Alan looked at the spell and blinked.
"Did I just acquire a final-boss–level item?" he muttered as he stared at the stored spell.
"Damn… now I want this class even more," Alan murmured. "I wonder how many other terrifying spells Mumud had."
He carefully stored the orb and learned the production method, adding it to his ever-growing list of crafting techniques.
Soon, it was time for the banquet.
Alan, Piaro, and Shona attended together as the Water Clan celebrated joyfully. Music echoed through the Siren Kingdom, and the Water Clan members danced freely. Ohong was reunited with her siblings, who surrounded Alan again and again, thanking him for safely returning their sister.
Some of the warriors even invited Alan to spar, but they were all only around level 200. Alan politely declined every request, and King Maxong, seeing this, smiled in quiet satisfaction—his judgment had clearly not been wrong.
In the end, Alan made a difficult decision.
He left Shona behind in the Siren Kingdom.
It was so she could live with Ohong. The little girl cried hard when they were about to part, clinging tightly to Shona. Shona herself was reluctant to let go, gently comforting Ohong as tears welled in her own eyes.
Before leaving, Alan spoke to Shona privately.
"Try to train others if you can," he said. "Teach them what you know."
Shona nodded firmly.
"I will."
With that, Alan and Piaro departed the Siren Kingdom, leaving behind the sound of water, song, and a promise that they would one day return.
"I wonder how much will change by the time we come back," Alan murmured as they reached the shore.
Piaro nodded. "You left behind quite a lot of your crafted items," he said, glancing at Alan.
"I was never going to use them anyway," Alan replied calmly. "So I left them there for the Water Clan to study and learn from. Who knows—maybe when we return, we'll end up fighting a powerful warrior they've raised."
He said it jokingly, unaware of how prophetic his words would become.
"So, what's our next destination?" Piaro asked. "The Eternal Kingdom West?"
Alan nodded, then shook his head slightly. "Eventually. But first, let's stop by Winston and see how everyone's doing."
Piaro agreed, and the two bought horses from a nearby trading post before setting off toward Winston.
The journey should have taken just one month, but along the way they stopped frequently to train and handle various matters. In the end, nearly two months passed before they finally arrived in Winston, dusty, tired—and stronger than before.
They soon reached Khan's smithy, where a long line of players had already formed outside.
As Alan walked past them, he overheard excited chatter.
"This blacksmith sells the best items and equipment!"
"Yeah, even the guild forges can't compare!"
Alan smiled faintly. Thanks to his skills and effects, the items he crafted were always superior to what the standard crafting methods could produce.
"You seem busy," Alan said as he stepped inside.
Khan looked up—and froze for a moment.
"Alan! You're back!" he exclaimed, breaking into a wide grin. He stepped forward and pulled Alan into a brief hug before turning to Piaro. "Sir Piaro, you look much better than before," he added respectfully.
Piaro smiled and nodded in response.
"By the way," Khan said enthusiastically, "let me show you something interesting." He led them deeper into the smithy. Among the apprentices and assistants working under him, Khan pointed toward a young man with distinctly Korean features.
Alan recognized him instantly.
'Grid is here,' Alan thought, though he kept his expression calm.
"He's Pagma's Successor," Khan explained. "His name is Grid. He also helped me a lot when the Mero Company came asking for special orders."
Alan nodded. "Where are Dave and Leon?"
"I sent them to gather materials," Khan replied.
Dave and Leon were two A-grade NPCs Alan had met on his way to the Siren Kingdom. Leon specialized in archery, with agility stat reaching a limit of 2,600. Dave, on the other hand, focused on strength, with a strength stat limit of 2,400. Both possessed powerful skills befitting their roles.
Compared to normal NPCs—who usually had stat limits of only 200 to 500—they were exceptional talents. Alan had recruited them and sent them back along with another A-grade NPC, Minerva.
Minerva was a magician with astonishing talent. Her intelligence stat limit reached 3,400, and she possessed two S-rank skills and one SS-rank skill—an absurd combination for an NPC mage, though it was an pity she was not named npc with this talent set.
In addition, there were two named NPCs with no stat limits at all—twins named Kane and Shane. They could grow infinitely, just like players. Alan and Piaro had rescued them from bandits when they were young men dreaming of becoming great knights, only to be enslaved after losing their way. Grateful and loyal, they had sworn themselves to Alan.
Since Dave, Leon and Minerva joined much earlier than others, they leveled up quite a lot and under Piaro training they also grew skilled, So, Alan sent them back after arriving at the Brinchini after learning its still time for the passge to open to Siren Kingdom.
Kane and Shane were left under their care on their way back to Winston. While Rabbit whom he recruited before leaving to Siren Kingdom was instructed to sell his crafts with Khan.
"its a pity he is crafting if not I am sure you two would have lot to learn from each other" Khan said as Alan nodded.
He then left Khan to work and reached the office where Rabbit is working " Lord you are back" He said looking at Alan as Alan nodded " yeah, though I will be leaving again, here are my new crafts" Alan said dumping the equipments he made on the table as Rabbit smiled.
'He have grown more stronger and now we even have Pagma descendant, It was an wise decision to leave the drowning ship Mero Company' Rabbit thought as his senses found Alan more profound then he last saw him.