My bloodline is so eager to improve.

However, Otto looked at the pottery jar in front of him with some doubt.

What exactly does that shaman want to do?

This carnivorous vine doesn't seem to have anything to do with his sacrificial rituals.

But the Magic Ape offered its own answer.

The Demonic Ape believed that since the other party had chosen to hunt down the priest, it meant he had already made his own plan. Faced with such a dangerous situation, he wouldn't have carelessly caused a disaster. Presumably, the birth of the Flesh-Eating Vine was closely related to that sacrificial ritual.

[The Demon Ape speculated that perhaps the Carnivorous Vine was a decoy he used to attract attention, or perhaps it was a tool he used to collect materials to aid in the sacrificial ritual, but the specifics still require further investigation.]

Otto also found the analysis of the Magic Ape to be reasonable.

But since he couldn't find any answers for the time being, Otto simply put the pottery jar away and prepared to deal with it later.

The magical ape declared that the pottery jar itself was unimportant; the important item was the Grak symbol embedded in it. This symbol, along with the finger bone, were the true magical artifacts!

Seeing this, Otto smashed the earthenware pot and put the metal piece engraved with the Grac logo into his pocket.

After doing all this, Otto looked up at the sky.

The sky was beginning to lighten in the east, and dawn was approaching. Otto was feeling quite tired after a night of commotion, and he knew it was time to go back.

Upon returning, Otto felt he needed to recover from his exhaustion and also check if Goren had sold off the spoils of their last adventure.

Otto stood up and dusted himself off.

He took one last look at Juliet's tomb in the distance, then turned and walked toward the cemetery gate.

At that moment, sunlight gradually pierced through the clouds and shone on the ground of the Crow Cemetery.

The eerie atmosphere gradually dissipated under the sunlight.

Otto knew that the anomaly at the Raven Cemetery had been temporarily resolved.

But this was just the beginning. His contract with Juliet and the mysterious shaman were both waiting for him to resolve.

There are many troubles ahead, but Otto believes he is prepared.

With that thought, he gripped the iron sword at his waist and strode towards Oak Town, facing the morning light.

Chapter Ninety-One: Harvest from the Blackthorn Forest (Fifth Update, Please Subscribe)

Otto walked quickly and steadily, his silver boots, covered in suburban mud, making a crisp and rhythmic sound on the cool morning flagstones.

At this time, the morning mist had not completely dissipated, like a thin veil covering the mountains. The silver-frost-covered peaks were faintly visible in the mist, carrying a somewhat oppressive and somber feeling.

This made Otto, who had been busy all night, feel a little annoyed. Fortunately, he arrived at the town's eastern gate in no time.

Two guards at the city gate were yawning, leaning against the wooden watchtower, their spears casually resting against the wall.

Upon seeing Otto approach, one of the guards, with short brown hair, immediately straightened up and put on a familiar smile.

"Good morning, young man of the Dragonbreaker Blade. You're back from outside so early?"

Looks like you had a good haul this time.

The guard had previously participated in the capture of Goren and Otto, so he was quite familiar with this newcomer to the Dragonbreaker Blade.

Seeing the other person pass by, I might as well say hello and get to know them a little better.

The guards often need to handle various affairs within the town, and having some familiar adventurers as connections is the perfect solution.

Just like their captain Harvey, because of his extensive network of connections, even the de facto rulers need his help with some troublesome matters.

Otto, upon hearing the guards' greetings, merely nodded slightly and immediately reached into the leather pouch at his waist to pull out his adventurer's wooden badge.

The wooden plaque is made of hard oak, with its edges polished smooth. It is engraved with the emblem of the Shattered Dragonblade Squad and his name, as well as a custom mark representing the Adventurers' Guild.

The guard took the wooden sign, glanced at it, and then handed it back with a smile.

"Go inside."

Although the two were not complete strangers, they still had to go through the formalities.

After thanking him, Otto entered Oak Town without incident.

The town was gradually waking up in the early morning. Otto walked towards the forging workshop, observing his surroundings as he went. He rarely went out at this time of day, so he found it all quite novel.

Shops along the street opened their doors one after another. The sweet aroma of freshly baked rye bread and honey wafted from the bakeries, while the clanging of metal came from the blacksmith's shop, and occasionally a rooster crowed or a dog barked.

The air was filled with the smells of cooking and the aroma of life, a stark contrast to the cold, dangerous, and death-laden atmosphere of the Blackthorn Forest and the Crow Cemetery.

Otto walked along the main street to the west of town, where the familiar wooden sign of the forging workshop came into view.

The Dragon Slayer logo on the signboard was hand-carved by Maika. Although it has faded in some places after years of exposure to the elements, it is still clearly visible.

Although he didn't usually feel anything, after a busy night, seeing the logo again made Otto unconsciously breathe a sigh of relief.

He pushed open the heavy wooden door, and a unique smell mixed with coal smoke, iron filings, and quenching water wafted out. This was a smell that Otto was already used to, and it was a smell that made him feel at ease.

The forging workshop was dimly lit, with only the central forging furnace burning fiercely, its orange-red flames illuminating the entire workshop in an intermittent manner.

Maika stood in front of the forging furnace, shirtless, his bronze skin covered in sweat, wielding a heavy iron hammer, striking the red-hot iron block on the anvil.

As for Goren, he sat on a wooden stool to the side, carefully wiping his fingerless boxing gloves. The knuckles of the gloves were inlaid with several thick iron plates, covered with scratches left by battle.

Hearing the door open, the two of them looked up at the doorway at the same time.

"You're back, kid."

Goren put down the cloth in his hand, stood up, and gave a hearty smile.

"I thought you wouldn't be back until noon."

Otto didn't say anything, but just nodded and walked to a wooden table in the corner of the workshop to begin disassembling his Moonsilver carved armor.

