Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

The carriage wheels slowly rolled over the soft meadow soaked with rainwater. The air was filled with the scent of earth, grass, trees, and wildflowers.

A fierce wind tore open a rift in the dark clouds on the distant horizon.

Streaks of golden sunlight pierced down from the sky and fell into the valley. After the rain, the sky cleared, and a rainbow arched across the heavens.

"So beautiful."

Levi's coachwoman, Great Knight Yalina—after taking the Silver-Scale Surge Potion several times, she had finally broken through to the Great Knight level, though her foundation was still somewhat unsteady—sat at the front of the carriage, guiding the horses while gazing at the scenery. She could not help sighing in admiration, closing her eyes with an intoxicated expression.

"Even the air is sweet."

Miss Nightingale Odelle was beside her, and when she heard that, she nodded deeply in agreement.

Inside the carriage.

Levi heard their words, but his face remained expressionless. He simply continued meditating in silence.

Although the Magic Mirror Queen was not troubling him for the time being, Levi still had not relaxed. Instead, he was making use of every minute and second possible to continue his training, whether it was Spiritual Power or spell proficiency.

At this moment, they had already left Aetherlan, the capital of the Duchy of Silverbrook, carrying the baronial investiture decree issued by the Duke of Silverbrook as they headed for the Silverclaw Peninsula.

His territory was on the Silverclaw Peninsula.

From the map, that territory was located at the northernmost tip of the Silverclaw Peninsula. Its terrain resembled a beast's horn stretching out toward the sea, and so that region was named Hornreach.

Levi was the Baron of Hornreach.

His Hornreach bordered the Kingdom of Amtyr on the left, with the famous entrance to the Mist Swamp at the frontier.

That place was shrouded year-round in gray mist with a faint toxicity. It was a natural barrier for the Kingdom of Amtyr, so there was no need to worry about Amtyr's army appearing from there. However, they did need to watch out for the magical creatures inside the Mist Swamp, such as goblins, kobolds, and the like. Rumor had it that deeper within the Mist Swamp, there were even more terrifying existences, though no one had ever discovered them. It was only a rumor.

And on the eastern side of Hornreach, it directly bordered another powerful kingdom.

That kingdom was the Kingdom of Valeria.

After the previous king's son-in-law took the throne and became the new king, the Kingdom of Valeria had become ambitious and had always wanted to annex the Duchy of Silverbrook.

The Duke of Silverbrook placing Levi's territory in this position could be said to be full of ulterior motives. He wanted Levi, this Second-Ring Wizard, to face the military pressure of the Kingdom of Valeria directly and reduce his own burden.

But Levi did not care.

To him, this was only a game.

And since it was a game, a higher difficulty made it more interesting. Otherwise, it would be boring.

...

Time slowly passed with the rolling of the carriage wheels, and it was close to noon.

Levi—or rather, the Baron of Hornreach—finally ended his meditation practice.

He opened his eyes, and a gleam flashed deep within them.

The newly refined Deepcurrent Echo Potion had already been used up, and Levi's Spiritual Power had also reached 45 points. That could be considered the level of a mid-level Second-Ring Wizard.

Although the efficiency of meditation would decline, compared with ordinary Second-Ring Wizards, Levi's meditation results could still be called terrifying.

After all, his sea of soul had already been strengthened by multiple spell crystals. It had long since become extraordinary.

Levi estimated that after meditating and training for a little longer, his Spiritual Power would reach the limit of a Second-Ring Wizard.

At that time, he could begin preparing to break through to the realm of a Third-Ring Wizard.

As he thought this, Levi listened to Yalina and Miss Nightingale Odelle chattering outside, and on a sudden impulse, he cast Detection once to detect intelligence related to himself:

[Intelligence One: After the Magic Mirror Queen learned that Snow White was not dead and had stolen from her the title of the most beautiful woman in the world, she has been trying to find a way to kill Snow White. However, she has some reservations about the strength of those seven rune dwarves.]

[Intelligence Two: News of the Third Prince of the Kingdom of Amtyr's death has reached his father's ears. Devastated by grief, he is currently investigating the Third Prince's death.]

[Intelligence Three: Three kilometers behind the carriage, a Sky Knight carrying an alchemical musket on his back is walking alone. He has food that never runs out.]

[Intelligence Four: Margaret, the Candy House witch, has reached the end of her life. She has sealed the Candy House and is waiting for the future Gourmet Witch to arrive.]

