Chương 58: Abyss-Iron Hunter

Rowan did not answer. He did not know what an "Abyss-Iron Hunter" was. He understood the latter half. Hunter. But the first half, "Abyss-Iron," felt like a strange scrap of metal suddenly jammed into a set of gears. Still, the reactions around him were enough to explain the problem. Even Aila, who had not been able to resist sneaking glances at Chestnut earlier, was pulled back behind Harg. Rowan's fingers stopped beside his sheath and did not press down any farther.

Right now, the last thing he could do was make anyone think he was about to draw another weapon. Sera looked at him, but she did not immediately order an attack. She raised one hand slightly.

"Lower the crossbows. Don't put them down." The crossbowmen hesitated for an instant, then obeyed. The crossbows were not withdrawn. They only shifted from Rowan's chest to around his waist and abdomen. Sera turned to Elaine.

"Treat Bren first. Stop the bleeding, then we talk." Elaine had one hand pressed against the wound near Bren's neck, and her tone was sharp.

"I'm stopping it. Why are you all crowding around? Trying to suffocate him?" The two nearby guards immediately stepped half a pace back. Marlock walked out from the shadow of the camp gate. He was half a head taller than the other guards, with broad shoulders and sleeves rolled up to his forearms. His right hand remained on the hilt at his waist. He did not look at Rowan's face first. He looked first at the mud beast's corpse. Then at the bone fragments in the muddy water.

Only then did his gaze land on the broken hilt still in Rowan's hand.

"Don't let him through the gate yet." Sera said calmly, "I didn't say I would." Marlock glanced at her, then looked back at Rowan.

"Then have him put that away first." He was not talking about the high-frequency straight blade. He meant the ruined remnant of the Bone-Flesh Blade in Rowan's hand. Only a palm-length of gray-white bone remained, with loose dark red fascia wrapped around it. The middle section of the blade had fallen into the muddy water, and the tip was still broken off deep inside the wound at the mud beast's jaw root. It was no longer a complete blade. Sera pointed at the broken hilt in Rowan's hand.

"That. Put it down." This time, she spoke slowly. Rowan did not fully understand the sentence, but he understood her gesture, and he understood the angle of the crossbows around him. He slowly loosened his hand. The broken hilt fell into the wet mud. The dark red fascia twitched faintly, like a dying worm. A young guard's expression changed.

"It's still moving." Elaine did not even raise her head.

"Never eaten fresh meat before? If you're scared, don't stand so close." The guard's face flushed hot. He muttered a curse under his breath, but still shifted aside. Chestnut moved half a step forward. Rowan lightly tapped the mud with the tip of his foot. Chestnut stopped. It did not burrow into the ground, nor did it approach anyone. It only stood close against Rowan's lower leg, its black-bean-like eyes looking from the crossbowmen to Sera. Harg supported Aila and carefully moved half a step forward.

"Camp Chief, I don't understand anything about Abyss-Iron." His voice was much lower than before, clearly not wanting to meet Marlock's gaze.

"I'll only say what I saw. Without him, Bren would already be gone. Our cart might not have made it back either." Bren leaned in the mud, his face bloodless. Elaine was wrapping cloth around him. Sweat covered his forehead from the pain, but he still said in a low voice,"No matter how you put it, he did save us." After saying that, he looked at Chestnut beside Rowan's foot.

"And that little beast too." Aila added quietly, "I saw it too. It pushed Uncle Bren away." Harg immediately lowered his voice.

"Don't interrupt." Aila shrank her neck, but her eyes still kept drifting toward Chestnut. Sera nodded once.

"I know." She did not say any more thanks. Nor did she immediately let Rowan in. Sera turned to the guard beside her.

"Long tongs. Copper boxes. Pack the blade tip, bone fragments, and broken hilt separately. Take some of the bloodstained mud too. No one touches it with their hands."

"Yes." Two guards immediately ran back toward the camp gate. Only then did Marlock turn toward Bren. He walked up to him, lowered his head, and looked down at him.

"When an unknown trailing mana-beast approaches the outer gate, what is the first rule?" Bren's lips moved.

"Abandon the cart. Pull away. Ring the heavy bell."

