[You have completed your initial exploration of Mist Town, unlocking mini-map - Swamp Outpost]
According to the system's unlocked description, Nami learned more information about Mist Town.
This town has only a hundred years of history, born from spellcasters' development of the Evermist Swamp. There are rich varieties of magical plants and magical beasts here, allowing potioncraft to achieve a century's worth of development progress in just ten years. The thick fog of Evermist Swamp never disperses year-round, only lifting its toes slightly during the six months of Clear Moon, with the fog near the ground dissipating like a curtain being raised partway.
Initially, this was just a resting place for mercenaries hired by mages. Later, some mercenaries grew tired of constant travel and chose to station themselves year-round at the location closest to the entrance between Evermist Swamp and the outside world, gradually forming Mist Town.
The townspeople here are of mercenary origin and were never skilled at farming. Combined with the town's year-round lack of sunlight, crop yields are worrying. Fortunately, the Mercenary Guild provides annual subsidies to the townspeople, plus the income from the Clear Moon "tourist season." For a hundred years, Mist Town has remained an outpost of Evermist Swamp, a supply station for mercenaries and mages.
The Mercenary Guild provides subsidies? Nami raised an eyebrow. Is this still the game she played? Wasn't the Mercenary Guild known for being disorganized and cold-hearted?
The system promptly reminded her: My lord, times have changed. It's now the year 1577 of the Moro Calendar.
Nami immediately pulled up the system time. Three hundred years later? The year she obtained the dragon blood inheritance was only 1214 of the Moro Calendar. So everything she once knew—the confrontation between dragons and elves, the glory of humanity's three great empires standing as equals—do they still exist today?
Just as she was recalling the epic and magnificent gaming experiences of those days, the main quest window in front of her began flashing at a weak frequency, gradually becoming faster and faster, occupying her entire field of vision, as if reminding her to quickly return and repair that broken door of the tavern.
She decisively closed the quest window and turned to walk in the opposite direction of the Dragon Flame Tavern—toward Evermist Swamp.
This was quite a vast area. Under unknown influences, there are rivers that never freeze throughout the year, jungles and trees that can grow without sunlight, and most abundantly, swampy wetlands that could give way at any moment.
Although there was still some time before Clear Moon arrived, some experienced veteran mercenaries had already arrived early, searching for their mission targets at the edge of the swamp.
Simon had been a mercenary for thirteen years and had been coming to Evermist Swamp for his seventh year. Even so, he didn't think his knowledge was sufficient to survive in the crisis-ridden swamp. All his teammates, including himself, had to constantly keep their ears perked for Captain Old John's commands to ensure they could return to town to rest as "intact" as possible.
At this moment, Simon faced a young woman whose beauty shimmered in the hazy mist, her pink long hair having a silken luster. Looking at her direction, she was heading straight for Evermist Swamp, where countless mercenaries lay buried.
However, he wouldn't meddle by stepping forward to stop her. This wasn't Akali Park in the imperial capital, with its peaceful doves and handsome bards—there would be no mistakenly wandering noble ladies here. Anyone who dared enter Evermist Swamp should understand the price of trespassing—burial in six months of sunless long nights.
Not only Simon, but everyone in this mercenary squad called "Scavengers" remained equally silent. "Perhaps I've inhaled some unknown poison gas and am experiencing mild hallucinations. I hope I've truly entered Mist Town and am not sinking in some mud pit somewhere." The encounter seemed somewhat eerie, making Simon think this way.
After confirming there were no more humans around, Nami touched her toes and soared into the air. A pair of pitch-black membrane wings spread behind her, and the mist was swept up by the enormous wings, flowing along the extended sharp bone spurs.
Black dragon wings are still quite handsome. Nami familiarized herself with the new changes in her body, waving her membrane wings and racing freely through the thick fog above the swamp.
Actually, a pair of real dragon wings weren't as easy to control as the levitation spells commonly used by mages. Nami was still somewhat unfamiliar with them and occasionally made small mistakes—like being carried forward into a tumble by the overly strong wings. But they could truly bring the exhilarating sensation of flight.
No wonder some players who were also alchemists in the game had frantically tried to weld a pair of mechanical wings onto their backs.
The mist before her was so thick it seemed ready to materialize. Nami closed her eyes and opened them again—golden vertical pupils replaced her original pupils. The mist could no longer obstruct her vision, and Nami dove toward a river.
