Chapter 44. Ale village (1)
Chapter 44. Ale village (1)
The Althiem empire was vast, and there were many places one could visit in it. Big cities, small towns, and even various villages.
There were other cities like the capital Arth, and even the small villages had their own specialties. It was no wonder that the Althiem empire was a hot place for players to choose as their starting point.
Many players would choose it at a starting point because there were many quests in Arth, and the hunting grounds near it were mostly for newbies.
Moreover, there were a lot of dungeons around the capital too.
There were also places like the Grenuo forest in the north and the Granan mountains in the east.
It was a mountain filled with monsters like Tooth wolves or the Gnolls. They were mostly around level 45-50.
Because of that, most of the players passing by the Granan mountains range would be at least around level 50.
It was because fighting Tooth wolves or Gnolls wasn't easy, mainly because both of them attack in groups.
Tooth wolves had drill-like fangs, and Gnolls were humanoid creatures. It was hard to fight both of them.
Especially when one is alone.
That's why it was advisable to make a party before hunting in the Granan mountains, but that only applied to average players.
Ian was far from average from the start.
"Grrrr!!"
A Gnolls growled as he looked at the man in front of him. He was wearing brown leather armor and leather pants.
Moreover, more than half of his face was hidden by a black cloak. He looked menacing at the least, especially with the green spear in his hands.
He was Ian!!
Swish!
With a swishing sound, Ian turned the spear in his hands and attacked him at the Gnoll's neck.
"Grrrrrrr!!"
Kkang!
The Gnoll blocked it with his halberd and glared at Ian. Then, he pushed Ian back with all ferociousness, displaying his strength.
'Their strength is really too much!'
Ian thought in his mind as he sidestepped to dodge the Gnoll's attack. Then, he thought about the information he had read about them in the A.L.F community.
'A humanoid race that most closely resembled human-hyena hybrids.'
Moreover, they hated other monsters and loved human meat. They would often abduct humans from villages and eat them.
But Gnolls from Granan mountains couldn't do that. It was because the closet human establishment from Granan mountain was Arth.
If the Gnolls dared to attack Arth, they would be killed by the city guards there in a second. The level of city guards was around 200 in Arth.
He couldn't even guess the level of the knights.
'Even Vlass was at least over 250.'
Although Vlass looked like a good-natured middle-aged man, Ian already felt the overwhelming strength in him.
He was trying to hide it, but he couldn't deceive Ian's eyes.
Slash!
Ian came out of his thoughts and focused on the battle. The Gnoll moved his halberd to attack Ian's legs.
But Ian blocked the attack by stomping his spear on the ground, then twisted it around.
The Gnoll had already lost over half of his health, so Ian would not have much trouble defeating him now.
'Let's try my new skill.'
Ian thought as he started twisting his spear violently. It was like he was moving his spear without any directions.
If an average person looked at him, then Ian would look like an amateur. Still, if a skilled person looked at it, they would instantly notice that his movements had tranquil stability.
His spear was both violent and tranquil at the same time.
Thrust!
After moving around it, Ian immediately activated his new skill and attacked the Gnoll.
"Spiral thrust!!"
A spiral circle enveloped the tip of Ian's spear as Ian thrust the spear inside the Gnoll's chest. It was an attack with excellent thrusting power.
"Graaaaa!!"
The Gnoll screamed in pain as blood gushed out from his stomach. The attack had penetrated more than what Ian had thought.
For others, it was a terrifying thought, but for Ian, it was normal.
The Gnoll died soon, and Ian got a leveled up message.
A slight smile appeared on Ian's face as he looked at the item drops. Gnoll's skin, Gnoll's fangs, Gnoll's meat, and Gnoll's bones.
The item drops were not rare, but they had some value. Ian was particularly more interested in Gnoll's meat.
'My satiety is falling.'
As his satiety was less than 40%, Ian decided to take a break from hunting and do some cooking.
Granan mountain was a pretty big place, and one could usually find some caves here and there. Of course, they were not hidden dungeons, but just typical dark caves.
Still, it was a good place for cooking.
It would also hide Ian from other players who were also roaming around in the mountain. Ian had already met some players while hunting.
'What should I cook?'
Ian soon found a small cave and started contemplating what he could cook. After his success in the Lizardmen colony, Ian had created some other recipes successfully.
The recipes were Refreshing tea, Forest bear grilled meat, and Black wolf soup.
* * *
Tea made up of various herbs. It has a refreshing scent to it. It mainly compromises of the Twin leafed herbs.
After drinking the tea, 30% of your health will be regenerated, and you will feel refreshed.
* * *
Forest bear meat grilled at a constant temperature. It radiates a fragrance that can make anyone drool.
One will get a 10% increase in their attack power and strength for 10 minutes after eating it.
* * *
Black wolf meat cooked with vegetables. The salt helps to simmer down the taste, and it's a delicacy for everyone.
Eating this will increase 10% agility for 30 minutes.
