Chapter 33 Conditions

The Misty Forest stretched vast and endless beneath the night.

Magic saturated the air, rich enough to nourish the countless creatures hidden among its dense trees and sprawling undergrowth.

Four rust monsters.

Five adventurers.

One fierce battle that could easily have ended in death.

Yet in a forest this enormous, it was nothing more than one of countless struggles between predator and prey taking place every second.

The campfire flickered.

Orange-red light bled into the darkness, coloring the mist drifting lazily through the air around them.

After the fight, Xia Nan and the others had packed in a hurry.

Under Wood’s direction, they moved camp before the sun completely disappeared below the horizon.

“Hiss! Easy! Easy!”

Sweat beaded across Larry’s forehead as Doris carefully unwrapped the bandages they had thrown around his arm in their rush to leave.

Rust monster saliva was the natural enemy of metal equipment.

A few drops might not look like much, but leave them alone and they could eat outward through metal like an ant colony tunneling through soil, leaving pits and hollows everywhere.

On the human body, however, the effect was much milder.

It was more like a burn.

Painful. Hot. Stinging.

But not fatal.

Larry still acted as if he had suffered some terrible wound, flinching at every touch.

Doris looked thoroughly unimpressed.

She muttered something under her breath, but her hands remained careful as she changed his dressing.

At the center of the camp, Hai’an and Wood were quietly discussing tomorrow’s route.

The tense silence between them was gone.

Their earlier argument seemed to have been left behind with the battle.

Xia Nan, meanwhile, was still sitting alone beside the fire with his back against a tree.

Only this time, he was not maintaining the gleaming Decapitating Longsword beside him.

He was roasting dried meat.

After everything that had happened today, his body needed food.

Xia Nan was still a novice adventurer at the very bottom of the profession, someone who had barely completed any missions.

His habits from modern society in his previous life, along with the decent savings he had started with, meant he was willing to spend a little extra on supplies.

Even then, what had he brought?

A stack of hard black bread.

Several large pieces of smoked meat.

Two dried fish so salty they made his throat hurt.

And a few other miscellaneous things.

Altogether, maybe five days of food.

It was not because Xia Nan was stingy.

The Misty Forest’s environment simply caused fresh food to spoil much faster than normal.

Besides, he had originally expected to come here, gather some glowgarlic vines, spend at most one night outside, and go home.

So he had followed the list in the [Adventurer’s Handbook], walked into a general store, and bought the recommended supplies.

Now, looking back…

Maybe he should have spent a few more silver coins and found something better to eat.

Xia Nan sliced the warmed smoked meat with his dagger and put a piece in his mouth.

He chewed.

Slowly.

[Well…]

[At least it’s hot.]

That was about the nicest thing he could say for it.

His thoughts immediately drifted toward the meal he had eaten at the White Chickadee Tavern a few days ago.

Three entire silver coins.

At the time, it had felt like a fortune.

[That mushroom soup really was good.]

Xia Nan smacked his lips.

Come to think of it, he had not actually met a proper mage yet.

But this was a fantasy world.

Mages definitely existed.

So things like spatial rings or storage spells probably existed too, right?

If he ever got his hands on something like that, carrying supplies would become far easier.

And loot such as today’s rust monster carapaces could be hauled straight back to town.

The thought made Xia Nan pause.

Then he laughed at himself.

He sounded exactly like the peasant in that old joke from his previous life who imagined the emperor must farm with a golden hoe.

“Xia Nan? What are you thinking about?”

A deliberately quiet voice pulled him back.

Xia Nan looked up.

Larry had finished changing his bandages and was standing beside him with a small basket in one hand.

“Here. This is for you.”

Before Xia Nan could ask what he meant, the basket was shoved straight into his arms.

He looked down.

Inside sat a palm-sized glass bottle and several little packages covered with fine cloth.

“Double-stinger bee honey. I bought it at Elf’s Leaf Bakery. It’s famous. Try some.”

Larry pointed eagerly at the bottle of thick golden liquid.

The expression on his face reminded Xia Nan of those enthusiastic salespeople from livestreams in his previous life.

“And these are pieces of goat cheese from Doris’s family. They’re really good. Especially with dried meat. Ah, that flavor…”

“Oh…”

Xia Nan looked at the basket, then at Larry.

