Night Ranger

Louise’s warning wasn’t unreasonable, but Marvin wasn’t completely unprepared.

Because of his plight in Arborea and his experience in the Secret Garden, Marvin paid attention to interplanar battles.

Before leaving White River Valley a while back, he made Madeline spend a lot to create a temporary Teleportation Gate.

Even non-Legend Wizard could use this item.

The portal made by that item could transfer Marvin back to White River Valley from any plane.

Thus, Marvin only smiled and thanked Louise for her good intentions before taking the lead to enter the gate.

They would be randomly teleported after passing through the Nightmare Boundary, even if they were to hold hands.

...

Interplanar Teleportation felt a lot different from long distance teleportation.

It felt like a long time, but only a few seconds passed.

When Marvin opened his eyes, he only saw a desolate desert.

This was the area of the Ancient Blue Dragons, one of the five areas of the Nightmare Boundary.

Deserts were the favorite environment of the Blue Dragons and they would have an advantage when fighting there, thanks in part to their expertise in using Dragon Magic for camouflage.

The Nightmare Boundary was very vast, and so was this desert.

This was a place for the Dragons to live in, after all. For a human like Marvin, it really was too vast.

After looking around, besides sand dunes, there were no landmarks to use to find his location.

Thankfully, Professor had told him about all kinds of situations that might occur in the Nightmare Boundary so he wouldn’t lose his mind.

’There are four areas which might conceal the Rainbow Spring or Crystal Statue...’

’Excluding the Black Dragon’s swamps, there are only the deserts, mountains, forest, and hills left.’

’There should be an ancient well in the desert.’

’It was said to be very conspicuous. A well for the Dragons... Wouldn’t that be a large hole for humans?’ Marvin thought.

Marvin took out a Shapechange scroll.

This was given to him by Professor when he chose to join the expedition.

It was quite useful.

[Fixed Shapechange Scroll (Draconic)]

[Effect: Can turn the target into a hawk]

[Duration: 60 minutes]

[Effect can be dismissed by using the incantation]

...

After using this Shapechange scroll, Marvin turned into a hawk and began to soar in the desert.

Dragon Magic was too powerful. Even if a Legend Wizard was proficient in making scrolls, his Fixed Shapechange Scrolls would last 30 minutes at most. Professor’s scroll was twice as effective.

The feeling of soaring in the sky felt wonderful. This made Marvin want to get a similar Shapechange.

After swallowing the Dense Blood Nucleus, he obtained the Vampires’ Low Flight ability, but it couldn’t allow him to fly high in the sky.

He also lacked a flying mount, or else he would have had no troubles on his travels.

But Shapechange wasn’t that easy to learn.

Among the advanced Ranger classes, there were actually some that could learn Shapechange, but they were mostly used for small lifeforms.

Shapechanging into a crow, otter, squirrel, or another similar creature was already very difficult.

They weren’t specialized Druid classes after all.

For Marvin, who already chose Night Walker as his advanced class and became a Ruler of the Night, there was only one way to learn Shapechange.

That was... A Nature Leaf, one of the leaves on the branch of the World Tree in Feinan.

When Marvin learnt [Basilisk Shapeshift] and [Vine Metamorphosis], it was through the Nature Leaves.

And most of the Nature Leaves were in the hands of the Migratory Bird Council.

After all, they were guarding Feinan’s World Tree, and the young Druids also needed Nature Leaves to learn Shapechange or to increase the level of their Shapechange.

’Seems like this trip to the Supreme Jungle won’t only be to deal Endless Ocean’s matter. I’ll also need to get some Shapechange spells.’

A thief does not leave empty-handed. Although Marvin wasn’t a Thief, he still had his gamer attitude. He hadn’t reached the Supreme Jungle, but had already started plotting against it. Who knew how those Druids would react if they knew what he was thinking?

...

Flying in the desert was quite dull.

Besides flapping his wings from time to time, Marvin had basically nothing to do.

After using Shapechange, his attributes substantially changed. He more or less had a common hawk’s attributes.

Only his Stamina became endless due to the support of the Scroll’s magic.

In other words, before the Shapechange’s effects disappeared, he would be able to keep flying.

At the same time, he obtained a special passive, [Hawk Eye].

[Hawk Eye: You are able to clearly see any small details]

This passive allowed Marvin to not miss any part of the desert that might have an ancient well.

He didn’t even need to actively observe. He could see everything through Hawk Eye and it kept sending back information to Marvin’s mind.

This long and boring flight lasted no less than twenty minutes.

Some mountains could faintly be seen in the distance.

Marvin knew that he might have already flown out of the desert area.

’Is that the wrong direction?’ Marvin thought.

He had to decide whether he should turn around or just enter the mountain range to try his luck there instead.

The mountainous area was the Black Dragons’ domain. This was one of the places that might hide the Rainbow Spring.

But finding a spring in this mountainous area would be very annoying. Marvin hesitated for a moment when he suddenly heard a thunderous sound, one that he was very familiar with!

’It’s the sound of a Dragon flying at high speed!’

Marvin understood and immediately changed his bearing and started to descend before landing on a mountain peak.

In the distance, a shadow was quickly rushing forward!

’It’s a small world...’

Marvin sneered.

Black Dragon Ikarina.

She was on her own.

If he didn’t act in such a situation, it wouldn’t be Marvin’s style!

The Hawk stared blankly at the Black Dragon flying past the boundary between the two areas, seemingly going toward the desert.

’Does she know the location of the ancient well?’

Marvin immediately followed.

A hawk naturally couldn’t keep up with a Dragon’s flying speed, but Marvin was still able to track her as the Black Dragon didn’t hide her aura. Marvin followed her back into the depths of the desert.

...

After 15 minutes, Marvin caught up to Ikarina.

