Although the Blood Elf version of transparent Magic Rune Ink was simple and inexpensive to make, obtaining monster blood was somewhat troublesome, and few people sold it.
It was possible to place orders in advance, but doing so too often would inevitably attract attention. As a bona fide Black Magic book, the Blood Magic Notes made Gagnor somewhat hesitant.
So he said, "I can't guarantee the quantity of this ink."
Marcus expressed his understanding.
The two chatted for a while afterward, growing much closer.
"Gagnor, you've only just arrived in South Sea Town, right?" Marcus suddenly asked mysteriously. "Do you know a place called Joy Street?"
"Joy Street?"
On top of his mysterious smile, Marcus added a lecherous leer. "Head west past the town hall and you'll find it soon enough. Come on, I'll take you there to have some fun!"
The slums, Joy Street, and Marcus's expression gave Gagnor a pretty good idea of what kind of place it was.
Having visited the slums once, he had a terrible impression of the place. Besides, he had no interest in that kind of entertainment, so he immediately declined.
Unable to persuade him, Marcus went alone.
Gagnor, meanwhile, went to ask the quartermaster about using ink to offset his potion-making duties. He received an answer that satisfied him quite well.
He could indeed offset his potion-making duties by producing Magic Rune Ink, and the limit on the offset was quite high. As long as there was no emergency, he could even make producing Magic Rune Ink his primary work. The materials originally supplied for potion-making could likewise be replaced with materials for ink.
This meant that if he could acquire enough monster blood, he might enjoy the blessing of a three-hour workday and become one of the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group's most idle members.
Thinking about his plans, Gagnor unknowingly arrived near the training ground.
"...When it came to using a sword and most other melee weapons, the key was 'reducing wasted strength.' The exertion in the movements before and after should promote each other as much as possible, rather than hinder each other."
The words struck a chord with Gagnor. He had tried practicing swordsmanship, but had never managed to get started. Now, however, he suddenly felt as though a fog had lifted from his mind.
He could not help turning his gaze toward the speaker.
A warrior over two meters tall stood there in armor, holding a greatsword, her fiery red hair streaming in the wind.
She was the swordswoman Gagnor had noticed from afar when he first arrived at Gray Eagle Camp.
But one thing completely overturned his expectations.
She was a woman.
A female warrior over two meters tall!
Gagnor was deeply shaken and could not help stopping to watch her for a long while.
Although the female warrior was absurdly tall, she still possessed a feminine beauty that naturally attracted men. Most of the soldiers on the training ground looked at her with a mixture of awe and admiration.
After explaining for a moment, the female warrior began swinging her greatsword to demonstrate the movements.
Gagnor recovered from his shock as well, shifting his attention to her movements.
He picked up a short sword and imitated the female warrior's movements.
Back in Driftwood Town, Gagnor had sought out a veteran who had returned home to learn swordsmanship. The man seemed to have deliberately led him down many detours—probably to collect more tuition. In any case, Gagnor had practiced for some time yet gained almost nothing.
By comparison, this female warrior's skill and attitude toward teaching were vastly superior.
After imitating her movements by rote just once, Gagnor began to feel an increasingly intense sense of enlightenment. The movements of his hands also grew smoother and smoother.
Gradually, he stopped imitating the female warrior and instead imagined various enemies in his mind, then swung his sword according to his own understanding.
After practicing with complete concentration for perhaps five minutes, or perhaps twenty, a string of information suddenly flowed into his awareness as naturally as water finding its course.
Swordsmanship learned lv1 Strength +1 Experience +10
He had finally taken his first step into swordsmanship!
Gagnor felt somewhat excited.
In all the years since he had gained the panel's abilities, his greatest realization was that "everything was difficult at the beginning." Once he got started, the rest of learning was simply a matter of accumulating time.
This was also related to the panel's characteristics.
For skills he had already learned, Gagnor could clearly sense whether his proficiency was increasing whenever he practiced. If he focused his attention, he could even see changes several decimal places beyond the point.
As a result, he could always avoid all useless effort, intentional or otherwise, and find the most efficient way to practice.
This made him far faster than ordinary people at practicing any skill.
But with skills he had not yet learned, Gagnor was not much better than an ordinary person. He was still feeling his way across the river by stepping on stones, heavily reliant on the guide's ability and attitude.
Thinking of this, he could not help looking gratefully at the female warrior in the distance.
Unexpectedly, she was looking at him too, and seemed to have been silently observing him for several minutes already.
Their gazes met.
The female warrior revealed an approving smile. Her vivid, fiery hair fluttered in the breeze, magnificent and beautiful, like the Valkyries depicted in myth and epic.
When he returned to his lodgings later, Gagnor felt that his reaction had been terribly embarrassing—because he could not remember what his reaction had been at all!
He lay on the bed with his arms under his head. For quite some time, he did nothing except blink and breathe.
Only after taking out the Blood Magic Notes and flipping through them did the ancient and secret knowledge in the book gradually calm his thoughts.
Several days later.
When Gagnor once again studied swordsmanship at the training ground as an "auditing student," a squad of mercenaries hurried into the camp and headed straight for Gray Hawk's Nest—the building where the mercenary group's decision-makers were based.
Ryan was conspicuously among them, naturally drawing Gagnor's attention.
When Ryan emerged from Gray Hawk's Nest and headed alone toward the barracks, Gagnor immediately called out to him midway.
"Ryan, did something happen?"
"We discovered a Tidal Lands in the Stoneclaw Mountains that's about to open," Ryan said.
"When will it open?"
Ryan shook his head. "That's hard to say. The opening of a Tidal Lands is almost completely irregular. If everything goes smoothly, it might open in a few days, but it could also be two years from now—or it might never open at all."
He added, "If you want to take a look at the Stoneclaw Mountains, this would be a good time. To learn about the Tidal Lands' condition at the earliest possible moment, many people, us included, will choose to set up camp nearby. The dense crowds will temporarily drive away the nearby monsters and Forest Trolls."
Gagnor nodded. After thinking briefly, he changed the subject. "Ryan, are you familiar with Cassandra?"
"You mean Vice Commander Cassandra?"
"Yes."
"Not very familiar. Although she often trains the soldiers, she mainly trains warriors." Ryan's expression became somewhat strange. "Why are you suddenly asking about her?"
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