A few seconds of silence passed as Thorian and Ventus exchanged glances. Thorian's gaze held a mix of interest and gravity, while Ventus looked incredulous.

The wind magus chuckled nervously, raising an eyebrow at Thorian. "That was quite the joke, king. You have a great sense of humor."

Thorian's furrowed brow at Ventus' response made the latter gulp in anticipation. "I don't joke about such matters, Ventus," Thorian stated in a low, controlled voice, emphasizing the finality of his words. He then glanced back at the fallen trees in the distance, a smile gracing his lips. "Gale Slash is truly the ideal skill for the job. It sliced through four large trees more cleanly than an axe ever could."

"But it consumes a lot of mana," Ventus retorted. As his voice rose slightly, Thorian fixed him with a stern gaze, prompting the wind magus to flinch. Ventus continued, his tone now more subdued. "Wouldn't it be better to use it to slay monsters and defend the walls?"

Thorian scratched his chin for a few moments in thought before responding, "It's true that we're still sorely lacking in power, particularly at the eastern and western gates."

Ventus' face brightened at Thorian's reply, "Exactly! I need to be on the frontline to provide as much support as possible. We can't afford to assign a powerful magus like myself to tree-cutting duty."

Thorian absentmindedly nodded before adding, "Nevertheless, we still need more wood to upgrade the statues into guilds."

"Guilds?" Ventus asked, tilting his head in confusion. Aqua and Nox also showed interest and leaned in closer.

Thorian conjured a waterball atop his palm, captivating the three evolved kobolds.

"Did you acquire a new skill, king? How?" Ventus asked excitedly.

"That's the primary function of guilds," Thorian explained. "They allow you to purchase new skills using your Arcane coins."

"Arcane coins?" Ventus furrowed his brow before shaking his head, a wide smile spreading across his face. "Wait, so we can buy skills at these guilds? And we just need more wood to create them?"

"That's the gist of it," Thorian shrugged as Ventus appeared lost in thought.

"Why don't you do it?" Aqua nudged the yellow kobold. "I wouldn't mind learning a new skill."

"I want a new skill too!" Nox chimed in enthusiastically. "I'll become stronger! That would be amazing!"

Ventus frowned and grumbled under the peer pressure from the two kobolds before throwing his hands in the air in defeat. "Aghh! Fine! I get it! I'll cut those trees! I'll cut all the trees!"

Seeing Ventus agree to his new duties, Thorian smiled and instructed, "Speak with Zogthar first and inform him of your plans. The orcs will need to adjust their pace to accommodate you."

"Don't worry, king. I'll talk to them," Ventus assured as he placed one foot on the watchtower's ledge, ready to leap. "I'll cut all those trees within the village before the sun sets!"

With that declaration, Ventus jumped from the watchtower into the village, leaving the three kobolds behind. As they continued their conversation, Thorian heard shrieks and screams from beyond the wall. Glancing downward, he saw the warriors led by Forlune effortlessly dispatching a small group of goblins.

Seeing no major threat, Thorian redirected his attention to Aqua. "What about you? What skill did you acquire?"

Aqua grinned in response to Thorian's question. "I actually acquired two skills." He then raised his arm and pointed at Thorian, creating a water membrane that fully enveloped the king.

Thorian surveyed his body, noticing the water that encased him from head to toe. Yet, it didn't feel constricting or suffocating in any way.

"Water Shield?" Thorian asked, looking back at Aqua. "That's an excellent skill."

"Oh, what's that?" Nox inquired, puzzled as he moved closer to Thorian.

"Why don't you touch it and see?" Thorian suggested.

Accepting the invitation, Nox approached and attempted to poke through the blue membrane. To the shadowstalker's surprise, his claws failed to pierce the Water Shield.

"It's quite sturdy, isn't it?" Thorian observed, then looked back at Aqua, who wore a slightly proud expression. "What's your other skill?"

Seeing both Thorian and Nox watching him with interest, Aqua smiled and looked beyond the watchtower.

"It's called Triple Jet Stream," Aqua explained as he pointed his finger past the walls and conjured his water spell. A fist-sized waterball hovered in front of his finger for a fraction of a second before splitting into three shards, which launched into the ground. The three jet streams struck the earth in different locations, leaving burrowing holes in their wake.

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"Much more powerful than a simple waterball, right?" Aqua glanced back at Thorian and smiled.

"Woah! That's powerful! You could kill three monsters with one strike!" Nox exclaimed, his eyes shining with admiration. Thorian nodded in acknowledgment of Aqua's skills.

