Chapter 240 (Patreon)

The [Barbarian] nomads danced in wide, circling patterns near the bonfire, their massive silhouettes cutting through the firelight as the deep rhythm of drums thundered through the camp like a living heartbeat. The sound wasn’t just music. It felt physical, a rhythm that vibrated through the ground and up into Kana’s bones. 

She watched in silence, her eyes following the rise and fall of their movements, the raw power in their bodies, the unity in their steps, as if the rhythm itself commanded them. Beside the fire, Toby had already been pulled into the dance, laughing as he tried to match their steps, while Thorne hopped and spun beside him with reckless enthusiasm, mimicking the movements in clumsy, chaotic patterns that made several of the nomads laugh in amusement.

To her side, Suri let out a satisfied burp, completely unbothered, as she launched into an animated discussion about clothing for the next season, enthusiastically describing fabrics, colors, and designs as if they were planning a festival rather than surviving in the wild. Elle, surprisingly, seemed genuinely interested, leaning in and asking questions, her eyes lighting up as the conversation shifted from practicality to creativity. 

Not far from them, Kier and Monde sat together with cups in hand, drinking quietly, their voices low as they drifted into long, personal conversations about life, regrets, and things that weighed on the mind in the quiet hours of the night.

Near the edge of the firelight, Boris, Andel, and Leo were engaged in friendly duels with several of the nomads, wooden weapons and shields clashing in controlled but powerful exchanges. 

Kana watched closely, surprised by what she saw. Even with the clear level difference, the nomads’ individual weapon mastery was refined and terrifyingly efficient, their movements wild yet precise, born from years of real combat rather than structured training. Andel and Leo were both defeated despite their lvl advantage, though Kana knew the outcome would have been different if they had chosen to use their skills instead of raw technique. 

Boris, however, adapted quickly, learning from their movements, adjusting his stance and rhythm, and although the nomads fought him five to one, they still couldn’t bring him down, they even praised his strength and suspected Boris' ancestors might be a [Barbarian] nomad.

Kana titled her head. It was possible.

Through it all, Kana’s [Night Awareness] fed her senses more than she wanted. Beyond the warmth of the fire, beyond the laughter and music, she could hear the distant shouts of men echoing through the darkness.

The sound carried pain, fear, and desperation. The nomads were interrogating the captured figures, forcing information from them, trying to uncover the locations of individuals with high bounties on their heads. Kana didn’t look in that direction, but the knowledge of it pressed against her thoughts that she couldn’t shake.

The night stretched long and heavy, filled with noise, movement, and emotion, until exhaustion finally began to pull at their bodies. When they decided to sleep, they were divided into two tents, one for the girls and one for the boys, simple but massive structures that felt more like communal shelters than rooms. Their beds were unfamiliar, made from thick layers of wool spread across the ground, not cold, not hard, and surprisingly soft, forming a strange balance between the wilderness and comfort. As Kana lay down, the drumbeats faded into the distance, the firelight dimmed, and the camp slowly settled into silence, leaving only the quiet breathing of many lives resting under the open sky.

….

“Kana, wake up!” Suri’s voice cut through the heavy fog of sleep as she shook her shoulder insistently, her tone carrying both urgency and concern.

Kana groaned softly and lifted an arm to shield her eyes as thin blades of sunlight slipped through the small holes in the tent’s fabric, scattering pale gold across the wool-covered floor. The light felt wrong somehow, too sharp, too present, and for a moment she simply lay there, disoriented.

It was strange for her. She was almost always the first to wake, her body trained by habit and discipline to rise before the others, yet now she turned her head and realized she was the last one still lying down, the tent already empty, the quiet filled with the distant sounds of a camp that had long since started its day.

She slowly stretched her limbs, joints stiff and heavy, then pushed herself upright and stepped outside the tent, blinking against the morning light. The cold air brushed her skin, but what unsettled her more was the feeling inside her body. The sharpness she had felt the night before was gone. The energy, the eagerness, the quiet fire that had burned in her muscles and thoughts had faded into something dull and distant, leaving her feeling weaker, slower, as if a layer of strength had simply been peeled away while she slept.

Suri turned toward her, eyes narrowing slightly in concern. “Are you alright?”

Kana nodded, even though she wasn’t entirely sure it was true.

“Their chieftain invited us for breakfast,” Suri continued, gesturing toward the largest tent in the camp, “and he’s also going to tell us what they found out about the people who ambushed us.”

Kana nodded again, her thoughts already drifting. At first, she had assumed the attack had something to do with her, that somehow she had become a target without realizing it, but none of the attackers had shown any particular focus on her during the fight. Their movements had been scattered, unfocused, as if they were after the group rather than a single person. Her mind briefly drifted to Elle York. She had heard rumors before. Her skills were highly sought after, traded like treasures in the darker corners of the world. 

As they walked, Kana’s gaze shifted toward the prisoners. The men who had ambushed them were now locked inside a heavy metal cage outside the largest tent, thick bars forming a rigid frame around them. She immediately sensed that something about the structure was unnatural.

