Chapter 96: Loneliness And Relief

“A bed.”

“Mhm!”

“Two closets.”

“Understood.”

“Five sets of comfortable clothes.”

“Sure.”

“I want enough black dye for the entire place.”

“Do you prefer an enchanting dye? It’ll give more durability and maybe some other effects to the place rather than only a dark appearance.”

“Then yes, buy it. Choose the quality based on the price.”

“What if the seller wants mana crystals?”

“You can either ignore it, transfer my coins into mana crystals, or just come back with it and I’ll pay you with mana crystals.”

As Dante kept stating his needs one after another, he eventually reached the topic he wanted to ask about.

“By the way, do you know… how to make a bathroom?”

Ruby nodded immediately, bringing relief to Dante: “Yes! As long as you have money to buy the required runic formations, then everything else is easy for me. If you want, I can make it for you after I come back. It’ll cost you only a few bronze coins.”

Dante thanked her and rubbed his chin, thinking of what else he’d need to buy.

His eyes sparkled as he asked: “If you can build a bathroom… Are you able to build rooms and floors?”

Seeing the opportunity, Ruby nodded again: “You want to use the corridor’s space to build more floors and rooms, right? Of course, I can! Thankfully, you’re asking to build a kind of underground treehouse. I have plenty of experience in making them, thanks to my Nature Domain.”

She rubbed her hands together with a charming smile: “As long as you’re going to pay me, I’ll buy all the required materials to turn this place into a house that most nobles would envy you. You can rely on me regarding this.”

They discussed the possible prices, the costs of her journey and upcoming services, and some alternatives for important materials.

“Any other requests, good sir?” Ruby’s smile seemed to be more genuine after they discussed her charges.

Dante thought for a moment before stating his last request: “If possible, try to find me any books about… luck and misfortune. Also, some runes and shadow books might be useful, but don’t buy anything basic.”

“Understood, anything else?”

“No, thank you in advance. Oh, one last thing.” Dante channeled his mana and spiritual energy. The next moment, a shadow wolf appeared behind him.

Ruby started sweating heavily: “C-can I know the purpose of this?”

Smiling coldly, Dante manipulated the wolf. It took a few steps toward Ruby until its mouth was a few centimetres away from Ruby’s head. She looked with terrified eyes at the sharp fangs of the wolf. The wolf’s mouth was big enough to fit her entire head.

The next moment, its giant body disappeared from her sight as the wolf melted into her shadow.

“Just a small thing for safety, I hope you don’t mind.” Dante said before turning around, quickly walking toward the tree.

He gave her one last glance. He wasn’t really glancing at her, but at her Wheel of Luck.

’The silver luck is wealth. I understand it now.’ His lips curled into a wide smile as he continued walking.

“That’s…” Ruby looked at her own shadow nervously. It didn’t seem any different, but she didn’t dare to underestimate Dante’s abilities.

Unknown to her, Dante had already dismissed his wolf, it was just a cheap trick to threaten her. But because she didn’t know that, she considered herself to be observed by either a loyal shadow wolf or by Dante himself.

’Well, I can’t do anything about that, and it’s understandable anyway. I wasn’t planning to scam him regardless.’

Looking at the tree, Ruby bowed in gratitude and walked away, humming happily for the extra money she had made from this deal.

She crouched behind Jin, who had fallen asleep, and tapped his face with her broken fingernail: “Hey, wake up, I’m ready to leave now.”

Jin opened his eyes lazily and stood up indifferently. He simply waved to Dante and started walking away.

“Wait…”

Just then, Ruby grabbed Jin’s arm, stopping him from moving. Her eyes widened as a sudden realization struck her.

“Why did you stop me? Are you about to give me an offer as well?” Jin glared at her with annoyance: “Well, this can wait, because I’m starving for a mug of beer right now!”

Ruby quickly shook her head: “No, but I want to ask—where are we going exactly?”

Jin tilted his head: “Any town or village with an inn, do you mind that?”

Her red eyes looked into his as she smiled: “Hehe. Good, very good. I don’t mind at all. It’s just that I thought for a moment you were walking in a random direction. I’m really glad that you know where the nearest estate is located.”

Jin smiled proudly at her words, but almost immediately, his smile froze: “Wait, you… you don’t know?”

“No. We have been walking for days, I don’t know where we are anymore. If not for you, we’d have been in a real problem…” Ruby explained quickly as a bad feeling formed in her heart.

The tone of his question wasn’t normal. The next second, she saw him smiling awkwardly while his forehead was sweating.

She bit her lower lip and lowered her head: “You were walking in a random direction, weren’t you?”

Jin scratched the back of his neck: “You didn’t correct me, so I thought it was the right one.”

“We are lost, aren’t we?”

“Lost? No! We’re just… unable to recognise our location.”

“We’re lost.”

“It’s your fault, you know I was and still am slightly drunk.”

“Did you forget that you made me drink as well? It’s your fault.”

“You are the one who asked for a sip!”

Ruby and Jin fought for a few moments before sighing in exhaustion and deciding to use the stars to find their path.

Of course, Jin didn’t know how to do this. Thankfully, Ruby was quite an experienced merchant who got lost more times than she could count in search of opportunities.

Using the stars wasn’t really the best method, but she had nothing else she could do.

