"Wh-" I began to say, when one of the servants handed me a vase. "This is-?" I took a look at it, and it showed a giant spider on fire. I think it was made to resemble the Tyrant Arachnea - though it was slightly off regarding the colors and some of the finer details. I realized that this was most likely made in commemoration of what I had done and the artist likely hadn't seen what had gone on firsthand, and so didn't point that out.

"Yes, I had that commissioned when I heard of your recent exploits back in Arconia, though it took time to make, as you can understand - it's quite a bit of excellent handiwork from one of the finest potters in the country," Xu Jun said with pride.

"Ah, I don't know if I can accept this-" I said. From what he said, this was likely extremely valuable, but there was an even bigger problem aside from its price.

"Truly, it is not problem Master Stefan-"

"The thing is, this thing is far too valuable and fragile for me to take along with me," I said. "I mean, I'm going on a long journey and I expect it to be a bumpy road. I would be too afraid that it would break." I was already afraid that the grimoires I was carrying might end up damaged in the wilderness - forget something as unwieldy and large as this.

"Just give it to someone who can hold onto it for you-" Xu Jun said.

"But I don't have anyone who can ho-" I was going to protest again, but the conversation moved on and I don't think he heard my protests.

Even when the dinner was over and I was heading out, I tried to return the vase, but wasn't able to.

I went back home, tired, and kept the vase meticulously where I thought it would be least likely to fall over - but even while I did so I couldn't help but feel like if I stared at it the wrong way, it would shatter into pieces. That was how fragile it seemed - like one of those ancient vases you might see in a museum, and so it looked extremely out of place here.

With that said, the next day, I found that Xu Jun's head butler hadn't been wrong, as word began coming in through the market that there was another dryad horde near where I had been planning to go through.

That said, he had also been right about there being another path about twenty miles off, and the more I spoke to other people, that seemed to be the quickest and most viable path as of now.

Two days later, I got news that the situation near the main corridor I would've used was even worse than I would've imagined - some dryads had fled from Hitutsa near there, and were hiding near the nearby forests and wooded areas. The two countries were trying to handle the problem, but the issue was that since this was a border issue, doing anything was rather cumbersome as the two countries ping-ponged responsibilities on who was supposed to dedicate resources to eradicating certain groups and the like to each other, and neither really wanted to cause an incident that might be interpreted as something that might start off a war.

Ah, another case of bureaucratic nonsense delaying something.

So, it looked like that area would be dangerous to go down for a while now - but was this alternate route really any safer?

It wouldn't have the risk of dryads near it, but there were other dangers in this world like magical beasts and the terrain itself.

I asked around, and got mixed answers.

"It is usually safe," a merchant told me. "Though, I wouldn't have dared go down that route alone - I definitely would've wanted a few Rank Two Liberomancers, at least two, with us while we made the journey. Though, Master Stefan, I doubt that someone like you would have trouble with it. You are Rank Three! You're invincible - I'm sure you'll be fine!"

The guy was seriously overestimating how powerful I was. I was most definitely not invincible, though, to a Rank One Liberomancer like the merchant in question, it might have appeared that way. He was seriously overestimating how good I was.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It wasn't just about raw power of course - no matter how strong you were, you still would have periods where you were vulnerable, whether that was while you slept or while you had to go to the bathroom. Drake was stronger than me and had been knocked off the walls of Arconia, hadn't he? Not to mention, anyone could be caught off guard if they have an off day, fell sick, or something else like that.

Naturally it was safer to travel in large groups.

I would've been perfectly fine hopping along with a smaller merchant group, even if they couldn't pay me - the issue was that there wasn't really any large group going towards Hitutsa. At least, not anytime soon.

"You're too early and too late at the same time," someone told me. "The fur traders have already come by a few weeks ago, and in a few months the harvest will be ready and there'll be lots of people willing to go then."

There were smaller groups, but the thing was that they were so small they would be more of a hindrance than a help to me - kind of like doing an extended escort mission in a video game. Smaller groups could not attract other Liberomancers, at least, not strong ones, which would mean it would be me and a bunch of normal people or Rank One Liberomancers. At that point, it would be easier to travel alone.

I did want to go back home as soon as I could, but at the same time, I knew that getting myself killed because I had been rash wouldn't have accomplished anything.

I couldn't think of any reasons to extend my stay in the capital right now. I had read all the grimoires I wanted to by now - and the ones I hadn't I couldn't find anywhere, but it was unlikely I would see any of those in quite a while.

I was almost done writing The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well so I couldn't use that as an excuse for myself either. One potential grimoire was also not worth staying put for - I didn't know if it would be successful or not or even what it might do.

Technically speaking, as a Rank Three Liberomancer there shouldn't be any place in this world that I couldn't safely travel to with very few exceptions. I did not run away from the dryad tide when it approached Arconia for a number of reasons, because that was one of those few exceptions - it was not easy to completely evade a force of that size without being able to fly.

Now though, there were no groups as big as the original anywhere.

On top of that, I was more experienced using my magic as well.

I also had two major upgrades to what I could do - [Ansoon's Blessing] for defense and [Panacea] to deal with poisons.

There were only two things I really felt that were still missing. The first was, quite obviously, a way for me to fly - if I could do that, this little border issue wouldn't have even bothered me in the first place. The second was a Rank Three grimoire to heal injuries - right now, if say, I broke a bone, I'd be down for a while until [Regeneration] could kick in. [Mend Injury] was only passable as a healing option and I wish I had something better than that…

With all of that said, I wasn't going to get a grimoire that'd help me fly anytime soon, and as for the other issue, perhaps if I waited a few months longer a grimoire that could do that would pop up…

...but was it really worth it to wait that long?

There was also the matter that I wasn't very used to navigating the wilderness. That too, however, would take far more time than it was worth to try and remedy.

I dwelt over this predicament for quite some time- weighing the risks and benefits. Most people I spoke to felt like it would be fine, but there was still that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that was naturally worried about what might happen.

In the end, I chose to roll the dice and take my chances right now.

The reason that I ultimately came to this decision was because I realized that if I waited a bit longer, it might turn to winter, and while this region didn't always get snow if it happened near the border, it would be even harder for me to move. I would be stuck until next spring then. And something or the other could always pop up that might end up causing further delays.

And so, I took a deep breath, made sure my preparations were in order, and ultimately made the decision to leave.

Honestly, I was also a bit relieved to be out of the claustrophobic atmosphere of the capital.

"So, Teacher, you're really leaving?" Sun Jiao asked when he saw that I had almost finished packing.

"Yes," I told him. "Don't worry, you have come along quite well since I first met you. I'd recommend not going with the stall for now though, but you can keep it if you want. If I were you I'd still try to get a bit more experience from say, working for someone, before striking it out on your own - but I leave that decision up to you." From what I had made of Sun Jiao's nature - he was more the type to decide that answering to a boss was for losers, and would likely just try to do things on his own. That could work, it was a bit riskier than what I would've done, but I couldn't deny that it still could work with the right amount of luck.

"Ah," Sun Jiao said. I could tell from his expression that he hadn't though that I would actually be leaving, at least, not too soon. I had voiced my concerns to him earlier, and he had been one of the few people who had actually advised me that it would be better to stay in the capital- the issue was that I did not trust his 'advice' one bit simply because it came from him. If anything, the fact that he was telling me that I should stay in the capital merely reinforced my belief that it was better to just head out on my way. More likely than not he just wanted me to stay because I was his backup meal ticket.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.