Throne of the North.

Chapter 772 A New World Finally Available for Exploration
The emperor of the empire and the pope of the Papacy are gaining prestige in the ways they desire.

In the northern lands, Ryan's name gradually spread further and further. Even in the icy and snowy north, more and more human adventurers could be seen searching for him amidst the wind and snow.

Cavalry troops from the Frozen Territory appeared on the snowfield from time to time. The cold air breathed by the northern warhorses provided them with enough extraordinary elemental energy. Watching the knights come and go, and even the orcs avoiding their presence, the adventurers subconsciously felt at ease.

Everything returned to its former prosperity. Only those who had experienced war could understand how comforting such a peaceful environment was.

Even the focus of the Frozen Territory has gradually shifted to land reclamation and food cultivation. Ryan made the nobles of this land realize that as long as there is a market, even soil and manure can be a terrible economic crop.

After seeing off Freud and his group of noble knights, Ryan did not return directly to the Frozen Territory, but instead headed east to the Griffin Mountains of the Kingdom of Sera and the border of the Flor Empire.

Construction is in full swing here. Faced with powerful supernatural forces, the mountains have been shaving off, and the rugged land has been leveled. Of course, this place is still located in a dangerous area, on the original North Wind Avenue. It can be said that you can't get here without some wilderness experience.

The heavy-looking building is being cast bit by bit, and thousands of workers will ensure the speed of construction.

Ryan plans to build a knight academy here to train knights from the lands covered by the Northern Military Council, and to train the knight officers needed by the armies of all sides with higher-level training.

There were no obstacles in this matter. One reason was Ryan's prestige, and another was that the number of potions that could ignite the flame of life in the supernatural world was decreasing.

Even the empire is thinking of new solutions. In the Inner Hill Province, due to the depletion of the two extraordinary resources, the Flower of Life and the Fruit of Bloodrage, countless noble representatives are now watching closely. If a major upheaval occurs, the capital city will likely be plunged into another chaotic conflict.

Ryan sent a team there, mainly to integrate them into the group; his method of creating knights is quite different.

"In the future, more people will be qualified to become knights."

With the decrease in the number of Life Flowers and Blood Rage Fruits, the number of Imperial Knights will visibly decrease in the future, but in Ryan's case, the number of knights will increase.

The environment here isn't very safe, so Ryan still needs to go to the Kingdom of Sera. In his opinion, the Griffin Legion is needed to serve as the basic defense for this Knight Academy, and the Griffin's hunting grounds are in the eastern mountains.

By the time Ryan returned to the Frozen Territory, five days had passed. Floyd had already returned to the Imperial City, where things were incredibly lively.

These past two days, Ryan has been spending time with Baroness Avril.

"The power of legendary bloodlines is gathering, Ryan, our child will surely be outstanding."

Avril said with a smile that the biggest thing in the Frozen Territory was the Baroness’s belly. No one on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain dared to speak loudly. Even in the Frozen Territory below Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, the expressions of the sheriffs and patrol guards became serious and indifferent. Anyone who dared to disturb the peace in the Frozen Territory would suffer the most severe punishment in the shortest time.

“After the baby is born, I plan to take him to Calais province. My mother wrote to us saying she wants to see him, and my father, as the baby’s maternal grandfather, also wants to see the first little one in the Lane family.”

"Also, shouldn't we ask the magician to add some more magic circles to the castle to make it warmer?"

"Viscountess Hora came to see me a couple of days ago. I heard that the royal lady has a castle full of flowers. I also miss the Moro flowers of Calais Province. Before my father inherited the title of Viscount, he would always bring those flowers with him when he went on a ship, so that he could always come back safely after leaving."

Avril chattered on and on, with Ryan by her side, echoing her thoughts.

