Building The Strongest Territory With My Sacrifice System
Chapter 33: Win the race!

Chapter 33: Win the race!

After the short meeting with Kendrick, Ragnar strolled to the storage house himself to observe it.

Reaching there, he went straight for the usual spot and saw the same resin holding the roof of the storage house, successfully hiding any traces of the heist last night.

’Those Monsterborn are clever,’ Ragnar murmured, ’but I still don’t understand why they are hiding their identity. What is their actual motive? Is this some kind of buildup to some serious event?’

After observing the storage house, Ragnar strolled down to the farmlands where the farmers could be seen working on their designated lands.

"Everyone, gather up," Ragnar called them together at the entrance of the farmlands.

A few seconds after his call, the nine farmers operating the farmlands stood before him.

They greeted him with smiles on their faces and asked about his health; some of them asked why he had called for them.

"The reason I called for you this morning is to appreciate you for your hard work," Ragnar began with a smile on his face.

"Your hard work has made life better for the women and children. No one is starving because you took it upon yourselves to till the earth every day without complaint.

As a result, the ancestors have sent me here today as an ambassador of their appreciation."

Ragnar continued addressing them for about two minutes. The farmers’ expressions softened, being appreciated for their dedication warmed their hearts.

"Last night, the ancestors whispered in my heart to tell you that you will experience the most fruitful harvest this season..." Ragnar concluded.

The farmers immediately erupted in jubilation after hearing the divine verdict. They hugged one another and rejoiced.

Meanwhile, in front of Ragnar, a soft translucent glimmering system window appeared:

|| A speech has been given ||

|| Inspiring Orator has been activated... Motivation and working speed of farmers will increase for six hours. ||

’Great!’ Ragnar rejoiced.

He spoke with the farmers for a minute more before sending them back to their farmlands and then left.

On his way, he spotted the women strolling to the stream to fetch water and greeted them. He also spotted Roger escorting them.

"The forest isn’t safe, so I have tasked myself to escort the women to and from the stream every morning," Roger explained with a smile.

"That is great; the ancestors will surely reward you," Ragnar responded.

"Haha, they will," Roger bade Ragnar farewell and continued his mission.

Ragnar continued his stroll into the Hamlet.

"All members of the scout are really effective," he murmured.

In just one day since their arrival, they have tasked themselves with guarding the Hamlet and had even risked their lives to watch the storage house at night.

Ragnar was very impressed. If he had enough skill scrolls on him, he would have handed one to each of them to improve their overall effectiveness.

"Sigh, the next sacrifice is scheduled for tomorrow morning; I hope everyone turns up with high-quality items," Ragnar sighed and increased his walking pace.

He spotted the twins on his way and was invited for breakfast.

Merlina had prepared onion cake once again. It tasted the same as the one he ate a few days ago, but the deliciousness had been improved.

After breakfast, the three of them left the hut together — Merlina went to take care of the little children playing around unsupervised, and Ragnar and Noah went to Old Man James’s house for their sword practice.

Old Man James was already awaiting them, so their sword practice began early.

===

Evening quickly arrived over the hamlet — everyone had already returned from work, and the hamlet was peaceful.

Ragnar and Noah had also finished their training session for the day.

Since their training ended early, Ragnar had enough time to take his friend to a quiet spot and discuss his plan with him.

He opened his inventory and equipped a skill scroll, which he passed to Noah.

"What is this?" Noah asked while observing the ordinary-looking scroll.

"It is a skill scroll I received from the ancestors; simply tear the scroll, and the skill within will be automatically learned by you," Ragnar instructed.

Noah kept observing the scroll for a few seconds. No matter how much he looked at it, it was just an ordinary piece of parchment with no special appearance. How would this scroll grant him a skill?

Nonetheless, he believed Ragnar would not waste his time playing a prank on him, so he tore the scroll.

To his surprise, the scroll sparked with a soft glow and vanished, startling him.

Nevertheless, before he could even complain, he felt an unfamiliar sensation washing over his body.

At the same time, a series of notifications popped up in front of Ragnar.

|| Subject ’Noah’ has activated skill scroll ||

|| Skill: Swift Strides has been obtained. ||

|| Revealing description. ||

Swift Strides (Lvl 1)

— Category: Movement

— Description: The body becomes lighter, boosting agility

— Effects: Running speed increases by 20%

— Upgrade Requirement: Skill upgrade card

As Ragnar studied the skill, Noah grew accustomed to the new feeling welling inside him — he felt his body grow lighter, and a voice within him screamed at him to run.

