Valerian, The Legendary

Chapter 362: Dungeoneers.

The lady was surprised to meet a man with this keen sense. Not only did Valerian sense her, but he also noticed her presence from earlier. She replied, "I am Shiba. I was looking for a flame snake, but this guy did not choose me."

Valerian thought this lady must have been tracking this snake for a long, and now that she did not get what she wanted, it might cause him trouble, and the young man said, "Look, you can take away this flower or whatever. I do not want any trouble."

The lady nodded and said, "I will not trouble you. This flower does not work for those the master did not acknowledge. You are the only one this dried flower will work for."

Valerian nodded and asked, "Could you please tell me what is the use of this flower?"

Shiba was stunned for a second and asked, "Do you not know what this flower is used for?"

The young man nodded, and Shiba replied, "Hmmm, well, this flower is used by the dungeoneers as a prime ingredient for a medicinal bath that allows one to increase their physical strength slightly."

Valerian nodded and picked up the flower gently. He sat up straight and stored the flower in his bag. Shiba watched all this and asked, "You are traveling alone?"

The young man nodded and asked, "Why do you ask?"

Shiba sighed and said, "You are an odd one. Where do you come from?"

Valerian replied, "Why should I answer all your questions?"

A whistle echoed in the forest, and Valerian kicked up from the ground. He held the sharp knife in his hand in a reverse grip gazing in the direction of the whistle. Shiba frowned and yelled, "Viney, stop attacking him."

Valerian turned his head to the side, tilted his neck, and saw an arrow fly by his cheek. Then he rushed through the forest. His speed might not be fast, but his senses were excellent, he was moving through the shadows, and his movements were agile and light.

Shiba was surprised to see this. She did not expect this child to have such a degree of command over his body.

...

Valerian rushed through the woods, and his speed was slow. He did not rush fast because he did not wish for the enemy to think he was strong. He purposefully wanted the enemy to look down on him. As he was running, he was avoiding arrows and changing his direction. He knew that the archer was changing his positions very quickly, but the gap between the durations of the shot was short.

He deduced that the enemy was not moving too much and picked up his speed slightly harder. The young man smiled viciously. The blood rushing through his body made him recall what it felt like to battle.

Shiba followed him, but she no longer called out to the archer. Either she thought it was too late or wanted to see how it would unfold. Valerian did not care for anything that she might have in her mind. He had his pride, he did not want trouble, but he did not fear it either.

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed, and he jumped into the void and twisted his body. The next moment, several small blades flew through the void.

Valerian landed on the ground and rushed forward without any hesitation. He did not wait to see where the knives landed. However, the clanking sound from the metal striking another metallic object was evident that someone else was present at the scene too.

Shiba was surprised in the back and looked to the side and asked, "Captain?"

A man wearing full body-plated armor stepped out from behind the tree, and a small shield in his hand displayed three blades stuck in it. Not only that, one of them even managed to lodge in his shoulder.

Shiba spotted a trace of blood trickling down the armor plates and rushed up to him. She wanted to ask if he was alright, but a scream shocked them. The two of them looked toward the scream and found Valerian walking over while a young lady was held at the blade point.

Shiba gulped and said, "It is all a misunderstanding. Listen to me."

Viney wanted to say something, but the cold feeling against her jugular made her fall silent. Valerian said, "I am not interested in listening to you. I stated earlier if you want that flower, take it. You, people, need to learn how to respect others, or you will end up in trouble sooner than later."

Shiba nodded and replied, "I apologize to you sincerely. Can you please let her go? She is not very sensible."

Valerian nodded and pushed away Viney as he commented, "It is evident that she is not sensible."

Shiba caught Viney, and the latter sobbed. The former patted her back to console her, as the latter said, "Couldn’t you be gentle? Do you not know how to handle a girl?"

Valerian did not say anything but flickered next to the shield warrior and said, "If you do not mind, may I take back my blades?"

The man could not react to his speed, let alone protest. Valerian took back three blades and stowed them in the strap on his thigh. He then said, "The wound is just a flesh wound. You will live through it."

Valerian did not wait and easily pulled the blade lodged in the shoulder. Valerian turned around and walked off. He did not wish to spend more time with these people than necessary.

Shiba wanted to say something, but she was clear that Valerian had no good impression of her. On the other hand, the captain could not help but ask, "Brother, can you sell me your knives? I will give you two gold coins for them."

Valerian shook his head and did not stop walking. Viney forgot her grievance and asked, "Captian, what do you mean by giving him two gold coins?"

The shielded warrior said, "Those blades are all high-level weapons. We can use some when we raid the dungeon the next time."

Valerian was still within earshot and stopped when he heard this. He asked, "You will pay me two gold coins for these four blades?"

The captain nodded eagerly. Valerian glanced at the gear of this team and commented, "Twenty gold coins. I will forge a full set of high-level gear for you all."

His words made the three people gawk and opened their mouths wide. The captain recovered from the shock and said, "Give us a few minutes to discuss among ourselves?"

Valerian nodded and said, "Feel free to do as you like. I will leave after five minutes."

After five minutes, Valerian said, "Alright, the time is up. I will leave now."

The captain turned around and said, "Wait, young man, can you prove that you created all these?"

Valerian thought for a bit and nodded. He said, "I will forge one before you, but you must get me a forging room."

The captain nodded and said, "I can arrange one for you in the city."

Valerian took a deep breath and said, "Very well, I can also use some help getting to the city."

The captain nodded and asked for a little time to bandage his wounds. Valerian did not mind and just waited at the side, meditating. However, Viney was constantly gazing at him with malicious eyes. He could not care less about this girl. She was a big mouth, although she had a bit of skill. It was nothing that he could not deal with.

The people spent the night in the forest, tending to their wounds and resting. Shiba was taking the first watch when she noticed Valerian suddenly sitting up and walking to the side. She found him getting closer to a wolf. Her eyes narrowed, and she was ready to act when she found Valerian patting the head of the wolf gently.

The young man took some meat from his bag and fed it to the beast. He did not seem to have any fear or hesitation in his eyes. Shiba could not understand how a young man was so fearless. Then, recalling how he just took down the two of her teammates, he did not seem average either.

Valerian turned his head to look at her and shook his head. The wolf left, and the young man stood up. Shiba asked, "How can you be so fearless? When you dealt with the snake earlier, I noticed you being calm too."

Valerian said, "They are not mindless beasts. They attack when scared or hungry, that is all. Humans are worse than animals; they attack for many things, and many do not have any meaning."

Shiba nodded, and the young man asked, "Tell me, what do you do?"

Shiba replied, "We are dungeoneers."

Valerian asked, "Dungeoneers?"

The young lady raised her eyebrow and asked in surprise, "You do not even know about the Dungeoneers?"

Valerian nodded and asked, "I do not know much about this world. I have been living in a village you see."

Shiba nodded and said, "Well, you can think of us as the people who brave dangers for the sake of money and fame."