Lesser Wind Orb

"Hmm... I was just a little curious. I've been observing and learning her swordsmanship lately," Gagnor said.

Ryan smiled and said meaningfully, "Vice-Captain Cassandra is very charming. The men who admire her could probably fill the entire training ground, but most of them can't even lift her weapon."

"I've personally seen her cut a Level 4 knight and his horse in half. Tsk, tsk, tsk... All I can say is that young people should know their limits. Don't chase after things you can't reach even on tiptoe." He patted Gagnor on the shoulder.

Gagnor neither admitted nor denied the implication behind Ryan's words.

After chatting for a while, he said, "When will the mercenary group set up camp near the Tidal Lands? I'd like to take a look."

For some reason, he seemed to have developed a stronger spirit of adventure.

Ryan said, "Actually, we've already set up camp. Tomorrow, the mercenary group will send another batch of people over. If you want to go, just follow me when we set out."

"Okay."

Several hours later.

Gagnor returned to his lodgings from the Hunter's Guild, then took three large glass bottles filled with magical beast blood from his pack.

Two of the bottles contained the blood of a water-aspected magical beast and a fire-aspected magical beast respectively. He blended the two into Magic Rune Ink, then took advantage of the settling time to begin processing the blood in the other bottle.

The blood belonged to a Level 3 wind-aspected magical beast.

It was slightly expensive, costing one hundred and twenty copper coins.

Gagnor had also considered buying Level 4 magical beast blood.

But once magical beast materials reached Level 4, their price became extremely high.

The reason was simple. Level 4 magical beasts had magic cores inside them, while Level 3 and lower magical beasts had none, or only a small amount of irregular Magic Core Shards. Thus, although there was only one level between Level 3 and Level 4, their prices were worlds apart, leaving Gagnor completely unable to afford the latter.

He had bought this bottle of wind-aspected magical beast blood to try another alchemy formula recorded in the Blood Magic Notes, one with very few requirements for operation.

Lesser Elemental Orb.

An orb was a relatively common type of magical device. It had been especially popular during the Blood Elf era, with countless varieties and all sorts of strange effects.

The Lesser Elemental Orb was one of the simplest types.

Following the method recorded in the notes, Gagnor mixed the blood of the Level 3 wind-aspected magical beast with several herbal powders, forming a spherical semisolid.

Then, with a slight movement of his fingers, clusters of Swift Breeze formed one after another before merging into the blood orb.

As he felt the Swift Breeze continuously flowing into it, he secretly nodded.

The Blood Magic Notes said that the orb had to be filled with wind-aspected spells.

Gagnor only knew one spell, Swift Breeze, and he was not even certain whether it counted as a "wind-aspected spell" in the strictest sense. This had made him worry for a while that the crafting would fail.

Fortunately, the facts proved that there was no problem. Swift Breeze could be used to infuse the orb.

After a period of spell infusion, the originally soft and wet blood orb completely solidified, becoming a blue-gray sphere. Its size had also shrunk by more than half, leaving it about the size of a baby's fist.

Gagnor felt a little tempted to try it, but ultimately gave up.

It had not been easy to make.

Besides, he had infused this Lesser Wind Orb with hundreds of Swift Breezes. Without even needing to think about it, its power was definitely on a completely different level from "Breeze." If he actually tested it, the disturbance would probably be considerable.

Half of the wind-aspected magical beast blood remained.

Gagnor made another Lesser Wind Orb, exhausting both the magical beast blood and his own stamina. He then ate something and went to rest.

Early the next morning.

Gagnor equipped himself with his weapons and gear, found Ryan's group, and set out with them.

There were quite a few new recruits among the group of more than twenty people. Perhaps the mercenary group hoped to use this opportunity to give the newcomers some necessary training.

Gagnor, wearing a potion-maker's robe, stood out somewhat, but he had no choice.

If he did not wear this outfit bearing the Gray Hawk Mercenary Group's emblem, he would look like an outsider. If a chaotic battle broke out or something similar happened, that would cause him no end of trouble.

"Ryan, I heard that the Tidal Lands usually have many treasures. Once they open, there should be some conflict, right?" Gagnor asked.

Ryan said, "Treasures? That's just a rumor. Most Tidal Lands don't contain any decent treasures. There is naturally some fighting, but... it's only a little more dangerous than the usual brawls on Raven Street."

"If the Tidal Lands don't have any treasures, why are so many people paying attention to them?" The speaker was one of the new recruits in the group. Gagnor was surprised to discover that this person was actually the fellow who had recently gone to Marcus to have a blue Sword Rune tattooed.

He could not quite remember what the poor bastard looked like, but he had a deep impression of the blue Sword Rune.

Ryan said, "Because of Eternal Bloom Plants."

"For example, Everlasting Moss?"

"That's right."

"Eternal Bloom Plants only grow in so-called 'forgotten lands,' and the Tidal Lands are the most common type of 'forgotten land.'"

"After all, even the Tidal Lands that open most frequently usually have an interval of several years between openings. As for the least frequent ones, they may open only once every few thousand years, or may never have opened at all since their creation..."

The new recruit said, "I heard Everlasting Moss is very valuable. A single piece can easily sell for several hundred silver coins!"

"Several hundred silver coins? That was the price fifty years ago. Now it's long since risen to several thousand silver coins!" said a warrior carrying a sword and shield who was walking beside Ryan.

"Captain, could your death compensation afford to buy a piece of Everlasting Moss?" someone joked.

"Get lost!" the warrior cursed.

The group traveled from west to east. Half a day later, they reached the Stoneclaw Mountains. In the distance, nothing remained in sight but endless trees and undulating peaks. The air was filled with the scents of soil, rainwater, and trees, while the occasional low growl of a magical beast could be heard deep in the mountains.

The Stoneclaw Mountains were one of the more famous mountain ranges in Nordanlun. To South Sea Town, their importance was no less than that of the ocean and its harbor.

The Gray Hawk Mercenary Group crossed two more small hills and finally arrived at their destination.

By then, many people nearby had already set up camp in scattered groups, with tents sparsely distributed throughout the area.

Except for a region on the far eastern side.

On the surface, this area looked no different from the surrounding mountains and forests. Trees and wild grass grew everywhere, the slopes rose and fell, and rocks occasionally showed through the soil.

Yet no one had pitched a tent there, leaving it strikingly empty compared with its surroundings.

"This is the boundary of the Tidal Lands." The captain pointed at the empty area.

"It doesn't look like there's anything special ab—"

The new recruit's words abruptly stopped.

A small snake crawled toward the area. At first, nothing happened, but then it was as if an invisible blade suddenly descended, instantly turning it into two pieces of a dying, writhing corpse.