Not only was Galapagos Island vast and dangerous, but the stationed knights of the Order of the Fledgling Dragon were assigned many responsibilities. Most of them were at the Sixth Degree External Force Tier, but they spent most days and nights running around and completing tasks without a single day of rest.
However, their pay was several times higher than other districts', so they didn't mind much. They simply spent their everyday lives looking forward to the few days of rest they had during the year.
"Good work today."
"Oh, my shift is over?" The mid-rank knight Frankie waved happily when he saw his junior Grady, another mid-rank knight.
Grady had arrived a few minutes early. Though the watchtower was thirty meters tall, it only took them a few jumps to get to the top.
Grady put down the supplies he was carrying. "Sir, did you hear the news?"
"What news? Did something interesting happen?" Frankie asked.
"It's about the Aardgnoll at the Forest of Wastes. The one that was growing stronger."
"Ah, the yellowish one? I bet it's reached the Third Stage by now. Was he causing trouble?" Frankie asked.
While they didn't have much interest in that region, the Aardgnoll chieftain was special. Not only had it been approaching the True Demon Tier, but it had been born with an affinity for a powerful elemental mana. The apprentice knights had neglected to pay enough attention to the Forest of Wastes because it wasn't a good place to hunt. If the Aardgnoll chieftain was now at the Third Stage, the knights who'd just reached the External Force Tier wouldn't be able to handle it.
Had someone been seriously injured? Or killed?
"We found a body," Grady said.
"What?! Whose?!"
"The Aardgnoll's. When we found the corpse, it had already been eaten down to the bone marrow, so it's impossible to tell who killed it."
Frankie squinted as though he couldn't believe it. "Is there even a monster in the Forest that can kill it? Its defensive capabilities were pretty much on the level of a Third Stage monster, so it would've been hard to kill."
Those on the lower end of the External Force Tier might be able to break through its hide, but they wouldn't be able to break the Aardgnoll's bones. Its defensive capabilities were why the Aardgnoll had been able to escape the heart of the island intact. All the other regions were at least twice as dangerous as the Forest of Wastes, so a mere D2 monster wouldn't last in those places.
"Based on the chips in the skull, someone pierced through its chin and stabbed through the skull and the brain. It died with one precise strike," Grady explained.
"That's not something our kids can do," Frankie said.
Grady nodded in agreement. "It's hard to find that level of skill even among the bachelors. I thought it might have been you, sir, but it appears not."
"Are you trying to sass me? Do you have a death wish?" Frankie joked and rustled his hair before his expression returned to normal. "Maybe someone was on patrol and just wanted to get some extra mana stones. We were planning to chase or hunt that Aardgnoll once it reached the Third Stage anyway."
"Yes, the banneret said as much," Grady agreed.
"Then stop chittering about it. There's no use in getting on your superiors' bad side. If you offend someone mean, you'll be suffering the consequences for a long time," Frankie advised.
"You're right, sir," Grady said sheepishly. "I was just so curious that I didn't think that far ahead."
"There's not much to do in your free time on this island, so it's an unspoken rule to just let people hunt as they wish without interfering. No matter how good the pay is, no one will refuse a few extra mana stones." Frankie paused and looked out toward the faraway mountains. Suddenly, a question came to him. It was about the boy the Fledgling Dragon's Commander had been talking about. "Anyway, what's that new first-year up to? I think he's already reached the Third Degree Body Refining Tier, but I haven't heard anything else."
"Ah," Grady said as he recalled the newbie. "You're talking about Leonard. He rarely even comes out of that cave of his. And when he does, he just gathers a few fruits and mushrooms and catches some fish before he goes back in."
"I assume he's planning to keep training in there until he reaches the Fifth Degree. But that should take a while. It's a good thing that kid is so persistent, though," Frankie said.
"The banneret said he can easily reach the Fifth Degree within half a year, what with his capabilities. So he should come out within three months. I guess we'll have to start monitoring him more closely."
The weakest apprentice knight was at the Tenth Degree Body Refining Tier, and most of them were actually at the First Degree External Force Tier or higher. Though those in the Fifth Degree Body Refining Tier were only strong enough to make it out alive, the unlucky ones still died in accidents. That was why the mid-rank knights had to watch them so closely.
