Tavern of the Spear: Desire for Pleasure

Evand looked around and suddenly realized a familiar figure was missing from the tavern. He frowned and turned to Snow, asking, "Dad, where's Witt? I can't see him."

Snow sighed, a hint of worry on his face. "Witt hasn't been doing well these past few days. He looks exhausted and can't concentrate. I've sent him back to his room to rest."

Hearing this, Evand felt a pang of worry. Witt had always been a hardworking and reliable bartender, never missing a day of work. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Dad, can I go see him?"

Snow pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, but don't bother her for too long. He needs to rest now."

Snow then placed the cleaned glasses back on the shelf behind him, turned to the others at the bar, and said, "Go do your own thing, don't just stand here. These rooms aren't for free..."

"Haha, old man, your face-changing skills are really impressive. Okay, we'll go get to work!"

Hakan had originally intended to make a few more jokes, but after Snow's extension, he instantly lost that idea.

What embarrassed him the most was that he wanted to take Cheng Yu's hand and leave, but Cheng Yu glared at him fiercely, and then he slunk away after Cheng Yu.

Soon everyone at the bar had left, and Snow quickly returned to his usual self, continuing his day-to-day work as a tavern owner.

After receiving permission, Evans tiptoed down the stairs and into the somewhat dark and damp basement.

He didn't like the environment here, but it was different for creatures like the phosphine beetles. The environment here wasn't the best, but it was very suitable for them to live in.

Arriving at Witt's room, Evand knocked gently and called softly, "Witt, it's me, Evand. May I come in?"

A faint response came from inside the room, and Evans cautiously pushed open the door. In the dimly lit room, Witt was curled up on the bed, looking pale and with a blank stare.

Evans walked to the bedside and asked softly, "Witt, are you alright? Is there anything I can get for you?"

Witt managed a weak smile and shook his head. "Thank you, Evand. I'm just a little tired; I'll be fine after a rest."

Evand noticed that Witt's gaze was somewhat unfocused, as if he were looking at some corner of the room. He followed Witt's gaze but found nothing.

"What are you looking at?" Evan asked curiously.

Witt blinked, as if just snapping out of a daze. "Nothing... just thinking about some things. By the way, Evand, where have you been lately? I heard you were gone for a while."

Evand briefly recounted his recent experiences, but he noticed that Witt's attention didn't seem to be on his story. His gaze kept drifting to the corner of the room, as if there was something there that only he could see.

The conversation continued for a while, and Evand sensed that Witt's condition seemed to be deteriorating. He decided to let him rest and got up to leave.

The moment he turned around, Evans suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He didn't know why, but he felt there was an inexplicable atmosphere in the room.

“Evand,” Witt suddenly called out to him, his voice trembling slightly, “Do you...do you believe there are things in this world that we can't see?”

Evans turned around and saw a strange light flickering in Witt's eyes. He opened his mouth, unsure how to answer.

“It’s nothing, I was just rambling.” Victor shook his head, forcing a smile. “Go on with your work, don’t worry about me.”

As Evand left the room, he was filled with doubt and unease. Witt's condition worried him, but he was more concerned about that strange question.

"We're out, Witt. What's the situation now?"

As soon as Evans came out, he saw Cheng Yu, who had been waiting outside for some time.

Standing behind Cheng Yu was Hakan, but judging from his current appearance, something must have happened after they separated that Evand didn't know about. His scales were even redder than usual.

"Don't look at him like that. He's so stubborn. You just took away a little bit of the initiative from him when you were playing a role-playing game with him. After all, who wants to lose the initiative they have? Don't you think so?"

"Cough cough... Cheng Yu... Don't say anymore..." I wonder if Hakan was hurt by what he said? He started to stammer.

"Alright, let's continue discussing Witt's matter. I think you must know something, Hakan, since you two have been living together."

Hearing Cheng Yu's suggestion, Evand's eyes lit up, and he immediately turned to Hakan. "Hakan, you live with Witt, you must know something, right?"

Hakan scratched his head awkwardly, hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Actually... Witt has been acting strangely lately. About three days ago, one morning, he suddenly shook me awake, saying he heard strange noises in the room."

Cheng Yu and Evand exchanged a glance, signaling Hakan to continue.

“Witt said he found a stone that was moving on its own. At first, I thought he was having a nightmare, so I didn't pay much attention. But since that day, he's been in a very bad mood. Witt looks terrible, and he's very tense. He insists that he saw the stone moving and asked me to help him.”

Evand frowned. "Do you see that rock? Does it really move?"

Hakan shook his head. "I didn't see it move, but that stone was indeed strange. It had some irregular dents on its surface, and it felt a little warm to the touch. However, I think it might just be a hallucination caused by Werther's fatigue."