She landed on a large rock by the riverbank. The water was extremely calm, with almost no visible current. Purple-colored shrubs grew along the shore, with plump red fruits hanging from the branches. A dragonfly-like flying insect landed near the red fruit, its sharp mouthparts biting into the flesh, tearing and beginning to feed. Just as it was absorbed in the fruit's sweetness, shallow ripples spread across the water surface below. A silver fish leaped out, cutting through the air like lightning, creating an afterimage as it swallowed both the insect and fruit together. But this wasn't the end of the hunt—a gray shadow shot out from the shrubs, intercepting the falling silver fish in a flash, its body not much larger than the silver fish struggling to drag the fish tail in its mouth toward the shore.
Having watched this episode of swamp ecosystem documentary, Nami was deeply moved: Finally know how to fish without a fishing rod. The creatures here all seemed incredibly fierce, never lacking the courage to take initiative.
A tail suddenly appeared behind Nami, swaying as it probed into the icy river water. The tip of the tail curled and uncurled, dancing flamboyantly. Soon, a downward pulling force came from the tail, and with a "splash," a strangely shaped ugly fish appeared before Nami. Its pectoral fins were small, its body very flat, and its cold-gleaming teeth bit tightly onto the scales on Nami's tail, refusing to let go even after leaving the water. The system's activity log read: [You caught a Crooked-mouth Fish ★×1]
[Crooked-mouth Fish ★: A common carnivorous fish in Evermist Swamp, with sour and rough meat texture. Not recommended for consumption.] Nami disappointedly threw it back into the water.
The next fish was very familiar—it was exactly the silver fish Nami had first seen. Its body was streamlined, with scales having a faint silver gleam, very beautiful.
[You caught a Cold Thorn Fish ★★★×1]
[Cold Thorn Fish ★★★: A rare fish species that appears only in Evermist Swamp, fierce in temperament, with few bones and delicious meat. Has unexpected effects when cooked.]
Nami weighed it—this fish was about four or five pounds, still struggling vigorously after being out of water for so long, with water droplets occasionally flicking onto the ground. Nami held the fish tail upside down and knocked the Cold Thorn Fish unconscious with a solid blow.
One month ago.
Lusen was organizing his luggage. Winter was approaching, and it was time to collect the sap of Stone Demon Grass. Actually, the continent had long since formed various small-scale magical plant cultivation bases. Mages only needed to place orders and would receive materials delivered by the Golden Sparrow Trading Company while sitting in their mage towers.
But the valuable root system of Stone Demon Grass grows deep underground. The ones who cultivate Stone Demon Grass are a group of tunnel-digging goblins who would brazenly water down the materials, using their limited intelligence to stubbornly argue that Stone Demon Grass sap was naturally this thin—unless you sent someone to supervise the pressing process.
Lusen was the unlucky one assigned to carry out this task.
While packing his luggage into the spatial ring his mentor had temporarily lent him, he muttered to himself: "Watered-down Stone Demon Grass sap would depreciate by two hundred gold coins. If my travel expenses exceed that amount, I probably won't have to sleep in rabbit holes with goblins next year."
Someone behind him picked up the conversation: "It seems you already have a clear idea of the budget range for this journey."
A bag of gold coins was placed beside Lusen's hand by the newcomer. "60 gold coins?" Lusen said in surprise. "Professor Derek, how is it even less than last year?"
Professor Derek raised an eyebrow. "This time you don't need to return to the academy. I'll bring Alcota and the others to meet you in Mist Town." "That's still a bit too little," Lusen muttered.
Professor Derek raised his eyebrows: "You should know how tight this year's budget is. Besides, didn't I apply for a communication crystal for you? You can contact me if you run out of travel money."
"Communication crystals can't transmit gold coins. Would the mentor have a nearby trading company send me supplies?" Lusen's eyes lit up.
"The communication crystal will bring you my encouragement," Professor Derek said coldly. He glanced at the hesitant Lusen. "Set off while I'm still willing to encourage you."
This mission was surprisingly smooth. Lusen successfully obtained Stone Demon Grass sap of sufficient purity, successfully arrived at Mist Town, successfully spent all his travel money, and finally discovered that because everything had gone too smoothly, he was more than half a month early compared to his appointment with Professor Derek.
How was he supposed to survive in the expensive Mist Town until the professor's arrival?
Author's Note: I'm not sure if it was clearly explained in the text, but regarding the fog in both locations: it's divided into upper and lower layers. Mist Town year-round has no fog in the lower layer but has fog in the upper layer. Evermist Swamp has fog in both upper and lower layers for six months (Fog Moon), and during the other six months (Clear Moon), the lower layer fog dissipates.