[You have absorbed the blood of 437 goblins

You have extracted a small portion of your target’s talent and attributes

+4 Strength

+5 Vitality

+3 Agility

+1 Intelligence]

With another four hundred goblins slain, Alice, Ethan, Evelyn, Doran, and Aerick each leveled up twice.

The guards on the first stage all reached level twenty-five, while those on the second stage each leveled up at least ten times during the goblin extermination.

The attribute boost from the guards’ levels was certainly worth more than the deaths of the three men, but Ethan, naturally, wasn’t happy about it.

Over the past few months, he had grown deeply attached to Goldenveil, and losses like these hit him hard, even if they weren’t the sort of blow capable of breaking him.

When the next system notifications appeared, his frown vanished and his eyes lit up once more.

[You have successfully exterminated 1x medium goblin camp!

You have successfully exterminated 2x small goblin camps

+ 15 prestige

+ 20 premium gacha tickets

+ 50 common gacha tickets

+ 3 inferior city cores.]

Now he only needed twenty-five more premium gacha tickets to get his high elf mommy!

And just like that, Lord Ethan, with so much love for his subordinates, almost completely forgot about the three deaths.

Soon, however, he had to get serious again as the guards began organizing the loot.

In total: just over three thousand gold coins, a few tons of steel, enough jewels to fetch over ten thousand gold coins, and various other items piled up from years of plundering.

On top of all that, they managed to recover about one hundred and thirty item enhancement stones—honestly, the biggest haul of the entire loot.

With everything sorted and his space ring filled, it was time for Ethan to turn his attention to the just over seven hundred rescued prisoners.

In total, six hundred and seventy were humans, fifty-two were elves, and six were dwarves.

Seventy percent of the rescued were adults between twenty and forty years old, while twenty percent were children, and the rest elderly.

The elves, for the most part, were around thirty years old, save for five elven children and an elderly couple already approaching seven hundred years of age.

Ethan didn’t bother trying to determine the dwarves’ ages, even though he knew they averaged around one hundred.

With powerful bodies even after months of malnutrition, thick beards on even the youngest, and women who didn’t look much different from the men, a dwarf’s age was truly very difficult to pin down.

Dealing with the humans was simple. They were treated, fed, and kept warm. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The elves and dwarves, however, were in a more delicate situation, held several dozen meters away and ringed by armed soldiers.

Ethan came to a stop in front of them, his eyes settling on the two old elves.

They were priests, both in the early stages of the third stage.

Weak in combat, mostly because they were healers rather than warriors.

Powerful healers, in fact.

Elves possessed nature magic and a fifty-percent mana awakening rate, with basically all women awakening mana and all men awakening aura.

Both elders could wield nature magic, and both held significant healing powers.

That was the strength of the elves.

While dragons were masters of fire, dwarves were masters of steel, and humans were masters of great empires, elves were masters of nature.

Honestly, the greatest strength the other races held over humans was talent.

It was rare for elves and dwarves to be born with a talent rank below C, and among those fifty-odd individuals, there was one A-rank and seven B-ranks.

Ethan pulled his gaze from the elves and shifted his focus to the dwarves.

"Do you have any knowledge of blacksmithing?" he asked the scowling leader.

The dwarf, with all his delicacy, naturally couldn’t help but curse.

"What? Do you think just because we’re dwarves we mess with fire and steel? You damned human brat! How would you feel if I thought every human knew how to ride a horse?"

In fact, blacksmithing held a position in Dwarven culture similar to that of horsemanship among humans.

Every noble dwarf knew blacksmithing, just as every noble human knew horsemanship.

No society could function on those two alone, but both remained symbols of nobility and power.

Ethan brushed off the older dwarf’s disrespect, merely offering a reassuring smile to his companions, who flinched at their leader’s words.

"So, you have no knowledge of blacksmithing?"

"Of course I do! I am Garrick, one of the greatest master blacksmiths in the city where I was born! Even a dwarf farmer knows more about blacksmithing than any insignificant human master!"

The dwarf leader, also at the third stage, puffed out his chest with raw arrogance, beard bristling.

If he weren’t too weak, he would have already unleashed his powerful aura on Ethan.

All five of his companions were blacksmiths as well, which drew a wide grin from Ethan.

Roderik’s apprentices no longer needed to tend to the guard’s forge.

Now he had Roderik to serve civilians and adventurers, and dwarves to serve the guard directly.

[Name: Garrick

Age: 189

Talent: Rank S

Level: 106/120

Opinion: 40

Loyalty: 50]

Looking at Garrick’s stats and then over at his guard’s leather armor, Ethan nearly jumped for joy.

With so many dwarves working so hard, he could finally set his grandest plan for the Goldenveil Guard into motion.

An infantry fully equipped with powerful steel plate armor.

He already had a few armor designs ready for production.

Even if he didn’t, a blacksmith with S-rank talent would have no trouble creating a far superior design.

Honestly, it would even be better to let Garrick personally create the designs for the Goldenveil guard’s armor.

The ones he received from the system, despite their high quality, would be better used only as a foundation.

Ethan scratched his chin, deep in thought.

Why was he already treating those dwarves and elves as future citizens of Goldenveil?

He had no interest in slaves and he had to win them over first.