Sure enough, following the Black Dragon was a good idea, because there was a strange area ahead of them.

The Black Dragon was flapping her wings frantically, sending a great amount of sand flying everywhere.

That area gradually exposed its previously hidden appearance.

It was a huge hole!

From the Dragons’ point of view, this might be considered a well.

It was said that this well had never run dry and was the drinking water of the Blue Wyrmlings.

The water in the well contained enlightening wisdom and could let the Wyrmlings learn quickly.

But the huge hole had been buried in sand. A layer of light spilled on top of it, and it was now pitch-black with no sand covering it.

Marvin could faintly feel a heavy power coming from that hole.

’Is it really in this well?’

Marvin looked at the huge hole as if it was a monster with bloody teeth. It gave him a bad feeling and made him want to shrink back.

But he suddenly felt danger, a powerful strength locking onto him.

He unhesitantly flapped his wings and left his spot.

A flaming hot Dragon Breath brushed past Marvin!

He hadn’t noticed the Black Dragon looking at him!

"I flew from the south to the north and didn’t notice any hawks in the Nightmare Boundary."

"Modana, there is no point in playing useless tricks on me," Ikarina sneered while looking at Marvin. "If you’re thinking about fighting over the Crystal Statue with me, then you should reconsider your strength."

Modana?

Marvin froze. Ikarina actually thought he was a Green Dragon?

What was going on?

However, even if Ikarina discovered him, Marvin wasn’t afraid.

She was just an Ancient Black Dragon. How could Marvin be worried about her?

He had already killed a handful of Black Dragons!

The next second, Marvin inwardly chanted the incantation and turned back to his normal form.

Ikarina clearly became startled.

Marvin fell on the sand and without saying anything, rushed straight for the well!

The Black Dragon similarly didn’t say anything and pounced down.

Marvin sneered in his mind, ’I’m not afraid of you rushing down, I’m afraid you would run away!’

Reacting to the Black Dragon’s aura behind him, Marvin suddenly turned!

[Eternal Night]!

With his Shadow Domain bonuses, the surroundings suddenly turned dark!

The Black Dragon had a bad feeling, but her momentum was too strong, she couldn’t escape.

Night Boundary!

Marvin instantly appeared on the Black Dragon’s head.

"In fact, for the sake of Izaka, I should keep you alive."

"After all, there are only the two of you left in Feinan. Killing you would be rather unreasonable. However..."

"Those who scheme against me are already dead!"

Weeping Sky abruptly appeared and Marvin ruthlessly stabbed it down!

The Black Dragon’s neck suddenly rose. In this life and death situation, she stimulated her most frightening potential.

The Black Dragon spread her wings to the extreme, and all the scales contracted!

The next moment, her body unexpectedly did a 180° flip!

The Dragon’s body was frantically falling.

Such an unforeseen event actually made Marvin’s attack miss.

Weeping Sky had been stabbing toward her head, but it only managed to take out some scales!

Marvin forcibly regained his balance.

The Black Dragon suddenly twisted her neck and threw out a Dragon Breath in desperation!

A last-minute Dragon Breath naturally wasn’t as powerful as a prepared one.

But even a powerful Legend Barbarian would turn to ashes when facing it!

Marvin didn’t dare to take it head-on.

Although he couldn’t fly, relying on Eternal Night and Night Boundary, he could freely appear anywhere in the surroundings.

He dodged.

The desperate Dragon Breath went past Marvin’s original location and hit her own body since Marvin was way too close to her. The resplendent scales emitted a burnt smell!

But in any case, Ikarina managed to escape.

Her mind was filled with fear!

If she hadn’t dodged Marvin’s spear, she might have already died!

She immediately turned around, trying to escape from that dark area!

She noticed that this night-like area seemed to be Marvin’s field. Moreover, he still had the Dragon Slaying Spear!

The Black Dragon’s flying speed was rather impressive!

Marvin kept disappearing through the night, closing in on her.

But the Black Dragon’s will to live was quite formidable. She burst out with all of her potential and was about to escape from the surrounding Eternal Night.

Marvin didn’t think that Ikarina’s strength would be so much higher than Izaka’s.

She was the strongest Black Dragon in Feinan.

Marvin reckoned that not many Dragons would have been able to avoid his previous attack!

’What a pity!’ Marvin frowned.

If he let the Black Dragon escape, not only would he have wasted his skill uses, but she would also be troublesome in the future.

But he lacked chasing skills.

A Ruler of the Night’s burst power was quite powerful, but Marvin couldn’t catch her if she was blindly escaping.

But Marvin wasn’t one to give up halfway.

Just as she was about to escape the Eternal Night, her body hit a wall.

Her head twisted and she fell down from the sky!

Marvin took advantage of this sudden event.

Although he didn’t know what happened, it would be better to kill Ikarina first!

After using Night Boundary once more, Marvin’s legs appeared on the Black Dragon’s back.

The Dragon Slaying Spear burst out with great force as it directly locked onto the Black Dragon’s heart!

This was the power of Weeping Sky.

This spear possessed such a hatred of Dragons that it would help with its user’s accuracy!

"Roar!"

The Black Dragon’s unwilling roar echoed through the sky.

Then, the tip penetrated through the cold scales and pierced the Black Dragon’s heart.

Her body fell awkwardly to the ground, struggling twice before her amber eyes gradually lost their brilliance.

Marvin took a deep breath on the Black Dragon’s back.

That fight was quite short, but it consumed almost 70% of his stamina.

Even though he managed to kill Ikarina, he still couldn’t relax.

Because there were still others.

Marvin silently pulled out Weeping Sky. He didn’t even dare to check his interface and instead calmly looked at his surroundings. "Come out, Modana."

"I know you aren’t afraid of me."