The party returned to the rock crevice.

Chanting a Spell, Colin controlled the Flaming Arrow Cantrip in his hand, keeping the flame contained between his fingers. He gently touched it to the oil lamp’s wick, lighting it.

A warm orange glow immediately lit up the quiet cave.

Kase and Orelia sat against the wall, recovering their strength.

Salin sat to one side, stroking a cracked Shepherd’s Flute. In the dim light, letters carved at the end of the flute were faintly visible.

Everything in the rock crevice was exactly as they had left it the day before.

But the wind outside had grown much stronger, and they could clearly hear a loud, mournful wailing from beyond the cave entrance, like the howling of ghosts and wolves. It was quite noisy.

In the recent battle, they had used up all the remaining Weak Healing Potions, Sacred Oil, and Holy Water. The party’s only remaining consumables were a single bottle of Weak Antidote and one of Holy Water.

Compared to losing their lives, using up these consumables was a trivial matter.

"So, where on earth were you dragged off to just now?" Kase asked, leaning against the rock wall.

His voice sounded quite energetic, as if he hadn’t been injured at all. He even sounded a bit more hyped up than when he wasn’t fighting.

This helped to ease Colin’s tension.

To be honest, he’d been scared to death when he first emerged and saw the state Kase and Orelia were in.

"Remember how we talked about the war between the Elves and the Ancient Empire on our way here? I think I was teleported to the start of that war..."

Colin gave them a rough account of what he had seen, mentioned the trial he faced, and went on to describe in detail how he had been evenly matched against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent in a battle of wits and courage.

Kase, who was gnawing on dry rations, hollered, "I believe the first part, but then you say the enemy was overwhelmingly powerful, yet you were evenly matched. Why don’t you sort out your story first!"

"A good story requires a little embellishment," Colin said with a smile.

"A world without sound..." Orelia nibbled on a piece of dried meat like a hamster, lost in her own thoughts.

Salin chimed in, "It’s rare that those two didn’t abandon you to save themselves. Honestly, you don’t see many parties like yours in Rommon. A lot of Mercenaries and Adventurers don’t keep their word and spend all their time looking for loopholes in contracts."

"What’s a contract?" Kase asked.

"Party contracts. They have to be notarized by a Mercenary Corps, that sort of thing." Salin sighed. "The law was supposed to make Mercenaries and Adventurers more reliable, but it had the opposite effect once ’not breaking the law’ became the standard for everyone."

"Oh."

Kase nodded thoughtfully, but knowing him, Colin was sure that expression meant he hadn’t understood a word.

Salin brought up another topic, and the rest of them started chatting idly.

Once he confirmed his companions were completely safe, Colin finally took a closer look at the rewards he had just received.

He was startled by what he saw.

The description for this reward was surprisingly long.

First was one point of agility.

’I’m not sure what one point of agility really amounts to. The change isn’t as obvious as it is with Power, but I’m sure the effects will gradually become apparent.’

Next was the skill he had learned.

This skill, like the one he learned from the Dwarf, wasn’t just a simple Swordsmanship. It was the "Silent Sword Skill," which seemed quite formidable, and it even came with a skill description.

Setting all that aside, the "Legendary Skill" title alone was enough to prove its value.

’Speaking of which, I wonder if the skills Donkexes and the others have could also become "Legendary Skills" with enough training?’

But that was a thought for another time.

His Skill Level in Silent Sword Skill had reached five hundred points. In other words, this special commission had directly awarded him five hundred points, the most he had ever received from a single task.

Finally, there was the Specialty: Silent Sword Dance.

Colin looked at the Giant Sword and Hand Half Sword leaning beside him.

’So, how do I activate the "Sword Dance"?’

As Colin stared at his weapons, the memory of the Elf from the vision resurfaced. From the Elf’s perspective, he could see every single move made when entering the Sword Dance state during battle, as if he had performed them himself.

His mind returned to the present.

As he reached out and gripped the hilt, Colin placed his right hand on the blade and softly chanted the Elf Language Spell from his memory.

The Elf Giant Sword’s blade trembled. A moment later, a jet-black Elf Language Rune, shaped like an ornate grass-like pattern, emerged from the junction of the Sword Guard and the blade, flowing slowly down the flat of the sword.

In a trance, Colin felt as if the Giant Sword had become an extension of his own body.

The sensation was especially pronounced along the steadily vibrating blade.

’It enhances attack power and accuracy based on Intelligence... If the others weren’t right here, I’d really want to find a place and try this out.’

As he thought this, Colin suddenly noticed that the Silent Ring on his finger had vanished.

’Thinking about it now, it makes no sense for something like that to appear in an Earthworm Nest near Thousand Masts City.’

’If I had to guess, the ring probably teleports somewhere else each time a wearer brings it near the statue and completes the trial.’

’Otherwise, there’s no way to explain why none of the many corpses around the statue had rings. Besides, judging from Salin’s reaction, this place only reveals itself when the ring’s bearer approaches.’

’None of that matters now, anyway. It’s all in the past.’

Just as Colin was lost in thought, his surroundings suddenly fell silent.

"I think there’s a sound outside."

Salin and Kase said in unison.

’A sound?’ A bad premonition rose in Colin’s heart.

He put out a hand to stop the other two, who were about to head out. "I’ll go take a look first."

A rock wall stood between their crevice and the suspension bridge, so he could only poke his head out past the edge to see.

He saw five figures on the suspension bridge; they were likely the source of the sound Kase and the others had heard.

The group didn’t seem to know the crevice’s exact location. One person remained by the bridge while the other four fumbled their way in this direction. And the one in the lead... was Finn, whom Colin had seen a few times in the merchant caravan. The others with him were members of his party.

They were all armed, and their packs had been left by the bridge.

"Barricade the entrance. I doubt this group is here for a friendly chat," Colin quickly whispered over his shoulder.

Kase nodded and quickly jammed the Insect Shell Shield into the entrance of the crevice.

"Are they here to hunt you down?" Salin asked, drawing his Short Bow and nocking an Arrow. "First a huge horde of wandering Skeletons, now enemies on our tail. I’ve had nothing but rotten luck since teaming up with you lot!"

"Mr. Colin, my blessings are all used up..." Orelia said, looking over with worry.

Staring outside, Kase spoke up. "To be honest, I’m pretty much spent."

’If this Half-Orc was admitting he was out of strength, his actual condition was probably even worse. These guys really picked their moment, showing up precisely when the party was at its weakest...’

As he had this thought, Colin offered some reassurance. "We’ll find a way."