"Oh, so you mean your roommate encountered some danger, but you ignored it and thought he was talking nonsense, is that what you mean?"

"Cough cough~ No, Cheng Yu, let me explain. I'm such a good friend of Victor's, of course I helped him. But then he said the stone came back, but I clearly threw it away, so..."

"Alright, that's enough, Evand. You understand now, right? Perhaps you'll have to figure something out yourself. After all, we really can't solve this kind of thing. You've been on the road for so long, have you ever seen anything like it?"

"Yes! There is a talking horn; perhaps I can go and ask it."

Evan finally understood what he had to do.

However, his strange appearance left the two people in front of him completely baffled.

"Um, what did you just say?" Hakan looked at Evan with some doubt. He was sure that Evan hadn't said a word, but judging from his current appearance, it seemed that he might have said something.

Cheng Yu, who was standing to the side, roughly understood what had happened.

After saying goodbye to Evand, he forcibly pulled Hakan away.

"Hey! What's wrong with Chengyu? Why are you all acting so strangely?"

"Alright, there's no need to ask some questions. Asking will only create trouble for yourself. You've been a mercenary for so long, don't you know that there are things in this world that ordinary people can't access?"

"...Well, alright... By the way, you have to cooperate with me tonight! As your future partner, and since I'm a dragon, you have to give me some face, otherwise, what will my clan laugh at me for!"

"Oh right, right, right~" Cheng Yu waved his hand, showing an indifferent expression, and turned to leave.

"Damn it! So do you agree or not?!" Seeing Cheng Yu like this, Hakan had no choice but to chase after him.

"It depends on how you do!"

"What kind of performance would satisfy you..."

As they walked further away, their voices grew fainter and fainter until they could no longer be heard.

Seeing Cheng Yu and the others leave, Evan was a little confused. Did they not believe him either?

At that moment, Evand began to doubt himself, but he quickly rallied and left the room where Hakan and Witt were living together, and went to the place where the wine barrels were stored.

Evand wasted almost no time in finding the talking horn, or rather, the horn found Evand.

"Oh, dear Evand, why are you in such a hurry? Is something urgent?"

"Mo Ke, I've finally found you..."

After Evand's explanation, Moko finally understood what he meant.

“I see. I think your friend must have encountered ghosts or spirits. Before, he often came here at night and would mutter to himself in front of the wine barrels for an hour. Maybe he was talking to spirits or something, but I wasn’t sure at the time. Maybe they were hiding too well, and no one noticed…”

"Huh? You didn't even notice? How are we supposed to deal with it then?"

"Haha, don't worry, I didn't consciously try to sense it at the time, so of course I didn't notice it. But I do have magic that can deal with spirits." As the horn spoke, it flew off the barrel, circled around Evand's body a few times, and finally returned to the barrel.

Evand's eyes had been following the spinning horn the whole time, and now he was almost dizzy from all the spinning. He shook his head, looked at the horn again, and asked, "What kind of magic is this? Tell me quickly! How can I learn this magic spell?"

"Are you going to praise me?"

"Huh?" Evand was stunned for a moment upon hearing the extremely calm words of the horn.

"What do you want me to do? To blow...you..."

"Of course you're going to blow the horn for me! What are you thinking?"

"No, it's just that I still feel a little uncomfortable doing it this way. Do we really have to do it?"

"Evand, what are you thinking? I'm a horn now, I don't have that ability anymore. Besides, could things get any worse? Where do you think you can put me?"

At this moment, Evand had a death wish. He really wondered if he was being too obscene. Even at this point, he was still thinking about that kind of thing.

“Alright…” Evand finally had no choice but to put the part of the horn he used to blow into his mouth and blow hard.

Suddenly, a large number of blue flames burst forth from the other direction of the horn. Then, these flames disintegrated in the air, and the last one entered Evand's chest cavity.

These flames transformed into a warm current that rushed into Evand's limbs and bones, giving him an indescribable feeling, like having a cup of hot chocolate coffee in winter—incredibly warm and peaceful.

As Evand finished absorbing the horn, it flew back from Evand's hand to the barrel.

"You should be able to feel that power now. You can now find this skill in your memories and use it. This is the magic spell to deal with ghosts."

Evand closed his eyes and began to absorb the memories belonging to this spell. Memories from hundreds of years ago finally began to awaken, and Evand quickly mastered the skill.

As Evan slowly clenched his right claw, sparks began to appear around it, until it enveloped his entire fist, making it look like a fiery gauntlet—it was incredibly cool.

Sparks danced wildly on Evand's fist, but they didn't burn away his fur.

"Alright, it seems you've learned this spell specifically for dealing with ghosts. It's called 'Holy Fist'."