CHAPTER 59: CHAPTER 59

Clayton was so shocked, he couldn’t react at first. The pain struck with such intensity that it left him utterly shaken.

Only after fully registering the agony did his awareness begin to return. That’s when he started trying to think—What should I do?

But minutes passed, and he still had no answer.

All he knew was that the longer he waited, the worse it got. The pain spread like poison, seeping into every corner of his body.

Slowly but surely, Clayton’s condition began to deteriorate under the assault of the mysterious illness.

Looking at his pale, sweating face, one might’ve thought he was being drained by some invisible force. But Clayton had no clue what was causing it.

He lay on the floor, trembling, helpless, and without direction.

Hours passed since the illness had returned, yet the pain showed no signs of subsiding. If anything, it grew worse.

A crushing tightness began to build in his chest, as if something were choking him from within. His body felt as if invisible blades were slicing him from every angle. Clayton, who had been desperately trying to endure it, began to lose strength.

"ARGHHHH!" he screamed in agony.

Dingo, frantic and confused by his master’s condition, could only bark anxiously.

"Woff! Woff!"

The dog ran around Clayton anxiously, as if wanting to help but not knowing what to do. All it could do was keep circling him."

Within seconds, Clayton felt like death was closing in.

He couldn’t accept dying like this—not like this. His life had been filled with training, growth, and relentless struggle. Was it all going to end here?

As his consciousness blurred, a flicker of recognition stirred deep within him. He recognized the energy crawling through his veins—it felt hauntingly familiar.

At first, he dismissed the idea. But as death loomed closer, the realization hit him—the energy invading his body felt nearly identical to the dark aura he had sensed from the soot monster in the lake.

A spark of hope flared in his mind. If this is dark energy... then light energy might be able to counter it.

With trembling hands, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a purification scroll. He activated it immediately.

Fwoosh!

A soft, white light enveloped him, warm and comforting—like soaking in a hot spring.

But the relief was short-lived. The pain surged back almost immediately.

Panicking, Clayton pulled out more scrolls, using them on himself one after another.

Each spell slowed the spread of the dark energy. Little by little, the malevolent force was pushed back—until it was nearly gone.

Once his condition stabilized, Clayton stopped using the scrolls and instead focused on suppressing the remaining traces with his own mana.

Finally, he could breathe again.

Dingo, seeing his master recovering, sat quietly by his side—as if to comfort him.

After resting for some time, Clayton managed to stand, though his body still felt stiff and numb.

When he looked in the mirror, he was shocked. He looked gaunt and ghostly—like all the blood had been drained from his body.

If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought he’d been bitten by a vampire.

Thankfully, he’d used the scrolls just in time. Any later, and his organs might have failed.

Now that he was stable, Clayton began to consider the possible cause of the illness. The timing felt too coincidental—it had returned right after the appearance of the light-and-dark attribute dungeon.

He also couldn’t help but wonder whether someone around him—Arthur, Bravus, even Henry—might be involved. But without evidence, all he could do was stay wary.

After the ruined dinner, he went to bed early to let his body recover.

...

The next morning, Clayton felt the full aftereffects of the attack. His body was wrecked—Months of carefully built-up strength and energy seemed to have vanished overnight.

He immediately stocked up on more purification scrolls, just in case.

...

Months passed.

During that time, Clayton rarely left his farm. He focused entirely on recovering, consuming large amounts of enchanted wheat and monster meat.

Arthur occasionally dropped by with supplies. Though Clayton remained suspicious of him, he acted normal—he needed the help.

Thanks to Arthur, he acquired more light- and dark-attribute materials, which he used to craft additional purification and polution scrolls.

...

One day, Clayton harvested the blood sorghum he had planted in pots.

The plants had grown over two meters tall, with thick, bamboo-like stalks.

There weren’t many of them, so the harvest was quick. He collected about a kilogram and laid it out to dry like his other crops.

After that, he began plowing the fields.

Though still not fully recovered, the work went smoothly thanks to his mini skeleton helpers.

During the process of plowing his land, Clayton discovered a significant number of dragon blood worms. Seeing this, he felt genuinely happy.

After all, dragon blood worms were considered quite economical creatures—with a wide range of uses, from animal feed to nutritional supplements for humans.

As the name suggests, these worms contained trace amounts of dragon blood in their bodies. While small, that trace was enough to help both monsters and humans enhance the quality of their blood.

Recognizing this potential, Clayton even considered cultivating dragon blood worms, imagining how profitable such a venture could be.

Coincidentally, his land was already overpopulated with them—likely due to his highly ’scientific’ farming methods, supported by his Observation Entry and farmer’s intuition.

By the end of the day, he had collected about a kilogram of blood sorghum and half a kilogram of powdered blood dragon worms.

...

A few days later, he decided to cook and taste the blood sorghum and the blood dragon worms.

The smell was revolting—and the taste was even worse: fishy, bitter, and nauseating.

But the effects were incredible.

His body began to recover rapidly. Within just a few days, he advanced to a two-star knight trainee.

Now that his health had returned, Clayton decided to ration the worms carefully and replant more blood sorghum to ensure a sustainable supply.

Feeling tired of being cooped up for so long, he decided to visit the city center in the outer ring, accompanied by four skeletons and Dingo.

But just as he stepped out of the farm complex, someone bumped into him.

Clayton turned—and saw a familiar face.

Bravus.

Clayton’s expression darkened.

"What now? he thought. Is he going to start trouble again?"