Abyss Domination - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Volume 1 Chapter 26 — Light

Chapter 26 — Light

Translator: SaltyTank

Editor: Ayasnow

  It was already dawn when the siblings returned to their home in the slums .

  Considering their journey might take over a month, Soran bought plenty of stuff . They first had to travel to the city of Whiterun, then take a roundabout route toward the city of Autumnfall, where many half-elves gathered, to avoid the territory of gnolls in the area .  It would take five more days for them to reach the Phantasmal Forest from there .

  Travelling was a troublesome matter in this period of time, and it took Soran half a day before he could find a band of merchants heading toward Whiterun . He had to pay them 5 Gold Derahls to travel alongside them .

  The Agate River reached both the northern and southern regions, which was why Amber City could develop as a trade city . However, only a limited amount of goods could be transported through the river, thus there was a need for merchants to travel on land as well .

  It was quite common for travellers to travel alongside merchants as it was a safer option . Rich merchants hired personal guards, while others split the cost of hiring guards and travelled together . For those who wished to travel together with the merchants, they had to pay a fee depending on the distance to their destination . As service for the payment, the merchants and their guards would ensure your safety and provide some support when necessary . Merchant guards were warriors who came from law-abiding families, with some even forming guard groups which served directly under the Adventurer Guild .

  Similar to establishments that provided escorts, it was an industry which was heavily dependent on reputation . After all, travelling was a high-risk maneuver in which one might lose everything to just a small accident . This was why normal adventurers could not become merchant guards . Trust was extremely important in this case .

  Under the dim candlelight, Vivian was packing up her own backpack . There were plenty of odds and ends in her backpack, such as sewing kits . Unless one could afford to equip himself entirely with Rare or higher grade equipment, sewing kits would come in handy some time in the future for repairing items .

  Soran was arranging his own stuff at the same time . The multi-dimensional bag had a capacity of one cubic meter, which seemed like a lot, but it was lacking when put to actual use . Almost half of the bag was occupied after storing some food, camping equipment, and several sets of clothing for the two of them . Currently, larger multi-dimensional bags were something even Soran couldn't dream of . The capacity was increased by at least three times, but they cost over thirty times the price of his current one; they were mostly used by the rich as portable warehouses .

  Vivian could not help but smile whenever she glanced at the pair of deer-skin boots on the side of her bed while packing up . Even though Soran allowed her to wear them, she held back her desire and insisted that she would only wear them when they began their journey . The slums were muddy and filthy, and she did not want to tarnish her wonderful boots .

  The young girl did not have much to bring with her and soon finished her preparations . Soran, on the other hand, was still making sure he had all the necessary items .  

  Vivian sat on the bed as she happily looked at her busy brother and thought about their upcoming journey . It was her first time seeing a multi-dimensional bag, and she believed that there were plenty of other wonderful things that she had yet to see . Soran said they were heading to the nation of elves; were they really as pretty as described in myths and legends? She could not wait to meet them .

  Vivian had no idea how dangerous and tiring it was to travel long distances; her mind was occupied purely with curiosity . After all, she was just eight years old, and that was only her nominal age, basically meaning she was only seven years old physically .

  Soran tried out his military leggings and waist strap before loading sharp throwing knives into the pouches . It was essential to be fully prepared for all situations before adventuring into the wild . Considering that his main weapon was a curved sword, equipping bows and crossbows would only hinder his movement, which was why he brought throwing knives as his backup weapon . Even if it was only 1D3, it was still damage nonetheless, and that tiny bit of damage may save his life .

  Soran also modified the crossbow trap he got from the cave . By removing the outer shell and rapid-fire mechanism, he turned it into a small single-shot crossbow which could be hidden in his sleeves . The firepower was greatly lowered, but it could be used for sneak attacks .

  Rogues specialized in stealth and mobility, and facing the enemy upfront like a warrior was simply not their style .

  Thud!

  Soran tossed a throwing knife and hit the doorframe . Taking his accuracy and Strength into consideration, he murmured, "In my current condition, the effective range is ten meters at best . That's just barely useful in combat, I guess . "

  There were actually quite a lot of things to bring when travelling, and Soran had to prepare an additional backpack after filling his multi-dimensional bag to the brim . He also had to buy a horse with Vivian tomorrow as the merchants would be leaving the day after .

  Warhorses were out of the question; even if they could afford it, keeping one would be extremely costly . With their budget, Soran could only get a pack horse, which cost around 10 Gold Derahls .

