised his right leg in a kick that wasn't particularly fast, and didn't even use all his strength, but still had tremendous precision.
"Argh!" Robert groaned in pain as Arthur's kick landed on his stomach, sending him flying backward in a burst of mana.
He landed a few feet away from Arthur and only managed to keep his composure for a single second before falling to his knees and vomiting the entire content of his stomach.
Robert's eyes were wide open, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. He had only advanced as a D, something much better than the average E or F for most people in the village, but that barely guaranteed him the chance to try to advance to the third stage. He was sure that he would be defeated, but being defeated in a single blow that seemed completely casual and without any effort? That wasn't something that even crossed his mind.
The other three recruits rushed to Robert's aid, but he just held out his hand, refusing any help as he stood up and wiped the vomit from his mouth.
"I am no match for you. Not yet... I hope to face you again in the future," Robert said, bowing respectfully to Arthur before turning to enter the building, the other recruits following close behind, not even daring to look back at Arthur.
"I also hope to see you again in the future," Arthur smiled briefly as he watched the boy's back move away. He was a little disappointed by the strength of these recruits, but he tried not to show it too much, telling himself that he was too strong, not that they were too weak.
"That was fast, couldn't you have held back a bit to avoid hurting their pride?" Lugh approached, scratching his neck awkwardly.
"I did hold back," Arthur said as he turned to face Lugh.
"How about you? Can I have a taste of your power?" Arthur asked; he had only met two people whose levels were above 50, and he had never been able to get a glimpse of their true power.
Lugh was level 49, just below Conrad and the other 50-level warrior he encountered in the dungeon, so Arthur was curious to know how strong this man was.
"Are you sure, boy? I won't take it lightly." Lugh smiled with a little mischief in his eyes.
"No need to take it lightly," Arthur said as he filled his chest with confidence, not expecting to win, just to feel the power of someone more than twice his level.
"So how about we spice things up a bit and make a bet?" Lugh said as he also picked up a wooden sword and faced Arthur.
"What are the terms of the bet?" Arthur asked as the man got even more of his attention.
"Simple. If you can withstand a second blow from me, my sword is yours. And if I defeat you with a single blow, you'll work in Dunul's guard for the next 8 months... what do you think?" Lugh spoke, he wanted to ask for more, but he knew that his sword wasn't worth much to someone like Arthur.
Those 8 months were all he needed to take full control of Dunul, and having someone as talented as Arthur at his side would make his job even easier.
Arthur thought seriously about Lugh's proposal, the man must have been very confident to gamble with such a valuable item and he really didn't want to be stuck in Dunul for 8 months, but still, his eyes sparkled as he looked at the sword at Lugh's waist.
Only 2 attacks... I should be able to withstand a lot more than that,' Arthur repeated to himself, he hadn't used all his power yet and he was sure that Lugh had no idea how powerful he was. All he had to do was defend himself against the first attack and he'd win a rare sword.
And even if he lost, it would only be for 8 months, a minuscule amount compared to his life expectancy.
"Right," Arthur accepted Lugh's proposal and took up a fighting position, ready to win a powerful sword.
Unfortunately, he had miscalculated the true power of a level 49.
Arthur's mana senses were crushed the moment he tried to wrap it around Lugh, his legs trembled, and the moment he realized it, he was being drowned by his opponent's magical power.
In the next second, Arthur heard a crashing sound before his vision went completely dark.
When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on the ground, staring straight up at the cloudy sky.
"At least you tried. Welcome to Dunul's guard!" Lugh's face appeared in Arthur's vision with a victorious smile, "Come, you'll join us in the search for Owen's daughter."