"He must have received a lot of mana stones too. That is, if he'd received enough to reach the Fifth Degree without hunting," Frankie noted.
"I heard that in low-grade mana stones alone, he'd received 3,000," Grady said. "He's from a branch family and doesn't even have a sponsor, but he became No. 1 in his class. There's even a rumor that Commander Fabian has his eyes on him."
Frankie's jaw dropped. "Damn! If he had just had a better mana core, he would've been put on the elite course. What a shame, what a shame." That was all Frankie and Grady had to say about Leonard, so Frankie asked, "How are the fourth-year kids? Are they doing well?"
"They're decent. The only problem is that they keep trying to go to the more dangerous places, but it's good that they have so much enthusiasm," Grady reported.
"Tsk. There will come a day when they pay for that dearly—"
"But the very reason we're stationed here is to be ready when that day comes, no?"
As the two knights stood on top of the high watchtower, their voices spilled out into the wind and traveled a long way before fading.
There was no other form of entertainment on the island, so their gossiping went on for a long time.
***
"Achoo!" A young man named Hayden suddenly sneezed. He and his friends had come out to spy on the newbie, as they always did after they finished hunting. However, catching a cold was a very rare occurrence for a martial artist who had reached the Body Refining Tier.
"What the heck, Hayden. Did you catch a cold?" Gale snickered, surprised. He was a little slower than the other two, and he was recognizable by his dark skin, which had been tanned to the shade of a moose's by the powerful sun rays on the island.
"You idiot. Why would someone at the External Force Tier catch a cold? Someone must be talking bad about me," Hayden scowled.[1]
"That's surprising. You have the self-awareness to know you're worth insulting," Gale taunted.
"Shut it!"
Another young man, Ian, watched from the sidelines, looking exasperated by their bickering. He let out a long, long sigh. "Grow up, you morons."
"But we're already grown," Gale said, waving the sword in his hand.
Ian's face scrunched and darkened. Though they had been in the same group for a year, he couldn't stand Gale's pathetic sense of humor. Hayden seemed to feel the same way, because he hit Gale on the back of his head.
"You stupid bastard," Hayden hissed coldly. "Stop talking bullshit and put that away. If the senior knights see you, we're done for."
"Why?"
"How do you think it would look if you're waving around a sword near the newbie's cave? Like a nice old senior? Or what?"
"... We'll look like sons of bitches trying to gang up on a kid," Gale admitted as he put his sword away.
"Don't you forget it. We have to look like nice guys helping out their juniors who are struggling on the island," Ian reminded him. He'd already said this several times, but Gale still seemed unconvinced.
"Does this kid even deserve our help? I don't mind giving him some food as long as it's not mana stones, but we have absolutely nothing to gain by being generous," Hayden argued.
"You don't get it either," Ian muttered. That attitude often bit people in the back. As someone who had been trained in political tactics from childhood, he knew this very well. "You're supposed to make connections without expecting much in return. You never know when you'll need to call upon your personal network. Even if you only make one meaningful connection out of a hundred, or even a thousand people, it is still more valuable than knowing a million idiots."
"Ooh."
"And that first-year got a recommendation letter from Commander Fabian, you know. That's never happened before. It's worth having high expectations for him."
Hayden and Gale were impressed for a moment, but their faces quickly fell when they realized that Leonard wouldn't come out this day either.
"Connections this, networking that. It's no use if we never even get to see him. It never pays off."
"Ugh. Maybe he's really shy? Or maybe our timing is off," Ian wondered as he scratched his head. He simply placed the crate of dried fish by the door, then turned around. "Well, we'll just have to take it slow. It doesn't seem like he wants to leave the island anyhow."
"Now that I think about it, it's already been three months. Who won the bet?"
"It's invalid. We were all wrong."
"I was the closest, so I win."
"Shut up!"
The trio continued to chatter as they walked away, unaware of Leonard's presence to the very end. The very boy they wanted to meet had been watching the unwelcome guests from the trees as they approached his dwelling.
