“I understand.”
“I will do as you wish, Ethan.”
Ethan stood up, feeling genuinely happy from the bottom of his heart.
“Oh, by the way, I deposited all my life savings and two magic items in the Kingdom of Eldoria Bank.”
“And I also have two properties in Eldoria's royal capital, plus an old winery and vineyard on the outskirts of Eldoria.”
“Deep in the winery's cellar, there are three casks of my oldest reserve. Inside one labeled ‘Knight's Oath Year 97,’ a magic sword blank is sealed.”
“That is the most outstanding piece of work from the latter half of my life—a true masterpiece.”
Ethan scratched his head as he recalled his inheritance.
“According to the will I left, all of these assets are to be inherited by Evelyn.”
“You... probably don't need real estate or coins, but you can choose one of the magic items or the sword blank to inherit. I will write a letter in my own hand to prove it.”
...What a rich old man.
Two magic items and a magic sword blank. This inheritance was exceptionally substantial.
Yet he had actually stored away both magic items and the magic sword blank, not bringing a single one along for this journey.
“I don't have much interest in those. However, I would be very pleased if you were willing to teach me your forging techniques.”
Compared to anything else, Zoe cared far more about knowledge and techniques.
“Forging?”
“To be honest, that is quite unexpected.”
Ethan had taken in quite a few apprentices, but he had never taught forging to a monster.
However, if it was Zoe standing before him, he certainly wouldn't refuse.
“If you are interested in forging, I am willing to teach you everything I know.”
“Alright.”
“Even though you've regained consciousness, your body has yet to fully recover.”
“This Shadow Clone will assist you in combat and movement, as well as block attacks.”
Zoe introduced the biological armor formed by the Shadow Clone that covered Ethan's entire body.
At this moment, the surface of the biological armor was also coated with a layer of scales created by the skill [Hard Scales], boosting its defensive power to the next level.
Ethan felt the pitch-black biological armor enveloping his body.
In his perception, this suit of biological armor seemed to be completely integrated with him.
Even though his right arm had been severed, the right arm formed by the biological armor still moved freely under his control.
It was just slightly sluggish compared to his original arm.
Furthermore, the biological armor could even supply nutrition, so even if the person inside did not eat or drink, they would remain unaffected.
“Simply incredible. With this armor, I can unleash far more of my power.”
“It's truly a genius design.”
As a blacksmith and artisan, Ethan's mind instantly overflowed with inspiration.
Was it possible to forge such a powerful, enhancing armor?
While Ethan controlled the biological armor of the Clone, the consciousness within the Clone was able to sleep.
Zoe was currently barely maintaining four parallel minds, with one of them sleeping inside the Clone.
Another was inside the Clone, digesting the food in the Shadow Pool, one was maintaining his main body, and the last was digesting the food in the main body's Shadow Pool.
Once the mind in the Clone woke up, it could swap with the other minds, freeing up a “bed” for them.
The 24 hours of a day were split into four six-hour blocks, with the four minds taking turns to rest.
Neither Ethan's mana nor his physical stamina had recovered, but they could no longer afford to wait around.
“The Shadow Armor can condense various weapons for you to use. What weapons are you skilled with?”
“Swords, hammers, chains, sabers, spears...”
As a Weapon Master, the number of weapons Ethan was proficient in was vast.
“My best should be the sword and the hammer.”
The number of sword-type skills was the highest, making it the most popular weapon in this world.
As for hammers, as a blacksmith, he had the most contact with them.
He was highly skilled not only at hammering iron, but also at hammering people.
The two turned around, abandoning the idea of breaking through to the east to return to the human world.
Setting their final destination as the western side of the Death Swamp, they began heading northwest, hoping to bypass the pursuers behind them from this position.
Before long, they encountered an encirclement formed by a lizardman patrol.
“A total of seven lizardmen. One of them is a Mid-tier Spearman.”
Even before they made contact, Ethan used his Golden Eye to determine the enemy's numbers and composition from afar.
“Strike immediately and finish them off.”
“Don't leave a single one behind. Don't give them any chance to send a signal.”
Zoe activated Stealth. Their bodies slipped into the darkness as they carefully approached the lizardmen.
“Damned humans, I am definitely going to eat his balls, hiss!”
Not long after they sneaked close to the lizardmen, Zoe heard the lizardmen's cursing.
From the shadows at his waist, Ethan retrieved a steel needle and held it in his palm.
Strike!
Whoosh!
Ethan threw the sharp steel needle with immense force. Enhanced by his Golden Eye, it turned into an illusion almost impossible to track with the naked eye, instantly piercing through the Mid-tier Spearman's eye.
Even though the Spearman had closed its eye in time, its fragile eyelid still couldn't withstand such a powerful strike.
Seizing the opportunity to coordinate, Zoe's body transformed into shadow. He charged into the crowd of lizardmen and exhaled the corrosive gas he had been accumulating.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
The sharp slash lopped off the Spearman's head.
[Killed Lizardman Lv25. Experience +3000. Talent correction: extra Experience +3000]
The experience bar, which had been empty after leveling up, was instantly filled halfway.
“An enemy attack! These two pieces of filthy pig dung, hiss!”
The lizardmen were shocked and hastily launched an attack at Zoe.
Zoe swallowed the lizardman Spearman's body into his Shadow Pool. Faced with the lizardmen's onslaught, he was not panicked at all.
Mere Low-tier Monsters!
Acid: Scatter Bullet!
Zoe opened his shadow-formed mouth, and in an instant, countless dense acid projectiles shot the lizardman directly in front of him into a sieve.
Under the intense corrosive effect, the sieved body immediately dissolved into a pile of rotten flesh.
On the other side, Ethan charged forward.
With a squeeze of his right hand, the pitch-black shadows condensed into a dark giant hammer covered in hard scales.
Ethan swung the massive hammer. Under the heavy, powerful blow, a lizardman was smashed into a pulp from behind.
The biological armor covered in scales also instantly shattered the lizardmen's formation as he charged through.
Zoe took the opportunity to spray acid once more.
Acid Severing Wave!
Pressurizing it within his body, Zoe spat out a thin, razor-sharp water blade, slicing a row of off-balance lizardmen clean in half.
The remaining lizardmen couldn't even flee, let alone send a signal.
Zoe condensed a giant hammer, whipping his shadow body like a lash as he swung the hammer out.
The lizardman only had time to utter a lizard curse before its head was completely bashed open.
“They're all taken care of.”
[Killed Lizardman Lv19. Experience +420. Talent correction: extra Experience +420]
[Experience full. Level increased to Lv22]
[Strength +1, Intelligence +1, Free Stat Points +2, Mana Limit +40]
Rate on N.U.
