Chapter 4 Forest

  When Johnny returned home, the old couple had already finished their lunch. Smith was picking his teeth with a toothpick in the blacksmith's shop, looking at the door, and when he saw Johnny come in, wearing armor and covered in blood, he was startled and hurriedly came up to him: "Aren't you hurt? How did you get like this? Why are you back so early?"

  "It's alright, this armor is sturdy. I just finished a task and got hungry, so I came back to eat. Oh, right." Johnny took out his pouch from his waist, pulled out five silver coins, and handed the pouch to Smith, "This is what's left after buying the armor, signing up, and registering. You guys keep it. From now on, I can take care of myself."

  Smith opened the purse, looked at the balance, and was heartbroken. His face twitched a little, but he didn't say anything. He let Johnny go to the backyard to eat and drink, and continued to watch the store himself.

  Joni took off his armor, washed it with water and put it aside. Then he carefully washed the hand that had held the mouse head earlier and went inside to eat. It was just past lunchtime, so there wasn't much good food left. A few pieces of black bread with a bowl of water filled Joni's stomach. This kind of coarse food, if it were in his previous life, he would rather starve to death than touch. Since coming to this world, under the circumstances that not eating would definitely lead to starvation, he gradually got used to it.

  Having eaten and drunk enough, Jonyi took a short rest, then found a brush and went to the courtyard to wash and scrub his armor clean, hanging it aside. He returned to the house, removed his long sword, put on an iron-forging apron, and came to the blacksmith's shop.

  "Aren't you going to do your task this afternoon?" Smith asked in surprise.

  "I'm not going today." Johnny picked up an iron block, weighed it and replied, "Just now when I was doing the task, I found that some equipment was missing, so I want to make one myself."

  The whole afternoon, Johnny was clanging away at the ironwork, sometimes coming forward to greet customers. It seemed as if time had never passed, and nothing had ever changed - blacksmith Johnny might just as well have never gone off to take his warrior's certificate, or joined any mercenaries' guild. To Smith, little Johnny still looked like the same young blacksmith he had always been, hammering away at the ironwork, taking care of business... Did this kid want to give it up?

  It's not natural.

  Joni was crafting a dagger. Although he wasn't a thief and had never trained with daggers, the danger that morning made him realize he should be prepared for such sudden close combat. If he had a dagger on him at the time, he wouldn't have let that detestable old mouse get away - one slash to the throat would have been enough. Plus, according to information from the Mercenary Alliance, this large rat was just a normal species, so who knows when he might encounter something similar in the future.

  And then there was this beautiful deadly weapon in front of me.

  It's said to be beautiful, but not quite. However, in Joanie's eyes, this small knife is already very satisfying. The curved blade shines brightly. The blade has been carefully polished, revealing a bloodthirsty glow. The specially carved blood groove also shows the cruel nature of the entire weapon.

  Jiao Ni carefully admired the exquisite dagger, smacking his lips. He then simply made a scabbard and tied it to his thigh, trying out the feel of it in his hand, able to draw it with ease. Satisfied, he nodded his head, went to the backyard to put on his armor, fastened his long sword, bid farewell to his parents, and left.

  "Is that a dagger? Haha, then tell me what a short sword looks like?" This is the words of a thief on some day in the future.

  From Johnny's point of view, there is still a dagger on his leg.

  Returning to the Mercenary Union, Joanie walked straight to the counter of the girl from yesterday, as if she were an old hand: "May I ask what tasks are available today?"

  "Hello, may I ask who you are?"

  This old hand revealed his true face as a rookie.

  "Jony Smith, 9th Mercenary." He said, handing over his mercenary scroll.

  The girl wrote something on the paper with her pen, then gestured to the mercenary scroll and smiled as she looked up: "You can accept a level 9 task. Do you want to see the task directory?"

  "It's okay, I...I'm illiterate." Regret, I'm actually an illiterate person.

  "The three nine-level tasks with the highest rewards are: Collecting wolf skins infinitely, five silver coins for every ten pieces, which is equivalent to one task. Finding Mr. Edward who went missing in the Tabris Forest, providing clues and confirming without error will reward four silver coins. Hunting for nine pieces of goblin skull caps, rewarding two silvers."

  It's really endless to collect wolf skins, and there are still tasks hanging. Providing clues, when to go find them, finding them also needs confirmation, it's troublesome.

  "I'm going to take on the quest to hunt and kill goblins."

  Another wave of writing and recording, Joanie walked out of the Mercenary Union's gate with a determined look.

  "Goblins? Your good days are over!" Johnny muttered in a low voice, imitating the passionate lines he had seen before. Then, he stepped towards - Mercenary Alliance.

  "Excuse me, where is Gobrin?" Johnny stood in front of the receptionist, asking calmly.

