Harun Vol 2 Chapter 9

《New Journey》

 Haroon and the quad w.a.n.kers headed to a small inn located near the west gate of the castle, where Doran has introduced him. Though the building was quite small compared to where the Rotem mercenaries were, it was enough to have a good rest as the rooms were clean and the food was good.

 The Quad w.a.n.kers seemed upset about Haroon accepting a quest without talking to them, but he didn’t care. They wouldn’t be leaving him anytime soon, after all. He would use them as much as possible for a year. Then who knows, they might become his men.

 They left the castle in the early morning. Like the north gate where tight inspections were held, the west gate also had very serious inspections going on. It didn’t take that long as they didn’t even have a cart.

 “Why are they so picky? How dare they even search through a lady’s bag? They are so ill-mannered,” Serinn complained.

 Usually, only a few guards would be protecting the gate. But now, even the knights were present for inspections.

 “I don’t think this is a usual inspection,” said Philip.

 “That’s what I thought. Something is going on around here, including the metropolis. Even my manager didn’t like that I was going out of the city on a journey,” Gitan agreed.

 Commenting on the inspection, they hurried on their way. Unlike the other gates where the road was routed to other cities, the west gate was quiet. They saw no one until they met Doran and Devron at the beginning of some wheat fields, where they had agreed to meet.

 “Devron!”

 “Welcome. We’ve been waiting.”

 Devron, Doran’s family, A girl who is the main character of the Story Quest, and a strange lady were waiting for them. Unlike Haroon and his members, they were carrying just a few backpacks. They must have disposed of their carts in such a short time.

 “Let me introduce you to the new faces here. This is my niece Briella, and this is Hall. She is an a.s.sa.s.sin mage, and she will be guarding Briella. We hired her a long time ago as Briella has been weak and sick for quite some time now. Briella, Hall, this is Haroon, the leader of mercenary guild The Gusts of Wind,” said Devron.

 Haroon and the Quad w.a.n.kers’ eyes were filled with curiosity. A lady who seems to be only about 20 years old is a magician who has gone through a.s.sa.s.sin training. They couldn’t be more surprised.

 Briella and Hall greeted by nodding without any words. Hall gave them a cold shoulder. Her cold stare made them not even dare to be curious about Briella.

 Briella had a pale face and sickly appearance. She was skinny and her face wasn’t particularly pretty, but she had quite an aura and crystal clear eyes, and it was impressive enough to not think about the rest of her appearance.

 It was contrasted by Hall’s black clothing, more because she was standing next to Briella. Hall was wearing black clothes with wide sleeves and tight ends, tied with strings. She had a sword in the back and was holding a magic wand. She certainly looked cold.

 “Nice to meet you, the Name’s Haroon. These four are my friends and the other members of The Gusts of Wind. This is Philip, Gitan, Serinn, and last but not least, Ritrina. We will be escorting you to the Viscounty of Paros.”

 Haroon introduced his members to Briella and Hall. He continued.

 “I heard you’ve got a plan that you haven’t told us yet, may we know about it before we go?”

 He asked Devron. It wasn’t

long ago that they had met, but Haroon figured out that this old man was in a way higher position than Doran was.

 “About the plan, let’s talk about it when we meet my friend who will be our pathfinder. For now, we need to get to Saron Wetland.”

 “You mean the Saron Wetland, also known as the Swamp of Death that is full of poison?” Philip asked, surprised.

 “That’s right. We’ll stop for a lunch before we enter the place, and meet my friend there. Then we’ll talk about the plan.”

 “Got it.”

 The party hurried towards Saron Wetland. Haroon and the Quad w.a.n.kers were surprised that Briella didn’t get tired, despite how sick and weak she looked.

 After having two breaks, they were able to arrive at the forest near the wetland before noon. They stopped by the hill, which was not so far from the forest. It was a good place to take a rest, as there was a tree with large branches and leaves.

 “The wetland is just beyond the forest. So about the plan, do you see the mountains over there? They are called the Norflox mountains. We’ll go around the wetland, and go over the Norflox mountains to get to Paros castle. That’s a brief plan, but we’ll need to wait for Teeno to give more details about it.”

 Haroon tracked where Devron’s finger was pointing to. He could see gigantic mountains.

 “Boss, did I tell you that I hate climbing?”

 Serinn already got scared. Well, she hates her clothing getting messed up. She cared for her body and beauty so much that she even customized her armor to fit her body tightly. Ritrina sneered from hearing Serinn’s words.

