Chapter 50. A Clumsy Attack
Emerald Heart Tavern.
This time, Elan rarely poured himself a glass of fruit wine. After taking a sip, he set the cup down again.
Fulan sat across from him and tapped the table. Only then did Elan snap out of his daze and hurriedly greet her.
“Hey… friend… uh… I hope you came to deliver the potions. There is an order that needs to be fulfilled soon.”
Elan stammered through several words before finally remembering what he intended to say.
Fulan found Elan’s behavior today rather strange, but she did not ask about it. Instead, she placed the large box she brought onto the table.
She opened the box from the opposite side, revealing rows of emerald-green Healing Potions inside.
Elan absentmindedly picked up one bottle, glanced at it briefly, and put it back down.
“They are all good products… no… production mistakes.”
Fulan ignored his distracted state and said directly,
“Then give me the money. I still need to pay my… ‘friend.’”
Only then did Elan regain his composure. With a bitter smile, he replied,
“Uh… friend… you did not even ask about my earlier state. Aren’t you at least a little concerned about your friend?”
“Well… what happened to you?”
Elan opened his mouth to speak but suddenly realized that he probably could not tell Fulan about the matter. After thinking for a moment, he said,
“This matter… is my… well, actually, I cannot tell you about it. I am sorry.”
“Are you messing with me?”
“I am sorry…”
Elan wanted to change the subject and tell Fulan about something else instead. Recently, he had been suppressing his feelings and wanted to confide in someone. However, his gloomy mood left his mind completely blank.
Still, after the brief interruption, he felt much better and returned to discussing business.
“There is something I did not confirm earlier. The merchant responsible for transport only told me a few days ago.”
“It turns out that the lord on that side does not actually need a full bottle of Healing Potion.”
“A full potion contains too little. On the battlefield, with so many wounded soldiers, it barely makes a difference.”
“So what he wants are diluted Healing Potions. Although the effectiveness decreases, the increased quantity can cover more combat personnel.”
“So from now on, you only need to bring large bottles of Healing Potion. The small bottles are unnecessary.”
In the academy, apprentices usually bought potions through retail sales, meaning each potion was sold together with its bottle.
Fulan had followed that retail approach as well, purchasing potion bottles and producing many small bottles.
However, the battlefield operated differently. Potion bottles were somewhat expensive there.
After the merchant transported them, he still had to dilute the potions and repackage them into small wooden containers.
Therefore, Elan was telling Fulan not to produce small bottles anymore. She should make large bottles directly and save the cost of potion containers.
For both the merchant and Fulan, saving money on potion bottles benefited everyone.
“Alright. I will pay attention to that next time. Is there anything else?”
“No. Here is all the money…”
Fulan accepted the payment without hesitation and immediately turned to leave.
As she walked out of Emerald Heart Tavern, she touched the bulging pocket at her waist and grinned foolishly.
Although she was not truly short of money now, who would ever complain about having too much?
At that moment, her senses detected a sword slashing toward her from the right.
Not again! Why do attacks always come at moments like this?
The last time, Mars had also attacked her right after she received some money, ruining her good mood.
She activated the Breathing Method and leaped aside, narrowly dodging the strike.
But the attack did not end there.
From her left side, a stream of liquid shot toward her. While still midair, she barely twisted her body to avoid most of it, though some of the liquid splashed onto her left arm.
The liquid appeared corrosive. Her sleeve disintegrated with a sizzling sound, turning into ash. Beneath it, however, layered stone armor shaped like scales blocked the substance. Fulan flicked her arm, shaking the remaining liquid away.
She had been maintaining Hard Scale Rock constantly to guard against sudden attacks.
But the spell had both advantages and disadvantages. Because of it, she had been slightly slower and failed to completely dodge the liquid. However, the same spell prevented any actual damage.
The only loss was that her clothes were now ruined.
She turned to look.
A man stood there where the liquid had come from, holding a torn scroll.
Fulan noticed that his eyes were completely lifeless, like those of a machine. There was no trace of tension, excitement, or emotion.
“Another modified human!”
Fulan immediately realized what he was—an emotionless modified human that obeyed orders without question.
Am I cursed to keep encountering these things?
Last time, Mars had ambushed her here with two modified humans. Now it was another group attacking her again.
While still in midair, Fulan executed Elven Swordsmanship, forcing her body to accelerate forward in a manner that seemed to defy inertia. She charged toward the first modified human who had attacked her with a sword.
She unleashed Heavenly Sky Strike.
The enemy could only raise his sword above his head in an attempt to block.
But Fulan’s attack was unstoppable. Her blade crashed down along with the enemy’s weapon. Half the sword tip pierced into the man’s skull. Fulan then pulled the blade free, leaving streaks of red and white across the steel.
Next, she drew the short sword from her waist with her left hand, aimed carefully, and hurled it.
The short sword flew like a cannonball toward the enemy holding the scroll.
A flash of purple light trailed behind it as the hilt embedded deeply into the man’s chest, killing the modified human instantly.
Fulan landed on the ground but did not relax her vigilance. She remained alert, anticipating further attacks.
The attack did arrive—but it was not quite what she expected.
Three modified humans crawled toward her along the ground.
Yes, crawled.
Their bodies were stacked awkwardly together, preventing the others from standing up. Yet under the command they had received, the three could only crawl forward.
Fulan simply released a Wind Blade.
The blade whistled through the air, slicing through all three modified humans. After twitching briefly, their bodies fell still.
This was the low intelligence of modified humans.
Fulan finally understood why many lords did not purchase these creations.
They possessed great strength and obeyed orders absolutely. If commanded to do something, they would do it without hesitation.
So why did the lords not buy them?
The problem lay in coordination. Ordinary people knew not to interfere with their allies during combat.
Modified humans lacked that awareness. They could not coordinate effectively with others, and individually they did not present much threat.
“Who sent you to attack me?”
Unlike the previous ambush led by Mars, this time she had not seen the person who ordered these modified humans to attack her.
“Hey, friend. Do you need my help?”
Elan’s voice came from behind her as he stepped out of the tavern. The brief battle had caused everyone nearby to hide.
“Not this time…”
This time it was clearly an attack against her, an apprentice.
No matter what happened, the Enforcement Team would not take action against her. At most, they would investigate who had purchased these modified humans.