Chapter 260 Key, Energy, and Quest Reward

"I hope we don't run into any more trouble and can safely reach Sticky-Tree Territory."

When Xia Nan heard those words come out of Wood's mouth, his experience from countless works of fiction in his past life told him this was a terrible sign.

It was a classic "crow's mouth," and a prime example of Murphy's Law.

As everyone knew, the more you dreaded something happening—especially once you spoke it aloud—the more likely it was to actually happen.

The lingering unease in his heart made him, as one of the only two remaining combatants in their party, far more cautious than usual.

The group of four crossed the Molten Scale Mountains, taking the opportunity to slow their pace, heal their injuries, and recover their stamina.

To Xia Nan's surprise, however, their group seemed to have exhausted all their bad luck in their previous encounters with the adult red dragon, Lawson, and Trevelyan.

For a full week, seven entire days.

The four of them did not face a single attack until the escort team finally set foot on the other side of the Molten Scale Mountains and entered Abyssal Veil Province.

They didn't even spot a single Green-Skinned Goblin, despite the creatures infesting every corner of the continent like cockroaches.

It was as if every monster in the Molten Scale Mountains had died out.

This allowed them to smoothly reach the final destination of their quest.

Abyssal Veil Province, Sticky-Tree Territory.

Vergrove Town.

Inside a private room at a tavern named the Three Wild Boars.

Xia Nan sat on a sturdy, padded wooden chair. Even rocking back and forth didn't produce the cheap creaking of inferior furniture.

The dining table before him was covered in a vast array of delicious dishes, though most had already been swept clean, leaving only a few scraps.

A particular habit cultivated in his past life left the young adventurer looking exceptionally relaxed after a hearty meal.

He leaned almost all the way back in his wooden chair, eyes half-closed as the rich, savory scent of cream and mushrooms lingered in the air.

Across the table sat Hai'an and Wood.

Compared to their bloodless faces and lethargic, heavily injured states right after the battle a few days ago, the two looked visibly much better in both spirit and energy.

Only the empty, dangling sleeve on the middle-aged man's left arm and the bandages peeking from beneath the half-elf's collar hinted at what they had been through.

"This is your reward for the quest," Hai'an said, offering a Crystal Card containing 630 gold coins with both hands.

Xia Nan's expression turned serious. He accepted it solemnly and tucked the Crystal Card into his jacket.

Of the 630 gold, 500 was the agreed-upon payment for the escort quest.

He had to admit that having the City Lord of Nym as a father certainly provided serious financial backing.

After all, even the E-rank Association commission targeting the Lycanthrope Mint had only offered a maximum reward of 300 gold—and that was assuming he took the entire payout in gold instead of exchanging it for Points.

Five hundred gold was a full two-thirds more.

As for the difficulty of the quest...

Honestly, if it hadn't been for their terrible luck—getting dragged into the battle between Lawson and Trevelyan, and running into that red dragon named Kraugbari—this 500 gold would have been essentially free money.

After all, along the entire journey, they hadn't encountered a single enemy actually targeting Hai'an and Wood. The only reason it had been so tumultuous was their awful luck.

As for the extra 130 gold, that was what the two had paid for the belongings left behind by the dragonborn Sava, including her armor and rapier.

According to the unspoken rules among adventurers, a fallen comrade's equipment was, to some extent, considered part of the spoils of war.

Of course, reality wasn't usually so cold-blooded.

If people teamed up, they were usually familiar with one another. They were brothers and sisters who lived with their heads tied to their belts. If someone died, the survivors would help return their belongings to their family.

The aforementioned unspoken rule mostly applied to temporarily assembled groups, just like this escort team.

Xia Nan and Sava were indeed teammates, but from their first meeting to her death, barely a few dozen days had passed. They had practically never spoken to each other and couldn't even be considered friends.

Naturally, he wasn't going to be generous enough to handle her funeral arrangements.

Helping bury her body after the battle was the absolute limit of what he was willing to do.

For the half-elf Hai'an, however, Sava had been hired through the connections between the Wycliffe Family and the Dragonborn Clan.

Unexpected casualties during a mission were understandable—after all, that was an adventurer's line of work. It was bound to happen eventually.

But given his personality, he definitely wanted to give Sava's clan a proper explanation.

Thus, he had taken the initiative to offer to buy the loot that had already been distributed to Xia Nan.

Xia Nan saw no reason to refuse.

