"Ruben, I want steak with black pepper for lunch today."
Mayuna went down to the second basement level. The space here was much larger than the floor above, but strange props were piled everywhere, making it a complete mess. Avoiding the unknown machinery, Mayuna walked over to Ruben, who was fiddling with a test tube, and gave her order without hesitation. Several days had passed since she had shamelessly moved in, and she was gradually getting used to ordering Ruben around.
"We're out of black pepper. Just eat it as it is."
"No! Steak without black pepper is incomplete. Hurry up and think of something!"
Mayuna refused willfully. She wanted to tell Ruben to go buy some in Dris, but after thinking it over, there was no way such a border town would sell such delicious spices. She could only place her hopes on Ruben.
"You... haven't you been getting more and more willful lately?"
Ruben set aside what he was doing and turned to look at Mayuna. He dearly missed the Mayuna who used to grab him and ask, "Where are the Elemental Spirits?" For some reason, after moving in here, her mental age seemed to have dropped quite a bit.
"Have I? That's just your imagination."
Mayuna refused to admit it. She did not think she was especially willful either. That had a great deal to do with her past. She had only been five when her parents left her, right at the age when children were most spoiled. After Yura rescued her, she had never made any friends. All she had was a teacher who loved her. It could be said that aside from being willful, she basically did not know how to get along with others.
Of course, it also had something to do with Ruben spoiling her too much. In Mayuna's eyes, Ruben was like a clay doll. Whatever she told him to do, he did it. He never lost his temper or got angry, though he never smiled either.
"Hmph..."
A cold snort came from above Ruben's head. Dragon, the branch that had snapped into two pieces a few days ago, had now taped himself back together. He opened his single purple eye, glanced at Mayuna, and closed it again, as though he had seen non-burnable trash. That expression naturally infuriated Mayuna, and she secretly swore to snap Dragon into three pieces next time.
"Then let's try our luck. If we're lucky, it might drop."
Ruben took the crossbow hanging on the wall and held it in his hand. This weapon, created from the crystallized wisdom of ancient people, had a simple structure and was easy to make. Before Ruben created firearms, it had been his best choice for hunting.
"Drop?"
Mayuna looked doubtfully at the weapon in Ruben's hand. Her instincts told her it was some sort of bow weapon, but its shape was strange, and it was much smaller than an ordinary bow.
Creak.
The old wooden door let out a teeth-grinding squeal. Ruben and Mayuna walked out of the little cabin one after the other. Facing the sun hanging high in the sky, Mayuna felt as though a lifetime had passed. Thinking back, Ruben had carried her inside back then, yet now she was walking out as the lady of the house. The world was truly strange.
"What are you doing?"
Just as Mayuna was feeling sentimental, Ruben gently pressed the back of his hand against her cheek. There was no excessive movement, and Mayuna merely glanced sideways at him before asking calmly.
"You were spacing out badly. Are you uncomfortable because you haven't seen the sun in too long?"
"Do you take me for an undead? Get to work."
Mayuna replied irritably and pushed Ruben into the forest at the foot of the mountain.
This small mountain near Dris had no name. The townsfolk generally called it the back mountain. Now, a young man and woman walked along its uneven mountain paths, searching for what they wanted.
"There it is."
Ruben stopped. His crossbow was already in a firing stance, his eyes fixed tightly on the sight. Within his sights, a strange plant leaped out of the ground and began running across the earth with bizarre movements.
Its body was long and slender like a vine, around half a meter in length. Two plant roots extended from both its middle and lower portions, like human limbs assisting its movement. At the top was a huge head with no eyes, only a mouth. Its hollow maw was filled with sharp teeth. One look was enough to tell that it was not a friendly creature.
"Monster Grass? Is that what you were looking for?"
Mayuna recognized this monster. No one knew whether it should be classified as a plant or an animal. Monster Grass possessed a special ability that allowed it to tunnel through the earth while ignoring physical collisions. It ate anything, and its huge head often stored all sorts of strange items.
Whoosh.
