Chapter 155 Eerie Beauty

"Creak—slam."

The brownish-red carriage door was gently pushed shut from the outside by the fawning caravan leader.

The soundproofing was decent.

The shouts, calls, and even curses that had filled the air were abruptly muffled the moment the door shut.

For a moment, all that echoed inside the carriage was the sound of long, slow breathing, along with the faint scrape and tap of a coin against the skin of a palm.

As if deliberately chosen, the silver coin gleamed with a rich luster. There was no dirt lodged in its surface grooves, and it showed hardly any signs of wear.

Tossed up and down in his hand, it seemed entirely ordinary.

But if you stared unblinkingly at that seemingly ordinary coin, you would notice something.

The speed and trajectory of its rise and fall were slightly off from what they should be.

At the tip of a slender, well-defined index finger, the silver-white coin wobbled slightly before the thumb resting beneath it suddenly flicked upward.

Ping—

The silver coin flipped as it was lightly flicked into the air.

Under normal circumstances, once the coin left the hand, its speed should have gradually decreased under the combined effects of air resistance and gravity, nearing zero at its apex.

But right now, as the silver coin flipped upward, it eerily maintained a constant speed.

It was as if, for that brief fraction of a second, it had broken free from gravity's grip.

And then, it paused.

The steadily rising coin seemed to hit an invisible wall, coming to a dead stop right at the apex where the combined forces would naturally have reduced its speed to zero.

However, compared to the natural trajectory of a coin gradually slowing to a halt under the laws of normal physics, the pause of this coin was exceptionally abrupt.

It was so abrupt that it gave the illusion of hovering in the air for a long time.

Then it plummeted!

Without any gradual acceleration, the suspended silver coin morphed into a streak of silver-white light and slammed downward at a speed that similarly defied common sense.

It was so fast and forceful that it produced a sharp, muffled smack when it struck the palm.

Five fingers snapped shut, catching the coin.

The slightly whitened knuckles of the clenched fist were reflected in pitch-black eyes.

Xia Nan leaned back against the carriage's soft seat, his expression calm.

Five days had already passed since he returned from the Adventurers' Association.

Having just concluded a grueling adventure, he naturally used this time to give himself a proper vacation.

He hadn't taken on any more bounties. He simply stayed in Rivervale Town to rest, waiting for the Association's Class Holder promotion mission.

Of course, his version of "resting" didn't mean lying in a tavern bed, doing nothing but eating and sleeping.

Xia Nan felt he was still quite diligent when it came to his basic daily training.

Over the five days, his proficiency in combat techniques—including [Fang Hunt] and [Gravity Etching]—had seen a certain degree of improvement.

He had also further familiarized himself with the sudden surge in physical attributes and related passive Feats that came with his level up.

A special note had to be made regarding his newly learned third combat technique, [Gravity Control].

Perhaps it was because its future prospects were too bright, and the temptation of "manipulating gravity" too immense.

Xia Nan deliberately set aside a large chunk of time specifically to train this combat technique.

Even while eating, walking, or resting, he practiced it anytime and anywhere—much like how he had just been controlling the coin's falling speed.

—If not for the fact that Gravity Control was still only Level 1 and couldn't affect his entire body for extended periods, he would have even considered adjusting his own gravity to accelerate his physical attribute gains.

And after these few days of round-the-clock, arduous practice, Xia Nan had made "highly fruitful" progress in the combat technique's proficiency.

Staring at his reflection in the carriage window, his Attribute Panel slowly materialized before his eyes:

[Gravity Control] Level 1: (2/100)

'Well, you can't say it didn't increase!'

Even an increase of just one proficiency point was, to Xia Nan, an immense...

Okay, fine.

Shaking his head helplessly, Xia Nan dismissed the Attribute Panel floating in his vision.

Even though the exaggerated effects of [Gravity Control] had already prepared him for its high quality, he was still somewhat taken aback that so many days of diligent practice had only yielded a single point of proficiency.

He could naturally comfort himself with phrases like "at least it went up a little" or "it's better than nothing."

But when he actually looked at the pitiful numbers "(2/100)" on the panel, he couldn't help the deep sense of powerlessness that welled up inside him.

After all, Xia Nan knew very well that according to the rules he understood, a combat technique's proficiency only became harder to gain the further it progressed.