“Thanks.”

He had planned to chat for a bit.

Maybe talk about the mission.

But Larry apparently really had come over only to give him food.

After tossing out, “When we get back to Neum, I’ll take you around the city for a few days,” he hurried back at Doris’s call.

Sizzle…

Thin slices of cheese softened over the fire and melted halfway into the reddish-brown dried meat.

A warm milky aroma drifted upward.

Xia Nan took a bite.

His eyes brightened instantly.

The cheese was salty and slightly sweet, and somehow turned the dry, bland meat into something almost luxurious.

Even the exhaustion in his body seemed to ease.

He looked toward Larry and Doris.

The two were standing some distance away, speaking quietly.

Xia Nan’s gaze turned thoughtful.

When he first joined the party, he had assumed their relationship was obvious.

Larry was the pursuer.

Doris was the woman being pursued.

It was the kind of painfully familiar setup he had seen countless times in his previous life.

Larry fawned over her.

Doris barely acknowledged him.

What else was he supposed to think?

But after spending an entire day around them, things no longer seemed so simple.

Larry acted eager to please Doris, but he was not spineless about it.

And Doris complained about him constantly, yet whenever something actually happened, she never seemed as distant as she pretended.

Xia Nan shook his head.

“I don’t get it.”

“Strange, isn’t it?”

Hai’an had apparently noticed where he was looking.

A faint smile appeared on the half-elf’s face.

“What if I told you they actually grew up together?”

[Childhood sweethearts?]

That only made Xia Nan more confused.

“Then why do they…”

“Act so awkward around each other?”

Hai’an lowered his voice and glanced toward the pair.

“The situation is complicated.”

“Larry’s father is a wealthy merchant well known throughout Neum. Before Doris’s parents opened their cheese shop, they used to serve as stewards in Larry’s household.”

“That’s why the two of them grew up together. As for what happened after that…”

Hai’an stopped.

A moment later, he seemed to realize that gossiping about the two behind their backs was not particularly appropriate.

He ended with a vague shrug.

“The rest is the kind of story you’d see in a stage play.”

Xia Nan still did not understand.

But if Hai’an did not want to explain, he was not going to pry.

Instead, Xia Nan shifted the topic.

“What about you?”

Hai’an blinked.

“Why did you come to the Misty Forest?”

The half-elf went still.

His silver-gray eyes flickered.

He hesitated for several seconds before slowly exhaling, as though setting down a weight.

Then he reached into his belt pouch and took out the black wooden token.

His thumb brushed gently across its surface.

“When I was little, I always pestered my mother for bedtime stories.”

His voice was quiet.

“She only knew a few, so she told the same ones over and over. And she wasn’t nearly as good at telling them as Aunt Polly.”

A night breeze stirred the half-elf’s silver hair, exposing the long ear beneath it.

“But those stories all came from my mother’s homeland.”

“Flower fairies who loved playing tricks. Treants who guided lost travelers. Dreams woven from emerald and jade…”

Hai’an’s silver-gray eyes reflected the firelight.

“Only at night, listening to my mother’s voice, could I stop thinking about the way people looked at me during the day.”

He paused.

“I didn’t have to care about… myself.”

Xia Nan said nothing.

Hai’an suddenly looked toward Wood beside him.

The guard seemed as though he wanted to speak.

Hai’an sighed first.

“I know this wooden token doesn’t match the style passed down by my mother’s clan.”

“But this is my last chance.”

“I have to try.”

His fingers tightened slightly around the token.

“Once this mission ends, whether I find anything or not, I probably won’t be able to leave home again.”

“That won’t happen, young master.”

Wood’s answer came instantly.

Firm.

Certain.

Then something seemed to cross his mind.

A flicker of hesitation appeared on his face.

His voice dropped.

“That won’t happen…”

Xia Nan had only asked out of casual curiosity.

Somehow, he had managed to drag the whole camp back into a heavy silence.

He looked from one of them to the other.

His brain spun.

Then he abruptly changed the subject.

“Right! There’s actually something I’ve wanted to ask for a while.”

Wood looked at him.

“You’re a class holder, aren’t you?”

