Chapter 41 - Local Elder Dies of Lung Cancer While Trying to Smoke Florida Man's Chocolate Tobacco
Nighttime was the black mages' playground. Shadow magic specialists could instantly teleport or travel longer distances, and their offensive spells consumed less mana.
Taking advantage of the night, Joxonu transformed into a mass of black cloud, flying south at the speed of a commercial plane. Within minutes, he arrived at Buck Turo's camp.
The state of the camp was a mess. The southwest of the camp was burnt to a crisp. A sinkhole at the center had swallowed the commander's private tent, disabling the mage platoon and their weak commander.
Observing the state of the camp, Joxonu slightly nodded, admiring the competence of his enemy commanders. However, he didn't come here to praise his foes.
Searching for his target, his eyes materialized in the clouds. His vision perceived a flow of faint mana heading west. Unlike other mages' mana, this one glowed in red, indicating a high fire element composition.
"Fire mana… Fire breathing method!"
The fire-breathing method was unique to the Crimson Desert Empire, which specialized in fire magic. The Unity Kingdom focused on earth and wind magic. The Church of Eleanor monopolized light magic and water magic. Lastly, the monster kingdoms cultivated otherworld elements that locals could not use, such as wood and metal elements.
As for Joxonu, he belonged to the Moon Tower, an independent organization solely focusing on experimenting and researching new magic. The black magic of Joxonu was the byproduct of the Moon Tower's research.
To a mage and a researcher like Joxonu, a fire-breathing technique was rare and valuable. He couldn't afford to miss an opportunity to catch a fire mage and extract their secrets.
Detecting the mage's whereabouts, he resumed the pursuit. In minutes, he caught up to the target.
Looking down, Joxonu found the target sitting under a tree. He pulled out a white roll of paper and lit the tip on fire. Inhaling the smoke, the man exhaled white mist.
Joxonu was interested in the strange behavior. He continued floating, observing and studying the smoking man.
.
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Felix navigated through thick bushes, dense tall grasses, and thorn vines, cutting a path using a free combat knife from a daily supply box. Relying on the system map, he proceeded west according to the plan. Silently humming in a good mood, Felix leaped over a thorny bush and landed on a large tree root protruding from the ground. As an experienced swamp adventurer, this little dense forest trekking posed no challenge to him. Instead, Felix felt at home.
If an alligator showed up, Felix would have mistaken this place for his home state. The red dots were far behind him. Felix checked the map and made sure no one was following him.
The coast was clear. Most red dots and purple dots either stayed in the camp or rushed south, pursuing Sinnet's group. However, a few search parties that had been dispatched to the west earlier were still around. They scattered into four smaller teams, two of which maintained positions while the other two parties moved west, expanding a wider net.
Felix smirked and inwardly mocked them in his mind as he had no intention of heading north to meet them. He minded his business, continuing his journey west.
*BRRR*
As Felix traveled further, a certain tool in his system inventory vibrated, warning Felix about a point of interest in the vicinity.
*BRRR*
"Hmm?"
Annoyed by the strange vibrating floating system window on his left side, Felix glanced at it. Then, he noticed a certain key item glowing and emitting rainbow light.
.
Pocket Mana Oil Scanner
This pocket watch is an automatic mana oil detector with a range of ten square miles. It vibrates and shows approximate points of interest with its smart screen when it detects specific natural resources. When you are on top of the resource, it will emit beeping sounds.
This scanner is necessary for future main quests. If lost or broken, it can be purchased from the Florida Man Online Store for 1,000 mana.
Infinite battery life. Does not need recharge.
.
It had been a long time since Felix last paid attention to this item. He withdrew it from his inventory and flipped it open, checking the scanner radar.
At the west edge of the circle radar, a thin red line entered the radar monitor. Counting the blocks, Felix estimated that the location was about 9-10 miles away.
This reminded Felix of a quest that he hadn't finished yet.
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Main Quest #4 - Surveying the Mysterious Oil Deposit
Your PMOS has detected a potential deposit of crude oil. Head to that location and deploy the "Liberty Scanner" to pinpoint the location of the deposits. Liberty Scanner can be purchased from the Florida Man Online Store. You will receive a 100% discount for the first unit.
Mission: Deploy Liberty Scanner on any location with a potential crude oil vein.
Reward: Unlock Oil Extractor in Florida Man Online Store, Mysterious Crate (Class F)
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Since the oil deposit was close by, Felix decided to keep going west even though he was out of danger. But because of the rough terrain and obstacles, the pace was a lot slower than usual.
