That's right, that's what adventure is like!

Chapter 113 Smooth Progression and the Road Ahead

The wind whistled in my ears.

At first, I couldn't see anything.

The grayish-white color covered everything, blocking out the entire world. The fog was damp, cold, and sticky, clinging to the skin everywhere, carrying the putrid smell unique to swamps. With each breath, you could taste a faint fishy odor.

The pseudo-dragon continued to climb, its wingbeats beating in a steady rhythm, as if in sync with the heartbeat unique to dragons.

At some point, a ray of light began to shine through the even gray-white mist, illuminating the still world. It seeped in bit by bit, carrying a hint of warmth.

The two men and the dragon broke through the last wall of fog.

The setting sun was shining brightly.

In an instant, orange-red light filled the entire field of vision. The gray-white mist that had been lingering for so long surged and undulated beneath my feet, each wave a golden-red, with magnificent purple edges, like a burning sea of ​​clouds.

In the west, the sun had already sunk below the distant mountains, its afterglow painting the entire sky a dazzling orange-red. The clouds were also edged with gold, scattered across the deep blue dome like an oil painting left behind by the gods.

The pseudo-dragon's scales were also enveloped in a glow, and with each flap of its wings, a halo of light flowed between the wing membranes, with a faint red tinge showing through the edges, as if it were draped in a layer of crimson gauze.

Aleta's profile was illuminated, her dark blue vertical pupils burning with a fiery gold-red hue, the scales winding along her arms also shimmering with gold-red, and her hair dancing wildly in the air, dyed a pure blue-red.

She stared blankly at the distant sunset, at the surging golden sea of ​​mist beneath her feet, listened to the wind whistling in her ears, and felt an unprecedented lightness in her body.

"So beautiful—" she murmured softly.

Roland squinted, savoring the rare tranquility, enjoying the beautiful scenery, and appreciating the magnificent and fantastical scene before him.

He hadn't sat like this in a long time.

At that moment, the wind and snow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Castor's dead smile, and the danger lurking in the shadows all vanished with the gale and disappeared into the golden-red sea of ​​mist below.

Instead, there is the relaxation after battle, the joy of success, and the comfort of a full stomach.

Tranquil, peaceful, and beautiful.

This is a rare moment of leisure during the adventure.

The two sat there quietly, without saying a word. Only the occasional low growl of the pseudo-dragon echoed in the sky, like a wisp of silk, lingering for a long time.

Ultimately, a system notification broke the peace, bringing Roland some good news.

[Congratulations! Your story has spread widely, arousing the admiration and curiosity of countless people. Your honor points have been met.]

Current Honors: 1003/1000 (Worth Noting)

[Hint: You have accumulated enough honor points. Do you wish to proceed to the next stage?]

"————That was pretty fast."

Roland withdrew his gaze from the distance, pulling his mind away from that relaxed state and focusing on the translucent text before him.

Ever since the story of killing Casper was spread, he noticed that his honor points were constantly increasing, and he didn't expect to accumulate enough so quickly.

"As expected, top-tier stories bring in reputation much faster," he said, his eyes flickering slightly. "It's just a pity that such opportunities don't come every time, and who knows when the next one will be."

With that thought in mind, he casually confirmed his honor advancement.

Your honor has been upgraded, and your extraction ability has been upgraded.

You can now extract items without bringing any specific items to the story.

You can now extract item abilities multiple times from the same story, based on the number of tags.

Current Honor Points: 1007/10000 (Signing Promise)

"----good."

Roland saw the system's prompt, his eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his lips.

These two new capabilities are easy to understand.

First, it removes the restriction that he must bring a certain item to participate in the adventure, which means that he can go on an adventure first and then find a suitable item to extract, gradually broadening his choices.

Secondly, multiple abilities can be extracted from the same story, which means that the speed of acquiring power will be greatly increased, and there is no need to accumulate slowly as before.

In addition, becoming a full-fledged professional this time has made this trip exceptionally fruitful.

And even greater rewards await him ahead.

Roland looked up into the distance with anticipation in his eyes.

As the flight distance increased, the last rays of the setting sun faded from the horizon, the deep blue sky slowly rose, and a few bright stars gradually twinkled, illuminating the dark outline in the distance.

A dead volcano.

Even from a great distance, its mountain remains massive, with a slightly concave top, like the eye of a god descending to earth, flowing with a fiery red halo.

The grayish-white mist barely reached the mountainside; above that, swirling black clouds of smoke occasionally flickered within, their source unclear—whether they were solid crystals or burning phosphorescent flames.

As the black silhouette drew closer, a dense aura of sulfur began to permeate the air, lingering around their noses. It was a hundred times stronger than the aura emanating from Roland, as if it were a breath from the depths of the earth.

The false dragon let out a low cry and flew lower and lower, searching for a place to land.