 Haroon wanted to check his loot, so he brought some bread with him and entered the forest, away from the Quad w.a.n.kers. He couldn’t check the loot before as they always moved with him. As Haroon saw that the Quad w.a.n.kers were about to follow him, he excused himself by saying he needs quiet time to think. As soon as he entered the forest, he could smell something.

 ‘What is this smell? It is quite similar to what I’ve smelt in the drainage.’

 Just like the smell in the drainage where he found Brat, a foul smell stung his nose. But curiosity dragged him deeper into the forest.

 Whatever kind of trees these were, they were so thick that a normal man couldn’t enclose it with their arms. It was so dense that a person could barely go between the trees. Moreover, the leaves blocked most of the sunlight, so that only a few gleams of sunlight were driving the darkness out of the forest.

 Haroon thought about going back a few times, but he kept going as he didn’t want to make his effort meaningless. Eventually, he could exit the forest.

 “What is this place?”

 There was a fog covering the place. What he could see was one thing: black. Everything was black. Fallen trees, dirt, water, everything was dead.

 “So this is the Saron Wetland? Yuk! This smell could kill someone!”

 It was worse than the drainage of the Mercenary academy. Not just a foul smell, but the air was quite polluted as well, which made Haroon feel dizzy after drawing a few breaths. At least he wasn’t getting poisoned, which meant the poison wasn’t as strong as the drainage.

 The earth of the wetland was black, and nothing was on it. Not anything with life. Seeing that scenery made him think of Brat, so he sp.a.w.ned it on stand-by. Strangely, it was able to smell the air even in standby mode.

 – “Mas, this smells nice.”

 – “‘Smells nice’? Everything is rotting here.”

 – “Hehehe. This is enrapturing! This is my favorite smell. Quite strong poisons are piled up, and its sweet scent is driving me crazy!”

 Spirits sure do have different tastes.

 – “s.h.i.+t, you call this sweet scent?”

 – “Hehehe, my taste isn’t as simple as yours, Mas. There are numerous corrosive poisons made by various corpses rotting, bugs and monsters that eat poisons… Thinking of their juice and texture, it makes me drool. Moreover, this is very nutritious stuff to recover my ability.”

 ‘What a dirty spirit! Did it starve that much that those rotten and polluted things look delicious? Wait a minute, what if…?’

 He remembered that Devron said they will be going over the mountain, around the wetland.

 – “Brat, by the way, can you absorb them?

 – “Of course, I can. There are so many of them but with my great and mighty power, it won’t take… uh… I mean it will take some time, but a bit of them? yes.”

 – “Is that so…”

 A good idea came into Haroon’s mind.

 – “So, do you need any E.F.P. or mana when you are absorbing them?

 – “Well, well, it is obvious that you’ll need some mana to summon me, isn’t it? And I am eating a good thing for me, and do you think I will need E.F.P. for that? Why don’t you use your head, Mas?

 – “Oh, Maybe I could use my hands, though.”

 Brat shut his mouth.

 – “So, all I need is mana for summoning you.”

 – “Mmhm. Wait, and you’ll need some antidote.”

 Right. It will be no use if his party gets poisoned.

 – “But can’t you seal your poison and absorb poisons?”

 – “I don’t think so, Mas. You’ll run out of mana pretty fast.”

 Haroon wondered why there were so many limitations.

 – “Well then, how far away do the others have to be to not get poisoned by you?

 – “Hm. Wouldn’t 20 steps be enough, Mas?”

 That won’t be a problem. As Haroon and Brat share a mental connection, being 20 steps away won’t be a problem for communication.

 – “Ok, would you be able to find a path with poison weak enough for humans?”

 – “How can I know now? I’ll have to get there. But that’ll be simple. If there is none, I can make one.”

 True, as it can absorb poison. It will be a matter of mana.

 – “Alright. Then go out, and see if there is a path, and how long it will take.”

 – “Okay!”

 “Summon!”

 Brat flew into the wetland. Its tail erect, which wasn’t normal to see. It seemed it was absorbing the poison as well, seeing how the fog faded away as it moved, creating a path.

 When Haroon was about to run out of mana, Brat came back. Haroon was about to call it anyway, but it somehow knew the timing.

 “Mas, this is a really good place.”

 “So, was there a path that we could take?”

 “Yup. Some places have less dense poison. It is weak enough for humans, but one will need an antidote. It’s quite a distance. It will take about two to three hours for humans. But there are some places where poisons are quite dense.”

 “Then, do you think you can absorb those?”

 “Of course, I can! Who do you think I am? If you don’t know that much, how are you supposed to be a master of Brat, the p.r.o.noun for mighty?”

 “I get it, OK?”

