Chapter 259 [Culi's Bee Stinger] and [Morton's Oath of Loyalty]

"Drip."

Crystal-clear water droplets fell from the cave ceiling, splashing against the slightly damp ground.

The campfire flickered. With the crackle of bursting sparks, pale white smoke curled upward, wreathing the rocky ceiling overhead.

It was still raining.

However, it had lost its previous violent intensity. As the overcast clouds gradually melted into the dazzling sunlight above, the downpour faded to a steady drizzle.

Xia Nan stood at the cave entrance with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall.

His short black hair was damp, and he wore only a dark, close-fitting undershirt. His Plate-Chain Composite Armor, bearing obvious traces of silver-white corrosion on its interior, had been removed and placed on the ground beside him.

His head was tilted slightly, his placid, dark eyes reflecting the dense curtain of rain.

Beside the campfire behind him, his "unlucky" teammates sat or lay scattered about.

The battle was over. Following emergency medical treatment, all three surviving members of the escort team were confirmed to be out of critical condition.

At Wood's suggestion, to avoid discovery by pursuers from Molten Scale Town and to recover more efficiently, Xia Nan had led the group to a safe, hidden resting place near the battlefield for a brief respite.

Naturally, the loot from Lawson and Trevelyan—along with the equipment on the deceased dragonborn, Sava—had been promptly recovered.

As for the actual value of that haul, from Xia Nan's perspective, it was hard to say.

Killed in a single strike by Lawson, the dragonborn Sava's armor and equipment had been preserved completely intact. The armor itself was of fairly Fine craftsmanship. As a brand-new set, it could probably sell for three digits of gold coins if placed in the Rockhammer shop.

Even after a resale discount, selling it for a solid several dozen gold coins should be a breeze.

Her fine sword was of equally good quality. Although its Attribute Panel displayed no special enchantment effects, it was undoubtedly forged from special steel and quite valuable.

Having spent so much time on the same team, even if he didn't know the gambling-addicted lizardwoman incredibly well, he could still guess that she wasn't wealthy.

Her lack of valuables was entirely within his expectations.

He hadn't held much hope to begin with.

Compared to his "poor buddies" on the team, Xia Nan was much more interested in the loot from those two veteran Adventurers, whose strength had been visibly extraordinary.

The results, however... left him somewhat disappointed.

Lawson had died just as decisively, his head cleanly lopped off by Xia Nan.

But before Xia Nan entered the fray, the gloomy-faced middle-aged man seemed to have already gone through a rather intense battle.

His armor's original quality might have been decent, but it had already looked filthy and worn upon their first meeting. Now it was nearly ruined, its surface covered in countless rips and tears.

In this condition, even the most reputable general store in Rivervale Town wouldn't take it.

Fortunately, the toughness of his bee-stinger-like fine sword wasn't bad. Its stats on the panel gave Xia Nan a pleasant surprise.

[Culi's Bee Stinger]

Type: Fine sword Grade: Common (White)

Effects:

+5% Piercing Damage, +3% Thrusting Speed, +15% Durability. Description:

An exceptionally well-designed fine sword. The blade is slender, as straight and sharp as a bee's stinger. (The user must have reached Mastery in thrusting techniques to unleash its maximum power.)

Note:

"Please do not be deceived by its 'slenderness.' This thing is better at sewing your mouth shut than a tailor's needle—permanently."

—Court Swordsmaster and Quick-Sword "Marigold," Basso. For his plan to infiltrate the Dragon Lair, Lawson had plotted for nearly two years.

He had meticulously planned everything: from luring the red dragon out of its nest, evading various magical traps and the protective surveillance of its kin, and sending the gnome Rogue, Bogu—who possessed special stealth abilities—into the Dragon Lair, all the way to the closing operations.

Lawson had exhausted almost all of his wealth for it, even personally sacrificing the teammates he had spent years with during the mission.

All the equipment and items he carried had been prepared for this mission, and he had used them exhaustively along the way.

By the time he returned to Molten Scale Town, he had practically been reduced to absolute destitution.

His so-called foundation as a veteran Adventurer—aside from the knowledge in his head regarding various secrets and Class Holder advancements, and the physical body of a Level 6 Class Holder itself—was just the sword in his hand.

Xia Nan was unaware of the detailed circumstances behind this.

