Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

Chapter 185 Alone

The plan is to go there for an adventure for a while, and then visit the three great magical kingdoms, since I need to study teleportation magic there.

Without further ado, Yue Ren embarked on a solo journey, riding his horse leisurely as a wandering poet.

To be honest, I was a little unaccustomed to being on my own during the journey. Mainly because I had to do some of the little things myself, like when I encountered some clueless robbers and adventurers.

On the other hand, without the two little ones bickering and making noise, it really feels a bit strange.

After several days, Yue Ren successfully located the nearby teleportation magic circle, having obtained the information from Orstide.

As always, in places resembling ruins, there are only piles of stones.

After removing the protective magical barrier and confirming that it was usable, Yue Ren put the horse into the inherent barrier and then entered the magic circle.

A flash of white light, and Yue Ren appeared in another room.

The moment you reach the first floor, you can feel the temperature rise all at once.

The rising steam hit me in the face, but perhaps because of the low humidity, it didn't feel sticky.

The continent of Becalit is almost entirely desert, so it's not surprising that it's so hot. Or rather, it was precisely because of this heat wave that the Yue people realized they hadn't come to the wrong place.

The passageway was filled with sand, and there was also a layer of sand on the ground, almost completely covering the ground.

Hmm? There are still a few traces left on the sand, which I think were left by Orsteed. It seems this place was indeed used frequently.

Leave the ruins.

It was extremely hot outside, not just ordinary heat, but an astonishing heat.

It was the kind of intense heat that, if not enveloped by magic, would make your cheeks ache from the hot air.

However, perhaps due to the time difference, the sun has already begun to set, and night should come soon.

Normally, the temperature in the desert drops below freezing at night, so the Yue people do not plan to act rashly at this time.

Moreover, as mentioned in previous travelogues, many of the monsters in the desert are nocturnal.

Moving in the dark will make you vulnerable to surprise attacks from monsters, increasing your danger.

Ultimately, the Yue people decided to spend the night in the ruins.

The desert nights are extremely cold.

Fortunately, we had already mastered some basic survival skills from our previous trip together, so there were no major problems.

Before nightfall, I found some dry branches nearby that could be used as fuel, and took out a sleeping bag I had prepared from my storage space. I set up a warning magic circle around me and planned to make do with it for the night.

Spending the night in an unsafe area was indeed a problem, so just in case, he summoned the "Jade Dog" to guard him.

After all, this is another world, with countless kinds of dangers. You can't be reckless just because you're strong. You still need to be cautious when necessary.

And so, on the first night, Yue Ren fell asleep rubbing against the soft fur of the "Jade Dog".

It's no surprise that this continent is one of the most dangerous, and accidents never seem to happen there.

In the middle of the night, the Yue people suddenly smelled a sweet fragrance.

It is accompanied by symptoms such as dizziness, chest tightness, and rapid heartbeat.

The Yue man was startled, realizing he might have fallen victim to a trap.

I am preparing to use "non-action transformation" to adjust my physical condition.

But what was unexpected was that someone—no, a dog—was faster than him.

One of the jade dogs was the first to rush forward.

Then he heard several loud screams.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp!"

The first part was clearly a woman's voice, but later it sounded more like the roar of a monster.

A moment later, the "Jade Dog" returned with something by the neck in its mouth. Judging from the drooping body of the creature it had bitten, it was clearly dead.

It appears to be a woman, with unusually long fingernails, wings on her back, blue skin, and facial features that differ from those of a human.

After seeing the other person's true appearance, Yue Ren suddenly realized.

So that's it, it's a "female nightmare"!

A monster that lures and hunts men, emanating a sweet scent that has a seductive and mind-controlling effect on them. Once a man is aroused and drives away from his unit, he will be devoured by the nightmare demon, who will then reveal its true form.

It is a type of monster that is common on this continent. It is not very strong, but it has a special attack on men, making it quite troublesome in a certain sense.

