The Herb King



Aethelwolf's expression turned serious when he heard this. The Underworlders are cruel creatures who are fond of slaughter and bloodshed. If a huge number of them comes out to the surface, the Regalis Continent would enter a period of massacre! The only way for them to fight against those creatures was to form an alliance. Aethelwolf also knows about this and that was why he didn't hesitate to form an alliance with the Paramount Heaven Empire despite Lark Whitmond's questionable personality. 

Aethelwolf took a deep breath to calm down before he answered. "I will be there, but what about the exploration of the Frigid Snow Dimension?" This was something important since he wanted to see if he could find something valuable in the pocket dimension. He might even find an item that was capable of unsealing the ancestor of the Ancient Fairies! 

"We won't postpone the exploration to the Frigid Snow Dimension. In truth, we also want to enter the dimension and find our ancestor. Sir Aethelwolf, I hope you can lead the way for us when the time comes." Estes replied before taking a small sip of his coffee. 

Hearing this, Aethelwolf nodded his head. "Sure."

"Great! In the next few days, I will send someone to finalize our alliance. We still have a lot of important matters to take care of so we won't stay here for long. Thanks for your time, Sir Aethelwolf." Estes said as he shook hands with Aethelwolf.

"No problem! I will send you guys off." Aethelwolf brought them out of the coffee shop and bid them farewell. "See you guys soon!" He then went back to the coffee shop and sat beside Olivia.

"Papa, I'm bored. I want to see Grandpa Einar." The little girl muttered softly.

"Alright. Let's go back to the hotel. Your Grandpa Einar must be there already." Aethelwolf said as he rubbed her head. He then paid the bill and left the coffee shop with Olivia. 

***

In the blazingly hot desert of the Northern Region, a middle-aged man wearing battered armor walked under the heat of the sun. Behind him was a group of tall warriors holding different kinds of weapons. Their armor had deep sword marks and some of them were all of them were covered in scars. However, their steps never wavered as they followed the middle-aged man. 

These tall warriors were the Barbarians that lived in the Northern Region. They were natural-born fighters and their physique was many times stronger than even normal Espers! However, despite their inhuman strength, there was only a small number of them and they were even divided into multiple tribes. The sole reason for this was the presence of the ferocious beasts in the Northern Region. 

The tribe leaders of the Barbarians once tried to visit the civilized regions in hopes that their people could live in a much safer place. However, they were chased out by the citizens of the civilized regions and some even went as far as attacking the barbarian tribes. From then on, the Barbarians were forced to live in the harsh lands of the Northern Region.

At this moment, the middle-aged man who was leading the group of Barbarian warriors suddenly raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction. "There is a camp of Underworlders there." He muttered.

The Barbarian warriors followed his gaze and sure enough, they saw a small settlement up ahead. 

"Sir Argus, do you want us to attack those bastards?" A Barbarian warrior asked in a deep voice. 

"No. There are only a few of us here and that settlement has tens of thousands of Underworlders. Let's check their strength first so that we can plan on how to attack them. Let's go!" Argus muttered as he led the Barbarian warriors to sneakily move towards the settlement. 

Hm? 

"Get down!" Argus shouted when he felt a strong perception sweeping over the area. He then masked their location using his world essence. 

The Barbarian warriors moved fast when they heard his warning. They looked unruly, but they obeyed Argus' command without hesitation. This person was someone from the civilized region, but he was willing to help the Barbarian tribes in fending off the tides of ferocious magical beasts! He also possessed a strong power that surpassed the might of the various tribe leaders, and because of this, he managed to earn the trust and respect of the Barbarians. 

"There is a Level 5 Esper inside the settlement. I'm not sure how many there are, but there should be at least five of them. You guys be careful and retract your aura." Argus warned the people behind him. 

The Barbarian warriors complied without saying a word. They immediately retracted their aura while slowly crawling behind Argus. 

Not long later, the group finally found a vantage point on top of a huge sand dune. From their location, they could see the movements of the Underworlders in the settlement. 

"Looking at the number of tents, there should be at least fifty thousand Underworlder warriors in that settlement." Argus muttered in a serious voice. 

The Barbarians took a deep breath of cold air upon hearing this. Each barbarian tribe only has ten thousand to a hundred thousand people. That means that the settlement up ahead was equivalent to a medium-sized Barbarian tribe! 

"Our Lion Fang Tribe can't handle them alone." One of the Barbarian warriors muttered as he shook his head. The Lion Fang Tribe was one of the largest Barbarian tribes in the Northern Region. They have a hundred thousand people and the weakest among possessed the physical strength of a Level 1 Esper! Even the children, women, and the elderly are brave fighters! 

Argus nodded his head in agreement. "We need the help of two large tribes if we want to eradicate these Underworlders. Let's go back first and report this to the tribe leaders." 

"Yes, Sir Argus!" The Barbarians answered obediently. 

"Let's go!" Argus quickly led them out of the area. He didn't remove the world essence that masked their presence since he didn't want to alert the experts inside the settlement.