Chapter 18: Searching in the Outer Area of Alpine Gerbil Woods

Azaroth joined his Acadia School acquaintances and joined them on a bonfire.

They continued to joke around, speak of their memories in the Acadia School or what they had been up to in these last couple of years.

Acadia School's graduates didn't know Azaroth's identity since they had already graduated before Azaroth entered the school. They were informed of Azaroth by those who knew of him.

Naturally, many of them lied quite a bit, but some truth mixed in their words, but Azaroth didn't stop them. Since they were creating a false reputation for him, he didn't feel any harm in it.

Many of them who had come here were from respectable family backgrounds. Although those from the Noble Families couldn't be considered in the same breath as the Rhodes Noble House, their families were still considered the lord of their respective areas. It was better to have a good connection with them than not at all.

There were also a couple of women among this group, and they were secretly peeking at Azaroth from the corner of their eyes.

A few of them were even from Azaroth's generation.

'What is this? Edwin was handsome even when we were studying in Acadia School, but now, why does he have appear even more handsome? And that calm expression, he even looks cool right now.'

A few of the girls were thinking along these lines.

'Is it because he has reached the 4 Star Rank?'

Azaroth naturally noticed the looks he received from the females. He more or less understood the reason. This was probably because he removed that 10% filth from his body and his skin now appeared even more delicate and fairer.

However, Azaroth urgently wanted to get a Pure Cleansing Grass to remove the rest of the filth in his body and finally upgrade to the Heavenly Saint Physique. It wasn't just to raise his charm, but more importantly, he wanted better control of his Ardor in his body, and his cultivation speed would receive a significant boost.

Anyway, while Azaroth had been eating a delicious dinner and drinking alcohol, the news of his appearance reached Myles Nelson's ears.

Within the group around Azaroth, who was happily talking to him and drinking along with him, Myles Nelson's comrades immediately went to Myles's residence and informed him of the entire situation.

"What?! Are you absolutely sure it's Edwin? And he has even become a 4 Star Warrior?! How is that possible?!" The look of absolute shock on Myles's face was quite a sight to behold.

"Yes, Sir Myles. We even talked with him, and other than the fact that he is calmer than before, he is definitely Edwin Rhodes." The people who informed Myles of this fact were entirely sure of this information.

"This…" Myles remained in a state of speechlessness for some moments. He then spoke, "Alright, you can return now. I need to practice for some more time."

The 3 individuals who had come to inform him of the situation looked at each other and then slowly stood up before leaving quietly.

Meanwhile, Myles began to think 'Just how could this happen? It has only been a little more than a year since our graduation, and Edwin has elevated from 2 Star Warrior to 4 Star Warrior?'

Although dumbfounded, Myles slowly began to think of the possible reasons behind such strange breakthroughs 'Is this some secret technique from the Rhodes Family? No, that's even more impossible. If the Rhodes Family had such a technique, I would have surely been informed about this as the Nelson family's inheritor. There hasn't even been a wind of this until now.'

'Now, there are only a few possibilities. Either he got a forbidden technique or some mythical treasure or legendary herb or some fortuitous encounter with some higher-level entity.'

'If he reached the 4 Star Rank using some forbidden technique, then he probably paid a heavy price for it. Maybe his power isn't stable at all, and his future cultivation has been compromised. If so, then that's no use to us. But if it's because of some mythical treasure, then I need to find out and get it at all costs. This will be really helpful to me.'

Myles wasn't very fond of Edwin. This was mostly because when their batch was first formed, the two were on the same level, at the 1 Star Rank. Since they were in the same class, they had clashed more than once, and their results were nearly equal, but Edwin was improving at a tremendous rate.

At that time, the two of them began to pursue Sophie Russel, using all their skills as she was their first love. Naturally, the result of the two remained the same as neither of them could move her heart.

The two reached the 2 Star Rank at the same time, and their rivalry continued on. However, it was at this level that Edwin's unawakened Celestial Blood somewhat weakened his Humanely Ardor and slowed down his absorption speed.

Myles had no such restrictions, so he smoothly became a 3 Star Warrior and easily defeated Edwin. In fact, after that moment, their rivalry had basically ended with Edwin being crushed.

Myles even began to despise Edwin and cursed himself how he could have been a rival of such trash for so many years.

Myles had been the fastest to reach the 3 Star Rank within his generation, so he had been quite proud of himself. He was currently at the 3 Star Rank's peak and somewhat looked down on other people from his generation.

However, he had now been informed that Edwin, someone from his generation, was now a level above his own. Myles was well aware of the distance between the 3 Star Rank peak and the 4 Star Rank.

Even at the current rate he was advancing, he would need at least 2 more years to advance to the 4 Star Rank. And that was only possible if his luck was good and he remained diligent.

"I need to get this treasure from Edwin somehow. But how?" Myles began to think of a way to get Azaroth's secret.

