books44 Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Chapter 143
Kwaang-!
The Gergos fell with a massive shockwave, blood gushing from its severed neck.
Ian took a step back, avoiding the scattered debris.
The fierce gaze that once belonged to the creature was now hollow and empty.
‘Hoo.’
Ian finally let out a sigh of relief.
Honestly, he wasn’t sure what would happen when the entire party froze up.
‘... To make such a ridiculous mistake.’
If the Gergos hadn’t been observing Ian’s movements with curiosity as he tried to protect the party members, the outcome would surely have been disastrous.
In short, they were lucky.
Ian looked back at his party members.
“Ha... Ha...”
They all seemed to have relaxed a little, finally slumping to the ground.
He felt a bit sorry for his party members.
Ian scratched his head and brought the bracelet to the Gergos’s corpse.
– Ding!
With a rather cheerful sound, coins were rewarded.
A total of 800 coins were awarded.
Since Ian’s party agreed to divide it equally, each person received 200 coins.
Ian racked his memory.
‘I think around 400 coins were needed for a certain promotion.’
This was only the first day before promotion.
Given the harvest in just one day, it’s highly likely they ranked up quickly.
‘Not a bad start.’
Moreover, the objective for coming here wasn’t just to gain coins, so the result was even better.
After all, the main purposes were quick movement to the island’s center and obtaining mystic items.
Shall they head out to acquire the mystic items now?
As Ian was about to get up, Danya approached him.
“I’m sorry, Nyah...”
Ian looked at Danya.
Her eyebrows were drooping diagonally.
Her eyes had a slight moisture.
She was holding onto the bottom of her top and looking quite dejected.
Why is she acting like this?
“A-Are you okay? Because of me...”
Danya pointed at Ian’s left arm.
Only then did Ian properly check the condition of his arm.
There were deep abrasions scattered everywhere.
Blood was flowing out, dripping steadily.
‘... I didn’t realize.’
Surprisingly, he hadn’t felt it.
It must have been because of the adrenaline rush from the unexpected situation.
While blood was flowing, it wasn’t an immediate life-or-death issue. At this level, it would be suitable for testing Super Regeneration.
Danya’s eyes shone with concern.
Ian understood why she was apologizing.
‘She must think that I got hurt because I took such risks.’
Ian shook his head.
Such guilt is unnecessary.
The root of the problem was his own judgment mistake from the beginning.
It was remarkable to not freeze up in front of an opponent radiating ‘fear’ and instead take such bold actions.
But Danya, despite her rough words, had a gentle nature inside.
Ian hesitated to pat her on the head.
‘... She told me not to.’
Instead, he spoke gently.
“No. It was actually a very good decision. Thanks to you, we shortened the strategy time.”
“But if things had gone wrong, you might have been hurt even worse...”
“Isn’t that just showing how much you trusted me? Thank you for trusting me.”
“Well, that’s...”
Danya looked down.
Her body was trembling.
After hearing Ian’s response, Danya had to desperately suppress her instincts.
‘How unfair.’
It felt unfair.
Ian, not scolding her but rather praising her even in this situation.
If this keeps up, she really... might not be able to hold on anymore.
Her lower abdomen ached.
She wanted to pounce on Ian sitting on the rock right then and there.
But at that moment, Ian got up.
Elena rushed over to tend to Ian’s wounds.
Ian shook his head.
Is there no limit to regeneration?
“Hmm.”
The regenerative pattern on his forearm.
What had been fully filled at first was now stained black at the end.
This must be some kind of limit.
Ian nodded.
A limitation like this is fine as long as the healing happens automatically.
Moreover, the effect of ‘Super Regeneration’ doesn’t end with mere healing.
It also synergizes with the ‘Berserker’s Guardian Shield.’
With health hovering around 10%, he would be able to utilize the skills of the Berserker’s Shield effectively.
‘More experimentation is needed.’
However, it is a bit troublesome.
He needs to anticipate situations where health drops below 10%.
He’ll have to wait for a crisis situation to see.
Though he hopes such a situation never arises, the enhanced ability to overcome crises is a significant benefit.
“Alright then.”
With that conclusion, Ian left the Gergos’s lair.
The atmosphere at the entrance felt oddly strange.
Lina, who seemed exhausted, was collapsed.
Elena, looking embarrassed with a red face, had her head bowed.
Danya, with a strangely languid expression, looked up at Ian with wide eyes.
Yet her gaze remained oddly relaxed.
“Ian, you’re all healed up, meow.”
“Ah, it’s nothing. There were some potions that the lizard didn’t digest and spat out.”
Danya muttered the prepared excuse.
“Ahh...”
Danya let out a sigh filled with heat.
Ian tilted his head.
“Isn’t there a sweet smell coming from somewhere?”
Danya suddenly clasped her legs together.
Elena, who had been crouching on the ground, approached and flapped about in a panic.
“Th... Brother, you’re a p*rvert.”
“What are you talking about?”
Squish.
Perhaps due to the water nearby?
There was a lot of water spilled on the floor.
Elena hurriedly dragged Ian to the underground riverbank.
“Anyway! The raft you requested is all done!”
“Oh.”
Elena proudly presented the raft.
It looked like a decent raft on the outside.
“You can trust me and board it!”
Hmm.
Ian examined the raft for a moment before nodding.
“Where are we going with this?”
Lina, who had approached unnoticed, tilted her head.
“We’re heading straight to the island’s center. There’s a river surrounding the island’s center, right? This is the upstream of that.”
“...Here? But we’re underground.”
To be precise, they were below the mountain.
In other words, they were at a higher elevation than the river surrounding the island’s center.
Following this underground river would allow them to reach the island’s central area directly.
That’s not the only advantage.
There would surely be obstacles on the surface.
There would be bridges blocking the way to the island’s center.
Utilizing this river would neutralize all of that.
“Let’s go.”
Ian led the way and boarded the raft.
◆
The ‘Rock Hill’ checkpoint controlled by Emilia’s party.
A necessary path for those heading to the island’s center from the west.
In the underbrush at the entrance of the path, a young student was hiding.
Her identity was Sharon.
Sharon had concluded that Emilia would be monitoring Ian.
She was therefore here waiting for Ian.
To help him.
“...”
But Ian was nowhere to be seen.
Before she knew it, the veil of devastation had come into close range.
What could have happened?
Sharon’s anxiety only increased.