Most of the white and green points of light in the nest had already dimmed, but five blue lights still glowed stubbornly.
Luo Han stepped forward immediately.
Four of them were blue-quality magical materials with pure mana fluctuations, while the last was a staff wedged into a rocky crevice right where the grimoire had previously sat.
The shaft was made of dark wood, inlaid with a dusty blue gemstone at the tip.
[Heart of Azure Staff] [Quality: Blue] [Slightly increases casting speed and magic power; marginally reduces mana consumption.] [Origin: Collision World H-07]
Luo Han swapped to the new staff, casually tossing his previous green-quality staff into the nest.
Holding the new staff, he felt his mana flow more smoothly.
A refreshing sense of having received a massive upgrade washed over him.
Soon, however, a practical problem followed: he was out of space.
His travel pack was already stuffed to the brim.
He picked up the four sizeable magical materials and looked back at the remaining flickering green and white treasures.
Finally, his gaze landed on Frieren’s miraculous suitcase.
He absolutely had to get his hands on some spatial storage equipment.
Using the excuse of double-checking the nest, he waited for the others to leave.
Then, he briefly suppressed the mana output of his Humanoid Mimicry magic, deactivated the disguise, and returned to his true form as a Mimic.
His chest-like body opened, and he carefully “swallowed” several smaller but high-value green-quality magical materials into his body.
This was an alternative use for a Mimic’s natural traits.
“A temporary warehouse, just this once,” Luo Han muttered as he shifted back into human form, patting his abdomen, which looked perfectly normal.
“I’ll sell these as soon as we reach a city.”
Stark’s farewell to the villagers was simple and sincere.
Amidst the trusting and reluctant gazes of the villagers, the red-haired youth slung his giant axe over his shoulder and followed the party with his head down and quick steps.
The journey continued, with the party now including a warrior who was often nervous yet always walked at the front.
A few nights later, the group camped on the leeward side of a hill.
The campfire crackled; Fern was reading a magic book, Stark was clumsily wiping his axe, and Frieren was leaning against a rock, tidying her suitcase.
Suddenly, she stood up and walked over to Luo Han, who was currently attempting to use his new staff to refine his control over Levitation Magic.
She handed something to him.
It gave off a faint golden glow—the *Notes of Flamme*.
Luo Han froze.
“Here,” Frieren said in a flat tone.
“I promised earlier.”
“This is too precious…” Luo Han’s traditional instincts made him reflexively hesitate.
He hadn’t expected Frieren to actually give it to him; after all, it was a legacy left by her master.
“Keeping it with me makes it feel like I’ve never escaped Master’s palm,” Frieren said, looking away.
Her voice lacked inflection, yet there was a sense of awkward honesty in her tone.
“Since you think it’s useful to you, take it.”
“Thank you, Frieren.” Luo Han took it solemnly with both hands.
The heavy leather cover felt warm to the touch.
As his fingertips brushed over the title, a faint golden light that only he could see surfaced.
[Notes of Flamme (Legendary)] [Quality: Gold] [The travel and research notes of the Great Mage Flamme.
Records observations and thoughts regarding the soul, ancient magic, and the nature of the world.
Contains a large number of unfinished conjectures and encrypted information.] [Origin: Collision World H-07] [Successfully evacuating with this item will activate a special effect.]
A gold-tier item with no immediate practical utility, yet it activates a special effect upon successful evacuation?
Luo Han was puzzled.
He hadn’t heard of such items online before, and he had no idea what the effect might be.
In the year 28 A.E.
A towering fortress appeared on the horizon: Wal, the most important gateway for entering the Northern Kingdoms from the south.
However, their hopes were quickly dampened by cold reality.
At the gatehouse, the guard captain leaned back in his chair with an arrogant attitude.
“Monster activity in the north is frequent.
All passage through the checkpoint is prohibited.”
“When will it open?” Fern asked.
“Open?” the captain scoffed.
“At least since I took office, I haven’t heard of it happening.
However, I hear the Northern Kingdoms are organizing a purge of the demons.
If all goes well…
maybe there’s hope in two years.”
Fern and Stark’s expressions turned grim.
Luo Han, who had long known this plot point, whispered to Frieren at the right moment, “Lady Frieren, it seems your plan to visit the Demon King’s Castle will have to be postponed for a while.”
His voice wasn’t loud, but it was just enough for the sensitive captain to hear.
“The Demon King’s Castle?” The captain stood up abruptly, his sharp gaze sweeping over the four of them, lingering particularly on Frieren’s pointed ears and long white hair.
“White-haired elf…
wait, Frieren?
Are you…
‘Frieren the Slayer’?
The mage from the Hero’s Party?”
Once her identity was revealed, things changed instantly.
The captain’s attitude did a complete 180, and he hurried off to report.
Soon, they were respectfully invited into the City Lord’s manor.
They were received by the Acting City Lord; it seemed the actual Lord was unable to appear due to urgent matters.