Following the instinctive voice, Noah tested the new sensation and ran a short distance.

"Wow!"

Noah’s eyes widened.

He turned to look at Ragnar, who was now observing him, and said in an enlightened voice, "My running speed has improved significantly!"

"That is just the beginning," Ragnar smiled and responded. "In the future, there is another item I will give to you that will boost the effect of your newly acquired speed even more."

Noah listened attentively this time. After feeling the awesome effect, he did not dare to doubt the truth behind Ragnar’s words.

"What is the name of the skill I just acquired?" he asked.

"It is called Swift Strides," Ragnar responded.

Unlike him, who has a system, others in this world do not.

While they can activate the skill scroll and automatically learn the skill within, they cannot see the name of the skill; they can only feel its effects.

"Swift Strides," Noah repeated calmly. "It is a cool name."

"Yeah, it is cool," Ragnar smiled back.

"Do you want to race me?" Noah suddenly requested.

’Oh, he is feeling really competitive because of the new skill; if only he knew just how much my agility has grown in the past few days,’ Ragnar thought.

"Are you sure you want to race me?" he asked.

He did not want to trample on the pride of his friend.

"Of course," Noah grinned.

’There is no changing his mind,’ Ragnar somewhat pitied his friend.

But then he heard a familiar voice in his head, Onyx announcing an urgent quest, and he became serious about the race.

"Our finish line is that tree over there," he pointed at a tree far away from them. It would take at least five minutes to reach on foot.

Noah agreed without argument and then drew a straight line on the ground that both of them stood behind.

"3, 2, 1... GO!" Noah called out.

At the mention of ’GO,’ both of them exploded forward. But their bursts of speed differed.

Ragnar decided to give his friend the winning hand in the first half of the race, allowing him to run ahead while he ran slowly behind, using less than half of his total agility.

’Haha, my speed has increased!’ Noah rejoiced as he ran forward, eyes fixed on the tree ahead.

’To think the ancestors would bless me with such a cool skill with amazing effects. They really haven’t forgotten me!’

Noah kept running at a speed that far surpassed every other person in the Hamlet, of course except Ragnar. Despite running at top speed, he did not break a single sweat, and his breathing was stable.

Noah peeked behind him to see Ragnar running at a good pace, but not as great as his. He faced his target with a grin on his face — victory was set, he thought.

’I’m sorry, my friend, but I cannot let you win,’ Ragnar grinned as he accelerated forward.

He moved at more than twice Noah’s speed, and in a few seconds, he had already closed the distance between them.

Noah’s mind froze for a second — how was Ragnar moving that fast?

’No! I have to surpass him! I can’t lose!’

He exerted more strength in his legs and pushed his body forward, surpassing his previous speed.

But it still wasn’t enough to catch up to his friend.

Noah was exerting himself, but Ragnar moved effortlessly, and he wasn’t even at his peak speed yet.

Under Noah’s dumbfounded watch, Ragnar arrived at the tree.

’A few days ago, Ragnar was so slow, I even finished my lap minutes before him. How is he suddenly this fast? Even faster than me after obtaining a skill that boosts speed?’ The more Noah considered it, the more dumbfounded he became.

Ragnar, on the other hand, watched his friend running closer with a gentle smile. His eyes darted to the window floating in front of his retina.

|| Urgent Quest: Win the race has been completed, 20 XP has been awarded ||

’Hehe,’ he grinned and dismissed the notification.

About ten seconds later, Noah finally arrived at the tree.

"Ahh!" Noah leaned on the tree and struggled to catch his breath. He turned to Ragnar. "How did you move that fast?"

"Well, you weren’t the only one blessed with a skill like that," Ragnar smiled.

"What! You also got one like mine? But you moved faster?" Noah could not accept it.

"Mine is stronger, obviously," Ragnar replied proudly.

Hearing that, Noah felt thoroughly defeated.

But he did not push further for answer. The past few days’ event were already evidence of Ragnar superiority and closeness to the ancestors.

Both of them relaxed under the tree for some time and discussed with one another till nighttime approached. Then they strolled back home together.

Ragnar fell asleep immediately he arrived inside his hut because he was tired.