Chapter 246 Blood-Seeking Veteran

On the Aifala Continent, the various "combat techniques" serving as prerequisites for Class Holders had developed over countless years, accumulating to an incalculable number.

Take the [Warrior] class, the most common among Class Holders. If you picked a hundred of them at random from the Association, the overlap in their combat techniques likely wouldn't exceed 5%.

And that was just within the same region.

If you compared them to the adventurers active in the Underdark or the Southern Archipelagos, that percentage would be even lower.

With this in mind, consider the great nobles of the kingdom who held their own territories.

Backed by immense wealth and the formidable power required to be nobles in the first place, it was hardly difficult for them to collect or even monopolize combat techniques that offered practical training, boosted combat strength, and met the prerequisites for gaining Class Levels.

As a result, many hereditary noble houses had formed comprehensive, highly distinct training systems of their own.

Naturally, they couldn't produce many Transcendent Tier individuals, and reaching Level 5 or above still required a certain amount of luck and talent.

But for ordinary Level 1 or 2 Class Holders drawn from a massive annual selection pool, they possessed training methods with a relatively high success rate, even if it couldn't quite be called "mass production."

Lawson had once served as a guard for the Morton Family. Compared to colleagues raised in Sticky-Tree Territory, trained by the family since childhood, and indoctrinated with notions of family honor and loyalty, however, he was a latecomer.

He hadn't been young when he joined the Morton Family, and he had even brought a combat technique of his own with him.

This laid the groundwork for him to later resolutely cut ties with the family, choosing to step out on his own and start over from scratch rather than continue that lucrative guard work.

And it was precisely this past experience with the Morton Family that allowed him to recognize, at a single glance, the special stance the young man ahead of him had momentarily adopted before suddenly pulling it back.

That specific defensive counterattack posture was something every Class Holder raised by the Morton Family had mastered.

Across all of Cloudclimb Province, and even the entirety of the Servia Kingdom, Lawson had never seen that same stance anywhere else during his many years of adventuring.

It was unique to the Morton Family.

With that, the other party's identity became crystal clear.

Obviously, the young man in the crowd had realized his slip-up as well.

Years of training had ingrained it into his muscle memory, causing him to instinctively drop into the defensive counterattack stance during combat. The very next instant, realizing it might expose his identity, he awkwardly forced himself to retract the movement.

Someone unfamiliar with the intricacies wouldn't have noticed a thing.

But to Lawson, that very retraction merely confirmed his suspicions.

Level 4 [Warrior] plus Level 2 [Blood-Seeking Veteran] meant a total Class Level of "6", alongside the physical enhancements brought by six Mastery-level combat techniques.

From a practical combat standpoint, his raw physical strength alone drew an insurmountable chasm between him and ordinary people.

The gale kicked up by his high-speed movement nearly bowled over the gamblers watching from the sidelines.

The young man—who had effortlessly crushed three thugs in a one-on-three brawl without breaking a sweat—didn't even have time to react.

He suddenly felt a pair of hands like forged steel clamp onto his shoulders, locking his body in place as if by some invisible force.

The massive disparity in strength made it impossible for him to even turn his head to look the man in the eye.

"Since when do people from the Morton Family have the free time to visit a little place like mine?"

The cold, gloomy voice echoed right by his ear. The lethal, overwhelming pressure made the young man's face stiffen, stealing the breath from his lungs.

But the fierce loyalty instilled by his family since childhood made him instinctively crane his neck and stubbornly retort, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Let me go! Is this how your casino does business?"

"Ganging up on your customers? Who's going to dare gamble their money here after this?"

Already certain of his guess, Lawson didn't care in the slightest about the threat.

He sneered and lightly struck the back of the young man's neck with his right hand. The young man instantly lost all ability to resist and collapsed into a heap on the floor.

"You'll find out soon enough."

The cold, hoarse voice echoed through the air, which had quietly gone dead silent.

Behind him, without needing a single word of instruction, Rotten Toe waved his men forward to haul the young man away to the back rooms.

Xia Nan and his party were sitting at a nearby table.

Their excellent vantage point had allowed them to witness almost the entire event.

It was only after the young man passed out that Xia Nan finally managed to dredge up a memory of him.

He seemed to be one of the knights serving under Trevelyan, the Knight Commander of the Morton Family, whom they had bumped into at the Resting Dragon Lair Inn two days ago.

Given the current situation...

