Chapter 57: Wind and Flower Town

"We are truly sorry to have put you..."

"It's fine, at least we survived. Still... if there is a next time, I hope you can arrive a bit earlier."

After checking on the safety of the merchants, the bald captain directed his men to organize the caravan and tally the losses while greeting the survivors. Apart from a few non-combatants, the rest consisted of adventurers like Theris and his companions.

The caravan's losses were minimal. The few crates smashed during the skirmish constituted the entirety of the damage from the brief clash. Furthermore, the situation at the front when the battle broke out had not been nearly as dire as it seemed. The thunderous battle cries Theris and the others had heard were merely an illusion created by the bandits.

"That's a standard tactic of theirs. They use it to varying degrees every time they raid, the sole purpose being to create a breach in our defense lines and snatch away a few chunks of meat—the supplies that allow their meager population to limp along a little longer," the guard captain explained to Theris as they reloaded the remaining cargo onto the wagons.

"Since their numbers are so small, why..."

"Because our numbers are even smaller," the bald man replied with a bitter smile. "The Lord of West-Phoenix Province has never cared much for the southeast, so the military force assigned here is relatively scarce. Even the ones like us..." He gestured toward his busy subordinates, one of whom happened to be the driver of Theris's carriage. "...have to moonlight as drivers, porters, and temporary merchants."

"If we had enough manpower, events like today wouldn't happen... or rather, they wouldn't have happened in ages." Gide stood with his hands on his hips, gazing down the road ahead of the caravan, projecting an aura of melancholy. Yet, seeing a burly, fully armored captain pull such an expression felt profoundly incongruous to everyone else.

"These bandits... do you run into them often?"

"Yes," Gide nodded. "Runaway bandits, criminals, and local loafers make up the bulk of them. You can even find them living right inside some of the towns, only in those places, you'd never recognize that those people used to be highwaymen."

"So... brazen? Doesn't the Principality do anything about them?" Theris asked in surprise.

"Of course they... don't care." Gide finished the sentence, glanced at Theris with a hesitant expression, and finally patted his shoulder, lowering his voice. "The Principality is just that kind of country; regional powers vary across every district. As long as there's profit to be made, someone will do it. As for those bandits, if they manage to survive here, they naturally have their reasons for doing so. Just think of it as..."

"Just think of it as the unique local customs and practices of West-Phoenix Province," Gide withdrew his hand, wearing an earnest expression.

"That really is... a very unique set of local customs," Theris chuckled. "Hard work, you all."

"Oh, in a way, it's not hard at all." Mentioning combat clearly excited the bald-headed uncle. "Without those people, it would be awfully hard for me to train these guards into what they are now!"

He waved a hand forward, pointing at the guards who were about to finish loading the wagons. "Back when I first brought them out of the town, every single one of them was scared out of their wits at the sight of bandits, unable to even hold a sword. Look at them now..."

Seemingly recalling the recent battle, Gide self-consciously pulled back his hand. "Ahem, anyway, they're much tougher than before. Nowadays I even find those bandits too weak—can't they send a few more so I can properly show those folks what a real warrior looks like? Hahahaha..."

"One of our adventurers ran off to the front earlier and still hasn't come back..." Mengchu trotted over from the back, interrupting Gide's booming laughter. "Bald uncle, have you seen him?"

Gide didn't mind the nickname, as the young girl's question clearly struck a nerve regarding something rather embarrassing. "Uh, that reckless little fellow..."

He awkwardly scratched his cheek with a finger. "He kept trying to charge forward to fight earlier, and I couldn't hold him back. Ended up taking a blade from the bandit leader..."

Pfft... Theris quickly turned his head away, suppressing the laughter threatening to burst from his lips. *No wonder I hadn't seen him for a while; he went and got himself chopped down in one strike.*

Throwing his life away by charging into a fight where all they had to do was hold out for a little while...

"Ah..." Mengchu stood frozen in place for a long moment before finally grasping the implication of Gide's words. Her large eyes blinked repeatedly in bewilderment before she looked toward Theris, who simply wore a nonchalant expression.

