NOVEL WEB Chapter 10: Envoy.
Chapter 10: Envoy.
The next morning, most of the Austin caravan people couldn’t wake up because of the hangover.
"Do you need to leave?" Kevin said.
"Yes." Levi already changes into the clothes that mercenaries usually wear and carries a sword. He can’t keep wearing fur clothes in a human town.
"Where are you going?"
"I don’t know yet." After interacting with humans, he found out that most of them are weak. But he still needs to be careful of adepts and people with power. Well, if he has no choice, he can try killing them or escaping, like he usually does in his past lives.
"Take this." Kevin handed over a bronze badge with a symbol of Gryphon and a sword.
"What is this?"
"Gryphon merchant envoy badge if you have this, you can have a discount in our store."
"Thank you." Austin and Kevin never said anything about Gryphon Merchant along their journey. Levi doesn’t ask anything and leaves the city with Ben.
"Too bad he doesn’t want to follow us," Austin said.
"It’s fine, we will meet again." Ember thought when Levi heard the name of the Gryphon merchant. He will be surprised and try to flatter her to make a connection. But he doesn’t show any reaction. Then again, Levi has been living in Pondover Forest, maybe he doesn’t know about Gryphon Merchant.
"Miss, I already sent a message for help; they will arrive in several days and investigate the attacker."
"Good, I thought it would be a boring journey, but instead a lot of things happened."
"Miss, I also sent a message to your father to send a flying ship to pick you up."
"Why, there is time before winter arrives!"
"I am afraid for your safety."
"No, you don’t understand! I lied to my father to come here; instead, I said, I am going to a family vacation villa." Ember's face is pale; her allowances will be cut and she will be grounded.
-
Two humans and a monster are resting near the road. Levi still hasn’t decided where to go. Returning to the Pondover Forest is dangerous, and he still doesn’t know if Hillford town has sent an army to capture Austin's caravan. He is afraid to be implicated. And he is not the protagonist in the novel who can fight a whole army.
"Don’t eat the whole jar; I need to use it for cooking," Levi growled at the horned bear that licked the jar of honey.
"When are you going to start cooking?"
"It’s still early, and you already had breakfast."
Levi thought Clara had already left as soon as he came out of the town gate. She suddenly appeared and wanted breakfast. It is not a problem since he already buys the ingredient in town. But the problem is why he needs to feed her. In the end, he can only accept his fate. She is stronger than him, and he doesn’t want Ben to get hurt without a good reason.
"If you cook, I will teach you blood manipulation."
"My answer is still no, and are you a vampire?"
"No, and blood manipulation is a branch of magic."
"I don’t see you creating a magic circle."
"Because it was primitive magic."
"What is primitive magic?" All spells require drawing a magic circle before casting.
"It’s the first magic that people in the past used. But now most mages use the modern magic that you are using. And blood magic is considered bad, just as dark magic is."
"What is the requirement to learn blood magic?"
"Pain and perseverance."
"Does all primitive magic go through the same process?"
"Yes."
‘No wonder primitive magic is almost gone." How many people can withstand the pain and suffering?’ Levi thought, and he already has enough suffering from his reincarnations.
"Now I will teach you."
"Are you listening? I don’t want to learn blood manipulation."
"After that, you can begin cooking." Clara ignored Levi's protest.
"No." Levi rubbed his head.
Levi growled, and Ben stopped licking and returned the jar reluctantly. They begin to continue their journey. Clara, at the same time, teaches him about blood manipulation magic. A mage normally absorbs mana. However, primitive magic focuses on absorbing the element. That means if you want to learn fire magic, you need to get engulfed in or consume fire. But the process is painful and requires special techniques to learn.
-
Violet Forest in spring, there is a special tree that will bloom with violet flowers. But right now is autumn, and the red and orange leaves fall to the ground. Compared to Pondover Forest, there are no large monster nests in Violet Forest.
The Demon Lion Bandit's lair when people think about the bandit's base, people will think of a dirty place. However, The Demon Lion Bandit is different everything is clean, and they stay inside a fortress. This place used to be a stronghold against the enemy before being abandoned. And the weird thing is the bandit leader was an elderly man with white hair and a beard.
Inside a room. "Young master, you should take over this position." The elderly man looks at the black-haired man lying on the sofa and eating fruit. A few months ago, the young master wanted to become a bandit king. With an adept rank protector, it is easy to take over a bandit group called Violet Viper Bandit. After that, the young master renames it the Demon Lion Bandit.
"You’re doing good as a bandit leader, and I am the bandit king." He doesn’t want to manage the bandit; he just wants to have fun.
"It’s about time we returned home."
"Why? Even our man is already used to this lifestyle."
The elderly man can only sigh inwardly. The young master has been spoiled since young. From becoming a scion that caused trouble to a bandit that killed, robbed, and raped women. He used to serve the young master's mother before she passed away and has been taking care of the young master ever since.
"Should we at least send a letter to the count telling him you are safe?"
"No, Father will send his man to take me home." The young master makes a no-sign gesture.
"But, the winter is coming." During the winter, most monsters will become crazy because of hunger.
"Don’t worry, Violet Forest doesn’t have any large monster nests."
There is a knock on the door, and a man wearing full body armor enters. "Young master, our man is ready." The armored man has been ordered to protect the young master from harm. Instead, he has become a bandit captain. People who recognize him and the young master are already being killed. He can’t let Count reputation be tarnished. But looking at his young master's boldness, it was hopeless. Let’s hope nothing big happens before he retires.
"Good, let’s have fun."
-
Levi and others have been living outdoors for several days. And only go to the town to buy supplies. After leaving Ben and Clara outside, Levi enters the town alone. Finally, he is free from those two gluttons. He found blood manipulation magic interesting and faster to cast compared to the magic circle. But he is still hesitant, dying so many times and having bad experiences in a past life doesn’t mean that he is used to pain.
After asking around, he found the grocery shop. Levi opens the door and the bell ring. Inside there is the smell of herbs and spices.
The female shopkeeper faces changes to be respectful. The reason why is in the past: a new shop manager is rude to a mercenary and gets his head cut off. The kingdom has laws, but what is the point if you are dead?
"Sir, do you need anything?" The female shopkeeper is nervous. Normally, only the servants of merchants and aristocrats will enter this shop. Because serfs and peasants rarely buy herbs and spices. For mercenaries, they usually buy dried meat and other stuff in different shops.
Levi told her what he wanted. And the shopkeeper explains the herbs and spices that meet his requirements. After paying and wrapping the stuff, Levi leaves the shop without incident. The price of herbs and spices is not cheap according to peasant salaries. But for him, it was worth it; he doesn’t like bland food.
He comes out of town when the sun is almost set. Clara and Ben look like they have been starving for a long time.
"Food."
~Growl~
Only after Levi finishes cooking do both of them become energized again when eating.
Levi begins to meditate, and the mana in the surrounding area begins to enter his body. At the same time, his body fatigue slowly disappears. He found out that the warrior and mage paths complement each other. But when he asked Nolan and Gideon about it, they said that usually people only choose one path. Because of the time and resources required to breakthrough each rank. Some people took both paths. But mostly, they can’t go far. Levi checking his death point.
[Death point: 1279.98 DP]
‘Now my problem is that I need to find a safe place before using the ability.' Levi thought.