In his eyes, for an Adventurer "senior" who seemed to have deeply cultivated his craft in the industry for years, the only valuable item left after his death was this single white-grade fine sword. It made him think back to his own attire from top to bottom—rings and necklaces, the Green Pine wooden sword, and leggings—equipment and items so numerous that, if this were a game from his past life, reading their information panels alone would take half a day.

It was hard not to wonder whether high-quality equipment in this world was simply scarce to begin with, making his own setup the cumulative result of his Attribute Panel Golden Finger, or if this situation was merely an exception.

After checking the loot on the Morton Family's Knight Commander, Trevelyan, he guessed it was the former, although he couldn't be entirely sure.

The "legacy" Trevelyan left behind for his successor was indeed a bit more than Lawson's, but it was still quite limited.

The standard-issue heavy armor he wore was extremely good.

Xia Nan had to admit that he had always harbored a unique interest in this kind of equipment, which maximized defensive performance at the cost of flexibility. Perhaps it was the influence of the four-digit price tag on the full-body plate armor he had seen in the Rockhammer shop right after his transmigration.

This remained true even though his combat style had gradually taken shape, making him ill-suited for such gear until [Gravity Control] was developed enough to permanently reduce his body weight.

He still held onto that obsession in his heart.

Unfortunately, Trevelyan's heavy armor was severely damaged; a rift that nearly split it in half marred the most critical and expensive chest plate.

It most likely came from Lawson's desperate counterattack right before his death.

Setting aside whether he could even carry this overly heavy equipment out of the mountains, simply hauling it all the way back to Rivervale Town to fix it would likely incur astronomical repair costs.

And even if it were truly repaired later, Xia Nan would be left with nothing but a battle-hardened, second-hand item that had undergone major overhaul.

Taking on quests alone, his money-making speed was exceptionally fast, so why should he compromise like this?

Therefore, after a brief moment of careful consideration, Xia Nan decided not to take Trevelyan's armor.

Instead, he took the heavy steel sword gripped tightly in his severed arm:

[Morton's Oath of Loyalty]

Type: Longsword Grade: Common (White)

Effects:

When held by a blood relative of the Morton Family or a sworn loyalist: +7% Slashing Damage, +20% Durability, Toughness Enhancement.

Description:

A heavy longsword symbolizing the glory and responsibility of the Morton Family. The family motto inscribed on the blade serves as an eternal reminder of the wielder's identity and oath.

Note:

"Offer up your loyalty!"

—Duke of Iron Hoof and Blood Fat, Founder of the Morton Family, Bilbom. The overall design of the heavy sword was broader and heavier than the Decapitating Longsword in Xia Nan's hands.

But with his current physical attributes, after a bit of practice to adapt, using this longsword as an everyday weapon wouldn't be difficult.

Given his combat style, the length and size of the blade wouldn't affect his actual combat power either.

The heavy sword's attributes were even more outstanding. The 7% slashing damage bonus and the "Toughness Enhancement" affix alone were enough to crush the Fine weapons held by the vast majority of bottom-tier Adventurers.

But the prerequisite for all of this was possessing the Morton Family's bloodline, or swearing loyalty to the family.

Xia Nan hardly believed that in a fantasy world where deities existed, "swearing loyalty" merely required casually chanting a couple of lines and striking a pose.

There was absolutely some sort of binding condition, even if he didn't know what it was.

Naturally, it was impossible for him to bind himself to a faction he knew nothing about just for a white-grade longsword.

Therefore, no matter how superior the heavy sword's attributes were, it was destined to be of no use to him.

He could only sell it to a blacksmith along with the two fine swords. Of course, considering the family motto inscribed on its surface, he still needed to carefully consider exactly how to handle it.

Besides that, compared to Lawson's loot, Trevelyan's also included an extra, heavy silver ingot roughly the size of two palms.

This was something Xia Nan had dug out from the pouch the knight carried.

Recalling the silver-white metal that had flowed across the knight's skin during the battle, perhaps this silver ingot was used to replenish his combat power, or to train some sort of combat technique?

Regardless, looking at its smooth, bright exterior, its purity didn't seem low, so it could definitely fetch a good amount of money.

Of course, these were just the important items worth mentioning; there were also numerous scattered gains not worth bringing up.

For example, some travel supplies and equipment maintenance tools. Oh, and all three of them carried gold coins; adding them up came to a little over thirty gold, which also counted as a nice bit of income.

In summary: a set of Fine armor, a fine sword, [Culi's Bee Stinger], [Morton's Oath of Loyalty], and a silver ingot.

