I'm not a goblin Frankenstein's monster.

Ezio, still shaken, rolled to the side.

The "dead trees" stretched out completely, about seven or eight of them, moving slowly but with heavy steps, and new, sharper thorns quickly sprouting from the broken branches.

What's more troublesome is that the tumor-like protrusions on their trunks suddenly open up with small holes.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Countless fine needles, as thin as cow hair, shot out like raindrops!

"Watch out!" Xia Lin shouted, raising his round shield in front of him.

"Clang clang clang..." Most of the needles were blocked by the shield and nearby trees, but a few hit the light armor. The force was not great, but the needle tips seemed to carry a paralyzing poison, and the places that were hit felt slightly numb.

"It's a Dryad!" Leah dodged while nocking an arrow. "A monster disguised as a dead tree, afraid of fire!"

"Use the ones we bought!"

Xia Lin immediately threw a bottle of blazing glue at the nearest dead branch monster.

Flames instantly engulfed its dry body, producing crackling sounds and a sharp scream.

Leah fired a rocket, igniting a withered branch monster.

Ezio then poured the remaining oil and set it ablaze, creating a wall of fire that temporarily blocked the oncoming monsters.

The burning monster emitted a mixed odor of burnt and decaying plants.

For some reason, these withered branches in the mist seemed more ferocious than usual, and Xia Lin had a sense of déjà vu about them.

Xia Lin cast an identification spell over—Withered Branch Monster (Unknown Existence Corrosion-Variant)

Sure enough, there was a problem. Xia Lin remembered the suspicious bone necklace on the earth goblin.

Although the specific connection between the two is unknown, they both seem to have been corrupted by some unknown entity.

Such beings are far beyond their capabilities to provoke.

"Let's go!" Xia Lin said, looking at the demon behind the towering flames.

They didn't care at all whether the withered branch monsters they had just eliminated had exploded into orbs of light.

One's own life is more important than shiny gold coins—a rule of thumb from veteran adventurers.

The three dared not linger and quickly left.

---

It was already evening when we returned to the dwarf tavern.

When the dwarf saw the jar of mithril honey, his eyes widened. He carefully took it, examined it closely under the light, and then dipped a clean stick into it to taste it, his face filled with delight.

Judging from the seriousness with which he treats the ingredients, the dwarf is indeed a rare and excellent cook.

"That's right! That's the taste!"

He slapped Xia Lin hard on the shoulder, making Xia Lin's mouth twitch in pain. "With this, my secret sauce is complete! It's also a perfect match for mead and roast meat! Of course,"

He grabbed his barrel of liquor, took a swig, and exclaimed, "A real man has to drink this!"

"Can you tell me the secret recipe now?" Ezio urged impatiently.

Being chased by mithril bees and blocked by withered tree spirits almost delayed his "material collection" for the night. Now he just wants to finish quickly and go home.

The dwarf chuckled, lowered his voice, and named several spices and ingredients, but emphasized the proportions, fermentation time, and the timing of adding mithril honey at the end.

And given that the three had done the tavern such a great favor, the dwarf promised to give them a few more jars of sauce for free once the batch was ready.

The three of them readily agreed.

Lia carefully noted down each step, repeatedly confirming with the dwarf any parts she didn't understand.

Being able to bolster the team's logistics and save on expenses, her mood improved noticeably, and she seemed eager to get back and try it out herself.

Xia Lin wondered to himself, "I wonder if the elves' culinary talent is reliable at all."

Ezio wasn't interested in any of that, as long as Lia could keep the team's sauce supply going, he wouldn't be short of his share anyway.

After receiving the dwarf's promise, he quickly left.

He's very angry right now.

Xia Lin had previously noticed that the dwarves mentioned that honeybee honey could not only be used to make sauces, but also to make mead.

Before leaving, I asked for a few more small jars.

Xia Lin recalled the female elf in the Moonlight Tavern who was unusually obsessed with brewing.

If I provide the raw materials for brewing, can I get a discounted price when I buy wine in the future?

He opened a can and handed it to Woody. Black Crow took a few sips and then gestured for it to be put away.

"Why aren't you eating?"

"It tastes good. I'll pack it up and take it home to have with fries for a late-night snack," Woody said matter-of-factly.

Xia Lin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered a certain fast food combination from her previous life.

He didn't know which world's fries were tastier, but one thing he was sure of was that the crow in front of him had a high gluttony.

He looked every bit the part of a seasoned gourmand.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild, the mage Eileen and a young man with bronze skin walked into the hall one after the other.

Eileen had enjoyed strolling around town for the past few days, but with her teacher about to return, she also had to go back to the Black Staff Tower in Waterdeep.

If the teacher finds out, the consequences will be no laughing matter.

She walked to the counter and asked the receptionist if there were any caravans traveling along the way to Sham Shui Po.

"There are no regular convoys passing through at the moment," the receptionist said, flipping through the records. "However, you can check the mission board; there might be escort assignments for that area soon."

After thanking her, Eileen turned and walked toward the bulletin board covered with parchment, her eyes carefully scanning the lines of mission instructions.

Not far away, the mission intermediary, Nim, was biting the end of a quill pen, scribbling on a piece of parchment, muttering under his breath, "...The escort mission is still short three people. That guy can be sent, but there are two spots left..."

He was worrying when he looked up and saw a young female mage, dressed in a neat robe and holding a staff, walk into the hall.

Nim's eyes lit up, he quickly composed himself and strode forward to meet him.

"Good day, Miss Mage." He smiled professionally and gave a slight bow. "Excuse me for bothering you. You seem to be looking for a mission. I have an escort job available tomorrow morning, and the pay is quite reasonable. Would you be interested in learning more?"

Eileen turned around, slightly surprised.

But after listening to Nim's detailed explanation of the mission route, estimated duration, and reward, she found that it coincided with her destination, so she agreed after a little thought.

"Okay," she nodded, "I'll join."

"That's great!" Nim's smile became more genuine. "By the way, Miss Mage, if you have any other reliable adventurer friends like you... well, you might want to introduce them to me? This escort mission is quite large, and I'm still short two reliable people."

Eileen paused slightly.

The image of a crow perched on his shoulder flashed through my mind in the dim light of the Moonlight Tavern.

...Xia Lin?

Forget it, he's already troubled me enough with the things that happened before.

She shook her head and said, "Sorry, no."

"I see..." A hint of disappointment flashed across Nim's face, but he quickly cheered up again.

He habitually scanned the lobby with his eyes, looking for new potential customers.