Chapter 248: The Stone Steps on the Island

Chapter 248: The Stone Steps on the Island

Upon seeing Rain's sudden arrival, Jenny and Agatha were initially surprised, but soon their expressions changed to one of understanding.

Earlier that morning, they had heard the rhythmic footsteps of a marching army, seemingly heading out of the city.

"Your Excellency Rain, are you on a mission?" Jenny asked directly.

"Yes, I'm departing to carry out a task," Rain nodded, thinking for a moment. He decided it would be better to inform the two women of the situation.

After all, no matter how tightly the news was sealed, it would inevitably spread like wildfire.

At that time, Rain himself wouldn't be in Myester, and the two women would be in a state of panic, which wouldn't be good.

"Last night, Myester was attacked, but the county city is still relatively stable," Rain said in a low voice.

Upon hearing this news, Jenny and Agatha's faces changed, and they exclaimed, "What? Is the situation serious?"

Rain shook his head and said, "It's too early to tell."

"However, within these two days, including Jenny's mother, Baroness Crowley, everyone will have someone to pick them up and bring them to Myester. You can make arrangements for their accommodation in advance."

Hearing Rain's early arrangements, Jenny's worried expression disappeared, and her face lit up.

However, Rain's expression turned solemn, and he turned to Agatha and said, "Agatha, according to Imperial Decree 1, although your father, as a noble, cannot leave his fiefdom without permission, the other members of the Wiggins family can write a letter to your father, asking him to arrange for some personnel to evacuate."

"The county city might not be safe either."

"Oh? Thank you, Your Excellency Rain." Agatha's initial admiration for Rain vanished upon hearing about the attack on Myester.

As Rain left the villa, he rode on a black horse, accompanied by Cookie, heading out of the city.

Just as he was about to pass through the city gates, Rain looked up at the sky and saw a white seagull flapping its wings and landing on his shoulder.

Glancing at each other briefly, Rain received a mental transmission from the white seagull.

A small, white hand with a quill swiftly wrote a line on white paper: "Rain, please be careful."

This was a message of concern from the twin-tailed girl.

When Rain reached the city gates, he saw a fully armed squad of Imperial soldiers marching out of the city towards the counties of Myester and Rosby.

From a higher vantage point, he could see two long lines of soldiers advancing across the vast plain, heading in different directions.

As Rain rode past the soldiers, he noticed a change in their composition. From the heavy shield crossbowmen and heavy cavalry he encountered earlier, to the fast-moving light cavalry now.

He hurried along, and the soldiers also looked at him curiously, frequently glancing at the obviously noble young man riding swiftly with a small dog the size of a pony following behind him.

When Rain traveled from Myester to Minster, it took him a whole week, but that was because he was moving with a caravan.

Now, he placed the dim light greatsword, war bow, and other weapons on the body of the ferocious beast, Linty.

With his light armor and the ferocious beast's robust endurance, Rain rode at an astonishing speed, several times faster than before!

"Damn! How is this guy's horse so fast?!" Hamis couldn't help but curse.

Just then, near the city gates, Hamis stared at Rain, who was wearing a pale silver knight's plate armor. He rode a sturdy black horse, with a dog, quickly disappearing into the distance not far ahead.

Rain turned and said to a bearded man behind him, "Track him. I'll pay handsomely."

"No problem!" The bearded man replied, skillfully lifting a small bird cage from the side of the horse's belly.

The bearded man quickly released a gray bird from the cage and pointed in Rain's direction. The gray bird immediately took flight and soared into the sky!

This gray bird, also known as a tracking bird, scientifically named the brown-backed sparrow, resembled a sparrow in appearance. It was small in size, with gray feathers covering its body, making it seemingly unremarkable. However, it had a flying speed comparable to that of a swift.

However, above the clouds, there was a bird the size of a wyvern, with feathers in shades of blue and purple.

Due to Veronica's influence, Rain has also become somewhat of an expert on birds.

Recently, Rain learned from Veronica about various common birds that humans domesticate.

If it's a Brown-Backed Sparrow, Rain could almost certainly confirm that someone was tracking him.

"Who could it be?"

"Envoy Javier?"

"The likelihood seems low."

"We're about to enter the Merfolk and Blood Curse Naga zone. Is there a chance to pit them against each other?"

After some thought, Rain shook his head.

"If they draw the attention of a large number of Merfolk and Blood Curse Naga, it would also expose my presence."

"Besides, being surrounded by enemies is obviously not a good idea."

"Then let's get rid of the tail behind us."

