Pursuit

This time, with all three of them fully prepared and on high alert, the two Tattooed Cat Demons' ambush not only failed, it left them injured instead.

Especially the one that had rushed at Lin Mo. Cody had already blinded one of its eyes with his dagger earlier, and now it had taken two more strikes from Lin Mo. Rustling sounds kept coming from the dark forest; it could no longer hide its tracks as perfectly as before.

"Damn things. They're really hard to deal with."

Cody rubbed his numb, aching arm, still shaken.

Under these circumstances, his skill had no room to work at all, greatly limiting his strength. If Bern had not helped him, he probably would have had a hard time blocking the Tattooed Cat Demon's immediate follow-up attack.

If it happened again, he was not even sure he could catch the first blow.

"They may not attack again..."

Bern stared in the direction where the cat demons had retreated. Because he had fought this kind of monster more than once, he knew a few things about Tattooed Cat Demons that were not recorded in books.

Tattooed Cat Demons possessed extremely high speed and no small amount of strength, making them a huge threat to adventurers, especially newcomers. But of course, this kind of monster also had a weakness, and that was its constitution.

This point was recorded in the Monster Bestiary.

But their frail constitution did not only show itself in weak defenses. It also included a severe lack of stamina and poor endurance in prolonged combat.

The most dangerous part of this kind of monster was its first few ambushes. Once those ambushes failed, after three attempts at most, they would give up on their own and choose to retreat.

Especially since the clash just now had cost those two Tattooed Cat Demons quite a bit. In Bern's experience, they should not keep stubbornly charging in anymore.

Of course, that was one thing to say, but he would not let down his guard because of it. He continued to observe their surroundings cautiously.

"They're retreating..."

Lin Mo listened to the faint movements in the forest. At the very least, the Tattooed Cat Demon he had injured was already retreating in a direction away from them.

The three of them remained on full alert until the sun finally rose and the world before their eyes gradually brightened...

With that, the crisis was over.

Cody let out a breath of relief, walked over to a tree, and sat down to rest.

Bern wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up the firewood on the ground, and rekindled the campfire that had just gone out.

Miriam's condition had already stabilized. Her wound had begun to scab over, and because treatment had been timely enough, she had not lost too much blood. She looked to be in fairly good shape.

But she clearly was in no hurry to stand up. She continued leaning in Evan's arms, still wearing a slightly disdainful expression as she spoke softly in a hoarse voice.

Lin Mo now understood why Life Potions were called an adventurer's second life.

This stuff really was absurd. As long as it was not a fatal wound, one bottle, or even half a bottle, could immediately restore someone to seventy or eighty percent. Even for a fatal wound, as long as it was used in time, there was a chance of saving the person in most cases.

Apart from being unable to heal hard injuries like severed limbs or broken bones, it really was equivalent to an adventurer's second health bar.

Thinking of this, he could not help touching his waist. Inside the waist pouch on the inner side of his Leather Armor, there was a thin, small bulge.

That was right. Lin Mo naturally would not miss out on something this good.

Back when he had reported his assets to the young Dwarf blacksmith Edgar at the forge, he had deliberately left out 16 Gold Coins. That was precisely because, even then, he had already decided to buy a bottle of Basic Life Potion worth 15 gold.

As for the remaining 1 Gold Coin, it was kept for emergencies.

After the crisis they had just experienced, a relatively hearty breakfast could soothe their still-unsettled emotions somewhat.

Lin Mo took smoked dried meat from his bag, added some cheese cubes, sandwiched them in bread, and placed it over the campfire to roast.

The edges of the bread were toasted slightly crisp, and the aroma of fat and cheese soaked into the soft middle of the bread. With one bite, a person's mood would improve by quite a bit.

Bern sat beside him, eating basically the same breakfast as Lin Mo. Ever since Lin Mo had shown him this way of eating, he had fallen in love with it.

Not far away, Evan and Miriam leaned against each other. Evan had boiled a bowl of hot water, tore the bread into small pieces, and put them inside, feeding the girl beside him spoonful by spoonful.

"When Evan was very young, he loved taking a carefully chosen branch and 'doing justice.' Back then, because Miriam's parents had met with an accident, the children nearby often bullied her."

Bern looked at the two young people over there and spoke slowly, as if telling a story while eating breakfast.

"Every time Evan saw Miriam being bullied, he would strike what he thought was a handsome pose, stand in front of her, and try to be a hero. Then those little brats would beat him black and blue... He couldn't accept always getting beaten, so he started training constantly and figuring out 'swordsmanship.' As he grew taller and taller, he slowly beat that group into submission, and only then did he become the king of the kids."

"After Miriam's parents passed away, she could only stay temporarily at her uncle's house. When times were good, she could still get some leftovers from the family's meals. But if the harvest was bad, she would often go hungry for several meals."

"Back then, Evan often came to me to take tasks like 'feeding chickens' or 'running errands.' He'd earn one or two Copper Coins, buy black bread, and eat it with her."

"Later, when Miriam turned ten, her uncle finally still drove her out of the house. She could only fend for herself and find odd jobs around town."

"But not many people were willing to hire a ten-year-old child, so most of the time she couldn't find work. She could only barely get by on Evan's help..."

"I remember it should have been the year Evan turned thirteen. One day, he came to me with a worried face and asked for an advance of two Copper Coins. He also asked me why I had so much money... I told him it was because I was an adventurer and could make money by taking the Guild's tasks. From that day on, he always treated becoming an adventurer as his goal."

"Finally, when he turned sixteen, under his parents' request, Evan went out adventuring with me. He used the money he had saved to rent a room for Miriam, and only then did her life of sleeping rough and going hungry finally end."

"Before we knew it, almost another two years had passed. Miriam finally turned sixteen as well, reaching the age for registration, and joined our party..."

So there was a story like that.

Lin Mo looked at the two of them, who were chatting about something he did not know. Miriam, her lips slightly pursed, lightly punched Evan in the chest. Evan did not hit back, only grinned foolishly.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of the receptionist at the Adventurer's Guild.

The Beastkin Catgirl with beautiful silver-gray hair, named Laina.

Recently, it seemed he had been getting more and more familiar with her. Every time he accepted or turned in a task, they would chat for a few lines...

He shook his head with a wry smile. He really had eaten too much dog food; now he was starting to hallucinate.

It was just her job. Better not get carried away.

Unwilling to think any further, Lin Mo simply changed the subject.

"Too bad about those two Tattooed Cat Demons just now. If we could've killed one, the mission would've been finished right away."

When those two Tattooed Cat Demons retreated earlier, he had actually been tempted to chase them, but after thinking it over, it was far too dangerous, so he had given up.

"It's not a pity."

Bern shook his head. "That Tattooed Cat Demon was badly injured. It won't be able to run far."

"You mean..."

"We can pursue it!"

At some point, Cody had come to their side. "During the day, there's no need to be that afraid of them!"