Fire Grease

"As long as you never lie to me, I will forever stand against the Frenzied Flame."

A sudden thought struck Xia Tong, and he spoke slowly to Melina.

Xia Tong said this because he knew Melina's fate all too well.

She wanted to ignite the Erdtree by burning herself.

But before that, she needed Xia Tong's help to reach the Mountaintops of the Giants.

Then she would deceive Xia Tong and knock him unconscious before carrying out her plan to burn the Erdtree alone.

In other words, if she chose not to deceive Xia Tong, she would be unable to carry out that self-sacrificial plan.

Then he would not be forced into seeking the power of the Frenzied Flame, and naturally would have no reason to stand with it.

Perfect!

Xia Tong silently praised his own cleverness.

"I am your maiden. Naturally, I would never deceive you."

Melina looked extremely serious. She truly saw herself as Xia Tong's Finger Maiden.

However, Melina still voiced a question that had long lingered in her heart.

"Xia Tong, had you seen me before Gatefront?"

Melina fixed him with her single eye, her gaze full of scrutiny.

"The way you act makes it seem as though you have been with me for a long time."

"No."

"Gatefront was the first time we met."

Xia Tong wore an utterly sincere expression.

Was his thousand-plus hours of gameplay from his previous life supposed to be fake?

As a maiden, she could naturally tell that Xia Tong was not lying.

Gatefront truly had been their first meeting.

Thus, Melina could only end the subject in confusion.

She vaguely felt that Xia Tong understood many things. At the very least, he should have heard the story of Vyke and his maiden.

After dealing with every frenzied villager in the village and ending their suffering, Xia Tong continued onward.

Outside the village, he soon discovered a faint, bright-yellow glow.

It was the Site of Grace at Sick Village Outskirts.

It stood on the grass not far from the cliff.

The sky had already darkened, and Torrent was beginning to tire.

Xia Tong took out some Rowa Fruit for it to eat, then skillfully set up camp and hung a pot to simmer meat stew.

While exploring the sick village, Xia Tong had also found a small sack of flour in one of the houses.

Perhaps he could find time to make some bread in the future.

He stored the sack of flour in the space belonging to him within the Site of Grace, then focused on simmering the stew.

After eating and drinking his fill, Xia Tong did not rest. Instead, he began crafting an item—Fire Grease.

He took a jar from the pack on Torrent's back. Inside was an orange-glowing gelatinous substance—Root Resin.

There was plenty of this stuff in the forest. It often appeared beneath tree roots and was essentially some kind of thick sap secreted by trees.

Ever since entering the forest, he had been deliberately collecting it. Before he knew it, he had filled an entire jar.

Next, he took out a Smoldering Butterfly he had collected near the sick village. These creatures usually appeared around bonfires.

He ground the butterfly's scale powder into the resin and kneaded it like dough for more than ten minutes.

The sticky mass in his hands gradually began to heat up.

Xia Tong then set it aside to rest.

After about an hour, the dark-red Fire Grease, reeking of sulfur and tar, was complete.

It had become a solid dark-red waxy substance that felt somewhat soft to the touch.

Xia Tong actually already had some complete Fire Grease. Earlier, he had hunted several Kaiden Sellswords near Gatefront.

Two of them had carried Fire Grease wrapped in oil paper.

These Kaiden Sellswords were barbarians from the northern snow mountains, and they were accustomed to carrying Fire Grease to keep warm.

Considering that it might not be enough, Xia Tong made some more.

The materials were easy to find, and the crafting method was simple.

Melina had only mentioned it casually a few times, yet Xia Tong had easily succeeded in making it.

He took an egg-sized chunk from the dark-red waxy mass and gently smeared it over the Lordsworn's Greatsword.

Then he rubbed it vigorously.

With a boom, flames erupted.

Part of the Lordsworn's Greatsword immediately burst into flame.

It was especially bright in the darkness of night.

Seeing that the Fire Grease had worked, Xia Tong jumped up happily.

Now, only one last thing remained.

He extended a hand toward Melina while pulling the Golden Rune [3] he had obtained from Carl's Baptism Church from his robes with the other.

He clenched it tightly, and golden Runes flowed into his body.

800 points.

"Melina, I want to level up. It looks like I have enough Runes now."

Melina nodded gently.

