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Chapter 103: The Fruit of Dagmar (達格瑪果實)
“Hello friend, are you adventuring alone in the Dark Forest?” The swordsman called out softly when he was quite a distance away from Han Shuo.
Han Shuo had long since discovered these six and had desummoned the little skeleton again since he didn’t want to reveal his status as a necromancer. He lifted his head when he heard the other’s voice and nodded at the swordsman. “That’s right.”
The cross legged harpy whooshed past overhead, but didn’t dare to continue testing Han Shuo’s patience when she saw the six adventurers meet up with him. She flew to a higher vantage point to observe the happenings from the sky.
The six adventurers were a team of three warriors, two mages, and one archer. The archer was a female elf, and the three male warriors consisted of one senior swordswoman and two journeyman swordsmen. In addition to them, there was one male journeyman mage and one female adept mage.
After Han Shuo had participated in the test given by the Academy, he now knew of some of the level differentiations and symbols used by the Magic Association and the Knight Association.
Mages would have an exquisite, small magic staff embroidered on the shoulder of their mage robes according to strength. Novice mages would possess the image of a magic staff, and each successive level would add another magic staff. Swordsmen and Knights had similar ways of differentiation, with swordsmen using swords as their emblems and knights using battlesteeds.
The robes of the mages and swordsmen looked like they’d been verified by the Magic Association and the Knight Association, and thus emblems representing their strengths were attached to the clothes they were wearing. Han Shuo could easily determine their strength with just a glance.
The six of them weren’t weak, but a bit too weak if they were to venture into the depths of the Dark Forest. This was why the harpy dared to follow them when she discovered these six. If any of them were an archmage that could fly, then the harpy would’ve run as far as possible and wouldn’t dare to look for chances to attack them.
“I’m called Odysseus. These are my companions. I think you’ve noticed the harpy’s disturbance earlier. I’m very sorry to say that the harpy has been targeting us and shifted her attentions to you when she discovered that you were walking alone.”
“As a level three magical creature, it was truly difficult to fight a harpy since she can fly in the air. If you don’t mind, you can walk with us. The harpy shouldn’t dare come down and cause trouble if the seven of us are together.” The senior swordsman, Odysseus, spoke sincerely to Han Shuo.
Shaking his head, Han Shuo declined with a smile, “That’s alright. I think you want to head further into the Dark Forest, but I’d like to go back to the outskirts. We’re not taking the same path, so I won’t trouble you.”
“How can this be? If you continue to walk alone, the harpy will never give up on you. I think you should stay with us, or you’ll be in greater trouble or even die!” One of the female adept mages Aphrodite said softly.
The others also protested when they heard Aphrodite’s words, but Han Shuo didn’t agree to leave with them. Although the six weren’t that weak, only the archer’s arrows had any ability to cause trouble for the harpy. Once the flight capable harpy dashed up in the air, the swordsmen would pose no threat to her whatsoever and magic may not be effective because of the distance.
However, Han Shuo was armed with the Demonslayer Edge and the crossbow, add to that the fact that the little skeleton could also fly up into the air using his bone spurs, if the harpy was so oblivious as to dare attack him, then painful wallops from Han Shuo and the little skeleton would be awaiting her. Therefore, Han Shuo wasn’t that afraid of the harpy. This was why he’d turned down the invitation from the six adventurers and chosen to set off alone.
“Heh heh, thank you for your concern, but I don’t think it’d be that easy for the harpy to catch me.” Han Shuo responded with a smile and grabbed his two baked fish. He didn’t respond to the six young adventurers again and walked back in the direction they’d come from alone.
The six young adventurers were startled when they saw Han Shuo leave leisurely. The senior swordsman Odysseus opened his mouth to say, “Let’s observe in the distance. If he truly has a method to deal with the harpy, then we’ll decide to leave. Otherwise we’ll help him, to prevent him from being eaten.”
