Other than the demons that frequently appear through portals, there is another major enemy of humanity. They are commonly referred to as the Dead Swamp. They are creatures that are as destructive to this continent as cancer.
The reason they are called the Dead Swamp is because the areas they have passed through become lands of death. For example, the farthest northwestern region of the Avalon continent.
The land where the Dead Swamp resides holds no life. Animals, plants—everything is gone, let alone humans.
The areas that have been passed through and taken over by the Dead Swamp are called Dead Zones.
Although it does not border directly, there is one region in the Kingdom of Dragomirov that is close to the Dead Zone. That region is under the control of Marquess Taranin. Therefore, Marquess Taranin is referred to as one of the pillars who defended the Kingdom of Dragomirov.
Since Marquess Taranin's territory frequently interacts with the Dead Swamp, he is required to strengthen his personal forces. If he still faces difficulties, the option he can choose is to seek assistance from other nobles.
That is the option Marquess Taranin is currently pursuing.
He cannot seek help randomly. Moreover, not all nobles are willing or capable of helping.
Only one nobleman meets the criteria for someone he can ask for support, and that is Duke Razanov.
In short, he wants to obtain military assistance from the Razanov family to protect his territory, not from Duke Razanov's personal power. However, simply asking for help would be shameful.
Ultimately, he chose the most common approach: Marquess Taranin intended to arrange a betrothal between Elizavet and Duke Razanov's son to facilitate the plan for assistance.
The same situation had occurred in Lev's previous life. After Andrei approved the betrothal between Boris and Elizavet, Andrei sent troops to assist the Marquess Taranin family.
On one side was Marquess Taranin, a rising noble who had become a pillar of defense to protect the western border of the Dragomirov kingdom from the Dead Swamp. On the other side was Duke Razanov, who sought to eliminate the title of useless nobility by contributing to the war against the Dead Swamp.
Unfortunately, Duke Razanov could not support Marquess Taranin for long in the war against the Dead Swamp. Though he helped for several years, Duke Razanov was eventually discovered to be in league with demons.
As a result, the troops that were originally sent by Duke Razanov to Marquess Taranin's territory were captured by the royal family's forces. They were sent back to the capital, investigated, and ultimately unable to assist Marquess Taranin in securing his territory.
'There are also suspicions about Marquess Taranin's involvement in Andrei's conspiracy with the demons. However, I don't know the details.'
It was natural for Marquess Taranin to be suspected because he had initiated Elizavet's engagement to Boris. However, Lev did not know whether Marquess Taranin had actually been investigated or not.
One thing is clear in Lev's memory.
Immediately after the incident, Marquess Taranin's territory was also consumed by the Dead Swamp and became a Dead Zone.
"If I had prevented Andrei from sending troops from the start, would the Taranin family have been destroyed sooner?"
The reason Lev had previously said he would definitely save the Taranin family was—when he was about to leave Mikhail and Elizavet, he received a quest.
[You have obtained the Quest Chain!]
[Quest: The Guardian
Description: Go to the Taranin Marquess's territory. Protect the pillar that safeguards the Dragomirov kingdom.
… The quest will be updated when the time comes.]
Although there was no reward in the quest window that appeared, he still intended to complete the quest chain.
While thinking about all that, Lev stood on the roof of a house in the slum area.
It was already nighttime, and he was wearing a long cloak with a hood.
Not only was his hair covered by the hood, but his face from his nose to his mouth was also covered by a face covering.
Meanwhile, from head to toe, everything he wore was black.
If anyone on the street saw him now, they would think he was a criminal.
Today, there is no snowfall, and the moonlight is bright enough, making it ideal for what he intends to do.
He plans to farm kill points and heroic points.
Before carrying out his plan, he decides to distribute the points he earned after completing the "Sibling Rivalry" quest.
[Status Window:
- General status:
Name: Lev Razanov
Race: Human
Job: None
Affiliation: Dragomirov Kingdom
Title: Useless Noble Child
- Main Attributes:
Strength: 3
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 6
Mana: 0.010
Dark Mana: 0.2
- Skill status:
Swordsmanship (lv. 2)
Black Magic Authority (?)
Mana String (lv.2)
Observation
Battle Sense (lv. 1)
Kill Points: 1
Heroic Points: 35.]
If you look closely, you will see that his mana attribute has increased slightly from yesterday.
Initially, his mana was only 0.001, but now it has changed to 0.010.
This was because he took the time to meditate last night.
In this world, there is a way for someone to refill their Mana Pool when it is empty or low, and that is through meditation.
However, meditation cannot increase the level of someone's Mana Pool—it only refills it to full capacity.
Meanwhile, Lev's meditation defies this law. He can increase the capacity of his mana pool.
... That's right, even if it's only a 0.009 increase.
Let's say he meditates every night, and his mana capacity increases by 0.009 or 0.010, then he would have to meditate for about three and a half months to gain +1 mana stat point.
Therefore, he decided to farm heroic points in the slums where he was currently located.
"Convert 20 heroic points into mana."
[Starting to convert heroic points into mana attribute...]
[Congratulations! You gained 0.2 points in your mana attribute.]
"Wait a minute!"
???
A question mark appeared above Lev's head.
He was silent for a moment, staring at the notification window that appeared in front of him.
"Only 0.2 points?"
A slight frown formed on Lev's forehead. He felt like he had been scammed because all his efforts in fighting Boris's men were only rewarded with 0.2 points... 'Lucky I didn't convert all the heroic points I earned to increase my mana attribute.'
Although he seemed to want to protest the Hero's System's decision, Lev didn't feel the need to express it. He remained calm. The frown on his forehead quickly disappeared.
"Convert the remaining heroic points to increase the strength attribute."
[Starting to convert 15 heroic points to the Strength attribute...]
[Congratulations! You have gained an additional 1.5 points in the strength attribute.]
It seemed that converting heroic points to stats other than mana would result in a greater increase.
He came to that conclusion after seeing the 1.5 increase in the strength attribute.
Since he had already used all his heroic points, all that was left was to convert his kill points.
[Starting to convert 1 kill point to increase the Dark Mana attribute...]
[Congratulations! You have gained an additional 0.9 points in the Dark Mana attribute.]
Considering that 1 kill point from defeating a warrior with higher skills is more valuable than killing a courtesan and his personal servant earlier, it seems that defeating stronger enemies yields more Dark Mana attribute points.
[- Main Attributes
Strength: 4.5
Agility: 2
Intelligence: 10
Dexterity: 6
Mana: 0.21
Dark Mana: 0.9.]