Chapter 10: Chapter Ten: Black Ruin Castle

Chapter Ten: Black Ruin Castle

System: [You have slain a Level 1, normal class Mirror Beast. Beast’s level is higher than yours by 0.33%, points and Exp gained are slightly increased.]

[You have received 79 points and 87 Exp]

[Loot: You have received a manual: {Basic Forgery Guide}. You have received 3 Black Coins.]

---

Valen was ecstatic when he reviewed the system’s notification. For a level 1 beast, the rewards were quite generous.

When he saw the Exp reward, he was a bit confused before realization dawned on him. The Silver Watch was connected to the Humanity System, granting its user certain benefits, but this was only a basic connection.

The higher the connection one had with the system, the more privileges they could get. As for increasing the connection, it was simple: Level up your Silver Watch.

This feature was only accessible to evolvers, so Valen had forgotten such a thing was possible. The 87 Exp he had gotten went to the Silver Watch. Once he gathered enough, it would level up to level 1, and he could get more benefits from the system.

Hearing the third message of the system made Valen a bit dumbfounded. Although one couldn’t loot monsters like in a video game, the system would still grant evolvers additional loot, but they would have to head to a system store to retrieve it.

Even so, this was enough to send all evolvers into a frenzy of desire to kill beasts. They didn’t live in a video game, so being able to enjoy its benefits in reality was a boon.

Valen checked his Silver Watch and realized that the Basic Forgery Guide was already installed on it, and he could view it at any time. As for the 3 black coins, he could only get them at a system store.

This was why manuals were extremely valuable, as they could be accessed without going to a system store.

Shaking his head to dispel such thoughts, Valen returned his gaze to his teammates, who were now silent.

Night Vanguard’s eyes revealed his unsettled feelings, and everyone who had previously ridiculed Valen lowered their heads in slight embarrassment.

Forgotten Maple let out a small sigh. "You’re truly stronger than I expected, friend Night Star."

"You overpraise me, Maple." Valen shook his head with a wry smile.

The armed guards of the station arrived and began asking around. Once they had the narrative of the situation from the other evolvers, they approached Valen with solemn expressions.

"Young lad, you’ve done well." The lead guard said in a gruff voice. Stretching out a hand and patting Valen’s shoulder, he continued, "The previous incident was an oversight on our part. As a token of gratitude, I use my authority as the guard commander to grant you a 50% discount on all purchases within the train station."

Gasps echoed in the surroundings as everyone shot Valen a look of envy. The train station might not sound like much, but it connected almost all cities in the Advanced Kleints Country and also numerous beast havens.

Having a 50% discount would greatly reduce one’s future expenses.

Valen was also visibly surprised, but he soon calmed down and nodded. "I’ll accept this gift, Commander."

"It’s nothing much," the guard commander chuckled. Taking a step back, he said, "You seem like a promising individual. I heard the Six-Lines Academy is recruiting in two days, it’s the best one in the country. You can try your luck there."

The guard commander turned and left with his group of guards.

Valen turned his attention to Forgotten Maple and said, "Do you have the train tickets? If so, it’s high time we go in and have a seat."

Valen couldn’t wait to begin reading the {Basic Forgery Guide}.

Forgotten Maple nodded and led the party members into the train.

As soon as they were gone, an uproar erupted amongst the evolvers waiting outside.

"That battle was so cool. Even I might not be able to do it."

"I never thought a D-ranked weapon would be so powerful. I must get one someday!"

"Did any of you record the battle with your System Lenses? I’ll purchase it for 100 credits!"

...

The battle video between Valen and the mirror beast was soon uploaded on the White Star City Forum, sending a ripple throughout the city.

To the higher-leveled evolvers, the battle video wasn’t worth mentioning.

"He had merely relied on the power of his weapon, not worth mentioning."

"I could do this back in the day."

But for those below Level 1, it gave a lot of inspiration on how to fight.

"So a sword strike could be so precise. I need to learn that."

"He’s sharpened the Basic Swordsmanship Art to such a degree, what a genius!"

...

Valen stepped into the train and found his seat. After that, he tapped his Silver Watch and closed his eyes.

His system lenses in his eyes shone, and a blue screen appeared in his vision even with his eyes closed.

The system lens was like a system relay. It was a transparent contact lens placed in the eyes. It could be used for video recording and for monitoring by the Humanity System.

Removing it automatically made one a fugitive and targeted them for capture by the system.

The system lenses also had another function: projection. This projection could only be viewed by the user and no one else.

Valen began to read the information on the blue screen carefully as he studied the way of forgery. Although the manual only covered basic techniques, he felt it could achieve a 50% success rate when crafting common equipment.

