They slept through the entire night and, while his warding stones woke him up a few times, he wasn't going to interfere. The Saftians were soldiers, not kids on a trip. He lay in his too-narrow bed and decided that he needed to double-check the beds in the carriage he commissioned. He was simply larger than most of the local people, so the typical items weren't going to fit him. He looked at his side and instantly smiled. Catherine was silently lying on the nearby bed with a very pleased expression on her face.

  "Good morning, Cate." He smiled brightly.

  "Good morning, Arthur." She replied in kind, still lying under her soft blanket. The nights were fairly cold in Saftia.

  "It's not exactly how I would like to spend time with you after we... You know..." He smiled at her but his expression twisted in displeasure. "I regret that we didn't have more time to ourselves..."

  "We will have plenty of time..." She smiled while her tail's tip was flickering happily. "I wanted to thank you for the magic training, Arthur."

  "I had hoped that it would help you awaken a class, but I might have to try something else..." He shook his head. "I was surprised that you managed to learn so much without a corresponding class, but I have seen it before."

  "Are there people like me in Arcadia? People without a class?" She asked in shock.

  "Once, I was without a class as well, so you can say it’s not uncommon. But now, there are very few classless people in Arcadia." He sat on the bed and nodded. "Mostly because our Emperor can give anyone a Class quest. However, some people devoted their lives to discovering why some people don't get classes and if it's possible to self-awaken. They are a very dedicated group of researchers at the Royal University of Arcadia."

  "He can give anyone a class?! That's incredible!" She sat up on her bed, her choker bell giving out a pleasant sound.

  "There are many incredible things about him." Arthur smiled. "I would like you to master Fire Bullet, Cate."

  "Of course!" She clapped her hands in excitement and slightly tilted her head in delight. "I'm so happy, Arthur!"

  He raised his hand towards her face, but a sudden commotion outside the tent made him clench his fist angrily.

  "I will kill them..." Arthur growled.

  "Stop it!" She laughed. "If you kill them, I won't be able to prepare you tasty food any longer! We will be wanted criminals."

  "Only if someone manages to snitch on us. I'll blame the Gnolls… I'm joking!" He grinned but relaxed his fist and turned towards the tent flap. "What's going on?!"

  Captain Amos and Sergeant Vicc were trying to pass through Ben, who was fearlessly guarding the tent's entrance. It was just after dawn, but the camp was far livelier than yesterday. He stepped out of the tent in his casual clothes and a sword on his hip. Arthur crossed his arms as Catherine emerged just a heartbeat later in her perfect maid outfit.

  "Shall I prepare breakfast, my Lord?" She asked with eagerness.

  "I would appreciate it. Ben, wake up Silfa and Val'narii." Arthur calmly ordered and looked at the soldiers. "What happened?"

  "We don't have time for eating! This night was much harsher than we expected, Sir Ives." Amos shook his head, and Cate stopped uncertainly near Arthur, who furrowed his brows. "If not for listening to you and following your orders, I'm afraid that our company would be wiped out. We sustained some damage but there were no losses."

  "And you decided to come to me and brag about it?" He asked with a flat stare, but to his surprise, the soldiers were in the middle of breaking the camp.

  "No, Sir!" The sergeant waved his hands. "The Gnolls started moving in much larger packs than usual. At this rate, we won't be able to withstand their attacks. We must find their nest as quickly as possible!"

  "Hmm..." Arthur straightened and nodded at Cate. "All right. Let's move out."

  It took them nearly twenty minutes to embark, but this time, the soldiers were properly motivated. To cut time, he simply stored their tents. The soldiers looked nervously at him as he did.

  "My carriage will be last. Lead the way, Captain, and remember, this is not a picnic, so you must keep moving." Arthur ordered. "Everyone, into the carts! Don't stop until we get to the next campsite or we have to defend ourselves. Prepare archers to fire at any enemy trying to attack us."

