The morning sunlight streamed through the wooden cabin’s window, casting a patchwork of dappled light across the floor.
Irina, sporting faint dark circles under her eyes, sat by the dining table, poking at the fried egg on her plate with a look of grievance.
She lifted her head and glanced at Leo across from her, who looked refreshed and was leisurely sipping milk.
“You’re simply inhuman.”
Irina accused him weakly.
She shot another glance at Alice, who stood behind Leo dressed in a maid outfit, her face as calm as ever, as if nothing had happened the previous night.
“And you!”
“How can you stay so expressionless while participating and spectating the entire thing!”
Irina felt as if her worldview had suffered a tiny bit of a shock.
Leo set down his glass of milk, feeling no turbulence in his heart, and even felt a little amused.
What a joke.
He was a battle-hardened veteran gamer.
Not to mention, while this body’s Strength and Agility Attributes weren’t high, they were still above average.
Dealing with a single mage like her was more than manageable.
If anything gave him pressure, it would have to be Alice.
After all, as a Guardian Knight, her stamina was truly abnormal.
On the surface, he cleared his throat seriously.
“Ahem, it’s all to deepen our Revolutionary Friendship.”
“In order to help you integrate into our big family faster, I sacrificed myself, wrung myself out, all for this effect.”
Irina rolled her eyes, stuffed the entire fried egg into her mouth, and chewed viciously, as if she were chewing on Leo himself.
Breakfast ended in a strange yet harmonious atmosphere.
Irina wiped her mouth and suddenly spoke.
“I’ll be leaving in a bit.”
“Hmm?”
Leo was a little surprised.
“I am the ‘Daughter of Destiny,’ after all.”
Irina made a helpless face and shook the staff in her hand.
“Before school starts, I still have several ‘Adventures’ waiting for me to trigger, and a few ‘treasure chests’ to open, so I won’t be joining you for now.”
She spoke smoothly, clearly having grown used to the quirks of her protagonist system.
“All right then.”
Leo nodded, expressing his understanding.
“Then we’ll meet again at the Royal Capital’s Magic Academy.”
“It’s a deal.”
Irina stood up, her lively, mischievous expression returning.
“When the time comes, I’m definitely going to check your Level. If I catch up, you, Archvillain Boss, will lose all face.”
“Don’t worry, that’s impossible.”
Leo smiled with confidence.
After seeing Irina off, Leo began his patrol around his territory.
The steward, Alfred, followed behind him, respectfully reporting on the situation.
“My lord, after the battle yesterday morning, the cohesion of the townsfolk has reached unprecedented heights.”
There was a trace of excitement in the old butler’s voice.
“Now, in their hearts, you are as revered as a god.”
Leo merely nodded calmly.
He walked to the newly constructed area, watching the busy craftsmen and the Summoned Creatures weaving between them, and let out a satisfied grunt.
The craftsmen handled the delicate work, while his Summoned Creature construction crew took care of all the heavy labor.
Earth Elementals leveled the ground and tamped down the foundations.
Bone Golems transported heavy stone and timber, many times more efficient than cattle or horses.
Skeleton Soldiers worked tirelessly as the most diligent laborers, clearing rubble, passing tools, taking on any task without complaint.
Leo raised his hand, magic light gathering in his palm.
He summoned two more Bone Golems and three Earth Elementals at once, and then replenished with over a dozen Skeleton Soldiers.
This time, he infused nearly double the usual mana, forcefully extending their duration to the limit.
They could last most of the day.
With this, he only needed to return in the afternoon to resummon, which would almost fully cover a day’s work.
The perfect labor force.
Having arranged all affairs in his territory, Leo wasted no time.
He returned to the Courtyard of the lord’s mansion.
With a snap of his fingers, a magic circle appeared, and a majestic gray-feathered griffin materialized before him.
“Alice.”
He called out.
The silver-haired female knight appeared silently at his side.
“We’re heading out.”
Leo swung himself onto the griffin, and Alice gracefully leapt up to sit behind him.
The griffin let out a clear cry, spread its wings, and soared high, heading toward the deeper regions of the Black Forest.
His goal was clear.
There were still three days before the Magic Academy opened.
Reach Level 40 and unlock a new Intelligent Unit.
After that, the higher the Level, the better.
The griffin circled above the Black Forest, and Leo quickly found an area teeming with monsters.
He didn’t land but had the griffin hover dozens of meters above the ground, overlooking the “experience packs” below.
“Let’s get to work,” he murmured softly.
His spiritual power surged.
On the ground, a massive magic circle lit up.
The enormous Terror Bear appeared first, raising its head and letting out a deafening roar.
[Frenzied Roar]!
Though the skill was a Buff, it clearly had another undocumented effect.
Invisible sound waves rippled outward, provoking the surrounding monsters, who all turned red-eyed and charged toward the Terror Bear.
Monster-gathering, complete.
Next, another figure appeared.
A hulking Abomination, its body covered in stitches and wielding a giant iron hook.
It clumsily stood behind the Terror Bear, then suddenly swung its arm.
The flesh hook whistled through the air, catching a Goblin Shaman hiding at the rear, yanking it out from the back lines to the front of the formation.
Precise target elimination.
The next second, a horde of Skeleton Soldiers surged forth, forming a cleaver-wielding team in front of the Terror Bear to deal additional damage.
Fire Elementals and Venom Spiders followed close behind, flames and poison blanketing the battlefield.
Then came the true tank, the Earth Guardian, and the high-damage dealer, the Two-Headed Hellhound.
Last was Alice.
Her figure leaped from the griffin’s back.
The silver-white armor drew a brilliant arc through the air as she landed firmly in the center of the melee.
The knight’s longsword flashed as she unleashed an unstoppable assault.
A flawless, assembly-line monster-clearing operation began.
The Terror Bear gathered monsters and provided group buffs.
The Earth Guardian absorbed damage.
The Abomination dealt with threatening enemies in the rear.
The Skeleton Soldier corps acted as both cannon fodder and supplementary damage dealers.
Elemental creatures provided area damage and crowd control.
The twin two-headed wolves and Alice served as the sharpest blades, tasked with slaying elites and breaking through defenses.
And Leo himself remained the supreme commander in the sky.
On his system interface, the blue bar representing experience shot up at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This feeling was simply exhilarating.
Time passed, second by second.
Just as Alice beheaded an Elite Sabertooth Tiger at Lv38, a familiar golden light suddenly burst before Leo’s eyes.
[Congratulations! Your Level has risen to Lv40!]
It’s here!
Leo’s heart leapt with joy.
He immediately opened the Attribute panel and unhesitatingly dumped all five newly acquired Attribute points into Spirit.
[Spirit: 150 → 155]
[Mana: 2760 → 2860]
The blue bar would always be a summoner’s lifeline.
Next, Leo took a deep breath, a trace of excitement in his heart, and opened his skill list.
At the very bottom, a brand-new skill icon radiating faint golden light rested quietly.
[Summon: Elven Archmage] (Intelligent Unit)
[Requirement: Lv40]
This is it!
He chose to learn it without hesitation.
A wide grin spread across Leo’s face.
“It’s time for those useless fools in the Academy to witness what true magic really is.”
He glanced below; this area’s monsters had already been wiped out by his Summoned Creature army.
He patted the griffin’s neck, signaling it to descend.
Landing solidly on the ground, Leo waved for his Summoned Creatures to surround him for protection, leaving only Alice by his side as his guard.
He took a moment to compose himself, preparing to welcome his second Intelligent Unit.