He hadn't intended to keep the gear anyway and had planned to pawn it off at a general store. Faced with the half-elf's generous offer, Xia Nan couldn't possibly say no.

A rapier, a set of armor, and a few miscellaneous items totaled 130 gold, which was directly added to his quest reward.

"So you're still planning to stick to the original plan and stay in Sticky-Tree Territory?" Xia Nan asked with pointed meaning, raising his cup and taking a sip.

The point he was trying to make was simple.

Sticky-Tree Territory belonged to Duke Morton, and the Knight Commander of the Duke's family had died at their hands just a week ago.

Furthermore, the [Dream Weaving Corridor] terminal—which was highly suspected to be the Morton Family's stolen heirloom—had fallen into his hands.

Given all that, the two of them staying right under the Duke's nose was perhaps a bit too dangerous.

In response, Wood simply shook his head.

"It's fine, we're only staying for a short while."

"Once the turmoil over in Nym completely settles down, the young master and I will decide whether to head back or continue our journey," he said, a smile breaking across his exhausted face.

"Don't worry. Other than our own people, no one knows Trevelyan's whereabouts, and the bodies have been thoroughly dealt with. The knights back in Molten Scale Town are probably still searching for their boss even now."

"The Wycliffe Family has some arrangements here in Sticky-Tree Territory. Staying here briefly is much safer than you going out on a quest."

Since he put it that way, Xia Nan didn't press the issue. He simply looked at the half-elf and the Rogue guard before him.

"You know my address," Xia Nan said. "If you ever need any help in the future, just send a letter or have someone pass along a message."

Hearing this, Hai'an merely offered a helpless smile.

"Speaking of which, this quest wasn't supposed to have so many complications. The red dragon, Lawson, and Trevelyan were all unforeseen variables," Hai'an said. "If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you right now."

Xia Nan naturally understood the meaning behind the half-elf's words.

It was an expression of apology and gratitude to the team members, himself included, for the unexpected encounters during the mission. Unbothered, he simply waved his hand.

He had long grown accustomed to these kinds of experiences—quests that seemed simple and ordinary on the surface but were actually full of hidden dangers and endless twists.

"Then... we'll see each other again?"

"Yeah. Take care."

...

Vergrove shared a similar geographical location with Molten Scale Town, as both were situated close to the Molten Scale Mountains.

The difference, however, was that this town sat outside the red dragon's territory and lacked the unique terrain that made Molten Scale Town so conducive to development.

There were many similar villages and towns nearby, siphoning off a large number of the adventurers and merchant caravans looking to cross the mountains.

As a result, its development was rather mediocre. It was just an ordinary town that could be found anywhere in the Servia Kingdom, with nothing particularly praiseworthy about it.

Xia Nan walked down the street.

The blacksmith at the only smithy in town had average skills, so he couldn't find any suitable transitional gear there.

The Plate-Chain Composite Armor—nearly destroyed after being corroded by Trevelyan's venom—was strapped back onto his body. It was better than nothing.

He ignored the curious stares of the surrounding pedestrians gawking at the foreign adventurer.

His mind sank into deep thought.

Lawson's rapier, [Culi's Bee Stinger], was fine. Although it had a unique appearance, it wasn't one of a kind. There were plenty of similar weapons on the market, so pawning it off shouldn't be too difficult.

The loot taken from Trevelyan, however—the heavy sword named [Morton's Oath of Loyalty]—was going to be far more troublesome.

As long as someone perceptive briefly inspected the maxims inscribed on the blade, they would realize it came from the Morton Family.

Combined with the gradual brewing of the disappearance of Trevelyan, the Morton Family's Knight Commander, if such a heavy sword were to suddenly appear on the market, practically anyone pulled off the street would be able to guess the connection between the two events.

Whether for his own safety or to protect the [Dream Weaving Corridor] in his hands, Xia Nan didn't want to needlessly provoke the Morton Family.

Thus, the heavy sword had become a hot potato.

At that moment, it was wrapped in thick layers of linen and stashed away in his inn room.

Xia Nan had even considered that if worst came to worst, he would just find a hidden spot to toss it away, or have a trustworthy blacksmith melt it down and reforge it into raw steel.

For the sake of safety, losing out on one or two hundred gold coins meant nothing at all.

Additionally, speaking of equipment...

At present, [Tears of Spring Breath], which had been fashioned into a necklace, hung quietly over the inner lining beneath his armor. From the outside, one could only see the metal chain around his neck, completely hiding the crucial, teardrop-shaped emerald pendant below.