"...Those children are a little superficial, but they have good hearts," Leonard observed. He was secretly impressed. Even the majority of the rising stars in the Prestigious Clans and the Prominent Sects had rotten personalities despite their skills. Rotten personalities were to be expected of the heretic sects and those on the Demonic Path, but even the young martial artists in the famous Five Great Clans and the Nine Great Sects had awful personalities.
Aside from coercing and exploiting martial artists from smaller clans, which was a given, it was also common to go as far as to poison and assassinate opponents within the same clan to quash competition. They prostrated themselves in front of the strong and acted arrogantly in front of the weak. It was so unsightly.
But the children in this family refuse to stray onto dark paths even if they'll die, and they show good intentions even when they're trying to obtain something they want. It amazes me.
Even when the trio behaved rudely, it could be explained by their age. Since Leonard was only young on the outside, he found them endearing. I should remember them and teach them a thing or two in the future. Gale, Hayden, and Ian. Those are their names, I believe.
Leonard had observed them from a tree for one simple reason: the Face Changing Art could only be performed after careful consideration of the target's facial features, demeanor, and body language.
Suddenly, it occurred to him that there was a problem he'd failed to consider. The hair color is an issue. I had no need to change the color of my hair in the Central Plains, so I never gave the method much attention. I suppose I'll only be able to borrow Hayden's and Ian's appearances.
Unlike those two, Gale had brown hair and copper skin, so he was hard to imitate. He also had a bigger build, which made it even more difficult.
Leonard pictured Hayden and Ian in his head. His hands began to move like lightning as he pressed and massaged several acupoints with precision. He'd acquired this Face Changing Art after killing the White-Faced Ghost Thief and obtaining his martial arts book.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
Though the art caused the hair-raising sound of bones breaking to ring out, there was almost no pain.
Leonard's hands continued for several more minutes.
"Hm." He checked his reflection on the face of his sword. He looked like Hayden's twin. "It's not bad, considering how long it's been since I've used this art," he muttered.
If someone sat him down right in front of them and inspected him closely, they would be able to find some differences from the actual Hayden, but that probably wouldn't happen.
Another advantage of this art was that it didn't require a consistent flow of mana. Other than the energy used for the initial transformation, the results were semi-permanent. That was why the White-Faced Ghost Thief had been able to roam murim for decades undetected. But unfortunately for him, he'd ended up staying at the same inn as Yeon Mu-Hyuk and had attempted to steal his money pouch. If it weren't for that, he would have lived longer.
Now I'm all ready to head into the deeper parts of the island. His eyes shone.
He was at the Tenth Degree Body Refining Tier! He could now absorb several times as much mana into his body, which was why he thought others would immediately notice if he was at the Sixth Degree or higher. His dantian had become enhanced, of course, and so had his qi pathways and meridians.
The enhancement caused the energy around him to swirl around him like waves. The face of his sword began to glow red, black, blue, white, and yellow, cycling through each color one by one until the glow faded. This was the sword energy of the Five Elements.
In murim terms, he had reached the level of a First-Class martial artist.
Once I reach the External Force Tier, I should go get four more swords, he thought. He planned to train in the Flying Swords Art as Heavenly Demon Dan Mok-Jin had suggested. It would be too impatient of him to attempt the full Five Elements Sword Qi from the very beginning, but if he started from the basics and took his time, he could easily reach his goal.
"The sun will set soon," Leonard muttered as he turned to the west, watching the sky, lost in thought.
The sun was setting. Needless to say, the dark night favored monsters more than humans, and there were barely any apprentice knights who traveled around at that time. That also meant that fewer eyes were on Leonard and the trio. Not only were there fewer people on duty, but the knights on the watchtower had drastically decreased vision at night and couldn't see as far and accurately as during the day.
In other words, even if Leonard went deeper into the island, there was a lower chance of being spotted, especially if he used arts that allowed him to be stealthy.
Leonard's presence became as weak as a ghost's. Without further ado, he walked inland. He was heading toward a place that forced D2 monsters like the Aardgnoll to scavenge to survive. It also had plenty of Rank B monsters like trolls.
He was walking toward the Forest of Bones.
The first-year had ascended all the way to the Tenth Degree Body Refining Tier in just three months, and now he was about to join the real struggle for survival.
1. This is based on the superstition that talking ill about someone will cause them to sneeze. ☜