Starting With an SSS-Rank Swordsmanship Talent

Alaric patiently explained what she should not reveal in public. He repeated things twice to make sure that she wouldn’t forget them.

“You will have to refer to me as ’Your Highness’.” He also told her all that she needed to know about his identity.

“I understand, Your Highness.” Scilla quickly grasped things and it looked like she had already understood the situation.

“Good.” Alaric was pleased with her response.

“I will bring some people here and have them introduce you to those on our side. That way, no one would mistake you for an enemy.”

“I will follow your arrangements.” Scilla nodded without protest.

“Galanar!” Alaric called out.

Creak.

Galanar stepped in, his gaze momentarily stopping on Scilla before he turned his head to Alaric. “I am here, Your Highness.”

“Bring some of our guys here. I want them to introduce Scilla to our people.” Alaric instructed.

“As you command.” Galanar acknowledged his command with a fist-palm salute. He then stepped out of the room to look for people to do the job.

A moment later, Galanar returned with three warriors which included Aldrin.

“You three will introduce Dame Scilla to our people. Don’t let anyone offend her. Do you understand?” Galanar spoke sternly to the three.

Aldrin and the other two looked at the unfamiliar woman before nodding their heads. “Yes, Sir Galanar!”

Not long later, Galanar and the trio took Scilla and left the room, leaving Alaric alone once more.

Now that they are gone, I should distribute my stat points…

He had 300 unallocated stat points. Normally, he would keep them and only distribute them if necessary. However, he was already close to maxing out some of his attributes so he decided to distribute them now.

Let’s see. What should I max out first?

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he observed his stats.

After some consideration, he decided to max out his strength, agility, and stamina. These three were the most important attributes for warriors. Improving all three would bring about a huge boost to his overall combat power.

Thinking about this, he quickly distributed his stat points between the three attributes.

Strength: 423 —> 500

Stamina: 415 —> 500

Agility: 415 —> 500

The 300 stat points he received from completing the mission immediately dropped to 53.

I don’t really need to upgrade my mana since I can just increase it through mana gathering. I’ll just divide the remaining stat points and allocate them to my endurance and vitality.

Endurance: 365 —> 392

Vitality: 365 —> 391

Stat Points: 53 —> 0

Looking at the huge improvements in his stats, Alaric grinned.

I wonder if I can beat Galanar or Caecus now…

I will spar with them once we return to Astania.

…

News about the three cities being conquered spread across all of Harune, causing massive unrest among the populace. What made everyone more uneasy was the deaths of Rudner and Remondin. They had already lost two Venerables during the battle in Aklan Pass and the loss of two more peak experts, greatly weakened their nation’s military presence.

There were mixed reactions from the various aristocratic and martial houses.

Many of them wanted to send their troops to the three cities to retake them, but there were also some who chose to stay silent.

Everyone waited for the imperial family of Harune to make a move, but for some reason, they were unusually unresponsive.

…

A week after the defeat of Remondin’s troops, in the imperial castle of Harune.

The emperor of Harune, Arcientus Van Harune, sat on his throne with a gloomy face.

He was a middle-aged man with a pair of purple eyes that seemed to spark with mysterious energy.

Wearing his imperial dragon robes, he looked incredibly intimidating and filled with unquestionable authority.

Beneath the throne was the remaining Venerable of Harune, who is also his most trusted advisor, Donovan Cleavesnow.

He was a middle-aged man dressed in gaudy golden armor with a deep-blue cape.

At this moment, Donovan lowered his head and spoke to the emperor in a solemn voice. “Your Majesty, the emperor of Astania is demanding that we cede the three cities they had conquered.”

Arcientus Van Harune frowned, his face darkening.

“That greedy old bastard! How dare he covet the great lands of Harune!?” He slammed his fist into the armrest, smashing it into smithereens.

Bang!

He was absolutely furious.

Seeing his reaction, Donovan sighed and said. “Your Majesty, I understand your rage. I am furious too, but if we reject his demands, he might send more forces to attack other cities and conquer them.”

He paused for a moment before he continued in a grim voice.

“With four of our Venerables gone, going to war with them would only lead to irreversible damage to our military power. They might even take the chance to seize control of our nation.”

He was implicitly telling the emperor that they stood no chance against Astania.

Arcientus was livid, but he quickly controlled his anger.

He then asked, his voice shaking with suppressed rage. “Is he only demanding those three cities?”

Donovan shook his head and responded with a stern look. “I’m afraid not, Your Majesty.”

“Geographically speaking, if they take control of those three cities, it would mean giving up on three more cities which are closely connected to those three.”

The emperor frowned in confusion.

Seeing this, Donovan quickly explained. “Atarkan, Midgard, Halona, Noyam, and Zurcath are closely linked to each other. Once they station their troops to control the routes of these five cities, Nacalub which is located in the middle would be isolated.”

Arcientus almost flew into rage when he heard this. “You mean that bastard is not just aiming for three cities but six?!”

“That’s right.”

Donovan nodded with a grave look.

“He smartly demanded that we cede those three cities, but his goal is definitely to conquer all six neighboring cities.”

Taking a deep breath, Arcientus rubbed his temples to ease his nerves.

“Is there any way for us to stop them from getting those cities?”

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