Dak? The image of the other immediately emerged in Derrick’s mind: Medium height, slightly plump, strong, an optimistic and cheerful youth with a bright smile, his classmate in general education and teammate on the patrol squad.
But since returning from the expedition to the half-destroyed temple of the «Fallen Creator,» he had become reserved, only smiling at everyone.
Recalling the change in Dak Riggins, Derrick shuddered, his whole body chilled.
Why did he suddenly come to see me? He was just released from quarantine, shouldn’t he be going home? In an instant, many questions arose in Derrick’s mind.
Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him: «Elder Lovia knows I suspect they have already become abnormal, so she sent Dak to take care of me?»
Derrick was startled, filled with fear, but then felt that maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing: Mr. Hanged Man said, «If you don’t have a suitable audience to testify for you, you might as well make use of the Beyonder monitoring you.» Right now, the monitor was in that corner. If Dak suddenly attacked him, it would surely expose the fact that they were compromised!
In that case, even without using Mr. World’s item, things could proceed smoothly!
Hu, Derrick turned his head and glanced at the window.
By now, the frequency of lightning had dropped to its lowest, with one bolt every minute or two flashing across the sky, illuminating half the dusk; the whole world and most of Silver City lay in deep darkness most of the time.
If he were home alone, Derrick wouldn’t bother to find a candle to light; he preferred to lie quietly in bed, letting his mind drift.
Of course, he knew it was quite dangerous—without a little light to dispel the darkness, even inside Silver City, monsters might suddenly appear. But Derrick himself was a «Prayer of Light,» inherently possessing light attributes, so he wasn’t too afraid of such things.
Thump thump thump! Dak knocked three more times, as if urging the owner.
He hadn’t been like this before; he was very polite… Derrick suddenly felt a wave of intense sadness.
He took a candle from a wooden box, placed it in the center of the table, then rubbed his fingers together, producing a golden flame.
The flame lit the candle, filling the room with dim yellow but warm light, accompanied by a pungent odor.
—The candles in Silver City were mainly made from fat extracted from monsters, and their smells varied depending on the source.
Taking a deep breath, Derrick walked to the door with strong caution and opened it.
«Why are you so slow?» Dak asked with a smile.
«Looking for a candle,» Derrick replied.
He didn’t dare to turn his back to the other; instead, he walked side by side with his classmate and teammate back to the table, and they sat down.
«Some freshly dried Dum fruit? Want some?» Dak took a small cloth bag from his waist and asked with a smile.
Dum fruit was one of the rarest snacks in Silver City, derived from a plant called «Dum bloodvine.» This creature didn’t need light and grew by absorbing nutrients from rotting corpses. It had some aggressive tendencies and was a fairly common weak monster.
Each Dum bloodvine produced many thumb-sized black fruits that could be eaten directly—crunchy and fragrant—but they couldn’t fill one’s stomach or provide necessary nutrition; they were just a daily treat. The merit from one patrol could be exchanged for several big bags.
«No, no thanks.» Derrick shook his head cautiously.
«All right.» Dak poured a pile of black fruits from the small bag, picked one up, put it in his mouth, and crunched loudly.
Derrick thought for a moment and took the initiative to ask: «Did you encounter any monsters in the underground part of that temple?»
Dak stopped chewing and answered with a smile: «There were quite a few, but none were very strong; we cleared them easily. It’s been destroyed for a long time, so any strong monsters should have left long ago.»
He paused for a second and curved his lips: «We found some strange plants at the bottom of the temple. They looked like the mushrooms recorded in our general knowledge class, especially bright in color, making one feel appetized just by looking.
«After confirmation, they can be eaten directly, improving one’s spirituality and strengthening the body. If paired with roasted monster meat, they give off an unimaginable fragrance.»
As he spoke, he took out a palm-sized mushroom-shaped object from another small cloth bag. Its stem was white as jade, its cap bright red and crystalline, dotted with dark golden spots.
Just seeing this plant made Derrick swallow his saliva, as if he hadn’t eaten for days.
Under the dim candlelight, that beautiful mushroom constantly radiated tempting colors, especially provoking appetite, making it hard to resist.
«Here’s one for you,» Dak said warmly with a smile.