"It is indeed superior to a waterball," Thorian praised the water magus while observing the warriors battling various monsters beyond the wall. Whenever they dispatched a foe, one of the kobolds would carry the severely injured prey back inside for Caedar to finish off.

Things are going well on this front. I should go back to the Altar and check how much woofd we have gotten already.

"I need to attend to some matters," Thorian announced before turning to Nox. "Stay around here and keep an eye on things, at least until Caedar evolves."

Nox frowned but nodded in agreement. "Okay, I'll do that."

With that, Thorian descended the stairs to find Caedar still lying on the ground, with the priest attending to him. Surrounding the pair were the mutilated corpses of various monsters: Goblins, Chaskas, and Thumpalopes. The condition of the bodies bore witness to the warriors' efforts before presenting their prey to Caedar.

"You, priest, I need you to go out there after Caedar evolves," Thorian instructed, pointing at the bewildered kobloid.

"Me?" the priest asked, puzzled.

Thorian nodded and explained, "Yes, you need to heal your brothers while they're fighting so that you gain more experience and level up. At this rate, you're going to be left behind."

The priest's mouth hung open before he lowered his gaze in shame.

Thorian sighed and looked up. Fortunately, Aqua was also watching him from the watchtower.

"Aqua, keep an eye on your brother. Help him evolve quickly."

The blue kobold nodded at Thorian's command. "Don't worry, king. He'll be a kobold by the time you return."

Thorian chuckled at Aqua's confident statement before turning and continuing toward the Altar. As he walked through the clearing among the trees, he could see several of them falling with a loud thud in the distance.

Ventus is already getting to work. That is good to see.

As Thorian strode toward his destination, his stomach rumbled faintly. Feeling a moment of embarrassment, an image of a certain small green figure flashed in his mind.

Oh, Brex should be done cooking the meat by now. It has been hours.

Thorian smiled as he thought back to the little green goblin. Thumpalope meat was renowned as a great delicacy, even among the upper class, so he had high expectations for the meal Brex was preparing.

He might be a goblin, but Thumpalopes are the easiest thing to cook. It would be a travesty if he messed it up.

With a smile on his face, Thorian passed by the Village Hall and continued to the Altar behind it. As he approached, his mouth hung open and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

That's a lot of trees.

The Altar was surrounded by cut trees stacked on top of each other, higher than Thorian was tall.

How much is that? Four times—no, five times the amount I saw last time? Their pace has definitely increased.

Surprised and delighted by this turn of events, Thorian rushed toward the mountain of trees and leaped over it. With one swift motion, he crossed the ocean of wood and landed in front of the Altar.

As he had done multiple times already, Thorian placed his palm atop the demon’s face and commanded it to absorb the trees.

Territory Resources.

Resources Gathered Experience 9242 Wood 5965

Seeing the screen floating in front of his eyes, Thorian’s grin stretched from ear to ear.

Good, this is so much more than I expected. I can upgrade all the statues into proper guilds. The only thing left to do to advance the village would be to get more citizens.

With that thought in mind, Thorian laid out his command. Upgrade Assassin Statue.

Assassin Statue Description The Assassin Statue epitomizes the art of stealth, precision, and cunning. Assassins excel in striking from the shadows, dealing lethal damage to their targets before slipping away unnoticed. Upgrade

Gathered Experience: 750

Wood: 1000

Do you wish to upgrade the Assassin Statue into the Assassin Guild?

"Yes, I wish."

Hearing the rumbling in the distance, Thorian continued his task. After upgrading the Assassin Statue to a Guild, he did the same with the Priest and Warrior Statues.

Satisfied by the progress, Thorian walked toward the Village Hall before locating Brix's cooking spot. The strong fire engulfing the makeshift cooking pot was hard to miss in the open field.

"You took your time, Brix," Thorian approached the green goblin, who was startled by the kobold's voice. "It has been hours since you started cooking."

"I am very sorry, my lord! I messed up and burned a couple," Brix scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "But that was just the first few! I got better, and I made you one that's really good!"

The goblin pointed to the side, where a large roasted Thumpalope thigh rested on a bed of leaves. The fatty aroma it emitted managed to overpower the smell of ash and char from the previous failed attempts.

"That does look appetizing," Thorian smiled as he walked over to the roasted thigh. Strangely enough, his hunger only intensified as he took in the aromas with his sharp sense of smell.

However, just as he was about to take a bite, he glanced back at the green goblin and handed him the prized food.

"Here, why don't you take a bite?"