As Melissa and her knights waited for the ships to return, another group appeared at the other end of the road leading to the port. The knights turned to look warily at the other group, but relaxed again when they saw the flags the other group was carrying.Their flags carried the emblem of the Bernards, so Carl guessed that the one leading this group must be the tax official of the port, Rick Bernard.The port had been attacked by the pirates the night before as well, so even though Melissa had warned them beforehand and made several arrangements to reduce the number of casualties, the structures at the port still took a hard hit. The office of the tax official, in particular, was badly damaged because it was one of the main areas that the pirates had targeted.Melissa had been certain that Rick could manage, and his later actions proved her right. He had joined hands with all the officials in the city and the aristocrats to fight off the pirates and minimized the da

Melissa looked at Carl and said, “Your guess is correct. In theory, as your blood becomes purer and purer, your prowess will also be strengthened. However, you’ve overlooked one problem.”“What problem?” asked Carl curiously.“The scarcity of the secret drug, of course,” huffed Melissa. “Did you think this secret drug is like water, and that you can drink however much you need, whenever you want? Besides, I’ve also heard from some of the elders in the family that every time you drink it, the effects are greatly reduced. So, if you drink it too many times, it won’t have any effect on you.”Carl understood it now. On the surface, everyone was just told that it was a very rare resource, but the real reason was actually the fact that one would become more and more resistant to it, and the diminishing returns made it not worth it to waste it on existing superhumans. It was much better to keep the drug away t

Carl tried to remain calm. He remembered very well that mental strength was a prerequisite for the professions that were more mysterious and sought after compared to knights and warriors.It was necessary in order for one to become a wizard, an alchemist, a shaman, a warlock…Carl's imagination immediately ran wild and his disappointment disappeared instantly. He sat up with a start and asked, "Your Ladyship, how do I see how much mental strength I have?""Can you walk? Come with me to the study," said Melissa as she turned and walked toward the door.Carl immediately got out of bed and nearly collapsed again. His legs were weak and his body was still aching very badly, but he gritted his teeth and followed Melissa to the study.Only after he looked out of the window and saw the night skies above did Carl realize that it was already nighttime. He had spent more than half a day in the basement after he had taken the secret drug.Melissa pulled out

Henry wanted to "give Carl an opportunity"? What did that even mean? Everyone exchanged confused glances.Melissa frowned slightly because she thought that Henry was trying to be funny. "Henry, can you please be a little more serious?" she said in a displeased voice.The man immediately defended himself. "I'm being very serious here! Carl, you awakened mental strength, didn't you?""That's right." Carl nodded. There was no way to keep this a secret anyway. He had taken the secret drug but he neither died nor obtained supernatural strength, so the only possibility was that he had awakened mental strength."I guessed it right then," said Henry with a tinge of envy on his face. "Esteemed future great wizard, I, Henry Bernard, respectfully greet you."Carl felt a little embarrassed and said, "Mr. Henry, you're making fun of me, aren't you?""I wouldn't dare to make fun of a wizard-to-be," said Henry half-jokingly and half-seriously. "Who knows? In a few yea

Milton swung his sword and the gleam from his sword drew a large X in the air before crashing down mightily onto the mud monster. The monstrous wave of mud instantly fell apart.Carl did not see anything that looked remotely like blood spurt out, so he became rather curious and asked, "Your Ladyship, what sort of creature is the mud monster?""I'm not too sure either," said Melissa. "Some experts on mud monsters believe that they are not really living things like animals, since they don't have flesh or blood. They also don't have a developed consciousness or their own will. They trap and kill purely by instinct.""That's also why they're not easy to kill," explained Melissa. "You could attack them hard enough that they fall apart, but after some time, the pieces would gather back together to become a mud monster again. You can only eliminate them by burning them up."Carl fell into deep thought. These mud monsters sounded like an amalgamation of microorganisms, e