This area is filled with forests and hills, and Rain intends to find out who is following him. Although the Beastmaster (Extraordinary) profession panel has been affected, the core skill 'Beast Eye' has been inherited by the Beast Priest (Legendary) profession panel.

However, another core skill of the Beastmaster, 'Beast Affinity', has disappeared. Although it's a bit of a pity, it might conflict with the legendary Beast Priest profession.

Absorbing the vitality of the other party, the beasts just can't get along with you!

Borrowing Bloodfeather's eyesight, which is over five times that of humans, Rain quickly spotted a small team of four people several kilometers behind him on the winding road.

"Wait, there's also a dog."

Within his five-kilometer radius, there's only this team, which means the Brown-Backed Sparrow following me must have been sent by them."

Adjusting his angle of view slightly, Rain noticed a somewhat familiar figure among the team—a leather-armored man with a dagger.

"Huh?"

"Hamis from the Aksen Auction House?"

"Very likely. The other party must have used some mysterious means to determine that the Ancient Troll Fangs are on me."

Rain's thoughts raced, connecting the dots. He couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.

"Following me so stealthily, they obviously don't have good intentions. Are they planning to harm me?"

Glancing at the nearby forest, Rain urged his black mare to continue forward while he hid in the forest.

At the same time, he began to take out a poison bottle from his waist pouch.

Not far away, the group of four continued their journey towards Rain's location, led by Hamis.

In Minster, Hamis held some reservations about Rain, mainly because of Rain's status as an Imperial Swordholder rather than his personal strength.

In Hamis's mind, a newly promoted Swordholder with the strength of a Great Knight at such a young age was indeed impressive.

However, it was just impressive, and he didn't truly consider Rain a threat.

As for Rain's killing of the native in the Trade District, Hamis was well aware of it. So, does that prove Rain's strength?

Don't be ridiculous!

Don't forget, which tribe did we exterminate?

Who escorted the remaining few dozen natives to Minster?

It was us!

Now, Rain has left Minster and arrived in Myester, where a sudden war has broken out.

This is perfect.

Hamis had already planned to capture Rain alive, torture him, and deceive him into revealing the location of the Ancient Troll Fangs. Then, they would directly dispose of him.

With the forest nearby, they could abandon the body in the wilderness without any need for concealment.

Even if questioned later, they could blame it on the cult.

As for capturing Rain alive?

This capture team is too experienced!

Next, Hamis will have Danielson cast Invisibility on the other two, stealthily surround Rain, and attract his attention. Once Danielson uses the Earth Wizardry skill 'Rock Earth Grip' to restrict Rain's movement, they will use nets and poison gas to capture him quickly.

In such a situation, a Great Knight?

It's just a bit better than a Peak Knight.

They are very familiar with this kind of cooperation.

That's why their capture team is highly valued by the Aksen Auction House.

Hamis's Dutka Dog noticed that the horse's hoofprints were significantly shallower. Hamis's narrow eyes narrowed, and he signaled everyone to stop.

The next second, a sharp sound of breaking the air rang out.

The Level 3 Wizard Apprentice Danielson had just turned to check the source of the sound when he saw a black shadow flash towards him like lightning!

"Ahhhh!"

There was no time to react, and a scream rang out! Danielson felt intense pain in his waist! Then, the world spun, and he saw himself falling from the horse, but his familiar legs were still in the stirrups.

The bearded man behind Danielson witnessed the whole scene clearly!

Damn it! His companion, Danielson, didn't even have time to dodge and was hit by a powerful black steel arrow that broke his waist!

"Ambush!" Hamis's face paled, and he quickly dodged, hiding behind the horse's belly.

At that moment, they all smelled a pleasant scent, similar to lavender.

It drifted down from the upwind direction.

But in the tense battle, the three didn't have time to ponder the reason for the scent.

If they could calm down, they would immediately realize that even if lavender grew nearby.

Under the moonlight, the lavender hasn't bloomed yet.

This was actually a poison gas-type poison created by Rain according to one of the formulas in "Maxwell's Rare Poison Crafting Manual" - Lavender Hallucinogen.

Its effect is to induce hallucinations in people and animals within a certain range.

Of course, this effect works well on both ordinary people and knights.

However, for Great Knights, the effect is much weaker, causing the target to occasionally experience hallucinations or double vision.

But for Rain, this was already enough.

It's not that the opponent was too strong; Rain didn't have to resort to using poison.

Instead, he mainly wanted to test the effect of the poison gas, or else he wouldn't have used it on these people.

