Chapter Twenty-Five: The Lord of Rockstead

The experience orb merged into Paimon's semi-transparent mirrored form—this method worked, just as he expected! From now on, he could use this approach to make good use of otherwise wasted resources, boosting Paimon's strength.

Chu Yun's power was growing constantly. Although enemies much weaker than himself still dropped experience upon defeat, the amount he could gain from them was dwindling. Once that experience became virtually useless to him, he could simply pass it on to Paimon, strengthening it instead.

By the same logic, those monster-exclusive skills and talents Chu Yun couldn't use could also be repurposed to enhance and reshape Paimon.

"Still, if I want to know more about Paimon, I might need to kill it a few more times. Right now, I only get basic information, which is rather vague."

Killing once only revealed the basics; Chu Yun had never killed the same enemy twice in succession, so he'd have to experiment to see the results.

While Paimon's body was still recovering, Chu Yun left the stables and strolled through the streets of Rockstead. He was searching for suitable targets to "farm" experience. Since experience dropped was also based on the target's real-world strength, his actions could, in some ways, be considered harmful to others.

If he was going to farm experience, he might as well target those whose presence he found distasteful.

It was like the dream world in that acclaimed Earth drama, "Paprika"—in the mirror world, no one and no law could bind Chu Yun. Here, he alone was sovereign.

To exist beyond law and order was one of the codes of chaos. Perhaps acting in this way would even strengthen his bond with the camp, and the next camp reward would be all the richer.

The sun had not yet set, and the streets were crowded. Most ordinary people of rank zero had a vigilance radius of about a meter, so Chu Yun just needed to be careful to avoid them.

As he walked, Chu Yun passed Mary’s blacksmith shop, glancing inside out of curiosity.

Mary had returned to her post behind the counter, playing the role of proprietress. The woman he had rescued earlier was now learning to attract customers and handle odd jobs, and business at the forge had improved greatly.

There were still good people in this world, and good people were rewarded; that was justice.

"Madam, show me the best equipment in your shop," a burly warrior said as he walked in at that moment.

Two equally robust adventurers followed him, and from the badges on their armor, they were likely from the same adventuring party.

Mary hurried over to greet them personally. "Ah, guests from the Blood Axe Adventuring Company! Please, come this way—the finest gear is over here."

The leader smiled, but instead of following, he headed toward the newly appointed attendant.

"So here you are," he said, his tone mocking.

The woman had tried to hide behind a shelf as soon as he entered, but he had noticed her all along—he was here for her.

"Stay back! What do you want?" she cried in terror.

Mary quickly stepped in front of her, guarding her and glaring at the man. "What is the meaning of this?"

The Blood Axe leader grinned broadly. "Stay out of this. This woman is our captain's wife."

Mary was taken aback and turned to the woman. "Is this true? I thought you said you were from Blackstone City and didn't want to go back?"

The man chuckled. "She’s right. Our captain is also from Blackstone City. Come quietly, or things will get ugly when the captain himself arrives."

"I am not the captain's wife! They're bandits! After robbing my husband's caravan, their captain tried to force me to be his woman. When I refused, he violated me and handed me over to his men, then dumped me at the goblin camp..." The woman broke down in sobs.

Hearing such devilish deeds, Mary's fury blazed. Clearly, these men had come to silence a witness.

The wilderness was a dangerous place, and parties like Blood Axe would not hesitate to play the role of bandits if the opportunity arose. To keep their secrets, they were often even more ruthless than actual bandits. They had thrown her to the goblins to be abused, never expecting she would survive to tell the tale.

"Serious accusations require proof. Otherwise, it’s slander," the man said with a wave, his tone mocking. "We know the Rockstead city guard very well, you see." With that, his two subordinates lunged forward to drag the woman away by force.

"Stop!" a thunderous voice boomed from the back. The old blacksmith strode out, face like iron.

But no one listened. The two adventurers only sneered and reached for the cowering woman.

Mary was brave, but just an ordinary woman; the old blacksmith had some skill, but he was held at bay by the leader, who was clearly much stronger.

The shop attendant had the sense to dash outside for help.

Mary was roughly pulled aside, and one of the adventurers reached for the woman. In her panic, she seized a longsword from the weapon rack—and suddenly, a blaze erupted from the blade.

With a roar and a burst of force, the fire knocked the adventurer backward. Yet the woman holding the sword felt no recoil at all.

This bizarre scene was Chu Yun’s handiwork.

He was no vengeful savior, but when matters that touched upon himself unfolded before his very eyes, he could not remain indifferent. Since there was no danger to himself, he didn’t mind teaching these vile men a lesson.

Only, the lesson was rather severe. The adventurer struck by the fire was not dead, but his body was engulfed in flames, and if the fire was not put out quickly, he was unlikely to survive.

The spectacle startled everyone. The other two rushed over to extinguish the flames.

"What’s happening? Magic equipment? Has Mog learned to forge magical arms?" Passersby outside the smithy had seen it all.

The longsword had glowed with the telltale light of an enchanted weapon, then spat fire—exactly like a magic weapon unleashing a spell.

Chu Yun had witnessed the vice commander of the Blackstone Cavalry activate a magical weapon before; the gleam from the blade was just like this, so he felt confident launching his stealth attack in the mirror world.

After a tense battle to put out the fire and copious use of potions, the adventurer barely clung to life, but his face was ruined—he would never show it in public again.

"Kill her—kill her for me!" the wounded adventurer croaked, pointing feebly at the terrified woman.

She was so shocked by the sudden events that she was frozen in panic.

"Stop!" cried a voice just then. The shop attendant had returned with help: the Rockstead guard—and the lord himself.

Luck was on their side. If it were only the guards, or as Blood Axe claimed, it might have come to nothing. But today, the lord of Rockstead was personally overseeing matters, thanks to the massacre wrought earlier by Sivana.

"What fool of an adventuring party dares cause trouble in my territory?"

With a clatter, the lord’s honor guard drew their swords in unison.