Valrock's Temple
Just like before the monster hunt began, when they held sparring matches, all the training rooms merged into one.
A vast plain stretched out before them.
"Don't push yourself too hard. Prioritize survival."
"Don't worry about me."
For the next three days, they had to survive among the swarming monsters.
And they couldn't just hide in fear and run away.
If an apprentice lord failed to hunt the number of monsters assigned to him within three days, he would be disqualified—and that meant instant death.
In the Monarch Game, death in the game counted as death in reality.
Hunting the assigned number of monsters over three days, or at least not dying to them—that was the key to clearing this training.
Among the nobles, commoners, and slaves, some would have experience fighting monsters, while others surely wouldn't.
One thing was certain: for those without experience, the monsters would be terror incarnate.
'Lucien took down 80 on his own and got the Probability Ring.'
He'd told Orwen not to worry, but Arthur knew he needed to push a little.
80 monsters over three days, all by himself.
He could manage it.
From here on, the instructors couldn't even monitor the apprentice lords.
No advice was possible.
Survival was solely up to each apprentice lord.
All Apprentice Lords: Monster Hunting Training will begin shortly.
The voice came from speakers hanging on the trees dotting the plain.
Arthur gripped tightly the spear he'd chosen as his weapon.
5 seconds... 4 seconds... 3 seconds... 2 seconds...
1 second.
With that announcement, Orwen, who had been standing behind him, vanished completely.
Arthur broke into a sprint.
Tatata-tat!
One by one, the other apprentice lords followed in Arthur's wake, stepping onto the plain.
There was one reason Arthur was running at such a blistering pace.
'There will be clashes. I'm avoiding them entirely and focusing only on hunting monsters.'
The nobles would band together with other nobles, and the commoners and slaves with their own kind.
Clashes between them were inevitable.
And the number of apprentice lords who died from that was never small.
Arthur had set his goals from the start—he had no intention of getting dragged into that mess.
After running for a good while, Arthur entered the forest.
The moment he did, a notification chimed.
(Monster Hunt)
Continuous | Grade: D | Cash Reward: 1,000
Reward: +1 to All Stats
Failure Penalty (if rejected after acceptance): -1 to All Stats
Every 10 monsters you hunt will grant +1 to all currently unlocked stats. If you accept and fail to comply within 6 hours, you will receive the penalty.
Arthur grinned.
"All stats" meant every stat he'd unlocked so far would go up.
Gaining stats every 10 kills meant he could grow faster than the others.
And here, stat runes dropped too.
Stat Runes.
They dropped randomly from monsters.
Pick up a Strength Rune and absorb it for +1 Strength; same for Agility, and so on.
That's why apprentice lords often got fired up about hunting—to grow stronger faster.
As he ventured deeper into the forest, Arthur moved as silently as possible.
Early on, apprentice lords focused on the monsters near the starting point.
If he joined that crowd, there wouldn't be enough monsters to hit his targets.
It would take the others at least six hours to reach this forest.
He planned to clear out all the goblins here in that time.
Kieee!
Kieeek!
The cries echoed.
Arthur held his breath at the goblins' wails.
Goblins were the weakest monsters.
Yet they existed as both monsters and a race.
The distinction was simple: intelligence level.
Even on the Asgard Continent, there were goblin tribes and orc tribes—far superior to their monster counterparts, of course.
'Three of them.'
One held a crude paralyzing dart.
Blow it through bamboo, and the needle embeds, paralyzing the target.
Another had a dagger; the third, a stone axe.
Three wasn't a tough number if he stayed sharp.
Their skin was weak to begin with.
Arthur picked up a nearby rock.
Hiding in the brush, he hurled it to the goblins' opposite side.
Thud.
Kiheek?
Kihek.
The goblins flinched and whipped around.
Arthur burst from the brush, driving his spear with full force into the neck of the dart-wielding goblin at the front.
Pshk!
"Hup!"
He stabbed hard with the spear, then rolled across the ground.
Don't try to pull it out.
You'd get hit from behind.
Springing up, Arthur caught the wrist of the dagger goblin lunging for his chest.
Then twisted with all his might.
Crack!
Kieeeek!
Goblin bones were soft as chicken bones.
Anyone killed by these here had to be a total fool, frozen in terror.
After snapping the goblin's hand bones, Arthur snatched its dagger and slammed it into the creature's skull.
Pshk!
Then the stone axe swung for his face.
Tap!
He stepped back half a pace, dodging.
The axe grazed past his eyes by a hair.
Arthur punched the goblin lightly in the face.
Thud!
Kihek!
While it reeled, he leaped high.
Crunch!
His heel smashed precisely into the goblin's throat.