  "Very well, Sir!" Captain Amos nodded and ran towards one of the leading carts with the sergeant close behind him.

  He entered the cart and sat near Catherine. The column moved slowly at first, but they achieved an acceptable pace after just a couple of minutes.

  "What about your breakfast, Sir Arthur?" Catherine asked once the sun started shining brightly.

  "I'm afraid that we will have to be hungry until the column stops." Arthur didn't mind going hungry for a bit, but he felt bad about keeping everyone else hungry.

  "I have prepared sandwiches for everyone, my Lord..." Catherine smiled innocently.

  "In that case, we will eat. You are the best, Catherine." He smiled as she took out a fairly big basket full of various sandwiches from her ring and handed them to him.

  "Thank you, Sir!" She smiled sweetly at him.

  "Ben, you will take the reins. Cate, go inside." Arthur ordered, his mood suddenly shifting. He passed the basket back to her.

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  He took out his bow and Silfa moaned in shock as she saw it. He drew it and deliberately held the arrow as he aimed high at the sky.

  "Starfire Arrow..." Arthur's voice was cold as he fired his bow.

  A bright shard of light climbed into the sky and fell somewhere between the uneven shrubs of the savanna. The ensuing explosion was loud and violent, but wasn't as spectacular as everyone expected. Before anyone could ask what was happening, he fired four more arrows. After that, he stored his bow and took a sandwich from the basket Cate was holding on her lap. He ate it as if nothing had happened and took another one.

  "Are you not hungry?" His surprised question seemed to finally snap them from shock.

  "Sir! That bow...! It was... Can I just touch it?" Silfa's eyes sparkled with excitement.

  "Unfortunately, no." He shook his head. "Most of my gear is protected with powerful self-destruct spells so it never falls into the wrong hands. I can't grant you your wish and I need you to keep it a secret."

  "Of course, my Lord! My sister is just an archery freak..." Ben glared angrily at Silfa, who sulked in shame.

  "Ben..." Arthur sighed. "You shouldn't speak like that about your sister."

  "What have you killed, Sir?" Val'narii asked quietly.

  "Gnolls, I believe. But they were doing something that looked suspiciously like preparing a quite elaborate trap." Arthur shrugged. "They were preparing firing positions... It's better to take care of them as soon as possible."

  No one asked about anything more, and he didn't feel any more monsters chasing the caravan. Catherine looked at him with a questioning stare, but whatever she wanted to ask, it seemed that she was willing to wait. Silfa and Ben changed out as drivers, and the entire caravan covered nearly three times more distance than on the first day. Arthur attributed this more to their nervousness than any desire to finally find the Gnolls' den.

  "We are on the verge of the Gnolls' territory, Sir," Val'narii said nervously as they watched the soldiers set up the camp.

  "What should we expect?" He said as he took out their tents. "Fix the tents, Ben, Silfa."

  "Bigger and more persistent raids. Maybe led by an advanced species..." The Dark Elf shook her head.

  "Advanced species?"

  "Like Gnoll with a class." She explained without explaining anything.

  "What? That's not like advancement should work. The advanced species of, for example, a Goblin is a Hobgoblin. Gnolls don't have similar evolution?"

  "No." She shook her head. "Or at least we haven't encountered anything that would confirm that pattern. But their classes pretty much overlap with the other monsters' evolution power scale."

  Suddenly, the camp erupted in the frantic sound of the alarm trumpets. Arthur focused on his radar skill and noticed a large band of monsters heading straight for the camp. The pack was easily two times more numerous than the company and was being led by three particularly strong monsters. At least for locals. His radar skill barely considered them worthy of being pinged as a potential material source. Amos was bellowing orders and was too far into the deployment of the absolutely useless formation, so Arthur decided that enough was enough. The morale of the soldiers was in tatters, they were tired and hungry after an entire day of travel, and now they were being charged by a massive horde. If he won't help them, all of them will die. Even his companions might be in danger. He walked towards the charging monsters and put on his battle gear in the most flashy way possible as he passed through the lines of the scared Saftians.

