Chapter 212: Chapter 211: It Feels Like My Body Has Been Emptied
The sound arose, and the space in the corridor seemed to momentarily freeze, an indescribable awkwardness bursting forth. The air appeared to be fluctuating, becoming misty, with a charming atmosphere that quickly spread with ripples.
Nancy trembled slightly upon hearing the sound, her face flushing red. But she soon managed to suppress the blush with tremendous willpower, adopting a calm and nonchalant demeanor as if to say, “I’ve seen this before, it’s nothing…”
However, Nancy’s actions were still somewhat stiff. She slowly turned her head to look at Richard and said with a slightly off-key voice, “That… good… goodnight.”
After speaking, Nancy quickly dashed into her room and slammed the door shut with a “bang.”
Richard shrugged nonchalantly and also returned to his own room.
After returning to his room, Richard washed his face and hands in the bath room, ignoring the “pattering” sound. He then sat down at the desk in the room, took out items from the Space Iron Ring, and began preparing for his research.
Currently, he was mainly researching the Magic Runes from the inner wall of the Drifting Bottle obtained from the giant wheel.
After some time of research, he had already made significant progress. The most important result was the separation of a basic Magic Rune unit from the inner wall’s runes that could be effective for Accelerated Recovery.
Before leaving the giant wheel, Richard had already inscribed the Magic Rune onto the No.1 Ring, filling the last bit of space on the ring’s outer edge—if he wanted to continue inscribing new Magic Runes on the No.1 Ring, he would have to figure something out for the inner edge.
And this cost was wholly worthwhile. Although the direct effects of the new rune might not be as noticeable as those of spells like “Wind Force,” “Wind Light Spirit,” or “Pearce’s Spiritual Sensitivity Technique,” the overall effect over time was certainly not weak.
Accelerated Recovery could speed up the healing of wounds and the recovery of physical strength, and to some extent, it could also accelerate the breakdown of lactic acid in muscles, thus improving Endurance recovery. This effect, when combined with the “Bai Ting Boiling Blood Technique,” could push endurance beyond human limits.
Richard was confident that if the Mysterious Wizard who had killed Gregory were to reappear, and he had to engage in another “long-distance race” with him, he could reach his goal more effortlessly.
Considering this, Richard hesitated about whether or not to engrave the spell rune of the “Bai Ting Boiling Blood Technique” onto the No.1 Ring.
This… was up for debate.
But… whatever the case, the “Accelerated Recovery” rune might seem inconspicuous, yet it indeed played a significant role in the details.
For the simplest example: Macbeth, himself, Nancy, and Raymond, had nearly ridden their horses nonstop from the port city to Kairo City without rest. Aside from Macbeth, he, Nancy, and Raymond all found it quite harrowing since sitting continuously on horseback was quite uncomfortable. During the rough ride, the constant friction between the thighs and the saddle could cause chafing and raw, bloody skin.
However, thanks to the effect of “Accelerated Recovery,” in the few hours of arriving at Kairo City, the wounds on his thighs had stopped bleeding and scabbed over, and he estimated they would heal by the next morning. Nancy and Raymond, however, would probably need a few more days to achieve a similar result.
Especially Raymond, who still had strenuous activity planned for the evening, might not only fail to lessen his injury but could possibly worsen it. Who knows, by the time they’d completed the task set by Macbeth and were on their way back, he still might not be in good shape. But… this was no longer his concern.
Richard took a deep breath, cast aside the clutter of thoughts, and sat down on the chair, picking up the Drifting Bottle to study it earnestly. He attempted to separate more functional Magic Rune units for utilization.
Research upon research upon more research…
Soon, several hours passed. Richard stood up, adjusted the oil lamp’s light, and washed his face again in the bath room to refresh himself.
Sitting back at his seat and just about to continue his research, Richard suddenly couldn’t help but think: what could Macbeth be doing right now? His careful arrangement of a “little gift” was one part mischief, but could it also be a ploy to occupy himself, Nancy, and Raymond, while he did something significant he didn’t want to reveal to them?