[Intelligence Five: A terrifying presence has appeared within the Mist Swamp. The animals inside the swamp are in a state of panic, and a beast tide may surge into the surrounding territories. Hornreach will likely be affected.]

...

Levi glanced at the first piece of intelligence and immediately ignored it.

Snow White was tough to kill. The Magic Mirror Queen would not get rid of her that easily.

Besides, there were still those seven dwarves!

As for the second piece of intelligence, it was not important to Levi either.

That was the Duke of Silverbrook's token of allegiance to Levi.

And the one who had killed the prince was the Duke of Silverbrook, not him.

Then there was the fourth piece of intelligence.

The Candy House witch Margaret had died.

In truth, when Levi met her, she had already been close to death.

But now that she had truly died, Levi felt somewhat uncomfortable inside.

After remaining silent for a moment, Levi shifted his attention to the remaining two pieces of intelligence.

The fifth piece of intelligence indicated that something seemed to have gone wrong within the Mist Swamp.

However, that would have to wait until he arrived at his territory before he could investigate it properly.

For now, Levi set it aside.

What interested him most at the moment was the third piece of intelligence.

Sky Knight!

Food that never runs out!

The amount of information contained in that was enormous.

First was the Sky Knight.

That was the stage above Great Knight—a truly rare existence, few and far between.

It was also the starting point where the knight's path stepped into the supernatural realm.

An entire kingdom might not even possess a single Sky Knight.

At that stage, the power of the knight's life-energy seed no longer merely strengthened the body. It could also be projected outward, much like battle aura or inner energy, allowing all sorts of wondrous applications.

Some powerful Sky Knights could even contend against a First-Ring Wizard.

But Levi was a Second-Ring Wizard.

No matter how strong a Sky Knight was, to Levi, that was all it amounted to.

What Levi truly focused on was the phrase "food that never runs out."

The first thing that came to mind was a fairy-tale treasure.

He simply was not sure which fairy-tale treasure it was.

After all, in fairy tales, there were several treasures capable of providing endless food.

But no matter which one it was, Levi was tempted.

If he could obtain it, it might prove helpful for developing his territory later on.

Thinking this, Levi opened his mouth and told Yalina to stop the carriage.

"Do you have any orders, Lord Baron of Hornreach?" Yalina said teasingly to Levi.

No emotion could be seen on Levi's face. He merely replied calmly, "Coachwoman, it's noon. Stop the carriage and start cooking."

"Coachwoman?" Yalina shot Levi an annoyed glance and muttered through gritted teeth, "So in your eyes, I'm nothing but a coachwoman! Hmph!"

"What were you saying?" Levi knowingly asked.

"Nothing. I said I'll prepare lunch for you right away, Lord Baron." Yalina revealed a strange smile as she spoke to Levi.

Levi fell silent for a moment before saying, "Forget it. I'll do it myself."

He did not trust Yalina's cooking skills.

'I'm missing a cookmaid...'

Levi sighed helplessly.

"Hmph, hmph, hmph!" Yalina kept snorting indignantly after hearing that.

Levi pretended not to hear her. He climbed down from the carriage, instructed Yalina to set up the cooking stove, then carried the tools and seasonings down from the carriage.

As for Levi himself, he used Detection to look around before heading into a nearby grove.

By the time Yalina had just finished the tasks Levi assigned to her, Levi had already returned carrying a small deer, a wild chicken, a wild rabbit, a pile of mushrooms, and various wild vegetables that Yalina could not even name.

Of course, he had also gathered enough firewood.

The task of starting the fire was left to Yalina.

Levi used Gathering Technique to clean the ingredients, then pondered for a while before beginning to cook.

Some time later—

[Honey-Glazed Roast Wild Chicken], [Red Wine Braised Venison], [Grilled Venison Steak], [Wild Vegetable and Mushroom Deer Bone Soup], [Deer Blood Stew], and [Black Pepper Red Wine Braised Wild Rabbit] were freshly prepared.

The fragrance spread through the air, and upon smelling it, Yalina could not help swallowing.

After breaking through to the Great Knight level, Yalina had become stronger—but she had also become much hungrier.

And with Conversion, Levi's efficiency in consuming food was even greater than Yalina's.

Although this meal looked enormous, it was only barely enough to fill Levi and Yalina up.

Of course, after eating their fill, as long as they did not engage in intense physical activity, the two of them could go several days without eating again.

Yalina stared eagerly at Levi like a little puppy.

"Can we eat now?"

"Go ahead."

The moment Levi finished speaking, a deep voice suddenly sounded from the distance behind them.

"It smells incredible!"

