The World of Tactics

Chapter Twenty-One II: Pre-Homecoming

Chapter Twenty-one II: Pre-Homecoming

"Ugh, such pain... *Huff-Huff*

It has been a few hours since my son escaped. I wonder how long I could prolong this cursing darkness. Urgh! *Cough-ugh, huff-huff...*

I'm sorry my son, your father is weak. Lily, Hugo, Savannah... If only I was stronger, only stronger. None of this would have happened. This darkness is consuming me from the inside out. *Ugh... Huff-huff...*

How long did I last? One day? Or was it two? My mind is waning, my eyelids are getting heavier, and the darkness within keeps spreading... At this rate, I would soon... *Hu-ugh-ugh-huff...*

Something pierced into my mind. A slow, dark, evil, and as deep as the abyss came.

'My, my, you are such a persistent man.' Then came along the most disgusting high-pitched laughter, 'Ahaha-ha!' The next words were even more disgusting than before, 'Oh... The pleasure of seeing you suffer is very delightful.'

I could still imagine the same long-white-faced man that had big purple lips taking pleasure in seeing my predicament. I know for sure that even though his voice rings from the air, the voice came directly from my mind. I know that this evil darkness has already saturated my whole body. I guess now that I could even hear the man's voice, my time is not for much longer.

'Don't worry about your wife and children. Ahaha-ha!' The high-pitched laughter was still mind-numbing. 'We had already escorted them back. As long as you cooperate alone and let this darkness take over your body...' The tone, hints, and pause were glaring. I knew what their plans were. Even so, I could not take the risk nor have the right to bargain.

As the last pure darkness consumes my body, I could no longer feel or exhibit any control. I am still conscious but barely called 'alive' at this point. I can see, hear, and feel my body move on its own accordingly. However, this was to be expected because my crest is no longer a crest. It had been forcefully turned into a soul core through the power of extreme darkness. Forgive me. My incompetency, my wife, and my children." Sir Roylis Smith, is in the process of turning into a dark monster.

---

However, this was because of his advantage, which seem to grow increasingly at an irregular rate. Also, he never has to worry about any fickle growth rates that have a possibility of not having any stats gain with each level gain or not being able to allocate status points. He was glad that he was the only one to have such an advantage over everybody else. If everyone were given such an ability, then the world would be in disorder. Even so, his innate ability of his was quite terrifying now that he thought about it.

His mind eases and puts his dried clothing on before laying down on the mattress of furs. There were still two more days of travel before he could reach his father's fief. He hopes that nothing bad happens to his father after the day that he leaves the estate and mansion.

No matter how he closes his eyes or counts green goblins, he just can not fall asleep at all. It was not until midnight that exhaustion took away his mind and into a dreamland. It might be because there were two additional people, a comfortable cave, and the calming sound of natural rain within the woods. His sleep felt even greater than before and there was not even the slightest dream at all. All it took was just a blank sleep and the morning had already come.

He woke up because of the talk between Lawrence and Jagen. His mind was not clear as yet and he could barely make out what the two were talking about. Lawrence had invited Jagen to join the two of him. Given Jagen's strength, skill, and weapon mastery, they are very versatile. Jagen would be offered a generous position, a decent monthly salary, and the prestige that Jagen deserves. However, Jagen turned down the offers because Jagen already had a plan after recovery. Jagen's tone turned dark and Lawrence quieted down. It seems that Lawrence knew something about Jagen that he did not.

When his waking mind remained clear, he finished rubbing his eye-boogers, and the first thing that he saw was Lawrence already packed up. The sweet scent of cooked meat remained clear on the fireplace and he got up just the right moment when breakfast was ready. The meat is still sizzling with dripping meat juice. Lawrence waved for him to grab a plate because the two of them had already started feasting. He took out a new canteen and drank some water first to fill his thirst before grabbing his plate. They all ate in silence, it seemed to be completely normal except for the awkward sound of chewing and gulping.

As for Dork, Dork was just outside munching on the green vegetarians outside of the cave. The rain stopped early in the morning and way before his awakening. Once breakfast was over, he quickly packed up, which amounted to almost nothing at all. He took a strip of dried meat and bit it. A hop and he was back on top of Dork's back. Jagen and Lawrence give each other a big awkward hug and say goodbye. Just as he was about to turn Dork away, Jagen spoke to him for the first time since their first conversation when they met yesterday.

Jagen said, "Hey, wait lad." A hand was already arching over something before continuing, "Here, you'll need this more than I do."

He replied as he took hold of the thing within the grasp of Jagen, "Thanks."

Even though he took hold of the thing within the grasp of Jagen, Jagen's grip on it was still tight. So, he was confused. His innocent and young face showed it. Jagen continues, "Take care of it." And even more solemnly, "It's a supreme treasure." Then let it go.

Once he fully took hold of it, he could feel the specialness of the thing within his grasp. He answered back as solemnly as he could, "I will."

Both said 'Take care,' as he and Lawrence went into the woods and directed them to the road to yonder. Lawrence was the first in the lead as the road guide in the woods and Dork follows from behind. Lawrence adeptly weaves through the outlandish woods and greeneries. All the trees, an assortment of plants, bushes, shrubberies, some unknown berries, and fruits growing, and many mosses growing green on those fallen logs. The air was a bit cold, yet it was refreshing and comfortable to breathe. The countryside here had quite the wildlife sound vibes radiating from all over the place.

