Chapter 138: Karmic Fire (Part 2)
“Alright, I know what you want to say. But even if I explain it, do you think you would believe it?”
Peiya thought about the shape of the accessory. After deciding on the design, she called out Yingying. Yingying obediently slipped into the shadows. As a faint light flashed, Peiya entered her witch form.
This state could only last about five minutes. Taking advantage of this short time, Peiya began her simulation.
Several images appeared in front of her, different versions of herself forging the ring. As her thoughts changed, the scenes also changed.
In one scene, she carefully poured her witch power into the ring. Golden characters flashed on its surface for a moment, then quickly calmed down. After that, a glowing pattern appeared on the ring.
Did it work?
But then, smoke started rising from the glowing pattern. As the light flickered, the ring suddenly broke apart in the middle.
This shocked Peiya.
The other images showed different attempts, but all of them ended in failure.
“Looks like I can’t just carve it directly… I need another way.”
Peiya canceled her witch form and tossed the material in her hand aside.
“I’ll think about it tomorrow. For today… sleep.”
Yingying slipped out from the shadows. Seeing that her master had really fallen asleep, she ran to a nearby ornament, attached herself to the lamp cover, and turned off the magic lamp.
………………………
In a brightly lit bar, a few workers who had just finished their jobs walked in, carrying mining lamps. The place wasn’t very clean, but it was fairly spacious.
Before entering, they casually threw their outer clothes on the ground. Then they went to the counter and asked the waiter for a few empty wooden mugs.
“Got beer? Bring a big barrel, add ice, hurry up.”
A rough-looking man pointed at the waiter, who was busy writing things down. Then he glanced to the side and pointed at someone sitting nearby.
“And for that one, give him some fruit wine. The kind made fresh by young girls. It doesn’t need to be too strong.”
The waiter hurriedly wrote down the order. Offending these people would not end well.
Her slightly muddy hand held a thin pen, and her writing became messy as she rushed. After finishing, she looked up.
“That will be fifty copper coins. We’ll calculate the rest after you finish drinking.”
“Damn it, why does everything here keep getting more expensive? Buying stuff from you will ruin us sooner or later.”
The man threw down fifty copper coins and walked away angrily with the barrel.
The waiter wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel, then carefully bent down to pick up the scattered coins. Just as she was doing that, a pair of black leather shoes stepped onto the floor not far from her.
A woman in a black leather jacket stood there, biting on a chicken bone. She chewed it with a loud crunching sound.
“I want to ask about someone. The person in this picture.”
The waiter trembled as she took the photo. She recognized the man immediately, it was the same person who had just come to buy drinks.
What a coincidence…
“I… I don’t really know him. I’ve been busy arranging shelves recently, so I don’t remember customers’ faces.”
“Is that so? He just went in, right? Well, I won’t make it hard for you. This is the person I’m really looking for. Don’t worry, I’m a good person.”
The woman showed an investigation badge, along with a few blood-stained copper coins.
Seeing this, the waiter almost fainted.
What kind of “good person” is this…
After calming herself down for a while, the waiter looked at the photo again. The man in it had a fierce face, she felt like she had seen him somewhere before…
“I kind of remember… but I really can’t recall clearly.”
The waiter pushed the coins back, but the woman just snorted.
“Take it and wash it clean before spending it. Also, get me some good vodka, the stronger, the better.”
She pressed a few coins down, then calmly took out a cigarette and lit it. “If you have meat, bring me some.”
“O-okay…”
The waiter wrote everything down carefully, taking her time with each word. After calming herself for a while, she finally looked up.
“Alright, I’ll take you to a private room.”
“No. I’ll eat out here.”
The woman put out her cigarette. “Got a firestarter? Give me one.”
“Sure.”
The waiter forced a smile and handed over a firestarter. After the woman left, she hurried to the back with the order, telling the cook to prepare it quickly.
At table number three, the woman held her badge and casually played with the peanuts in her bowl. She noticed the group of men who had just sat down. From their clothes, they looked like workers from the mining area.
One of them had a mining lamp covered with gray dust. Judging by the soil, she guessed they had been digging at a depth close to one hundred meters. With the current mining level in the Avalon region, that would count as a small-to-medium mine.
Anything deeper would be hard to mine in the open. It would require mages with special abilities to support the loose soil, or earth magic to assist the work.
Considering the area, mines of this size were usually owned by the Avalon City’s nobles.
Thinking of this, the woman took out a letter. It mentioned that the Beast Tamer Association had recently been discussing some kind of energy cooperation with an energy company.
The reason was unclear, but it was probably for training and developing magical beasts.
At this point, the woman felt a bit regretful. She suddenly envied her younger sister’s job, just staying in the guild and reading documents.
She thought of her sister, Maya. As the eldest child, her name was Karl. Their traditional parents gave her a masculine name, hoping she would take good care of her sister.
Karl didn’t refuse. Under her parents’ training, she had become more and more like a tomboy. She had short, shoulder-length red hair, a small dent on her nose, and several scattered scars beside it, injuries from practicing boxing when she was young.
Her skin had a wheat-like tone, similar to people from the south region. But since she had lived on the west coast before, her skin was still in decent condition, not as rough as it used to be.
“Miss, your food is ready. Please enjoy.”
“Oh, the meat looks good.”
This place often served workers from the mining area, so the food was heavy and oily. Juices sizzled and dripped over the curled animal skin, while red liquid flowed along the meat’s texture into the plate.
It wasn’t blood, but a special local spice called kaba. It was harvested twice a year, dried, and ground into powder. When mixed with water, it turned into this dark red sauce.
It was often used for cooking meat and removing unwanted smells.
Karl grabbed a meat leg and ate it without caring about her image, juice dripping everywhere. Some people nearby frowned, but she didn’t care.
After swallowing the roasted meat, she took a big gulp of vodka. The strong feeling made her quite excited. She tossed a few peanuts into her mouth and looked toward the group at the table.
But as she focused, she suddenly noticed something.
Behind those men, outside the door, a wolf-shaped creature was slowly approaching.
Relying on her boxer’s instincts, a spark of excitement rose in Karl’s heart.
She compared it with the information in the letter.
Demon Wolf test subject. Status: missing.