53 To Valtuz (Part 1)

We reached to Nolten village and ordered them to wait here except Noire. Noire and Hyoran followed me back home to our house to see Tuya and Ezo finished preparing.

"Mama, papa? We're back!" Hyoran called out.

*Woof!*

Gris who was waiting for us barked and came to us, excited to go on a adventure.

Tuya walked towards us carrying a large backpack of supplies out of leather. What I know inside is the

"Be sure to take care of yourselves and your monsters, okay?" Tuya said. Giving the backpack to me. I turned to my back and put my arms around the straps.

Then I tipped backwards from the sudden shift in weight. Tuya and Ezo held nothing back. I began walking slightly slower than usual because of the weight, but it's not too bad.

"Bye mama, bye papa! We'll get you souvenirs when we get back!" Hyoran said, waving to them.

They both waved and watched us walk out until they no longer see us in the distance.

Hyoran, Gris, and I meet up with the monsters and walked along with us to Valtuz. It's gonna be a long walk, but let's hope that the bandits don't catch wind.

We continued walking through the forest and see multiple monsters potential to be within our ranks. We happened to see another Bear, but red. It's one of the most aggressive types of Bears.

"Check its stats."

[Checking...completed.]

<Name: Red Bear>

<Gender: Male>

<Race: Beast>

<Rank: E+>

<Skills: Fire Resistance, Wind Resistance, Intimidation>

"I shall name you...Flammenberg." I said to the Red Bear.

[Red Bear is now named Flammenberg.]

"You wanna go hunting? It's a long one." I said to Flammenberg.

Flammenberg shot air from his nose as a sign of agreement and followed us along the way. A single bear can give a Steel ranked adventurer a struggle. If I evolve them, they'll be even more powerful and menacing than before.

When it comes to Rock Bears, they have two diverging paths, Metal series and Crystal or Gem series. Metal makes them more powerful offensively and defensively. However, they sacrifice magic for it. Crystal series makes them more capable to magic at the cost of defense.

Any path other than that doesn't lead to it.

As we continued walking, the amount of trees in the forest was growing larger because of the trees were left untouched by the villagers. This might make walking slightly harder, but nothing I can't handle. I have went on places on foot back then for miles, so it's not too bad.

More foxes run by us, wolves, crows, rabbits, goblins, and some Leaf Elementals go on with their business, but we have a mission.

A mission that could go beyond the Nolten village and many more villages if left unchecked. It may even threaten a kingdom. That's why I will do them a huge favor. Getting rid of pests before they realized. Besides, who would miss a huge opportunity to gain massive amounts of EP?

Also, I must find a way to prevent Zaneth from escaping and regrouping. Since it's inside a mountain, I should make it like a rock slide occurred. Or I should make it like a stampede happened as well.

If I am going to go ambush them good, I have to become hidden. They sent 300 my way and 300 were dead. I made sure of that, but I cannot rely on Concealment. I need extra layers to conceal.

I crafted a weapon from a dead snake, but I wonder if I can use it from a live monster without hurting it. Just like shearing a sheep.

"Schwarze, come here for a bit." I said. Schwarze who is sitting on Steinberg flew to my shoulder.

"Can you let loose one of your feathers?" I said. Schwarze flew of my shoulders and flapped his wings and a black feather floats downward. A dark, ink-like feather was releasing dark aura from it, indicating that it is laced with Curse Magic.

I caught it and my entire vision went black. I expected this to happen so I didn't panic. With my Echolocation skill, it's no problem.

[Warning. You are afflicted by the following curse, Blackout. Vision completely disabled.]

"I want to craft an item."

[Displaying types of items...]

<Armor>

"Armor."

[Displaying types of armor...]

<Head>

<Chest>

<Arms>

<Legs>

<Feet>

<Cloak>

<Cape>

"Cloak."

[Cloak selected...material detected...Despair Owl Feather.]

[Adding properties...]

<Name: Crafted Cloak>

<Type: Cloak>

<Rarity: ???>

<Skills: Curse Resistance, Concealment, Darkness Resistance, Camouflage, Magic Resistance-III, Durability Up-II>

[Would you like to add skills before crafting?]

"Yes."

I added and changed a few skills into that cloak for good measures. I also named the cloak 'Night Shroud'.

<Name: Nightly Shroud>

<Type: Cloak>

<Rarity: ???>

<Skills: Curse Resistance, Concealment, Falsify, Obscurity, Darkness Resistance, Camouflage, Magic Resistance-IV, Durability Up-IV, Traceless>

[The total cost of crafting is...75,000 EP.]

"Do it."

[Acknowledged, now crafting.]

At that moment, the black feather floated away from my hands and my vision is restored. I looked at the feather and then a white light was produced.

Then it became green. It grows bigger and the light turned blue. Hyoran was in awe as she gets to see it again.

"I might get a rare again." I said. I'm not disappointed in the slightest, getting a rare or epic early can help carry people far. Everlands* made an example of that when I got a Purple rarity Shotgun when I was level 12. That alone carried me until I was level 30.

Until, it happened. The light became purple. My first Epic here and in front row seats. The purple light dissipated and showed a black hood and cloak with black feathers attached to the front. The cloak falls onto my arms and it feels slick and smooth.

[Crafting complete. You have crafted a Epic Cloak.]

[Some skills are added or changed according to the rarity.]

<Name: Nightly Shroud>

<Type: Cloak>

<Rarity: Epic>

<Skills: Curse Resistance, Concealment, Falsify, Obscurity, Darkness Nullification, Heat Resistance, Camouflage, Magic Resistance-IV, Durability Up-IV, Traceless, Tenacity>

Not bad, not bad at all.

"Wow...it looks so cool...can I wear it?" Hyoran said.

"Sure, we're gonna go together, right?" I said. I gave her the cloak and she puts it on. The feathers hanging in front of her dangle slightly. She spread her arms and spun around in the cloak, fluttering around as she spun.

"I love it." Hyoran said gleefully. I patted her head which made her wag her tail in response. I take Schwaze's feather again and repeated the same procedure. I was expecting a rare or lower, but I got a Epic again! Same skills like the other!

I put it on and Hyoran looked at me, hopping with excitement.

"Hehehe, we have matching cloaks. So, are we going to the mountain or the village?" Hyoran said.

"Both. We need more people who can help with the bandit problem. Not just monsters." I said.

"I never been to Valtuz before." Hyoran said.

"First time for both of us." I shrugged.

We continued walking ahead and heard voice calling out.

"Hold it right there!"

We stopped to see another group of bandits armed with various weapons and the one in front is a bald man with a large gut wielding a War Hammer. It numbered 30.

"If ya wanna get past us Red Claws, pay the toll!" he declared. The other bandits laughed.

"There's more of them?" Hyoran said.

"Yep." I said.

With this amount and being so frequent, I think it's the Bandit Age. Many people who were screwed over by various circumstances like, being a war deserter, taxed into homelessness, their homes being destroyed and etc.

They would've been pitied, but after countless atrocities, they were deemed as monsters and will kill on sight.

Just as I'm about to do.

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