He could, of course, use meditation to project his consciousness and sneak a peek, but… it wasn’t necessary. After all, he was just here to do a simple task. Better not to waste time and continue with his research, and let Macbeth go about his big affairs as he pleased.
This thought crossed Richard’s mind, and he quickly refocused, continuing his work. He rotated the Drifting Bottle, transferring the runes inside onto a Papyrus Scroll, then began to analyze, bit by bit…
At the same time, within a seemingly ordinary room in the inn.
The serious, big-deal Macbeth lay on the bed with his eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.
In his arms, like a ripe peach, the innkeeper’s wife snuggled up—while her husband had been kicked under the bed by his wife (herself), and was fast asleep, reeking of alcohol.
The innkeeper’s wife nuzzled Macbeth with her delicate nose and cooed, “Jones, what are you thinking about?” Macbeth had given a false name, telling the innkeeper’s wife that he was called Jones.
“Uh, nothing much, I’m just wondering if your husband is about to wake up, maybe it’s time for me to leave?”
“Him?” The innkeeper’s wife looked down disdainfully at the area below the bed and said, “His body is almost falling apart. Despite having snuck just half a bottle of liquor, he won’t wake up all night. So we have the whole night to enjoy ourselves.”
“The whole night…” Macbeth’s eyes glimmered, his expression slightly twisted, and the corners of his mouth seemed to twitch…
In the early morning, Richard, Nancy, and Raymond gathered together in the inn’s ground floor hall, eating at a table in the corner.
Richard chewed on bread expressionlessly, lost in thought about some incomprehensible aspects of the magic runes he had studied the night before.
Nancy was bowing her head, sipping meat porridge. When she glanced up and saw Richard unblinkingly staring at her neck, and then thought back to the events of last night, her ears inevitably heated up. Then, with a stern expression, she blurted out, “What are you looking at?!”
“Hm?” Richard came back to reality, realizing that Nancy had misunderstood something, “Uh, don’t overthink it, I was just pondering something just now…”
“Don’t argue, ha—yawn—” Raymond, on the side, yawned, struggling to swallow an egg. He laid his head down on the table and muttered, “I didn’t sleep well last night; let me rest for a bit.”
“Hmph.” Nancy snorted, showing a face that clearly didn’t want to engage.
“Speaking of which, where is Lord Macbeth?” Richard came to, scanned his surroundings, and spoke up, “Didn’t we agree that he would take us to the swordsmanship tournament today, how come… uh, here he comes.”
As Richard finished speaking, Nancy and the sleepy Raymond looked over and saw Macbeth approaching not far away, taking measured steps.
He seemed perfectly normal, though his pace was a little slow. To Richard, it looked as though he felt emptily depleted.
Macbeth slowly walked to the table, sat down, and coughed lightly, “That…”
“Uh, let’s not say anything, don’t ask anything. Time is short; finish your food quickly, we’re heading to the swordsmanship tournament.”
“Uh, alright.” Richard, Nancy, and Raymond hastily agreed, and then curiously asked, “By the way, Lord Macbeth, aren’t you going to eat something?”
“Uh, no need, I’ve already eaten.”
“Oh.” The three nodded and said no more.
At that moment, an inn servant, with a sly look, came over and placed a hot bowl of beef soup in front of Macbeth, whispering, “Uh, guest, this has been specially instructed by our innkeeper’s wife to be sent to you, it’s beef soup with spices, fortifying to the body, and also a specialty of our inn. Would you like to try it?”
“Uh, sure.” Macbeth responded calmly, dismissed the servant, his eyes coolly sweeping to the side, where a charming young wife was smiling at him. He quickly diverted his gaze.
Scooping a spoonful of the beef soup to his mouth, Macbeth tasted for a moment before swallowing, then turned to Richard, Nancy, and Raymond, his face earnest, “Their inn’s beef is not fresh. When we leave later, make sure to take your luggage with you, we’ll switch to another inn tonight.”