David S.R

Chapter 213 (Thank you for your support, Greg Solo!)

Ludger rubbed his temples, thinking. “So if I try this again,” he murmured, “I’ll end up turning half the coastline into a wasteland.”

He crouched again, brushing a handful of lifeless dirt through his fingers. The realization sank in heavy. This wasn’t just growth magic—it was transfer. He’d forced the environment to give up everything to fuel the tree’s unnatural speed.

“Plant Growth, huh?” he muttered, half to himself. “More like Mana Drain disg...

Chapter 212 (Thank you for your support, lsomnrat!)

Ludger pressed his palm against the coral pillar below him, channeling mana downward as another coral pillar began to take shape beneath the waves. The process had become almost rhythmic by now—push, sense, compress—but it demanded focus. Every misstep could crack the structure or stir the ocean’s wrath again.

He was halfway through stabilizing the mana flow when a familiar pulse of foreign energy brushed against his senses. Sharp. Moving. Multiple signatures.

Ludger froze, ...

Chapter 211

Gaius let out a quiet grunt. “Wouldn’t matter much if they did. You expose one leak, and two more crawl out of the floorboards.”

Ludger leaned back in his chair, eyes half-lidded. “Sounds like someone’s testing how deep they can dig before we notice. They are using disposable lackeys and waiting for us to do something big.”

Luna nodded slowly. “That’s what it feels like. Small leaks first. Just enough to see who reacts.”

Viola drummed her fingers against th...

Chapter 210 (Thank you for your support, kleep!)

The afternoon sun was already dipping west when Gaius walked down bridge toward the beach.
The rest of the group stayed back near the dunes, watching as the old mage stopped at the water’s edge, boots sinking slightly into the wet sand.

He stood there a moment, unmoving, his cloak rippling in the breeze. The wind carried salt and the low hiss of the tide creeping in around his ankles.

Ludger, standing a few paces behind him, tilted his head. “What are you doing, old man? T...

Chapter 209 (Thank you for your support, Lunam!)

Lucius’s tone shifted—less the polished diplomacy of a nobleman, more the clipped precision of someone who’d been collecting pieces far longer than anyone else realized.

“There’s one more thing you should know,” he said, folding his hands over the map. “This situation with the sahuagins—this labyrinth, these cores—it isn’t isolated. It’s not just about monsters or coastal defense.”

He paused, his gaze moving across the room, steady and deliberate.

“...

Chapter 208 (Thank you for your support, Sye!)

“She’s been keeping a low profile,” Viola continued. “So low that even I haven’t felt her presence since three days ago.”

Ludger frowned. “You mean she’s that close to them.”

“Probably,” Viola said. “She knows how to vanish when she wants to. But the fact that she hasn’t sent a word yet bothers me.”

Arslan gave a slow nod. “If she’s staying quiet, it’s either because she’s waiting for something.”

The table went quiet again...

Chapter 207

By late morning, the beach had turned into a flurry of controlled chaos. Lionsguard banners fluttered near the dunes. Ludger worked a little farther inland, past the reach of the salt wind, where the sand gave way to firmer ground.

He knelt, pressing one hand to the earth. The hum of mana spread outward in waves, slow and deep. The soil shifted—first trembling, then rising, shaping itself under his control.

Within seconds, the outline of a foundation took form.
Within minute...

Chapter 206 (Thank you for your support, cody hall!)

She nodded, setting her fork down. “He said we could use the manor freely for as long as we needed. His staff’s orders were clear—feed us, house us, don’t ask questions.”

“That’s generous,” Selene said dryly from further down the table. “Almost too generous.”

Harold grunted in agreement, still eating like nothing could ever bother him. “Either he’s trying to look polite or he’s making sure we take the blame if something happens while he’s gone....

Chapter 205 (Thank you for your support, cadmean-handler!)

Ludger followed at a distance, staying low between dunes, using the sea breeze to cover the sound of his steps.

When they stopped for the night near a cluster of boulders off the main road, he finally approached.

The guards—his own guildmates—had set up a small perimeter. They stood motionless in their heavy armor, torches flickering against steel, their faces hidden behind those ridiculous helmets.

Ludger stepped into the light, hood still low, scarf drawn high...

Chapter 204 (Thank you for your support, Christine Thomas!)

The sun sank low, bleeding gold into the sea. The heat of the day softened into a heavy stillness as Ludger moved through the dunes, keeping to the long shadows that stretched toward the water.

From here, the bridge site looked almost tranquil—until he got close enough to see the truth.

The so-called “bridge” was barely more than a skeleton. Three unfinished pillars rose from the water, gray and uneven, surrounded by scaffolding that looked one good storm away from collapse....

