Shadow Hunt

The moment the attacker who had spoken to them turned his head to the commotion, Shui used the reins to command the dragon-blooded beast forward. With its acceleration, it would be hard for them to catch up in a short time, but there was still a blockade ahead. In addition to earthen stakes that faced them, along with their attackers, there was also a hidden array behind the formation. Shui pondered whether he should inform Ragley about the array, but there proved to be no need.

Ragley threw out a bunch of pills in front of them. This time the attackers were wary so they raised barriers, but they still found themselves flung out of the way. Additionally, both the earthen stakes and the hidden array were damaged to the extent of being ineffective. As they drove by the wreckage, Shui nodded his head in amazement.

"Wow, so you specialize in external pills?"

The pills made by alchemists could be broadly separated into two groups, external and internal. Internal pills were what most people thought of; they were pills that produced effects when ingested. On the other hand, external pills produced effects when activated outside the body in a way similar to talismans. Due to the nature of external pills, the alchemists that made them tended to be more experienced in battle.

Ragley didn't respond to Shui's comment, but Shui followed up with a question.

"If you can make pills like that, do you really need an escort to kill shadows for you?"

"Hmph, what do you know? A single batch of my pills is as expensive as a tesora-rank artifact. It's far cheaper to hire workers like you to get the job done."

After hearing that, Shui had to admit that it was better to hire workers and was reminded of the saying, 'alchemists burn gold faster than they make it'.

"By the way, that wasn't part of the job, so you won't put the cost of those on my tab right?"

"Hmm, that's a pretty good idea. I guess you better not force me to use any more pills once we start hunting."

Shui wondered how such a miser made it as an alchemist, but his mouth couldn't escape the blame for this either.

'Looks like I'll have to be serious on this job. Still, I wonder if my intuition was wrong.'

As proven by the fact that the attackers backed off once Ragley showed off his external pills, they were likely looking for a certain internal pill alchemist; the one who made the shadow heart pill. Shui thought that Ragley could be that person since he was researching the shadows, but if he specialized in external pills then it was hard to believe that he could make the shadow heart pill. Nevertheless, he had learnt enough from this trip so far to justify taking the job so Shui didn't regret his decision.

The journey was smooth afterwards, so Shui could take his time observing the black figure in the distance. He couldn't tell at first sight, but now he was sure it was the fallen that he had struggled to escape from in the Spirit Nest. It was stronger than when they had fought, and he knew that it would continue to recover its strength. Few in the kingdom probably knew it could wreak havoc on the continent once it regained its former power, but even if everyone realized how much of a threat it was, there was little they could do about it. Simply judging from its vitality, it was as strong as a half-step King, but with its ridiculous regenerative ability, it was near-impossible for any ordinary King to defeat it. Killing it would be even more difficult since even the gods preferred to seal most of these creatures rather than kill them. Shui still only had a vague impression about the gods he would have to fight in the future, so this threat was much more pressuring.

The carriage continued forward until they reached a very obvious border. As if there was a barrier in place, you could see a straight line that was drawn between the green plains they were used to, and the dark brown wasteland they were approaching. Shui slowed down and was going to look at Ragley for instructions, but he was already prepared with a response.

"We'll be going off the road now. Follow my directions."

While listening to Ragley, Shui moved the carriage to the destination he was directed to. It was a spot between two tall trees but nothing seemed special about it. Ragley came down from the carriage after telling Shui to stay on. He then took out something from under his coat and placed it on the ground.

Suddenly, there was a brief tremor before the ground opened up like the maws of giant beast. The jaws then pushed upwards and came together to form a wide cave.

"Go inside."

As he sent the dragon-blooded beast pulling the carriage to go on, Shui carefully examined the cave. The interior was pitch black, ten cales deep and wide enough for two of the same carriage he drove to comfortably enter. It was obviously not made from natural occurrence, but thanks to that it seemed tougher and safer than a normal cave.

Ragley stayed behind the carriage as it entered so it was hard to strike up a conversation, not that Shui could be sure that Ragley would respond. Once they reached the end of the cave, which had nothing of note, Ragley told Shui to get off so that he could inspect the carriage. Ousted from that position, Shui thought about what he should do with this free time, but it wasn't long before Ragley was ready.

"We'll walk for the rest of the journey. It's too dangerous to bring him with us."

"Understood."

Shui agreed without complaint and stayed next to Ragley as they exited the cave. After they were out, the cave faded like an illusion, but Shui could still perceive its existence. Even so, it would be difficult to find it without knowing about it so it was hidden well enough. Shui was curious about the cave, but he knew that Ragley wouldn't tell him anything so he halted the thought for now.

The two went back to the beaten path and then crossed into shadow territory without trouble. However, the moment he made that step Shui could feel the distinct difference. The green plains they came from didn't feel special, but his appreciation of that normalcy spiked after getting here. As if his body had been submerged into sticky mud that couldn't be removed, Shui felt a depressing aura throughout the wasteland. And the worst part was the cause of this aura that accompanied the dying land.

'So it wasn't satisfied with recovering normally, huh? Still, for it to do this much damage already, we may have less time than I predicted.'

"Is this your first time here since the incident?" Ragley asked.

"Yes, is there anything I should be wary of?"

"For the purpose of our visit, you will be fine if you treat it like any other beast-infested land, such as Malirin Forest. However, you should be careful even at the border."

"Hmm, is there a specific reason for-"

It was then that Shui encountered the thing Ragley wanted to warn him about.