Chapter Twenty-One: Swift as the Wind

Beneath a world shrouded in gray mist, everything was cold and lifeless. For countless millennia, only death and madness remained as the eternal themes here.

The sudden appearance of new things did little to change this place.

Night had already fallen, and by tomorrow, there would only be more death and decay upon this land.

Yet, at this moment, something unexpected seemed to occur.

In a world that had been silent for an untold length of time—and would likely remain silent for who knows how much longer—tiny points of light appeared, unnoticed at first.

From scattered to sparse, then to a multitude, like stars across the sky, the transformation seemed to take place in less than a quarter of an hour.

Some lights were quickly swallowed by darkness soon after they emerged, but then more and more began to rise from the gloom.

They were not dazzling, yet they truly burned.

Colin, carrying a lantern filled with crimson light, closed the sheepskin scroll and looked at his two servants. “It’s time for you both to be elevated.”

There were two ways to upgrade a servant: one was to improve their individual level, the other was to use materials to synthesize a special character.

The former simply required the consumption of Mist Points: effortless, just a single tap sufficed. This type of upgrade didn’t grant any special skills, only a boost in attributes.

The latter demanded mastery of blueprints and the corresponding items and materials, enabling one to synthesize special roles—archers, warriors, cavalry, even mages.

But that was far more troublesome. Yet, Colin possessed a tremendous advantage in this area. As long as he knew what special character another had synthesized, he could make one himself if he wished.

For now, Colin chose the simpler path: to raise his servants’ individual levels.

Each upgrade cost five Mist Points.

“Than—”

The two servants had just begun to express their gratitude when Colin stopped them, pointing toward the door to signal silence.

Then, Colin opened their personal panels, spending five Mist Points on each to initiate their upgrades.

In the next moment, Colin watched as his two servants—both small in stature, barely reaching a height of one meter fifty-five to sixty—began to change.

The transformation was visible to the naked eye: their muscles around their waists, abdomens, and limbs swelled noticeably, as if they had undergone a stretch of rigorous training.

Their height also increased, now clearly reaching one meter sixty.

[Servant Two]

Ident