Encounter

Aise casually flicked his longsword. Crimson blood traced a cold arc in the air before splattering against the dirt and fallen leaves, blooming into a glaring and macabre stain.

Sheathing his sword, he stood surrounded by the corpses of wolves, each with their throats slit by a single strike.

"That was amazing, Young Master Aise. Your swordsmanship has improved again."

Eni praised him. Then, unfazed by the gore, she pulled out a dagger and began slicing off the wolves' ears, tossing them into a bag as proof of completing their quest.

The wolf pelts and fangs were also worth a good amount of gold coins, but unfortunately, Aise and Eni lacked the skills to harvest them properly. Neither had the energy to deal with it, so they could only leave them behind.

"I'll leave the rest to you."

Aise let out a long breath and sat down against a large tree, resting his longsword across his lap as he began to recuperate.

Having just experienced a bloody battle, a trace of satisfaction lingered in his eyes.

Eni scurried about like a little squirrel gathering treasures, darting back and forth across the bloodstained, corpse-strewn clearing.

"Young Master Aise! I even found a magic core, how lucky!" Eni offered up a small, translucent crystal like a prized treasure. It shimmered in the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves.

Monsters capable of manipulating elements usually possessed magic cores in their bodies. High-tier monsters almost always had them... but for a low-tier monster like a forest wolf to form a magic core was not easy. It was a one-in-a-hundred chance.

Even if it had a magic core in its body... it probably had not yet mastered its elemental power. Aise had not encountered any particularly strong individuals during the fight.

"It's so pretty," Eni marveled, looking at the sparkling magic core in her hand.

"If you like it, it's yours."

"Really? Thank you, Young Master Aise!" Eni's eyes lit up. Smiling brightly, she took out a handkerchief, wiped the blood off the magic core, and tucked it into her clothes like a precious gem.

Aise could not quite understand why women liked such shiny things when they were completely useless.

Aise rose slowly from the base of the tree. "Let's go. Time to head back."

Eni followed closely behind him, not leaving his side for a single step.

"Do you find it hard, being out here with me?" Aise asked suddenly.

"No, I actually feel quite happy... Young Master Aise, why do you ask?"

"If you had stayed at home, the work would definitely be much easier. You wouldn't have to travel to complete commissions, sleep in the wilderness, or get so dirty."

"But if Young Master Aise isn't there, I'd definitely be bored all alone at home." Eni shook her head, then giggled. "Besides, if I weren't here, there would be no one to take care of you on the road... You've never washed your own clothes, have you, Young Master Aise? I bet you don't even know how..."

Aise shot her a glance. Eni stuck out her tongue and tactfully shut her mouth.

With the carriage gifted by Ankula, traveling was certainly much more convenient.

"Young Master Aise," Eni suddenly thought of something else.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think, since it's just the two of us, the carriage in the back is a bit redundant?" Eni asked, tilting her head.

Aise froze.

"If we just got a saddle, couldn't we both ride the horse? That way the horse could run faster too..."

Aise took a deep breath, seemingly trying to rebut, "We... we still have luggage..."

"Young Master Aise, all our luggage is stored inside the spatial ring. The spatial ring Master Xia Lun prepared for you is huge," Eni corrected him.

Aise choked back his breath, finally letting out a sigh. Unable to find an excuse to argue, he said, "Alright, you make a good point. I just didn't think of it before."

"Young Master Aise, it feels like you can be a bit silly sometimes." Eni poked Aise's arm. "Of course, most of the time you are very calm and reliable."

"Shut up."

"Hehe, a silly Young Master Aise is quite cute too." Eni showed a playful smile.

Aise kept a straight face, avoiding looking at the girl beside him, looking exactly like Aina when she was acting shy in front of Xia Lun.

In the future, we can ride the horse together... Eni thought silently to herself, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"Whoa—"

Aise suddenly pulled hard on the reins, forcing the horse to stop.

Caught off guard, Eni tumbled forward. With quick reflexes, Aise grabbed her collar and pulled her into his arms.

"Th-Thank you, Young Master Aise."

Aise let go of Eni, and she turned to look ahead.

A powerful fluctuation of magic power radiated from ahead, accompanied by the loud battle cries of warriors.

"We can still run into other people in this remote border region?" Eni asked curiously.

"Yeah, maybe it's an adventure group here for another commission." Aise frowned. "Let's take a detour so we don't get in their way."

"Aren't we going to take a look?"

Aise reached out and flicked Eni on the forehead. "We're in the middle of nowhere, aren't you afraid something might happen!"

Eni, however, was somewhat nonchalant. "You're so strong, Young Master Aise. What could possibly happen?"

Just as she finished speaking, the sound of something tearing through the air approached.

Without hesitation, Aise drew his longsword and swung it. A thick wall of ice materialized in front of them.

A teeth-aching sound of collision echoed out. A human figure plastered flat against the ice wall Aise had conjured, looking like a poster stuck to a wall. White fat mixed with crimson organs let off steaming heat.

"Eek—"

Badly frightened, Eni hugged Aise's arm tightly.

"What happened to this guy..." Eni's face was deathly pale.

"He was probably swatted over here by some large monster," Aise analyzed, looking at the massive palm print on the man's dark armor.

Aise suddenly frowned again.

The emblem on the man's heavy armor—a cracked skull—was unmistakably that of the Bone Smasher Adventure Group, the very same group they had a conflict with earlier at the Adventurers' Guild.

"Roar—"

A massive, sorrowful roar came from ahead, followed by a tremor in the ground, as if some giant beast had crashed down.

A moment later, two people walked toward them, chatting and laughing.

"Where did that guy Cass fly off to?"

"Being swatted that far, he's definitely dead as a doornail by now."

"That guy didn't have any valuable treasures on him... Hehe, but I remember he has a sister..."

"Ah, there are other people here."

The two men from the Bone Smasher Adventure Group exchanged a glance.

"We're just passing through," Aise said calmly. He then pointed to the ice wall beside them and the flattened, mangled flesh on it. "This is your companion. Very unfortunate."

But the two men ignored Aise. Their gazes lingered on Eni, and they licked their lips.

"Leiva! Captain Leiva!"

"Our dear brother, close as hand and foot, was ambushed by these two!"

Leiva quickly rushed over with a group of men. Looking at Aise and Eni before him, he paused for a brief moment before revealing a savage smile. "What a coincidence, kid... I remember your name is... Aise."