"What, never seen a dead person before? One of their guards went down right in front of us earlier, did you forget already..."

"Th-That's different..." The young girl gestured wildly for a moment before lowering her head slightly. "Fine..."

"Hahahahaha! Fearless in the face of life and death, now that's what an eligible adventurer looks like!" Gide gave Theris a thumbs-up, then laughed heartily as he walked away. "As expected of someone favored by Val..."

"I favor you too!"

*I really don't want you favoring me...* Gazing at the gleaming armored back, Theris curled his lip and followed the calls coming from the rear. With the preparations complete, the caravan was about to set off once again.

***

Although they hadn't slain a single bandit, Theris and his group still gained some experience points. It seemed that events of this nature were an indispensable part of a player's adventurous career in the Free Mainland, much like the encounter Theris and Mengchu had experienced back in the Emerald Forest. Though they had yielded no material rewards in the end, the hefty amount of experience and the novel experience itself were immensely valuable.

Those alone would be enough to brag about for months.

However, leveling up became increasingly difficult after crossing level twenty. Players now needed to gradually learn to make rational use of the resources at hand to optimize their achievable experience, ideally by fully utilizing the commissions or quests accepted within their adventure group—this was the most efficient leveling method summarized by players in the New World after various practical tests.

Well, it was the most efficient method currently available, certainly better than running around the world hunting monsters blindly.

Reviewing his personal attribute panel, Theris furrowed his brow, lost in thought. His previous skirmish with Snow Phantom in the forest had forced him to spend his reserved free attribute points, pouring them all into strength. Later, to use Phil's dagger, he had been compelled to allocate the remaining free points into agility. Consequently, now that he was already level twenty, he had zero points remaining, and the possibility of future development paths had been entirely exhausted. This clashed with his usual habits and playstyle.

Yet, what he was pondering at the moment was another matter entirely.

[Cleave: A powerful upward slash capable of breaking through the opponent's defense.]

[Potency: 180%]

[Skill Requirement: Strength 10, Melee Weapon.]

This was the skill the system had prompted him to comprehend when he repelled the bandit who had breached the gap. Comparing this skill description with those of his previous skills and pondering it for a while, he still found numerous problematic implications.

Skills... actually had prerequisites? And they were tied to attribute values? Were Iron Heart's words from earlier actually true? Cleave and ordinary slashes both involved cutting people, so where exactly did the difference lie? Furthermore, almost all of these skills required melee weapons, so what kind of skills could other weapons comprehend? If I held a staff, would it be possible to comprehend spells? Right, bows and arrows seemed to have appeared in the previous battle, so why wasn't there anything like ranged weaponry in the New World?

When he had checked the relevant information previously, something had felt a bit off. Now recalling it, he didn't seem to recall seeing anyone playing ranged classes like archers in the New World...

Perhaps sensing that the uncle sitting beside her was troubled by something, Mengchu didn't disturb him. Ever since learning that Baili Duyou had died and respawned back to town, most of the other surviving players had fallen silent, and the smiling butcher uncle had sat motionless in his seat as if everyone around him were invisible. Perhaps infected by this mood, the naturally lively young girl had also grown quieter, and this atmosphere didn't shift until the following morning as they neared their destination.

Seeing the increasing number of houses and verdant fields around them, the people inside the carriage began to stir with excitement. Mengchu pressed against the edge of the carriage, looking out while tugging at Theris's sleeve. "Look, uncle, outside..."

"Ah, I know, know. It's just a town..."

"No, no, this town is so pretty!"

"Can it possibly be prettier than Finadas..."

"Huh? Where is Finadas? Is there a place like that on the Free Mainland..."

"..."

Theris didn't answer because he knew he had slipped up.

Finadas was the elfin capital from a certain game three years ago. Because that game adopted a wildly exaggerated fantasy concept, the entire elfin city was filled with various scientifically unfounded yet stunning designs. While it was crafted into the most breathtakingly beautiful city in the game's history, it also became one of the most stunning cities in virtual gaming history.

But that was old news from three years ago, and the young girl before him had probably never heard of it...