  "Goblins? There's a goblin tribe in the Tabris Forest outside West City, but they're well hidden. You'll need to be patient and search carefully. Due to human activity, they might be lurking deeper in the forest." The girl still had a smile on her face.

  The service is too attentive, Johnny sighed, after all it's a big company.

  As a native of Tabriz, not knowing where Gobrin is, is really inexcusable. However, as a blacksmith, every day except for hammering iron is running errands, after running errands it's practicing martial arts, and after practicing martial arts the sky gets dark and people go to sleep. In this way, Joanie has never left Tabriz City.

  Although he had never left the city, Jony was still quite familiar with the Tabris Forest. Those mercenaries - or adventurers, not everyone had enough money to register with the Alliance and Guild - basically fought in the vicinity of the Tabris Forest. They would often brag about their combat experiences while selecting weapons or killing time. There was certainly a lot of nonsense, but there were always many real information leaks.

  Due to human activity and the presence of Tabriz City, the Tabriz Forest is not particularly dangerous. Occasionally powerful monsters or tribes appear, but the city lord's guard will always eliminate them in time.

  Thus, a harmonious and warm Tabriz forest - still does not exist.

  The city lord's guards were busy, and only those monsters that were strong enough would make them take action. The reason for taking action was not to protect the territory or the people - the lords of this world did not have such lofty ideals. The only reason the city lord's guards cleared out the Tabris forest was because the trade route was threatened, which was a matter of great importance to commercial taxes. Apart from that, the city lord's guards were either staying in the city, patrolling, or training, and it was said that their days were very leisurely.

  Every now and then, one or two people would go missing in the Tabriz Forest. Some were later found dead, some were later found with only their bones left, and some are still missing to this day.

  Such trivial matters would naturally be ignored by the City Lord's Guard. It was only after the tragedy occurred that the Mercenary Alliance showed its value.

  In the Tabriz Forest, there are mainly goblins, bear men, dog-headed people and other low-level tribes. In addition, there are wolf packs, wild bears, venomous snakes and other common wild animals. Apart from this, some customers have mentioned the existence of ferocious beasts and other unknown powerful creatures. Escaping from the hands of the strong is also an experience that the weak can boast about, and these guys love to brag. So whether it's true or false, only they themselves know.

  The words of that big brother with a giant demon head should be believable.

  Fortunately, in over a decade, he was the only one with such obvious evidence on him.

  With this understanding of the Tabriz forest, Johnny walked towards his destination with a light step. The city of Tabriz was not small, nor was it big, and soon he had already left the city. Continuing along the road for a while, turning off the main road, Johnny plunged into the forest.

  "Forest," Johnny muttered to himself, "this is a forest."

  As a pseudo-cycling enthusiast, Johnny finally experienced the feeling of being a cycling enthusiast.

  Appreciating the scenery along the way, that natural breeze, that lush greenery, that air with a hint of decaying leaves... it's this feeling, isn't it? The one you'd give your life for, it's this feeling!

  However, it is clear that more than a decade of life as an ironworker has made him lose a lot of knowledge as a half-baked cycling enthusiast.

  "Eat..."

  The first expedition ended in defeat and withdrawal.

  Ashen-faced and covered in dust, Joanie returned home, ate something casually, and lay on the bed, silently self-criticizing: "You little brat, you're a time-traveler, you've lived more than 20 years! How could you make such a low-level mistake? Don't you feel ashamed?"

  But thinking about it, it's really not that embarrassing, and no one saw it anyway.

  But this is not something to think about when blaming oneself.

  "Dried rations, water, what else? If only I had a bow, it wouldn't be so troublesome, but I don't know how to shoot. Dried rations, water, mustn't forget, dried rations, water... Can't just use a crossbow? Stupid. But no money to buy one. No money to buy, can't make one myself? Spring steel and all that... Dried rations, water..."

  His thoughts in disarray, Johnny fell asleep.

  The next day, after waking up, Joanie filled a leather water bag with clear water at home and rushed to the food store with the five silver coins she had obtained yesterday.

  His gaze swept over the goods on the shelves, and he looked down at the five pitiful silver coins in his hand. By rights, these five silver coins should be enough to live a good life. But it was his own money that made him feel heartache, let alone two days ago when Joanie had been holding ten gold coins as a rich man.

  But he couldn't shortchange himself either. He flipped a silver coin and bought a pile of dried meat that looked extremely delicious. Holding the bag of dried meat, Joanie felt that this adventure didn't seem serious enough. So he ran to the tailor's shop again and bought a sturdy-looking cloth bag, just enough to use up the change from the silver coin. After packing water and food into it, Joanie suddenly found the feeling of hunting monsters and leveling up in the past.