After they expressed their desire to pass through, the Acting City Lord readily agreed and arranged for them to rest in the manor’s guest quarters.
“Luo Han,” Frieren glanced at him on the way to the guest house, her tone carrying a rare hint of helplessness.
“Though I have no proof, I get the feeling you did that on purpose.
I wanted to browse the magic material shops in the city.”
Luo Han gave a dry laugh, unable to refute her.
Fortunately, because the City Lord didn’t have time to host them personally, everyone was free to move about the city as they pleased.
During a break at the manor, Luo Han found an opportunity to “regurgitate” the magical materials stored in his body, carefully cleaning and wrapping them.
The next day, he followed Frieren through the magic shops of Wal.
He sold all his white and green-quality materials, gaining a significant amount of gold coins, but it still wasn’t enough to buy the spatial expansion bag he had his eye on.
In the end, he shamelessly borrowed a sum from Frieren to finally purchase the [Folding Space Pouch], which emitted the blue glow of a Collision World treasure.
[Folding Space Pouch] [Quality: Blue] [Internal constant space is approximately five times the external volume.
Cannot store living creatures.] [Origin: Collision World H-07]
Luo Han packed his important items and blue materials into the pouch.
Watching the small bag easily accommodate everything, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
The biggest obstacle to how much “loot” he could consume was finally resolved.
Returning to the guest quarters, he found Fern and Stark whispering in the corridor.
Stark didn’t seem as nervous as usual, and Fern’s expression was slightly softer than before.
Luo Han smiled knowingly.
Even without looking for a way to smuggle themselves across, their relationship was improving this quickly—was this the corrective force of the plot?
The following morning, amidst the curious gazes and send-offs of Wal’s residents, a yawning Frieren led Fern and the others down the long street and through the gate leading to the northern lands.
The northern air was biting and cold.
While passing through a small town, they happened upon the town’s “Liberation Festival,” celebrating the peace brought by the Hero’s Party when they passed through years ago. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
The festival had abundant food and a lively atmosphere.
Luo Han immersed himself in it, enjoying the festivities of an otherworldly realm.
However, he continued to train diligently during their travels, occasionally asking Stark for advice on footwork and movement.
Finally, after a day of high-intensity training, Luo Han communed with the attribute panel in his mind and found the information had quietly updated:
[Agility]: 9 → 10
The final barrier had been broken through naturally.
That night at camp, Luo Han found Stark.
“Stark, could you check if my posture is correct?”
With that, Luo Han lowered his waist and stepped forward.
Recalling everything he had learned from Eisen’s teachings and the insights from the skill on his panel, he concentrated his physical strength into a single point and lunged forward, stamping the ground.
*Ssh!*
A blurry afterimage swept across the edge of the camp, the resulting wind pressure flickering the campfire.
Though the distance and power were worlds apart from Stark or Eisen, and the movement was slightly stiff, that instantaneous burst of speed and power was unmistakably the “Flash Strike”!
Stark’s eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape.
“You actually know this?!
Master even taught you this?”
Looking at Luo Han, beyond the surprise, that invisible barrier that had existed due to Luo Han’s demon nature seemed to quietly fade significantly.
In Stark’s eyes, being recognized and taught a combat technique by Master Eisen was a powerful signal of trust.
Luo Han calmed his slightly hurried breathing and nodded with a smile.
Finally, the first step of being a dual-cultivator of magic and martial arts was achieved.
Weeks later, Northern Kingdoms, the domain of Count Granat.
Compared to the south, the architectural style here was more rugged and heavy.
The expressions of the people on the streets carried more alertness, and for some reason, a large number of guards were patrolling.
The four were looking for an inn when suddenly, a commotion and the sound of hurried footsteps came from the street ahead.
Frieren dropped her suitcase and suddenly took up a wary combat stance.
A man with a decadent air but cold eyes led a squad of guards wearing the Count’s family crest, conversing with three figures as they hurried along.
Those three “people” looked no different from humans, but their eyes were hollow, and they emitted a cold, uncomfortable mana fluctuation.
These were demons.
A sharp light flashed in Luo Han’s eyes, and his heart sped up slightly.
*So, we’re at this part of the story?
The long travel time made me a bit dull.
This won’t do.*
He hadn’t expected to encounter them on the street exactly like in the original work.
Was it the corrective force of the plot again?
*Which means we’re about to see the girl who plays the lute?
That’s a big battle.
If I can find a chance to take her out…*
But was this plot correction unique to the Frieren world, or did it apply to all Collision Worlds?
Luo Han shook his head and stopped overthinking, turning his gaze toward Frieren in front of him.
Next, according to the plot, Frieren should be preparing an attack spell only to be pinned to the ground by guards, then mocked by the demon named Lugner who uses Blood-Doping Magic.
That wouldn’t do.
Even if Frieren didn’t care, she had helped him so much; he didn’t want to see something so distasteful happen right in front of him.
If he let things play out like the original, hadn’t he come here for nothing?