A river flowed east of the temple.
Beyond that river, a group of humans was discovered.
Though everyone suspected with high probability that they were humanoid “monsters,” regardless—
“We tried to make contact, but they quickly disappeared, so the attempt failed.”
“I see...”
Though information was scarce, it was still a positive sign to have discovered sothing.
There had been almost no progress in exploration for about a week.
“Commander, may I ask your plan for future movents?”
“What plan?”
I smirked and said to the deputy commander,
“I was just about to start exploring beyond the river. This works out well. Prepare the expedition.”
“The expedition, sir...?”
“I’ll leave the main force here. Having too many people can be cumberso.”
I judged it wasn’t too late to lead the main force across the river after confirming what lay beyond.
“Oh, and this ti I’ll be going too, so don’t try to stop .”
“Yes... Then I’ll prepare suitable personnel from those you ntioned.”
The swift scouts with keen senses were naturally all included, and we added mages, priests, and combat personnel to form a 36-mber task force.
For reference, Ainard filled one of the combat slots.
“Pnnelin should probably stay behind.”
Scout captain Alia seed uneasy about Ainard, but I couldn’t help it.
Just having him nearby was helpful.
We didn’t know what kind of new monsters might appear, so ‘beginner’s luck’ to increase essence drop rates was needed.
“Deputy commander.”
“Yes. Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of the main force.”
“Then I trust you.”
That wasn’t just polite talk—I really trusted him.
The deputy commander would ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) manage well without incident in my absence.
“Scout captain, speed up.”
Once the expedition began, we moved quickly like a speedrun.
We’d already confird there was no imdiate danger nearby...
If we didn’t hurry, it would take ages just to reach the river mouth.
“Stop! We camp here today and depart again tomorrow morning!”
We adopted a style of moving all day, then setting up camp at night to rest.
“Thank you for your hard work today, Baron!”
“Hey! I’m a commander, not a baron! Don’t you know I smile brightly every ti you call that?”
“Oh, right, Commander! Then I’m going to rest first because I’m tired!”
Since the journey was long, everyone’s faces had beco familiar, though it still felt a little strange.
Only three mbers of Clan Anabada joined this expedition: Misha, Alia, and Ainard.
“Bjorn. Can I ask you sothing... is that okay?”
While patrolling the camp, the secretary quietly handed so late-night food and cautiously spoke.
“Ask away.”
“Why did you leave that kid behind?”
“You an Elwen?”
“Yeah.”
Secretary Misha nodded and spoke softly.
“By ability and everything else, I don’t see any reason to leave her behind. That’s why it seed a bit strange.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Elwen had keen senses perfect for exploration and top-tier combat power—she was very suitable for this mission.
But...
“She said she wouldn’t co.”
What could I do if she chose to rest in the main camp?
Though it felt unlike Elwen, she probably needed the rest after recent hardships.
“Oh... I see?”
Misha seed surprised by my answer.
Still, she didn’t press further and left.
“I see... then, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah, rest well.”
After Misha left, I ate my late-night al alone, sorting my thoughts.
Nearby, I heard voices.
Checking, I saw Alia quietly speaking to scouts in a remote spot.
I couldn’t catch the details, but—
“Yes, captain. Understood!”
The last shouted salute reached my ears clearly.
‘When did she get such discipline?’
She was quite skillful.
Though she seed clumsy at tis, she never shirked any orders.
“Is it over? Looks like she was scolding them.”
“Not scolding. Just warning them about the formation breaking during today’s movent.”
“Oh, I see.”
We considered that “scolding,” but there was no reason to argue, so we let it be...
“By the way, did you decide to keep wearing the eyepatch?”
I asked as I saw her toss it off with one hand; Alia flinched and replied,
“...Only during exploration.”
“Really? Wouldn’t it be better to get used to wearing it all the ti?”
The [One-Eyed] effect that enhances vision doesn’t consu resources, so there’s no need to remove it.
In fact, constantly activating it reduces sensory error.
“...”
“You seem to wear it only during combat and live without it otherwise. Is there a reason?”
A question asked out of pure curiosity.
Alia sighed deeply, then answered with a bitter tone.
“Isn’t it strange? For a woman like to wear an eyepatch...”
It was an unexpected answer.
But on the other hand, very Alia.
She was surprisingly shy about many things and seed to care about others’ gazes despite appearing blunt.
She quickly changed the subject.
“...But why didn’t you bring that kid?”
“Oh, Elwen?”
Alia tilted her head.
“No, that kid. The... cute one...”
Ah, she ant Hamshik.
After about three days of travel, we arrived at the river mouth.
But seeing it in person made question whether it deserved to be called a river.
“It’s really as black as they said...”
Like the Taean Sea covered with spilled oil.
You couldn’t even drink from it safely, and you’d better avoid touching the water.
‘It’s about as wide as the Han River...’