 Brat was annoying him once again, but he contained himself. He was jealous of Brat having more skill than him, but decided to be satisfied by having a skillful pet.

 “Brat, then when I give you a signal later, come out, then find a path with solid, dry ground and make a path for us. Do you think you can do that?”

 “Of course. That’s not even a task for the mighty Brat.”

 “Good. I’ll call you later, so be quiet for now.”

 “Be quick! I can’t wait anymore!” it said, smacking its lips.

 Brat’s voice was full of expectation and excitement. Taking an antidote, Haroon thought of his character’s current situation.

 “If I only had enough mana, and wouldn’t get poisoned summoning it, then I could be a really OP(overpowered) character. Well, I can see why they made Brat like that: to keep the balance of the game.”

 If he didn’t consider that Brat is quite c.o.c.ky, it was too good for a level 10 user, even if he can only use it for a few seconds.  

 After taking an antidote to remove the ‘poison’ debuff, Haroon came back to where the party was. It seemed Serinn’s personality helped her to become friends with Briella. The others were having a meal together, with a new face that Haroon couldn’t recognize.

 “Mr. Haroon, this man here is Teeno. He is capable of swordsmans.h.i.+p and emergency treatment, but his specialty is finding a path,” Doran introduced the man.

 The man beside Doran stood up, and Haroon was surprised that his appearance was far from normal.

 “The name’s Haroon. Nice to meet you.”

 “Tee, Teeno, you can call me Teeno.”

 Teeno was of small stature, close to dwarfs, but his body was balanced. He was as short as Sepia, but there were thick wrinkles on his face. His eyes were shaking, and he couldn’t face anyone directly.

 “Teeno will be guiding us to the Viscounty of Paros.”

 “Well, thank you. We appreciate your help.”

 “Ye-yes, yes……!”

 He was stuttering as if he was deeply grateful for Haroon’s warm words.

 It wasn’t hard for Haroon to figure out that Teeno had been enslaved for quite a long time. Not only from his subservient behavior, but also from the fact that he didn’t dare to face anyone directly.

 Haroon felt pity and anger at the same time. Haroon could see his real-life self in Teeno’s behavior.

 “Then, let’s hear from Teeno what route we should take to Paros.”

 When Haroon picked up the soup the party left for him, Doran asked Teeno, who had already finished his soup and bread.

 “Teeno, tell us what you saw and your thoughts.”

 “Yes. First of all, walking around the forest that surrounds Saron Wetland will take about two days to get to the high hill that borders with river Saron. We will be going around the hill. Two more days from there will take us to the opposite side of Saron Wetland from here. From there to Norflox mountains, it will be about 2~3 hours. If we go straight forward from there, we’ll be climbing the mountains on the most gradual slope. Though there might not be a road, climbing will still be easier than taking the road.”

 Teeno’s eyes were burning bright with pa.s.sion, unlike when he faces others.

 “What are the risks?” Devron asked, finis.h.i.+ng his lunch.

 “The hill I mentioned earlier is the territory of the brown orcs. If we go through there, we may save a day but we need to avoid their territory. Normally, they won’t attack the humans as they learned farming techniques from us, but they are a cruel race who don’t appreciate intruders.

 “Hmm, so that’s why you said we need to go around the hill.”

 “That’s right. But that’s not all. Some outer parts of the wetland are the habitats of crocodiles or lizardmen.”

 “s.h.i.+t.”

 Devron swore lightly. He decided to take this path to avoid dangers, but this path was just as dangerous as the other path.

 “Then how about taking the path that the Rotems were going to take?”

 Doran suggested.

 “No. That is a longer way where it takes about 10 days to Hu’gerock, the midpoint from here to the Viscounty of Paros. And that way is much more dangerous than this one. My heart is warning me to avoid that path. Just facing that direction hurts my heart like it is going to burst.”

 “Is that so? Then that’s not even an option.”

 Doran gave a light sigh. He saw how Haroon was confused, and explained why.

 “Oh, sorry! I forgot to mention that Teeno is great at detecting danger. When he faces a great danger, he says that his heart feels like it’s going to burst at any second.”

 Then Haroon and the Quad w.a.n.kers could understand Teeno’s words. Even in real life, there are people like Teeno. They don’t understand why, but by simply not feeling right, they could avoid dangers.

 “Hey, short buddy, isn’t there any way to go through the Wetland? It seems like we can save lots of time in that way.”

 Asked Gitan, who couldn’t just sit there and wait for them to make a decision. His tone was as if he was talking to a slave.

 “No!”
 “None!”