“Captain, that person’s already turned us down, do we have to do this?” Journeyman swordsman Gordon was rather unwilling as he spoke sullenly.
“The harpy’s original target was us and only troubled others because we started heading in this direction. I think we should own up to this responsibility.” Odysseus lectured Gordon and directed the others to follow him, trailing far behind Han Shuo.
After walking roughly five minutes, the harpy circling over Han Shuo finally made another move. She dived down from high up in the sky and once again soared back up into the clouds with a screeching whistle when she’d almost landed on his head, baiting Han Shuo with extreme patience.
However, Han Shuo was even more patient than her. Although his two hands looked empty, the Demonslayer Edge was ready to erupt into the air at any time, and his crossbow was already prepared to fire within his space ring. As soon as the harpy dared enter within range, Han Shuo wouldn’t mind killing this level three magical creature with one shot.
As for the six adventurers following at a distance, Han Shuo could see everything clearly. He didn’t pay much attention to their kindheartedness and continued walking towards the cemetery of death at a leisurely pace.
The harpy finally couldn’t contain herself after repeatedly testing him and once again swooped in directly towards Han Shuo with her sharp claws curved, quickly approaching Han Shuo’s skullcap.
A disgusting stench assaulted his nostrils and immediately wafted around Han Shuo’s being. Most people would be temporarily dizzy and disoriented after catching a whiff of this stench, but Han Shuo’s body had been trained to an unknown level of indomitability and wasn’t affected by this at all. He still fakely swayed in accordance with the harpy’s intentions, as if he would crash to the ground at any given moment.
“Oh no! He’s been disoriented by the stench of the harpy’s body, he’s in danger! We should go save him!” The adept mage Aphrodite suddenly called out as the six adventurers no longer concerned themselves with concealment and walked out from the shrubbery behind him. The archer frantically shot arrows towards the harpy.
At this moment, the harpy, who’d been afraid to commit herself to a full descent, finally seemed to think that the r timing was finally right. She’d maintained a distance of seven or eight meters from the ground when she suddenly shot like lightning down towards Han Shuo, a pair of iron claws locked onto Han Shuo’s head, seeming to want to rip Han Shuo’s bones apart.
A cold smile blossoming from the corners of his mouth, Han Shu’s body swayed even more and stiffened right before the harpy’s iron claws landed on his head. He quickly fell straight backwards so that the claws, that had been reaching for Han Shuo’s head, landed on empty air.
Just as the harpy called out strangely and was going to try to make another move, the Demonslayer Edge, interspersed with red light, suddenly slashed through the air and brought with it a fierce, flaming surge of strength that flooded into the harpy’s body.
A desolate, low call sounded as the harpy flapped her wings, wobbling in a hurried attempt to leave the ground. The crossbow was already grasped in Han Shuo’s hand at this moment and shot out ruthlessly after locking onto the harpy’s thin neck.
Red light flaring out from her body, the harpy cried out in continuous pain. She was absolutely unable to stabilize her body at this time and naturally didn’t notice an even more lethal attack nearing. The crossbow bolt strongly pierced her neck and sent her body flying backwards. Her neck maintained the position of looking back up at the sky as she suddenly fell onto the ground.
“Oh, my gosh, he shot down the harpy!” Swordsman Andrew arrived swiftly after closing the distance and suddenly discovered that the harpy’s body had fallen to the ground. He exclaimed in surprise and found it hard to believe the sight.
The other adventurers, who had planned on reciting incantations or shooting down the harpy, also stilled the movements of their hands and looked at the harpy fluttering weakly in the distance, their faces also filled with astonishment.
Under Han Shuo’s thoughts, the Demonslayer Edge had used the magical flames of the “Mystical Glacial Spellfire” after plunging into the harpy’s body to incinerate her internal organs. No smoke appeared, but the harpy’s body quickly turned into a charred mess and the thick scent traveled even further.