At the same time...

"Whimper!"

The Dutka Dog let out a mournful whine as the Lindi War Dog, Cookie, bit its throat. At this moment, the dog's eyes were scattered, and its limbs were weakly kicking.

However, at this moment, the three of them had no time to care about the dog's problem.

Because at this moment, Rain was holding a two-handed warhammer, smiling, and casually walking out of the forest.

Hamis thought to himself, "This kid isn't staying inside to continue shooting and ambushing; instead, he's coming out to fight us three in close combat?"

Is he crazy?

But the next second, the three of them felt their eyes flicker, and Rain disappeared.

Then, Hamis heard the sound of a watermelon being smashed by a club on his left.

"Bang!"

That was Bueno's position!

Hamis immediately turned to look, and he saw Bueno's headless corpse slowly falling to the ground.

Suddenly, Hamis's face changed!

Is Rain this strong?

Just as Hamis was about to take action, he saw Rain appear with a double image.

Damn! How is this possible!

Wait, it's the poison gas! "As a Swordholder, you... you actually used poison?" Hamis's eyes widened, pointing at Rain in disbelief.

These were supposed to be tactics he would use, but Swordholder Rain had already used them first!

Damn!

The next second, another shattering sound!

"Bang!"

Hamis's face changed several times in quick succession, and he immediately turned and fled!

Although affected by the poison gas, his rushing body occasionally twitched slightly, but his speed remained undiminished.

Rain watched this scene without rushing. Instead, he slowly took the war bow from Cookie, nocked an arrow, and aimed at the back of his opponent.

"Tweet~"

A sharp sound of piercing the air rang out, and a black lightning bolt instantly pierced Hamis's back.

He stumbled a few steps, and his speed dropped significantly.

Then, Hamis staggered like a drunk, swaying several times before falling to the ground with a thud!

The four-man squad was annihilated!

Rain walked forward and first examined the Level 3 Wizard Apprentice.

He saw that the apprentice had been split in two by his arrow.

The weakness of wizard apprentices, even at Level 3, is that they lack a defensive force field, making them vulnerable to sneak attacks.

This is why many wizard apprentices initially pursue the path of knighthood as well, as it greatly enhances their survival abilities.

At this time, Cookie, carrying the head of the Dutka Dog, came to claim credit.

Rain patted Cookie's furry head and praised, "Well done!"

Actually, if Cookie was still the original Lindi Dog and hadn't evolved, the battle situation would likely have been reversed.

The heavier and more robust Dutka Dog could easily kill an ordinary Lindi Dog.

After clearing the battlefield, Rain continued to advance.

As for the corpses of the four people and the dog?

The forest beasts would quickly carry them away.

Suddenly remembering something, Rain pulled the reins and stopped again, dismounted, and quickly walked into the forest.

Soon, with Cookie's hunting skills, Rain quickly caught a forest wolf.

He placed his hand on the struggling wolf and activated the second core skill of the Beast Priest - 'Beast Vitality'!

Instantly, the forest wolf stopped resisting.

A surging heat flow passed from the wolf's body through Rain's hands and into his own body.

The feeling of this heat flow coursing through his body was similar to the recovery after gaining skill points, but with an additional element.

Rain dispersed the special effect of Steel Body and cut his finger with his sword blade.

Within two seconds, the wound rapidly healed.

Indeed, in addition to restoring stamina, the core skill 'Beast Vitality' could also heal injuries.

At this moment, the forest wolf looked listless and weary, lying on the ground, too lazy to move.

However, Rain seemed to hear faint and distant wolf howls in his ears, a unique sound that could subtly interfere with his mind.

But since the sound was faint, the interference was also minimal and could be ignored.

"Is this the 'Beast Soul' described in the skill description?" Rain wondered.

After thinking for a moment, Rain entered the forest again.

This time, when he emerged, he was leading a robust gray bear.

He tried the 'Beast Vitality' skill again and found that the strength of the heat flow he could absorb was related to the power of his target.

Additionally, he felt the side effects more prominently. After absorbing the heat flow from both the wolf and the bear, the previously faint wolf howls and bear roars became much louder, significantly affecting his mind.

Simultaneously, the bear roars were slightly stronger than the wolf howls.

Moreover, this increase in intensity was not gradual but rather exponential.

Ryan Calan was deep in thought. The 39 points of spirit interference from the black horse wasn't particularly strong, but it was still enough to resist.

"In other words, if I use the core skill 'Beast Vitality' continuously in a short time, the side effect of 'Beast Soul' will become stronger and stronger, interfering with my mental state?" Ryan thought to himself.

