Warlord Of Chaos

The Tarasha Mountains were the tallest and longest mountain ranges on the continent, stretching thousands of miles from east to west. The mountain on the other side of the Emerald River was the extension of the Tarasha Mountains, thus its hills were not as high, and the woods in it were not as dense. Only low grade holy animals could be occasionally found wandering there, but over the mountain, higher grade holy animals could been seen here and there. Hearing this, Han Jin was in high spirits as if he was going to go hunt the holy animals right then and there. Steelberg immediately regretted his introduction and begged Han Jin piteously to not take the risks. He warned Han Jin repeatedly that only experienced mercenaries and powerful professionals could walk out of there alive.

Han Jin was curious about where his servant had gotten this information, but that had proved to be a foolish move. It turned out that he had gotten all his information from a young barde, and Raphael had also been present at that time. Thus, Han Jin was forced to make up a vague answer for Steelberg's questions, while mentally reminding himself to be more careful. Fortunately, Steelberg had always obeyed the principles between master and servant and did not press the issue.

In fact, if Steelberg were experienced enough, he should have been suspicious of Han Jin for a long time by now. Who could change so much in merely one night? For example, Young Master Raphael had started to care about Steelberg's diet and sleep, and had even covered him in some loose hays, or even his own cloth, as a make-shift blanket. Since Steelberg was in charge of his master's safety, he would wake up immediately at the slightest commotion. Feeling the care from his young master, Steelberg secretly shed tears. He didn't suspect his young master at all, and on the contrary, he was extremely moved and thought all that he had done for his master had been worthwhile.

Also, in Steelberg's mind, his young master was a dainty youth who would never eat anything that looked dirty even if he was starving to death. But now, even the ugly and disgusting hamsters and red snakes could not escape his mouth. On top of that, the young master appeared very elegant while eating. He would always eat in a slow and tentative manner, and his deep and bright eyes were always focused on the food, as if he were eating the most luxurious delicacy in the world. As Steelberg recalled, even when the Old Master had been alive, his manners had not been as elegant as the Young Master right now.

Of course, Han Jin knew nothing about Steelberg's thoughts; Steelberg wasn't even near him, as he had just sent his servant to the town to find more firewood. Though he could endure the taste of different kinds of food, he could not endure the bloody smell of animals. Moreover, his teacher had told him that although raw blood and flesh could also provide energy, it was a different energy from the energy provided by cooked food, as it was hard to be transformed into vital energy. Finally, such a method was too close to the demonic ways of cultivating, and one would eventually move on to consuming human flesh and mind.

Han Jin scattered the burning twigs randomly, and tore a rear leg from a roasted hamster, stuffing it into his mouth and chewing with all his attention. He ate his food thoroughly, and by the word "thoroughly," he meant that because everything contained energy, even the bones, they would be chewed and swallowed. With the food going into his stomach, traces of energy converged in his diaphragm. After several days of living in these woods, Han Jin had finally acc.u.mulated over a hundred yuan energy, which had restored his confidence a little.

Aside from improving this body, Han Jin did not dare waste any more of his energy. For example, though surrounding himself with some energy could prevent mosquito's bites, he would never do that. At this primitive stage of energy acc.u.mulation, he had no other choice but to be harsh, or even cruel, to himself.

Still, there were two problems that bothered him. One was about magic crystals. He had planned on hunting holy animals after regaining some of his energy and strengthen himself by swallowing magic crystals, but now, he realized that doing so was not very cost effective. For example, a magic crystal from a long-ear rabbit contains a dozen yuan of energy, but it could be sold for more than hundreds of bread loaves, which would definitely contain more than ten units of energy each.

The other problem was that, after several days of modification, his digestion and absorption capacity had reached seventy percent, and if he continued improving his body, the energy needed would be much more than before. But if he stopped there, the absorption capacity of seventy percent would cause unnecessary waste. Moreover, the rehabilitating work would also be troublesome; after all, he was eating all day long. Such a dilemma could only be resolved by increasing the absorption capacity to over ninety five percent.

Han Jin also had a vague feeling that he was missing something - something very important. However, he simply could not figure out what it was for the life of him.

While Han Jin was still thinking, he heard the sound of shuffling footsteps; Steelberg had came back with a bag.

"Back already?" Han Jin raised his head and asked, "You got the firewood?"

"Got it," Steelberg answered as he put the bag on the ground.

