"Eat my dagger, spider."
Lavron spoke loudly enough for the audience to hear, a confident smile on his face.
Using knife‑throwing skills from his previous life, he hurled one of the daggers at the spider. The spider was too fast; he missed.
Sensing his footsteps, the Embercrest diverted its attention to him and started spraying flames.
Lavron stopped and showed it his middle finger. He had long calculated the range of its flames and knew they wouldn't reach him. Only the heat wave got to him.
"Hey, don't attack me. Since you let me view your egg, I'm here to help you."
@EmberSeeker: How noble, he is even helping the embercrest. I love you Adventurous Lure.
@Lurada: he has definitely gone crazy, he's talking to magical beasts now
To harness more admiration from the audience, Lavron had decided to make the fight more interesting—but that didn't mean he was foolish enough to risk his life. Obviously, this was all a ploy…
It is about time.
"Surrender now, spider. I might be an ordinary human, but my dagger has been imbued with the blessings of a goddess. Your powers are being sucked dry as we speak. There is no use continuing this—"
The spider, seemingly annoyed with his speech, shot a web at him. Lavron dodged; a white goo stuck to the ground where he'd been standing.
The Embercrest was also moving toward him, forcing Lavron to back up to avoid being roasted.
"You are more powerful than I expected, spider."
He evaded another web.
"Let's see how much more you can take. Eat my dagger!"
He threw another one and missed again. The spider shot another web; Lavron ducked, and it sailed over him.
F*ck, why is it still shooting webs? Isn't it supposed to be exhausted?
"Embercrest, breathe some more fire. Let me take a photo to commemorate this moment as we defeat our enemy."
With that, Lavron snapped another selfie, capturing himself with the Embercrest breathing fire behind him.
The spider wasn't shooting any more webs, and Lavron knew its reserves were exhausted.
He shifted the footage to himself.
"As you can see, everyone, the effects of my dagger have worked. The spider can no longer use its annoying webs. I will retreat as sister Embercrest here finishes the job. Cooh and I have done more than enough to help."
@Dereh-nik: wait… didn't both daggers miss?
@Yuna-Starfall: WHO CARES HE SAVED THE CUTE CAT
@Aman_Elk: Bro fought a rank1 beast barehanded, you try it.
@CaveCrawler99: this lowkey more interesting than documentaries
@Is_a_red: how did the cat help
He shifted to Cooh's camera and rushed toward her. Meanwhile, comments flooded his stream, showering both praise and curses on Lavron. His courage in helping the Embercrest touched many hearts, but not everyone believed him.
"If fate wills it, we shall meet again, sister Embercrest. Thank you for letting us see your egg."
Lavron reached Cooh just in time to see the spider drop to the ground, its web burned away. The Embercrest roasted it moments later.
"We didn't get to eat Embercrest omelette, everyone, but good news… who wants roasted spider ribs?"
@Suavey_survey: Spiders don't have ribs
Having made good work of her cuisine, chef Embercrest breathed fire into the air. She then dropped back onto all fours, the flames on her spine vanishing. She picked up her raw rabbit, completely ignored the steaming spider, and slowly walked toward her chamber.
"Seriously, who wants roasted spider ribs."
"Meow."
Definitely not Cooh. She seemed far more interested in licking her paws.
With that, Lavron decided to check if his crazy plan had worked.
His stream was blowing up: 210,507 views, 43,999 likes, 27,040 followers, and rewards worth 1,200 neo‑chips. He was officially a streaming superstar.
He, however, didn't care about that, and summoned the mission tab.
[Captivate the hearts of 50,000 unawakened beings within two weeks]
[Mission progress: Nine days remaining, 47.67% complete]
Hell yeah, admire your idol some more. I love you a— Hell nah. Cringe. I admire you all.
With that, Lavron picked up Cooh and fondled her. She didn't look pleased, but what could she do when she had such a ridiculous owner? Soon enough, though, she changed her mind and started purring softly as he scratched her chin.
Satisfied, Lavron placed Cooh on his head.
"That's it, our amazing and wonderful viewers. Our adventure here is done."
He put on a pained expression, channelling every sorrow he'd ever known.
"It aches us deeply to part ways with you. If fate wills it, you will see us again."
Then he smiled.
"If you enjoyed, leave a like and follow. Join me on the next adventure as we explore this world. If you have any suggestions for the next adventure of this cat and her loyal guide, remember to tag us."
@Aman_Elk: Your adventures are interesting bro. I'll make sure to check again next time.
@EmberSeeker: Next, go to a rank 2 embercrest's cave. I know of a place.
@Aller-Reff: AI
@Yuna-Starfall: I WILL MISS YOU CUTIE
@Renah-Renal: next time, play running in the sky by @ambioteemusic
@InfiniteVoid: go somewhere dangerous for once
@Aman_Elk: Get out of here @InfiniteVoid
@Sorcerous-Glitch: Interesting
Lavron didn't risk it any longer and quickly exited the cave. Thus, the first adventure of Cooh the explorer and her devoted guide came to an end.