"Your uncle here is a former professional gamer who has seen the world, so nothing can scare me," Theris smoothly adopted Mengchu's favorite title of "uncle" to change the subject. "Whether it's beautiful or ugly, thrilling or exciting..."

He poked his head out to look ahead of the carriage, then pulled it back. "No matter what it is, once you've seen enough of it..."

"Mhm..."

He poked his head out again. "This town..."

"Seems pretty nice, too."

Ahead in his line of sight remained a dirt road. The dusty yellow path stretched straight forward before gradually transitioning into a cobbled stone surface at a certain point. Right in front of the caravan, that grey color belonging to stone gradually expanded and rose, transforming into the facade of an ancient-style town.

Then that image kept scaling upwards, finally turning into a mountain city reflected in Theris's mind.

The grey cobblestones turned cyan, green, and red... Houses built from stones of all shapes and hues lined the slopes of the mountain, interspersed with various unknown trees planted among the dwellings. Though he didn't know the species and traits of these trees, right at this moment, they were growing vigorously in the impending summer days, exactly as Theris knew they should.

Consequently, catkins of all sizes drifted upward on the mountain breeze from the mountain city across the way, scattering downward onto the dirt road, with a few even drifting past the top of Theris's head into the distant sky.

Theris couldn't identify what these flying catkins dancing in the air actually were. They could be flower petals, tiny leaves, or genuine fluff. Regardless, they currently combined to form a ceaseless, sky-filled rain of blossoms, bringing the natural fragrance and beauty to everyone.

The din of human voices gradually grew clear in Theris's ears, and as the caravan drew closer, the streets within the town also came into view. They were tiered streets winding around the mountain slope. Such terrace-like structures also brought the pedestrians walking along the main avenues into sharp focus. Theris could even look past the vast distance to spot pedestrians halting on higher streets, leaning against the roadside railings and gazing down at the approaching caravan below.

Blossoms dancing on the wind, leaning against railings to gaze afar—the intertwining of humanity and nature collectively spoke of the town's unique character to the travelers arriving here.

"Hah..." Theris instinctively drew in a breath of fresh air and pulled his gaze back. Expectedly, he heard the young girl's smug voice beside his ear. "See? I told you so."

She leaned over the edge of the carriage again. "What a gorgeous place..."

The pace of the caravan gradually slowed to a halt. The driver at the front, who was also a member of the guard unit, leaped down from the wagon and explained to the passengers inside: the caravan was undergoing inspection by the guards at the front gate, so they needed to wait a moment.

Several players jumped down from the carriage, stretching their numb limbs. The smiling butcher, leaning on his shield with both hands, also stood aside to stretch his aching lower back, gazing at the town ahead with a trace of a smile.

"Thank you," Theris's voice sounded beside him. "For the fight earlier..."

"Don't mention it," the bearded uncle interrupted Theris. "Just doing what I should. Even if only to save my own skin, I would've given it my all."

"The uncle's strength is formidable," Theris didn't mind the man's silence throughout the journey; in fact, he was curious about something else. "Have you ever played virtual reality games before?"

"Oh, this..." Comprehending the intent behind the words, the uncle chuckled. "Coming to this new world requires a bit of getting used to, plus..."

"I have someone I agreed to meet, right here in this town ahead," the smiling butcher said.

"I see..." Theris wore a look of regret. "Then... until we meet again if fate allows."

"Mhm, see you if fate allows."

Following the brief exchange, everyone prepared to board the vehicles again to enter the town—according to Gide's prior instructions, it was best for them to enter while seated inside the wagons, as the status of being visitors from Greenrock Village could spare them the hassle of identity checks.

Before Theris climbed back into the carriage, he heard a commotion ahead. The next moment, a shout rang out near the town gate.

It must have been the voice of a gate guard, and the shout carried across the flying catkins straight to their ears.

"Travelers from Greenrock Village! Please hold onto your luggage! Upon entering the town, please head to the mayor's office promptly to complete your registration! Detailed information on other matters will be provided at the registration desk! So then..."

"Welcome to Windflower Town!"

Amidst the shouting, the caravan slowly lurched into motion.