In fact, the river had been known for so ti.
But the reason we hadn’t crossed it yet was simple.
We wanted to study the river first before expanding our search area...
‘They say the depth is extrely deep.’
The depth was disproportionately deep compared to its width, so it took a long ti to confirm nothing was below.
It seed they even investigated the black water.
“It’s not dangerous to touch, but be careful not to co into contact just in case.”
We carefully launched small boats we’d brought onto the river.
Originally, the boats would sink, but thanks to so magical asures by the mages, they floated fine.
And how much ti passed?
‘Thankfully, nothing happened.’
No accidents occurred while crossing.
But the problem started after crossing.
Boom—!
The mont we set foot on land and spread out, heavy vibrations rippled through the bushes.
Any experienced explorer would recognize the sound of a ‘large monster’ imdiately.
“Prepare for battle.”
We secured a retreat route by boat just in case and got into combat formation.
Boom—!
The distinct footsteps grew louder, and finally, the beast revealed itself from the bushes.
Boom—!
A fra slightly larger than an ogre.
Unlike typical crustacean monsters, it had smooth iron-like armored skin and nurous hose-like tubes around its neck.
And...
Flash—!
Red glowing eyes like infrared.
“...A chanical giant.”
“A grade 3 monster appearing in the Panthelion Ruins.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t a new species.
Though rare, I’d caught one before on Library Island.
“One is not too hard to handle...”
Still, we decided to be cautious.
This one might have unusual abilities, or other enemies might appear.
“Expand vision and keep alert!”
So, instead of pouring all our energy into the fight, we stayed vigilant for any surprises.
Though a high-ranking grade 3 ‘chanical giant,’ it wasn’t particularly difficult. I’d leveled up a lot since arriving on the first basent floor.
“Behel—laaaaargh!!”
Aegis Barrier.
Its biggest weakness—anti-magic—was compensated by consuming Bellarios essence.
「The chanical giant cast [Magic Beam].」
「The chanical giant cast [Support Request].」
「The chanical giant cast [Reactor]...」
No matter what it did, I blocked it effortlessly and held it in place.
Scouts guarded the surroundings and protected the dealers.
Thanks to this, the dealers could unleash their power safely, steadily dealing damage until the battle ended.
「chanical giant defeated.」
The battered chanical giant’s body sparkled and vanished.
And...
“Essence...!”
An essence dropped.
When I’d killed one before with Beginner’s Luck active, it hadn’t dropped.
Though a rare grade 3 essence, I didn’t feel much excitent.
After all, I’d gotten several grade 3 essences just from the first basent floor.
By now, I’d lost count of how many seasons this was.
No doubt the influx of supply would lower the price of grade 3 essences significantly.
The high price was mostly due to leftover effects from the previous dinsional collapse.
“Store the essence in a vial.”
I ordered, and Raven, part of the exploration team, approached and collected the essence.
Though not as excited as when we got the Aegis Barrier, it was still sowhat fascinating.
‘Even if you work hard at farming, these are hard to get, but here we get one casually.’
The chanical giant essence was quite good.
Aside from the base stats and active skills, the passive skill [chanization] was valuable.
With it, one can consu mana stones to recover MP. The efficiency was terrible, so it cost a lot of money...
‘But the potential peak was huge.’
If you had enough money, your MP could effectively beco infinite.
“By the way, there’s no sign of that human group?”
“We need to search the area thoroughly.”
After the battle, we earnestly expanded our map and territory.
But finding the human group the investigation team had spotted that day was difficult.
They surely hadn’t mistaken it.
‘And since killing the chanical giant, no monsters have appeared...’
Please, just show up already—sothing, anything—.
“Yandel, co here! The scouts found footprints!”
“What?”
Hearing Raven, I imdiately headed to the outer formation where the scouts were.
“Ah, you’re here.”
Alia looked up from inspecting the ground, bending over.
“So, footprints?”
“Here.”
Checking, I saw a perfectly ordinary human footprint clearly imprinted in the soil.
“Not a group, just one person.”
“Where are they heading?”
“We’ll find out by following. The print looks fresh.”
“Then let’s go.”
Alia led the way, following the footprints, and we trailed cautiously.
And...
“They stopped.”
The footprints, which had continued for hundreds of ters, ended abruptly in the middle of a clearing.
“Did they notice us following and erase their trail?”
I asked, but Alia didn’t answer.
She just scanned the area with a focused gaze and muttered coldly,
“...It was a lure.”
Damn it.
“Are we surrounded?”
“Most likely.”
Even Alia, an expert, was uncertain.
But the mystery was soon solved.
“It’s true—we’re surrounded.”
“...Prepare for battle!!”
As soon as we ford up, naked figures resembling humans erged from the forest.
Seeing them, I exhaled deeply.
‘They said they were humans...’
But they were not.
So had pointed ears, others were short and stocky, and so had animal ears on their heads.
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