 Devron and Doran shouted even before Teeno could answer. They looked at each other and gave rather bitter smiles. Devron explained why it would not be an option.

 “Saron Wetland is a land with a deep shadow of death. Whatever goes in, never comes out alive.”

 “Sound’s like there is a story behind it, right?”

 Philip asked, interested.

 “Well, they say a Phoenix appeared near this place,” Devron replied.

 “A Phoenix? You mean the legendary bird-like creature that’s born from fire and breath fire?”

 Briella asked out of curiosity.

 “Yes. Although we still don’t know if it exists or not, folks believed that it truly existed. The tale goes back to even before the Empires arose. Well, that’s roughly a thousand years ago, so we don’t have any way to find out if the legend was true or not. The king, or the feudal lord who owned this place, tried to capture the Phoenix to attract public sentiment. He mobilized a strong army for the mission: 6 knightages, a magic corp and an army of 20,000.”

 He paused for a second, and continued.

 “But not a single body came out from the Wetland. And after that happened, no one ever dared to enter the wetland. This kind of legend was formed because folks back then believed that phoenixes are known to make their nests where no humans can reach. Anyway, It is true that thousands of people who entered the place never came out, according to what the history says. n.o.body knows why they entered, though.”

 It sounds more like a made up story to scare kids to stay away from the wetland, rather than a legend. A story just to emphasize to people to prevent them from going into that place. While it was a mere story for Haroon, to Briella, Sepher, and Sepia, it was an interesting legend that an old man delivered.

 “Well, how much shorter would the journey be if we could go through the wetland?” Haroon asked Teeno.

 “Wh-while we all agree that’s an impossible thing to do…… If we could go through the wetland, it is about two or three day distance from the other end of the wetland to Hu’gerock by walking, so we will be saving roughly 6 days. And there is a much smaller chance to encounter any monsters.”

 “That sounds right. There aren’t many monsters around the wetland, as foul smells and poisonous properties were creeping down from the slope. Humans made a natural wall with the forest, but that’s not what monsters could do,” Doran added.

 Then Haroon could see how a forest could have formed. It was formed by humans who planted trees to make it act like a windbreaker.

 “6 days?” Haroon murmured.

 Devron and Doran heard Haroon seriously murmuring the words ‘6 days’ repeatedly.  

 ‘Does he have a way to go through the wetland?’

 They both thought for a moment, then shook their heads. It simply wasn’t possible.

 “Devron, how much do you trust me?”

 “I-I am not sure what you mean, Haroon.”

 Devron was not able to remain calm from hearing Haroon’s sudden question out of nowhere. The others found it weird and looked at Haroon.

 “Ah, sorry. I asked the wrong question. I know we haven’t built up enough trust yet.”

 “Well, Yes, I do trust you, and that’s why we asked you to escort us, don’t you think?”

 Devron was nervous that Haroon would withdraw from the quest. He chose this path only because he believed that Haroon’s throwing knife skill could protect them. If he gives up, there wouldn’t be any chance for them.

 “I mean, would you trust me if I told you that I have a way to go through the wetland?”

 “Wha-WHAT?!”

 Everyone jumped up when they heard Haroon’s words.

 “I have an ability that can find a safe path through the wetland. Of course, it is your choice to believe me or not.”

 Devron couldn’t hide the astonishment from his face, throwing off his emotionless-mask.

 “Really? You can find a safe path?”

 “Yes, if you trust me, I can lead us through the wetland.”

 A deafening silence laid upon the party after hearing Haroon’s confident words. It became a serious concern, as it was a matter of life or death.

 “I won’t. I saw your throwing skills, but I cannot trust you on that. How can a Grade-D mercenary possibly do that? That poison and foul smell are already strong enough to make me feel dizzy even from this far.”

 It was Hall. She saw Haroon’s skill while she was hiding in the cart with Briella, but it was still hard for her to trust Haroon’s claim. She was the only one to speak up, but the others were agreeing to the fact. Not because Haroon is a grade-D mercenary, but because he is a human being like them.

 “I mean, it could be possible. One of our Boss’s ability is Elementalism, so maybe he can find a path by using the spirits.”

 Ritrina gave a positive opinion.

 “As far as I know, there is no such elementalism related to poison.”

 Philip opposed with a look of worry. Philip knew Haroon was good at dealing with sickness, at least good enough to cure their strange disease, but poison was a totally different matter.

 “It is not about it being possible or not. If we were to go, we must go as soon as possible or it will get dark when we are still in the middle of the wetland, and that will be troublesome,” said Haroon.

 Mixed feelings went through Devron’s and Doran’s eyes.

 “True, we need to decide now.”

