Chapter Ninety-One: Another Slash

When someone called out from behind, Roland and Victoria both stopped in their tracks, and the two who had been following behind soon caught up as well.

“Menley, it’s you!” Roland exclaimed in delight.

The two behind them were none other than members of the squad he had joined when he first entered the Maya Mountains: one was Menley, the young master from his own town, and the other was Land, with whom Roland had once had some conflicts when he first joined the group.

“Roland, when I saw this donkey just now, it seemed familiar to me. I never expected that once I called out, it really would be you!” Menley said as he walked.

When he and Land saw Victoria, a flash of amazement crossed their eyes. A beauty of such striking grace, looks, and figure was not something their Warrior Academy possessed.

“Roland, aren’t you going to introduce the beauty standing beside you?” Menley, who was already rather familiar with Roland, teased him.

“Heh, I was just about to. This is Victoria, also from Potter Academy like me. We met in the mountains, and now we’re traveling back together to Potter Academy.” Roland introduced her to the two of them, and then in turn introduced Menley and Land to Victoria.

After they had all exchanged names, they began chatting.

“Roland, this is perfect. The two of us were just planning to return to Warrior Academy too. Why don’t we travel together?” Menley suggested.

Roland asked Victoria, and seeing that she had no objection, he agreed.

Since they were already at the edge of the Maya Mountains, there were basically no magical beasts around anymore, so there was no need to hurry. They found a relatively flat stretch of ground and decided to rest there for a while, chat, and then make a final push out of the Maya Mountains.

“By the way, Roland, have you seen Captain Bob? After we were scattered by the Thorn Beast, Land and I ran into each other not long after. Then we continued training while searching for the two of you, but only now have we met you. As for Captain Bob, we have no idea where he went,” Menley said.

Captain Bob? Roland could not help but recall the scene when that man had nearly killed him. If not for his earlier vigilance and Little Black’s later desperate interception, he would likely already have become a corpse. In the end, that fellow had finally been sent to see God by his own hand.

He did not plan to tell Menley and the others about these things, so when Menley asked, he replied, “Oh, I didn’t see Captain Bob either. After I was separated from you, I searched for you on my own, but unfortunately I never found any of you. So I spent some time training around the outer regions of the Maya Mountains. Only when I met Victoria did I end my training and prepare to return to the academy. I never expected to run into you here.”

Menley sighed in disappointment. “Ah, perhaps Captain Bob left the Maya Mountains ahead of us. Since even we managed to get out safely, a fifth-rank Warrior like him should not have encountered anything unexpected.”

Land stood to the side and spoke very little. Now and then, a cold glint would flash in his eyes when he looked at Roland. He clearly remembered how, when Roland joined their squad, he had made Land suffer a great humiliation. Back then, when the group was scattered, he had intended to take the opportunity to meet Roland alone and give him a severe lesson, but things had not gone as planned. Now that they were about to leave the Maya Mountains, with Menley and Victoria nearby, he could only force down his urge for revenge. Yet his hatred had not diminished in the slightest. He intended to wait for another chance and repay Roland properly later.

“Oh, right, Young Master Menley, take this. I still owe you that debt from more than two years ago!” Roland said, taking a bundle from Little Black’s neck. After opening it, he took out a small pouch filled with colorful second-rank magic crystals, more than fifty in all. Each second-rank magic crystal could be exchanged for two gold coins, and these fifty-odd crystals were worth well over one hundred gold coins. He was giving second-rank crystals because he still needed to keep the third- and fourth-rank ones for refining potions.

Two years ago, after Roland had refined the White Stone and was preparing to test again as a mage, the examiner had still demanded a testing fee. Roland could not come up with the money at all, and at that time Menley had advanced the hundred gold coins for him. Though he had done so partly with the intention of seeing Roland make a fool of himself, Roland had no intention of owing him that debt. Since the opportunity had now arrived, he repaid it.

In truth, those magic crystals had originally been kept in the Deathly Spirit Space, but for safety’s sake Roland had transferred them from the Deathly Spirit Space into the bundle, and only then taken them out. The scene earlier, when Captain Bob had mistaken him for possessing a spatial ring and drawn his blade at him, was something he had not forgotten.

Even so, despite Roland being so careful, he failed to notice that Land, standing nearby, had suddenly narrowed his pupils the instant he opened the bundle, because Land did not see Roland’s staff among the contents. He clearly remembered that on the night they fought the Thorn Beast, Roland had been holding a staff in his hand.

Then his eyes locked tightly onto the dark crimson ring on Roland’s finger. He remembered clearly that Roland’s hands had once been empty, with nothing on them.

The staff had disappeared, and now a ring had suddenly appeared. Could it be... He recalled the priceless treasure the academy teachers had once spoken of: a spatial ring. His heart began beating rapidly of its own accord. A priceless treasure, a spatial ring—could it be that?

At that moment, when Menley saw Roland handing him a pouch of magic crystals, he waved his hands repeatedly and said, “You rascal, didn’t I already tell you? I gave you those hundred gold coins. You don’t need to pay me back!”

“Menley, I don’t want to owe someone money for the rest of my life without repaying it. That would leave me uneasy. Look, I’ve already taken it out. Do you really want me to take it back?” Roland said as he stuffed the pouch of magic crystals into Menley’s hands.

Seeing Roland so firm, Menley stopped refusing and took the crystals, saying, “You rascal, honestly...”

Land beside them paid no attention to their conversation. His eyes remained fixed on the ring on Roland’s finger and the bundle by his side. Suddenly, his gaze sharpened, because he noticed that aside from the crystals Roland had just given Menley, there seemed to be no other pouch for storing magic crystals in the bundle.

After nearly three months in the Maya Mountains, that was all he had gained? And they were all second-rank? How could that be possible? The only explanation was that the rest of the crystals were stored in the ring on his finger. In other words, that dark red ring had a very high chance of being a spatial ring.

It is not theft you fear, but being constantly thought about by a thief. Because he had been watching carefully all along, this tiny lapse from Roland had been caught by Land, while Menley, absorbed in talking with Roland, noticed nothing at all.

At this moment, Menley was still chatting happily with Roland. “Roland, these three months of training in the Maya Mountains have really benefited me greatly. In battles with magical beasts, my combat experience has improved tremendously. That’s something I could never have achieved by grinding away in the academy. Compared with me, this guy Land is even more impressive. In his fight against magical beasts, he actually broke through and became a fourth-rank Warrior—”

However, at that very moment, Land, whom he had just praised, suddenly erupted. A gleaming short blade stabbed with all his strength straight toward Roland’s back, close enough to strike his heart!