Campment

The group travelled on the back of Northern Stallions. The ride was rough, and they travelled days and nights, only stopping occasionally to take a break. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't the horses who needed to stop, but the acolytes instead.

"I can't do it anymore!", William wailed as he lied on the ground, his face flushed red, "I can't even sit properly. It hurts too much!"

Elizabeth seemed amused by this scene, while Karl nodded in agreement. Arthur, however, was not very happy about this scene. It was taking too much time to travel, and every minute they spent without moving was like a call for predators to attack them.

"We have nearly reached the bottom of the dwarven Mountains anyway. Let's stop here for the night. Reaching the orc settlement in this condition will not do us any good anyway", Drake ordered.

Instantly, the faces of his party members lightened up. They had been travelling for too much time, and even if they had a high pain tolerance, it was true that their body was not used to such a difficult physical exercise.

Not everyone possessed 30 points of proficiency in [Horsemanship] after all. And these acolytes, besides John, spent their days in their rooms copying scrolls and magical grimoires, sitting all day long. Arthur even suspected that Karl Yale hadn't come into contact with sunlight for years, judging by his pale skin and his lack of resistance. The old man was as frail as you could expect from a sixty-years-old.

Instantly, Drake took out a two-handed axe and called: "John, I will cut down some trees. Cut the branches"

The other acolytes felt that it was quite odd:

"Is it not a waste of energy?", Karl replied, "There should be a caves in the mountains less than a kilometer away, or we could even look for a refuge"

Arthur, however, disagreed: "Refuges are not as safe as you might think. Acolytes basically exploit Natives, so they will not welcome us with open arms. I have witnessed some of them use poison or even give up on the refuge itself by baiting some magical beasts. Most of these humans are subordinated to the Ivory Tower, but there still is some resistance"

William nodded with a pale face: "I remember...Once, both Arthur and I were injured, so we came to a village in order to have our wounds treated. A few of them shot arrows on us. Naturally, I burned the village"

Arthur remembered this traumatic event. It was the first time he had seen humans die, and it also happened early on. He had basically reincarnated from a life where war was far away from his home, only to be sent into a world where cruelty and massacres were commonplace.

The fact that William, an acolyte willing to help out those in need like Arthur when he was broke, was capable of such atrocities told a lot about how this world worked. In his eyes, acolytes didn't see normal humans as the same species as them. It wasn't exactly wrong either. Awakening magical power was the same as evolving to a higher-tier species. You could master and move mana particles at will, and it was easy to grow too self-confident.

*BANG*

[Sturdy Tree - HP: 4/5]

He was surprised by the fact that a full-strength blow to the nearest tree wasn't enough to bring it down. It took four strikes to make it fall. It was quite the surprise, since he possessed over 7 points of strength.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Finally, the tree fell over.

[You have cut down a tree. [Axe Mastery] skill has been created]

One hour later, Arthur had cut down over twenty trees, some of them being over twenty-meters-tall. Still, by working in tandem with John, a fellow body refinement acolyte, they quickly built a tower surrounded by walls and spikes.

"They never tires out, don't they?", Karl said with admiration as a tower which would take months to be completed, was being built in the short span of one hour.

William merely scoffed: "Body refinement acolytes are not humans. They drink poison instead of water in order to hydrate their body. However, I never suspected Arthur to have learnt how to build anything"

Actually, Arthur was surprised how easy it was to build things. Gravity and basic physics were unknown to these acolytes. Even if they could be considered very advanced in terms of their knowledge system, it was only compared to the rest of the world, which was more or less equal to that of Europe Medieval Society.

Once they finished the building, Arthur took out a small bottle, and smiled after finishing it.

[You have drunk [Naarth Mushroom Mixture]. Your stamina will recover 44% faster. Your strength is expected to rise slightly from the combination of physical exercise and high-nutrimental mixtures]

The taste was horrible. It took months before he got used to the horrible taste. He tried to cook the mushrooms with fire, boil them down and then he finally settled on smashing them down and gulping them.

It was one of the few meals that had a beneficial effect to physical training. It would enhance the benefits, increase the recovery rate of his muscles and stamina. In other words, it was perfect for any body refinement acolyte.

As the night fell, the group had a typical meal out of biscuits, hard bread and water.

"They never get tasty, huh", William groaned like always.

Arthur was used to his constant wailing.

But the rest of the group was not.

*AHOOOO*

*AHOOOOOOOO*

The sounds of distant wolf howling clearly made the entire party quite nervous.

It was the sound of a huge pack of dire wolves approaching. Obviously, the fact that the howls were getting louder was proof of them approaching.

Every member from the party felt a bit frightened...all but one. Arthur was trembling with excitement instead. The horses neighed crazily, but thankfully, they had been brough to safety within the wooden walls.

Taking out a magnificent elven bow and hundreds of arrows, he muttered with excitement: 'Time to grind experience'

This was the perfect opportunity to accumulate experience. Of course, it was a highly dangerous mission, but this time around, he had a party with him. He could focus on killing wolves while his party defended holes in the walls. Far away from any danger, he could safely grind experience. It was a perfect situation.

Karl and the others frowned upon being ordered to defend the lowest floor, but quickly obeyed. Until now, Arthur had been a righteous leader and he had Dorian's support. So everyone obeyed. Relieved, Arthur began to accurately aim at wolves at the distance