Ancient Relic

Gagnor first found a place to rest for a while and tended to his wounds.

Once his rapid breathing settled, his mood gradually sank.

After escaping the trolls' pursuit, the question now was: how could he leave the Tidal Lands as quickly as possible?

The first thing he could be certain of was that there was absolutely no way he could leave before the moon rose tonight—unless he could run for several more hours at a speed even greater than the one he'd just used to flee for his life.

Gagnor knew he didn't have that ability.

And even if he did, he wasn't sure he could find the way.

During those several hours of fleeing for his life, he hadn't had the time to consider his direction or route. Thinking back carefully now, he could only roughly determine that he had run to a location closer to the center of the Tidal Lands.

Returning the way he'd come would probably require a great deal of searching, and he might even get lost.

He could also choose to leave the Tidal Lands in another direction, but the consequence of doing so would very likely be entering the trolls' territory the moment he stepped out of the Tidal Lands.

He might even enter the Kiso Mountains.

If a Level Two human managed to return alone from the Kiso Mountains to South Sea Town, Gagnor could live off bragging for the rest of his life.

Therefore, all things considered, the first thing Gagnor had to do was—pray. Pray that the level restriction on Serpent's Cut Line wouldn't drop in a few hours.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help sighing.

This feeling of leaving everything to fate was truly awful.

The only good news was that, judging from the usual circumstances in the past, this area of the Tidal Lands shouldn't close so soon. He might still have more than a day left.

During that day or so, he had to find the way back and leave the Tidal Lands.

After resting for a moment, Gagnor took out a bottle of Pain Relief Potion and tipped it back. Its strange taste made him frown slightly.

This was his first time using a Pain Relief Potion.

A few scrapes certainly weren't worth it, but after running wildly for several hours, his legs had begun to suffer increasingly sharp pain. To be able to walk normally, Gagnor had no choice but to do this.

More importantly, as one of the main products made from Nightshade Nettle leaves, Pain Relief Potion also had a powerful stimulating effect. The slums of South Sea Town had quite a few addicts who regarded it as the sole meaning of their lives.

The potion took effect quickly. Pain, fatigue, and drowsiness vanished all at once. Gagnor became full of energy, even a little exhilarated.

He rose from the ground and surveyed his surroundings.

Compared to the places he'd passed through earlier, this was a relatively isolated area. It seemed to be completely surrounded by cliffs. He didn't know whether there was a way out, and if there wasn't, he might have to climb up the cliffs.

Gagnor began searching the area for a way out.

During his search, an inconspicuous bone-white color caught his attention.

He walked over and saw that it was a skull mostly buried in the soil. This wasn't uncommon in the Tidal Lands; he'd encountered one once before when he was still with his team.

Its dull color seemed to indicate that the skull's owner had been dead for many years.

Out of curiosity, Gagnor reached out and touched the skull. Immediately, some information surged into his mind.

Race: Falaro Blood Elf

Level: Unknown

Status: Deceased

...

Gagnor was startled.

The level was actually unknown?

This was the first time he'd encountered such a situation.

There were only two possible explanations: either the skeleton was from an excessively ancient era, or its level in life had far surpassed his own.

After considering it, he felt the latter was more likely. After all, if the reason was that it was too ancient, why could its race information still be obtained normally?

At this thought, Gagnor immediately grew excited. An existence of such a high level—could it have anything valuable on it?

Under normal circumstances, that was unlikely. After all, so many years had passed. Even if it had possessed anything valuable, it had most likely already been stripped clean.

But clearly, few people had ever reached this area. Perhaps there really was something left.

He immediately took out his digging hoe and began shoveling away the soil.

The digging hoe was very inconvenient for excavating a corpse, but he had no more suitable tool.

About twenty minutes later, Gagnor dug the upper half of the skeleton out of the soil. Then he saw a golden ring on one of its finger bones!

The ring's design was unremarkable. It looked like an ordinary gold ornament.

Even so, Gagnor's eyes lit up.

After all, even if it really was only an ordinary gold ornament, it would still be a decent income for a wage earner like him.

He reached out and touched the ring.

Item: Spatial Magic Ring

Level: Unknown

A Spatial Magic Ring!

Gagnor's eyes widened. He was filled with incredulous delight, and all the gloom brought on by his misfortune several hours earlier completely vanished.

This was a Spatial Magic Ring—and a high-level Spatial Magic Ring at that!

With this, he would never again have to carry packs, tool bags, quivers, and other assorted junk around!

Alternatively, he could sell it for money. It would definitely be worth far more than Everlasting Moss.

Unfortunately, using a Spatial Magic Ring required some understanding of magic, and Gagnor clearly had no such foundation. He couldn't use it for the time being.

It seemed that after returning, he would have to find a way to learn some magic.

While excitedly thinking this, Gagnor removed the ring.

Because the skeleton was so ancient, a little force caused one of the Blood Elf's finger bones to come off with it.

This aroused not the slightest sense of guilt in him.

Having learned about Blood Elf history, Gagnor knew very well how Blood Elves treated corpses. Some Blood Elves even had a tradition of "funeral feasting." Compared to that, pulling off a finger bone was truly child's play.

After putting away the ring, Gagnor continued searching and dug the Blood Elf's skeleton out completely.

However, no matter how he searched, he could no longer find any color other than white. It seemed that aside from the ring and bones, all of the Blood Elf's possessions had vanished beneath the erosion of time.

Gagnor felt slightly disappointed and prepared to leave it at that.

But just then, his gaze sharpened slightly. He picked up a white rod-shaped object from among the already disassembled pile of bones. It looked much like a bone.

Item: Unknown

Level: Unknown

This wasn't a bone!

Whatever it was, Gagnor clearly had no intention of throwing it away. He immediately put it away as well.

Finally, he inexplicably picked up a bone and stored it too. Only then did he rebury the Blood Elf's remains in the soil as a token of respect.

In a pleasant mood, Gagnor continued searching for a way out.

About an hour later, he found a concealed path. Following it upward and taking a circuitous route, he returned to the place where he had jumped down earlier.

Afterward, Gagnor tried to return to the place where he'd encountered the trolls. This wasn't easy. In fact, he got lost several times before finally finding the correct route.

This cost him more than ten hours, forcing him to continue the rest of his journey at a jog, if only to reach Serpent's Cut Line as soon as possible.

"Mosa will punish you!" An enraged female voice made Gagnor slow his pace.

He hid behind a tree and carefully stuck his head out to observe.

About a hundred meters away, by a riverside, three Bloodsail Pirates were unmistakably surrounding a short-haired girl and slowly closing in. The girl's face was pale as she continuously backed away, clutching a dagger.