Chapter 336

The journey itself wasn’t complicated—buy a ticket, and you could board.

The only problem... the ticket wasn’t cheap.

From Misrilux to Fallen Moon Island, the fare was 500 gold coins.

For most adventurers below Level 4, 500 gold was an enormous expense. And because of that price alone, many ordinary families would never leave Misrilux in their entire lives.

Without strength, there was no money.Without money, there was no way to see how vast the world truly was...

That much was the same everywhere.

Even back on Earth.

Kanzaki Rei had never even left his country before.

And yet now, without ever "going abroad," he had stepped into a far greater world.

This was a relatively small Moonsea vessel. A faint metallic coating shimmered across its hull. Rei’s perception swept across the entire ship—

A construct of a Mechanist.

Looking into the distance, with his heightened spiritual sensitivity, he could vaguely perceive an invisible track.

Luluvi and Kiyomi likely couldn’t see it.

It was this unseen "track" that connected two distant points in space—and by aligning with it, the Moonsea vessel could travel at extreme speed along that path.

To distort space...

Both the track and the ship itself were indispensable.

Rei placed his hand on the hull.

Two exquisite stone fragments materialized in his palm.

「Enchantment: Spatial Traversal — Allows distortion of spatial distance along designated pathways.」

"So it works like this..."

With a flicker of intent, Rei activated the enchantment stones.

Thanks to 「God-Tier · Supreme Mark」, he didn’t need the tedious processes of a traditional enchanter. No long preparations, no drawn-out rituals.

A faint shimmer ran across his clothing—light flared.

In that instant, Rei felt as though he had become like the ship itself...

Capable of traversing space.

He stepped forward.

—Whoosh!

When he turned back, he found himself already thousands of kilometers away.

To him, space now felt like a flat sheet of paper—folded over and over again.

"...Come to think of it, theories from Earth might actually validate some of this world’s assumptions."

"Science there isn’t completely incompatible with this world."

If he went all out—

「Heavenly Flow — Eighth Form: Stride」

BOOM!

A violent flash erupted from where he stood.

In an instant, Rei felt space itself being pulled and stretched—this movement was no longer just magic or martial technique...

It now incorporated the very laws of space.

The surrounding scenery blurred beyond even his perception.

He only knew one thing—

He had gone incredibly, impossibly far.

Seconds later, he came to a stop, standing atop the Moonsea.

Looking around...

There was nothing but endless ocean.

Even the massive Misrilux continent had shrunk into a distant speck.

Just now—

His speed had absolutely exceeded 300,000 kilometers per second.

Faster than the speed of light back on Earth.

As for the exact figure, he couldn’t be sure. But judging from how far Misrilux now was...

It wasn’t just slightly faster.

It might have reached tens of millions of kilometers per second.

Back on Earth, at that speed, he wouldn’t even need a minute to leave the solar system.

Unfortunately—

This enchantment only worked along specific spatial tracks.

At present, the only usable route was the "Misrilux ↔ Fallen Moon Island" pathway.

BOOM!

Rei accelerated once more—

And returned directly to the ship.

Interesting. This enchantment really was fascinating.

Faint, colorless motes drifted from around Rei’s body.

「Core of All Things」 dispersed quietly across different corners of the ship.

There were other passengers aboard.

He’d find an opportunity to brush against their belongings—

See what interesting enchantment traits he could extract.

And while he was at it... maybe take a look at their equipment as well.

「God-Tier · Perfect Forging Heart」

With curiosity and a hunger to explore, Rei observed every single person on board.

At that moment, a man approached.

He wore a black headscarf, a greatsword strapped across his back.

He spoke to Luluvi:

"Hey—heading to Fallen Moon Island too?"

"One adult traveling with two kids... that’s a rare combo."

"That place isn’t exactly safe. Think you can handle protecting both of them alone?"

Rei and Kiyomi stood close to Luluvi. Despite Rei’s subtle movements, the three of them clearly traveled together.

Luluvi looked at the man.

Protect them?

Honestly, she felt like the boy didn’t need protection at all—if anything, he could probably protect her.

"It should be fine," she replied, glancing at Rei, who looked completely unconcerned.

The man laughed.

"Haha, Fallen Moon Island is crawling with monsters. Outside the protected port, the entire island is dangerous."

"You’re probably planning to transfer to another continent from there, right?"

"Let me warn you—things are far messier over there than in Misrilux. Even the so-called ’safe’ port isn’t as safe as you think."

"If you’re willing to hire us, we can guarantee your safety—and the kids’ too."

As he spoke, he gestured toward a few people sitting on the deck:

A tall girl with black hair tied in a high ponytail.A heavyset man wearing half-armor.A thin, blindfolded old man with a blade at his waist.

"They’re all members of my adventurer party."

"We’re a Tier-5 party. We can handle most monsters, and we’ve got a bit of a reputation."

"With us backing you, you won’t run into much trouble at the port."

"If you don’t have a party backing you... things can get dangerous."

Luluvi understood the implication immediately.

Without protection, trouble was almost guaranteed.

There was probably some kind of shady business involved—

Travelers who didn’t pay "protection fees" would get extorted upon arrival.