According to the travelogue, the difficulty of dealing with these monsters even led to the development of a unique culture here: "female warriors".

What does this mean? This brings us to a mechanism of "female nightmares". Because their aura is real, their influence on men will not disappear even after they are killed. So if there is no mage in the team who can use antidote magic, it is easy to encounter a situation where the enemy is killed, but your own warriors will be injured.

However, the problem is that most people with physical strength in this world are warriors, and mages are a minority of professions. Moreover, even among mages, only a very small number have the talent and opportunity to learn antidote magic. For the people living here, this method is simply a temporary solution.

Over time, the people here came up with some effective methods, such as bringing some women into the party. This is because the poison of this monster is usually neutralized once the men release it, making it a viable alternative.

However, another problem arose: if a team of defenseless women were brought along specifically to deal with this kind of monster, it could easily put the team in danger. Thus, the "female warrior" was created as a solution.

Including women in the team not only increases the team's combat power but also helps in dealing with unexpected situations, making it a perfect solution.

This is the wisdom of human survival.

Some might say that this system lacks ethics and disrespects women, but the Yue people feel it's quite normal because in this world, only those who survive and thrive can talk about ethics. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, it's not surprising to make such a choice for survival.

Perhaps when the world develops to a certain point, like the world he lives in, and humanity truly becomes the dominant species, with no other creature capable of posing an absolute threat to human life, this system will be abolished.

But that's all in the future. In this era, this is perhaps the best solution.

For example, the Yue people nowadays, if they didn't know a variety of methods, such as "inaction transformation" and "detoxification magic," would also fall victim to this situation.

They set the corpse on fire, rewarded the capable big dog by patting its head, and the Yue people smoothly weathered the first surprise this continent gave them.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, the Yue people decided to set off, since this might be the only short period in the desert where they could feel a normal temperature.

Wear a hood and a coat to avoid exposing your skin to the sun.

After learning from Rudeus, he can now create water and ice using magic.

So there's not much to worry about regarding water sources, which is part of the magic of this world. Water can be directly converted into various substances, making it almost identical to the legendary "ether."

According to the map, the nearest town is in the north.

Using a purchased compass and the navigational knowledge he learned from Ridge Rudd, Yue Ren avoided getting lost. However, the harsh environment was not suitable for horses, so in this vast, uninhabited area, his large dog became his mount.

Because it is essentially a shadow, such a high temperature is still acceptable.

Since it's a desert map, most of the monsters here are afraid of the cold. Using ice magic will generally achieve a similar effect of restraint. In addition, due to the limitations of the environment, Yue Ren plans to treat it as a training exercise.

Not long after, the monster appeared.

The first thing we encountered was a giant scorpion, about two meters long.

Its tail splits into two, each capable of launching its own attack.

The brain immediately retrieved the information; the other party's name was Double-Tailed Dead Scorpion.

Its tail is highly venomous; if you are stung, you must use an intermediate-level antidote magic spell to be cured.

A snap of the fingers summoned another "Jade Dog" to attack, and the effect was quite good.

Although the shell of the two-tailed dead scorpion is somewhat hard, it moves slowly.

"Jade Dog" can be dealt with in two seconds if it nimbly dodges a wave of attacks and then sneaks up to bite vulnerable parts such as the neck. It can only be considered a small fry.

The monsters on the continent of Bekari are not as strong or as large as those on the continent of Demon. The specific reason may be related to the different concentrations of magic power on each continent. In his perception, the continent of Demon has the highest concentration of magic power among the continents he has passed through.

Next, we encountered magic wood, which is really everywhere.

This time, it will mimic a cactus and be named "Cactus Demon Tree".

It's a C-rank creature. Although it can launch spikes and use earth magic-like abilities, it's just like any other slime that you can find everywhere, and most people don't even bother with it.

He was about to continue forward when, in the next instant, the jade dog carrying him seemed to sense something and suddenly jumped away. And where they had been standing, a huge object burst forth from the ground.

It's an earthworm.