* * *
These three were the successful recipes Ian had managed to make, after trying for several hundred times.
Although it was difficult and he lost a lot of ingredients, Ian didn't felt sad. Instead, he was happy and was looking forward to creating more recipes in the future.
The additional buffs provided by the food was enough to increase his leveling speed.
If anyone knew that food cooked by Ian could provide additional buffs, then they would burn themselves due to jealousy.
It was the same for the guilds. Every guild would want to recruit Ian if they knew about his skill.
Nature cooking was one of the special types of skills that were on the level of a cheat. Ian already had two of these types of skills.
The other was obviously Karios' blessing.
Players would die to get those types of skills, but Ian had two of them. It would cause a lot of commotion if it was revealed.
That's why Ian was keeping it under wraps!
'The water has simmered just right.'
Ian thought and took out the Gnoll meat from his inventory. Then, he quickly sliced the vegetables with his slicing skill.
It was swift and artistic because his slicing skill was already on level 6 in beginner grade.
His nature cooking was still on just level 4, but Ian was not unhappy with it. These types of skills usually took time to grow.
"It's finally finished!!".
Ian thought as he looked at the smell coming from the soup. He was again successful, and a new dish was created.
Those messages appeared before him.
Ian quickly took a spoonful of the soup and put it in his mouth. Soon, a slightly bitter but deep taste spread on his tongue.
'It's normal. Not excessively tasty but not bad either.'
Ian thought like that, but he didn't care much about taste. What he cared about were the buffs he would receive.
Soon, another message appeared.
* * *
The soup made with Gnoll meat and other ingredients. It has a slightly bitter, and not everyone would like it.
Drinking the soup will give one Strength+10 for an hour.
* * *
Ian quickly gulped down most of the soup after looking at its description. The increase in strength would speed up his hunting speed.
'I should hunt for two more hours before continuing on my path to Ale village.'
Looking at the map, Ian would reach the Ale village in two more days.
Rustle!
As Ian thought that, he suddenly heard some rustling from the grass. He looked at it and perceived that someone was approaching him.
"Maybe, it's a player?"
Ian thought that, but unexpectedly, the person approaching him were monsters.
'Three tooth wolves.'
With bluish fur and drill like four fangs, sticking out of their mouth, they looked ferocious, and the Gnoll meat soup was the thing that had attracted them.
As the monsters mostly eat raw meat, something like a well-cooked meal was a luxury for them.
It was the same as dining in a five-star hotel.
'I was just thinking of hunting, and the prey is already here!!'
Ian thought in his mind. He didn't have any intention to share the Gnoll meat soup with them. It was not because Ian was selfish.
It was because he would be their next target after they finished eating the Gnoll meat soup. Monsters like Tooth wolves were no one's friend.
"It's time for action."
Ian muttered as he picked up his spear from the ground. The tooth wolves were glaring at him like he was their prey.
Ian was doing the same.
"Grawwww!!"
One of the Tooth wolves growled as he leaped up at Ian and attacked with his dagger-like fangs, but Ian blocked it with his spear.
Clash! Clang!
Ian was fighting against three Tooth wolves alone. So, he didn't have time to waste. If he wasted even a second, then Ian would be in the stomach of the Tooth wolves.
Swish!
Ian thrust his spear at the wolf's legs, but he dodged it easily.
But it was not able to block Ian's next attack as Ian twisted his body and attacked with the spear's pole side.
He was swinging it like a baseball bat as he hit the Tooth wolf's fangs.
A blunt weapon was better when handling the Tooth wolves, but Ian didn't care about that. He just knew that he had to kill them.
Swish! Thrust!
Taking the blow, the Tooth wolf didn't falter but attached with note ferociousness. It was common knowledge that Tooth wolves were born aggressive.
It was not easy to kill them because of that.
"Spiral thrust!"
It was hard to kill them, but Ian easily looked through their weak points and attacked' Spiral thrust' with his special attack.
A vortex appeared on the tip of Ian's spear, and the Tooth wolf wasn't able to defend the attack and succumbed to his death.
"Graww..."
That whimpering cry was his last words.
'It's easier to hunt monsters because of this.'
Ian thought as he looked at the spear in his hand.
Ian was sad when he had lost the Thales spear. Still, coincidentally, he had found another spear in the boss room of the Lizardmen colony.
It was a spear known as the Crevice spear!!
* * *
-Rating: Uncommon
-Effects: Attack power+30, Arm speed+25, Agility+20
-Requirements: Level 40 , Strength+40
-Durability: 170/170
The spear made by an apprentice dwarven blacksmith who later went on to become a master in his craft.
It is one of his earlier works.
* * *
The stats of the Crevice spear were much better than Thales spear. Ian was more than happy to use it as his weapon.
"Graww!!"
As Ian was lost in his thoughts, he noticed that the remaining two wolves were glaring at him. The fight was not over yet.
'Let's finish this quickly!!'
Ian thought as he rushed towards the Tooth wolves!!