Episode 284 – Right here, this is the place!
“Ooooh!”
When we arrived at Sharbadin’s lodging, a gasp escaped my mouth. I saw wooden crates placed inside the room.
There were five crates, each large enough to fit a person inside.
When we opened them, dazzling equipnt ca into view.
Loot plundered from the Cleaners.
The Cleaners were all rcenaries of Demtor. Since they were all equipped with magical gear, the equipnt piled before us was practically a mountain of money.
“Since it’s been touched by the hands of a master artisan, we can raise the price, right?”
A dagger touched by Dorneth's hands could easily sell for double or triple the price.
If we just packaged it properly when selling, we could probably earn more than its original worth.
“This is the main one. According to Dornef, this crate alone is worth more than all the others combined.”
One crate held the equipnt of a single person.
From a honed greatsword,
to gauntlets, iron boots, bracelets, and rings.
All were engraved with runes and emitted a subtle glow. The energy they radiated was completely different from the other equipnt.
It was the equipnt of Harkman Oleve, the one known as the Iron Knight.
“Dornef couldn’t do anything about the magical parts, so he only repaired the exterior.”
“This is more than enough.”
I nodded in satisfaction as I examined the surface of the greatsword, densely engraved with runes.
Weapon Breaker.
If you counted only the weapons destroyed by this greatsword, the number would be countless.
It was a Nad weapon, no less.
With gear of this quality, it was more than enough to attend the “Dark Sales” held in Aintrier.
“But… is this okay?”
“What do you an?”
“Demtor wouldn’t fail to recognize this gear. They made it themselves.”
“They might recognize it, but there’s nothing they can do.”
Dark Sales operated under a strict anonymity system. No one could ever know who bought or sold an item.
An auction held in darkness.
It wasn’t called “Dark” for nothing.
“Are you planning to sell everything?”
“Yes. Everything will be sold.”
Among our group, the only one who could properly use Harkman’s equipnt was Lochter, but he already had dual swords, Reyna and Belin, which were stronger than the Weapon Breaker.
It was better to sell it at a high price and buy what we needed instead.
‘These items can turn into money once sold.’
If I sold everything, I might be able to purchase that “item” stored in the Dark Sales. Right now, its value wasn’t widely known.
Surprisingly, the money problem was resolved easily.
Three days passed quickly.
The World Tree Alliance was ford, and new movents centered around the World Tree began to stir busily.
Amidst the chaos,
“I’ll be heading back now.”
Sharbadin prepared to return to Tobaron.
“Already?”
“There doesn’t seem to be much left for to do here. Tobaron is short on hands too.”
She had brought over a procession of more than a hundred at first, but only a dozen remained by her side on the return trip.
I looked at the dwarf knights who were her escort and said,
“Will you be alright? The distance to the fortress is quite far…”
“Dornef carefully selected these knights. It’ll be enough. And the fortress isn’t that far either.”
“How long does it take to get from here to Elletor Fortress?”
“About three days?”
“It’s definitely faster now.”
Back when the Ghost Forest existed, people had to go around it or get lost inside, so it typically took at least a week. Now that it had beco an ordinary forest, travel ti was reduced.
“It’s not much, but take this. Please give it to Nella too.”
What I handed over was a blue leaf—the leaf of the World Tree. When Sharbadin recognized it, her eyes widened and a pleasant smile ford.
“Thank you! Nella will love this too!”
The World Tree’s leaf didn’t have any special effects, but elves considered it a symbol of luck.
Naturally, picking the leaves recklessly was forbidden.
Fenry, the shadow of the World Tree, watched over them with sharp eyes, making it impossible to touch them.
In short, Fenry’s permission was required.
Sharbadin knew that very well.
“Please give my thanks to Lord Fenry.”
“I’m just giving sothing in return.”
Fenry handed the leaf without a word at my request, but it was in exchange for having dozens of dwarves work like slaves, so it was only fair.
Along with the leaf, I handed her a bundle of letters.
“I’ve written the nas on the covers. Please deliver them personally, Lady Sharbadin.”
I asked her to deliver the letters directly.
Tobaron’s Shield, Dornef.
The Priestess, Nella.
The Alliance representative, Heinz.
They were letters for the three.
When she saw the nas written on the covers, she pointed at herself.
“You want to deliver them myself?”
“Yes. It would be problematic if anyone else saw them.”
The letters contained the grand plan for how the World Tree Alliance would move going forward.
I wrote my requests to each of the three in the form of favors, trusting they would act in alignnt with the plan.
But Sharbadin looked like she was waiting for sothing more. As I blinked in confusion, her ears drooped.
“What about mine?”
“…Huh?”
“Is there nothing for ?”
“Didn’t we share so aningful conversations over the last three days, Lady Sharbadin? Hahaha.”
“…That’s disappointing.”
She let out a short breath and walked away. I waved at her awkwardly.
Regardless of race, won were truly difficult to understand.
After seeing Sharbadin off, I headed to where Lily was.
Over the past three days, my routine had remained consistent.
First was training to get used to the 5-star level.
The clearing where Lily stayed was deserted, making it perfect for training.
If anyone approached, they were scared off by the presence of Kerberos, who would growl. Being a beast, other races instinctively avoided it.
Once I reached the clearing, I loosened up with so light exercises.
Training after reaching 5-star focused mainly on controlling Sacred Power.
Attribute granting ability—Enchant.
Through the Ring of Blood, I summoned arrows and imbued them with attributes. Normally, once an attribute was applied, it was hard to remove. But now, attribute switching flowed smoothly.
The Ring of Blood’s native red arrows transford in real ti into piercing blue arrows, then to Sacred golden arrows.