 “Doran, what do you think of this?”

 “You know well that I would gladly follow your decision. But I have to say, from what I have seen so far, Haroon is not the kind of person who would eat his own words.”

 Devron nodded. His mind wasn’t so different from Doran’s. Devron knew that Haroon was something else, seeing how Philip was calling Haroon ‘Boss’, even though he is older.

 “Fair enough. We are counting on you. I will entrust you with my life.”

 Finally, Devron made a hard decision. The others seemed nervous, but the decision was made, so they swiftly prepared to continue the journey.

 “Mr. Haroon, take some of these.”

 “What are these?”

 When the party entered the forest, Teeno handed Haroon something. It was small, rounded pills, and it had a delicate scent.

 “Those are antidotes I prepared, just in case.”

 “Antidotes?”

 Haroon smelled it. It had quite a refres.h.i.+ng scent. It seemed like there was something added that wasn’t included in Hector’s antidotes.

 “Are these made with Syaltano?”

 “Ho-how do you know that name?”

 Teeno jumped when he heard the name ‘Syaltano’ from Haroon’s mouth. Syaltano was one of the rare herbs that weren’t known to the public. Haroon smiled back.

 “I know a few recipes of medical remedies. Among the recipes that my herbalism teacher taught me, there were some antidotes that had an ingredient named Syaltano. He was upset that he hasn’t seen it with his own eyes, though.”

 Hector used to say that he could add a refreshment to the antidote, and it would make the user feel more energy in their body.

 “Who made these?” Haroon asked.

 “It’s a bit embarra.s.sing to say, but I made these myself.”

 Haroon was surprised to hear that. Maybe Teeno was a greater man than he thought.

 “I made them prior to coming as we were moving along the wetland, anyway.”

 “Well, that’s one less risk, thanks to you.”

 “B-but, you know, because it only lasts for an hour…….”

 He couldn’t finish the sentence like he’d done a bad thing. He really was an innocent man.

 “No, but it is good enough to be a great help.”

 “That’s a relief then.”

 With a light heart, Teeno went to the others to hand out his antidotes.

 When they were out of the forest and was about to enter the wetland, Haroon told the party to take an antidote in prior. The party was surprised by the strong, poisonous smell and took an antidote or potion.

 “I will be searching for the path, so take the exact path I take, but make sure you are far enough from me so I won’t get distracted. About 20 steps would be enough.”

 Haroon turned away from the rest of the party and summoned Brat with a low voice.

 “Brat, Come out!”

 “MUHAHAHA! Dinner time!”

 It smiled, shaking its tail. But its smile came to Haroon as a warning to take an antidote. The UI sound alerted that he has been poisoned.

 “Ok, then, find the path we talked about, and while you are moving, absorb the poison so all of us can move without getting poisoned. You can do that, right?”

 “Hehe. Of course, Mas. Who do you think I am? I’ll show you the mighty power of an Essential spirit. Hehehe, poison! Poison everywhere!”

 “Then, lead the way.”

 Slowly flapping its four pairs of wings, it twitched its nose several times and started moving.

 “Okay, Follow me.”

 Although Haroon knew Brat is an expert with poison, he was worried about it being messy, so he followed it with some distance.

 Haroon was getting almost no poison damage from Brat as they had quite some distance between them. Also, as it seems he is not getting poisoned in this way, so he didn’t need to worry about the poison anymore.

 Brat looked for the route with less dense poison, and moved, sometimes turning right and left. The others were busy enough from dealing with the fear of poison, but Haroon could feel the refres.h.i.+ng air, and by that, he knew that Brat was working diligently.

 The thing that Haroon thought was a mere fog turned out to be a colorless poisonous cloud. Going into the cloud without any hesitation, Brat absorbed as much as he wanted and made a large path.

 Since the forest was blocking the wind from the outer areas, the path remained long enough for them to pa.s.s. The party, excluding Haroon and Brat, was nervous and scared of going through the land of death, and their hearts were pumping like crazy, but it slowed down as the time went by. They were still nervous, but as Haroon proved his ability to be true, they were not scared of getting poisoned anymore. Soon, they were able to realize that there wasn’t any fog where Haroon went.

 As there was no flow of air, and the path was wide; ideally they should not be concerned about their safety, but their hearts weren’t feeling so calm. Running away from the fear of poison, the party moved faster and faster, and soon, they grouped together and moved closer to Haroon. Now the rest of the party was just 10 steps away from Haroon.

 Haroon unsummoned Brat before his mana ran out. With the amount of mana his character could hold, he could not maintain Brat summoned for more than 9 minutes. Fortunately, Brat had already moved so far that the party could move without it for a while.