One must not underestimate this percentage. Even Apprentice Forgers could only achieve that much.

Before Valen could become engrossed in studying the Basic Forgery Guide, he heard a robotic voice: "Attention passengers. Transit sequence initiated. Please remain seated."

A moment later, the train surged into motion with a low hum. Its speed was so fast that Valen figured it could probably rival the speed of planes back then, before the apocalypse.

Time slowly passed, and Valen continued reading. Throughout the journey, the train had stopped three times at different checkpoints.

It wasn’t until ten minutes later that the robotic voice announced once more: "Now arriving at Grey Lands. All passengers proceeding toward Black Ruin Castle are advised to prepare accordingly."

The train slid to a halt. Valen, and several others stood from their seats and exited the train.

They arrived at another platform underground and had to use the transit platforms to reach the surface.

Valen and Forgotten Maple’s team regrouped as they stood at a rocky, grey expanse. The sun hung high in the sky, its heat pressing downwards. In the distance, a Black Ruin Castle sat atop a large hill.

"Friend Night Star, we’ve arrived at the Grey Lands. As you can see, in the distance lies the Black Ruin Castle. For this raid, my teammates and I had unanimously decided to make you the team leader. Please don’t reject this role." Forgotten Maple approached Valen with a smile in his eyes.

Valen raised an eyebrow in surprise. He hadn’t expected this turn of events. He subconsciously shot a glance at Night Vanguard, who immediately turned his head away with a huff.

"Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t targeting you on purpose because I didn’t want to carry dead weight. Now that you’ve proved your strength, I’m more than willing for you to become the leader." Night Vanguard said with a snort.

Valen chuckled lightly. "Sure. If it’s everyone’s decision, I’ll take it. It’s good for our team to have a united heart. Otherwise, it might be difficult to overcome certain situations that require teamwork."

Speaking of confidence in leading a team, Valen wasn’t the least anxious. With the memories of the first Silver King, leading an army of thousands wouldn’t be difficult, and right now, he only needed to command a party of eleven.

He subconsciously glanced behind him, into the distance. A dense black cloud could barely be made out. If it weren’t for his improved sight, he may have only seen an outline.

"Those day walkers are relentless. Until they break the city barrier, they wouldn’t stop." A feminine voice sounded from the side.

Valen glanced over and saw Abandoned Protocol—a Sight Path evolver—and the only female in the team. Forgotten Maple was also her brother. She wore a blue mask and a loose gown, a quiver of arrows strapped to her back and a grey longbow in her hands. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

She had always been silent, refusing to speak to anyone. Yet now, she spoke, and it seemed to be because of the city.

Valen only nodded, remaining silent. Then he turned his gaze to the Black Ruin Castle in the distance.

’If I get enough resources on this trip, I will be able to reach level 1 sooner.’ He thought.

During his previous battle with the mirror beast, some of the clogged-up energy within him had been released, and after a few more battles, he would be able to absorb trophic once more to strengthen himself.

Along with his party members and the other teams that also wished to explore the castle, they set forth on their journey to the Black Ruin Castle.

---

While Valen and the others headed to the hilltop Black Ruin Castle, a commotion broke out within it.

"Brother, just as you thought, some foolish humans are heading over. Although they aren’t numerous, with them, our preparations would finally be complete." A fair-skinned young lady with crystal eyes smiled at a cloaked individual seated on a bronze throne.

Underneath his foot lay the corpse of a massive, yellow-skinned beast. Countless diamond swords punctured the beast’s corpse, pinning it to the blood-stained marble floor.

A short distance away, rows of yellow-skinned beasts obediently stood, staring at the cloaked individual on the throne with respect in their eyes.

If anyone were to witness this scene, they would be incredibly shocked. Aside from day walkers or leaders of their certain tribes, beasts seldom submitted to humans—even when threatened with death. Yet, these beasts stood obediently before the cloaked human.

This was only possible if they had fully submitted, and the only humans who could make a large amount of beasts obey them were... dark worshippers—the enemies of humanity.

"Good." The cloaked king chuckled in a raspy voice. He swept a casual glance at the massive beasts filling the throne hall and ordered, "Slowly encircle the castle. Do not alert anyone. Block off the exit once they step in, and when the time is right, we’ll put our plan into motion."

The fair-skinned lady hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother, what if they alert the Humanity System and backup is sent?"

"Relax. We’ll be long gone before they arrive." The cloaked king waved casually, uncaring of the Humanity System.

"Alright." The fair-skinned lady nodded and led the beasts out of the hall. She was no longer worried. After all, her brother had evolved through a path unheard of.