Those who paid... would be left alone.

She glanced at Rei.

He gave a slight shrug—do whatever you want.

Luluvi smiled faintly.

"Oh? Alright then... how much do you charge?"

"Two-day voyage—100 gold per day. Once we reach the island, 2000 gold to ensure no one messes with you at the port."

"Total: 2200 gold."

The price wasn’t outrageous.

In fact, for what amounted to minimal effort on their part... it was practically free money.

Luluvi found it acceptable.

She’d been stuck in Atlan City for too long.

Kiyomi could spend all day killing—but Luluvi had no interest in that.

Low-level dungeons were boring. High-level ones—Tier 6—were risky alone.

Forming a team?

Rei didn’t have the time.

And lately, she’d been busy training her perception using the techniques and potions Rei brought back.

She hadn’t gone anywhere in quite a while.

She was getting restless.

"Hmm... how about this?"

Luluvi tossed out a pouch.

The man caught it and weighed it in his hand.

Inside—10,000 gold coins.

She smiled.

"There are a few things I’d like to know. Answer me, and all of this is yours."

The man exchanged glances with his teammates.

A silent communication passed between them.

They nodded.

"My name’s Jalen," he said. "How can I assist you?"

Luluvi replied, "Not here. Let’s find somewhere private."

The seven of them moved into a quiet lounge.

Rei asked mentally:

"Why do I have to come too...?"

Luluvi replied:

"Because you’re the ’child’ I’m traveling with."

They sat down.

Luluvi began:

"Jalen, I want to know—will people really target us at the port?"

Jalen hesitated.

He was clearly debating whether to tell the truth.

Luluvi casually produced another pouch.

Rei asked through their mental link:

"What are you planning?"

"I’m thinking... maybe we can catch whoever’s pulling the strings behind all this."

Rei frowned slightly.

"Are we really getting involved in something like this?"

Luluvi replied:

"Rei... I’m a Level 5 Archer too."

Ah.

Rei understood.

For an Archer’s advancement from Level 5 to Level 6, one needed to demonstrate capability—

To kill enemies from extreme range, and have it witnessed and acknowledged.

It was about fulfilling principles, gaining recognition.

Luluvi continued questioning.

The truth came out—

These people really did make money this way.

If travelers refused to pay for protection, thugs at the port would step in and cause trouble.

But interestingly—

Jalen’s group wasn’t truly in league with them.

They were a legitimate adventurer party.

Mentioning their name did deter troublemakers.

The two sides weren’t tightly allied—just loosely connected.

Most of the money they earned was spent maintaining relationships at the port.

Out of the 2200 gold—

Nearly 2000 would be used for "arrangements."

They barely profited.

The remaining 200 gold was just compensation for their effort.

Which explained why Jalen was so willing to talk.

If they were truly part of a conspiracy, he wouldn’t have revealed so much.

Rei hadn’t cared about any of this before.

Good or evil—alliances or schemes—

None of it mattered.

As long as they couldn’t beat him.

And in his future projections, he never even stopped at the port—

He simply used spatial movement to go straight into the island’s depths.

So all this hidden conflict?

He knew nothing about it.

Two days passed peacefully at sea.

During that time, Rei crafted several new enchanted equipment sets:

A Poison Set — enhancing toxicity and spread

A Origin Set — boosting magic range, power, duration

A War God Set — amplifying strength output

Elemental sets: Ice, Fire, Lightning, Light

Even specialized sets: Perception Set, Luck Set

He extracted every usable material he had collected so far—

Embedding them into his current equipment.

While not optimal as primary combat gear—

The enchantment effects alone made them incredibly useful.

Fallen Moon Island came into view.

After two days of travel, the ship began slowing down.

Passengers gathered by the railings.

People like Rei—who looked easy to bully—were rare aboard this ship.

As they approached the dock, Jalen came over again.

"Friend... you sure you don’t want us to clear the way?"

"The money you gave us is more than enough."

Luluvi smiled.

"Thanks—but no need."

Jalen sighed.

"This place has a lot of unwritten rules."

"Even a Level 6 class-holder might run into trouble if they don’t follow them."

"But... you’ve got money. You’ll probably be fine."

The ship docked.

Figures could already be seen waiting at the port.

Rei’s perception swept over them—

None of them looked like decent people.

The spatial distortions had fully stabilized now.

No more folded space.

"Looks like there are quite a few people worth killing," Kiyomi murmured.

Rei replied calmly:

"Don’t kill too many."

"Taking out the small ones attracts bigger problems."

"If you kill... keep it subtle."

Kiyomi nodded.

"Understood."

Over the past two days, Rei had been teaching her combat techniques.

Her understanding had deepened—

Though without Rei’s level of spiritual sensitivity or God-tier talent, her progress was slower.

Forty minutes of instruction from Rei—

Was enough for her to spend an entire day absorbing.

Now, armed with stronger techniques—

She was eager to fight.

The ship docked.

Rei followed behind Luluvi, playing the role of an ordinary child.

But the moment they stepped off—

They could feel it.

The crowd was closing in.

They were being surrounded.

Rei sensed it—

A flicker of excitement rising from Kiyomi.