Reaching the window, I opened it, the cold wind blocked by the magic circle. What came into view was lush greenery covering the mountains. The terraced fields on Rhinoceros Horn Mountain represented the prosperity of the Frozen Territory. The mountain peaks that were once covered by forests have now become Ryan's grain storage base. The streams flowed gently, and the lake that was once frozen will never freeze again under the divine source. Snow-white armored bears tumbled and played in it, the splashing water becoming part of the irrigation canals.

Permafrost regions will never lack moisture as long as the ice and snow melt.

“Aetria told me that in five years at most, the Frozen Territory will become the most prosperous land in the North, surpassing any noble territory in the six provinces of the Empire.”

Avril looked expectantly at the world outside the window. Even before she was pregnant, she often went out. Even so, the frozen land seemed to be changing rapidly in her eyes, and all of this came from the man beside her.

“The fruit orchard in Swadifari is being moved to the frozen territory, Ryan, let’s plant it there.”

"Okay."

Avril pointed to a mountain peak, which was above the frozen waterfall of Lake Northgard. Ryan glanced at it, smiled, and nodded in agreement.

Ryan finally had more time to spend with Avril, but only for a few days.

On the spiritual panel, it indicates that the gate to a new other world is ready, and Ryan can open the portal to another world at any time.

Ryan wasn't in a hurry; instead, he waited for news from the south.

"Freud returned to the capital, but the emperor still could not get him back to his fiefdom—the province of Carlos."

"However, the two sides did not fall out over this, and I don't know how they managed to do that."

"It seems this will be a very long process."

Aristocratic politics is the art of compromise and exchange. In the capital city, people come and go, each taking a little and the other a little. As the ambiguous boundaries become clearer, the political struggle ends.

At that time, Freud would have to go back to his Marquis Carlos castle, and the emperor probably understood that as well.

Ever since the Southern Revenge War killed four Red Guards and the army reached the foot of the Holy Mountain, the Emperor knew his position was secure. Ryan's direct manifestation of this was that the Emperor rarely responded to his letters anymore.

Of course, after seeing this, Ryan stopped writing letters as a routine matter; coming up with new words every day was still tiring for him.

The emperor of the Flor Empire began to shift his focus from the north to the southern lands, and Ryan was happy to have some peace and quiet.

His land has no need for the authority of an emperor.

Ryan began to tour his Bucks team.

In the final legendary sacrificial war of the Kingdom of Andara, all the stag servants underwent the final baptismal blessing of the stag spirit, and their life flame burned eternally.

This burning flame of life, like a gentle breeze, steadily increased the vitality of the stag servants. It was subtle, but each one could feel their own life force increasing.

This extraordinary legion has surpassed many of the Empire's extraordinary legions. The only thing Ryan needs to consider now is whether or not to increase their numbers.

It's important to understand that the number of players has steadily increased over the years, and the Bucks' current roster is stable at three thousand. This is a significant number, and if it continues to grow any larger, it will require consideration of more than just spiritual blessings.

Training needs, knightly provisions, warhorse breeding—in short, the number of knights and squires is the simplest of all the problems.

Aetria has been frequenting the castle lately because the expenses of the Frozen Territory are not small. In order to give the nobles of the neighboring Andara Kingdom hope for prosperity and revival, Ryan has spared no effort.

This has made Ryan even consider imposing taxes. Taxing the kingdom...

The Bucks' scouts did not disappoint Ryan during their training; they were now practically monsters in human skin, their flesh and blood beneath the armor containing terrifying power.

Ryan asked Brand to select one hundred people to follow him to another world.

Everyone was relaxed. After all, things were different now. Their team exploring the other world included legendary figures. How many disasters could make even a legend feel threatened?

The sun shone brightly that day.

Ryan nodded as he looked at the hundred well-dressed, burly knights in front of him; many of them were familiar faces.

He stretched out his palm, and white ripples spread out, opening up space and revealing a dimensional portal two or three meters wide in front of everyone.

"Go and see what's going on on the other side. Hopefully, they're not frozen too completely."

From among the attendants, a knight named Herik stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and remained steadfast in his resolve.

"Follow your wishes."

