Chapter 18: Skill Upgrade
Nighttime quickly arrived, the entire barren plain was engulfed in darkness, and a deafening silence spread across the vast plain, filling it with an ominous atmosphere.
The crew's encampment could be seen at a random location within the barren plain. The tents were set very far away from the feared Bridge of the South.
At that moment, the remaining twenty-three members of the crew were sitting outside their tents. They gathered around the large campfire they had made, heating their dinner while discussing among themselves.
The king and the wizard, who were usually in their tents at times like these, were present as well. King Julian could be seen laughing and talking with his soldiers as though he were sitting among friends.
While the soldiers were aware of the king's friendly nature, they had never had a chance to speak with him as they did now.
Even the wizard, who was usually shut in his tent practicing magic and reading books, was talking with them, sharing stories about exciting adventures, including a few scary ones.
On the other hand, the captain remained indoors. The sounds of a sword tearing through empty air, as well as constant heavy breathing, could be heard from his tent.
The soldiers found the captain's behavior strange, as he hated training at night. Thus, hearing him train so hard instead of socializing with the others was very odd.
They even began to discuss among themselves, debating whether something had happened that triggered the captain to train so hard.
Some said the captain was training hard for the Mountain of Skulls, while others argued that he pushed himself so intensely because he had lost ten of his soldiers.
There was much speculation, but only the hero and the wizard knew exactly what had happened.