Chapter 55: Scorching City

【Precise Prediction】

【Details: As perception and judgment improve, the user can more accurately predict enemy attacks and defenses, enabling more precise responses in combat】

With the advancement of the breathing technique, a new skill entry appeared.

"Predicting movements, huh."

Rod turned his head, looking toward the woods on the left.

In the distance, a rabbit glanced around in the grass, lowered its head to nibble for a few seconds, then raised its head to observe again, repeating constantly but irregularly.

He picked up a small pebble.

After sitting still for a few seconds, he suddenly acted, flinging the pebble outward.

Just as the rabbit raised its head, the pebble flew past its scalp.

This startled the rabbit greatly; it immediately hopped away in a panic.

"About one second to one and a half seconds, I'd say."

Not bad.

Enough to ensure he wouldn't fall behind in skill during combat.

But ultimately, the 【Ye Hu Xi Fa】 is not a unique technique; high-level breathing techniques are everywhere, and one must never be careless when fighting humans who cultivate breathing techniques.

When night had deepened, Tally pulled Rod into the woods, and within moments, the rhythm of life could be heard emanating from within.

The goblin Gema cursed a few times, pulled the blanket over his ears, and struggled to fall asleep.

The next morning.

The three set out again, laboriously winding around the treacherous mountain paths, and finally arrived smoothly at Scorching City in the afternoon.

During the day, Scorching City seemed draped in a layer of golden gauze; sunlight poured down, and upon closer inspection, every inch of land and wall rose with heat waves that distorted space.

Fortunately, the city contained many spire-like buildings, with continuous black shadows, allowing pedestrians wearing colorful headscarves or veils to move about within them.

Despite the high temperature, it remained a place controlled by humans.

Besides them, fire lizards and fire spirits also lived here; in short, most were heat-tolerant races.

Upon entering the inner city, Gema, drenched in sweat from the heat, stopped in front of a shop.

"Do you need Violet Orchid Elixir?"

Immediately, she noticed both of them remained expressionless and waved their hands.

"Forget I said anything."

"No, stock up on some."

Rod, acting on the mindset that "having some is better than none," successfully purchased two vials of Violet Orchid Potion.

This is a magical potion unique to Scorching City, possessing excellent heat resistance; human soldiers stationed here rely entirely on this potion to survive.

Scorching City is a major border city of Aethelorn.

It borders a fire lizard tribe called Koei; their relationship fluctuates between good and bad, with minor conflicts occurring constantly over the past century.

Although Aethelorn's historical records do not explicitly state it, many people on the continent actually know that three hundred years ago, Scorching City was still Koei's territory.

Therefore, one can always see the mark of the sacred fire worshipped by fire lizards along the streets.

Moments later.

Gema led the two to an inn named Antelope Leap.

After putting away their luggage, she hurriedly left, presumably to find a guide for the Open-Air Labyrinth.

Since it was not yet mealtime, Tally curled up in the shadows to sleep to conserve her strength.

Rod, having nothing to do, sat at the sparsely populated bar, chatting intermittently with the innkeeper.

The owner of Antelope Leap was a fire lizard.

He was born here and came of age here.

Clearly, his attitude toward the Koei tribe was the same as that of the local humans; he occasionally spat out phrases like "damn Koei."

According to him, this inn was built with the help of humans in the city.

"Compared to the human guests I've seen before, your spirit is quite excellent."

"My fire resistance is not bad."

Rod answered while swirling the blue drink in his glass.

This is the local Giant Wine.

Because some pulp juice from the raw materials of Violet Orchid Elixir was added, its color became more striking.

The taste leans toward mint, with a hint of herbal earthiness; it tastes like black toothpaste from Earth.

He did not particularly like it.

Taking advantage of the owner turning his head to watch the soldiers lining up outside the inn, Rod secretly summoned Tally, poured the remaining wine into her mouth, and regardless of her flailing, shoved her back down.

"I heard there are hot springs in the city, right?" he asked.

"What? Oh, hot springs, yes, there are, but you have to wait until after eleven o'clock at night, head toward the inner city district, and it requires ten silver Jin Along as an entrance fee."

Ten silver Jin Along?

Ridiculously expensive.

The fire lizard owner shrugged.

"You're not very lucky; you came too late. Last month, the entrance fee was only fifty copper Jin Along."

"What's going on? Such a huge difference."

"I heard the harvest of Violet Orchid berries, which are the raw materials for Violet Orchid Elixir, had problems; the planting grounds are right near the hot springs. Perhaps the city lord is trying to recoup costs by ripping off tourists who come here?"

Outside the door, another squad of soldiers passed by.

One could see this was a mixed unit of humans and fire lizards.

The two glanced aside.

"Strange. Why is it so lively today?"

The boss muttered a line, then added: "If you ask me, you humans might as well stop with these so-called Orchid Elixirs. For so many years you haven't adapted to the high heat; why not change your approach? Worship the Holy Flame. Once the blessing descends, where would the fear of such temperature come from?"

Rod smiled and did not reply to him.

Gradually, the sky grew late.

Seeing that Gema still had not returned, Rod simply ordered a bacon feast at the inn.

He had long heard that the fire lizard people's bacon and dried meat were unparalleled on the continent; tasting it today, it was indeed so.

After the temperature stabilized, Rod went out to the commercial street in the inner city.

At this time, the street was far livelier than at night; various races could be seen one after another hawking goods and performing arts.

Only then did he notice that many humans held torches nearly three meters high, forming a circle and dancing in the center of the street.

He did not linger, heading straight for the Spirit Guild.

There, he purchased a large quantity of Fire Drake meat.

Fire Drake meat is the meat fire lizard people have eaten since childhood; it is also the source of their high-intensity physiques.

It was originally forbidden for humans, a low fire-resistance intelligent race, to purchase, but when Rod chewed and swallowed two large pieces right there on the spot, the guild's front-desk sister was utterly stunned.

Fire Drake meat continuously accumulates heat in the stomach, constantly strengthening the body, yet its heat is so intense that even fire lizard people dare not eat much of it.

Before coming to Scorch City, Rod had consulted the records and knew of this thing's existence; one could say he came specifically for it.

After finishing, he still made his way to the local hot springs.

Since he was already here,

it would be a real loss not to experience it.

After paying twelve silver Jin Along, he successfully rented a private partition.

As for the female fire spirit's high-temperature hair removal, the female fire lizard people's scale back-scrubbing, and the female half-dragon people's fire cupping, he ordered none of them, because he was the type who brought his own drinks.

Tally, who had been waiting eagerly, excitedly leaped out from the shadow, transforming into a plump, mature woman with golden hair; her appearance bore a certain resemblance to Rod's.

She looked frantic and flew into a hug.

"What act is this now?" Rod couldn't help but ask.

Tally wore a mischievous grin: "Your brother-in-law is drunk and won't wake up for a while."

"..."

(End of this chapter)