Chapter 73: Something Good

Walter was undead, of course he disliked the Holy Sword.

Ethan smiled understandingly and shook his head. "I won’t use it against you, no! I hope I never have to use it at all."

He didn’t want to see pointless killing.

Walter shrugged in agreement.

"Meow meow! Let’s set off, meow~" Pearl jumped onto the handcart.

Ethan climbed up too.

"Let my Blood Jade Beast pull the cart," Walter suggested.

"Thank you, but if I use the Blood Jade Beast, it will consume my mana..." Although relying on the ring’s power didn’t consume much mana, it still consumed some, Ethan’s mana pool wasn’t very high to begin with, making this a bit of a burden for him, that was why he hadn’t used the Blood Jade Beast in the southern region.

However, Walter’s mana pool was incredibly high, since he was willing to help pull the cart, there would naturally be no problem.

"Then let’s set off," Ethan said.

"Be careful on the road, and don’t worry about things here," Zharok said. He would take good care of everything.

Ethan patted Zharok on the shoulder and sat down on the handcart.

Seeing that Ethan and Pearl were ready, Walter snapped his fingers.

"Awooo—!!" A massive red wolf appeared before them.

Walter hitched the giant wolf to the cart and took the driver’s seat. "Let’s go."

At his command, the giant red wolf began to run, its speed was about the same as when Zharok pulled the cart.

Ethan looked at the giant red wolf’s speed in surprise, hugging Pearl tightly.

Walter looked ahead. "Let’s make a trip to the Canine Beastman village first, it’s on the way anyway, so it won’t take too much time."

"Why?" Ethan asked.

"The Northern Region is quite cold, Pearl and I are fine." As an undead, Walter’s senses were dulled, Pearl had thick fur, neither of them feared the cold.

But Ethan was human, Walter knew that humans were susceptible to the cold, which was why he suggested visiting the Canine Beastman village to find extra animal skins.

In truth, Ethan wasn’t really afraid of the cold, but he couldn’t bring himself to refuse Walter’s good intentions, besides, having a few extra animal skins wouldn’t hurt, thus, he agreed to Walter’s proposal.

They arrived at the Canine Beastman village and stopped the handcart.

"Oh! What brings you here?!" Vargan happened to be outside and walked over.

Hearing Ethan say he was heading to the Northern Region, he said, "Do you need me to escort you?!"

"Haha, no need, but thank you for the offer!" Ethan said.

"What a pity! By the way, what are you doing here?" Vargan asked.

"I wanted to get some animal skins, I heard the Northern Region is very cold," Ethan explained.

"That’s true, we aren’t afraid of the cold, but you might be, perfect timing! I got my hands on something good while hunting, I’ll give it to you, cover yourself with this, and you won’t fear the cold or the heat!" Vargan ran into his house.

After a short while, he came out holding a piece of skin, however, it wasn’t a furry hide; it looked more like the skin of a reptile, it was a pitch-black, shiny, scaled skin.

Ethan looked at it. "This looks very precious. What kind of skin is it?"

Vargan puffed out his chest. "It’s Wyrm skin!"

"Wyrms are those monsters that failed to become dragons, meow," Pearl said, its tone carrying a hint of smugness.

"Monsters can become dragons?" Ethan asked, first time he had heard such a thing.

"Legend has it that to become a true giant dragon, one must comprehend the path of Harmony, meow, but if one ignores Harmony and obsesses over one extreme — especially those monsters whose minds are filled with evil thoughts — they will transform into Wyrms after shedding their skin instead of giant dragons, meow~" Pearl seemed very knowledgeable about these legends.

Ethan listened quietly, he realized that Pearl seemed to really enjoy the feeling of answering his questions.

"Although Wyrms can’t even be considered evil dragons, they aren’t easy opponents either, meow, they can fly and use fire and lightning magic, they are extremely dangerous, meow!" Pearl waved its little paws for emphasis.

"But they should be easier to deal with than a giant dragon, right?"

"Of course, meow!" Pearl answered.

"When did you guys hunt it down?" Ethan asked while petting Vargan’s head.

Vargan seemed to love the petting, he wagged his tail comfortably. "We caught it while you were still in the southern region, our entire Canine Beastman tribe mobilized to hunt that Wyrm!" he said proudly.

"Did you go hunt it just because it appeared?" Ethan asked.

"Yes! Once a Wyrm appears, it disrupts the balance of the entire Great Forest, that is why our tribe mobilized in full force to execute it!"

"That’s incredible." Ethan praised from the bottom of his heart, he knew that beastmen were strong, but he never expected that they could pierce a Wyrm’s scales with stone spears.

Vargan once again handed him the Wyrm skin he had offered earlier. "Every warrior who participated in the battle was given a piece! It can ward off severe cold and extreme heat, take it with you — it will definitely be useful!"

"This thing is very precious, isn’t it? Can I really accept it?" Ethan hesitated a bit; he felt he didn’t deserve such a precious item.

"If you feel bad about it, just help me make a new spear." Vargan rubbed his hands together, speaking with anticipation.

"No problem, I happen to be heading to the Northern Region to look for iron ore, once I get the iron ore, I’ll be sure to make you an incredibly sharp new spear first," Ethan readily agreed.

"Wow~! I’m really looking forward to it! You must be careful!" Vargan wagged his tail happily, then he took a step back, seemingly not wanting to disturb Ethan any further, and turned to run back into the village.

Walter watched him go, shrugged, and said, "To think a Wyrm actually appeared... this isn’t a good thing, I have a feeling something is about to happen."

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked.

"In order to turn into a Wyrm, one condition must be met, meow! That is obtaining a Fragment of Chaos, meow," Pearl explained.

"Chaos?" Ethan recalled the mural he had seen before, that monster that wanted to destroy everything, why would he suddenly think of that monster fighting humans?

"It is said that Fragments of Chaos only appear in places filled with profound evil... Perhaps there is also a Fragment of Chaos in the Great Forest," Pearl said, its tone grave.

"Is that so? Hmm..." Ethan fell silent, a faint sense of unease rising in his heart.

"What are you worried about, meow? Don’t be afraid, meow! I will protect you, meow~" Seeing Ethan go quiet, Pearl patted his head with its paws.

Ethan picked Pearl up, placed it on his lap, and stroked its back while lost in thought.

’I need to prepare for battle.’

Ethan’s group left the Canine Beastman village and continued north.

The dense forest gradually faded away, and an endless plain appeared before them, at the far end, a cloud of dust was being kicked up.

Walter remarked casually from the driver’s seat, "It’s monsters."