 No matter how the others saw the surroundings, Haroon could easily find the pa.s.sage that Brat made. Some parts of it didn’t have a solid ground and the party sometimes had to wet their ankles, but that was all. Whenever they had to go through large and small puddles, those were detoxified and were safe to cross.

 They had already walked for two hours, but the journey in the wetland didn’t seem to end soon. As the people were on alert, only following Haroon, they started to get tired. So Haroon stopped at a flat boulder that the party could rest on.

 “Let’s take a rest here.”

 At Haroon’s call, everyone gave a deep sigh of relief. Although they knew they were safe from the poisons, there was no way for them to not be nervous about going right through them. After all, the wetland was popular for being a land of death.

 “You never stop impressing me. How can you even find a path in a place like this? Hall told me you’ve sp.a.w.ned a spirit from seeing the mana flow……..” said Devron.

 Devron’s face was full of astonishment, as if he gave up on playing emotionless with Haroon.

 “Well, Yes, it is related with elementalism….. but I don’t know how to put it in words.”

 Just as Devron taught him indirectly, Haroon decided to hide the source of the ability.

 “If it is not an Elemental, what is it? It doesn’t seem like you’ve got an Artifact, and I don’t see anything peculiar other than regularly taking mana potions, but you still find a safe path. That’s really intriguing.”

 Not only Devron, but Doran and Teeno were watching him with admiration. Hall, who is a magician, was now watching him differently too. Especially, Teeno’s eyes were full of admiration and respect. It was not as much as the rest of the party, but the Quad w.a.n.kers were interested as well.

 “Whatever the method is, it seems you have to use lots of mana.”

 “Yes, more than I was expecting.”

 Haroon nodded. He already drank 4 low-quality mana potions. He had 10 that the Quad w.a.n.kers gave him. He had mid-quality potions that Tain gave him, but he hesitated to use them.

 Devron stared at Haroon for a while, then he called Hall.

“Hall, get me some mana pots.”

 “Yes, sir.”

 On Devron’s order, Hall took some gla.s.s bottles out from her bag and handed it to Devron.

 “These are mid-quality pots. They will be handy in a situation like this.”

 Devron took 4 potions from her hands and handed them to Haroon. Hall was shaking her hands when she saw that, but Devron didn’t pay it any attention.

 ‘Well, I don’t refuse things like this,’ Haroon thought

 Just like what Bell said, the color of the mid-quality mana potion was silver. Brewed with Troll’s blood, hundreds of miscellaneous ingredients and divinity, they were effective enough to refill the mana pool of circle 3-magicians in a few seconds.

 With just one gulp, Haroon chugged the potion. While he was enjoying the peculiar taste of the potion, a refres.h.i.+ng feeling spread to his body.

[Your mana is fully regenerated]

 He was glad to hear that. He could feel that his body and mind was being filled with something that wasn’t a physical power. It was impressive to see how mid-quality potions can make mana regenerate this fast, unlike how slowly mana regenerates after taking a low-quality one.

 “It was very effective! My mana is at full already!” said Haroon.

 Devron laughed when he saw Haroon’s surprised face.

 “Well, that’s a good thing. I wonder how you’ve got such a surprising ability.”

 Haroon wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or an indirect insult.

 Anyway, According to Bell, the effect of mana potions would consist even when his mana is at full. This meant the mana will still be regenerating whenever he spends it, as much as the effectiveness of the potion. Thinking about it, Haroon understood how valuable those potions were, so he handed back the 3 remaining potions.

 But Devron didn’t accept them.

 “Just have it with you, and use them whenever you need to. You are the only mercenary who doesn’t even bring a proper potion on his journey,” said Devron.

 So Haroon put them back in his inventory.

 “Well, we were in quite a rush, so…… Thank you, anyway.”

 Haroon saw the Quad w.a.n.kers looking at him quite offensively, but simply ignored them. What is wrong with accepting gifts, and when they are such valuable items? Not even a fool would do that.

 After a while, Haroon went ahead and summoned Brat after putting some distance between him and the rest of the party.

 “So, how was it?”

 “Hehe! I’m so happy to have a full belly, Mas.”

 “Well, have some more.”

 “Yes, Mas!”

 Brat’s voice was full of loyalty, not the usual c.o.c.kiness.

 ‘I mean, is it that good? What a dirty spirit it is.’ he thought.

 He kept walking, followed by the others who were not as nervous as before.

 The effectiveness of the mid-quality potion was amazing. He rested for two more times, but his mana was still full. Also because his mana pool was quite small, but mostly because the effectiveness of the mana potion was something else.

