Bear School Astartes

Chapter 417: 417. Departure

This space among the reefs is not small.

It’s like a natural cave, one side facing the sea with no barriers.

During high tide, the sea level is only a meter below the cave floor, and during low tide, there’s no worry about seawater flooding in.

Amidst the sound of ”splashing,” the salty sea water slaps against the rocks, breaking into smaller sprays.

This makes the air damp and salty.

If it were an ordinary person, they’d probably worry about getting rheumatism or similar ailments here.

But not only is Lann’s bones transforming into those of an Interstellar Warrior, but Margaret wouldn’t let her Demon Hunter stay in an uncomfortable spot.

”A magic array keeps the temperature here like spring all year round, with suitable humidity.”

Margaret lit the candles and torches on the cave walls.

The furnishings here are mostly on par with a standard Airetusa guest room, with down comforters, a double bed, a solid wood wardrobe, a large storage box...

Honestly, for someone who enjoys listening to the sound of waves, staying here might actually be quite pleasant.

The Female Warlock extinguished the magical glow on her hand and looked expectantly at Lann under the natural firelight.

The Demon Hunter stroked his chin, pondering for a while.

”...How about calling this the Bat Cave?”

The Female Warlock’s expectant face collapsed instantly: ”What are you talking about?”

”No, nothing.” The young man dismissed the whimsical idea from his mind. ”This is a nice place, thank you, Rita.”

-----------------

This cave would be a small, secret personal outpost for the Demon Hunter at Airetusa.

Lann took out the doll from his Alchemy Pouch and placed it on the chair.

This doll from Yan’an looked just as exquisite, lifelike... even a bit terrifying as when Lann first saw her.

But it’s a high-tech art piece and a memento, so let’s leave it here as part of the collection.

The Alchemy Pouch, now freed up due to the doll’s removal, had opened up a lot of space, and Lann spent an entire day in Airetusa’s Alchemy Classroom.

He replenished the previously consumed magic potions, alchemy bombs, and dried alchemical raw materials.

After saying his goodbyes all night with Margaret in that endlessly wave-sounding cave, the Demon Hunter was ready to embark on his journey for his armor upgrade plan.

He would depart from the cave, where there was a small boat fixed in its navigational path by magic, prepared specifically by Margaret for the Demon Hunter who had not sailed the seas before.

The small boat would automatically correct its direction once he boarded; all he had to do was row hard.

The destination was a beach outside of Gos Velen City, where a fisherman’s family resided.

The dean of Airetusa had informed them, through the merchant supplying fish to the academy, to take care of the boat and hand it over to the Demon Hunter the next time he arrived.

The fisherman’s family knew nothing and didn’t recognize anyone; they were just taking money to do a job.

This method of entering and leaving the academy was not unsophisticated, even having a hint of espionage.

But this painstaking effort also expressed the current state of affairs from another perspective—

The situation on the continent was heating up.

Lann sat at the stern of the boat, rowing while his eyes were filled with contemplation.

The situation was heating up in an unstoppable manner.

Spies and espionage agents from various countries were as frantic and busy as hornets disturbed from their nest.

They urgently monitored all noteworthy individuals, hungrily collecting all significant information.

Like his own intelligence, like Airetusa’s information.

This was all because of war.

The atmosphere of war was like a dagger pressed against people’s throats.

All those in the know were anxiously uneasy about it.

War was predictable because it ultimately serves political purposes. As long as one understands the current political situation on the continent, one would also know that war wasn’t far off.

But war was also unpredictable because not even the Great Mages within palace walls, the heads of spies, or the Emperor or Kings could know precisely when, where, or how the war would break out.

In a bizarre conjecture, maybe the southern and northern soldiers, due to long-tense nerves, end up insulting each other in an unexpected encounter after failing to control their emotions, drawing swords, and shedding blood - leading to an uncontrollable situation, and war suddenly breaking out like an earthquake.

This was not impossible; on the contrary, it’s something that historically happened often.

Thinking about it, Lann shook his head as if tossing away worries. His brilliantly silver hair swayed in the sunlight.

War, this should not be his concern.

He was a Demon Hunter who did not serve ’people,’ and his battlefield wasn’t even mostly in this world.

”If I’m gone for months, perhaps by the time I return, this war, which nobody knows when it will start, might already be over.”

With this thought, Lann secured the small boat at the fisherman’s makeshift harbor.

After jumping ashore, Bopai was already tied to the wooden railing by the roadside.

The Demon Hunter didn’t linger; in fact, the quicker he left, the fewer traces he would leave behind.

Bopai’s hooves galloped once more across the fields of Velen.

Velen remained the same, with its sky sometimes gloomy and sometimes bright due to its proximity to the sea.

Occasional marshes and swamps on the ground, and a few scattered thatched and plank houses formed a village.

These villages were now producing barely perceptible, ephemeral smoke.

The war was unlikely to come here because it was impoverished and dirty, with difficult roads. Apart from Gos Velen and Airetusa, it held no value.

Moreover, Temeria was still quite far from the Yaruga River, the southern and northern border.

If the Niflgaard Empire decided to act, they would first have to deal with the Northern Countries bordering the Yaruga River.

Bopai’s gallop seemed a bit clumsy under Lann’s weight.

Because the Demon Hunter’s skeletal weight was increasing rapidly.

According to the knowledge obtained from [Deep Memory Dive], after the Interstellar Warriors undergo the implantation of [Skeletal Strengthening Organ], they would introduce some ceramic compounds into their diet.

These would be used as raw materials for the rapid increase in bone mass and as bone-strengthening agents.

The hormones secreted by the [Skeletal Strengthening Organ] would give the Interstellar Warriors the ability to digest and absorb these compounds.

The formula for this compound was also in the memory.

This made Lann once again marvel at how Belisarius Kao seemed to have considered everything, stuffing all this knowledge into Neville during cultivation.

Just so when Lann received the knowledge, it was seamless.

So, based on Neville’s memory information, Lann used his alchemical aptitude to successfully synthesize these ceramic compounds in the laboratory.

He even made chicken-flavor, pork-flavor, and other taste combinations.