The metal didn’t feel ordinary. It carried a strange aura, a pressure that hinted at enchantment, and Kana suspected it was designed to suppress skills entirely. The men inside looked broken, their breathing uneven, their bodies marked with bruises, dirt, and dried blood, some with crude bandages wrapped around their fingers and arms. Whatever had happened during the night, it had not been gentle. Kana’s face grimaced. She didn’t want to imagine it but a few images appeared on her mind according to their dried bloody injuries. How did I know? Kana shook her head, disregarded the thought.

When they entered the tent, she immediately noticed that everyone else was already there. Even the boys were present, seated and waiting. A thought crossed her mind.

Am I really the only one who overslept?

“You looked like you could kill me last night,” Argon’s deep voice rumbled from the far end of the tent, where he sat like a carved statue of muscle and authority, his presence filling the space without effort. “But now… not so much. Very strange. Strange indeed. Even at my age, I still find things like this. Interesting.”

Of course. I’m a night ranger not a morning ranger. Blame my new class. Kana thought.

Kana forced a polite smile, though a faint chill crept up her spine. “I don’t know what you mean,” she said carefully, unsure whether he had sensed her thoughts of wanting a duel, or her silent inspection of his body the night before, searching for dungeon items and hidden power.

“Now that your leader is here,” Argon continued calmly, shifting his attention to the group, “I will now speak about what we found. This wanted group from the empires has been targeting young adults to sell into slavery. They don’t know the exact location of the destination, but they’ve heard it's a mining site. If that’s true, then it must be somewhere in the mountains.”

“So Kana isn’t really the target,” Leo said quietly.

“I don’t think I’m that popular,” Kana muttered under her breath and sighed in relief. If some group were after her life then it would be a different story because they were probably coming after her, well-prepared. She might even stop their entire dungeon raid vacation plans. She didn’t want to put anyone in danger because of her.

Argon looked at her for a moment, then spoke again. “I heard you’re returning to the town today. I planned to send a few of my capable guards with you, but I no longer think it’s necessary. You’re stronger than they are.”

One of the nomads standing beside him chuckled. “You are jesting, Chief.”

Argon turned his head slowly and stared at the man in silence, his gaze heavy. The nomad followed his eyes toward Kana’s group, scanning them more carefully this time. Kana understood what Argon meant. Most of them were already nearing lvl 20, their growth accelerating at an unnatural pace. Suri and Boris, in particular, were already approaching the threshold of lvl 30.

At that moment, the young girl from the night before entered the tent again, accompanied by several adults, carrying bowls of breakfast. This time it was soup, rich with steam and filled with lots of vegetables, the scent warm and grounding.

“Finally!” Suri exclaimed in delight, immediately reaching forward.

Thorne, however, leaned over the bowl, sniffed it carefully, and after a long, suspicious stare, quietly retreated back to Boris’s head, clearly unimpressed by the contents.

Rin noticed,”She’s quite a picky one.”

…..

Kana and the party left the [Barbarian] nomads camp after a satisfying breakfast, the warmth of soup and fire still lingering in their bodies as they followed the winding mountain paths back toward the town. The journey took hours, the terrain gradually softening from jagged stone and wild slopes into worn roads and familiar trails, until the outline of the town finally emerged in the distance beneath the late-morning sun. 

By the time they arrived, the streets were already alive with motion. Merchants called out from wooden stalls, carts rattled across stone roads, and townsfolk moved in steady streams between shops and taverns. It was busy, though not in the overwhelming, crushing way of the capital city, but with the comfortable noise of a working town that knew its rhythm.

They gathered near the entrance, instinctively forming a loose circle as the noise and movement pressed in around them.

“Boris and I will get the carriage,” Kier said, already adjusting his gear as his eyes scanned the road ahead.

“I’m heading to the nearby apothecary,” Kana added, her thoughts already shifting into planning mode. “We’ll stock up on mana and stamina potions. We can clear the nearby dungeon first near the village before attempting the boss, and Lex should be back by then.”

Suri stretched her arms and grinned. “We’re checking the trending clothes here. I mean, if we have time. But we’ll get food supplies too, and I’ll pick up the village’s favorite snacks.” She glanced toward the others. “Elle, Rin, Yuri, you’re with me.”

They all nodded, though Yuri hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. “I’ll go with Kana,” she said. “I want to check if that potion is available here.”

Leo lifted his shield, the metal surface scarred and dented from repeated battles. “Adam and I will head to the blacksmith. I want to see if this thing can still be repaired.”

Andel looked down at his own armor, tracing a few deep dents with his fingers. “I’ll go too. If it’s beyond saving, I might just buy a new one.”

Leo turned toward Kana. “What about your armor?”

Kana glanced down at her gear, the plates protecting her vital points marked with slashes and shallow cuts, scars of combat rather than true damage. None of them were deep, none of them threatening. In truth, she thought it looked… right. Like proof of survival. Like a record of motion and battle carved into steel. “No,” she said calmly. “They’re still in good form.”

Everyone stared at her in silence.

“….”

Kana simply smiled and nodded back at them.

They were the frontline fighters, after all. Even with their high HP and endurance, their armor told the story of the monsters they had faced. When they had left the northern expedition, their gear had been clean, almost pristine. Now, it looked like it had lived through war. A living proof of how dangerous high lvl dungeons could be.

With plans set, they split into smaller groups, melting into the flow of the town, each team moving with purpose toward their destinations. They agreed to regroup at the old inn later, though some would likely return to the town again for repairs or supplies.

Post note:Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