Monarch Chapter 185 (Patreon)

Chapter 185

Rayne had made plenty of strange and risky decisions since arriving in this world, and some of them had involved situations where even he wasn't entirely sure whether he would survive. However, sprinting directly toward a monster was definitely one of the worst decisions he had ever made.

Weskins seemed to agree.

"Are you insane?!" the old alchemist screamed from behind him. "You're running toward it!"

Rayne ignored him.

The razorwing reacted almost immediately. Seeing the human charging directly at it, the creature spread its wings and swung one of its massive claws downward. Rayne's [Danger Sense] screamed at him a moment before the attack arrived, and he twisted his body and slipped beneath the claws.

He didn't pause for even a second. Using the broken ground beneath his feet, Rayne jumped onto a section of collapsed stone and used it as a stepping point.

Then, he landed briefly on the razorwing's lowered wing. The creature screeched and tried to shake him off.

Rayne jumped again. For a fraction of a second, he was directly in front of its face.

Then he pushed off its head and landed on its back. His boots barely found a stable position before he drove his sword downward.

The blade pierced through the rough scales, grazing deeply across the razorwing's back as Rayne used the momentum to keep himself moving. The creature cried out in pain and immediately began beating its wings harder.

Rayne's expression changed as he realised the razorwing was taking off.

"Don't tell me we're doing this again!" Weskins screamed.

The ground disappeared beneath them.

The razorwing climbed rapidly into the sky, carrying both Rayne and Weskins with it. Wind tore against Rayne's face while panicked seeped into his heart.

"We're going to fall to our deaths again!"

"Shut up!"

Rayne lowered his body and focused entirely on maintaining his balance.

The razorwing twisted violently, trying to throw him from its back, but [Balance] allowed Rayne to remain attached even as the creature climbed higher. His sword was still embedded shallowly in its flesh, giving him something to stabilize himself with while the beast flapped desperately.

But Rayne knew he couldn't stay there.

If he waited until the razorwing rose any higher, jumping would mean falling far too great a distance. He needed to leave while they were still low enough for him to survive the landing.

The moment the shaking paused a bit, Rayne pulled his sword free and jumped.

The world spun around him for a few seconds, and then he landed hard.

His legs shook violently beneath him, and the impact traveled through his entire body. Weskins's weight made the landing considerably worse, but Rayne forced himself upright before his knees could give out.

After that, he kept running beyond the nesting grounds. He didn't know how long he ran for.

The cries of the razorwings continued behind him, sometimes growing louder and sometimes fading into the distance. Rayne couldn't remember which streets he passed, which ruins he crossed or how many times he nearly stumbled over broken stone.

At some point, the attacks stopped. At another point, he realized he could no longer hear the wings directly above him.

He had escaped. Or perhaps the razorwings had simply decided that chasing him any farther wasn't worth it.

Rayne didn't know. By then, his mind and body had reached their limit.

He stumbled through the entrance of an abandoned building and finally collapsed.

Weskins rolled off his back and landed beside him.

Rayne remained on the ground for several seconds, breathing heavily as every muscle in his body screamed at him.

Rayne closed his eyes for a moment—Thank the gods he had not become bird food.

Then, he turned his head toward Weskins. The old alchemist was staring at him with a pale face, his eyes wide as though he had just witnessed something completely incomprehensible.

"Looks like we survived, kid," Weskins finally muttered. "I'll make you a good potion when we reach the city."

Rayne didn't have the energy to ask what kind.

He simply closed his eyes.

***

As it turned out, the potion Weskins had promised him was called a dreamer potion.

It was, according to the old alchemist, one of the more famous consumables among noble soldiers.

The potion didn't make someone stronger, heal injuries or restore mana. Instead, it simply gave the person an incredibly deep and peaceful sleep, allowing them to rest without nightmares disturbing them throughout the night. And even giving them sweet dreams.

Apparently, it was particularly popular among soldiers who had participated in conflicts and wars.

Rich nobles would often keep entire stocks of dreamer potions available for their soldiers after returning from battles. The price was naturally high, but after everything that had happened in the ruins, Weskins seemed grateful enough to give Rayne a large bottle.

According to him, it would last for an entire week. If Rayne was frugal, perhaps even ten days.

But he wasn't particularly interested in the potion itself. He was simply glad that everything had worked out.

Everyone had survived. That was what mattered.

The razorwings eventually stopped searching for him and returned to their nests. Once they had calmed down, Rayne and Weskins were able to make their way back toward the city without another serious encounter.

As for the rest of the party, they had already begun moving toward Blackstone.

Bran had disappeared from his original position as well, and Rayne assumed the scout had wisely abandoned his hiding spot once too many razorwings began approaching the area.

By the time Rayne caught up with the others, the entire group had already been making their way back toward Blackstone.

Jason and Sakar had suffered a few injuries after becoming entangled with several monsters along the route, but neither wound was serious enough to prevent them from walking.

Everyone else was safe. More importantly, the bloodroot blossoms had survived the journey.

Prince Caelan was extremely pleased when he finally saw them.

The flowers were still in remarkably good condition despite everything Rayne and Weskins had gone through, and the prince made no attempt to hide his satisfaction.

"You've done us a great service," Caelan told them.

He promised that Rayne and the others would receive a generous amount of gold as compensation once they were done with the expedition in the Godless Ruins.