A giant worm, one meter in diameter and probably five meters long, leaped out.

After making a terrifying sound in mid-air as it forcefully closed its mouth, it then burrowed back into the sand.

It's a "sandworm".

A monster that lies dormant in the ground, waiting for its prey to pass overhead before leaping out to hunt.

Given its size and habits, the "Jade Dog" is clearly not very effective at killing enemies.

The Yue people could only wait for an opportunity to strike. They seized the moment when the opponent leaped out of the desert again, casually waving their hands and delivering a frost slash that split the opponent in two. Thus, two frozen spicy strips suddenly appeared in the scorching summer desert.

I remember there were similar monsters in the great forest, only different in size. Those monsters were only about 20 to 30 centimeters in diameter, but they looked like leeches, and were incredibly disgusting.

The Yue people's attacks were also the result of their research into the application of magic to attacks. In their view, apart from the fact that casting advanced magic required counting down, other everyday combat magic could be further simplified. For example, magic attacks could be integrated into melee techniques to achieve the effect of both punching and elemental attacks.

The inspiration came from the main characters of an animated series called "Avatar: The Last Airbender" that I watched when I was a child in a previous life, and now it seems to be showing promising results.

They continued forward, and unsurprisingly, they encountered the enemy again not far away. However, this time the Yue people did not choose to fight head-on, but instead chose to take a detour after sensing the enemy's presence.

Because the opponent was a large swarm of "square ant" ants.

As their name suggests, these bright red ants march forward in a line.

The size is roughly between 30 centimeters and 1 meter, with varying sizes.

Their appearances are also quite diverse; some have wings, while others have upper bodies that look very human.

These ants shoved and jostled each other noisily, marching toward a single goal.

To put it simply, they were like army ants, forming a red river that stretched from one end of the horizon to the other—an astonishingly long line.

According to records, this is one of the strongest monsters that devours everything.

There are also great forests, but one this size... must be a species unique to the continent of Becarit.

It is a monster that resembles a mutated army ant. Although it is an ant, it does not build a nest. Instead, it travels constantly and devours everything in its path.

It has several natural enemies, but it can eat any opponent that walks on the ground, even a stray dragon.

At a certain point, they will begin to build nests and carry out generational succession.

Individually, they aren't particularly strong. Looking at these array of ants, the smaller ones are probably E-rank, and the larger ones are D or C-rank.

This team looks to have at least one or two thousand units.

In this world, the Adventurers' Guild takes into account the size of the monster's population when assessing its level.

Even if they are D or C grade, ten of them together will become B or A grade, and if there are more than a thousand, they will undoubtedly be classified as S-grade disaster.

The other party did not notice him, and Yue Ren did not intend to provoke them. Although he was confident that he could take them all down, it would not be wise to rashly expend a lot of magic power in such a place.

This is a vast, uninhabited area; let them kill each other.

In the following days, as they ventured deeper into the no-man's-land, the battles became even more brutal. Monsters attacked almost constantly. It was only because Yue Ren himself was quite strong that even an average S-rank adventurer team would be wiped out in this situation.

He estimated that he hadn't strayed onto any routes that humans could travel on. After all, this was a desert, and he only knew the direction. If he just kept going in a straight line, he wouldn't be surprised if he encountered anything.

On the fifth day, instead of monsters, they encountered a sandstorm.

No, the term "attack" might not be entirely accurate.

As they walked, they saw something that looked like a wall in the distance, and when they got closer, they realized it was a sandstorm.

I originally planned to wait for the sandstorm to subside before continuing my journey, but it seems that this sandstorm is constantly rising in the same spot and will not dissipate anytime soon.

There was no other way; the Yue people could only use the "Howell cumulus cloud" technique taught by Rudius to change the airflow, suppress the sandstorm, and break through this area.

In order not to affect the weather, he only dispersed the sandstorm and did not bring rain that should not have been there.

After continuing for an hour, I glanced back casually and saw that a sandstorm had started up again at the same spot.