Chapter 203

A week later later, the road turned to sand and salt.

The mountains had vanished behind the haze, replaced by the low hum of cicadas and the distant crash of waves. The air was warmer here, thick with brine, and Ludger could feel it soaking into his clothes and skin.

He paused on a rise overlooking the coastline—a stretch of pale cliffs leading down to the bare started bridge site somewhere beyond the mist. His arms flexed easily now, the wraps long since discarded.

Seven ...

Chapter 202 (Thank you for your support, Aleli Feo!)

Ludger took one more step, and the world tilted. The red haze broke all at once, leaving only pain and the weight of blood loss behind. His knees hit the ground first. Then his face met the dirt.

For a moment, everything was soundless—just the dull roar of blood in his ears and the faint scent of iron and ash.

“...You done redecorating the area, kid?”

Gaius’s voice came from somewhere above him, dry and tired. A shadow fell over Ludger, then strong hands grabbed his ...

Chapter 201 (Thank you for your support, Hustlenomics 1o1!)

The explosion tore through the ground like a cannon blast.

Sand and rock erupted skyward, the shockwave ripping a shallow crater into the area. Debris rained down in a storm of grit.

When the dust thinned, Aaron stood at the center of it — covered head to toe in dirt, eyes burning with raw fury. His coat hung in tatters, blood crusted along one temple. The steel staff in his hands glowed faintly, runes flickering from overuse.

He dragged in a breath that sounded more like ...

Chapter 200 (Thank you for your support, Richard Reid!)

Aaron advanced. The staff in his hands blurred — steel howling through air dense with mana. Each swing cracked the torches sideways, scattering sparks against the walls. The sound alone made Ludger’s skin crawl.

He ducked under a horizontal sweep; the gust it left behind hit like a hammer. The impact tore dust from the ceiling. One clean hit from that thing and his ribs would fold — or worse, his useless arms.

Gaius tried to counter, one hand raised, stone trembling under hi...

Chapter 199

For a long while, nothing happened. The cave returned to its usual silence—just the faint drip of water and the soft rasp of Gaius’s breathing. His hopes dulled again, sinking beneath exhaustion. Maybe it really had just been cave tremors. Maybe his body was finally imagining things.

Then the ground shuddered.
Not a wandering tremor this time—a focused one, steady and deliberate. The kind born from will.

The air hummed, fine dust raining from the ceilin...

Chapter 198 (Thank you for your support, Isaac Boyles!)

Gaius came to slowly, as though surfacing from a lake of mud.
His eyelids were heavy; his breath rasped dry against the back of his throat. Every inch of his body screamed with dull, aching protest — muscles cramped, mana veins sluggish and knotted.

The first thing he noticed was cold stone beneath his back. The surface wasn’t smooth like worked marble — it was rough, imperfect, cut from a mountain and left unfinished. It drank the warmth from his skin until he could ...

Chapter 197 (Thank you for your support, Thomas courville!)

Those men were fast—faster than most soldiers Ludger had ever seen—but not fast enough to lose him. He followed from a distance, keeping about five hundred meters between them. Any closer, and they’d feel the tremors from his steps through the ground. Any farther, and he’d lose the trail completely.

Still, stealth wasn’t exactly his specialty. Tracking people through sand and stone was one thing—doing it without being noticed was another entirely. He knew how to read the lan...

Chapter 196 (Thank you for your support, Morten Bork!)

Ludger stood there for a long moment, staring at the soil beneath his boots. The faint traces of mana still clung to it, like the echo of someone’s last heartbeat.

Could he be one of them?

The thought came uninvited, and Ludger didn’t like it. He shook his head once, hard, but it didn’t help. The possibility dug into his chest like splinters.

Gaius wasn’t the type to go down quietly. If the old man ever got cornered, he’d probably make the entire mountain ...

Chapter 195

The first day passed quietly. Ludger stayed inside the empty guild hall, the creak of old wood and distant wind the only things breaking the silence. He was grateful, in a way, for his own habit of overpreparing—leaving Lionfang a full month ahead of schedule had been a smart move. If he’d timed his departure closer to the escort job, this waiting game would’ve been a disaster.

At first, he didn’t mind it. The solitude gave him time to practice his magic, refine his rune strokes...

Chapter 194 (Thank you for your support, Frostbound slammer!)

By the time dawn broke, Ludger’s legs felt like they were made of lead. Every step sent a dull ache through his calves and thighs, but he kept running—steady, rhythmic.

He’d pushed himself through the night without rest, the cold air biting at his lungs, the road nothing but shadows and dust beneath his boots. His endurance had grown plenty from years of training, yet his body still screamed in protest. When the burning pain climbed up his legs, he pressed a hand to his thigh and ...