Being able to change attributes by the second would greatly help in diversifying combat.
Body enchantnts were no different.
‘Attribute grant.’
The mont I focused, light related to the attribute covered my body.
Blue and gold light overlapped and flowed over my skin.
My understanding of attributes had also improved.
I threw a blue-tinged punch and focused on the ‘piercing’ attribute.
‘It’s got strong sharpness.’
The piercing attribute was strong for arrow attacks and thrusts, but weak against sweeping strikes.
It suited burst-type attacks well, but not the rotating movents used in Quanru.
Sacred attribute had little physical force. Instead, it was highly effective against poison, curses, and black magic.
‘I need an attribute that fits Quanru.’
The strongest martial art I had learned was the Giant Tribe's technique taught by Natasa.
Quanru also worked well with Reto, so I had improved rapidly. If attributes could further support it, it could beco one of my strongest cards.
After wrapping up light training, I stretched.
I had recovered almost completely from battle fatigue. So, while everyone was using the ti to grow stronger, there was one exception.
Only Lily was still asleep.
“She’s still sleeping?”
Turning my head, I saw Lily lying with her head on a tree root, mouth open, snoring.
“If that’s a talent, it’s still impressive.”
The way she fell asleep instantly whenever her head touched anything was remarkable.
She had been asleep since arriving at the clearing, and even by midday, she showed no signs of waking up.
‘Well, that lazy genius personality is her true self.’
She had overexerted herself because of the fate of the forest, but normally, she was just a carefree loafer.
“Are you becoming like your master too?”
Kerberos, lying with its front paws stretched out beside Lily, yawned deeply.
These two beings were completely unaffected by the rapidly changing world around the World Tree.
Shaking my head, I left the clearing.
I planned to let them be until we left the forest.
“Uaaaagh!”
“D-Do you really want to kill ?!”
As I stepped out, I saw alliance soldiers training hard nearby.
A dozen mbers were clashing with small Ghosts summoned by a dark elf, and it looked no different from an actual, bloody battle.
The screams bursting endlessly ford a serenade of agony.
Those screams were also part of why this place remained so deserted.
Others, under Lochter’s supervision, were rolling across the rough dirt. As expected from Lochter, who emphasized fundantals, their training mainly consisted of stamina workouts unless survival skills were involved.
Though they were all Aura users above 1-star, they struggled to endure Lochter’s basic training.
Seeing them gritting their teeth and trembling made chills run down my spine.
‘Brutal.’
Just three days in, and they already looked like beggars.
I didn’t know how much worse it would get from here.
I passed the training ground and arrived before the rift of the Spirit Realm near the World Tree.
I stepped into the large hole, recalling Karl.
‘Will there be any progress today?’
Karl hadn’t eaten or moved, like a statue, deep inside the Spirit Realm.
According to Reto, it was the stage where a caterpillar sheds its cocoon—but three days had passed with no change, so I was starting to worry about his condition.
When I arrived, the Ghosts were collapsed outside the boundary, gasping for breath.
Only four Ghosts remained here. The others had gone with Elton to follow Samuel.
As I approached, the Ghosts rose and bowed to .
“Any progress?”
“We’ve increased to about fifteen steps.”
“That’s fast.”
I was slightly surprised at their rapid progress.
It was roughly fifty steps to the Spirit Realm’s center.
The closer one got to the center, the harder it beca to control one's spirit form. Without expanding the vessel, one couldn’t approach.
At first, the Ghosts couldn’t even take a single step. But now, they were used to controlling their forms and had made it fifteen steps forward.
That ant their vessels had grown.
I turned my gaze to Karl.
Natasa was nearby, just five steps from the center, locked in an invisible battle of control with Gereflam.
Karl was about five steps behind her, standing still like a statue.
He was cloaked in a black liquid—no, spirit matter—that dyed him black, leaving only his nose and mouth uncovered.
I couldn’t see his expression clearly, which was a sha.
“Oh? Master?!”
The Ghosts suddenly shouted, pointing at Karl.
Looking at him, I saw the black substance covering him begin to ripple.
The black liquid—or rather, the spirit—began reacting.
At the sa ti,
Flash—
A black light stread out of Karl’s body.
His energy changed. No, it deepened.
Sensing it, Natasa smirked mid-training.
He had wanted to break free of the cocoon so badly—and it seed he had finally done it.
“Not bad. Congratulations.”
Karl had reached 5-star.
I carefully watched the change in Karl.
His trait was “Sense.” How would that evolve with his awakening to 5-star?
But the question was short-lived.
Sssssss—
The spirit surrounding Karl scattered, then rapidly gathered in one place.
His empty sleeve.
The spot where his severed arm had once been.
The spirit began to fill that space.
“His... his arm!”
“It’s changing...! No, it’s growing anew?!”
A new arm was sprouting.
Specifically, the spirit was taking the form of a hand.
Ripples ford on the black surface of the newly ford arm until it solidified into a perfect limb.
A spirit-ford arm.
It wasn’t a real one.
Monts later, Karl’s tightly closed eyes opened quietly.
He examined his new arm made of spirit matter, then moved it around.
If he could use both arms, his skill level would leap dramatically.
It should have been sothing to celebrate, but Karl’s expression as he muttered toward the spirit was twisted.
“Damn it.”
Why was he so frustrated?
Clutching his spirit arm, Karl howled.
“My most precious thing isn’t my arm!”
“Right here, this is it!”
He pointed at his bald head and shook his spirit arm violently.
His arm dangled loosely in the air.
Just what kind of conversation had he had with the spirit before his 5-star awakening?
Only Karl would know.
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