Standing up and patting off the dust on his body, Han Shuo walked over to the thoroughly fried harpy, held his breath, and took out the Demonslayer Edge. Excavating the core of a level three magical creature from her body, he then chopped off her two iron claws and stored them within his space ring.
A level three magical creature wasn’t actually that easy to deal with, otherwise the six adventurers wouldn’t have had such a headache. The harpy has always relied on the overwhelming stench within her body and her position from high up in the air to be successful in every endeavor.
It was a pity that her two advantages were completely ineffective against Han Shuo, and she finally became a target for Han Shuo to take advantage of. Add to that the unparalleled sharpness of the Demonslayer Edge and the fact that it could strike at will in accordance with Han Shuo’s wishes, that was what caused her to die so quickly and terribly.
“Hi friend, you’re quite strong indeed. It looks like our concerns were indeed extraneous.” Odysseus had finally made it to Han Shuo from the distance and faced the latter merrily.
Although these people hadn’t been of any help, Han Shuo had gained an understanding of their conversation and methods through the originals demons. He felt that these people were quite decent, and now that their captain Odysseus spoke thus, Han Shuo nodded with a faint smile, “I was only lucky, my real strength isn’t even close to your level.”
“Heh heh, you’re too humble.” Odysseus obviously didn’t believe Han Shuo’s words as he responded politely.
“Captain, since he’s not in danger, I think we should continue deeper into the southern parts of the Dark Forest to continue searching for the “Fruit of Dagmar”.” Gordon walked over from the distance and rushed towards Odysseus.
“Ai, I wonder if the ‘Fruit of Dagmar’ that we’re searching for really exists. A fruit that looks like a human brain, I’ve never heard of something like this!” Adept mage Aphrodite sighed.
Han Shuo had been about to take his leave when he heard Aphrodite’s words and didn’t leave immediately. He rather looked at Aphrodite in confusion and asked, “What kind of item is this ‘Fruit of Dagmar’? Why is it shaped like a human’s brain? This is really a bit incredible, can you tell me about it?”
“I’ve heard everything about the ‘Fruit of Dagmar’ from our captain Odysseus. He knows more about it.” Aphrodite smiled in a friendly fashion at Han Shuo and pointed at Odysseus.
Odysseus smiled faintly, “Are you also interested in the ‘Fruit of Dagmar’? Heh heh, the legends say that Dagmar was a demon who enjoyed eating human brains. It’s possible for a very strange fruit to be produced in the place where he’s buried. The fruit is the size of a fist and has dark brown veins running over it. It looks very similar to a human brain.”
“It’s said that the ‘Fruit of Dagmar’ has magical properties. Ordinary people will become confused and turn insane if they eat it, but it’s said that if the ‘Fruit of Dagmar’ is crushed by a pharmacist, it can be made into very precious medicine. I’ve recently received a request from someone and have decided to try my luck within the Dark Forest to see if I could find the ‘Fruit of Dagmar.”
Han Shuo was suddenly bizarrely gleeful after he heard Odysseus’ words. In Chu Cang Lan’s memories, there was a fruit called “Divine Brain Fruit”. It had the effect of forcefully expanding the human brain. It could turn an ordinary person into a madman, but if a demon practitioner in the “molded spirit” stage like Han Shuo partook of this “Divine Brain Fruit”, then he could leverage the effects to greatly increase his level of training.
Han Shuo hadn’t contemplated in this direction to begin with because he’d thought that it was impossible for the “Divine Brain Fruit” to exist within this world, but Odysseus’ description of the “Fruit of Dagmar” were the exact same shape of the “Divine Brain Fruit.”
He was unable to resist the temptation of gaining a fruit that could greatly improve his current level of training. Han Shuo thought no more of it as he asked directly after Odysseus finished explaining, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go search for this ‘Fruit of Dagmar’ with you?”
Odysseus and the six adventurers suddenly looked at each other after Han Shuo spoke. They all felt extremely surprised as they wouldn’t have thought Han Shuo would have such a proposal.