Afterwards, she found the path of the closest estate according to her memory and took Jin toward it, hoping that they wouldn’t face any beasts.

¢¢¢

“Finally, they left.”

In the treehouse, Dante fell onto the cold wooden floor, letting out a sigh of relief.

It was… lonely here.

The corridor was silent, only his breathing could be heard.

The entire place was dark, only the lantern behind him illuminated the space.

The coldness filled the air. Any normal human would have frozen to death by now.

Yet, that loneliness brought him more relief than sadness.

He was finally alone, no one was searching for him, no one would live with him, and no one would get harmed because of him.

Maybe he felt some sadness, but it was something bearable.

’I lived a lonely life for many years on Earth. I’m not the kind of person who would get depressed because of some loneliness. Additionally, I won’t be completely alone.”

He was technically with Elizabeth all time, wasn’t he? He could use Fafnir to speak with her whenever he felt bored. She was always a good listener.

There was also the merchant that would return later with his goods. He might start speaking friendly with her if she decided to come frequently.

He didn’t forget that she talked about buying things from him as well. He could kill beasts, search for herbs, maybe even find minerals and other resources, and sell them all to her.

If everything turned out well, she’d always return.

’She might take a few days or even weeks. What should I do now?’

Having nothing to do, he decided to start with his boots. He aimed his palm at one of them and cast:

Silver Ether Spell — Appraisal!

In one instant, the runes of his new boots appeared. He didn’t just give it a quick glance, he focused deeply on two enchantments.

[Grade: 2]

[Type: Footwear]

[Materials: Grade 2 Shadow Hawk Feathers]

[Enchantments: Self Repair (Rank 1), Temperature Resistance (Rank 1), Auto Adjustment (Rank 1), Lightning Steps (Rank 2), A Storm With No Thunder (Rank 1)]

[Durability: 95%]

⟨Lightning Steps⟩

⤷ infusing the sole of the footwear with mana produces arcs of lightning to push and accelerate your steps. High control is needed in order to avoid incidents.

⟨A Storm With No Thunder⟩

⤷ Any lightning produced by the footwear doesn’t cause noises. With no thunder, the lightning is silent.

’Ho? Is this why shadow materials were used?’ Dante read the second enchantment thoughtfully.

From the books he read, he discovered that the materials couldn’t be enchanted blindly. Some materials allowed only specific enchantments, and using wrong ones would either destroy the materials or waste the enchantments.

For example, you can’t give shadow glasses an enchantment that makes you shoot light, but you can give it an enchantment that makes you see at night just as you see in the day.

Both enchantments are from the Light Aspect, but the effect of the enchantment itself matters.

Apparently, Storm of Shadows got shadow boots to suppress the sound of the lightning. If he used normal lightning boots, he wouldn’t have been able to engrave that enchantment.

’Well, I think it’s time to absorb my cores.’

Dante retrieved a blanket first, wrapping it over his shoulders, then retrieved all the Rank 1 cores he had.

He had a lot of unused cores he gathered from killing beasts, and the cores he had just gained from this inheritance were even greater in numbers.

Holding the first core, he started absorbing them one by one.

Gradually, he absorbed them. There were tens and tens of cores.

Gradually, his power increased. The boosts filled him with immense power.

Gradually, his determination blazed. The memory of Greed’s manipulation and his latest death flashed through his mind.

Gradually, his hope was rekindled. Even if it took him decades, he’d learn how to control his own misfortune and destiny.

’Right, I have the Destiny Domain. My attunement is “Greater” as well.’

’Maybe if I persevere long enough, I’ll be able to control it… Someday.’

Eventually, he stood in halfway through the first rank.

════════✧Gains✧════════

Dragon Bloodline: 10% → 11%

Existence Essence ⟨100/1000 → 500/1000⟩

• Vitality: 41 → 47

• Spirit: 44 → 48

• Mind: 32 → 36

Aspect: Shadow [Comprehension:41%→65%]

Aspect: Misfortune [Comprehension:38%→60%]

Coins: +4 Platinum, +a lot of Gold, +a lot of Silver, +a lot of Bronze

Mana Crystals: +50 Small-sized Crystals

Cores of Existence: +380 Rank 1 Cores, +250 Rank 2 Cores

Ring of Greed: +1 Grade 2 Artifact, +Southern Food and Drinks.

+Southern Recipes (New!)

+Underground Treehouse (New!)

+Phobia of Darkness (New!)

+1 Rank 2 Trade Partner (Alchemist Merchant) (New!)

+4-years-long Seal (Used on The Sin Of Greed) (New!)

+↑Experience & Knowledge

════════✧Losses✧════════

[Regression Marks (7/30) → (6/30)]

Coins: -Everything but 1 Platinum

Mana Crystals: -4 Small-sized (Eaten)

Cores of Existence: -400

Ring of Greed: -Food and Water, -Oil, -Candles

-↓ Misfortune

════════

Total Coins: 1 Platinum

Total Mana Crystals: 204 Small-sized

Total Cores of Existence: 5 Rank 1, 250 Rank 2

✧A/N: Are you guys reading this or am I bluffing with myself here? I’ll keep writing this regardless of your answer! (I’m sure someone out there would read them searching for mistakes)✧

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