Xia Nan wasn't sure if this young knight had come to Flowing Gold Roulette by sheer coincidence, like they had, or if it was intentional. He also didn't know what kind of conflict existed between the knight—or Trevelyan behind him—and the casino boss Rotten Toe, let alone the gloomy middle-aged man named "Lawson" whom they had also seen back at the inn.

The only thing he knew for sure was that the speed and explosive power Lawson had just displayed in that brief instant far exceeded the scope of a normal Class Holder.

He might not have reached the Transcendent Tier, but he was leaps and bounds beyond ordinary Level 1 or 2 Class Holders.

Right in the middle of an escort mission, Xia Nan had no intention of causing extra trouble.

Moreover, his sharp Perception allowed him to catch the subtle scent of an approaching storm thick in the air of Molten Scale Town.

His brow furrowed tightly.

He lowered his voice and said to his teammates, "We should go."

Beside him, Luca, who had been watching the spectacle with rapt attention, froze at those words. He opened his mouth to ask a question.

But upon seeing Xia Nan's expression, he swallowed the doubts that had risen to his throat.

He nodded seriously. "I'll go get Sava."

...

Molten Scale Town, inside an inconspicuous house.

Trevelyan stood in the center of the living room, a set of Fine-grade heavy armor neatly strapped to his body.

Before him, the knights he had brought from Sticky-Tree Territory were also geared up in standard-issue equipment distributed by the family.

There was no more need for disguise.

According to intel from an informant at the casino, "Grove," the knight he had sent to stake out Flowing Gold Roulette, had been exposed.

Lawson had even called out his identity as a knight of the Morton Family in front of everyone.

Because of that, there was naturally no point in hiding anymore.

Trevelyan couldn't be certain whether the Legacy Secret Treasure stolen from the Dragon Lair was in Lawson's hands. And if it wasn't, he didn't know what information the man possessed.

The only reason he hadn't made a move earlier was out of concern that the other party might fight to the bitter end, causing unnecessary casualties in a mission that should have been a sure bet.

Staying in the shadows had also made it easier to plot their moves against Lawson.

Now, however, one of his brothers-in-arms had been discovered by the enemy.

And for the past few days, they had only seen Lawson and his men taking action, without turning up a single whisper regarding the secret treasure.

Laying low had lost its meaning.

"Is everyone ready?"

Trevelyan's expression was grim, the long scabbard hung at his waist rising and falling slightly with his breaths.

He needed no verbal response. The pairs of eyes looking back at him amid the scraping of metal armor, brimming with fighting spirit, were answer enough from his knights.

...

Crack—!

The leather whip tore through the air with a shrill shriek, leaving a mangled, bloody welt on the man's body.

Yet, within the air thick with the stench of blood, there were no agonized wails or pleas for mercy as one might expect.

There were only muffled groans leaking through tightly clenched teeth, ground together with excessive force to endure the torment.

This was a dark, hidden little room located behind the casino, tucked deeply into a complex maze of cramped alleyways.

As for the room's purpose...

The bloodstains scattered across the dark brown stone floor—some dried, some fresh—and the horrifying torture implements hanging on the walls were explanation enough.

Lawson sat a short distance away with his legs crossed, gently swirling a wine glass in his hand.

Naturally, a chore like this didn't require him to dirty his own hands.

Standing before the blood-drenched, heavily injured young man who was teetering on the brink of death, the one administering the torture was the casino boss, Rotten Toe.

His bald head slick with sweat, he gripped the leather whip and panted heavily.

Even though he was the torturer, he looked like he was going to give out much faster than the young man covered in wounds.

"Boss, this kid's mouth is way too tough. Pulled out all his teeth and he still won't say a word," Rotten Toe wheezed.

"Are we..."

Half of Lawson's face was cast in shadow, the heavy, oppressive gloom clinging to him practically visible to the naked eye.

From his perspective, the treasure he had spent two years planning for—and paid a devastating price to finally steal from the Dragon Lair—had been hijacked halfway by some mysterious third party.

He had spent days investigating without turning up a single lead.

Just as he thought his plan was going to fall through entirely, he had discovered a Class Holder from the Morton Family in his turf's casino, seemingly stationed there specifically to keep an eye on him.

And the treasure he had stolen from the Red Dragon Lair was exactly the Legacy Secret Treasure that Duke Morton had lost.

Identity, motive, strength, time, location... Everything lined up perfectly.

Which naturally caused Lawson to lock his suspicions squarely onto them.

"If he won't talk, leave it," Lawson said.

His tone was casual, but it was precisely this nonchalance that made his next words sound even colder.