Chapter 193 (Thank you for your support, Ghost Dragon!)

Back home, the atmosphere was quieter—but no less heavy.

Elaine sat at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around a still-warm cup of tea. She’d already heard the gist of the meeting from Arslan, and though he wore that familiar half-smile—the one that meant he had a plan—it did little to ease her worry. She could tell by the way he avoided her gaze that his “plan” involved risk. But instead of pressing him, she turned her attention to Ludger, who was crouched near...

Chapter 192 (Thank you for your support, Brent Ward!)

Torvares leaned back in his chair, the firelight from the wall lantern catching the faint lines on his face. “Their timing is suspicious, yes,” he admitted, “but I don’t think the boy was acting—at least, not entirely. There was something genuine in his manner. Nervousness, maybe. Or shame that wasn’t rehearsed.”

Arslan raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. “You’re telling me you bought it? You think a southern noble heir just decided to grow a conscience?”<...

Chapter 191

The discussion ended there.
There was no point in entertaining a deal with people tied to the Hakuen House—not when the Torvares family was both the Lionsguard’s main ally and political supporter. Accepting the offer would’ve been like spitting on that alliance.

Still, Ludger couldn’t help running the numbers in his head. Half the resources from a controlled labyrinth were nothing to scoff at. The money alone could fund expansions, fortifications, maybe even...

Chapter 190 (Thank you for your support, Jachin Nelson!)

When Ludger got back home, the faint scent of soap and herbs was already in the air—Elaine had clearly been preparing for this exact situation. She met him at the doorway with that calm-but-knowing look only mothers possessed.

“Let me guess,” she said, arms crossed but smiling faintly, “the twins decided to remind you what real responsibility smells like?”

Ludger gave a tired nod. “Both of them. At once.”

Elaine chuckled softly. “They’re consistent...

Chapter 189 (Thank you for your support, Pararably!)

Another week slipped by before Ludger finally set his quill down.

On the desk before him sat a thick stack of papers—his manual. Every line, every smudge of ink, was the result of long nights and half-cooled tea. He’d poured everything he knew about Healing Touch into it: the mana flow patterns, the tactile timing, the differences in pulse, even a few rough diagrams he’d scratched in when words failed him.

His handwriting wasn’t elegant—closer t...

Chapter 188 (Thank you for your support, Whatsagoodname! )

The glaive shattered midair, splintering like glass under the force of Ludger’s compressed blast. For a heartbeat, it seemed over—until one jagged fragment, no longer than a dagger, spun out of the explosion faster than his eyes could follow.

It struck him square in the shoulder.

The impact ripped through muscle and scraped against bone. Ludger’s eyes went wide as the pain bloomed white-hot, his breath catching as blood gushed down his arm, staining the frost beneath his boo...

Chapter 187

Eventually, Ludger crossed the final bend of the first zone and stepped into the wide, glacial expanse of the second. The air here was colder, heavier—each breath cutting like glass. He already had this area mapped out, every choke point and ice ridge memorized. Still, soloing the monsters here was his kind of warm-up. Predictable pattern, solid resistance, good for shaking off rust.

He adjusted his armguards, the faint hum of the heaviness runes resonating j...

Chapter 186 (Thank you for your support, dpkfrog!)

A few days passed, and Ludger spent most of them thinking—really thinking—about his next steps.

He’d taken over one of the empty guild offices, turned it into a makeshift study. The desk was covered in parchment sheets, scribbled formulas, and half-finished diagrams of mana circuits. Most were centered around one question: how to teach Healing Touch faster.

He knew the spell by heart—it was practically instinct now—but explaining it to others was a diff...

Chapter 185 (Thank you for your support, Jacob Tuft!)

The tension in the room slowly eased after that, but the air wasn’t so heavy anymore. Torvares leaned back in his chair, Luna relaxed a bit, and Viola, finally exhaling, leaned an elbow against the armrest.

“So,” she said, her tone lighter now, “how are the twins? Still screaming like they’re possessed?”

Ludger gave a small smirk. “Causing plenty of work for my parents. Mostly my father—he’s still convinced you can intimidate babies into behaving.”

Luna s...

Chapter 184 (Thank you for your support, Finnio Balley!)

When Ludger stepped through the door, the first thing he heard wasn’t words—it was chaos. Twin cries, echoing through the house like two competing alarms.

Elaine was pacing in small, anxious circles, one baby in her arms, the other in a cradle that rocked unevenly. Arslan stood beside her looking like a man ready to charge a dragon but not sure which end to stab first.

“Welcome home,” Arslan said, voice dry and ragged. “We’re losing the war.”

Ludger sighed, kic...