 They ate pre-made sandwiches for lunch¹ and moved again. When Haroon took another mid-quality potion, they were out of the wetland.

 ‘d.a.m.n! What a waste!’

 He was too late to realize that he didn’t need to take a mid-quality one, only if he pushed his body to the limit.

 When the party was stepping on green gra.s.s once again, that’s when they were able to feel relieved.

 “You’ve done a great job. I know it’s a bit tiring, but let’s get to the bottom of the mountain today. We might be able to get to the Viscounty castle in just 10 days,” said Devron, tapping Haroon’s shoulders.

 With Haroon’s help, he was able to save 6 days. Not only that, the party was able to avoid encountering any monster. That already meant a lot. With light footsteps, the party continued moving towards the Norflox Mountains.

 It was still early in the evening, but the party decided to sleep right after pitching their tent. Not only were they bringing two kids, but they were tired from being on full guard in the wetland and they had forced a march to the mountain. They were mentally, and physically tired.

 ‘Finally! This would be a good time to check the items,’ Haroon thought.

 After making sure that Philip and Gitan were sleeping, Haroon opened his status window. As it was his first time checking his status window after slaying the bandits, Haroon was expecting much from it.

Name: Haroon
Race: Human
Cla.s.s: –
Level: 10
t.i.tle: Mercenary guild leader (and 4 others)
Health Points: 490
Mana Points: 500
E.F.P.: 350
Strength: 48(+15)           Stamina: 39
Wisdom: 22                     Intellect:40
Luck: 27                           Agility: 33(+12)
Sustenance: 13               E.S.P.: 8
Focus: 16                          S.P.: 83
Fame: 600                        Leaders.h.i.+p: 250
Fire Resistance: +10%
Magic Resistance: +10%

He had gained 100 Elemental Force Points from keeping Brat summoned, and he had earned enough Soul Points from killing the Bandits to get a cla.s.s. He realized he had more S.P.s than he thought. Unlike how the U.I. tells players how much S.P.s they got from killing the Boss monsters, gaining one or two points were not alerted.

 “Skill Window.”

Pa.s.sive Skill
Sense Sword: Basic Lv.1(92.00%)/Lv.10

Active Skills²
Spirit Guided Throwing Knives: Basic Lv.1(7.23%)/Lv.5
Spirit Integrated Throwing Knives: Advanced Lv.1(51.02%)/Lv.5
Emergency Treatment: Basic Lv.1(2.50%)/Lv.3
Compound Cure: Basic Lv.1(2.30%)/Lv.5
Trap placement and removal: Lv.1(3:00%)/Lv.3

Summoning Brat several times gained a good amount of experience for both throwing skills. Fighting in combat with his sword gained him a lot of experience, so he was about to get a level up for Sense Sword.

 Feeling glad, Haroon opened his inventory. There was the 100 gold he earned as bounty. Next, while being satisfied by touching the leather sack that Tain gave him, he turned his eyes to the other slots and looked for the items.

 Just as he thought, they were full of new items. Haroon took them out one by one. He cringed his face, and eventually, screamed.

Wide and flat leaves
– Dried. Ready for ‘wiping’

Underwears
– It’s got some foul smell. Seems like it’s not been washed for years

Foot coverings
– Full of vicious germs that causes athlete’s feet.

A Leash
– Worn out. Seems like it won’t be useful.

Women’s underwear
– Smelly. Discolored.

A will of a bandit.
– Written by a bandit who doesn’t know how to write.

Broken copper shortsword
Durability: 0/15
One step away from being broken

Half of a wig
– Used by a bald bandit

Boulder (10Kg)
– Everyone thinks it might be gold at first glance.

Hard bread
– Covered with mold. Not even pigs would dare to eat it.

Medicine for hemorrhoids
– Actually for constipation

A stick
– Was used yesterday to make a fire

Wolve’s p.e.n.i.s
– Dried. Someone actually died from this

Bones
– There is still some meat on it.

“What the h.e.l.l are all these?”

 This was absurd. He couldn’t even imagine why these kinds of items would be dropped. Stunned by the situation, Haroon was watching in the blank sky for a while. Soon, his eyes were burning with flames.

 “Those dirty bandits! Is THIS what you ROBBED people for? d.a.m.n it.”

 To be generous, he could understand if he only killed mere p.a.w.ns. But he has killed two bosses in that fight. There were still no useful items at all.

 “This is ridiculous! There is no way there wouldn’t be any good items!”

