Chapter 21: Calculations (Please Support)

After leaving the Underworld Palace, Andrew returned to the basement doorway. He glanced once at the room hidden beneath the small building but said nothing. The spectral naga, Vedina, appeared silently behind him.

“Guard this place well. Don’t let anyone in. If anything happens, call me immediately,” she instructed with a hint of worry.

Andrew met her gaze calmly. “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”

With that, he ascended the stairs and left. Vedina watched his retreating figure for a moment before leaning against the door, pressing her arms firmly against her longsword. With her other hands, she opened a book and began to read.

It was the very manual Andrew had found earlier in a chest—the *Naga Training Handbook*. This tome held the secrets to breaking the naga’s limits, and it was Vedina’s chance. She resolved to study it whenever she had the time, hoping to achieve a breakthrough even with her mortal frame.

Meanwhile, Andrew returned to his small residence. He cast a glance at the luggage still scattered across the hall floor and sighed inwardly.

The place was quiet, with no one else coming or going except himself. That was a blessing, but also a burden. The rooms were large, and he had to handle everything alone. Though he could summon undead servants or familiars in the courtyard, it was simpler to manage the clutter himself than to order his skeletal minions to do so.

After hauling all the luggage up to the master bedroom on the second floor, Andrew drew a slender rapier from his waist. It was forged at the smithy in the Underworld Palace—not a masterpiece, but decent quality. It hadn’t rolled any critical stats or special attributes meant for players, but it would suffice for now. After all, he now understood how a necromancer fought.

He had already resolved that, aside from his daily sword practice, he wouldn’t pour all his experience into swordsmanship unless absolutely necessary.

With everything put away, Andrew checked his attributes. His strength had changed somewhat during his time in the Underworld Palace. He needed to understand his true baseline.

[Name: Andrew (Andrew Eid: Cross-dimensional game player from the Southern Swamp realm, ordinary player of Adal-Malik city, Bunir district mortician / Andrew: Cross-dimensional game player of the Galactic Cantilever realm, Version 4 player, ordinary citizen of Azure Star)]

[Class: Necromancer (Necromancer: City Defense Type / No Secondary Class)]

[Level: 1]

[Mana: 179/180]

[Title: Eid I]

[Secondary Classes: Extraordinary Sailor Level 1, Apprentice Poisoner Level 3]

[Attributes: Strength 4.2, Agility 4.0, Constitution 5.0, Spirit 7.2]

[Active Skills: Basic Sailor Swordsmanship Level 4, Sail Control Level 4, Night Stabbing Sword Technique Level 1, Z-Secret Sword Level 1, Indigo Wind-Chasing Sword Technique Level 2, Goldsmithing Level 4, Simple Toolmaking Level 4, Falling Star Level 4, Starry Sky Beacon Level 1]

[Class Skills: Summoning Level 2, Lashar’s Eye Meditation Level 1, Bloodsucking Touch Level 1, Breath of Nature Meditation Level 1, Spirit Gathering Technique Level 1]

[Passive Skills: Magical Knowledge Level 3, Undead Knowledge Level 4, Basic Science Level 3, Basic Language Level 3, Ichthyology Level 1, Jungle Survival Knowledge Level 4, Toxicology Level 3, Cooking Knowledge Level 2, Botany Knowledge Level 3, Herbalism Level 2, Architecture Knowledge Level 1, Occult Knowledge Level 4 (Maya, Inca, Aztec, Weather, Sun, Death, Sacrifice, Deity Kukulkan, Deity Inti, etc.), Occult Knowledge Level 4 (Demonology)...]

[Advancement Skills: Urban Planning Level 1]

[Special Skills: Underworld Palace Lord Level 1, Underworld Ecosystem Level 1 (Tree-Bound Spirit Waterweed – Fishman System Level 1)]

[Training Knowledge: Rot-Skinned Man-Eating Wolf Level 1, Thrashing Fishman Level 1, Eagle Warrior Level 1]

[Experience: 2162]

Looking at his stats, Andrew glanced down at the rapier in his hand. “Strength hasn’t improved for a long time. I need to work on it again. I can’t let my strength hold me back.”

With that resolve, he stepped out of his room.

Reaching the hall, Andrew cast a glance at the empty kitchen and muttered, “It’s all just for show. No food provided, and I have to find my own meals. This place isn’t great—looked down on, and the benefits are worse than others.”

He stepped out into the rain, wearing a silver-scaled rain cloak. His right hand gripped a Death Staff. Raindrops fell upon his face but did not deter his stride.

He made no effort to summon a mount; instead, he walked steadily along the wooden walkway, his gaze occasionally sweeping the surroundings.

The Bunir district was now densely populated. Despite the eerie legends surrounding Golden Scissors Street, newcomers kept arriving. Houses on both sides of the street were fully occupied, and the street itself bore the faint bustle of prosperity.

Because the Southern Swamp realm was perpetually rainy, the wooden walkways that served as main roads were relatively narrow—only enough for two vehicles side by side. Instead, the wider eaves of the houses formed covered alleys, which had become well-trodden thoroughfares.

Andrew wasn’t bothered by the rain nor did he push his way into the crowded streets. Instead, he focused his attention on the people moving through those narrow passages.

He noticed that the residents weren’t primarily laborers as he’d initially thought. Most of the people bustling about were stocky men—not very tall, with dark skin—likely dockworkers or stevedores.

Considering the terrain of Bunir district, Andrew pieced together the purpose behind the area’s design. It was meant to serve as an external port. Besides the beast-ship sailors, dockworkers were the most needed.

Beast-ship crews were few, tasked mainly with tending the lizard beasts crawling in the swamp’s mud. The real priority was unloading all cargo from the beast-ships as quickly as possible.

Andrew observed that, despite the crowds, it wasn’t a particularly busy time. The dockworkers moved through the throng but didn’t seem rushed.

This suggested that the district was not a newly established area. Andrew suspected one of two things: either the district was nearing abandonment, or it had completed its initial phase and was undergoing its first industrial transformation.