After Arthur waited for nearly two hours for the suffocating smoke to clear from the cave, he ordered his followers to craft some torches and enter. Naturally, he dismounted his horse and accompanied them—he wasn't about to let any potential loot slip through his fingers. Due to their cunning, goblins loved shiny and beautiful things, so they often gathered treasures and stored them in their nests.
Along the way, they came across many goblins dead from asphyxiation. Without hesitation, Leopold and a few of the recruits pulled out their magical cores and dragged the bodies outside to burn them.
But Arthur didn't find anything truly interesting—just corpses. And then, rooms filled with ugly green infants. Arthur was genuinely shocked by the number of goblin children. He realized that their numbers would have doubled in just a few months, as goblins only needed three months to reach maturity.
'Nothing of value,' Arthur sighed in disappointment and decided to leave. After all, his loot from the goblin magic cores was already substantial. But considering the goblins' low rank, he wasn't particularly interested in their cores—they weren't very useful, as the goblins hadn't awakened their bloodlines yet.
Although most beasts couldn't actually use magic, they still possessed magic cores—also known as bloodline cores. Just like humans carried genes that held the inherited information of their ancestors, a magical core was the heart that contained all the secret knowledge of a beast's lineage. It determined their potential for future growth. No beast could reach Level E without awakening its bloodline.
In fact, the type of awakening determined their future potential and accomplishments. For instance:
Partial Awakening meant low potential.
Initial Awakening meant average potential.
Advanced Awakening meant high potential.
Semi-Complete Awakening meant extraordinary potential, with the possibility of reaching Level S.
Complete Awakening was a legendary feat, only spoken of in myths.
After clearing the goblin remains, Arthur exited through the second passage. According to the novel, it was the same exit the protagonist Novarian had escaped through. The description of Novarian's escape route wasn't precise, so Arthur had to rely on his instincts and the surrounding landmarks. As a result, he wandered aimlessly for nearly two hours.
It was strange enough to unsettle his companions, but none of them dared to ask questions. After fighting the goblins, they realized their lord was far from simple. He didn't seem to be the foolish and reckless noble the rumors had painted him to be.
Unbothered by their thoughts, Arthur continued searching his surroundings. Suddenly, he halted his horse and stared at a tree with an extremely thick trunk, from which thousands of sharp thorns protruded. Around the tree, the ground was covered in dense thorny shrubs—but what truly stood out was a bare patch of earth in front of the tree, completely free of thorns. Only a few blades of grass and some flowers grew there.
'This is it.' Arthur smiled with elation, unable to hide his excitement. He quickly dismounted and barked an order:
"Secure the perimeter. None of you are allowed to approach my location. If I catch anyone spying on me, I'll gouge out their eyes."
His soldiers were stunned. After a moment of hesitation, Chadwick asked, "What's so important that requires this much secrecy, my lord?"
Arthur raised his eyebrows, looked at him seriously with a mysterious air, and replied, "I'm going to defecate. Does that concern you?"
"Now get out of my sight."
Realizing his mistake, Chadwick quickly apologized and left with the others. They spread out in all directions and made sure nothing got near Arthur's area of "privacy."
Arthur carefully made his way toward the empty patch of land, wary of the thorns. Despite his caution, he was pricked all over, especially in his legs. His clothes were torn and got caught multiple times on the shrubs, which infuriated him. Swinging his sword was useless—the shrubs were too tough to cut.
But after a short struggle, he finally reached his destination.
He quickly pulled a shovel out of his Dimensional Storage and began to dig. After just a few strikes, he unearthed a gleaming white skeleton with a dark green bracelet on its wrist, covered in mysterious patterns. Even though Arthur couldn't sense mana, he could feel a gentle aura emanating from the bracelet.
He picked it up immediately and used his skill Plot Savant :
[ Magical Artifact – Rank A (Broken) ]
[ Thornkeep Bracelet : A defensive magical Artifact capable of blocking attacks and imprisoning hostile targets by surrounding them with unbreakable thorny bars. ]
[ Due to the tool being broken, it can only block attacks of Level C or lower. (If bombarded with Level C attacks, it may not remain effective.) ]
Arthur read the information with satisfaction. Without delay, he cut his wrist and let a few drops of blood fall onto the bracelet. The bracelet absorbed the blood in a strange way.
[ A blood-link has been formed between you and the magical Artifact. You are now the owner.]
Arthur felt a slight pain in his head, accompanied by a stream of information that showed him how to control the magical Artifact. Since he wasn't a mage, the only way for him to use the tool was by feeding it blood. That was why he had been training so desperately to reach Level E , his blood would become significantly more potent than regular blood, and he would no longer be exhausted when using the Artifact.
"Let's see how this works." Slowly, he slid the bracelet onto his wrist. It expanded slightly to fit him.
'It's surprisingly comfortable. Looks like the previous owner was a woman—explains the small size.'
With a determined look, Arthur moved his hand slightly. Suddenly, dozens of thorny roots erupted from the ground, forming a thick defensive wall around him.
He moved his hand again, and the wall disassembled into a whip of thorny roots that swayed with his gestures.
Right!
Slash!
With force, he swung his hand, and the whip struck the thick tree trunk, leaving a small dent.
'Hmm… the offensive power is quite weak. Also, this tree is insanely sturdy. A Level C individual could probably destroy it with ease—but that's fine.
With this bracelet, I can defeat anyone at Level E. And no one at Level D will be able to hurt me, no matter what they try.
But facing Level C opponents—especially fire-element mages—is still dangerous.'
Elements had natural counters. Fire could easily burn through wood-based defenses of the same level.
"Whew… but this is seriously tiring. I'd say my limit is around ten minutes." After catching his breath, Arthur looked at the skeleton and murmured, "Once things calm down, I'll give you a proper burial."
He covered the skeleton with soil and returned to his horse with high spirits. Now, he was certain—no one in Thornsreach Barony could harm him. That would make dealing with Edgar and Duncan far easier.
After that, he whistled loudly to signal the soldiers to regroup. Once he returned to where the recruits and his forces were assembled, he spoke with a cold, stern expression:
"Listen carefully. If any information about what we've done these past two days gets leaked, I will cut off the traitor's head and hang it on the castle gate. Not just that—I'll exterminate his entire family, exile all his acquaintances from the barony, and confiscate their property. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my lord!" everyone shouted in unison.
"And if anyone asks you what we did, or tries to extract any information from you—report it to Chadwick immediately. He'll inform me."