24 Hearts

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Chapter 3-1. ‘Black Tree’ Tribe

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As the day dawned, Judah’s party prepared to leave Aslan. Judah, who had gotten up first, washed his body, woke up Jeanne, and then went out to the ground floor hall.

It was still early in the morning, but a lot of nobles already had their breakfast and were already preparing to leave. There were no further reasons to remain in Aslan after the Red Flagstaff event.

When he went to order a healthy meal, Jeanne and Arhil came down one after the other. As they were eating, Count Genuine and Sarah also came down. They joined them, but there was no conversation shared at the table. After their quiet breakfast, they said their farewell to Count Genuine and Sarah and went ahead to Aslan’s northern city gate.

Unlike other gates, not many people headed north. After passing through the checkpoint of the city gate, feeling comfortable, Judah’s party headed north. While walking casually, they were lucky enough to get a wagon, and they were able to reach the defensive point in the northwest of Philoria easily.

It wasn’t until about two days after leaving Aslan that they could get on the road to Regen.

‘Two weeks. It’s for two weeks. It won’t take so long.’

If you just diligently moved the mouse in the game, you could get there in 10 minutes, but it took a considerable amount of time due to excessive reality correction.

If only there were trains like KTX or buses here, it wouldn’t have taken so long.

They had been walking along the open road admiring the scenery around. Still, if he didn’t want to waste their time like this, the only way to pass the time was to learn magic, or he could recruit a companion who knew how to use space movement magic or even build a rapport with a tower to get a gemstone.

There were only three options, but one could say that either one was not easy.

“Huh?”

He couldn’t hear Jeanne’s and Arhil’s footsteps, so he looked behind him, and they were right behind him. It might be because of Arhil, but Jeanne might have been doing the same purposely. The mountains of Regen were so dense that it was hard to compare them with the forests to the east and west of Serenia Castle. He paused and waited for them.

Even though they moved slowly, they quickly came to the side of Judah, who was still standing. He felt sorry as he saw their faces of loathing the experience of going into the woods. He would rather go alone than thinking of this. Then, Arhil took her backpack to pull out her longer clothes to wear over her priest’s uniform. She also took out the coats and robed Judah and Jeanne. The skin made from Requiem’s leather, the leader of the black wolves, was supreme when it came to defense. But in such a jungle, clothes could quickly get worn out, so it was better to wear a cheap robe.

“Judah. Please take some medicine to repel those bugs. Oh, and you too, Jeanne. I’ll spray it on you.”

Arhil meticulously sprayed it on Judah, leaving the scent of pesticide in the air. After putting the medicine around his body like perfume, Judah managed to breathe again.

“Okay, from now on, things are going to get rough.”

“Do you regret that you decided to be with me?”

Arhil was silent, only looking at Judah as he spoke. It wasn’t that she didn’t answer. She was merely glancing in thought.

What would she be doing now if she did not follow him back in the village or Cherryu, and instead, she went with her former companions? Perhaps she was on a much more comfortable yet boring mission right now.

Compared to that, she watched Aslan’s martial arts contest, which she could only hope to see. Because of having him as a companion, she met a man with a fragment, watched the games from the VIP seats, and would soon find herself at the entrance of Regen, which she never thought she’d step foot in. But even so, she still didn’t like the idea of going to Regen.

“Well, a little bit? But what can I do? I’ve come all the way here. It’s not like you’ll let us wait for you here, right?”

He tried to say that he would go alone if anything, but Arhil took the lead with a grumble. However, shortly after she took the lead, she immediately retreated from Judah’s back. There was a clear path through which people traveled, but vine stems and weeds riddled the way from here and there because it was unmaintained.

The vines stuck to their ankles like traps, and the unpleasant, thorny stems caught in the fabric of their robes, making them annoyed. Judah reached for his leather belt and pulled out a dagger to swing it ahead.

‘This is an absolute jungle.’

Initially, when he had been in the real world, he went through this path by cutting it down. It wasn’t tame, but the road was rough, and the bushes showed the footsteps of their enemies so they could determine what they were, all while being chased down by bugs. He felt like he wanted to burn the forest… Burn all of it down.

Feeling the natural flow of his consciousness, Judah’s hand moved in a trance. His sharp blade hissed, cutting everything that was in front of him.

“Judah, you’re walking really fast.”

“Thank you, you’re making this bearable, but this is no good at all. If it’s possible, it would be best to go back now.”

“Yeah. I think so too.”

Arhil laughed that later on grew into a sigh. She knew now why people didn’t want to go to Regen. Not long ago, when they left Aslan, she understood why Count Genuine pounded their shoulders with strength with a wide grin, and why Sarah spared them compassionate glances. Although she had a different experience, she didn’t want to suffer from going down in this direction.

“Hey, Jeanne. I have a question, what is the purpose of our party?”

“The purpose…”

Jeanne seemed to think for a moment, then stumbled when her feet caught in a vine. As she stepped forward with her feet, the ground cracked. She brushed her feet off once, then looked at Arhil to reply

“Well, to explore the world?”

“Is that it?”

“That’s what I know as true. He said he wanted to go to various countries and gain various experiences. I owe Judah, and I also want to do that, so I’m following him in this.”

“That’s pure.”

It was the dream of a true example of an adventurer. Since she wanted to go around the world and she managed to join this party, perhaps it wasn’t a bad dream. She just didn’t want to end up in such a grassy land. Arhil grieved with a grumble.