The two held hands, and Xia Tong felt the Runes within him gradually boil.

"What attribute are you increasing this time?"

"Vigor."

After more than ten minutes, the Runes had rapidly melted and merged into Xia Tong's body.

[Character Data]

Level: 22

Runes Held: 129

Vigor: 17

Mind: 24

Endurance: 10

Strength: 17

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 18

Faith: 2

Arcane: 10

Leveling complete.

Melina was still responsible for keeping watch.

As a spirit, she did not need much sleep.

Normally, while accompanying Xia Tong, she could already get proper rest in her spirit form.

Miss Irina did not have the airs of a noble lady.

She had always been diligent. Although she could not see, she was always the first to wake up.

After spending so many days together, she and Melina had become fairly familiar with each other.

After waking, she would first ask Melina what time it was.

If dawn had already come, she would quietly walk to Xia Tong's tent and gently wake him.

"Lord Xia Tong, it is dawn."

Irina's hands were gentle yet strong as she softly pushed Xia Tong's shoulder.

Xia Tong slowly woke and opened his eyes, looking at Miss Irina in her plain cotton clothes.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and her long lashes trembled faintly.

It was clear that she had washed her face with clean water. She looked fresh and gentle.

"Thank you, Miss Irina. I was too tired yesterday."

Xia Tong swiftly got up, packed his belongings, and tied them to the pack on Torrent's back.

Then the two rode Torrent away from the Site of Grace at Sick Village Outskirts.

To avoid trouble, Xia Tong kept as close to the edge of the forest as possible.

The three Stray Wolves walked ahead to scout the path and warn Xia Tong in time.

As they traveled on,

the Stray Wolves ahead suddenly howled, their fur standing on end.

Strange cries also came from behind him.

Something seemed to be leaping through the air, accompanied by the flapping of wings.

Xia Tong shook the Spirit Calling Bell to summon the Fanged Imps while lightly kicking Torrent's flank.

"Hyah!"

Torrent shot forward.

Ahead, three Winged Misbegotten wielded rusty cleavers, flapping their ugly wings as they slashed at and pursued the Stray Wolves.

Xia Tong immediately took the light crossbow hanging from his back and pulled a bolt from the quiver.

He patted Torrent's head.

Torrent understood and swiftly carried him closer to the three Misbegotten.

The feeling of shooting while riding was incredibly strange.

Xia Tong raised the light crossbow and lightly pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bolt shot forth.

The advantage of a crossbow was that it barely needed aiming. In mobile combat, it was far more accurate than a bow.

Because the Misbegotten was moving through the air, Xia Tong had originally aimed for its throat, but the shot went slightly wide and pierced straight through its wing.

"Gah—!"

The Misbegotten screamed in pain, lost its balance, and fell from the sky.

An opportunity!

"Irina, hold tightly onto Torrent!"

Miss Irina did not know why Xia Tong had suddenly given that order, but she instinctively obeyed.

She pressed herself against Torrent's neck and tightly wrapped both arms around the spirit steed's neck.

Xia Tong took the chance to grab the back of Irina's clothes with one hand.

He held the Lordsworn's Straight Sword in the other, viciously leaned his waist to the right, and used the momentum of the charging horse to bring it down in a heavy slash!

"Die!"

A cold flash streaked past.

Hot blood splattered!

The Winged Misbegotten that had fallen to the ground had not even managed to rise before Xia Tong used the horse's momentum to sever its head with one stroke!

"Irina, you deserve part of the credit for that head just now."

Xia Tong laughed heartily.

"Ah?"

Irina's body trembled, and she looked somewhat frightened.

Boom!

Just then, the Magic Pots thrown by two Fanged Imps exploded.

Azure flames swallowed the other two Misbegotten, though they did not kill them outright.

But Xia Tong's single-strike kill of the Winged Misbegotten had also filled the other two with fear.

They flapped their wings and tried to flee.

Unfortunately for them, the Stray Wolves were simply too fast and clamped down on them relentlessly.

Every time they tried to flap their wings and take flight, Xia Tong would precisely shoot them down with a crossbow bolt!

Before long,

the two Winged Misbegotten were slowly worn to death by Xia Tong and his Spirit Ashes army.

Golden Runes rose from their bodies and flowed into Xia Tong's own.

Another two hundred-plus Runes gained.