Afterward, he carefully looked at the object. It was flat on both sides (back and front), the edges were rounded with two pointy ends (at a ninety-degree angle), and were shaped with clear cuts of sparkling pattern that glowed light purplish. It was the size that his hand could roughly get a grip on it. It was so mesmerizing and beautiful with the reflected sunlight. He could not help but look at the properties of the crystal object within his hand. The properties of the crystal shocked him to the core. The property of the crystal reads:

[Dragon Stone Crystal (Grade Five): A stone crystal that a powerful ancient dragon created in the long-forgotten past. Due to the long exposure of time, the dragon stone crystal's full power is sealed. It needs dragon blood to unlock the seal(s) and use it. Passive (needs to be in the item slots).][Double all battle experience gain. Uses (per battle): 1/10]

This is truly a treasure! Its value was immeasurable. After all, all of the battle experience that he gains would be double. That means that if he were to gain fifty experience points when doubled, it would be one hundred experiences. Then that is the same as gaining a full level. It was a godly thing to have in battle. At this rate, if he were to give it to one of his summons, Goon or Uzi. Their rate of leveling up against a significantly high level would be much faster. However, he believes that without the dragon stone crystal. The two would gain the same equivalent because the max experience one could get in a single setting was one hundred experiences. It would be redundant for the two who level up as easily as eating.

However, the cost of using it in battle is quite hefty. The dragon stone crystal needed the dragon's blood to use and had only one use left. After a single bout, the double experience would be gone. The good news, however, was the fact that he got some earth draco lizard's blood that contained slight traces of dragon's blood. While Lawrence was guiding at the forefront, Dork followed. He was quite bored doing nothing. So, he did some testing with the blood of the earth draco lizard. A half-filled canteen of blood only amounts to six additional uses.

Even so, he was still excited by the fact that the dragon stone crystal had six more uses left. As long as he fed the dragon stone crystal with dragon blood, then he would not need to worry about the uses. He could use it indefinitely. Not only that, with constant dragon blood feeding. The dragon stone crystal would slowly unseal itself and provide him with even greater effects. This is what he believes will happen in the future and there was no doubt about it. He happily envelops the dragon stone crystal with his mana and puts it within his eighth item slot.

He absorbed the small amount of mana back into himself and the item was easily set within the eighth item slot. A long thirty minutes of morning travel and they finally made it out onto one side of the road. Lawrence was quite experienced with the road, but Lawrence still needed his approval for the next course of action.

Lawrence asked, "Where should we head to next? There is a village near here. If you are not in a hurry, we could get there by noon." Then he continues with, "Otherwise, we could continue down this road for another day before reaching Sir Roylis Smith's fief."

He could still vaguely remember that Lawrence was quite a quiet person. Somehow, along with the terrible accident. Lawrence must have become more talkative. Quite the opposite of his situation, however, he did not dislike it because he was used to having others to talk to while he enjoyed the mood. Likewise, talking once in a while is not that troublesome and is quite pleasant as well. So, he said, "Let's stop by the village and get some necessary supplies first."

Somehow, with Lawrence leading the way. He felt much safer than the last two days when he had been on edge while fighting two battles with little rest. It was much of a surprise, but the moment that they reached the village. There was no battle at all. No goblins, no wolves, no earth draco lizard, nothing at all. It was a pleasant surprise.

At this point, he was not in a rush to get stronger anyway. Once he is back home, he would provocatively do daily inspections, and battles against monsters should be a common passing thing. So, he did not worry much. After all, he is not aiming to become the strongest being alive. He just wants to be the one to die of old age while living a carefree life. Before that, however, he needs to know the situation back at home first and foremost.

The dream was beautiful and he could not help, but become much more excited by the thought of it. So, he, along with Lawrence, entered the wooden gate of the village. With a curious thought, he looked at the village's name. This village is called Fore North Village. It was a strange name for a village, but it does not matter. What mattered was getting some goods for gold coins before leaving. Likewise, stocking up on some healing herbs would be good as well. Vulnerary is too expensive and cost-effective. Herbs would make do at the moment.

The village was a size smaller than Heligarm Village but had a greater population than he had initially thought. It must be because it was quite close to the Kabridge Capital. Hence the reason why the merchants are coming. On a side note, most of the buildings in the village are two stories high. Meanwhile, even some inns were even three stories tall. Likewise, it was quite prosperous. Sooner or later, this village will become a town. It could become a town because of its prosperity.

Lawrence was used to the prosperous village and took hold of Dork's reins and led them through the flowing crowds. While on top of Dork, he was one or two heads taller than the crowd, so his view was completely out of the ordinary. The sight of the following crowds was amazing. There was also an interesting high number of people within the crowd that had a class grade of two. He saw some kids that were just a year or so older than he was. These consist of sellswords, thugs, journeymen, entertainers, workmen, villagers, and peddlers.

However, the most common ones were slaves that had metal collars with various crests imprinted repeatedly all over. He knows about the slave system, but he could not help feeling compassionate about it. He came from a world where everyone was free and had their rights. Even so, he did not do anything at all. He was not a person that could make a huge impact on the current society and slaves were common throughout the continent. He did not have such authoritative power to make changes.