An hour later, Felix stopped to take a break. Despite his nimble feet, he only covered a mile of distance. Sitting under a tree surrounded by dead thorn bushes, Felix brought out a bottle of water and took a sip. He glanced at the clock.
It was already 1 AM.
'I guess I should take a nap here and wait for the sunrise. I'm kinda sleepy. Oh, I'm alone right now. I should smoke.'
Expecting nobody to be around, Felix fetched a pack of tobacco and put one in his mouth. Using a lighter, he puffed a whiff and sighed, not caring about the mana income or the lifespan gain.
Catching his breath for 10 seconds, Felix took another whiff and looked at the sky. That was when he noticed a pair of eyes in a strangely low cloud, looking back at him.
"..."
Felix rubbed his eyes, blaming his schizo mind for seeing a weird hallucination. But even after clearing his eyes, the eyeballs were still there.
"I'm getting schizo. I'm seeing eyes in the sky," complained Felix.
Being cautious of the eyes in the cloud, Felix checked the system map, praying that he was seeing things. Unfortunately, a massive purple dot overlapped with his location.
What does this mean?
Is the radar map broken?
Is this an error?
Or rather, he's doomed.
Felix's expression turned into a smiling derp face meme, giving up everything in life.
"Fuck."
A moment later, the low-altitude cloud descended and condensed into a black-robed ugly man, landing in front of Felix. Without uttering a word of warning, he wiggled his finger. Instantly, a black energy rope materialized and wrapped Felix with the tree behind him. Only his hand holding a cigarette was free.
The black mage, Joxonu, took off his hood, revealing his ugly face. He furrowed his brows and sniffed, smelling Felix's weird smoke.
Strangely, the smoke hurt his eyes and nose. Joxonu scoffed and circulated his mana, covering his body with a layer of black mist and healing his internal injuries caused by the strange smoke.
"Are you from the Crimson Desert Empire?" asked Joxonu.
"...Crimson, what?" Felix tilted his head. Calmly, he puffed a ring of smoke to suppress his anxiety.
"What? You're not from that desert?"
"What desert?"
"Crimson Desert!"
"...Is that edible?"
"..."
Joxonu's frown deepened. He clenched his fist, and the black energy rope tightened, squeezing Felix and the tree.
"Answer me, fire mage! How and where did you learn that fire-breathing technique?!"
Felix was still in a daze, not understanding how and what had happened. Five seconds later, his brain registered the crisis at hand. He coughed and accidentally spat fire.
Joxonu widely grinned when the fire came out. He loosened his fist, and the rope stopped squeezing Felix.
"Alright, let's do it this way. If you give me the fire element breathing method, I'll let you live. If you don't-"
Felix immediately answered before Joxonu could finish his sentence, "Sure. I'll teach you."
"I will…what?" Joxonu was taken aback.
"I said, I'll teach you whatever technique or method. Release me first, please."
While calmly negotiating, Felix deeply exhaled, puffing another fume of smoke.
Joxonu widely grinned. "At least, you're smart! Now, show me the method! Write the technique down on the ground!"
Felix also grinned. "Oh, you don't need that."
"...What?"
Felix fetched out another roll of cigarette. He passed one to Joxonu. "By the way, do you smoke, sir?"
"...Smoke? Oh, is this one of those narcotic drugs in the slum?"
Drug usage and narcotic substances weren't new in this world. Many outlaws, prostitutes, and residents of low-class areas sometimes dipped their hands in these products as they had no other means to pass their time. Even black mages like Joxonu once tried a love potion before.
Calmly picking up the cigarette, Joxonu inspected the content. Upon seeing the chopped tobacco pieces inside, he raised his eyebrows, amazed by its craftsmanship.
"Did you make this?" asked the black mage.
"...Yes." Felix lied through his teeth.
"What is inside?"
"The secret ingredients of my breathing technique."
"Show me how you do it first!" Joxonu still couldn't trust Felix.
"Sure!"
Felix brought out another roll and lit it. This time, he paid attention to his breathing pace, absorbing mana in earnest. Smoke came out from his mouth in rhythm.
Looking at Felix, Joxonu noticed the flow of fire mana in the former's lungs. He smiled and memorized the pathways and the rhythms. But strangely, Joxonu felt light-headed. He felt strangely exhausted.
A minute later, Felix was done. He looked at the black mage, squinting his eyebrows. Curious, he asked the mage, "Sir, how old are you?"
"...Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious. Does a strong mage like you live for a long time?"
"...None of your business!" Joxonu grumbled as he still felt dizzy. His knees started shaking, and his body balance tilted to the sides. He slowly stumbled and sat on the ground, unable to stand up.