- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Approaching Loren City
“Sir, there’s someone ahead!”
A startled shout rang out, and the entire knight squad quickly readied themselves for battle.
Hearing the knight’s words and seeing the fallen figure ahead, Thor’s heart stirred. He immediately realized that the person ahead was likely the gravely injured mysterious old man mentioned in his intelligence report.
“There’s no need to panic. Go and check what’s going on,” Thor said calmly, waving his hand.
“Yes, Sir!”
A knight nodded and, with a gesture, led a few others forward to investigate.
Soon, they returned.
“Sir, the person ahead seems to have been poisoned. His life is in danger!” one knight reported respectfully.
“Bring him here,” Thor ordered after a brief moment of thought, turning to the lead knight.
“Yes, Sir!”
Steve nodded and quickly gathered a few men to carry out the task.
It wasn’t long before the old man was brought over by several knights.
At last, Thor could get a clear look at this mysterious figure.
The old man was clad in dark armor, his hair white as snow, his face gaunt and withered, and a brownish tint had almost spread over his entire face.
Seeing this, Thor furrowed his brow.
It was clear the poison had likely reached his heart.
Saving him would be extremely difficult.
Thor hesitated briefly but then looked toward Raine.
“Raine!”
“Yes, Sir!” Raine responded respectfully.
“Place him in the carriage at the rear, and give him the fruit I acquired a few days ago,” Thor instructed, having already made his decision.
He even took out a highly valuable item he had recently obtained.
Three days prior, in the forest, he had acquired a divine wood fruit. While not as valuable as the life fruit, its worth was comparable to the star moon fruit. The difference was that a star moon tree could bear countless fruits, whereas the divine wood fruit was singular, only produced by trees over a thousand years old that contained life energy. Each divine wood fruit held a substantial amount of life force, making it not only a key ingredient in mid-level life potions but also a supplementary material for high-level ones.
In most cases, as long as the person wasn’t missing limbs, a divine wood fruit could save them.
But given the old man’s dire condition, Thor wasn’t sure the fruit would be enough.
Nevertheless, having already committed to saving the man, Thor decided to give it a try.
After all, he could afford to lose one divine wood fruit. There was no need to worry too much.
“Yes, Sir!”
Raine nodded and swiftly went to carry out the order.
“Let’s hope he doesn’t die. Otherwise, it would all be for nothing,” Thor muttered to himself. After another glance at the old man, he shifted his focus back to the road ahead.
There wasn’t much else he could do.
As for using high-level life potions—well, he didn’t have any, and even if he did, he wouldn’t waste one on a gamble. After all, the old man’s potential value remained unknown. High-level potions were far too precious, even for Thor himself.
So using one recklessly was out of the question.
This was just a small episode along their journey.
The group resumed their travels.
At this point, they were getting closer to Loren City, the central district of the Northern Province.
At their current pace, they would reach it in no more than ten days.
With that in mind, Thor decided to increase their speed.
He didn’t waste any more time searching for resources.
The closer they got to Loren City, the fewer rewards there seemed to be, and they were no longer as enticing.
In this situation, what would have taken ten days was completed in just seven, and Loren City was now visible in the distance.
During those seven days, everyone focused on their journey.
Fortunately, the group consisted entirely of at least apprentice knights, so exhaustion wasn’t an issue.
As for the dwindling rewards, no one seemed to mind.
After all, they knew it was unrealistic to expect constant gains. What they had received thus far was already more than enough to delight them.
Thor didn’t mind either. Everything that had happened so far confirmed the tremendous value of his daily intelligence system in the Northern Province.
Once they reached the actual frontier territory, the rewards would only increase.
This was just the beginning, so there was no need to worry.
The only thing on his mind was the mysterious old man.
Seven days had passed, and the old man’s condition remained critical, with no signs of awakening.
If it weren’t for the faint fluctuations of life force, Thor would have thought the man was already dead.
The poison alone, just from sensing it, made Thor’s skin crawl. He suspected that even a full-fledged knight wouldn’t be able to withstand it.
Not suspected—he was certain.
In this situation, the chances of the old man waking up were slim.
If he didn’t, Thor’s investment and risk would have been for nothing.
Luckily, none of the intelligence reports had indicated any danger in the past few days.
Otherwise, Thor would have considered abandoning the old man altogether.
After all, from what he could see, the risk didn’t seem worth it.
But since no danger had been flagged, and the old man hadn’t died yet, Thor chose to stick with his decision.
After all, as the saying went, “once you save someone, you should see it through.”
On the eighth day, just as they were approaching the gates of Loren City, something unexpected happened.
Raine’s aura suddenly surged, and the next moment, green light spread around him as waves of life force rippled through the air, and his power increased rapidly.
“He broke through!”
Thor opened his eyes and looked at Raine in the distance, unable to stop his lips from twitching.
Thor himself had only just sensed that he was nearing the mid-stage of an apprentice knight and estimated he needed another day to break through. Yet now, Raine had already reached the peak of apprentice knighthood. What had once been speculation was now certain—Raine would definitely become a full-fledged knight before they reached the territory.
A full knight! That was no small feat.
At the pace Thor was progressing, maybe—just maybe—he’d reach that level in ten years.
And that was with his enhanced talent. Without it, it might have taken decades.
Shaking his head, Thor sighed.
At that moment, the entire knight squad was astonished, even Steve, the knight captain, couldn’t help but be shaken as he looked at Raine.
Despite having already recognized Raine’s exceptional talent, Steve was still deeply shocked by his successive breakthroughs.
He knew that Raine had only been practicing knighthood for less than three months.
Thinking back to himself, Steve realized that after three months, he had barely mastered the basics of the knight’s breathing technique. Forget about reaching the peak of apprentice knighthood—he hadn’t even glimpsed the door to becoming an apprentice knight.
(End of chapter)