  "Backpack, water, meat, weapons, equipment... Haha, this is considered a few grid package? Six grid? If I add a bandage and stuff a few bottles of medicine, I'm basically playing a real-life game!"

  It's really sad, games are the only bond that still connects this kid with his past life.

  Gunpowder? Glass? Economic system? Monosodium glutamate and white sugar?!

  These questions were inaudible to him.

  Before long, Joanie had entered the forest, still with the natural wind, lush greenery, and air that was slightly tinged with the smell of decaying leaves... There were no enemies. In this area near the main road, if there were any dangerous creatures lurking about, although the city lord's guards were busy, merchant caravans or passing adventurers were quite idle.

  Appreciating the scenery along the way, Johnny stepped into the depths of the forest. Having lived in a steel forest for over 20 years and then in a low-rise house for over a decade, today he saw this beautiful natural landscape, and Johnny couldn't help but feel a little intoxicated. The crisp and melodious bird calls, the waves of insect chirps... Nature, nature, this is indeed the breath of nature!

  Nature is not just about breathing, nature will also welcome you.

  A gust of evil wind came from behind his head, Johnny was shocked in his heart, and suddenly ducked down. A wild wolf just jumped over his head.

  What a warm and enthusiastic welcome ceremony!

  Drawing his longsword, Jorny cursed as he bowed down and quickly scanned the surroundings. Fortunately, there were no more wolves appearing. It was a lone wolf, not a scout of a wolf pack. Then he turned around, staring dead at the wolf's eyes.

  The wild wolf failed in its sneak attack and did not make a second assault. It too crouched low, facing off against Johnny.

  Two wolves stared at each other, almost sparking electricity. At the same time, they occasionally shifted their feet. One side wanted to move to the other's flank, but the other wouldn't let them succeed, so they started circling around.

  On one side was the man holding a deadly weapon, on the other was the wolf with razor-sharp claws. This wolf was clearly not as hungry as the one in the Warrior's Guild test, and it patiently faced off against Johnny. It looked like they were about to complete the Tai Chi diagram.

  Joni couldn't help it. He didn't come here today to draw pictures with wolves on the ground, and there were goblins to kill too. And if some other beast came along in a bit, things would get tricky.

  He took a few quick steps forward, holding the long sword in front of his chest. The wolf saw this and knew that the circle was complete, it was time to fight. So he retreated step by step, while his body gradually tensed up, accumulating strength.

  At last the wolf stopped retreating. It suddenly sprang forward, as if to pounce over. Joanie also stepped forward, raised her long sword, ready to chop down at any moment.

  The wolf moved, and Johnny also moved. The wolf ran towards Johnny, leaping to the side at the last moment, dodging the long sword that was chopping down, then jumped up again, putting his paw on Johnny's chest, about to push him down.

  This is probably where the term "色狼" comes from.

  Johnny didn't have the heart to mock. At such a close distance, the length of the long sword was actually a burden, so Johnny hastily retreated two steps to steady himself, relaxed his hand, and dropped the long sword to the ground, then quickly drew out a dagger from the scabbard on his thigh. By this time, the wolf's momentum had been spent, and seeing that it couldn't knock its opponent over, it used both paws to exert force, stood up on its hind legs, tilted its head slightly, and tried to bite Johnny's neck off.

  At this time, Joanie already had a dagger in her hand, her neck tilted back, her left hand inserted into the gap, pressed against the wolf's neck, and pushed outward with force. At the same time, her right hand made a sudden knife move, stabbing towards the wolf's back.

  In comes the white knife, out goes the red knife.

  The wolf yelped in pain, let out a mournful howl, and struggled to get off Johnny's body. But Johnny didn't want it to escape so easily. He quickly pulled out his dagger, grabbed the wolf's chin with his left hand, and pushed outward with force, while his right hand made an accurate slash in front of him.

  Fountain-like bleeding.

  Pushing aside the obviously dead wolf, he wiped his face smeared with fresh blood, and Joni sat down on the ground with a thud, panting heavily.

  "Too careless, too careless." Joanie muttered, "Do you think this is a picnic? Get your act together, damn it!"

  Jonny, now on high alert, recalled many of the wilderness survival skills he had heard about, one of which was that the smell of blood would attract other animals. He stood up, picked up his long sword and sheathed it. The blood on him was unavoidable, all he could do was be careful. He looked down at the wolf's corpse, and the thought of a 50 silver bounty floated into his mind, but he shook his head - no way would he skin it, and besides, there was a big hole in the fur on its back. So he wiped his short blade clean on the wolf's fur and sheathed it in the scabbard on his thigh. After scanning his surroundings, he headed deeper into the forest.

  As for this wolf corpse, it very well solved some forest residents' problem of keeping warm and having enough food.

  The forest is still so beautiful, so quiet.