It was the dead of night along the forest path between Winterseed and Winterseed II. With no moon in the sky, the forest was eerily enveloped in darkness.
In the middle of this path, close to a very huge tree, two people could be seen—both of them were unconscious, their eyes white, and their pupils nowhere to be found. They looked as if they were dreaming!
As they stood there, a strange figure suddenly shot out of the darkness.
It was the embodiment of darkness itself.
It was almost like the shadows. Its movements were so erratic that even seeing how it looked in the dark was impossible.
Ren and Liara tilted their heads toward the shadowy figure the moment it emerged from the darkness. It was as though a voice had called out to them.
In their unconscious state, both of them stared at the shadowy figure.
The shadowy figure approached them.
It moved around them in circles for a few seconds, muttering strange words whileughing menacingly.
It continued this for about ten minutes before suddenly vanishing into thin air.
Ten seconds after it left, Ren tilted his body toward his vige and began sprinting like a madman once again. His speed was more than double his peak speed this time, and his movements were even more erratic.
On the way, he spotted three other goblins who hade to retrieve the corpse of their brethren, recently killed by some unknown entity.
Upon seeing Ren sprinting toward them, they felt an overwhelming urge to vent their anger on him. They grabbed their weapons and charged at him, screeching. But Ren took care of all three of them in a matter of minutes, without sustaining a single injury.
If anyone were present, they would have been shocked at how their usually weak deputy lord was able to kill three goblins twice his strength. It was simply unbelievable.
Ren reached the tall walls that guarded Winterseed II.
The soldiers were still guarding the gate, and Ren''s subconscious state immediately directed his body toward another direction where the soldiers wouldn''t see him.
Ren''s body suddenlyunched into the air, and hended back inside the vige.
He immediately sprinted for his home.
Inside one of the houses, a young boy sat by the window, watching the night sky because he was finding it difficult to sleep at this hour.
Just then, a figure shed past his window, causing him to cry out in fear and jump back.
"Yumi, you''re not the only one in the vige!" his father, who was sleeping in another room, yelled at him, one could easily perceive the annoyance in his voice.
Yumi stood back up and approached the window.
"Was I dreaming just now?"
"I think my body and mind are punishing me for not sleeping!"
"I have to go to sleep immediately!"
Yumi immediately went to bed and curled up, forcing himself to fall asleep.
Meanwhile, Ren returned to his ce and went straight to bed.
If one looked at him now, they wouldn''t suspect that he had just journeyed to a ce far beyond the vige in an impossibly short amount of time.
Meanwhile, as he slept, the torch lighting the room suddenly began flickering vigorously before going out.
Then, a dark, misty figure began to infiltrate his room through the window.
On the other hand, at the huge tree where they had just met, Liara suddenly ced her hands on the tree and began climbing at an impossible pace. She climbed up to a certain height and fell asleep.
---
Present day.
Rowan had just finished speaking with Liara''s friends and family when he received a notification.
[ Your deputy (Ren) is undergoing the same condition as subject: Liara ]
"Huh?"
Rowan was confused.
"What is happening? Did Ren also take the dream mixture?"
Rowan was truly perplexed.
It was more than a coincidence that the only two herbalists he knew were undergoing the same condition at the same time.
It could only mean that they had both drunk the dream mixture, or something very powerful was currently controlling both of them simultaneously.
"I need to finish up here quickly and go to Winterseed II as soon as possible!" Rowan thought to himself, a deep frown forming on his face.
ze was walking beside him, looking really calm.
Rowan had been so busy that he hadn''t even noticed his divine beastpanion had undergone a series of maturations.
Some of the women even tried to y with it as usual, but ze only allowed them to pat his fur a little.
Rowan went immediately to the vige square, where the soldiers were still training, and told them the news.
"We are going hunting today!"
The soldiers were a little surprised because they hadn''t been informed about this beforehand.
At the same time, they were ready to take this dangerous step to get stronger.
"We will go hunt with you, Lord Rowan!"
"I have been looking for the opportunity to use my new skill without holding back. I guess I''ll be experimenting with that today."
"My precision has gotten better, it would improve even more if I test it against moving foes."
They all reacted.
Rowan nodded his head.
"Great, assemble yourselves based on your groups and ready your weapons. Those without weapons,e and meet me for a new one," he announced.
The soldiers immediately got in line.
About half of the soldiers did not have weapons.
Thankfully, Rowan had already used the reward a few days ago to multiply the weapons in his inventory, so he didn''t have any problem giving the weapons out.
"Lord Rowan, we need armor," the captains approached Rowan.
Rowan didn''t hesitate and immediately distributed the leather armor among everyone.
The leather armor was stillmon grade, but it was better than nothing.
After this was over, Rowan and the soldiers began marching toward the Dark Forest, which has the highest poption of monsters and demonic beasts.
ze went with them, walking beside Rowan.
Most of the vigers were surprised to see therge group of soldiers marching through the vige.
They couldn''t help but think that the soldiers were going to war.
They even began to ask questions anxiously.
....
AUTHOR NOTE:
Wee to the new volume and thanks for staying with me.
I would like if you guys could review thest volume... Thanks