Upon killing the Gimard and leveling up, Dyne finally began to look over the paint.

“White Paint! Perfect!” Dyne laughed with glee.

Even with all the wisdom that he had, Strafe couldn’t understand what white paint would do.

“Are you planning on using that to camouflage yourself in the Mist with white paint? Serus and monsters don’t primarily depend on eyesight, you know?

“I know. This isn’t for that. This is for my next mission! I mean, I got the Golden Compass and the Chicken King after all. I don't need ropes when I have these accessories to help me ambush and escape from monsters. This is for my next mission! I will create a shortcut!” Dyne smiled.

“A shortcut?”

“You’ll see.” Dyne simply laughed.

Dyne spent one more week inside Drake Castle.

They rested, meditated on the waters while Bertugo and Brod would steal items. The group soon managed to kill all the Gimards all the way to the Second level.

And the day arrived for Dyne to finally leave Drake Castle.

Bertugo could no longer level up even he tried to absorb more experience. He needed to make specific offerings in order to evolve to become a High Gomboo.

As for Brod, he transformed and became a Gomboo. He was surprised at his new form and now had the same trust that Bertugo did towards Dyne. Number 2 was now as green as Number 1, and they could even divide into four forms that had the same green color. But even then, they could not become an Oak Slime.

Dyne expected this as he knew that these Slimes needed to kill or eat someone who had the War God's blessings or something stronger.

The Ogre’s beyond Drake Continent seemed to be the right answer.

What was impressive was that the group could now make a single Spirit attack!

Through the powers given and with Dyne’s ability to circulate, the sensation was now within their grasps. The Slime was the first to learn it. But it was a pity that the Slimes' method of attacking was very slow.

As for Bertugo and Brod, their attacks was far stronger than it was. A Gimard was smashed and instantly killed by these two, and Drake Castle was no longer a challenge for them.

The group moved down the levels but decided not to kill the monsters here. Bertugo and Brod had gone down to this level several times during the past days to steal Incense from Skeletons. Now the group had a lot of Incense, and they immediately left and moved with ease.

Upon leaving Drake Castle, they moved towards the side where the river was.

“Brod, you go with me. Number 1, divide into two and have one follow me and another to stay with Bertugo. Number 2 and Bertugo, stay here on this side of the river.” Dyne ordered.

He then relayed the plan and pulled out two long trails of ropes that he stored inside Number 1 and Number 2.

The rope had been coated with a light white paint that made it almost indistinguishable when placed in the Mist.

The instructions were given, and Dyne immediately used the Water Gate to close the great dam.

The large dam closed, and the river that was nearly a kilometer wide started to subside. The river that once covered the entire area had subsided to a small and knee-deep river. Dyne could see that some of the river sprang out from the small areas under the dam.

Dyne wasted no time and began to move. Bertugo and Dyne crossed the river while making Bertugo hold one end of the rope and Dyne the other. About midway was a peculiar treasure chest with a strange cover that was pinned to a rock. It looked like it was embedded deeply between the two rocks.

“Wind Book!” Dyen realized what it was. Dyne made Brod launch a spirit attack on the rock and shattered it to pieces. Dyne was now able to retrieve the treasure chest and open it. There the Wind Book was found.

“No time to examine this!” Dyne kept the small book in his pocket and continued to run. Soon they reached the other bank.

Dyne gave a few tug on the rope. Bertugo could not see Dyne as the thick Mist hid their view.

After pulling the rope, Bertugo immediately pulled back and received more pulls. This was the discussed signal. Bertugo immediately opened the Water Gate and made the dam pour out the water that filled the river once more.

“It’d be dangerous and suspicious if we leave the Water Gate closed. Let's go!” Dyne began to move. They traveled following the river, and Bertugo did the same on the other side.

A Gomboo was something that the monsters all avoided. Aside from this, the group had Incense if a group of Grimards would notice Bertugo and the Slimes and if Ostriches would attack Dyne and Brod.

The trip going downriver was fairly peaceful. No one attacked the pair as they moved. As planned, the thick Mist made it difficult for monsters and even humans to see the two trailing ropes. The hard part was that some places were elevated, and the ropes would actually touch the water, and the two groups had to raise the ropes higher.

Soon, night approached, and the group found a place where Bertugo managed to tie the two ends of the ropes on his side on a tree he found. Dyne used the geographic elevation and pinned it on rocks.

Dyne had slept peacefully while Brod remained vigilant. He was used to not sleeping for three days straight during the hunts and insisted that Dyne slept while he guarded. Truthfully, life in Drake Castle was one of the most comfortable period in his new life. He didn't have to fight monsters and risk his life against Gimards but even grew stronger. He was even confident that he could face their tribe leader.

Soon, the group began to move once again after sending signals to each other by shaking and pulling the rope.

And the journey continued like so. The wild beasts on this site, such as the enormous Frog and a large Ostrich, had formed a hunting party. The Ostrich was slamming its beak towards a dead deer that it found. The deer looked slightly purple as if it was poisoned as the Frog would slowly use its tongue to eat out the parts of the dead deer.

“Wow. A mutualistic relationship between two monsters. Impressive.” Dyne was amazed at the sight of the two monsters helping each other.

“So that’s what most monsters in this world do to survive...” Dyne came to an understanding. When the pair saw Brod, it immediately retreated as Brod gave powerful howls to scare them. Dyne and Brod remained near the riverside and ran off.

A few more days passed, and Bertugo passed the Hunter Springs. There was a large forest near the river on the side of Rim Elm. Dyne found an old tree on his side and began to tie the two ropes.

Dyne tested the rope and stood on top of it. The pair began to walk on top of the bottom rope and held on the top rope for balance. After testing it and confirming that it was stable, Dyne took out small ropes, which he turned into a safety belt.

The safety belts were ropes that were tied on the top rope and the bottom. The top would be tied to their arm and the bottom to their feet. This would ensure that none of them would fall off. When the safety belts were tied to his and Brod’s hands and feet, the pair climbed the rope and began to cross the river.

Number 1 remained and guarded the area in case more monsters would attack.

Strafe was impressed at Dyne’s ingenuity but remained curious as to why Dyne wanted to get to the other side.

Slowly, Dyne and Brod crossed the river and eventually came to the other side where Bertugo and Number 1’s clone and Number 2 were.

And after that, the group sped towards the town of Rim Elm.

Rim Elm...

The village was far different than it was months ago. It now had a very strange aura. There were eight Slimes and eight Gobu Gobu of different tribes in this area.

The Gobu Gobu worked together with the hunters and made the Hunt extremely easy. It had been nearly a month since Dyne’s disappearance. But none of them were worried. After all, Bertugo was by their side.

The Hunters were forced to train with the Gobu Gobu. There had been several training sessions, and the Hunters were transformed in the life that they lived.

But the hunter who experienced the greatest improvement was Vahn.

SMASH!

A Gobu Gobu was sent flying, and the shield he had had a huge dent from the attack of Vahn.

Tetsu had changed his training of Vahn. He himself began to train using the technique that Dyne showed them. Tetsu was able to finally do it after weeks of meditation. Vahn showed more aptitude in this regard and could actually maintain the Spirit energy in his fist.

But since the problem was that Vahn didn’t have the body to withstand attacks, he decided to practice evasion. And so, Vahn’s daily training was to face two Gobu Gobu. Then it increased to three. And now, he was facing four. The Gobu Gobu felt as if his hand was ripped off.

The other Gobu Gobu was afraid of recklessly charging towards Vahn and continued to harass Vahn.

Suddenly...

“DYNE’S BACK!” A loud cry was heard as one of the hunters excitedly announced.