Over at a tree stump, a figure sat and waited. Clad in dark plate and wielding a two-handed sword, the individual greeted Tanya's presence with two simple knocks of the pommel of their sword.

In the expanse of the forest, no one else would hear this, only Tanya. She had been spending much more time practicing alone in the forest rather than revealing her strength in the confines of the academy. It was not like any instructor could beat her.

"Alpha? You have a talent for sneaking, however, I knew your location the moment I came here." Tanya smiled, gesturing her finger to Alpha, signalling him to come forward.

"So, what is your progress? I believe it has already been three weeks, have you encountered any difficulties?" Tanya asked plainly to her homunculus.

"Master, we have slain an ent.i.ty above your specifications, I sincerely apologise for this folly." Alpha keeled down and dared no lift his head to meet Tanya's eyes.

"How so?"

"We nullified a 4th ascension Vampire Baron. While on the chase for a High Vampire, we encountered the baron and managed to slay it using a falling boulder. The boulder happened to contain silver, effectively ending the threat. As such, I have ascended to [Sword Adept] while the other models have each become a 2nd ascension [Swordsman]."

In other words, the vampire baron happened to have died from pure luck. Vampires are not beings that can just die from any weapon, they had to be slain with silver. Therefore, the idea that a random boulder that just so happened to have that same metal had fallen down and killed the vampire, was clearly a stretch.

Nevertheless, Tanya believed it. She nodded her head in approval and did not ask further on that subject.

"You have done well, Alpha. You are now equivalent to a general of a medium grade nation. Work harder and surpa.s.s this point." Tanya's expression seemed aloof, but Alpha still felt a sense of pride in itself, wondering if it could be praised more. For its creator, Alpha would do anything.

"I now task you with the a.s.signment of growing your troop to the size of 100 combatants. All of them must be at [Swordsman] by the end of the next month. Once you are finished, proceed to this point of the map. Be careful not to attract any attention to yourselves, I do not wish for my new military force to be discovered yet.

"As you wish, Master." Alpha bowed and disappeared out of sight.

At the time of Alpha's departure, the sun was still s.h.i.+ning. There was still the noise of the wind and the animals pa.s.sing by like the seasons. The day was still young.

'More time to practice my sword.' Tanya drew her sword and began chopping down some trees. Such a task would seem difficult to many, but Tanya felt like she was cutting through b.u.t.ter. It was far too weak and she was far too strong.

Not even a full suit of plate could deny her blade.

"AAAAARGH!! DEFEND MADAME!" Just when Tanya thought she could practice in peace, she heard the sound of metal clanging and people shouting. The smell of blood did not help either, it made the once calm forest smell like death.

"KILL!"

Tanya knew this sound all too well. Bandits.

Was the kingdom so weak that bandits could attack right next to the academy? Tanya indeed felt quite disappointed at the state of security within the kingdom. As an Emperor, Tane made it his duty to secure his empire so that no bandit could roam freely and commit crimes against innocents. Such evildoers were put to death by forest ranger garrisons.

The fact that bandits could just run amok here made Tanya disgusted.

"This is terrible management of security." Tanya mumbled as she jumped on top of a tree and began das.h.i.+ng towards the noise.

"Captain w.a.n.g, the bandits are not letting us retreat!" A man blocked the brunt of a club impact with his own fists. Dressed in a strange set of robes that seemed quite foreign to Tanya, he stood there and continued to block off any bandits that tried to attack the carriage behind him.

Surrounded by bandits, only five guards remained. As Tanya saw this, she was not sure if the defender could win.

"Lil Zhang! These darn bandits will have to step over our dead bodies if they want to get to the madame!" An older guard shouted as he sucker punched a bandit, breaking their neck.

PUCHI

"AAARGH!" An arrow pierced into Captain w.a.n.g's shoulder, still not incapacitating him.

"Hold the line!"

The names were completely foreign to her, nevertheless, she knew what this style of naming indicated. Because of her studies with Penelope, she was able to identify the guards as [Martial Artists] and [Martial Masters] of the Yu Dynasty. This eastern power is located quite far from the Golde Kingdom, to the point where most people do not even know of the Yu Dynasty's existence. However, this nation is still a great power.

'What is next? [Spice Masters] from the Delhi Republic? [Beast Warriors] of the Terran Kingdom? This kingdom is definitely not strong enough to be the host for so many different cultures.'

PUCHI

The head of a bandit burst open as a sword impacted their head and pierced it. The bandits could not manage to find the source while they fought the injured guardsmen, ignoring the gruesome death. However, another death followed.

CRACK

A stone broke open the skull of a bandit archer, instantly killing them.

"What is happening?!" A bandit panicked as he noticed his comrades dying left and right. Who was it? The guards? No, they were fighting with their fists.

RUSTLE RUSTLE

"IT'S THE TREES!!" The bandit screamed, signalling to his comrades to strike back.

"Shut up." A feminine voice replied. And another bandit lost their life as another stone came flying.

"THE TREES CAN SPEAK!!! THE TREES CAN SPEAK!!!"

Please go to to read the latest chapters for free