He first unfastened the leather straps on his shoulder armor, removing the heavy shoulder armor and placing it on the table. Then came the breastplate, arm armor, and leg armor, leaving only the linen shirt soaked with sweat underneath.

This Moon Silver Carved Armor was a high-quality piece he rented after joining the Shattered Dragon Blade squad.

The armor is engraved with exquisite patterns, making it not only lightweight but also highly resistant to attacks from monsters.

However, after the adventure in the Blackthorn Forest, the armor had several deep scratches and traces of corrosion from the kangaroo bat's claws and acid.

Taking advantage of his free time today, Otto decided to get some proper skincare.

"How is the plan progressing?"

As Otto wiped the stains off his armor with a cloth, he cautiously asked the two men.

"I went out to take care of some things yesterday. Did I miss anything important?"

Otto certainly didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to witness the thrill of the fight.

Upon hearing this, Goren simply walked to Otto's side, took out three gleaming gold Thorns from a leather pouch at his waist, and placed them on the table.

The gold coin engraved with the portrait of the King of Thorne shone brightly in the firelight, completely attracting Otto's attention.

As for Goren, he simply let out a long sigh and said in a relaxed tone.

"Eileen has already taken Tessa to prepare; she will go to the Adventurers' Club to take care of everything."

Tomorrow, the two of you can go directly to the Adventurers' Guild to receive the level-up assessment quest.

As for these three Golden Thorns, they are your reward for your adventure in Blackthorn Forest.

Having said that, Goren immediately handed King Thorn to Otto.

Otto held the three Gold Thorns in his hand, weighing them in his fingers, feeling the cool metallic touch.

He looked at the three gold Thorns in front of him, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes.

Just a month ago, when he first arrived in Oak Town, he only had two Gold Thorns, which he voluntarily offered to the Goddess of Light, Felicity, in exchange for the precious Eye of Light.

During that period, he could barely make ends meet by relying on the help of Maika and Eileen.

Now, he not only has a stable income, but also reliable teammates and his own equipment, and his life has undergone earth-shattering changes.

As if seeing through Otto's thoughts, Goren explained with a smile.

"As you know, our Dragon Shattering Blade team, as a team, sets aside 10% of the total profits from each adventure as team funds to purchase medicines, repair equipment, pay intelligence fees, and so on."

The remaining 90% will be distributed according to each person's contribution to the adventure.

He paused for a moment, then continued.

"We had a great harvest in the Blackthorn Forest this time. After pre-selling the supplies and various spoils we plundered, we got a total of ten Gold Thorns."

I took out one coin as the team's funding, and the remaining nine coins were divided among the three of us, three coins each.

"Hehe, Master Maika didn't come with us to the Blackthorn Forest this time, so he didn't get a share."

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Ownership of the Broken Blade (First Update, Please Subscribe)

As Goren explained, Otto simply nodded to indicate that he understood.

The Dragonbreaker team's allocation rules are very fair, which is one of the reasons why this team has been able to continue playing.

Otto had heard Lance mention that many adventurer teams had ultimately perished due to unequal distribution of rewards, but the Dragon Slayer Blade did not seem to have such a problem.

Otto could actually see that Goren, as the temporary captain this time, not only didn't take a single extra penny, but even deliberately gave some of his credit to Tessa and himself.

After all, Goren had put in a lot of effort in the Blackthorn Forest.

Logically speaking, even if he allocated more to himself, Otto wouldn't have found it surprising.

However, it seems that Otto received more than just these three King Thorns.

Just as Otto was pondering, Goren took out another item wrapped in cloth from his spatial pocket and placed it in front of Otto.

"Thanks to you, we were able to resolve so many troubles in the Blackthorn Forest and escape unscathed."

Especially that last valley filled with rotting vines—if you hadn't purified them with your Soul-Purifying Fire, we would probably have been corroded by the miasma, incurring extra medical expenses.

As Goren spoke, he unfolded the cloth.

The cloth contained a fragment of a broken blade, about the length of a palm, with an uneven break, clearly broken off with great force.

The broken blade's material looks very special, exhibiting a deep, dark black color. Its surface was originally covered with twisted black runes, but now those runes have disappeared, leaving only a faint white halo that exudes a pure aura.

It was the broken blade that the three of them had obtained in the kobold settlement.

"Therefore, Tessa and I have decided to give you this broken blade fragment we obtained from the kobold settlement as an additional reward."

Goren looked at Otto, his tone genuine and completely unpretentious.

But Otto looked at the broken blade fragments on the table with some surprise.

“This is too expensive, Goren, I can’t accept it.”

He was about to decline when Glenn simply patted him on the shoulder and interrupted him with a smile.

"Just accept it, Otto."

Tessa is a priestess skilled in sealing, so she has no need for such a melee weapon fragment.

Moreover, she hated anything that had been cursed or tainted, and didn't want to touch it at all.

Goren then pointed to himself and continued.

"As for me, as you know, I am a martial artist, and my specialty is fighting with my bare hands."

Equipment isn't actually that important to me.

At this point, Goren raised his fingerless boxing gloves, a hint of pride on his face.

"You see, these gloves don't have any other magical effects. They just slightly increase my strength and strengthen my fists."

For me, only these simple and practical pieces of equipment are barely useful.

I'm not used to using those fancy weapons.

Seeing that Goren had already put it this way, Otto could no longer refuse, so he nodded and accepted the broken blade fragment.

He picked up the broken blade fragments and examined them carefully.

The fragments felt cool to the touch, were incredibly hard, and had sharp edges that could easily cut through fabric.

Although only a section remains, one can still feel its former majesty as a powerful weapon.

"But, after the broken blade of this weapon is purified, will it still be effective?"

Otto asked, somewhat puzzled.