Xia Nan added quickly, “The kind who’s actually gained a class level.”

Wood’s expression became strange.

“You didn’t know?”

“I thought you’d already figured it out.”

“Haha. This is only my second mission.”

Xia Nan scratched his head.

“I’ve never really met a class holder before, so I was curious.”

“Your second mission!?”

Hai’an’s ears practically snapped upright.

“So when you told Larry you were a newcomer, you were serious?”

Before Xia Nan could answer, Hai’an’s gaze dropped toward the iron-gray Decapitating Longsword beside him.

“That combat technique you used earlier did not look like something a newcomer should know.”

That confused Xia Nan.

“What’s so strange about it?”

He glanced between them.

“Don’t all of you know combat techniques?”

Hai’an stared at him.

Then his expression changed as though he had just discovered an entirely new continent.

“Wait.”

“Your mentor never taught you any of this?”

“Mentor?”

Xia Nan shook his head.

“I’ve never had one.”

“Then where did you learn that combat technique?”

There was not much in his predecessor’s history that Xia Nan felt needed hiding.

As for the half page that described [Spinning Slash], that thing was long gone.

After the entire family spent years trying and failing to make progress with it, the paper had eventually been fed to the old ox in the shed.

So Xia Nan simply explained how his predecessor had obtained the manual, then spent years training until something finally changed.

Silence.

Then:

“What!?”

Wood stared at him.

“So you took half a sheet of paper, swung a sword for years, and actually learned the technique?”

For the first time, Wood looked more shocked than he had during the entire rust monster battle.

Hai’an did not even speak.

He simply stared at Xia Nan like he was looking at an alien.

Technically speaking…

That was not entirely wrong.

In a certain sense, Xia Nan really was one.

And now, even Xia Nan realized something was strange.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary office worker.

He had barely fought anyone.

Yet after crossing into this world, he could fight monsters head-on.

His movements were still a little raw, but every time he replayed a battle afterward, the choices he had made on instinct were usually precise.

Correct.

Efficient.

Then there was [Spinning Slash].

When he arrived in this world, the technique had already been trained almost to its maximum level.

Could this body really have some kind of talent for combat?

And maybe…

Could Xia Nan himself have some too?

Wood studied him for a moment.

Seeing no sign that Xia Nan was lying, he gradually recovered from his surprise.

Then, to Xia Nan’s surprise, he began explaining combat techniques on his own.

According to Wood, Aifala Continent possessed an enormous number of combat techniques.

Different classes had different techniques.

Different techniques produced different effects.

There were so many that no organization had ever managed to build a clear, universal ranking system for all of them.

Instead, the Adventurers’ Association and most other groups used a rough measure of proficiency.

Three stages.

Novice.

Proficient.

Mastery.

Even the line between Novice and Proficient was blurry.

“Then what about Mastery?” Xia Nan asked.

Wood had clearly lowered his guard toward him by now.

A rare, almost playful smile appeared on his face.

“Compared with the other two, Mastery is actually the easiest stage to recognize.”

Xia Nan leaned forward slightly.

“Once you truly refine a combat technique to Mastery, all the effort you’ve put into it comes back to you at once.”

Wood raised one hand.

“To put it simply, the moment the technique reaches Mastery, you’ll clearly feel one aspect of your physical ability increase dramatically.”

“And some techniques grant you a special kind of expertise after reaching Mastery.”

Xia Nan froze.

A memory immediately surfaced.

The bugbear.

The moment [Spinning Slash] reached Lv. 5.

Two attribute points.

And the specialty [Slashing Expert].

[So Lv. 5 on the system panel is what people here call Mastery?]

[Then Lv. 1-2 are Novice, and Lv. 3-4 are Proficient?]

The pieces suddenly fit together.

Xia Nan looked back at Wood.

“So Mastery-level combat techniques are rare?”

Hai’an’s eyes widened.

“Of course!”

He sounded genuinely baffled that Xia Nan even had to ask.

“Training a combat technique associated with a class to Mastery is one of the essential requirements for gaining a class level!”

A class level.

Xia Nan’s breathing changed.

Excitement surged through him.

“What else?”

He leaned forward.

“What are the other requirements?”

“How do you become a class holder?”