---
At the very edge of Lural Forest, beside a vast cave covered with flowered vines, a young lady in a black leather jacket and unitard sat on a tree branch. After typing something on a holographic keyboard, she let out a soft giggle. The keyboard then disappeared.
A few minutes later, a young man with chestnut‑brown hair, alabaster skin, and honey‑brown eyes emerged from the cave. A small fluffy kitten sat comfortably on his shoulder.
He didn't notice her and continued walking toward the city.
The girl took out glasses with a blue optic display from her jacket and put them on. Strange symbols began running across the display.
"Nothing? Where did they go?"
She returned the glasses to her jacket and started pressing buttons on her watch.
"Hi Qaz, can you help your darling little sister with something?"
A soft, crisp voice came from her head.
"And what, precisely, do you require of me, little sister?"
She laughed softly.
"Nothing much. I just want you to kidnap someone for me. I'll send you the details."
After a short, almost imperceptible silence, the voice sounded in her head again.
"Very well, I shall arrange it. But only after I have concluded the matter presently before me."
---
After bidding his audience farewell, Lavron soon embarked toward Allarion City. He presented his credentials at the river gate and entered. By the time they got into the city, Cooh was sleeping silently in his arms.
He went first to the industrial zone in the city's underground. He soon arrived before a heavy metallic door. A plate above it read: Sill's Smithy. For the past five days, he had been working here tirelessly six hours a day as the smith's assistant.
If not for Sill, I don't know how I would survive in this city. I'm forever indebted to him.
Lavron took out a card and inserted it into a slot beside the door. A green light appeared at the top of the door in response. The door let out a soft hydraulic hiss as it opened.
Lavron went inside and found Lam adding oil to the quench tank. Sill was nowhere in sight; checking his Holocuff, Lavron noticed it was time for his noon nap.
"Hi, Devohn."
Lavron immediately regretted coming at this time. Had it struck him that Lam was here, he would have wandered the city for a while as he looked for a place to stay.
"Hi, Lam."
Lavron replied with a detached expression, hoping Lam would leave him alone. That didn't seem to work.
"You're in early today. Did you take leave from your packaging gig?"
"No, I resigned yesterday. It pays too little for six hours."
"Uh? You resigned? You know it's hard finding gigs in the city. Even if it pays less, it's still a job, and it's easy work. Why did you resign? Did you run into some problem?"
"No, I just got another one."
"What! You've got to be kidding me. How do you keep finding jobs this easily? You've only been in the city five days and already have three gigs. Do you worship the god of luck or something? Hook me up, man, help a brother out. I've been in this city two years, yet I only have this one gig. No matter how hard I look, I can't find another."
"What can I say? I'm just lucky."
"What's the gig about? Come on, tell me."
"It's just selling tales on mystnet…"
Lam was quite the talkative guy. For twenty minutes, they made small talk while Lam went about his tasks.
Sill finally woke up. Lavron let out a huge sigh. Sill was surprised to see Lavron and glanced at his watch in shock, then sighed, seeing he hadn't overslept. Lam, who was scared of Sill, immediately stopped chattering.
"Devohn? Aren't you supposed to be at work now?"
Sill unhooked a brown apron from the wall.
"I resigned yesterday. I found another job."
Sill tied the back of his apron.
"Okay. Do you need any help?"
His response was simple, unlike someone else's. Lavron was pleased he didn't ask any digging questions.
"I don't really need any help. I came to thank you. I'm also here to tell you that I'm quitting this job. I'll come visit whenever I have time."
Sill picked up a hammer from a corner, then looked at Lavron with concern.
"Thank me? For what exactly?"
I don't know if you realize, but you're a weird guy. You let me stay in your smithy for the past four nights. Also, aren't you concerned about the wrong thing? Like, where are you going to get another assistant as hardworking as me? I remember you saying people these days don't like this kind of work—it's hard to find assistants.
Despite the thoughts running through his mind, he smiled.
"I won't be staying here anymore. So, I came to thank you for letting me stay here."
Sill picked up a bucket of scrap metal and placed it on the table beside an anvil. He then looked at Lavron.
"There's nothing to thank me for. If anything, I should be the one thanking you for guarding my smithy the past four nights. You make a really good deterrent for those robbers. Now I'll have a lot to worry about at night. Those thugs won't bat an eye breaking into my shop if they realize only an old man stays here."
This was the first time Lavron had heard Sill speak this much. Also, how much protection could a frail sixteen‑year‑old provide a bulky man who could lift a hundred‑kilogram bucket like it was nothing? He really was a strange person.
After bidding farewell to Sill and Lam, Lavron embarked to Zimmerl Borough to look for a rental.