Melina's hand was small, easily covered by Brandon Jenkins's palm.

"Not at all. You must have gone through so much pain, but from now on, I will protect you, I promise."

"I won't lose my witch a second time."

Melina lowered her head, not letting Brandon Jenkins see her expression.

After a while, she finally nodded, letting out a faint "mm."

Melina took a deep breath, trying hard to slow her pounding heartbeat.

Just now, she had been so startled by Brandon Jenkins's action that her mind went blank, and she didn't even think to pull her hand away.

Oh no, Torrent seems to have found someone strange.

Wait, wasn't it herself who let him touch her hand?

Melina looked up, seeming to have regained her usual calm, but Melina knew she wasn't as calm as she appeared.

"Next, I will help you convert runes into power. Please don't resist."

Golden runes were drawn out from Brandon Jenkins's body by Melina, gathering in her hand.

"You now have over 2200 runes, enough to increase two attribute points."

"I can help you allocate the power from the runes to vitality, focus, endurance, strength, dexterity, intelligence, faith, and arcane."

"Now, please choose where you want to allocate the power."

"Help me increase vitality and dexterity."

Melina nodded, indicating she understood.

Next, the golden runes slowly flowed back from Melina's hand, but this time, Brandon Jenkins felt the energy seep directly into his body, fusing tightly, impossible to separate again.

The two attribute points Brandon Jenkins chose had been carefully considered.

When Melina asked him how to allocate them, an upgrade panel suddenly appeared before Brandon Jenkins, letting him see his own stats:

Vitality: 15,

Focus: 10,

Endurance: 11,

Strength: 14,

Dexterity: 13,

Intelligence: 9,

Faith: 9,

Arcane: 7.

These are the starting stats for a knight: high vitality, strength, and dexterity, with no obvious weaknesses.

The lower intelligence, faith, and arcane aren't very important at the moment.

What Brandon Jenkins needs most now is margin for error—at least enough to activate Wind Spirit Moon Shadow's margin for error.

The auto-triggered invincibility against the Grafted Nobles only works once; every time after that, it must be activated manually.

So higher vitality will make Brandon Jenkins less likely to be killed instantly, and dexterity will help him dodge and attack more easily in battle, aiming for no injuries.

The transfer ended quickly, and the stats on the panel for vitality and dexterity became 16 and 14, respectively.

"That's it. Your runes have been converted into power, but please note that as your power increases, the runes required will also increase."

Brandon Jenkins let go of her hand, suddenly feeling a bit sad to realize this was his first time holding a girl's hand.

Melina then took out a few items from under her cloak and handed them to Brandon Jenkins.

In her left hand was a golden ring emitting a gentle glow, and in her right were two golden bottles, one filled with blue liquid and the other with red.

Melina first handed the two bottles to Brandon Jenkins.

"These are Holy Grail Flasks containing dew drops, made in imitation of the legend of the Golden Grail that holds the blessed dew. The red one can heal your wounds, and the blue one can restore your focus."

"Don't worry about saving them. Every time you rest at a Site of Grace, the dew will be replenished."

Brandon Jenkins accepted them and carefully put them in his bag—these were life-saving items.

伊漆\榴M（一）（三）ItIerjiu⑵羣 Melina then handed the ring in her left hand to Brandon Jenkins.

"When you need to travel long distances, please use this ring. It can be used as a whistle—blow it, and you can summon the spirit steed named Torrent."

"Torrent likes you very much. I hope you will treat him well."

Brandon Jenkins solemnly accepted the ring and slipped it onto the ring finger of his left hand, from which he had just removed his armguard.

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Chapter 16: Target—Weeping Peninsula

Brandon Jenkins sat in front of the Site of Grace, unable to figure out why Melina had suddenly disappeared.

He had wanted to ask how to blow the whistle after putting on the ring—if he couldn't make it sound, that would be awkward.

And there were still some questions he hadn't had time to ask, like whether he could teleport, or if items could be stored at the Site of Grace.

"Melina? Are you still there?"

"Forget it, Melina must have her reasons for doing this."

Brandon Jenkins took out a Holy Grail Flask.

"Let's see what it tastes like. Anyway, I can recover by sitting at the Site of Grace."

Brandon Jenkins licked his lips. After all this running around, he'd only eaten, never really had a proper drink of water.

He'd also forgotten to ask Kalé if he had a water pouch, but he hadn't seen one at the time, so probably not.

After all, almost everyone in the Lands Between is an undead, so they don't need to eat or drink.

"Gulp gulp—ah!"

Brandon Jenkins downed a bottle of blue dew in one go. It tasted pretty good, a bit like extra-cool iced black tea—refreshing and invigorating.

琉〖〶〭易〃Brandon Jenkins then tried the red dew. Yep, that's the taste—classic original iced black tea.

I miss you, boss.

After quenching his thirst, Brandon Jenkins watched as the dew drops were replenished one by one at the Site of Grace, and began to think about what to do next.