As Myles continued to think on this… Azaroth had already started roaming around the camp.

It was midnight time now, and he was roaming under the moonlight. He was now going to the Alpine Gerbil Woods, the residence of the beasts who were going to attack the Kloras Town.

Naturally, Azaroth hadn't gone very deep in these Woods. He was merely in the outer edges and had entirely concealed his aura.

He was also proficient in not leaving any tracks for the beasts or any human to follow him.

Azaroth was currently roaming here to search for precious or rare herbs.

He used his sensing skill to search for the herbs and naturally found a few of them, but he had no use for these herbs.

Currently, at the level he was, these herbs wouldn't affect his body at all.

'There are no useful herbs present here. Does that mean I need to take the risk and really enter the inner zone?'

Azaroth frowned slightly as this was not in his plans. This forest was the territory of a 5th rank beast.

Although Azaroth was confident that the beast wouldn't be able to sense his aura, that was only on the condition that the beast wasn't using his Spiritual Energy to search for an intruder. Moreover, the senses of a 5th Rank Beast were not to be underestimated.

Although he wasn't capable of defeating a 5th Rank Beast in a one-on-one fight, Azaroth was atleast confident in keeping his own life. However, it had to be known that he would be fighting this beast in its own area.

If this 5th Rank beast received assistance from its fellow comrades, even Azaroth would be in a perilous situation.

'No. It's better to wait for one more day and gather more information. The fact that I can't sense many beasts in the outer area means that many beasts have gathered in the Inner Area of this Alpine Gerbil Woods.'

'It will be best if I ask the town lord Brynn Gaynor tomorrow. It's a pity that I was too optimistic regarding find some good herb in the outer area and didn't ask him today.'

Azaroth let out a sigh as he thought of the loot he had.

With the herbs and the materials he had, the most he could create were 10 rejuvenation pills that could quickly recover his Ardor.

Because of his Triquetra Ardor, it might take thrice more than regular pills for him to recover completely, but this wasn't much of a problem.

The quantity and quality of his Triquetra Ardor were well above ordinary. In fact, Azaroth could confidently say his capacity surpassed even that of elves who boasted the most quantity of Ardor in any particular rank.

'Wait…If I remember correctly, Aiden mentioned that there is also an Alchemy group here. This means Brynn Gaynor must have given an order for precious and rare herbs to Sir Ashton. It might have something I need.'

A smile appeared on Azaroth's face as this thought entered his mind.

~~

The next morning, Azaroth woke up quite early.

He went to do some exercise and met up with some Acadia School Graduates and Palm Valley School Graduates along the way. Naturally, the Acadia School ones greeted him with a smile while those from the Palm Valley School gave him an ugly look as if he had slapped them.

After his quick exercise, Azaroth went over to Brynn Gaynor's cabin.

Azaroth asked the two guards, "Is the town lord up now?"

"Yes, sir. He should be getting out any time soon."

As soon as the guard had finished speaking, the door to the cabin creaked open.

Brynn Gaynor appeared astonished to see Azaroth standing outside of his cabin, "Is something the matter, Sir Edwin?"

"Yes, sir. I wanted to ask you something. Can we talk a little privately?" Azaroth asked the question quite politely.

Brynn Gaynor didn't even consider it for a second before agreeing and spoke, "No problem. Please enter my cabin. I shall answer any and all doubts you have, Sir Edwin."

"I shall be impolite then," Azaroth spoke those words before heading into Brynn Gaynor's cabin.

Meanwhile, Brynn Gaynor gazed at the two guards stationed outside of his cabin and ordered sternly, "Do not allow anyone to enter the cabin. And make sure no one is listening to our conversation. Because if something happens, the beast raid would be the last of your concern."

"Yes, milord!" The two guards spoke simultaneously. The two were actually quite scared of the town lord's threat and were ultra-sensitive and attentive to their surroundings now.

Besides, they had no intention of cutting their career short here.

Once Azaroth had entered Brynn Gaynor's house, he sat on the sofa and waited for Brynn Gaynor to take a seat on his chair.

Once they were both on their seats, Azaroth began speaking, "So, town lord, I was wondering if you could give me more details about the Alpine Gerbil Woods."

This question wasn't that strange to be asked from Azaroth. In fact, Brynn Gaynor had expected Azaroth to ask this question way earlier.

Coughing lightly, Brynn Gaynor began to narrate with a serious expression.

"Sir Edwin probably already knows that Alpine Gerbil Woods is a location enriched by precious herbs and dangerous beasts. More than tens of thousand beasts reside in this forest. And every time, during a Beast Raid, nearly thousands of beasts attack the village. The rest remain in the forest, protecting it from some unforeseen attack. At least that's what we believe."

This was fundamental information that had been narrated to Azaroth.

"Please ask me what you wish to know. Is this related to how Sir Edwin had gone to the Forest at the nighttime?" Brynn Gaynor asked while carefully analyzing Azaroth's expression.