Fire Grease

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

Xia Tong suddenly had an idea and slowly spoke to Melina.

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

She wanted to set the Erdtree ablaze 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 to seek the power of the Frenzied Flame, and naturally, there would be no question of standing on the Frenzied Flame's side.

Perfect!

Xia Tong silently praised his own cleverness.

"I am your maiden. Of course I won't deceive you."

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

Still, Melina voiced a question that had lingered in her heart for a long time.

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

Melina's single eye stared deeply at him, filled with scrutiny.

"The way you act makes it seem as though you have been by my side for a very long time."

"No."

"Gatefront was the first time we met."

Xia Tong looked utterly sincere.

Was his thousand-plus hours of gameplay in 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 must have heard the story of Vyke and his maiden.

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

Soon, outside the village, he spotted a pale yellow glimmer.

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 somewhat tired as well.

Xia Tong took out some Rowa Fruit and fed it to Torrent. Then, with practiced ease, he set up camp, lit a fire, and began simmering meat soup.

While exploring Sick Village, Xia Tong had also found a small bag of flour in one of the houses.

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

He stored the bag of flour in his own space within the Site of Grace, then focused on simmering the meat soup.

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

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

This stuff was everywhere in forests, often found beneath tree roots. It was essentially some kind of thick sap secreted by trees.

Ever since entering the forest, he had consciously collected it. Without realizing it, he had already filled an entire jar.

Then, he took out a Smoldering Butterfly he had collected near Sick Village. These creatures usually appeared near campfires.

He crushed the butterfly's powder and kneaded it into the resin, working it like dough for more than ten minutes.

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

Xia Tong then set it aside to rest.

About an hour later, the dark red Fire Grease, giving off the smell of sulfur and tar, was complete.

It had solidified into a dark red, waxy substance that felt somewhat soft to the touch.

Xia Tong actually had some finished Fire Grease already. 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 snowy mountains. They were used to carrying Fire Grease to keep warm.

Considering that it might not be enough, Xia Tong decided to make more.

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

Melina had only mentioned it in passing, yet Xia Tong had easily succeeded in making it.

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

Then he rubbed it vigorously.

With a boom, flames ignited.

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

It looked especially bright in the darkness.

Seeing that the Fire Grease worked, Xia Tong jumped with joy.

Now, only one last thing remained.

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

He clenched it hard, and the golden Rune flowed into his body.

800 points.

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

Melina nodded lightly.

The two clasped hands, and Xia Tong felt the Runes within him gradually begin to boil.

"Which attribute are you increasing this time?"

"Vigor."

After roughly ten minutes, the Runes had rapidly melted and fused 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 the one keeping watch at night.

As a spirit, she did not need much sleep.

In truth, while following Xia Tong, she had already been able to rest well in spirit form.

Miss Irina had none of a noble lady's airs.

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 rather familiar with each other.

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

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

"Lord Xia Tong, it's dawn."

Irina's hand was gentle yet strong as she lightly pushed Xia Tong's shoulder.

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

Her eyes were tightly shut, her long eyelashes trembling slightly.

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

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

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

Then, the two set off from the Site of Grace at Sick Village Outskirts on Torrent.

To avoid trouble, Xia Tong tried to travel along the edge of the forest.

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

As they traveled onward,

the Stray Wolves ahead suddenly let out a howl, their fur standing on end.

From behind him came a series of strange cries.

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

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

"Hyah!"

Torrent shot forward.

Up ahead were three Winged Misbegotten. Wielding rusted cleavers, they flapped 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 his quiver.

He patted Torrent's head.

Torrent understood at once and carried him swiftly toward the three Misbegotten.

This feeling of firing from horseback was incredibly strange.

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

Bang!

The bolt shot out.

The advantage of a crossbow was that it barely needed aiming. In mobile combat, its accuracy was far greater than that of a bow.

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

"Caw—!"

The Misbegotten cried out in pain, lost its balance, and fell from the air.

An opportunity!

"Irina, hold on tightly to Torrent!"

Irina did not know why Xia Tong had suddenly given such an 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 seized the back of Irina's clothes with one hand.

With the other, he held the Lordsworn's Straight Sword. He leaned his waist sharply to the right and, borrowing the momentum of the charging horse, swung down with all his might!

"Die!"

A flash of cold light.

Hot blood splattered!

The Winged Misbegotten that had fallen to the ground had not even managed to get up before Xia Tong used Torrent's momentum to cleave off its entire head in a single strike!

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

Xia Tong laughed heartily.

"Ah?"

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

Boom!

At that moment, the Magic Pots thrown by two Fanged Imps exploded.

Azure flames engulfed the other two Misbegotten, though they were not killed outright.

However, Xia Tong's one-strike kill of the Winged Misbegotten had also filled the two remaining Misbegotten with fear.

They flapped their wings and tried to flee.

Unfortunately, the Stray Wolves were simply too fast and clamped onto them without letting go.

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

Before long,

the two Winged Misbegotten were slowly ground 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-odd Runes acquired.