Haste!
I ran without looking back, using my boots’ enchantment. Several arrows flew above my head and landed around me. There were quite a few hunters using a bow as a weapon. However, due to the long distance between us and my irregular pathing, their accuracy was extremely low.
“Levi. Keep an eye open for traps and check if the other fairies are making a move.”
“I know what to do.”
The fairy disappeared in the corner of my eyes as I focused on the terrain ahead of me. I was running right in the middle of the Slimes’ territory. We were in the middle of the day and with me not bothering about being discreet, many slimes would pop out and try to attack me. I had to be careful and avoid unnecessary combat.
‘Hopefully, the other hunters will also face monsters along the way…’
‘There’s about 7km to the village. I won’t be able to maintain a sprinting speed for too long but with my vitality having been improved by the Revitalising Mud, I should have a better stamina than the average person.’
Woosh!
An arrow interrupted my thoughts as it narrowly missed my right leg. I swung my spear at a nearby slime attempting to jump on me, killing it with the Static enchantment. I had no time to pick up its mana stone; I quickly took a sharp turn behind a giant rock, barely evading a volley of arrows.
‘They are getting better at aiming, huh.’
There was a large open area in front where I would be exposed to the archers, but I had no choice but to go through it. I bit my lips, knowing full well that I would be hit sooner or later.
Crack!
A different sound that I expected flowed to my ears. I felt something warm on my waist. When I glanced at the source of the heat, I noticed that one of the protection amulet I tied to my belt had disappeared.
‘One protection amulet down. Does this mean I was going to take a lethal hit just now?’
Behind me, I noticed that a faint yellow barrier was protecting my body; several arrows could be seen embedded in the barrier. The barrier was flickering but it continued to block the incoming arrows.
‘Each protection amulet works differently. Looks like this one gives me a brief protection period after being activated. Hopefully, it will last until I get out of this open area. Once I reach the coyotes’ zone, it should be fine.’
Sadly, the protection amulet was not as powerful as I hoped. Just after running a few hundred metres, my right leg tensed as an arrow pierced through it, causing me to tumble on the rocky ground.
‘Sh*t.’ I cursed and quickly used Cleanse and Heal.
The barrier behind me had disappeared; there were no more obstacles between me and the hunters. As long as the attack was not lethal, my second protection amulet would not activate.
Fortunately, I was not far from the coyotes’ zone which was full of hiding spots and obstacles to protect me. I forced myself to move forward; I could not allow the distance between the hunters and I to shrink or else, they would be able to reach me with their spells. Although the effect of the spells were limited on a first circle creature, considering how many hunters were running after me, they would be able to infinitely chain their spells.
…
Surprisingly, I was able to quickly distance myself from the hunters. After a mad sprint through the coyotes’ zone, I was no longer able to see the silhouettes of the hunters behind me. The improvement in my stamina from having bathed in the Revistalising Mud was undeniable. I was panting hard, feeling exhausted now that I outran the hunters and yet, I pushed myself to continue forward. I could feel my heart beating abnormally fast.
I suffered from a couple of injuries; my shoulders and legs have all been pierced by arrows at least once. I suppressed the pain as I cast my spells in quick succession. The village came into view, looking as desertic as usual I had about five to ten minutes before the hunters would reach the village. Soon, it would all be over.
I rushed to the merchant tower and found the clerk casually cleaning up his counter.
“Hello, customer. How may I help you?”
“Please trade these giant rats for me. There should be forty.” I replied hurriedly. I dumped all the corpses on the counter, despite the look of disapproval on the clerk’s face. I did not have time to be polite.
“Please transfer the required number of points once you are done with the counting process. I need to have a look at the shop on the second floor before the hunters reach the village.”
Without waiting for an answer, I rushed upstairs with Levi who tactfully landed on the ground. I stopped at the top of the stairs and forced myself to calm down. The clerk downstairs was rather friendly and easy to speak to; he remained calm at all time and would not mind if a hunter behaved a little bit out of line.
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However, the woman in charge of the second floor shop was completely different. She was clearly a very advanced creature who could even intimidate Levi. Based on the few interactions we had, I knew I could not mess with her and dared not be disrespectful.
I took a deep breath and pushed aside the curtain before entering the shop with Levi. The woman in charge glanced at us with her usual cold eyes before she disinterestedly returned to playing with the coins.
“Hello, I brought back some Nazlock Coins, enough to purchase a few treasures.” I said nervously.
The woman waved her hand, indicating that I was free to browse the items.
“Quick. Give me my share of the coins.” Levi said excitedly.
“Sure.” I took out about 1500 coins and handed them to him.
Levi stared dumbfoundedly at the pile of coins. “Where is the rest? We agreed to split 40/60. I am sure you have about 13000 coins. I should get at least 5000.”
“We agreed to split what we find in the tombs. But I obtained all these coins and items from healing the other hunters. These are two separate matters and I do not need to share them with you.”
“…” The fairy frowned. His expression darkened. “You tricked me! You are going back on our agreement!”
