Chapter 185: Floating Islands in the Clouds, Artificial Suns

“Dad! Come over here! This is Big Brother Lance, the one who saved us in the forest last time!”

Seeing his father appear, Toby excitedly jogged forward and loudly introduced him.

Toby’s father stepped forward twice and carefully sized Lance up from head to toe.

Because of a certain special specialty, he could sense the terrifying explosive power hidden within Lance’s body.

Then, this iron tower-like man let out a hearty laugh.

He extended that massive hand and unceremoniously slapped Lance’s shoulder.

“Good lad! You’ve trained this body really solidly!”

The force behind that slap was immense, roughly equivalent to taking a punch from a Hobgoblin. An ordinary adventurer would probably stagger from it.

But under the constant effect of Lance’s Breathing Technique, the strength merely made him sway slightly while his feet remained firmly rooted in place.

“You saved my son, which makes you our family’s greatest benefactor! You absolutely must stay for dinner tonight and properly taste our family’s signature roasted meat!”

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Lance stayed behind.

Dinner was arranged at a massive oak dining table in the courtyard behind the ranch.

At the center of the table sat a lavish roasted pig head, its skin baked golden and crispy while releasing a rich and tempting aroma.

Beside it were several barrels of ale chilled with well water, fine droplets of moisture clinging to the wooden surfaces.

What surprised Lance somewhat was Toby’s mother.

She was a quiet middle-aged woman.

Wearing a coarse apron with her hair tied behind her head, she carried a gentle and warm smile at the corners of her mouth.

She did not speak much, merely softly bringing steaming food to the three men and carefully filling their mugs with frothing ale.

This quiet woman belonged to a completely different atmosphere compared to the loud and boisterous Toby and his rough, bold father.

Watching her busy figure moving between the kitchen and dining table, Lance silently sighed inwardly.

What a fascinating family combination.

After several rounds of drinks and a few cups of strong liquor.

Toby’s father finally completely opened up.

Holding the huge wooden mug in his hand, he continuously told Lance stories about his glorious years as an adventurer in his youth.

“Kid, have you ever been to ‘Aksor’ in the south?”

The old man let out a drunken burp, his eyes filled with excited nostalgia, as though he had returned to those passionate days once more.

“That place not only has the largest Underground Dungeon on the entire continent, it’s also the location of the Adventurers’ Guild headquarters.”

“That place is unbelievable. The entire city is built atop floating islands in the clouds.”

The old man gestured an exaggerated circle in the air with his hand.

“There are even three artificial suns created through array networks by Legendary Realm mages to supply energy consumption for the whole city.”

Hearing these descriptions that sounded straight out of myth, Lance’s grip on his mug slightly paused.

Legendary Realm mages?

Three artificial suns?

Floating islands in the clouds?

The alchemy and magic levels of this world had actually reached such magnificent heights?

This completely overturned the shallow understanding he had previously established while living in this remote border town.

It seemed this frog at the bottom of a well still had countless unknown landscapes left to explore.

“The life of a Professional adventurer and a non-Professional are two completely different worlds.”

Toby’s father gulped down a large mouthful of ale, wiped the alcohol from the corner of his mouth, and his tone became meaningful.

“Later on, I truly became tired of life in the Underground Dungeon. That kind of life where you had to sleep with one eye open.”

He turned his head and gazed gently toward his wife, who was currently cleaning dishes in the kitchen.

“Only after meeting Toby’s mother did I finally decide to let go of my former identity.”

“I retired to this rural place and peacefully opened a ranch to live the life of an ordinary person.”

Back then, he had been unable to find a way to live his life. Only after meeting someone did he finally understand how he wanted to spend the rest of it.

However, this melancholy was quickly thrown aside as the old man enthusiastically began recounting dangerous adventures he had experienced inside Underground Dungeons.

Although Toby had already heard these old stories countless times throughout his childhood.

Every single time, this hot-blooded young man still sat nearby like the most loyal listener, enthusiastically applauding and even helping his father supplement some of the exciting combat details he forgot due to drinking too much.

The night breeze gradually cooled while the torches in the courtyard crackled as they burned. The alcohol had left all of them slightly tipsy.

Toby’s father set down his mug and turned toward Lance, his sharp eyes staring directly into Lance’s.

“Kid, you’re very strong.”

“At the non-Professional stage, your body has been tempered to a terrifying degree.”

“I’ve lived for so many years, and I can count on one hand the young people capable of matching you.”

