“So this is what gave you away?” Lin Jun asked, eyeing the pendant taken from the noble knight.
“It’s the only explanation I can think of.” Dylan shrugged, a little helpless.
When he first obtained it, he had fiddled with it for a while and confirmed it was an item that granted +4 Strength. Throwing it away would have been a huge waste.
But as stolen property, he couldn’t just wear it openly. He had stashed it in his pack instead, planning to have a blacksmith reforge it with a different look on his way back.
He hadn’t expected things to play out like this. Now it seemed that knight was very likely from Clark itself.
Throwing it away now was even less of an option. Dylan wrapped the pendant carefully, stuffed it deep in his pack, and sealed it at the bottom.
Once everything was in order, he headed toward the docks.
Those Abyssal cultists had surely been taken care of—after all, even the Sword Saint had shown up. But once it was over, the guards would definitely be busy investigating.
So instead of returning to his old tavern south of the docks, he had made a wide detour and now approached from the north, trying to avoid the patrols.
As for why the Sword Saint had appeared in Clark, Dylan couldn’t make sense of it.Unlike Duke Alamar, the Sword Saint had no fixed domain and was free to go where he pleased. But shouldn’t he be near the border instead of way out here at a western port?
Of course, it was just idle speculation. Dylan knew he didn’t have nearly enough information to figure it out anyway.
Lin Jun’s focus on the Sword Saint was quite different.
In that brief encounter, Lin Jun had seen something on the Sword Saint’s panel unlike anything he’d seen before.
【Ultimate of the Sword】
A skill that suited the Sword Saint perfectly.
But it had no level!
This was the first time Lin Jun had ever seen a skill without a level. He couldn’t tell what it represented.
Was it a unique skill tied to the Sword Saint’s title?
Or was it the form of a skill beyond LV10—an ultimate stage?
If possible, he would have loved to speak with the Sword Saint, or at least witness that skill in action.
But with Dylan and the Scout barely scraping by, they were in no position to seek him out.
When Dylan reached the docks, the sky in the east was just turning the color of oyster shells.
Scanning the area, he saw only the usual four guards on duty. Apparently, the commotion from last night hadn’t yet spread here.
He quickly spotted the three-masted ship moored at the pier—the Windfeather.
“Dylan, right on time,” the one-eyed first mate greeted him from below.
A closer look revealed faint translucent scales on his rough face. His ancestors must have had merfolk blood, though so diluted it barely showed.
“When are you setting sail?” Dylan asked casually as he stepped onto the gangplank.
If possible, he wished they would leave immediately.
But the first mate only glanced at the sky. “At noon.”
There was no helping it. Dylan wasn’t the only passenger, and ships usually departed at noon by default. The Windfeather was no exception.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Once the other passengers boarded, the ship pulled up the gangplank just before noon, clearly with a full complement.
As the ship drifted from the dock, Dylan glanced back and spotted a squad of guards arriving—led by none other than that female knight.
They went from ship to ship still at the pier, no doubt running inspections. But with the Windfeather already underway, it no longer concerned him.
At last, Dylan could breathe easy.
The voyage would take them through several islands, including his destination—Silver Sand Bay. Barring mishaps, it would be about a month’s journey.
In that time, Dylan planned to train his combat skills again. Even if he didn’t improve much, regaining his old edge would be worthwhile.
“Found your spot yet?” Lin Jun suddenly asked.
“Huh? What spot?” Dylan didn’t follow.
“Your sunbathing spot! Didn’t I tell you? It’s not just you who needs mana—your Scout’s running low too. You’ll have to top him up!”
“The Scout too?” Dylan blinked. “And how exactly am I supposed to top him up?”
A backpack strap twitched, hooking onto Dylan’s back and giving him a clear demonstration of “how to top up.”
As his mana drained, Dylan covered his face. He could already imagine the rest of the journey—likely without a stitch of clothing to spare…
——
The fifth floor of the Amethyst Dungeon, Venom Lake.
Lin Jun had long used this place as a breeding ground for drakes—Mirage Beasts.
He had been raising them for quite some time, their numbers steadily climbing.
Where once they needed a single fat Puchi loaded with mushrooms every two days, now they devoured three in two days, or else they would wander off to feast on the surrounding mushrooms.
Their growth was pushing the limits of the lake’s capacity. It was time for a harvest.
But killing them in the lake would make collecting the bodies troublesome.
Driving them out wasn’t easy either.
Puchis with 【Corrosion Resistance LV5】 could operate near the shore but couldn’t go underwater.
As the saying went—raise a blackie for a thousand days, use it for one.
And today was Gray’s time to shine!
Lured by sparkling bait, Big Black leapt into the lake.
Though mimicking a Puchi, her true weight in those black scales dragged her straight to the bottom, unable to float—exactly what was needed.
“Gray, drive them up!”
At the murky lakebed, Gray swung her arms as she strode forward, stirring the waters.
It worked. The Mirage Beasts panicked and crawled ashore.
Waiting there were Puchis enhanced with 【Corrosion Resistance LV5】, who wrapped them up one by one and slammed them to death.
Mirage Beasts had scaly hides that resisted cutting, and mushroom cannons risked pulverizing them. Crude though it was, smashing them worked best.
There were a lot of them. It took half an hour for the Puchis to crush over three hundred.
Gray had long since climbed ashore, rolling around in the mushroom fields to scrape off the stench of the lake.
But when a Puchi rolled a ruby before her, she stopped instantly.
Ignoring the smell, she clutched the gem and dashed toward the mushroom house.
Her fierce charge startled a team of passing adventurers. Three bolted in different directions, while the unlucky fourth was “chased” the whole way. By the time Gray passed him, he was gasping for air.
This time Lin Jun truly paid her wages.
The ruby wasn’t a magical material, just a gemstone. Its only real use was as currency—but Lin Jun had little need for coins. It made a fine addition to Gray’s collection.
He dumped the Mirage Beasts into the swamp zone.
Though their levels weren’t high, their sheer numbers were enough to push 【Scales】 to LV6.
He didn’t wipe them out entirely—about a hundred remained in the lake. With enough mushrooms, they’d breed back within a few months.
Just as he finished handling them, another signal came from elsewhere—Norris had awakened!