"Didn't the old fart say anything?" Han Jin snorted. The old fart he referred to was Barbato, his family's former butler, who had broken off ties with Raphael after Raphael had sold all of his family lands and the manor. This old bastard had purchased a house for himself, and married a widowed 25 year old while he, himself, was already sixty years old. His enjoyed a cozy life at the moment, but no one knew where he had gotten his money from.

Though he had broken off ties with Rapheal, Barato couldn't change his past, nor did he want people to talk behind his back, so he would occasionally give Raphael and Steelberg some old cloth and coins as financial help. Of course, this was just occasionally. However, that was the extent of his generosity, as he would have no qualms kicking the both of them out of his house if they wanted a place to live.

"No he didn't; it seemed as though the old thing was in a hurry." Steelberg glanced at Han Jin with hesitation in his eyes, then murmured, "Young master, there is one thing I must tell you, but promise me you'll keep calm after hearing what I say."

"Huh? What's that?"

"It is Miss Keeley; seems that she is in big trouble."

Han Jin was just about to ask who Miss Keeley was when he suddenly remembered his lessons from the past few days. He quickly changed his words and said, "What trouble?"

"Young Master, do you remember the dwarf forging master Miss Keeley had hired?" Steelberg said angrily, "That bastard had the guts to propose to Miss Keeley. Who the f.u.c.k does he think he is?!"

Han Jin searched through his memories, which were confusing and incomplete, but Miss Keeley was definitely not among them. But since Steelberg was so enraged, she must have been close to Raphael, so he tentatively asked, "And then?"

"How could Miss Keeley accept? Then that dwarf opened a forge by himself on the opposite side of Miss Keeley's. He's clearly trying to make her life harder!"

Han Jin went through his memories again, but still couldn't remember who Miss Keeley was. He said with a wry smile, "Steelberg, tell me more... about Miss Keeley."

"Young Master, you even forgot about Miss Keeley?" Steelberg asked in a surprised voice.

"Not quite, I remember something about her. It's just too vague." Han Jin sounded very conflicted.

"Young Master, you used to tell me that you would give up thirty years of your life if you could marry Miss Keeley. Don't you remember? How could you forget her??" Steelberg shook his head. "Miss Keeley... I heard she was also famous even in Holy Crown City."

" Holy Crown City?"

"That is the territory of Lord Dismark, and it is the city we serve."

"Oh, I just remembered." Han Jin pretended he had remembered everything, and then asked, "Then why did Miss Keeley came to Radon Town if she's famous in Holy Crown City?"

"Eh... I don't know that either." This said, Steelberg scratched his head.

"What does Miss Keeley do?"

"She runs some businesses."

"Then she must be very rich." Han Jin thought for a moment. "Why doesn't she hire another forging master? As rich as she is, why would she be afraid of a dwarf? Besides, how much could she earn in Randon Town anyway? Why does she even care in the first place?"

"Eh… Young master, you got me again. I don't know," Steelberg said with a wry smile on his face as he scratched his head.

"Never mind." Realized that Miss Keeley was only someone that Raphael used to moon over, Han Jin changed the topic, and instead looked at the bag Steelberg had brought back. "What is it?"

"Cassavas, Young Master. I dug them on the way." Seeing Han Jin's reaction, Steelberg was dumbfounded again, as he had thought his young master would jump to his feet and immediately go confront the dwarf.

"Good. It's about time we had something other than hamsters." A joyful look appeared on Han Jin's face. At this moment, he would rather choose a piece of cassava over ten beautiful Miss Keeleys.

Han Jin turned the bag upside down, and dozens of cassavas rolled onto the ground. A familiar scene came to his mind all of a sudden. The cassavas rolling on the ground somehow reminded him of the bead he had found when he had first opened his eyes in this world. As if he had realized something, Han Jin suddenly jumped up and shouted, "You're such a fool!"

Steelberg was so frightened by the shout that he did not dare say a single word, and simply stared Han Jin with a dumbfounded expression.

"Not talking about you; I'm the one that's a fool!" Han Jin sighed. He had just realized how childish his original idea had been. How many magic crystals could he even get by personally hunting holy animals? Since everything in this world could be bought for a price, why couldn't he just focus his efforts on making more money and buying the magic crystals instead? If he did that, the problems that had been troubling him would also be resolved. Energy? As long as he had money, it was a trivial matter for him to obtain more energy. And at that point, he wouldn't have to worry about cost efficiency at all!