"Which one did you do?" Bren's fingers clenched, and muddy water squeezed out between them.

"It looked like an injured mud beast. Its mana was low too. The east post only rang the light bell once."

"So you waited for it to pounce right in front of the outer gate?" Marlock's voice was not loud, but it pressed Bren into silence.

"You are a guard, not bait at the gate. The cart can be abandoned. The people must be pulled away. There are this many people in the camp. Were you trying to give the mana-beast an extra meal?" Harg's expression shifted. Sera looked toward the eastern antler post. The copper bell at the top of the post was still swaying faintly.

"Who was on watch at the east post?" A guard stepped forward. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I-It was me, Camp Chief. I thought the herb-gathering team had brought back a blood scent, or that some material on the cart hadn't been sealed properly." Marlock looked at him coldly.

"You thought?" The guard's face turned pale. Sera raised a hand and stopped Marlock.

"The warning post was deceived." She looked at the mud beast's corpse.

"It pressed its mana beneath its skin and spread it very thin. Before it burst out, the outer warning patterns couldn't catch the complete fluctuation." Elaine continued while pressing the white cloth tighter around Bren's wound.

"Concealment-type mana-beasts like this are usually deeper in the forest. Strange that it wandered all the way to the forest edge." Marlock did not continue questioning the guard. His gaze returned to Bren.

"The array post being deceived is the array post's problem. You letting it stay right in front of the outer gate is yours." Bren said quietly, "I know." Marlock looked at him.

"Being able to light up a short spear doesn't mean you've truly become a mage." Bren's face turned white at once. Even uglier than when he had been losing blood. The space in front of the outer gate went silent for an instant. Rowan glanced at him. So that was it. Earlier, Rowan had sensed mana-conductive reactions from Bren's short spear and armor, but Bren's own mana fluctuation had been extremely weak. So he was not a mage. Marlock did not continue. Elaine, however, raised her head and glared at him.

"Enough. I'm still treating him. If you want to lecture him, wait until tomorrow when he can sit up." Marlock glanced at her and said nothing more. At that moment, the guards returned with the long tongs and copper boxes. Elaine stood up and took the tongs. Two guards held down the mud beast's head while Elaine reached into the wound with the long tongs and pulled out the broken bone blade tip. The blade tip, stained with gray-green blood and scraps of dark red fascia, fell into a copper box.

Then she had the bone fragments and broken hilt from the muddy water packed separately.

"Elaine." Elaine took a long, thin glass vial from her waist. Inside was half a tube of silver-gray liquid. She scraped off a little bone powder and residue with a silver needle, then dropped them into the vial. The liquid clouded for an instant. Only a little gray-green foam rose. Elaine watched it for several breaths.

"There's no Black Abyss reaction on the blade." Marlock's expression did not relax.

"Abyss-Iron Hunters don't necessarily carry Abyss-Iron weapons on them."

"I know." Elaine turned to Rowan. Her gaze fell on the web between the thumb and index finger of his right hand. When the Bone-Flesh Blade had shattered, the counterforce had torn open a small cut there. The wound was shallow, but a little blood still seeped between the lines of his palm. Elaine raised the small vial in her hand.

"Hand." Rowan did not immediately extend his hand. He first looked at the vial in her hand, then at the bone fragments in the copper box. The liquid had not turned black after touching the blade tip. A test. He glanced again at Sera and Marlock. Sera did not rush him. Marlock's hand was still on his hilt. Rowan quickly went through the situation in his mind. He was not an Abyss-Iron Hunter in the first place. And more importantly, this was his opening to enter this camp's orbit.

Rowan slowly raised his right hand and exposed the cut between his thumb and index finger. Elaine walked two steps closer. She did not grab his hand. She only let one drop of the testing liquid fall near the edge of the wound. After touching the blood, the liquid produced fine red foam. Elaine then examined the back of his hand, his knuckles, and the area near his wrist bone.

"His blood is clean. No Abyss-Iron corrosion marks on the skin." She stepped half a pace back and said to Sera,"Doesn't look like someone who has touched that thing for a long time." Marlock said coldly, "Doesn't look like it doesn't mean he isn't." Elaine pushed the stopper back into the vial.