The old man suddenly shifted topics, his voice becoming deep and serious.

“But you must remember. In this world, you are not the most special one.”

“Especially back then, when I was fortunate enough to participate once in the ranking competition for the ‘Shattered Earth Sovereignty.’”

“It was there that I personally witnessed those young monsters who were clearly still at the Ignition Rank, yet possessed strength terrifying enough to rival monsters.”

Every word from the old man carried deep emotion.

“Those monsters all possessed terrifying talents, and on top of that, they were forcibly piled into monsters using vast amounts of resources from enormous factions behind them.”

“Some people had already solidified more than ten practical combat specialties onto themselves the moment they advanced into Professionals through the ritual.”

“Some even carried a world-recognized Legacy while still at the ordinary human stage.”

“And then there were those close-combat lunatics whose individual attributes directly shattered class restrictions, as well as spellcasters simultaneously advancing in dual magic classes.”

Listening to Toby’s father speak.

The slight arrogance Lance had developed due to his rapidly expanding strength over this period quietly diminished somewhat.

Previously, his understanding had always been restricted by the narrow perspective of a border town. He simply could not imagine how vast the outside world truly was, nor how monstrous the real geniuses were.

But tonight, through Toby’s father’s words, he had seen a broader world.

Although his inflated confidence had slightly receded, his curiosity toward this world instead grew even stronger.

“So these are the greatest geniuses of this world?”

Lance silently pondered inwardly.

Although he possessed the Biological Research enhancement system as a cheat-like advantage, his growth period was still too short.

Compared to those geniuses nurtured using the continent’s greatest resources, his own foundation still appeared somewhat thin for now.

He absolutely could not become blindly complacent simply because he had achieved a few small accomplishments in Graystone Town, this beginner village.

“It was precisely because I personally witnessed those despair-inducing geniuses.”

Toby’s father let out a long sigh.

“That I truly extinguished that unrealistic pride inside my heart and willingly returned to this land to become an ordinary man.”

He extended his broad hand and heavily patted Lance’s shoulder once more.

“But looking into your eyes, I know you’re completely different from me.”

“You’re about to cross that threshold and stand on the same battlefield as those true monsters.”

The night breeze blew past, dispersing some of the alcohol fumes lingering around them.

Toby’s father raised the wooden mug in his hand high into the air, his face revealing a sincere blessing.

“Kid, I hope that in your future adventures, you’ll witness landscapes grand enough and plentiful enough to satisfy you.”

“And when the day comes that you grow tired or wounded, come back to Birchwood Town and drink with me and my son!”

This was the purest romance shared between men.

No excessive sentimental words of pleading were needed. Just a cup of strong liquor was enough.

Lance smiled happily.

He raised the half-full mug of ale still in his hand and heavily clinked it against Toby’s father’s.

The collision of the wooden mugs produced a deep sound.

“I definitely will.”

In the summer breeze, the night quietly passed in peace and tranquility.

The next morning.

Just as the eastern sky revealed a faint pale dawn.

Lance had already risen early.

Without waking the still-sleeping Toby family, he followed the plan from yesterday and walked downstream along the creek beside the ranch.

After spending several hours, he transformed into a merciless cleaner.

Every Slime gathering point discovered along the way was completely wiped out without leaving a single survivor.

Standing upon a stream bank and looking at the finally overflowing research progress on his panel.

As well as the notification indicating talent extraction was now available.

Lance stood atop the puddle-covered shore and satisfiedly exhaled a long breath.

All preparations before class advancement had finally been completely finished.

When he washed the mucus from his hands and picked up his luggage to leave.

Toby’s father had already been waiting at the ranch entrance for quite some time.

“Yesterday, Toby told me you fought magical beasts the entire afternoon. Then this morning you ran several kilometers cleaning stream banks, and now you’re not even breathing heavily.”

Looking at the energetic Lance, the old man clicked his tongue in amazement while giving a thumbs-up.

It was a gesture he had just learned from Lance the previous night to express praise.

“As expected, I wasn’t wrong. You’re a hidden stamina monster too, kid.”

Amid the warm farewell from Toby’s family.

Lance boarded the public carriage returning to Graystone Town.

As the wooden wheels rolled onward, the peaceful scenery of Birchwood Town gradually faded into the distance behind him.

Sitting inside the swaying carriage, Lance calmly gazed forward.

Next.

It was time to welcome his own class advancement ritual.