When Roland slowly opened his eyes.

Before him was an all-consuming darkness, boundless and suffocating.

"Where is this?"

"Just now... what happened?"

"Wait... who... who am I?"

He took a deep breath, forcing down the panic welling up in his heart as he gently rubbed the space between his throbbing brows.

Fragments of memory in his mind slipped through his fingers like quicksand; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t grasp a single clue about himself.

The darkness was like congealed ink, so thick it was impossible to distinguish the boundaries of time and space.

His consciousness sank continuously into this chaos, as if it were about to be devoured forever.

Just as Roland was about to give in, his eyelids drooping heavily, an ethereal, misty voice suddenly echoed by his ear.

"You... you’ve come again..."

He snapped his head up to see a pair of slender, jade-like hands bizarrely emerge from the darkness.

The arms were as white as snow, almost translucent, emitting a faint glow in the darkness.

"Are you that... impatient to see me?"

Following the soft words, a hazy figure gradually revealed itself behind the arms.

Although it was shrouded in darkness, the graceful curves of its silhouette clearly belonged to a woman.

"Who... are you?"

As if drawn by some invisible force, Roland unconsciously reached out his hand.

"A pity... now is not the time..."

Just as his fingertips were about to touch her, her cold palms landed on his shoulders first.

"However... seeing as you’re so devout... heheh..."

A light laugh like silver bells rippled through the darkness. The next moment, a sudden force violently shoved him away.

"Go back... back to where you belong..."

A sense of weightlessness instantly struck him. Roland’s body tipped backward, plunging into the endless, dark Abyss.

When he opened his eyes again, the familiar sight of the battlefield met his gaze.

The blood of the demons on the ground was still gushing, not yet fully coagulated.

"Roland! Roland!"

A coarse voice, like a clap of thunder, exploded by his ear, instantly shattering the fog of chaos.

Fragments of memory came rushing back like a tidal wave.

Transmigration, Blacksmith Apprentice, demon attack, Extraordinary Power, Distant Harbor, Wuxi Town... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Finally, all the images froze on that pair of terrifying, golden, slitted pupils.

"The Giant Dragon... Rudolph... the golden liquid... I remember now!"

Roland gasped sharply, like a drowning man finally breaking the surface of the water.

Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, soaking the collar of his shirt.

His dazed and distraught appearance clearly terrified Sean, who was beside him.

His honest and simple-hearted best friend gripped Roland’s shoulders tightly and shook him desperately.

"Roland! Roland! Can you hear me?"

"Stop... stop it!"

Roland felt like his skeleton was about to be shaken apart and quickly broke free from his friend’s vise-like grip.

"I’m fine, Sean. Where’s the Giant Dragon?"

"I’m not sure..."

Seemingly recalling the shocking scene from just moments ago, Sean’s usually dark complexion couldn’t help but turn a little pale.

"Where is Lord Beckham?"

Roland pressed.

"Didn’t he go to..."

Following Roland’s gaze, Sean turned to look, and his pupils contracted abruptly.

"Lord Beckham!"

He cried out in alarm and immediately strode forward at a run.

"Someone help! Lord Beckham is seriously injured and unconscious!"

At his shout, the soldiers who were gradually regaining consciousness gathered around and began to administer emergency aid to the unconscious Beckham.

Roland, however, stood his ground, surveying his surroundings with a tight frown.

The mangled corpses of demons, the giant claw marks on the ground, and a blood-soaked Beckham hovering between life and death not far away...

All of this was a silent declaration.

What had just happened was definitely not a hallucination!

Recalling the heart-rending burning sensation from before, Roland moved his body a little. After confirming nothing was amiss, he immediately opened his Professional Panel to inspect it closely.

’This is...’

His brow furrowed deeply, his gaze locking onto two unusual changes on the panel.

First, in the Race column, which had never changed before, the word "Dragon?" had appeared after "Human."

Even more surprising was the Traits column, where a brand-new trait had appeared on the first line.

[Shire’s Favor]

[Shire’s Favor: You have gained the favor of the Goddess of Death, Shire. It is simply unknown whether this honor is a blessing or a curse for you.]

Unlike the detailed descriptions of other Traits, this text not only failed to explain its specific effects but also carried a somewhat mocking tone in its wording.

’What in the world happened...’

Roland tried his best to recall what had happened, but his memory stopped at the golden droplet.

When he came to, the only thing he could hear was Sean’s shouting.

’Where did that part of my memory go? Whatever, I’ll figure it out later when it’s safe...’

Thinking of the Giant Dragon that had just appeared, Roland didn’t dare to delay and immediately called to Sean and the soldiers in the distance to prepare to withdraw.

The moment he swung himself onto his horse, a familiar feeling suddenly washed over him.

He whipped his head around and saw dense cracks spreading wildly across the ground.

But unlike before, these cracks were no longer pure black lines containing the aura of death, but rather strange patterns mixed with various colors.

Each pattern emanated a completely different aura.

Scorching, sharp, surging, heavy...

’This is... Magic Elements!’

Roland stared at the scene before him in disbelief.

The patterns expanded rapidly across the land, and then rich, almost tangible Magic Elements of all colors continuously gathered before finally soaring into the sky in the distance.

In an instant, accompanied by a faint, almost imperceptible roar, the clouds roiled, and lightning flashed amid thunderous rumbles.

The once-clear sky was instantly swallowed by boundless dark clouds, and immediately after, a torrential downpour came crashing down.

The moment the rain hit the ground, the wildly spreading, dense patterns vanished without a trace.

