Chapter: 174

“I think we should stick to the plan: Head back. Rest… I’ll have Blue and Sweeper ‘sweep’ the forest clean” Jay let out a mischievous smile as he calmed Anya down a bit.

“Besides, their passive skill only works in humid environments. Without it, they would die to a single sword slash. We don’t really have a very humid environment in Losla.”

Jay continued “Even if they did create a horde of leeches, we could easily cull them on a dry day. Not everywhere has a ravine to hide in after all. Besides, we’ll be much stronger if that was to happen.”

“Mm… I suppose you’re right. Let’s just hope your skeletons are thorough anyway.”

“Trust me, they’ll be much more thorough than us. They’re much faster and don’t even need sleep.”

– – –

Matheson ran up the hill towards the adventurer guild. It was late in the day, and he almost didn’t notice it, but as he approached the association, a dark-orange orb flew out of the building, heading into the sky and disappearing.

Matheson felt an emotional nerve of inadequacy being pinched “Dammit, I will learn magic too. I’ll make people beg me to help them, to save them from monsters and natural disasters.” he thought as he entered the building to find the dungeon map.

Matheson was by himself, and have to make a decision about which dungeon he would go into. Since his past experience in the bayring dungeon, he decided to play it safe.

He knew he would be fully reliant on himself this time, and because of all the nurturing afforded to a noble, he himself didn’t even know how strong he was, this realisation had put a large dent in his pride – but not large enough for him to stop looking down on others and treating people like garbage.

“Stink-rat marsh. Located south west of Losla.” Matheson squinted at the board in the adventurer association, planning his night training trip as he added its location to his map.

“I’ve always hated rats, shitting everywhere in my mansion. This will be so easy.”

With a smug grin, and one final check of his equipment, he left the adventurer association, jumping down the steps and running across the courtyard.

Now that he decided to become independent, he tried to do everything himself – he didn’t even use his obnoxious oversized carriage anymore, instead he simply ran everywhere. This was another form of training in his mind.

Like a mad dog, Matheson just ran up the hill to the guild, and now he was running back down it again. He didn’t even acknowledge Margaret at the reception or the gate guards as he breezed past them; he was a man on a mission, wholly focused on his task.

“There he goes again.” said a guard at the gate, shaking his head.

“Do you think he’s gone crazy – with all the running? He seems like a psycho.” another said.

“Heh, who cares? It’s funny seeing a noble act like that. I never knew those frilly stupid clothes they wore were that durable, I’m surprised they’re still attached – but yes, he looks crazy.”

“He looks like a rampaging flower! Haha! Those frilly little clothes aren’t scaring anybody, you would think he’s a madman rauther than a noble.” another guard laughed.

The guards laughed together as they watched a trail of dust make its way down the hill, though they made sure the young noble was far enough away before mocking him of course. Even though they were in a small country town, they would still be punished for mocking a noble.

Matheson sped through Losla, he would have become the talk of the Snakeraven inn if more people saw him – a dishevelled sweaty noble. Thankfully he didn’t stop once, not many people saw him speeding through the town.

He exited the south side of town and ran along the road before heading into the bushes; there was hints of a path made towards the dungeon as there were broken twigs and squashed bushes, telling him that other people had been here recently too.

As the sun went down, Matheson reached the dungeon entrance.

He took a moment to stretch before going in.

“I’ll try to meditate for a while to get my energy back. It’s too bad I can’t train this the same way as my body… but I’ll sense the mana soon. All I need is time and willpower.”