  Many naively thought that horses could simply eat grass, but that was not the case . Even low-class pack horses had to feed on bean bran mixed with hay regularly, or else they would not have sufficient energy to carry out their work . As for first-class warhorses, they consumed beans and wheat as their staple food, with eggs and other nutritious foods mixed in from time to time . How else were they supposed to carry a fully armored warrior while charging at enemies? Other special horses might even feed on meat, costing the owner a dozen Silver Derahls per day just for food expenses .  (Wild horses ate all day though . —Author)

  "Time to sleep," Soran said as he pulled out the knife from the doorframe and removed the equipment on his body . "We'll buy some more tomorrow, and we'll be travelling for a long time starting the day after .

  "It will be tough, so you should rest more while you can, okay?"

  Vivian nodded and buried herself further into the blankets . "Big brother, there’s something I didn't tell you . "

  Soran smiled as he caressed her forehead and laid on the bed . "What's the matter?"

  "It's this . " Vivian sat up with a cute yet serious look and said, "Look!"

  Pronouncing a weird syllable, a burst of light appeared on her fingertips .  

  At that very moment, Soran was blinded by the strong light . He was turning his head to look at his sister when light suddenly burst in front of his eyes, robbing his vision with plain whiteness . It was almost like he got hit by a flashbang .

  "Flare…?" Soran rubbed his eyes and rested for a while before recovering .

  No, that was not it . The spell cast was Light, not Flare . As Flare was an advanced version of Light, casting it would require more than one syllable . Soran was knowledgeable about low-ranked spells, thus he quickly deduced that the spell was Light, instead of Flare as he initially thought .

  That was unimportant right now though; the most important thing was: why could Vivian cast spells? Spellcasters had to spend considerable time learning and understanding even the lowest ranked spells . How did Vivian manage to learn magic in just two days?

  With a look of disbelief, he asked Vivian, "When did you learn how to cast spells?"

  Vivian seemed rather dumbfound as well . "I'm not sure myself…

  "Sister Annalynne used it once that day, so I copied her and managed to cast the spell!"

  Divine skills?

  Extraordinary Wisdom?!

  Soran could not help but feel shocked . With unprecedented seriousness, he looked at Vivian and asked, "Did you really just see it once?"

  "Mhm…" Vivian nodded with an uncertain look . "Is it really difficult to learn the spell?"

  'Difficult' would be a severe understatement; without talent, many could not even dream of casting the lowest ranked spells in their entire lives .

  Perhaps Vivian had 20 Wisdom from birth? It was the only logical explanation based on the fact that she could cast a Level 0 divine spell without undergoing baptism and not having any faith .

  "Sit still . " Soran sat up along with Vivian .

  He held out one hand and shook it in front of Vivian . He flicked his fingers quickly, causing a Gold Derahl to seemingly flicker in and out of existence in his hand rapidly . He added in and took away a few gold coins from time to time, and after a while, he finally stopped and held his closed fist in front of Vivian .

  "How many Gold Derahls are there in my hand?"

  As the bearer of extraordinary Dexterity, Soran's nervous reflexes and flexibility exceeded the limits of visual perception . It was not hard to guess what he did, but being able to clearly see it was rather difficult .  

  Even normal people could create slight afterimages just by flicking their fingers . If they bent and extended their finger once during the motion, others might not notice, as their visual perception could not follow the movement . It was especially true for Soran, a top rogue who had 20 Dexterity .

  "Brother… I couldn't see clearly!" Vivian replied with a bitter look .

  "Do you need some tips?" Soran sighed . "Just guess with your intuition . "

  "Erm… I guess two?" Vivian tilted her head and answered after thinking briefly .

  Soran furrowed his eyebrows as he slowly opened his hand, showing three shiny gold coins in his palm .

  "Eh? I got it wrong," Vivian said disappointedly .

  People with 20 Wisdom would automatically gain the Gifted Ability Sixth Sense, which was a powerful and first-rate ability . They could easily see through simple tricks like the one Soran just did and could even tell that an enemy was about to attack just from intuition .

  Since Vivian got her answer wrong, it was clear that she did not have the Gifted Ability to see through Soran's trick .

  In that case, there was only one explanation! (Detective Conan mode intensifies . )

Hope you like the chapter! Next chapter will be on Friday, 23rd March . (Chapters are out at 1am UTC)

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