 What a relief that everyone was sleeping. If they caught Haroon shouting and freaking out like this, they wouldn’t want to face Haroon anymore. As Haroon’s hands moved inside his inventory, searching for items, Brat’s body started shaking quite violently.

 “Oh, d.a.m.n, my luck!”

 While shouting in anger, Haroon noticed Brat in the corner of his inventory.

 ‘Wait a minute…’

 Haroon summoned Brat on stand-by mode.

 – “BRAT!”

 – “Mas-Master. I’m sorry.”

 Its voice was full of fear. Haroon was just suspecting it, but now he was sure it must have done something. He got really angry. It was bad enough that it was being c.o.c.ky, and now it was reaching its hands on his items. Even if he would die from the poison, he couldn’t let Brat get away from this.

 “Summon!”

 Its body was shaking violently. Now Haroon was 100% sure.

 “Let’s do the talking after some punches.”

 “Wa-wait! Mas, You definitely told me you would let me eat those, and w-why are you making scary faces now?”

 As if it knew there wouldn’t be any talking even after some punching, its voice was trembling with fear. Haroon put his strength in his fists, but hesitated putting it in action, thinking of what Brat just said.

 “You said you would give me the items from those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”

 “When?”

 Even though he questioned it, Haroon could remember agreeing to its request to feed it delicious items from the bandits.

 “You definitely did.”

 It looked at Haroon with a face of innocence, cringing its already cringed face.

 “Of course that doesn’t mean……. Argh!”

 Some curses were about to burst out from his mouth, but he shut his eyes instead. Like Brat said, it was Haroon who allowed Brat to take the items. As it seemed Haroon was calming down, Brat kept talking, still trembling in his voice.

 “Since I am an Essential S-spirit, I need to absorb mana, the origin of every matter, to grow. I already had enough time being weak, sealed in the drainage and being a pet of you, and I grew even weaker because I had to force enhancing your skill. I want a subs.p.a.ce, and I want to use some cool skills too.”

 Haroon held his anger inside, and asked it for more details. He had some idea about what happened with his skills, but he wanted to hear more about it from Brat.

 “You forced enhancing my skill? What do you mean by that?”

 “When you master your skill, Spirit Guided Throwing Knives, it evolves into the skill Spirit Integrated Throwing Knives. But your will was way too strong, and you’ve used all my strength and force-evolved your skill, and by result, my ability got so low now!”

 Haroon could trust his claim. He, too, has been thinking that he got a too great of a skill at his level, and too easily.

 Even considering his stats which was above the average, that skill was way too overpowered. Although he could use it for only a few seconds, it was a very strong move that others would pay anything to get.

 “So I ate some items that were well crafted with the craftsman’s care and effort. Only those items have pure mana. Of course, I’ve eaten lots of poison in Saron Wetland, but that simply isn’t enough.”

 Haroon felt so bitter that he couldn’t speak anymore. Everything was just karma because of his actions. He blamed his old self, willing to death to get the Orc Warrior. Because of that, all of this happened.

 “So, did you get enough of it?”

 “We-well, I think I need just a little bit more. I’ve got enough poison, but I need more different types of mana. By items, maybe a couple of unique items.”

 Haroon couldn’t hide his astonishment and dropped his jaw. Not just rares, not uncommons, but it needed two, Unique, items.

 From the information that Bell gave Haroon, he knew no unique items were obtained by the players. He wanted to ask about the specs of the items Brat ate, but decided not to. If he found out, he wasn’t sure of how he would react.

 “I need to rank up too, don’t you think? Then I will be able to open a subs.p.a.ce, and I will be able to use more effective skills. Shouldn’t a skillful pet be nearby you so you won’t have to be concerned about being weak?”

 “Shoot, go back to your place!”

 Holding the curses and swears inside, Haroon struck the back of its head and unsummoned it. The burning anger had left him, and only a feeling of emptiness remained. Nothing was free, but it was a matter of being lucky or not.

 ‘d.a.m.n it! I need money to live on, and I need to get items for this con-like spirit!’

 To be honest, He wouldn’t have come this far without Brat. He has always been mean to him, but that was only for his c.o.c.kiness, not his personal feelings. He was actually feeling thankful, rather than anger.

 ‘I guess that’s what it takes to be strong. I guess I’ll need to go look for dungeons when I get a cla.s.s and help Jinsoo revenging that wretched girl.’

What a dramatic night.

Translated by Channy_
Edited by Tom and Kmatt

Footnotes:
¹They ate lunch twice?

It’s a mystery. The raw says ‘lunch’, but there is good chance that this could be their dinner. Just a note.

² Active skills

These two words were not in raw, but I added to make things more clear.