"With the Morton Family's efficiency, if they really had secured it, that old bastard would probably be sleeping with his precious treasure in a couple of days."

"Kill him."

"Leave his corpse in the town square for two days first. He definitely has accomplices in town."

"Then cut his head off and have someone deliver it to Sticky-Tree Territory."

Lawson was only one man. His strength might be decent, but facing a behemoth like Duke Morton's family, trying to topple them single-handedly was next to impossible.

It didn't matter.

The blood feud was already forged.

He was capable of spending two years planning and preparing to steal a treasure from a dragon's lair.

He was equally capable of spending even longer redirecting his plans toward the people of the Morton Family.

It didn't even have to be the Duke himself. His wife, his children, even the old butler in the castle...

The number of Transcendent Tier Class Holders was limited to begin with. No matter how strong an individual was, they couldn't protect every member of the Duke's family every waking second of the day, nor could those targets cower inside the castle forever.

He just had to be careful and avoid the retaliation and pursuit of those Class Holders.

He wouldn't even need to strike frequently; once every two or three years would be enough.

The high and mighty Lord Duke would surely come to appreciate the feelings of a nobody like him.

"Thud, thud."

The sound of hurried, panicked footsteps came from outside the door.

The door to the interrogation room was violently shoved open.

The first thing they saw was a panicked thug with bloodstains on his chest.

Startled by the commotion, Rotten Toe was just about to curse him out when he heard the man frantically gasp, "B-Boss, they're here... Th-The brothers are all..."

"Who's here? Spit it out!" whip in hand, seemingly sensing the danger in the man's tone, Rotten Toe marched forward and demanded.

"I-It's a group of..."

The thug only got halfway through his sentence before his blood-splattered, gasping face abruptly froze as if turned to stone.

A flash of silver-white suddenly emerged on his chest.

A liquid resembling quicksilver gushed out from his body, rapidly spreading.

Rotten Toe had absolutely no time to react.

The very next second.

Squelch—!

A razor-sharp point abruptly pierced outward from the silver-white liquid on the thug's chest.

Like meat skewers on the street, it ran both men through in a single instant.

Blood sprayed.

Sounding out at the exact same moment as the corpses hitting the floor was the heavy thud of massed footsteps outside the door.

With the shrill screams of the casino's thugs echoing behind him, Trevelyan, clad in his heavy armor, slowly strode into the room.

His longsword was already drawn. His right hand gripping the hilt had transformed into flowing silver-white, as if fusing seamlessly with the blade and the metal plating on his elbow.

His gaze swept over the heavily injured, dying figure drenched in blood in the center of the room.

His expression remained unchanged as he stared at the gloomy man ahead, who was wreathed in darkness and the stench of blood.

"That old bastard Morton is exactly the same as always. He posts the commission, alright, but he... doesn't want to part with a single coin of the reward," Lawson mocked.

The deeply sarcastic voice drifted over. Hearing the Duke he had sworn fealty to and pledged his life to serve be insulted made Trevelyan's brow twitch.

Yet he didn't bother arguing along Lawson's train of thought, instead firing back with his own sneer, "A piece of trash who would backstab teammates he's worked with for years just for loot has no right to judge anyone else."

"Oh? You even know about that. It seems you aren't as righteous as you look," Lawson said.

He slowly rose from his seat.

The heavy, oppressive emotions that had been building up in his heart ever since Bogu fled with the secret treasure finally began to vent with the appearance of the "true culprit."

"When did it start?" The smile that surfaced on his face was terrifying enough to make one's hair stand on end. "With that Dragonbane Dagger? Or was it the mission for the Fire Protection Potions?"

"Even earlier." Trevelyan's mockery deepened.

"Good, very good..."

Boom—!

...

...

Xia Nan suddenly turned his head to look toward the end of the street.

As if sensing a disturbance, his brow furrowed slightly.

"What's wrong?" the half-elf Hai'an asked in confusion, hoisting the last piece of luggage onto his back beside him.

"It's nothing." Xia Nan shook his head. "Let's move out. Don't linger in town anymore."

They had long since finished gathering the necessary supplies and were ready to leave the town at a moment's notice to continue their escort mission.

After their trip to the casino, Xia Nan had noticed something was off and shared his premonitions and guesses about what might unfold with the rest of the group.

Wood had acted decisively and altered their plans on the spot.

He had bumped their departure time directly from tomorrow morning to this afternoon.

Now, the party of six had packed their bags and were ready to leave the Resting Dragon Lair.