The Matriarch of Mirabar Town

The gluttonous halfling Regis, the severely wounded and incessantly cursing Dwarf King Bruenor Battlehammer, the dazed barbarian Wulfgar, and Drizzt Do'Urden, who was obsessed with sparring against Chen Jinyang—the addition of these four eccentric adventurers made the caravan much livelier, stretching a journey that should have taken two days into over four.

Ever since leaving the Underdark, Drizzt had not encountered an opponent who allowed him to unleash his full combat potential. Especially without any burdens—no need to worry about alignment, oaths, morality, or even whether he might injure his opponent—he could simply strike, dash, spin, leap-slash, and cleave. Drizzt indulged in all his combat techniques and artistry, time and again becoming intoxicated by the joy of battle. This was the true manifestation of his warlike soul.

Every battle left the onlookers in awe; not everyone had the chance to witness such high-level combat, and some might only see it once in a lifetime. The caravan's mercenaries and guards would rather travel less distance just to stop and watch. As Drizzt's adventuring companions, the trio of Bruenor knew the drow was strong and had fought alongside him many times, but they had never known his skills were so far beyond their imagination. Facing Drizzt's techniques, all the spectators felt a sense of shame, as if their own fighting styles were mere trash.

Looking at Chen Jinyang, everyone felt bewildered and incredulous. This man calmly held a longsword, blocking every one of Drizzt's attacks with a simple parry, and occasionally launched a counterattack that forced the drow to retreat and restart his assault. Yet, everyone felt this composed man still held back his strength. Even the highly prideful barbarian Wulfgar, who had been subdued by Chen Jinyang in a humiliating manner upon their first meeting and had wanted to regain his dignity after clearing his head, wisely abandoned that thought after witnessing the two fight.

Chen Jinyang, however, knew his own bitterness. The longsword in his hand was extremely awkward, and his left foot had not fully healed, preventing him from using his footwork for rapid offense and defense. Although he relied on his Grandmaster-level experience to nimbly intercept Drizzt's attack lines, he could only force the drow back slightly during counterattacks and could not pursue further. Of course, if Chen Jinyang were to ignite his blood energy and attack with full force, he could defeat or even kill Drizzt, but this was merely a spar, and there was no need to go all out and aggravate his injuries. The unsuitable weapon made Chen Jinyang feel incredibly stifled; even if the drow had lent him one of his ordinary scimitars, it would have been better than this piece-of-trash longsword. Yet, that damn Drizzt refused to lend him one during their spars, especially after seeing Chen Jinyang use a single scimitar to effortlessly slice a tree as thick as a man's embrace into three sections in an instant.

Several days of continuous fighting brought great gains to every spectator. If one were to ask who gained the most, it was certainly Drizzt. Through these days of repeated exchanges, he had connected all his previous combat experiences, finally forming the prototype of his own unique fighting style. Although this style had existed in his previous battles, this was the first time he had consciously summarized and integrated it. Without these few days, he might not have realized this even years later, or perhaps never in his entire life. This did not mean Drizzt's combat power had suddenly increased, but rather that his combat consciousness had sublimated, along with his mastery of the battle rhythm. The benefits of this sublimation would not be immediately apparent, but in the days to come, Drizzt would gradually find himself increasingly at ease during combat, even against that deadly assassin who was currently pursuing him as his lifelong rival.

As for who gained the least, aside from the two children who understood nothing, it was Chen Jinyang. Although he used Drizzt to understand the characteristics of this world's melee techniques, it was of no use for improving his own strength; the two cultivation systems were vastly different. Moreover, Chen Jinyang did not think much of what Drizzt had to offer; what he had learned in his past life was enough to study for a lifetime. If he had a decent blade, he could practice his sword arts, but unfortunately, he only had an extremely awkward longsword, which ruined his appetite. He secretly vowed that no matter what, he would get a good blade first.

When Chen Jinyang began to grow tired of this way of sparring, they reached the River Mirar. A wide river, over a dozen zhang across, lay before them, its current swift and turbulent, filled with ice shards of various sizes. The riverbed was dotted with rocks, some visible and some hidden, forming reefs in the light and shadow. Yet, it was precisely these reefs that formed the sturdiest foundation piers for the stone bridge connecting the two banks.