“Maybe… But I am not the first to do so. I still don’t know what you took from the tombs without my knowledge. As for how you did it, my guess is that you argued over the definition of the word treasure since the items here can also be found on the floors above, except for the Nazlock Coins.” I replied calmly. I forced myself not to smile as I watched Levi turning red in anger.
Although I had no obligations to hand him more Nazlock Coins, I felt that it was in my best interest to do so. I gave him the location of one of the fairies’ treasure and there was a chance, albeit small that Levi might be crowned as the fairy king. Having him as an enemy in the future would be troublesome.
“What are you even planning to buy if I give you 5000 coins? The egg of an elemental beast?”
“Hmmph! Why are you asking when you know it is the only thing that cost that much? Since we are giving up on the Royals’ section, I already know I won’t be able to afford the useful artefacts or the artificial seed. I may as well buy the next most useful thing to me. What can I buy with only 1500 coins? These equipment are lacking compared to what the fairy race can make; they won’t last me very long.”
“I see. I can give you these coins but I would like something in exchange.”
His eyes brightened. There was some hope that he may be able to purchase an egg after all. “What is it?”
I paused for a moment, thinking about the most tactful way of saying it. “Your blood. I want you to fill a small potion bottle with your blood. I’ll pay you the 3500 Nazlock Coins difference for that bottle of blood.”
Levi was taken aback. “My blood? Why on earth would you want my blood?”
“Mmm… First to research it and second, to maybe drink it.”
“You want to drink my blood? Why? I thought that the humans did not drink the blood of other creatures.”
“We cannot. Only the Blood Wings race lives off blood. However, since you are a fourth circle creature, I thought I may gain unexpected things from drinking it.” I replied awkwardly.
Levi stared at me suspiciously. “It is true that some creatures can get some benefits from consuming the blood of advanced creatures but these cases are very rare… Yet, why do I feel that you are hiding the real reason why you want my blood. You are sweating a lot more than usual.”
‘Of course that is not the real reason.’
“Oh, don’t mind that. It is probably because I was forced to run all the way from the tombs to the village. Any way… Please make up your mind quickly. We do not have much time before the hunters reach the merchant tower.”
I turned my attention to the woman at the counter, leaving Levi to his thoughts. I took out the small clay jar containing the brown paste that could improve one’s elemental affinity and doubled down as an aphrodisiac. “Excuse me. I would like to ask. Are there any complementary treasures that can help improve the success rate of this paste?”
The woman stopped playing with the coins and sighed in annoyance. She raised her index finger and pointed at the shelf containing the artefacts. Two items rose from the shelf and floated to the counter.
The woman pointed at the first item, an ordinary looking stone. “This is a star stone. If you grind it and mix it with the paste, it will greatly increase its potency and thus, the success rate. It costs 2000 Coins.”
Then, her finger moved to the second item, a small ordinary dice. “The dice that changes the odds. You may only use it two more times. When tossed, it can improve your luck temporarily based on the number it lands on. The higher the number, the higher your luck would be. 4000 Coins.“
Without hesitation, I took out 6000 Coins and placed them on the counter. I was running out of time and also needed to pressure Levi into making a decision. I now only had 5500 coins left.
“Have you made your choice yet? We need to leave.” I said with an urging tone. I was deliberately putting more pressure on him.
Levi wore a conflicted expression. “I am really hesitant to give you my blood but at the same time, what exactly can you do with it? D*mn. F*ck it. Give me a bottle and let’s do this quickly.”
“You made the right choice.” I was pleasantly surprised by Levi’s decision but would not complain about it.
I took out an empty bottle from my storage belt and handed it to him. At the same time, I picked up the egg of the elemental beast corresponding to the time element as per Levi’s request. It left me with 2000 Coins for myself, enough for me to purchase a basic codex. The codices varied in price according to the spell they held. One could not determine which spell was written inside a codex but the circle it belonged to could be deduced.
I picked up the 1500 Nazlock Coins I previously gave to Levi and handed everything to the woman. She happily accepted them and released the runes holding the items. There was just one last trade to make. I turned toward Levi, holding the egg in my hand.
The fairy still looked anxious and hesitant. Objectively speaking, trading a few drops of blood for a loyal pet was an excellent trade. Yet, Levi hesitated to do so. Something inside of him was warning him not to give his blood so easily. However, in the end, he handed me a bottle full of purple blood with much regret.
‘With this. I have a contingency plan in case Levi ends up as the fairy king and does something stupid.’
I smiled faintly and quickly put back all the treasures in my storage belt. I would have ample time to use them in the near future.
“Looks like I will have a lot of customers today.” The woman suddenly spoke out of nowhere. She seemed happy at the opportunity to earn more coins.
I hurriedly took out the First Floor Ticket, staring at the curtain at the entrance. ‘Not worth the effort. They will learn sooner or later how cruel the world really is.’ Without hesitation, I tore the yellow piece of paper and together with Levi, disappeared from the shop.