Arthur snapped the fallen goblin's neck with a twist.
"Hoo."
Exhaling to steady his ragged breath, Arthur spotted a small rune amid the corpses.
A tiny foot symbol etched on a small stone.
'Agility.'
Once they became true lords and started commanding soldiers, many struggled at first.
But getting stronger here made it much easier.
Arthur reached out and gripped the Agility Rune, then crushed it in his fist.
Crunch!
The rune crumbled like a biscuit.
It seeped into his body.
Agility Rune +1 absorbed.
A satisfied smile crossed Arthur's face as he scanned the forest intently.
'Shield Flatstones.'
He pried off mushroom-like rocks growing on a tree.
This monster hunting training ground was full of rare finds.
Crucially, apprentice lords hadn't learned about them from books.
Shield Flatstones were thin, flat rocks.
Strike them, and they expanded to about 50cm, becoming shields that blocked most attacks.
Continuing on, Arthur found Ramaba grass.
Ramaba grass regenerated wounds like a potion.
It sealed cuts so fast that even blade wounds healed clean in two hours.
Arthur harvested it too, storing it in the inventory he'd bought with cash.
Lords bought inventories with gold—once they became real lords, outside this place.
But Arthur had prepaid with cash. Even more impressive: he could take what he got here back to his continent.
In a way, it was another perk of his specialized Lord Nurturing Device.
Arthur pressed deeper into the forest, step by step.
An Apprentice Lord has hunted 10 monsters!
Every apprentice lord's Lord Nurturing Device blared the alert.
"A-already?"
"I've only got one!"
"Who the hell is it?"
The apprentice lords exchanged bewildered glances.
The announcement was meant to fire up their motivation.
Monster hunting scored highest in the final tally, after all.
"Come on, ignore the others and focus on our hunt."
Lauden, a miner from the lower world but now leading a group of commoners and slaves, spoke up.
He'd already gathered twenty and was hunting in a pack.
And they weren't the only group.
On the opposite side, another pack.
'That damn brat for sure!'
Freight had spotted Arthur sprinting far away the moment training started.
He vowed to kill Arthur.
That puny kid had humiliated him.
And his instructor, Kaiser, seemed to want it too.
Before training, Kaiser had given Freight five small pills.
Pop one, and all stats rose 1.3x for three hours.
He'd save them for the right moment.
Despite losing to Arthur, Freight was still counted among the top apprentice lords.
Nobles naturally flocked to him, and they too had about twenty now.
"Deeper in."
"Sounds good."
The nobles' group hunted faster.
Many had wielded swords since childhood.
"Those bastard commoners—let 'em look forward to tonight."
Freight smirked.
Faster hunting meant more monsters than the commoners.
Meaning faster growth.
And Instructor Kaiser had shared an interesting tidbit.
'Killing an apprentice lord drops way more stat runes than monsters. Just so you know.'
It was all cheating, of course.
But if no one found out, who cared?
Freight planned to hunt commoners first, then kill that brat Arthur.
Kaiser's reason for the risky favoritism was simple.
He despised Orwen—and wanted to see her despair over Arthur's death.
Luis clicked his tongue inwardly at Freight's snickering.
'Idiot.'
Luis was someone Freight could never touch.
But he was just keeping low in the group for now.
Arthur dug under a water oak.
Dozens of white earthworms writhed into view.
Edible Earthworms.
That's what lords called them.
Water oaks held tons of moisture.
Edible earthworms lived off that moisture.
Inseparable partners—and high-protein, 50% liquid, perfect rations when food ran low.
Arthur popped one in his mouth without hesitation.
Crunch crunch.
A nutty flavor filled his mouth.
This was the good stuff.
In barren wartime lands, even these were hard to find.
He ate about a dozen.
He'd already hunted over twenty monsters.
Rewards: +2 to all stats, 2,000 cash, plus Strength Runes x2 and Agility Rune x1 from the kills.
The sun was starting to set.
'Nightfall will turn it into apprentice lord ambushes everywhere.'
Arthur had seen it before.
At night, it wasn't monsters or apprentice lords fighting—it was lords against lords.
Of course, Arthur had zero intention of joining.
He walked, seeking a decent rest spot.
The training ground's moon shone especially bright.
Enough visibility, at least.
Cost: 2,000 Cash
'What's this time?'
The Important Information View tab was flashing.
2,000 cash.
Pricey, but Arthur bought it without hesitation.
(Valrock's Temple)
Valrock, said to have claimed more human lives than any other. One of his many temples is hidden in this training ground. Follow the brightly shining moon. It will lead you to Valrock's temple.
+Quest: Valrock's Trial.