  They watched in awe as he confidently strode towards the enemy and grew with each step. His armour wasn't shining because the armour of the Arcadians was always black with different finishes, but certainly his armour was glittering with gold and casting crimson lights reflected from the Inquisitorial red. His long majestic blue and gold cape was carried as if by the wind. In his battle gear, Arthur looked like a giant among the much shorter Saftians. He drew his blue broadsword and raised it up high.

  "Lion Heart." His voice was pure and fearless. The blue magic circles flashed under every soldier in formation and all of them stopped panicking instantly.

  Arthur Dashed forward once he activated his Aura of Might for the sake of the soldiers and Aura of Despair, just out of habit, to intimidate the enemies. In a flash, he stopped before a level fifty-seven Gnoll Barbarian and swung his sword with the flat of his blade. The monster was instantly knocked unconscious and its blood started painting the sand red. The horde tried to slow down but it was quite impossible. The monsters ran into one another, collapsing under the pressure of the rear ranks, or breaking their formation completely. He covered his blade with a spell and unleashed a wave of devastating frost straight into the middle of the horde with a single swing. The first ranks hit by the spell turned almost instantly into ice sculptures that shattered under the violent air current that followed the strike. The two Gnoll Knights were caught in his Ice Wave, and despite their forty levels, dropped to the ground barely alive. The horde started fleeing in panic, but it could barely be called a horde anymore. Just a third of the initial numbers survived Arthur's attack.

  "Captain Amos, follow the survivors. If we are lucky, they will show us the way to their den." Arthur ordered with a voice amplified by his Commander skill. "Catherine, Silfa, Ben, come to me."

  The soldiers looked at the menacing figure in disbelief, but Amos was already issuing orders. The man had no choice but to listen to the Paladin. Arthur's skill could have been resisted, but not when the target recognised the Inquisitor as his superior. For Amos, Arthur wasn't just a noble he had to follow, but an inspiring figure he admired as a soldier and man. The Nekomi and the siblings approached him moments later.

  "Silfa and Ben, I want you to use your favourite skills to finish those Gnoll Knights." He pointed at two slightly larger monsters wearing studded leather armour. Then he looked at Catherine and pointed at the Gnoll Barbarian. "You will kill this one with your Fire Bullet."

  They looked at him in shock for a split second before their eyes began to glow with excitement. Probably they won't get as much experience as they hoped, but it was going to be a lot anyway. Ben raised his sword and unleashed a skill that slightly surprised Arthur. The boy shouldn't have Rending Strike at his level, but he’d just used it. His sword plunged deeply into the body of the Gnoll and as Ben twisted it and violently pulled back, the monster was dead. Silfa focused and her arrows were covered with a slight mana glow. She fired them in rapid succession and stuck them all in the other levelled Gnoll's neck.

  "Yes! I unlocked it, Sir! I have the Rapid Fire skill, just as you promised!" She started jumping up and down in celebration.

  Finally, Cate sent an orb of crimson fire that set ablaze the highest-level Gnoll. The monster roared painfully and tried to stand, but was crushed under the effect of Arthur's Aura of Despair. It cried in horror and wailed like a heartbroken puppy, but Catherine conjured another bullet, and another. Each time, the spell manifested faster and looked more like an aetheric orb than a glowing amorphic shard. The Nekomi was covered in sweat, but her eyes were set and her arms were firm. With a last effort, she conjured the Fire Bullet that dug deeply into the Gnoll's skull and set the monster ablaze from the inside out. Arthur nodded, pleased that Silfa and Ben had levelled up significantly. As for Catherine, she still hasn't awakened, but at least her Fire Bullet was maxed.

  "Excellent, Cate. Now you will learn Wind Bullet..." Arthur said softly and she smiled before she fainted.

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!