“But unfortunately, we can’t end it together.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I have to go back to my empire for my dreams as well. I have to pass my apprenticeship.”

“Ah… that’s right.”

Arhil replied, disappointment clear in her voice. Jeanne comforted her, saying that there was still a year left. While walking through the dense forest of Regen, Jeanne grabbed Arhil’s shoulder and pulled it back as she stepped forward.

“Ah?”

Jeanne summoned her shield the moment she gasped, and Judah threw the dagger in his hand, looking behind them. Something flew at Jeanne’s shield, making a dull sound crashing into it, and the sound of Judah’s dagger piercing something.

“Arhil, step back!”

Jeanne was fully armed with her shield and spear. Then, a green-skinned and muscular monster emerged from the bushes with a loud cry.

“An orc?”

She heard that Regen was a place where monsters, humans, and different races lived together and fought, but no one thought that they would meet orcs near the entrance like this.

Five orcs emerged from the forest, looking at Arhil and Jeanne with lustful gazes, revealing their fangs. The crude clothes that of the skin of an animal were bulky against their terrible frames.

“Hey!”

Arhil stepped back in disgust, and at the same time, Jeanne braced her body. As Jeanne wielded her heavy lance, the orcs lifted their weapons. It was an ax made of iron, whether they had something to weld it.

Roar!

The Orcs roared with their mouths wide open to the point where they can see their throats before running straight towards Jeanne. They stood on the hillside, and they ran down at them at high speed.

However, a red line drew through the air coming from their side, and a bloody dagger was struck in the orc’s knee. The orc descending the hill stumbled over the pain he felt in his knees, then fell over and rolled over the ground helplessly. The orc glanced at his suffering ally, eyes widening when Judah appeared in front of him. He swung the ax in his grasp.

Judah avoided it easily, lowering his posture, then dashed behind the orc, kicking its back with his feet. Like the first Orc, it went forward and hit the tree head-on. Judah struck Altemia at its end that made the orc’s body convulse.

He had taken down two orcs, leaving three to deal with.

The three almost reached Jeanne. Judah threw an additional Altemia at the orc farthest from him. Whether his agility reached a B grade due to the points he used or his added strength, Altemia pierced the orc’s body and sucked its blood.

“Hah!”

And Jeanne, who was in her place to protect Arhil, spat out toward the orcs that quickly shrunk from a count of five to two. She glared at the one with a shield and stabbed her lance at the orc closest to her. With his momentum, the Orc went straight into her lance and died. Its green alien blood trickled down her weapon. The orc groaned briefly, dropping his weapon, and after flailing his hands at Jeanne, the life drained from his eyes. Jeanne, who stepped on the orc’s body with her feet and pulled out the lance, turned right away and stomped down the orc’s head, causing its body to burst. It was a sudden attack, but the situation was quickly cleared up.

“You okay?”

“Yes, I was a little surprised, but I’m fine.”

“I’m okay. Jeanne protected me.”

At their answer, Judah sighed with relief, glaring down at the dead orcs below. There was no way an orc ambush could happen in a place like this. He was vigilant, but their green skin turned into good camouflage, and they hid their faces well, so he didn’t notice until they threw something at Arhil.

“…I have to pay more attention.”

“In case anything happens, I will stay armed.”

Was she really going to walk around wearing armor in a forest like this?

Judah shook his head right away.

“No, you don’t have to waste your stamina. If I use my shadows, we won’t be ambushed like this, so we’ll have to walk in with comfortable clothes like before.”

Using his magical power, he triggered Shadow Justice. It wasn’t visible through all the bush, but his shadow went all around to bring back information to Judah. Checking the details injected directly into his head, they continued ahead.

Regen’s forest was more dangerous than they thought.

===================================================== <ol>Can anyone with an SSS grade take out Kain? Kain has only a ss rating. Judah’s agility potential level is SS level. Does this mean that he can go to SS through training and actual combat? If so, can he raise SS too through training and practice and then raise stats? </ol>

For example, Judah’s agility SS (100 ~ 109) potential grade threshold is 100. Then, he raises to 100 through training and can invest 10 stat points to climb the SSS grade. <ol>The limit of stats that can be increased by distributing points is up to 99. Starting from 100, you can use points earned through special achievements or increase if you need to reach potential. </ol>

1- Tip5. Bonus stats randomly rise to the limit your potential allows when you perform a special action or accomplish something. However, if you repeat the same action or get more than a certain stat, it will not climb well after that.

Of course, if your luck helps you, you can get stats even in mundane actions.

Because this game is also based on luck like any other game.

Good luck!

2- From Chapters 1-3

The maximum ability that can be raised with an item is up to 99 (S), but for some special items, it is possible to raise it up to 100 (SS). And included in some of the items are just fragments. In other words, if the remaining fragments could be collected in time, raising the stats that lacked potential can happen.

However, even if you exceed 99’s S talent through items such as fragments, 100 is the limit. It literally just allows you to enter the SS from S. Above that, you can only raise through talent or achievements. <ol>This is a question I want to ask because of the unrequited love story. Isn’t Judah’s unrequited love the wizard kid next to Kain at the beginning? Or is it not out yet? Ah, this unrequited love has not yet come out. </ol>

For reference, Riel is not Judah’s unrequited love. Riel’s unrequited love is for Kain.