At this moment, Ryan turned his head to look at the black horse beside him.

The black horse neighed loudly, its hooves pawing at the ground as if agitated.

"Hmm?" Ryan wondered.

"It's about to evolve?" Ryan's eyebrows rose, and he couldn't help but smile.

"It knows how to pick its timing, evolving at this moment."

"Perhaps the long-term consumption of the Mutation Growth Potion has accumulated its effects, and now it's being fully released?"

At this moment, a system notification sounded:

[Host's pet Jenny Mare is evolving due to the long-term consumption of the Mutation Growth Potion!]



[Mutation Evolution in progress]



The black horse snorted, its muscles trembling, and its glossy fur had veins bulging like earthworms.

After several minutes, a bump formed on the horse's forehead, and soon, a horn-like protrusion rose.

The horse's size didn't change much, only becoming slightly larger and more robust.

The system notifications began to flood the screen:

[Host's pet Jenny Mare has successfully evolved into a Feral Beast, 'Swift Zebra'!]



[Your Beastmaster skill has improved, experience +567]



[Your Beast Priest (Legendary) profession experience +119]



[Congratulations, your Beast Priest (Legendary) profession level has increased!]



[Ding! Host's contract pet count increased, currently (3/4)]



(Note: Swift Zebra has awakened the innate talent 'Swift')



[Do you want to rename the Swift Zebra? Yes/No]



Without hesitation, Ryan chose 'No'.

The system named it Swift Zebra, which was quite fitting.

Seeing the black horse's successful evolution and the Beast Priest (Legendary) level increase from lv1 to lv2 (31/300), Ryan couldn't help but smile.

His remaining attribute points increased from 12 to 13, and more importantly, his remaining skill points were no longer zero.

With this double joy, Ryan's face lit up.

It was actually a triple joy, as his contract pet count increased, reaching four pets.

Ryan circled the black horse, carefully examining it. Although its size didn't change much, it now had a ten-centimeter horn.

After the mutation, its previously herbivorous teeth had grown into sharp fangs.

Ryan casually fed it some jerky, and the Swift Zebra devoured it with relish.

Its eyes seemed to glow with excitement.

Indeed, it was the first time it had tasted meat after being a herbivore. The Swift Zebra felt like it had discovered a new continent.

After the Swift Zebra finished eating, Ryan rode it and found that its endurance had significantly improved.

When using its innate talent, its speed increased significantly, and the duration was also longer.

Considering this, it seemed more suitable for long-distance travel.

After a quarter of an hour, Ryan stopped at a signpost with an arrow pointing in three directions.

The three arrows indicated three directions: Shingold Town, Myester County City, and Fishport Town.

Without much thought, Ryan didn't choose to go to Shingold Town or the County City but instead turned left and headed towards Fishport Town.

Saving people was urgent!

Soon, another checkpoint appeared ahead, more heavily guarded with several sharp wooden barriers blocking the road and dozens of heavily armed Heavy Shield Crossbowmen on alert.

Upon seeing Ryan, they immediately raised their guard and shouted, "This is the combat zone with the Sea People. Unrelated personnel, leave immediately!"

Ryan slowed down and showed his documents again before being allowed to pass.

Not long after, Ryan stood on a hill not far from Fishport Town, overlooking the town he was familiar with.

At this moment, black smoke rose from various parts of Fishport Town. Although the ruins and rubble were still burning, the sounds of battle could be heard from all directions.

In such a chaotic battlefield, finding Envoy Javier's youngest daughter, Alasha, without guidance, would be like climbing a mountain.

Fortunately, Ryan had a piece of Sensory Stone given to him by Javier, which could sense Alasha's location within several kilometers.

Ryan took out the nearly transparent Sensory Stone and walked a dozen meters in several directions.

Using his keen senses, Ryan discovered that when he walked towards the southeast, the stone's light would change slightly.

Obviously, Alasha should be in this direction.

So, Ryan used the skill 'Beast Eye' again, borrowing Bloodfeather's sharp eyesight, and found that dozens of meters beyond the southeast coast, on a small island, there were many Fish People gathered.

Among them were several obviously larger male Blood Curse Naga!

What surprised Ryan even more was that when he saw the island's terrain clearly.

He suddenly discovered that there was a seven or eight-meter-wide hole in the center of the island, and below it, there seemed to be a stone staircase leading to unknown secrets deep underground!

Thanks to the safety island, the author of 'Deadly Music' for the 100 starting coins reward!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end