Chapter 151 – The Stream of the Rock Rabbit

  After leaving the Great Rift, one would discover that the prairie scenery near the Kingdom of Dylen was still quite beautiful. Vast stretches of lush green grass resembled rippling autumn waters, creating wave after wave of undulations in the gentle breeze.

  Even the most critical bard would instinctively want to compose a poem of praise upon witnessing this scene.

  Of course, it would have been even better without the three figures who seemed completely mismatched in every aspect.

  These three figures were none other than Punk, Kang Kai, and Bahanger, who had just emerged from the Great Rift. Yes, Bahanger was among them.

  This tenacious dwarf had actually survived Tishar’s self-destruction. Though he was critically injured and hanging by a thread—with 100% burns covering his body, all bones shattered into fragments, and one arm completely gone—if Kang Kai’s three life potions had arrived just a moment later, he would have surely perished. But survive he did.

  The divine magic granted by Moradin was crucial, Bahanger’s berserk combat aura had absorbed a significant portion of the damage, and Kang Kai’s timely treatment had pulled the dwarf back from the clutches of the death god Kelemvor. So although Bahanger remained in a deep coma, given the dwarven recovery ability and proper treatment back in Dolaz City, regaining sixty percent of his combat strength should be no problem.

  Of course, the remaining forty percent would be permanently lost.

  This fellow was currently carried on Kang Kai’s back. Punk estimated that his first words upon waking would likely still be “By Moradin’s beard,” and what would grieve him most might be the loss of his divine hammer.

  At this moment, Kang Kai—still unaware of the tragedy that had befallen Dolaz City—was the most relaxed. After all, the most troublesome Tishar was finished, and Kang Kai had successfully retrieved high-quality antidotes from Tishar’s spatial Ring. The remaining followers would be mere insects to be crushed by a formal-level powerhouse.

  In the optimistic ranger’s view, the next step upon returning to Dolaz City would be distributing the antidote and saving the people from suffering—the standard Hero template. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

  He cheerfully chatted with Punk about his hometown and the places he planned to visit, his rich knowledge of humanities making for fascinating conversation:

  ”You know the origin of my hometown’s name—Rock Rabbit Creek?

  Legend tells of a young druid girl who had a magical rabbit as her animal companion. Together they traveled across the Rocky Plains, crossed the Mineral Mountains, danced on the islands of Lake Vena, and overthrew the tyrannical nobles who oppressed the poor…

  But one day, that talented magical rabbit advanced to become a formal-level creature while the girl, limited by her potential, couldn’t achieve the same breakthrough. Centuries later, the best partners were permanently separated. The villagers entrusted the girl’s body to the most beautiful creek, while the magical rabbit stood vigil in the stream until the end of its life.””Since the magic rabbit in the stream remained motionless, this creek was named Rock Rabbit Creek.”

Kangkai narrated this rather clichéd loyalty story—even by Faerûn’s standards—in a magnetic voice, delivering it with vivid emotion as his distant tone drifted lightly across the prairie.

“This is clearly something adults made up to fool children. Most magical rodent-like creatures such as the magic rabbit are inherently vicious. The only beautiful thing about them is their fur. This kind of story was obviously made up by ignorant commoners—and you believe it?”

Punk shot a disdainful glance at Kangkai. He had no interest in listening to this guy’s stories; he was eager to return to Dolaz City to capture a group of people and drain their life force to heal his injuries. If it weren’t for the legendary equipment Kangkai carried, Punk would have rushed back alone long ago. But now he was more focused on finding an opportunity to kill Kangkai, though the ranger with over three centuries of life experience never gave him an opening.

Kangkai, however, refused to speed up for Bahanger’s sake. The severely wounded Bahanger, without the protection of combat aura, couldn’t endure supersonic travel. So, in response to Punk’s mockery, he just smiled, spread his hands, and squinted:

“Don’t be like that. This is called charm, understand? Charm! With your attitude, there’s no charm left at all.”

After speaking, Kangkai shook his head with an expression that seemed to say “this pupil is beyond teaching,” though his tattered clothes completely turned the gesture into a comedic act.

But Punk ignored him entirely.

Seeing that Punk didn’t take the bait, Kangkai awkwardly averted his gaze.

“Look, there’s a rabbit over there—plump enough. The grass in the Evergreen Season fattens rabbits the most.”

Kangkai pointed loudly at a rabbit peeking out from the grass.

“Your attempt to change the subject is pretty clumsy!”

Punk retorted helplessly. He had also spotted the little rabbit with its red eyes and had to admit that rabbits this season were indeed quite plump.

Kangkai examined the rabbit and then nodded seriously:

“Although it’s a female rabbit, it’s not pregnant. Dinner is settled for today.”

“What happened to your charm? Wasn’t the protagonist of your story a rabbit?”

“Haha, don’t worry about the details. Right now, filling our stomachs is what matters.”

Kangkai rubbed the back of his head and kicked a small stone. The next moment, the confused rabbit had a hole pierced through its forehead.

“Done. Let’s set up camp here. We need to bandage Bahanger, or he might not make it to Dolaz City.”

As he spoke the last sentence, Kangkai’s voice grew heavy. Bahanger’s muscles, now without skin protection, were continuously seeping tissue fluid, and the dwarf’s body temperature kept rising without dropping.

Gently laying Bahanger down, Kangkai took out a shiny small iron pot from his divine artifact necklace and used his combat aura to clear a patch of grassland. It seemed he had decided to spend the night here.

Although it was already evening, traveling through the night was no different from daytime travel for formal-ranked powerhouses. However, Kangkai had clearly made up his mind, and Punk was also looking for an opportunity to kill these two “teammates,” so he simply agreed. After all, Punk had plenty of time.Seeing Punk agree to the decision of camping overnight, Kang Kai happily declared he would showcase his hometown’s unique cooking skills. Immediately, the ranger transformed into a top-tier chef.

He used wind-based combat aura to levitate the iron wok, then concentrated a wisp of aura into his fingernail to form a sharp small knife. With practiced skill and a few blurred afterimages, Kang Kai swiftly and completely skinned the rabbit.

“Hey, Punk, could you help get some salt and water?”

Kang Kai spoke to Punk while rapidly removing the rabbit’s entrails.

Although Punk didn’t carry any seasonings, obtaining some salt and fresh water was hardly challenging for a formal mage who minored in alchemy.

Apprentice-level alchemical spell – Minor Substance Separation: separates low-energy level substances without supernatural energy attachments.

Under the glow of this spell, droplets of water began to separate from the air, followed by numerous white crystals emerging from the ground.

Finally, all the water droplets coalesced into a large water sphere half a meter in diameter, while the salt extracted from the ground formed a small pile.

“How’s that? Enough?”

Punk tossed both “ingredients” toward Kang Kai, watching the other’s flustered expression while speaking in an unhurried tone.

(End of Chapter)