Ruben pulled the trigger and fired the first bolt, but he did not look to see whether it had hit. Instead, he immediately loaded another bolt and drew the string for a second shot. The bizarre Monster Grass was unexpectedly agile. The moment it noticed the attack, it twisted its body aside. Almost simultaneously, the second bolt followed, striking beneath its head and pinning the Monster Grass to a tree trunk.
"Got it."
Ruben ran over to the struggling Monster Grass, pulled out his knife, and cut off its head. From then on, the Monster Grass completely lost its life.
"You caught Monster Grass that easily..."
Ruben's actions surprised Mayuna somewhat. Although Monster Grass was only a level-two monster, its agility rivaled that of a level-three monster. Like natural dancers, they used all kinds of strange poses to evade attacks. For humans to catch one bare-handed was basically a dream. The most ridiculous case was when an entire low-level mage group had failed to catch a single Monster Grass that had stolen their leader's gemstone, becoming a laughingstock across the entire continent.
"You just have to predict its movement path. Practice makes perfect. After all, I've dealt with this kind of plant for more than ten years."
As Ruben spoke, he cut the Monster Grass's head in half. There was no bloody mess inside. It was rather dry, and Ruben extracted a chunk of ore and held it in his hand.
"Hmm, iron ore."
"Wait, so your so-called trying our luck means catching Monster Grass to see what's inside its head?"
Mayuna's mind was in a mess. Monster Grass was absolutely one of the most hated monsters on the Holy Continent. Its ability to tunnel underground allowed it to cause trouble everywhere. It was difficult to catch, and even when caught, it took considerable effort. The reward gained from cutting open its head was not worth the trouble. But putting it bluntly, this was basically like a lottery. What if they struck it lucky?
"Of course. These Monster Grass often drop strange things that are useful to me."
"Can they drop black pepper?"
"That's why I said we're trying our luck."
Ice Magic [Ice Soul Bow].
Mayuna extended her right hand. Ice-blue bow limbs spread above and below her wrist, magic forming both bowstring and arrow. She did not even need her left hand as the arrow, carrying a cold hue, shot out like a meteor. The fierce wind it created blew Mayuna's pure white hair back as it flew straight toward a Monster Grass that had just surfaced for air.
"How could you possibly hit it like that..."
Just as Ruben had said, the Monster Grass easily dodged the arrow's path. However, Mayuna had never intended to capture the Monster Grass with [skill] in the first place. What she used was absolute [power]. The blue arrow split into ten in midair, ten became a hundred, and a hundred became a thousand. After a short flight, the Monster Grass was submerged beneath the rain of arrows. The extra arrows even covered the ground in a thick layer of frost.
"What did you just say?"
Mayuna lightly brushed aside her windblown hair and gave Ruben a smug glance.
"Nothing. What level magic was that?"
"Ice Soul Bow is a simple level-three spell. Ice Soul Arrow Rain is level seven."
"A temperature that won't cause frostbite... Copper ore. Good stuff."
Ruben felt sorry for the Monster Grass. It probably never would have imagined dying to high-level magic. After briefly checking the ice's temperature, he removed the Monster Grass's frozen head. With a light tap, the treasure inside was revealed.
"This guy..."
Seeing the eager look in Ruben's eyes, Mayuna became annoyed for no reason. He had never looked at her that way. In his eyes, she was actually inferior to a lousy rock!
"What's wrong?"
Seemingly sensing Mayuna's little sulk, Ruben finally put down the precious ore and looked up to ask.
"Nothing!"
After slaughtering more than a dozen Monster Grass, Mayuna finally obtained the black pepper she wanted.
PS: Please bookmark and recommend.
PS: Someone asked where the protagonist got those things and how he made them. This is a world of magic, of course they drop from monsters.
PS: Ah Cao: I have something to say, but I'm not sure whether I should say it.
PS: Your game's Spring event is live. As an Admiral, I'm going to take my wives into battle. Once the Spring event is over and I have some free time, I should update twice a day.
PS: A little advertisement. There's an event on the Qidian app called the 515 Work Championship. If readers have time, please vote for me in the signed authors section of Great God Discussion. Thanks.
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