"That's why I said doesn't look like it. If you want me to say absolutely not, then split his bones open." Aila sucked in a tiny breath. Rowan could not understand their full conversation. But he could understand part of it. The most dangerous suspicion had temporarily been pushed down. Sera looked at Rowan.

"Name." Rowan understood that word.

"Rowan." Sera nodded once. She did not ask a longer question. Instead, she untied a coin pouch from her waist and tossed it toward Rowan's chest. The coin pouch arced through the air. Rowan reached out and caught it, and the bag gave a clinking sound.

"A reward for saving Bren." Rowan understood "save." He also understood the gesture. This time, Sera deliberately slowed her words.

"Tonight, outer ring." She pointed to several empty tents outside the wooden palisade.

"Tomorrow morning, leave." Rowan understood "tonight," "outer ring," and "leave." Harg opened his mouth, but in the end, he did not speak immediately. Bren closed his eyes, his expression even worse. Rowan lowered his head and looked at the coin pouch in his palm. That pouch of money was, of course, useful. But if he simply took the money and left, the Antler Camp lead would be cut off.

He still had not figured out how materials were traded in this world, had not learned the language, and had not understood where this camp connected to. Rowan's gaze fell on the mud beast's corpse. At the broken tooth ring, the traction muscle bundles were still exposed. The wound at the jaw root had been covered with ash soil, but it still released thin wisps of white smoke.

The section of skin on its abdomen that had sprayed corrosive blood mist had already collapsed, like a gland sac that had been squeezed empty. And there was still the valuable mana crystal. This mud beast was not suitable for making a second Bone-Flesh Blade directly. The material was too dirty, too corrosive, and too unstable. But it was suitable for dissection. Rowan tossed the coin pouch back. He first looked at Sera and raised a hand to point at the mud beast's corpse.

Then he spread both hands, indicating that he was not drawing a weapon. The crossbowmen still tensed slightly. Marlock also fixed his gaze on him. Rowan pointed at himself, then at the mud beast's corpse.

"I can dissect." He spoke very slowly, his pronunciation stiff, but it was not a random pile of words.

"I do not need money. Materials, split by your rules." After saying it, he himself knew the word order was probably flawed. But the meaning should be enough. Harg was the first to react.

"You don't want money? You want to dissect this?" Rowan understood "money" and "dissect." He nodded.

"I can dissect." Marlock stared at him. Harg looked at Rowan, then at the still-smoking corpse, his expression somewhat strange. He coughed once and lowered his voice.

"Camp Chief, I can't say where he's from. But this reaction doesn't look like a hunter. Hunters look at the mana crystal first. Merchants ask the price first. He's staring at the tooth ring and tendons." He paused.

"From the Backwoods... I have heard there are some strange craftsmen there. They don't speak smoothly, and their rules aren't quite the same as ours." A nearby guard asked, "You've seen them?"

"Seen two. Didn't know them well," Harg said.

"One traded bird bones for salt. Another traded half a sack of stinking vine bark for iron nails. I can't say whether their heads were right, but they did have some skill." Sera had also heard Harg's words. She looked at Rowan and pointed toward the forest.

"Backwoods?" Rowan followed her gesture and glanced in that direction. This word might be an identity. It might also be a label. If he admitted it too quickly, he would be questioned about more details later. But if he completely denied it, he would have no better shell than "dangerous outsider of unknown origin." Rowan paused for one breath, then nodded.

"Backwoods." Sera showed no reaction. She pointed again at the broken blade remnants inside the copper box.

"This. You made it?" He nodded.

"I made it." Sera looked at him.

"You're a forge-smith?" Rowan did not know what "forge-smith" meant in this place. Was it an ordinary craftsman? Someone with guild status? Or some registered profession? He could not casually accept a title whose boundaries he did not understand. Rowan pointed at the broken blade remnants, then at the mud beast's corpse.

"I can make blades." He paused.

"I can process materials." This was already the safest answer he could express in Gardian right now. After listening, Sera did not force him to continue. Elaine, however, raised an eyebrow.

"Doesn't sound like a complete amateur." Marlock said, "Sounds like trouble." Elaine glanced at him.