He placed his hand on the hilt of the knight's sword and walked into the dimensional gate.

……

As he passed through this portal spanning space, before Herik's eyes could adjust to the lingering light, his nose recognized this new world first.

The howling wind, carrying suffocating air currents, swept past him. It wasn't an oxygen-deficient environment, but the rapidly flowing air forced him to twitch his nose stiffly just to breathe.

"What the hell?"

Herik called out without opening his eyes, and the next moment, accompanied by rapid breathing, his body became weightless and plummeted downwards. In the instant he hit the water with a splash, Herik opened his eyes and saw the world before him.

As far as the eye can see, there is no land, only the raging wind and the deathly still sea.

This was clearly abnormal; a strong wind shouldn't calm the sea, but rather create a storm on the surface. But he didn't have time to think about why.

"Gulu gulu gulu~"

Herik regretted opening his mouth and shouting. The seawater was rushing in, and the intense feeling of being surrounded and insecure made him regretful. He shouldn't have underestimated Lord Ryan just because of his rank as a Gold Knight and his extraordinary power. Lord Ryan's blessing didn't include the ability to swim in the water!
"Gulu gulu gulu~"

The armor was too heavy, so Herik frantically circulated his internal energy. His energy was strong enough that each surge allowed him to repel the surrounding seawater and briefly rise to the surface. He saw the dimensional gate, which wasn't far away, and he had a chance to return alive.

"Grrrrrrrrrr!"

Seawater surged in again, and Herik sank once more. Just as he was about to continue using his blood and qi to fight against the ocean, a huge and sharp force suddenly appeared on his body.

“Quack~”

Black bird claws gripped Herik's shoulders and lifted him up. Herik opened his eyes and saw that it was a giant raven with a wingspan of more than three meters.

Can crows grow this big?
Extraordinary creatures!

This is quite rare. Herik had traveled with Ryan through several extraordinary worlds, and he understood that in other worlds, those who could maintain extraordinary life below the North were basically the main life forms of that world.

Follow it, and you will find the humans in this world.

With that thought in mind, Herik stopped struggling and didn't say anything more.

However, the giant crow did not fly very far, because just a few hundred meters away, there were several trees growing on the sea.

The trees are not very tall, only a dozen meters high. Moreover, this is the ocean, so they cannot be rooted in the seabed. You can tell from the constant swaying of the trees that they are floating on the surface of the sea.

Of course, this is not the most important.

Herik's hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the treetops of the trees. Seven or eight crows, each about the size of a two-palm leaf, stood there, their red eyes holding a gaze that made Herik wary—a gaze of wisdom.

What looked at him seemed to be not crows, but human beings.

"Don't be nervous, stranger."

Shockingly, one of the crows opened its beak and spoke human language.

“We are the natives of Mikragard, we mean no harm, you can let your companions come here without worry.”

A few crows shook their feathers to disperse the moisture, but their gazes were fixed on the distant dimensional gate.

Herik's heart sank. These crows knew how he appeared, and their appearance suggested they had been waiting at the location of the dimensional gate even earlier than he had. This was not a good thing for him.

Thinking of this, Herik spoke up:
"I am also an indigenous person, it's just that my boat..."

“Quack~”

Before he could finish speaking, the giant raven that was flying with its arms around his shoulders made a sound, and Herik understood; it was mocking him.

"Stranger, your lie is not clever."

“There are no humans left in Mikragard, and you don’t need to doubt us. No power in this world can hide from our eyes. We have our own ways of confirming that you come from another world, a world that the North has not yet brought destruction to.”

“Bring the gentleman behind you here, Sir Knight.”

A crow spread its wings, and the next moment, Herik's eyes widened. He saw that beneath the crow's wings, countless tree roots and vines covered the sea like snakes. In just one minute, a land made of tree roots appeared on this ocean where there was no land.

He was thrown down by the giant crow, his feet landing on the ground beneath the tree roots.

(End of this chapter)