Translator: TransN_  Editor: Meh

"One, two, three, four..."

Lorgar dumped the gold royals out from her bag on the table and carefully counted them twice, her brows tightly knitted together.

There were only 21 of them.

In less than half a month, she had used up three-quarter of her savings. She was certain that if she continued to live this way, she would have to flee back to her home in disgrace, dumping all her pride and lofty aspirations into quicksand.

The prices in a big city are so high, particularly in Evelyn's Complex Wine House!

The drinks are outrageously expensive. It's like an open robbery.

"No..." Lorgar whimpered as she lowered her head in dejection, her ears dropping as well. She had to admit that the wine shop had never robbed her and she had willingly taken out her gold royals to buy the drinks. In fact, the shop owner had even expressed worries for her many times when she had spent lots of money there. The owner had also told her that after joining the Witch Union, she would have been able to get one bottle for free each month. However, what the owner said failed to register in her brain.

I was defeated by my own desire.

Or by my curiosity.

But...

It's not my fault. Those Chaos Drinks are so enchanting. Even the morning dew of Arturo Oasis doesn't taste that good. Their amazing flavors are beyond description and each one of the colorful drinks is unique and tasty. Complex Wine House does deserve its reputation.

If all the wine house' drinks had the same flavor, even if they were as tasty as the Three G.o.ds' brew, Lorgar was confident that she could control herself. After all, she knew that drinking a proper amount of wine would do good to a warrior, but drinking too much would be destructive. However, Chaos Drinks were too unpredictable. She just couldn't wait to try another flavor and had unconsciously spent her money like running water.

Feeling frustrated, Logar moved her head from side to side, rubbing her forehead against the cold table, trying to clear her head.

No, I must stop indulging myself.

She had been intrigued by the wine house in the city. She found that the place that sold horrendously expensive drinks also turned out to be a really good spot to broaden her horizon and collect information. Sitting anywhere inside the wine house, she could overhear conversations of merchants coming from all over the northern kingdoms. Unlike the traveling traders in the Southernmost Region, most merchants here were wealthy and able to give insightful comments on the things that the Wolf Girl had never heard before. She had benefited a lot from hearing these talks. She could also meet some of the witches here, through whom she could also learn some inside information about the Witch Union.

Unfortunately, her remaining money could hardly support her plan to stay in the city to wait for those kinds of opportunities.

She had to take action now.

To overcome her desire for the drinks, she was going to find someone to fight and she had better leave the city to do so. This way, she would be able to stay away from Neverwinter's Complex Wine House and forget everything during combat.

When the Wolf Girl closed her eyes, the sand road arose in her mind.

Yes, that's it. This must be a challenge the Three G.o.ds give me.

She cheered up at the thought.

She patted her own cheeks to refresh herself, put all the gold royals back in her bag, and started to pack her belongings.

She had not wasted the entire half month in the Complex Wine House. Ashes had introduced her to her lifesaver, Miss Nana Pine, and now she knew that Nana, Lily and Leaf were the three witches who had a curing ability in Neverwinter. She was happy to find that they did not just serve the great chief. These three witches ran a hospital in the city and all the residents here could pay to get their treatments which were much cheaper than Chaos Drinks.

Under such circ.u.mstances, the Wolf Girl was able to get medical care whenever she needed, even if she did not work for the great chief. This was better than what she had expected.

Among the three witches, Ms. Nana had the strongest healing power, but it only worked directly on the patient. Fortunately, Lily and Leaf could create magic medicines, such as this bottle of gray powder in Lorgar's hand, which was called "special medicine for metal-infected wounds". It was made by Miss Leaf and could rapidly stop bleeding.

Another bottle of liquid medicine named "Cleansing Water" was produced by Lily. It looked like ordinary water from wells but was able to resist infections. Lorgar thought its effect did match its name. When a warrior's wound was exposed, infection was even more fatal than blood loss and pain. This common knowledge made Lorgar quickly recognize the value of this potion. If it did not have a shelf life, she would definitely buy all the purification potion she could find.

She could buy both of these medicines at the hospital. Given their effects, she thought their prices were not high at all. They were undoubtedly the best safeguard for any warrior who wanted to challenge their limits and fight strong opponents. She was confident that she could defeat any strong enemy as long as she could use these medicines properly.

The other things in her plan had not gone as smooth. Firstly, all the tricks she had prepared to explore the northern kingdom had turned out to be useless since Neverwinter had no "Rats a.s.sociation" that the traveling traders had mentioned to her. Secondly, the residents here seemed to know nothing about demons. She had asked several dozens of people but had still failed to get any clue. Instead, she had aroused suspicion and even been followed by some men in black.

By now, she had only known demons from Ashes' descriptions and a conversation she had overheard in Complex Wine House. They had once appeared in an abandoned city in the wilderness to the north of Neverwinter.

According to her past experiences, she should not take initiative to attack an opponent whom she knew so a little about. However, she still urged herself to action, since she was eager to get rid of the Chaos Drinks' temptation and prove herself to the great chief.

She thought that since this journey was a challenge, it would inevitably be filled with obstacles and setbacks.

She was well prepared in her heart.

...

Outside the City of Neverwinter, she found an uninhabited dense forest. She took off her clothes and transformed into the big wolf, darting toward the north with her pack held in her mouth.

She did not know the specific location of the abandoned city or when she would be able to meet a demon, but she had enough patience. As a Desert Wolf who had acute hearing and smell, she believed that she could easily live for a long time in this wilderness which was a dangerous place for an ordinary person. This ability had enabled her to discover and kill hidden enemies again and again back in the Southernmost Region.

She was confident that she would be able to copy her success again.

Stepping on the soil mixed with melting snow, she somehow felt that the Three G.o.ds would lead her to meet the real enemy.

She did not run very far before she heard a sudden whistling sound in the air. It sounded as if something was rapidly crackling through the air.

She knew that someone was swooping down toward her!

This familiar sound alerted the Wolf Girl.

In the holy duel on the Burning Stage, the Four-winged Eagle had launched a surprise attack at her with this method. She had not been able to dodge such a quick blow at the time, but now she had enough experience to deal with it.

As an excellent Mojin warrior, she would never allow herself to be hit twice by the same kind of attack.

Lorgar balanced on one leg while turning her whole body to the side, planning to meet the coming attacker head on. She held the ground tightly with her st.u.r.dy hind legs, tensed her muscles, and opened her claws, ready to ferociously counterattack when the enemy landed.

In the next moment, she saw a big monster hit the ground where she had been, splas.h.i.+ng a lot of snow water into the air. Its wings were even broader than those of the Four-winged Eagle. When it landed, the ground seemed to tremble.

Meanwhile, she heard it whine as if it was greatly surprised by the fact that it missed its target.

"Coo?"