If it was leveling up this slowly right at the start, once the proficiency reached fifty or sixty, or even seventy or eighty points... he didn't even dare to imagine.

There was good news too, of course, if he looked at it from a more optimistic angle.

The reason [Gravity Control]'s proficiency was so hard to gain was precisely because of the combat technique's immense potential and absurd efficacy.

It was entirely foreseeable that the boost provided by upgrading this kind of combat technique from Level 1 to Level 2 might be far greater than taking [Spinning Slash] from Level 1 all the way to Level 5.

Every level would be a qualitative leap.

Other than that, over these five days, he had also received word from the Rockhammer shop.

It was a bit of a pity.

The bone club from the Red-Mane bugbear wasn't compatible with the Snake-Scale Arm Shield.

If he tried to forcefully combine the two materials, Barn's skills wouldn't be able to handle it, and it would only result in an inferior product.

Since the man himself had said so, Xia Nan naturally couldn't force the issue.

After thinking it over, he opted for the alternative plan the blacksmith had offered that day.

He would sell a portion of the bone club to Barn to offset the crafting fees.

Barn would then use the remaining portion of the bone to forge a suitable defensive piece of Magic Equipment for him.

Xia Nan only needed to cover the cost of a few supplementary materials, which was exceptionally cheap.

—500 gold.

When he had stood in the Rockhammer shop and heard that quote from Barn, he really thought he had misheard for a moment.

After all, he was providing the bone club as the main material, and the exorbitant crafting fees had already been waived.

Yet Barn had still acted as if he were giving him a massive discount, insisting it was the absolute lowest price possible.

Then he remembered the heavy plate armor priced at a whopping "1500 gold" in the shop, as well as the absurd figures he'd heard drunks in the tavern throw around regarding enchanted gear.

Xia Nan's heart gradually settled down.

'If that's really how it is, then wouldn't my [Deathline] ring, the wooden sword [Green Pine], and the rest fetch astronomical prices if I sold them?'

If he sold off those few pieces of equipment, given his spending habits, he really could just retire on the spot.

He shook his head, scattering the stray thoughts.

In the world he currently lived in, "wealth" without sufficient "Strength" to back it up would only put a farm boy like him in even greater danger.

He gazed out the window, watching the travel-worn adventurers bustling through the post station while his fingertips traced the fine grooves on the surface of the silver coin.

He had already retrieved the Snake-Scale Arm Shield from Rockhammer, and it was currently strapped to his arm.

As for the piece of gear forged from the bone club that Barn had "guaranteed the quality" of, he probably wouldn't see it finished until this mission was over at the earliest.

"Knock, knock."

A crisp knocking suddenly sounded from outside the carriage. The wooden door was carefully pulled open a crack, revealing the caravan leader's respectful face.

"Mr. Xia Nan, we are about to set off. Is there anything else you require?"

"Let's head out," Xia Nan replied, shaking his head to signal the man didn't need to fuss over him.

Having worked in this trade for years and interacted with countless adventurers of all stripes, the leader could tell the "Greysword" before him wasn't the chatty sort.

The caravan leader didn't push the matter, simply closing the door gently for him.

"Keep an eye on your luggage! If anything goes missing, our caravan takes no responsibility!"

"Jack! Jack! Where the fuck is that bastard?!"

"You over there, get the hell away from my horse!"

The voices outside, which had suddenly pitched up, gradually faded into the distance.

Sitting inside the carriage, Xia Nan once again felt the benefits of having a "reputation."

Gap-Toothed Bennett, the bugbear... his outstanding combat record combined with his status as a Class Holder, topped off with a few half-true, outrageous rumors.

His moniker, "Greysword," had steadily fermented and spread. Particularly among people like the caravan leader who dealt with bottom-tier adventurers year-round, his name carried a lot of weight.

Of course, this kind of fame was fleeting and superficial.

Much like a washed-up celebrity who hadn't released new work in ages, if Xia Nan were to leave Rivervale Town now and never return, it wouldn't even take long—two months at most—before the only people in town who still remembered him were Adeline, Abi, and perhaps Barn, who would recall hosting some madman with an astronomically high rate of shattering armor.

On the other hand, the caravan leader's behavior was also due to the sheer amount of gold Xia Nan had paid.

From Rivervale Town to Nym, factoring in time for rest and resupply, the journey would take at least half a month.