In the air, however, the concentration of Magic Elements was rising sharply.

’This is...’

With a thought, Roland activated the Spell Patterns on the bone.

Completely different from the usual sluggish feeling of drawing Magic Power, the Magic Elements now seemed to have a life of their own, scrambling to pour into the Spell Patterns.

Thanks to his Fire Element Affinity, he could even hear the cheerful "whispers" of the Fire Element.

This was a stark contrast to his previous Perception, which felt like sensing things through a thick barrier.

’The recovery speed of the Magic Elements... has accelerated.’

Realizing this, Roland gazed through the curtain of pouring rain toward the distant forest.

He saw countless figures of demons, faint and indistinct, looming among the trees.

They weren’t mourning their fallen comrades; instead, they raised their weapons, tilted their faces to the sky to welcome the strange rain, and let out cheers.

What was more unsettling was that the forms of some demons were undergoing visible mutations in the rain.

"Roland!"

Sean’s shout came from the distance.

"The scouts have spotted demons gathering nearby! We have to retreat immediately!"

Roland took one last deep look at the horde of demons, then turned his horse around and followed the retreating troops.

Thanks to Beckham’s earlier defensive measures, Wuxi Town was fortunate enough to escape the demon attack.

However, the earth-shaking tremors still caused considerable damage to the well-equipped town.

Even more worrying, all the residents had fallen into varying degrees of unconsciousness due to that strange sound.

Looking at the scene before him, a guess gradually formed in Roland’s mind.

’The strange sound I heard before the earthquake... was probably the Giant Dragon’s roar. The reason I didn’t fall unconscious is most likely thanks to [Will of Steel].’

Beckham soon regained consciousness.

Although the Extraordinary Knight had missed Roland’s conversation with the Giant Dragon, he still retained his memory of the dragon.

He immediately dispatched a rider to gallop to the Royal Capital and report the situation, requesting reinforcements. At the same time, he urgently mobilized his troops to be on high alert for a potential demon attack.

However, the anticipated demon attack never occurred, and the Giant Dragon also vanished as if it had evaporated from the face of the earth.

Only the immense downpour continued to fall, showing no sign of stopping.

Seeing this, Roland dared not delay. After a hasty farewell to Sean and the others, he spurred his horse and galloped toward his manor.

Watching his best friend’s figure disappear into the curtain of rain, Sean took a deep breath, then turned and strode toward the military barracks.

"Lord Beckham!"

"What is it, Sean?"

"I want to..."

Recalling the scene of Roland confronting the Giant Dragon alone, the dazed look in the simple-hearted young man’s eyes faded completely, replaced by a firm tone as he spoke.

"I want to follow your earlier advice and enlist for service on the border!"

And that encounter didn’t just have an impact on Sean.

In the "Breath of the Forest" tavern, Teresa was unconsciously prodding the steak in front of her with her knife and fork.

The earth-shaking tremors, passing out, the mountain-like behemoth, and...

...that figure, standing alone against the Giant Dragon.

At this thought, ripples spread through her sea-blue eyes, and a curious light swirled within them.

"Mr. Peyton..."

Peyton, who was busy repairing the broken main door, turned at her voice and saw the untouched steak on her plate.

"What’s wrong, Teresa? Don’t worry, you’re that kid Roland’s friend. It’s just a few meals, that old geezer Gary won’t mind!"

"That’s not it..."

Teresa shook her head gently, her silver hair swaying with the movement.

"I wanted to ask... where did Mr. Roland go?"

"He didn’t tell you?"

Peyton wiped the sweat from his brow, looking a little puzzled, but finally spoke.

"Seems like he’s going to... the River Domain, right? That’s not a good place. That kid is bound to suffer a bit there..."

"The River Domain?"

Teresa repeated softly, a peculiar glint flashing in her eyes.

......

......

CLIP! CLOP! CLIP! CLOP!

The horse’s hooves trudged heavily through the muddy ground. After giving a quick nod to John at the manor gate, Roland strode toward the wooden house.

BANG!

The door flew open, revealing Bronson’s solemn face.

"Roland! You’re finally back!"

The scholar strode forward and gripped his shoulders tightly.

"Over the past few days, the Magic Elements in the surrounding area have been..."

"I already know, Mr. Bronson."

Roland cut him off directly. Noticing the confusion in the other man’s eyes, he lowered his voice and said,

"Now is not the time for explanations. Are your bags packed?"

"Of course. In that case, we..."

"We stick to the original plan."

Roland took a deep breath, the strange phenomena in Wuxi Town flashing through his mind.

The accelerated recovery of Magic Elements meant that the chaotic era they had predicted would arrive sooner than expected.

In these impending turbulent times, only strength was the foundation for survival.

Thinking of this, his gaze involuntarily turned to the northeast.

That was the direction of the River Domain.

’I have to get to the River Domain as soon as possible and obtain the Knight’s Breathing Technique...’

Having made up his mind, Roland looked at the ready-to-depart scholar before him, his voice low and solemn.

"Mr. Bronson, our previous prediction... I’m afraid it’s about to come true. The age of the full recovery of Magic Elements... is perhaps upon us."

"Yes..."

Bronson shook his head gently, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a bitter smile.

"I just didn’t expect... it would come so soon..."

A brief silence fell over the wooden house, with only the sound of their breathing mingling in the twilight.

The setting sun outside cast its slanted afterglow into the room, stretching their shadows long and gradually blurring them across the mottled wooden floor.