Chapter 24: Bandit

In the year 1006, the Month of Vitality, fresh grass emerges beyond the snow, and new life floods the land.

It has been a few months since the wolves attacked Blackwater Valley, and the lives of the people are back on track.

There were very few traces of wolves left following the incident, and Levi judged that he must’ve taken care of most of the wolves near his territory.

Although this may shift the ecological balance of the land, he doesn’t care.

Snow deer, hares, and the like would roam free, providing Levi with easy game.

On this day, Levi wore a linen robe with light chainmail over it.

Only he and Knight Fred had chainmail armour like this.

Chainmail was relatively expensive, so it was hard to provide it to all his men.

“Master Levi, you have to look out for yourself. The Northerners are tough, and wandering knights and bandits scour the land near the North,” Knight Fred warned. “You are our last hope.”

Levi smiled at Knight Fred’s strangely maternal tone: “Don’t worry about me! I’m 15, and I can take care of myself. In my absence, I trust that you’ll be able to take care of the territory?”

Knight Fred nodded immediately and watched as Levi disappeared into the silence of the night.

His speed of cultivation is slowing down, and the resources he needs are only increasing. He has to solve four problems on his journey:

Purchase ambergris to craft the Black Snake medicine.Find buyers for his weapons and armour, preferably long-term, trustable buyers.Collect more breathing methods to see if he can practise multiple breathing methods at once. If this succeeds, then he only needs to find the Frost Giant Breathing Method.Find some clues on wizards.

If he were to solve the first three problems, he would be without worry.

The fourth problem was just a matter of fate.

The destination of Levi’s trip is the City of Icy Winds, located hundreds of miles east of Blackwater Valley. It is the largest city within a thousand miles and one of the four major cities in the North.

If you want to buy something as rare as ambergris, you must go to a big city. After much deliberation, he decided that he had to go alone to complete this mission.

He had been a Quasi-Knight for a while now, and his Golden Slash was at the Advanced level. With his prowess in archery, he should be able to beat a knight in combat if something bad occurs.

Under normal circumstances, he would not be in danger.

He made enough preparations for the trip: dozens of carts of dry food and meat and fifty feathered arrows. Iron arrows would weigh him down.

He also carried a few high-quality swords that he forged himself, and he wanted to use these swords to open his own market on the Northern border.

Of course, he reserved the best qualities for his men.

He doesn’t intend to conquer the lands like most lords and barons do. He is satisfied with his current condition—isolated within Blackwater Valley.

Levi didn’t ride a horse to the city. With his current physique, a horse would have trouble keeping up with him and would also be the cause of attraction.

After walking for a day and a night along the muddy path covered with half-thawed snow, he heaved a sigh of relief as he did not encounter a single evil spirit.

He is afraid of encountering something he can’t fight back against.

However, on the second day of his journey, trouble still came.

A group of bandits blocked his way; their leader was a burly man in cloth armour, and he held a big knife in his hand.

“Lil’ guy,” the leader taunted. “If ‘yer don’t wanna see ‘yer Lovin’ Father in the sky just yet, surrender ‘ye belongings to us and put ‘yer hands up where we can see them.”

“That’s right!” a bandit cackled. “We’ll kill you without batting an eye!”

Levi looked around, spotting a total of thirteen bandits.

Judging by their appearance, they looked incredibly malnourished, but the leader was almost a Quasi-Knight in terms of power. Levi could see the white mist radiating from his body, indicating his breathing method.

He threw everything on the ground and dashed backwards, withdrawing his bow and arrow!

Shuck!

The feathered arrow pierced through the air, but the leader was already prepared for this and avoided the arrow easily.

“Very well, prepare to die!”

Shuck!

Shuck!

Levi shot two more arrows in quick succession.

His target was no longer their leader. With his prowess in archery, he doesn’t need to aim much.

“Damn ‘ye!” the leader yelled, slashing his big knife towards Levi at blinding speeds as he eyed his two dead subordinates.

His other men surrounded Levi in all directions.

Seeing this, Levi smiled as he unsheathed Frostmourne, and white smoke radiated violently off his body.