And since the caravan also had to haul a large amount of cargo alongside its passengers—which was one of their primary sources of income—they would typically cram four to six passengers into a single carriage, making the enclosed space exceptionally crowded.

If you happened to get stuck with a fellow traveler who didn't care much for personal hygiene, you were in for a truly miserable ride.

Considering Xia Nan might need to practice his combat techniques on the road and was carrying fairly valuable equipment, he had simply spent several gold coins to charter an entire carriage for himself.

To be perfectly honest, after experiencing that 500-gold expenditure at Rockhammer, he had grown somewhat numb to these smaller sums, feeling absolutely no heartbreak over the cost.

And sitting alone in the now seemingly spacious carriage definitely gave him the feeling he had gotten his money's worth.

'I wonder if the Adventurers' Association reimburses travel expenses for missions.'

'I'll have to ask Molly when I get back.'

Pondering this, Xia Nan fished a small slip of paper out of his pocket.

[West District - Raven Beak Street - No. 32 Ash Tree Alley]

This was the destination for his current mission.

...

...

Unlike the Misty Forest, where every breath was taken in terror and two or three minutes dragged on like hours, the journey from Rivervale Town to Nym flew by.

One was a major adventuring hub stationed by the Association, and the other was the core city of the Servia Kingdom's Cloudclimb Province.

With large numbers of merchants and adventurers traveling between them year-round, the roads were clear and well-maintained.

Aside from a few specific areas, you hardly even ran into bandits, let alone monsters.

Between the sunrises and sunsets, seven days had already passed.

Evening.

The carriages pulled over to the side of the road, forming a defensive circle to guard against potential attacks.

Tents were scattered sporadically across the nearby open ground. Travelers gathered around campfires, their boisterous voices faintly audible.

With multiple people sharing rides, the cramped carriages weren't spacious enough for all the passengers to sleep in.

As a result, whenever night fell and the caravan stopped to rest, the vast majority of travelers would step down from the carriages to make camp for the night.

Crackle.

The campfire flickered. Jimmy held two flatbreads that had just been warmed over the flames.

He carefully squeezed past the travelers sitting around the fire and approached.

"Cousin, time to eat."

He called out softly, but received no response.

Jimmy looked over at him.

His older cousin was clutching a bundle tightly to his chest, his eyes fixed blankly on the orange flames, his gaze completely unfocused.

Without overthinking it, Jimmy reached out, gave the man's shoulder a shake, and spoke again.

"Cousin, eat!"

"Oh... oh, right."

Seeing his cousin suddenly snap back to reality and practically bury his face in the flatbread as he scarfed it down, Jimmy couldn't help but feel puzzled.

For some reason, he felt that his older cousin had been prone to spacing out a lot lately, and it was only getting worse.

At first, he would only lose focus right after waking up in the morning or briefly after lunch. But over the last two days, it had started happening at random points throughout the day. Sometimes, like just now, Jimmy even had to physically shake him to snap him out of it.

'Maybe he's just under too much stress?'

Jimmy thought to himself.

After all, his older cousin sent a substantial amount of money back home every month. Jimmy had originally assumed it was because he earned a lot as an adventurer, but after observing him these past few days, he realized the man's savings were nowhere near as thick as he'd imagined. He was probably sending almost all of his income back.

His cousin had even pitched in a bit to help buy Jimmy's current gear.

Between the lavish meal they'd had at the White Chickadee a few days ago and all the various supplies they'd purchased, he likely didn't have much money left.

And recently, Hunting Day had just come to an end.

The goblin population in the forest had drastically decreased, causing many of the vicious monsters that usually preyed on the goblins to become even more aggressive and irritable from hunger.

Some even dared to leave the cover of the mist to hunt and forage in the human villages near the forest.

The sharp-witted adventurers of Rivervale Town naturally wouldn't go out on missions during this period of abruptly elevated danger.

As a result, his older cousin had recently lost his source of income.

'I hope this trip to Nym yields something good.'

His mind involuntarily recalled the stone-like gray statue his cousin had shown him earlier.

Jimmy had previously thought it looked rather bizarre and somewhat ugly.

But thinking about it now, it reminded him of a swarm of mosquitoes over a pond on a summer evening—ripples and buzzing, countless little black dots swaying against the dim twilight.

He actually felt an indescribable, eerie beauty to it.