Chương 78

The snowy wind whipped through the mountain pass. Rudra stood on a high ridge, looking down at the massive stone walls of Juden. It had been exactly two and a half months since he cracked the ice in the Dominion Kingdom, and the journey had been a relentless grind. He tapped his boots against a rock.

"Status Window." [Name: Rudra] [Level: 197] [Class: Black Staff Expert] [Health: 24, 500 / 24, 500 | Mana: 6, 800 / 6, 800] [Divine Energy: 3, 500 / 3, 500] [Strength: 1, 012 | Stamina: 1, 005 | Agility: 1, 020 | Intelligence: 890] [Persistence: 860 | Dexterity: 760 | Courage: 650 | Charisma: 1, 600] [Dignity: 1, 300 | Insight: 260 | Divine Power: 350] [Stat Points: 0] [Advanced Staff Mastery (Lv. 4) - 50. 2%] [Passive] [When equipped with a staff, attack power and attack speed will increase by 60%. The probability of a critical hit will increase in proportion to the user's Agility.] [Advanced Cooking (Lv. 2) - 73. 2%] [Passive] [You can prepare edible meals from raw ingredients. - All effects of the produced dish will increase by 12%. There is a rare probability of creating rare rated dishes There is a very rare probability of creating epic rated dishes. When rare rated dishes are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +2. - Reputation throughout the continent will rise by +30 When epic rated dishes are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +4. - Reputation throughout the continent will rise by +80 When unique rated dishes are produced, all stats will permanently rise by +12. - Reputation throughout the continent will rise by +300] [Intermediate Alchemy (Lv. 3)] [Intermediate Medicine Making (Lv. 3)] [Blunt Force (Lv. 6)] [Sweeping Gale (Lv. 6)] [Abyssal Sonar (Lv. 2)] Rudra swiped the blue screen away and let out a long sigh.

He had spent the last ten weeks fighting nonstop, and the mastery bar was barely creeping forward. Hitting the maximum level on an advanced skill was going to be an absolute nightmare of a grind. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But looking at his core stats made up for it. Strength, Stamina, and Agility were all finally sitting above the 1, 000 mark. He opened his inventory and pulled out the Obsidian Drake Leather Gloves.

He had been saving these since the day Princess Seraphine let him raid the Royal Vault. He slipped them on. The pitch-black leather was incredibly tough, but the moment the game recognized his stats, the material adjusted perfectly to his hands. [Attack Power is increased by 30%.] [Attack Speed is increased by 30%.] Rudra clenched his fists. A heavy, satisfying weight settled into his knuckles. It felt perfect. The massive boost matched his wild, close-quarters fighting style exactly.

He turned around and walked back to his camp. The last two and a half months had been exhausting. Armed with Winfred's map, he had scoured the neighboring kingdoms for the exiled Red Knights. It involved a lot of tracking through filthy slums, dark caves, and freezing mountains. The knights were deeply paranoid. Every time he found one, they almost always attacked him on sight. He had to wave Winfred's handwritten letter and Elysia's silver pendant in the air just to prove he wasn't an assassin sent by the Empire.

But the hassle paid off. Right now, four of the Saharan Empire's most wanted fugitives were sitting around his campfire. Rudra used the Protean Crafting Cauldron in its flat-grill form. He was searing thick skewers of the Demonic Ice-Core Meat, basting them with spicy herb butter to counter the freezing chill of the meat.

"T-This is incredible," Amelda blurted out, talking around a mouthful of meat. The 5th Knight didn't look like an elite imperial soldier. She looked like an exhausted scholar who hadn't slept in weeks. She was also a total chatterbox who always seemed to stumble over her very first word. Amelda gestured around the camp with a half-eaten skewer.

"Seriously, I thought we'd freeze up here, but the way you set up the camp behind these rocks blocks the wind perfectly. How did you even notice that draft angle?"

"I did a lot of camping," Rudra smiled, flipping the meat on the grill. Sitting next to her was Kentrick, the 7th Knight. He was a massive, broad-shouldered vanguard who looked like a walking brick wall. He grabbed three skewers at once and tore the meat off the sticks. Kentrick wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Good food," he rumbled. He looked at Rudra's new black gloves.

"You seem to have grown stronger, with a more balanced core now."

"Thanks. Though to be fair, these new gloves definitely help the posture," Rudra laughed, flexing the pitch-black leather. The pine tree above them suddenly rustled. A silent figure dropped from the branches, landing perfectly in the snow without making a sound. It was Icarus, the 8th Knight. He was a deeply paranoid aerial scout who practically lived in the trees to keep watch. He didn't speak.

He just walked over, grabbed a skewer of hot meat, gave Rudra a sharp nod of thanks, and used a wire-hook to zip right back up into the dark pine needles. He'll warm up eventually," Dante chuckled from across the fire. He looked across the flames. Sitting on a warm rock was Dante, the 9th Knight. He was seventy-three years old and looked incredibly frail.

He occasionally coughed from the cold, but eating Rudra's high-vitality meals over the last few weeks had brought a healthy, warm color back to his wrinkled cheeks. Dante ate slowly, savoring the rich flavor. He smiled softly and set his wooden plate down.

"This old body hasn't felt this warm in a long time," Dante said, his voice raspy but full of gratitude.

"You went through a lot of trouble to gather us broken old knights, Rudra. We truly appreciate it."

"It's no trouble, Sir Dante," Rudra said kindly. He casually took charge of the group, naturally falling into a leadership role.

"Just make sure you finish your plate. We have a long walk ahead of us." A heavy thud shook the snow next to Rudra. Over the last ten weeks, Kratos had grown. He wasn't a tiny furball that could hide in a coat pocket anymore. The half-gold, half-black divine beast was now the size of a large dog. He nudged Rudra's arm with his snout, letting out a deep, demanding bark for his share of the demonic meat.

"Alright, back up," Rudra laughed, tossing a massive chunk of seared meat to the beast. Kratos caught it in the air and swallowed it whole. Rudra packed up his supplies. He tapped the cauldron, watching it shift back into a heavy metal block before dropping it into his inventory. He picked up his Staff of the Fire Lord and looked down the mountain at the smoking chimneys of Juden. His Marquis estate was waiting for him down there.

"Alright, everyone," Rudra said, turning to the four knights.

"Pull your hoods up. Let's go into the capital and introduce you to the rest of the family."