Aleta felt the speed of the descent and gripped Roland's clothes tightly. The scales shimmered with a faint blue light in the night, like some kind of unique mark.

Finally, the pseudo-dragon found a flat, sheltered rock on the ridge. It slowly folded its wings and let out a short, low cry as it landed, as if to warn or alert the other side.

Roland jumped down first, his feet landing on the soft volcanic ash. He sank half an inch, his boots making a soft rustling sound.

He looked around.

The grayish-white mist surged just three feet below, sometimes gathering, sometimes dispersing, occasionally revealing dried-up ravines and dark mountains, with some indistinct, twisted creatures moving about in the middle.

Aletta slid off the pseudo-dragon's back and, following Roland's gaze, widened her eyes slightly: "They're climbing up?"

Roland hummed in response.

As Aletta had said, the fog was indeed slowly rising, but every time it reached a certain limit, an invisible force would press it down, binding it tightly to the mountainside.

Strangely, there were no extraordinary signs in the magic field of vision; it was neither a magic circle nor a curse, but perhaps just a simple geographical wonder.

The pseudo-dragon snorted, slowly moved to the edge of the rock, lay down, put its claws under its head, and began to rest with its eyes half-closed.

Roland withdrew his gaze and looked up toward his destination.

The crater stands right overhead.

From this angle, the mountain appears so massive it almost seems to collapse, its dark rock face riddled with cracks, from which a dark red light surges, like the blood of this volcano flowing.

Thick black smoke billowed from the cracks, clinging to the rock face and mingling together to form a flowing black curtain that obscured most of the starry sky.

This volcano doesn't look like it's dead, so I don't know why it's called the "Dead Volcano".

Lost in thought, I saw Aleta behind me had already set up a tent and lit a campfire. The flames danced in the night, illuminating the surroundings.

Roland sat by the campfire and took out the remaining dry rations: two pieces of white bread, a small bag of dried meat, half a jar of honey, and a small piece of cheese.

Aletta glanced at the items, then rummaged through his own bag and pulled out a few meat patties wrapped in oil paper.

"The teacher gave it to us to eat on the way."

She handed the meat pie to Roland; it was filled with chopped wild vegetables and had a golden-brown crust, making it look much better than dry rations.

Roland nodded, chopped the white bread and meat pie into pieces with his dagger, and ate them with the melted snow water from his water bag.

The pseudo-dragon smelled the aroma and made a low growl. Aletta threw a meat pie over, which it swallowed whole and squinted its eyes in satisfaction.

Taking this opportunity, Roland began to discuss the next steps: "The kingdom is about to perish, and the empire will soon take control of this area. What are your thoughts?"

Aletta paused in her chewing of the meat pie, her dark blue vertical pupils illuminated by the firelight, flashing with complex emotions: confusion, helplessness, and a hint of longing.

She whispered, "I—I'll go with you."

Roland noticed her slightly hesitant and nervous expression and fell into deep thought.

Aleta will soon awaken her dragon veins, at which point she will quickly become a reliable fighting force. Given her past experiences, she will never betray you, making her a worthwhile partner to bring into your adventure team.

It wouldn't hurt to take her with us when we leave Broken Rock Town.

The question is, where to go?

Areas with significant imperial influence are definitely off-limits; they already know my real name and will inevitably hunt me down.

Wandering around is unreliable; he has become a full-fledged professional and needs a larger platform to complete his adventures, shape his stories, and thus take another step on the path to the extraordinary.

After much thought, the goal that the original owner had set before now turned out to be the best choice.

Baron League.

The Empire has little influence there, but more abundant resources, and it welcomes unorganized superhumans, with countless people joining every day.

"We'll set off once we get back," Roland said calmly, swallowing a meat pie. "The journey from Broken Rock Town to the Baron Alliance will take about a month."

Alleta remained silent, not asking why, but simply nodded slowly: "Yes, I'll listen to you."

The flickering firelight reflected in her dark blue pupils and her body, which had quietly relaxed somewhat.

Roland didn't say anything more. He stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth, patted the crumbs off his hands, and added a few more pieces of firewood to the campfire.

"Go to sleep, we'll go to the top of the volcano tomorrow."

Aleta responded, crawled into the tent, bent her knees, and peeked through the crack at the man sitting by the campfire, then looked at the sky above.

The smoke and clouds drifted in another direction at that moment, revealing the magnificent Milky Way below.

Brilliant and magnificent, like a scroll painting unfolding before your eyes.

For no reason at all, she suddenly remembered Little Slag. A long, long time ago, they had also sat on the top of the mine and looked at the night sky like this.

Now, however, the slag is gone.

And she has begun to ignite a faint flame in the furnace of the extraordinary, carrying the lingering scent of slag and the suffering of the past, rising with a brilliance as dazzling as the Milky Way.

The future comes from the past.