The roads at both ends of the stone bridge were extremely difficult to traverse; the cargo had to be unloaded so the horses could pull the empty wagons across. As for the unloaded goods, they had to be carried by hand. This was precisely why the scale of mineral transport from Mirabar to the south along the Long Road was greatly limited. Magic bags did not look large, but when filled with grain, they weighed six or seven hundred pounds, even after the magic effect halved their weight. Fortunately, the caravan had three powerhouses: Chen Jinyang, Phinia, and Wulfgar. Their efficiency in moving goods was greatly accelerated, yet it still took an entire day to transport all the grain to the opposite bank and reload the wagons. After crossing the bridge, they were only two or three miles from the city of Mirabar. They could see the gray-white walls of Mirabar from afar, but the exhausted caravan had no heart to go any further and instead set up camp to rest for the night. Everyone was exhausted to the point of collapse. Chen Jinyang, with his astonishing stamina, was fine, merely drenched in sweat, but Phinia and Wulfgar, the two main laborers, were in even worse shape, barely having the strength to eat. The only ones with energy were the wounded, such as Dwarf King Bruenor, and of course, the lazy little elf girl and the two children who did no work.

"Hey! How come I haven't seen that gluttonous Bruenor all day?"

"Hey! How did this guy show up just in time for dinner!" The chubby halfling puffed out his belly, acting as if he were extremely exhausted, but his feet moved quickly to the campfire, grabbing the prepared food and preparing to stuff it into his mouth. Unexpectedly, two different shouts dismantled his disguise: "Halfling (Glutton)! Where did you go today?!" A startled Regis quickly took a large bite of roasted sausage before turning back with a fawning smile to face his accusers. Regis, who had disappeared for the entire day, tried to crack jokes to muddle through, and the people who had been exhausted all day had no heart to bother with him. However, those few idlers who were full and had nothing to do would not let the halfling off, especially the irritable dwarf and the elf girl Aelf, who loved to stir up trouble. The Dwarf King was on the verge of an outburst because of his homecoming, and the Moon Elf had been repeatedly frustrated in front of Mishaer over the past few days, leaving her in a foul mood. Seeing the halfling as such an excellent punching bag, how could she let him go? Coupled with a few other bored instigators, the halfling was truly driven to the brink of misery.

Mirabar! The premier mining center of the North, the wealthiest city north of Waterdeep, and also the one most coveted by greedy monsters. The next day, Chen Jinyang led his companions, who were still aching after a night's rest, to the south gate of Mirabar. Beneath the walls, which were several zhang high and built of massive gray-white stone blocks, was a narrow metal gate that could only accommodate two or three horses abreast. The caravan's heavy wagons could not pass through at all. Chen Jinyang and the others, who were visiting Mirabar for the first time, were stunned. Damn it! Do we have to carry everything by hand again?

The mercenaries and guards from Longsaddle, who had been here several times, showed no surprise. One of the guards left the caravan and walked quickly to the gate, shouting to the four guards standing on the wall holding shields and poleaxes. Then, one of the guards ran down the wall and disappeared. The caravan stopped not far from the gate, and those who had not rested well leaned lazily against the wagons. Alos and Mishaer, the two children who were out for the first time, looked in amazement at the flat, thick stone-paved ground beneath their feet and the cold, heavy city walls. Bruenor shook his signature red beard and shouted, "I like this city! This is how a city should look for dwarves! I bet my beard on it, this city must have been built by dwarves! Otherwise, I'm a beardless gnome!" The elf girl, deliberately looking for trouble, interjected, "Shorty! If you didn't have a beard, wouldn't you still be a gnome?"

"Damn elf! You hairless, pale ghost! Are you looking for trouble?" The Dwarf King's red beard trembled with rage.

Regis chimed in with a grin, "That's not a gnome! That's just a beardless dwarf!" It wasn't every day he had the chance to retaliate against the Dwarf King who often bullied him, so the halfling naturally had to seize this rare opportunity, especially since Bruenor was currently injured and unable to physically retaliate.

Just as they were joking and bickering, the heavy, pure-metal gate was opened. A tall, beautiful woman with long, dark hair parted down the middle walked out with extreme elegance. Behind her followed two guards in armor, holding longswords and steel shields. Their bright silver armor shone in the cold morning sun, and the steel shields they carried were engraved with the royal emblem of Mirabar, decorated with feathers—a deep red double-edged axe set against a black background.

This elegant lady with bright blue eyes approached the caravan and said in a soft, clear tone, "I am Sunderland Starglim, the Council Overseer of Mirabar! Can someone tell me why Elrago Habel did not come?" At this, everyone looked at Chen Jinyang. Except for the four adventurers who had joined halfway, the mercenaries and guards only knew that Habel had designated Chen Jinyang as the temporary leader before leaving immediately; they knew nothing of the reason for his departure. They naturally assumed Chen Jinyang knew why Habel had left. The deal between Chen Jinyang and Elrago was known only to the two of them, plus Alos, who was part of the transaction—a total of three people.

Chen Jinyang walked calmly to the beautiful female Overseer and replied, "I am the caravan leader temporarily designated by Mr. Elrago! Elrago had urgent business and returned to Longsaddle."