He turned his head and saw a somewhat scruffy middle-aged man approaching them. The man carried a travel pack and an alchemical musket on his back. Though he looked a little roguish, his handsome features had not diminished in the slightest. The corners of his mouth curled upward into a carefree, cynical smile.

'So fast.'

Levi thought to himself.

'Is this the speed of a Heaven Knight?'

He looked at the man and immediately used Detection. A blue glow flashed deep within his eyes:

[Name: Rune Winter]

[Identity: Sky Knight, the passing hunter from the "Little Red Riding Hood fairy"-tale instance, male protagonist of the "The Raven" fairy-tale instance]

[Strength: 11.33]

[Constitution: 10.98]

[Agility: 11.65]

[Spiritual Power: 3.44]

[Charm: 1.6]

[Abilities: Breath of the Sky Knight Breathing Technique, Storm Combat Techniques]

[Remark: He has been wandering endlessly, searching for the whereabouts of his cursed lover.]

...

The information appeared before Levi's eyes.

A trace of surprise appeared on Levi's face.

What surprised him was not the other party's inhuman physical attributes. No matter how strong he was, he was still not Levi's opponent. Levi only needed to transform into the Two-Headed Demon Owl, and the physical attributes of the Two-Headed Demon Owl alone already surpassed this Sky Knight.

What truly surprised Levi was this line—

[the passing hunter from the "Little Red Riding Hood" fairy-tale instance, male protagonist of the "The Raven" fairy-tale instance].

This was the first time he had encountered a man who crossed over between two fairy-tale instances.

There was no need to mention Little Red Riding Hood. Levi was very familiar with it already. He simply did not know whether this man had already experienced that fairy-tale instance or not.

But that was not important.

The key point was the "The Raven" fairy-tale instance.

Levi remembered that the story told of a troublesome princess who, because of a careless remark from her parents, transformed into a crow and flew away. She could only return to human form at certain times. Someone had to willingly remain alone in a cabin deep within the forest at night and accompany her through three nights before the curse could be lifted.

The male protagonist wanted to help the princess remove the curse, but in the end, he still failed.

After failing, the princess left some things behind for him and told him to seek her in a golden palace.

The protagonist endured countless hardships, obtained several treasures, and finally reached the golden palace to rescue the princess.

There were many treasures in that fairy tale.

Especially the treasures the protagonist obtained at the end—they tempted Levi greatly.

If he could copy the abilities of those treasures...

While Levi was deep in thought, Yalina reacted intensely.

The moment this man appeared beside them in the blink of an eye, she had only just realized it. If this had been a real battle, she would already have died countless times over.

For the first time, she felt an overwhelming sense of danger.

Her entire body tensed as she stared fixedly at the scruffy-looking man, like a leopardess poised to pounce.

The scruffy man glanced over and discerned Yalina's strength. A strange expression appeared on his face.

"A female Great Knight. But your foundation is somewhat unstable. You probably advanced by taking knight secret medicine and still haven't fully consolidated it."

Hearing those words, Yalina was deeply shocked. He had seen straight through her background, and her expression immediately became somewhat ugly.

Then he turned to look at Levi.

Levi's expression, however, remained calm, as though he possessed complete confidence. He even had the leisure to flip over the roasting venison steak and sprinkle on spices he had gathered from nature.

The scruffy man paused slightly in surprise, then found the situation amusing. He looked at Levi and also perceived the strength of his body. A trace of astonishment appeared in his eyes.

"Another Great Knight. Your foundation is extremely solid."

"Are Great Knights this common nowadays?" the scruffy man said in a strange tone.

"Not really. We're just somewhat special," Levi replied.

"Special? In what way?" the scruffy man asked curiously.

"When asking questions about others, shouldn't you introduce yourself first? Uninvited guest."

Levi countered him, deliberately emphasizing the words "uninvited guest."

"That's true. My manners were lacking."

The scruffy man grinned and said to Levi and Yalina: "My name is Rune Winter. I'm a Sky Knight. I've been wandering the world searching for someone."

The man did not lie. He spoke openly and frankly.

Yalina glanced at him, then at Levi.

Levi nodded.

"My name is Yalina, a Great Knight... What exactly is a Sky Knight?"

"A Sky Knight is the realm reached after a Great Knight trains to the limit and breaks through," Rune explained with a smile.

"Oh."

At that moment, Levi also calmly introduced himself.

"Levi. Great Knight. And Wizard."

"Wizard? You're a Wizard?"

Rune was greatly shocked.

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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