"When has Antler Camp ever lacked trouble?" Sera looked at Elaine.

"Can the corpse keep until tomorrow?" Elaine crouched down and checked the collapsed gland sac in the mud beast's abdomen.

"The corrosive-blood gland has to be sealed first. If we don't seal it tonight, it'll rot into the meat by tomorrow. The tooth ring, neck tendons, and hard hide can wait. The mana crystal is uncertain." Sera looked at Rowan again.

"Sealing the gland. Can you do it?" Rowan understood "seal," but he was not certain of the full meaning. He did not bluff. He pointed at Elaine's medicine box, then at his own eyes.

"I watch." Elaine understood.

"He wants to watch how I seal the gland." Elaine was expressionless.

"It needs to be sealed whether he watches or not. As long as he doesn't stick his face over the gland opening." Sera was silent for several breaths. Originally, she had planned to pay him and send him away. Now, she changed her mind. This outsider had an unknown background and could not be allowed into the inner camp. But he had saved Bren, his blood showed no Black Abyss reaction, and he clearly understood some material structure. Driving him away immediately would be safe.

Letting him stay in the outer ring for one night might not be without value. Especially since Antler Camp needed to properly dissect this mud beast that had deceived the warning post. Sera said to Harg, "Give him the money." Harg handed the pouch back to Rowan. Sera looked at Rowan and slowed her speech.

"Money. Reward for saving someone." Rowan understood most of it. Sera pointed to the outer ring tents.

"Tonight, you sleep in the outer ring." Then she pointed at the mud beast's corpse.

"Tomorrow, you dissect the tooth ring and neck tendons." She did not say the entire corpse belonged to him. Nor did she say he could enter the camp.

"If you do it poorly, take the money and leave." Seeing Rowan frown, Harg repeated it more slowly.

"The Camp Chief means the money is yours. Tonight, you stay in the outer ring. Tomorrow, you dissect this thing. If you don't do well, you take the money and leave." Rowan understood most of it. He looked at the mud beast's corpse. Then he nodded.

"I dissect tomorrow." Marlock looked at Sera.

"You're letting him stay?"

"Outer ring," Sera said.

"Four people watch him. Don't get too close. Take turns through the night." Marlock glanced at Chestnut.

"What about that mana-beast?" Chestnut also raised its head and looked at him. Rowan was silent for a moment, then said slowly in Gardian,"It listens to me." This time, as if cooperating, Chestnut lightly tapped its tail against the wet mud, then lay down on the spot. Aila's eyes brightened a little. Marlock said to the guard beside him, "Add two more warning plaques to the outer ring." The guard immediately nodded. Sera said to Elaine, "The broken blade remnants go to the White Tent for sealing.

Seal the corrosive-blood gland tonight. The rest can be dissected tomorrow." Elaine nodded. Bren leaned against the mud and finally said quietly,"Thank you." The words were directed at Rowan. Rowan looked at Bren and replied,"No need." The pronunciation was still inaccurate. Harg could not help muttering,"His Gardian is terrible." Aila whispered, "Uncle Harg..."

"I'm telling the truth." Rowan did not argue. The guards began dragging the mud beast's corpse toward the outer ring clearing. Elaine cursed at them the entire way, telling them to avoid the bloodstains and the gland sac. The broken bone blade fragments were packed into separate copper boxes, and the coin pouch was tucked into Rowan's robe. Chestnut walked to his feet, shook the mud from its claws, and looked up at him. Rowan did not lower his head. He only moved his toes lightly. Chestnut followed.

Before Sera turned away, she looked at Rowan one last time.

"Outer ring." She repeated it. Rowan nodded. He looked at the rain-soaked empty tents outside the wooden palisade, then at the firelight and figures in the center of the camp. Antler Camp had not accepted him. For him right now, that was already enough. When Marlock passed by him, his footsteps paused. He said something in a low voice. Rowan only understood the last two words.

"Watching you." Rowan thought for a moment, then nodded. That movement made Marlock's face look even worse.

"You'd better have actually understood that." Rowan did not answer. Night fell over the outer ring of Antler Camp. And he finally had his first tent that did not belong to a burrow.