That was Xia Nan's entire harvest from this battle.

Was it a small haul?

Considering that both of his enemies had been powerful, veteran Adventurers, it was indeed a bit meager.

But if one factored in what he hadn't mentioned—[Fang Hunt], which had reached its Level 5 max level, and the [Dream Weaving Corridor] currently worn on his finger...

Then his harvest from this battle was incredibly rich.

For this, the price Xia Nan paid was merely a ruined Plate-Chain Composite Armor—damaged internally by the corrosion of Trevelyan's silver-white liquid metal venom—

and a precious use of the [Fate Coin]. Looking at it this way, the price he paid wasn't small either.

As for the team's distribution of the loot.

According to the rules previously set by the escort squad, as the main force in the battles against Lawson and Trevelyan, Xia Nan was already entitled to the vast majority of it.

Furthermore, Wood and the half-elf Hai'an, who had awakened from his heavily injured state, clearly stated that they didn't need a share, yielding their portions to Xia Nan.

Luca and Sava were dead, and their pensions would be paid by Hai'an.

Verol hadn't been present, but considering the price she seemed to have paid to banish that adult red dragon into an alternate dimension, she had made a tremendous contribution to the team in their desperate situation.

Xia Nan truly didn't mind discussing the distribution of the loot with her.

But ever since she had woken up from her faint just now, she hadn't spoken a single word to him.

His eyes shifted, his gaze sweeping over the delicate figure in the cave, sitting cross-legged by the campfire with her eyes closed in focused meditation.

A somewhat peculiar expression naturally surfaced on Xia Nan's face.

On one hand, the moment he saw her, he had followed her prior instructions and fed her the pale blue potion from her pouch...

During their evacuation along the path Verol had come from, Xia Nan had spotted another empty potion bottle printed with the same words, making it obvious that she had already drunk one herself upon returning.

By a twist of fate, this amounted to having two bottles forced down her throat in succession, which seemed to give the mage girl some indigestion.

On the other hand, there was the matter of her behavior after regaining consciousness...

Her exceptionally panicked reaction—dodging his gaze, avoiding eye contact, and not even daring to speak—

led Xia Nan to guess that when she had seen him and fainted...

it perhaps wasn't just pure mental and physical exhaustion; it was also partly due to the fear effect from [Night Mother's Gaze].

After all, at that moment, he had genuinely thought another enemy was coming for a sneak attack and had treated her as a hostile target.

Theoretically, Verol didn't count as an ally, making it entirely possible to trigger the Feat's fear effect. He withdrew his gaze from Verol, whose body had suddenly tensed in her meditation, as if sensing his stare.

Xia Nan glanced at the gradually slowing rain outside the cave, his gaze turning toward Wood and Hai'an, who were sitting on the left and right sides of the campfire across from him.

He asked, "How do you plan to arrange things next?"

"Are we heading back to Molten Scale Town to rest and recover first, or continuing the operation to cross the Molten Scale Mountains?"

"No, we absolutely cannot go back!" His pale face filled with firmness and resolve, Wood made a prompt decision.

"Trevelyan is dead, but we didn't find the corpses of his subordinates. Even if those people don't know their Knight Commander died by your hands, in our current condition, returning to town would inevitably draw suspicion."

Saying this, he looked at his own arm, which had been severed at the shoulder, and then at the half-elf beside him who was similarly wrapped in bandages, a trace of bitterness appearing on his face.

"And if we stir up trouble, what you'd have to face might be an entire squad of well-trained knights from the Morton Family, along with the sheriff and guards of Molten Scale Town."

Hearing this, Xia Nan couldn't help but nod.

Although he felt that after training [Fang Hunt] to Level 5 he had made immense progress in his strength, it didn't mean his ego had inflated enough to ignore potential dangers.

Right now, the only ones left in the entire squad with combat capability were himself and Verol. Being careful and avoiding battle as much as possible would definitely be the right call.

But if they didn't return to town and instead crossed the mountains according to the original plan—

"Are you sure you guys can hold out?" Xia Nan frowned slightly, looking at the two severely injured men before him who had been on the verge of death just tens of minutes ago.

"This is the only way." Wood's demeanor appeared exceptionally exhausted, his spirit looking thoroughly drained.

"I just hope we don't encounter any more trouble later, and that we can make it smoothly to Sticky-Tree Territory."