The Fourth Circle healing spell named [Spring Pulse Cleansing], which could be used once a week, had already been expended to heal his injuries when he leveled up.

The description of the equipment's skill effect stated that it restored a certain amount of health to the "carrier."

When he had been leading the heavily injured half-elf and the others across the mountains a few days ago, he had wondered if he could exploit a loophole if it ever became absolutely necessary.

For example, if he temporarily placed the necklace on someone who needed healing, they would, to some extent, become the "carrier," granting them the conditions to use [Spring Pulse Cleansing].

But if he really did that, on one hand, the user would have to earn his absolute trust. After all, the [Tears of Spring Breath] necklace was one of his trump cards. Using it like that meant exposing it to someone else without reservation, and he would have to guard against them coveting the item's effects and running off with it.

On the other hand, Xia Nan couldn't confirm whether such a seemingly absurd method would actually transfer the equipment's ownership and change the designated "carrier" from himself to someone else.

He would have to find an opportunity to test it further in the future.

The escort quest had concluded successfully. Although Hai'an and Wood had sustained injuries, they had safely arrived in Sticky-Tree Territory.

But for Xia Nan himself, the number of things he needed to do had suddenly piled up.

The most important matter, of course, was the neural roaming terminal of the [Dream Weaving Corridor], which had already transformed into a Silver Ring and now rested on his finger.

Previously, he had only half-understood its functions, but his experiences over the past few days had made Xia Nan truly realize the exaggerated efficacy of this sci-fi creation.

To advance [Fang Hunt] from lv4 to lv5, the remaining fifty or so proficiency points would have likely taken him months of daily training.

Yet under the effects of the dream woven by the [Dream Weaving Corridor], it took less than half a second to bridge that gap in an instant.

No wonder the ancestor of the Morton Family had managed to climb to such a high position despite his commoner origins.

Calling an item capable of instantly boosting a combat technique's proficiency a "divine artifact" wasn't an exaggeration in the slightest.

Xia Nan didn't dare to imagine what would happen if he ever had the chance to use [Gravity Control] as the blueprint for weaving a dream.

Let alone how many levels he could jump at once, just advancing from lv1 to lv2 for a combat technique of that caliber would bring improvements beyond what any ordinary person could fathom.

Of course, before he could do any of that, he had to satisfy the two conditions for activating the [Dream Weaving Corridor].

First, the Dynamic Password.

A week ago, the only reason he had been able to activate the device was because he had flipped the [Fate Coin]. Borrowing the power of the Goddess of Luck, he had elevated a near-zero probability to one hundred percent, allowing him to successfully input the password with a blind guess.

Right now, the [Fate Coin] only had one use left. As Xia Nan's most important trump card for turning the tide of a battle, he naturally wanted to save it for a critical moment concerning his own life and death.

Therefore, he had to find the missing "key" mentioned in the [Dream Weaving Corridor]'s warning prompt.

But as for what this key looked like or where to find it, he had absolutely no clue.

Was he supposed to infiltrate the Morton Family's estate to search for clues?

That was far too dangerous.

Second, energy.

After the [Fang Hunt] dream ended, Xia Nan had checked the [Dream Weaving Corridor]'s Attribute Panel once more.

Unsurprisingly, the 3% energy it had originally possessed had now been completely drained to zero.

How was he supposed to charge it?

A plug? Batteries?

He had even considered the crazy idea of finding a Spellcaster proficient in elemental magic to hurl a few lightning bolts at the ring.

But upon further thought, that method seemed far too crude. What if it ended up breaking the device?

He could only shelve the idea for now.

Before dealing with any of that, however, he had to make a trip back to Rivervale Town.

After so much time had passed, the [Snake-Scale Arm Shield] he had commissioned Barn from Rockhammer to forge for a whopping 1,000 gold coins should finally be finished.

He had been anticipating it for a long time. Now that his quest was over, he naturally had to go pick it up and properly inspect it.

With so many different things piling up that needed his attention, Xia Nan felt a momentary headache coming on.

Suddenly, he realized he had arrived at the agreed-upon location.

He paused his footsteps and looked ahead.

Shrouded by the shade of the trees, a chestnut ponytail swayed gently in the breeze.

The slender figure wearing a cream-white robe seemed to notice the gaze coming from behind her, and her entire body flinched violently.