Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

After the Bright Treasure Diamond had consumed a part of its strength, it shrunk slightly instead of vanishing completely; once the Praying Light Sword fully absorbed the Bright Treasure Diamond, its Challenge Level might even reach 8.

In this way, its killing power against the Undead would thoroughly outclass both the Thunder Night Dragon and the Frost Deer, claiming the top spot outright.

For Char, who was about to venture into the Florence Kingdom amidst an undead catastrophe, this was undoubtedly great news; no wonder the Praying Light Sword had fought to the death to steal the Bright Treasure Diamond from the nesting lair of the skeleton widow spider.

Alas, the Praying Light Sword wasn’t his Magic Pet and couldn’t evolve through the Praying Power like the Thunder Night Dragon and others; though it could take the lead for now, once the Thunder Night Dragon and its kind evolved, they would leave the Praying Light Sword far behind.

Otherwise, the Praying Light Sword really could become his trump card.

En route, Char had driven the carriage and encountered quite a few wandering Undead, which highlighted the severity of the undead scourge within the Florence Kingdom.

Although, due to the expansive territories of the kingdom, the density of the Undead he encountered was nowhere near that of the Land of Undead, the presence of wandering Undead all over the wilderness was telling of the situation.

The Florence Kingdom was no longer able to maintain basic social order; not to speak of the entire kingdom, at least the Pine Tree Hills area had completely lost order, with each town only able to fend for itself.

Along the way, Char passed through several human villages and small towns, but these places were already deserted, leaving only the shadows of the Undead lingering and the occasional croak of a carrion crow to break the silence.

After leaving the Florence Forest, he had been on the road for nearly two days without seeing a single person, as if the very existence of intelligent species had been forcibly wiped out, leaving only the traces of where they had once lived.

However, although dangerous and virtually impassable for ordinary people, the environment outside was rather relaxing for Char, with so many powerful beings at his side, neither the Undead nor the Demon Beasts posed any threat to him.

The journey had been almost like a leisurely excursion.

Every day picking a few bunches of vegetables and a gourd or two, followed by a harvest of Green Head Mushrooms and a Butter Mushroom or two—just by adding one or two Butter Mushrooms to the Green Head Mushrooms could make the mushroom dish much more delicious.

Then, taking fresh game or meat stored in the ice cellar to grill or fry, adding a sprinkle of spices, would result in a tasty dish.

All this required no effort from Char; Freyja would silently take care of everything, leaving only the task of washing dishes after meals for him, which was also insisted upon by Char himself; otherwise, Freyja would have done the dishes as well.

So, during the day, Char spent most of his time sitting by the window reading.

The strength of Spellcasters came from books, from knowledge.

Although Char had now become a Natural Prophet, accumulating knowledge was just as important; without it, he wouldn’t even be able to construct a new Magic Model—Char was already feeling the pressure from a lack of knowledge.

Therefore, during his spare time, he dedicated himself to catching up on magical knowledge.

Sitting by the window, smelling the pleasant fragrance of the fresh flowers on the table and hanging by the window, and reading enjoyably—when tired, he would simply look at the scenery outside.

Although the landscape often bore the desolate and damaged marks from the Undead and the ravages of war, apart from these, the natural scenery was very pleasant.

This feeling was like taking a train in his past life, sitting by the window and watching the scenery pass by, but now, with even more privacy, since the whole carriage was his own, with no one to disturb him.

In such a relaxed journey, Char also arrived at his destination, a secluded and tranquil valley.

The valley was traversed by a winding river that, with thousands of years of flow, had created fertile land, with mostly pine trees covering the slopes on both sides; among the pine forests, one could occasionally see small figures.

These figures were not much larger than the little fairies like Betty and Auson, of a pine green color, covered in needles, and looking as though the pine needles themselves had come to life.

These were Pine Needle Men, creatures of Challenge Level 1/2, preferring to dwell in pine forests, capable of shooting needles from their bodies to attack enemies, and also able to hide within pine trees to evade foes.

However, Pine Needle Men were not like little fairies, which were spirits nurtured by nature and essentially energy without a physical body; Pine Needle Men, on the other hand, had real bodies and could reproduce, making their numbers far greater than little fairies.

More than all types of little fairies combined.

However, although Pine Needle Men are not little fairies, it is said that they carry the blood of little fairies. As for how those essence-like little fairies without a physical body could leave behind descendants, that remains a mystery.

The arrival of the carriage alarmed the nearby Pine Needle Men; some fled deep into the forest, while others directly hid within the pine trees.

Eventually, the carriage stopped in the widest part of the valley, and not long after, Fierce Sword Firefly appeared on the hillside and flew down.

This valley was what it had found, fulfilling the task given by Char.

Although in terms of strength, both the Thunder Night Dragon and Frost Deer were stronger, the Thunder Night Dragon had a youthful temperament, and beneath the Frost Deer’s cold and graceful appearance lay a sense of laziness.

Hence, among the many Magic Pets, Char trusted Fierce Sword Firefly the most.

This trust was not about who might betray him and who would not. On this matter, Char treated all Magic Pets equally, believing that none would betray him.

This was not only based on his trust in the character of Magic Pets but also in the system.

His trust meant he believed that Fierce Sword Firefly was the most reliable, and indeed it was. Not only did it perfectly complete its mission, but it also scouted around and cleared all the bothersome Undead from the vicinity.

Scanning the surroundings with a brief glance, Char felt very satisfied inside.

This place would now be his temporary home, where he would stay for a while until he accumulated more strength or until the Land of Undead became tumultuous again.

Char’s gaze shifted to the system map, where within the marked area of the Land of Undead, none of the marked small bosses had left its bounds, and that Undead Mage had been staying put without moving.

It was clear that the Undead Mage had only regained its senses and the ability to think but was still not completely free, which also caused no significant expansion of the Land of Undead—at least it wasn’t apparent from the map.

With the system map in hand, he could easily decide whether to stay or go based on the bosses’ locations.

Besides, once he upgraded the "Castle" to the third stage, he might truly not fear the opposition anymore.

The reason he needed to stay here temporarily, rather than continue on, was because he had to start his farming business.

Although there were vegetables and mushrooms growing on the carriage, the scale was too small. To really establish an industry, he had to expand, and his expansion was not for the sake of eating.

How many people did he have with Freyja? Even including a few Magic Pets, they did not amount to many mouths to feed; the small amount of vegetables on the carriage was completely sufficient. And as for meat? The partridges, quails and pheasants in the chicken coops were enough for the occasional indulgence, but for filling their stomachs, they still relied on hunting.

Expanding the scale was solely to gather Praying Power!

In "Mobile Castle·Fantasy Forest," this was the correct way to gather Praying Power. Otherwise, there would not be a game system rewarding Praying Power for first kills; how else could one accumulate Praying Power?

It depended on the manor’s produce!

With every harvest of grain, one could gain Praying Power, with every picking of vegetables, and with every collection of eggs each day...

In short, any harvest yielded Praying Power.

But after crossing into this world, Char found that this mechanism seemed to have failed; he had been planting vegetables and raising partridges for some time and had harvested plenty, yet none of these had ever contributed a wisp of Praying Power to him.

Later, after a system notification, he learned that after crossing over, this mechanism had changed; he didn’t only have to grow and breed produce but also had to sell them before the Praying Power would be tallied.

So he needed to find a place to expand his business and then sell his products.

As for whom to sell them to, naturally, it would be the nearby Dwarf Tribe!