Honestly, to Rayne, the prince's promise of reward felt a lot like a convenient way of delaying the matter.

There was no guarantee that any of them would even make it out of the Godless Ruins alive, and promising them gold after the expedition was over was hardly the same as actually putting it in their hands.

Still, Rayne wasn't foolish enough to point that out to someone like Prince Caelan. He simply accepted the thanks, told everyone to get some rest, and returned to his room.

Before going to sleep, he took a small sip of the dreamer potion Weskins had given him.

That night, Rayne dreamed about something he had slowly begun to forget.

His old life on Earth.

Yet strangely, it wasn't some painful memory or a desperate dream about returning home. Instead, he found himself remembering the ordinary days he had once taken for granted.

Days when he had a long break from work and could spend hours playing video games without worrying about anything else. Days when he could go out on dates, eat whatever he wanted, and spend time with his family without wondering whether he would still be alive the next morning.

It was a surprisingly pleasant dream. When Rayne woke up, he didn't feel sad.

He didn't cry while remembering Earth, nor did he find himself desperately wishing to return. He simply climbed out of bed, washed his face, and began cleaning his armor and equipment before another march into the ruins.

As he worked, he found himself thinking about how strange that realization was.

At some point, without even noticing it, Rayne had accepted this world as his home.

Of course, he still missed the conveniences of Earth. He missed its food, technology, entertainment, and the simple luxury of knowing that walking down a road didn't mean he might be eaten by a monster.

More than anything, he preferred the idea of living a long life without constantly risking his life.

But this world had given him something Earth never had.

A place where he was becoming someone.

Rayne had friends here. People who trusted him, depended on him, and followed his decisions even when those decisions were dangerous.

He had goals, responsibilities, enemies, and things he wanted to accomplish and found more about. He had become too deeply entangled in this world to simply imagine abandoning everything and returning to the life he had once known.

As he finished cleaning his equipment, the thought finally settled within him.

He wasn't merely someone from Earth living in Rayne Frayaer's body anymore.

He was Rayne Frayaer, in his heart, his mind, and his soul.

Perhaps that was why the morning training went better than usual. His body felt lighter, his mind clearer, and even the exhaustion from the previous expedition seemed to have faded considerably.

There was only one strange thing.

Sakar kept looking at him. The hulking man repeatedly glanced in Rayne's direction with an unusually serious expression, as though he were trying to figure something out.

Eventually, Rayne stared back. "What's wrong?"

Sakar immediately looked away. "Nothing."

Rayne raised an eyebrow but didn't press the matter.

The more time they spent together, the more obvious it had become that Rayne was considerably stronger than Sakar. The former bandit might have been physically imposing, but even he understood the difference between their abilities now.

If Sakar had been considering picking a fight with him, he probably wouldn't try it anymore.

At least, Sakar seemed to know when to choose his battles.

With that, another march into the Godless Ruins began.

For the next week, fortunately, Rayne and his party weren't given another strange or dangerous quest. Their days were mostly spent exploring, training, and slowly becoming more accustomed to the dangers surrounding them.

The herb expedition had also brought them closer to Weskins.

The old alchemist, perhaps having developed a little more respect for the party after surviving the mansion, began spending more time with them. He even started teaching Bran about herbs that grew in the ruins, explaining which plants could be safely harvested and which ones were dangerous despite appearing harmless.

More importantly, he taught the scout a few simple methods for producing healing paste using common herbs mixed with mana-concentrated blood.

It wasn't anything particularly advanced, but it was useful enough that Bran immediately began practicing.

As it turned out, Weskins wasn't such a bad person after all.

Or perhaps the old alchemist simply understood that they would be entering even more dangerous areas of the Godless Ruins soon and wanted to return the favor after Rayne had repeatedly put his life on the line to keep him alive.

After all, once they had obtained the bloodroot blossoms, Rayne could have simply abandoned him and escaped on his own. The fact that he had carried him out of the ruins had clearly left an impression.

Whatever the reason, it was a major advantage for the party.

Having someone like Weskins willing to share his knowledge and supplies with them could prove extremely useful as they ventured deeper into the ruins.

Another thing was that throughout the week, he got a bit stronger.

The ordeal with the razorwings had only rewarded him with a single point in Agility, which was somewhat disappointing considering how close he had come to dying several times.

Still, his growth hadn't stopped there. During the following days, another point was added to his Arcane stat, and [Weaver's Protection] had finally reached level 2.

The improvement wasn't dramatic, but Rayne could feel the difference.

More importantly, he was certain that another level wasn't far away.

The only reason he hadn't already levelled up was because he was travelling as part of a large warband filled with experienced mages, spellswords, and other capable soldiers. He simply didn't have to do everything himself.

It was safer. It was also considerably slower for his personal growth.

Rayne wasn't particularly bothered by that since he was still looking to gain more stats.

And as it turned out, the whole almost peaceful routine didn't last long.

After another day of exploring the ruins, Rayne had just eaten when someone arrived to summon him.

Prince Caelan wanted to see him.

A few minutes later, Rayne found himself standing in front of the prince who looked considerably more serious than usual with his personal guards also present.

"We need to talk about our next move," Caelan said simply, and Rayne immediately understood what he meant.

They were finally going to move toward the central region of the Godless Ruins.