Zretra, an ancient war-torn continent where humans, orcs, demons, elves, and dragons occupy one side each.

There is a small and fragile balance between the five species.

But this is far from stopping the bottomless desire in the hearts of every species, and of course, we can put it another way.

They all wanted to unify Zreta.

Greed is in the nature of all living things.

Oh yes.

Except for the elves who think they are high, and the witches who dwell in the Darkmoon Witch Castle.

The former claim to be the heirs of God and disdain strife, while the latter have to hide in the corners of history because of the small power of the race.

Cage Syndicate, witches are a special being, they are not even recognized as a race, and in my case, I would probably prefer to believe that they are an offshoot of human evolution.

But what the truth is, I can't find out.

The elves, on the other hand, have managed to look quite holy, and have never actively participated in wars other than defending their land.

I really don't understand how long their lives are, where is the joy of life?

Oh, sorry, this seems a bit off-topic, forgive me for this boring complaint.

This balance has been maintained for almost a millennium since antiquity, and it still stands tall today.

But the war never left the devastated continent.

I don't know when the human kingdom has been deeply coveting the territory of the elves, the Forest of Life.

As humans in the elven neighborhood, they can clearly feel the blessings contained in the Forest of Life.

They wanted to get a glimpse of the eternal secret of the elves' lives, and their greed made the humans grasp the sharp blades in their hands and aim them at the elves.

It is easy to start a war, but it is not so easy to win.

Perennial war is not a good thing for humans or elves, but the demons in the south of the continent are very happy to see this.

They took advantage of this opportunity to invade the elven kingdom, the Forest of Life, and the human kingdom of Artus.

At first, it was quite smooth, but the years of war had left the Forest of Life and Artus in a state of weakness, unable to resist the overwhelming demon army.

But I think that the demon king should have never heard of it, there are no eternal enemies, only the truth of eternal interests.

Eventually, the two races put aside their opinions and began to fight together, and with the close cooperation of the two races, they defeated the demons and drove them back to the demon realm.

The Forest of Life and Altes also took advantage of the situation to conclude a peace treaty.

Although since then, there has been a semblance of peace between the two countries.

However, for the tenacious demons, they must not give up so easily.

However, the last defeat gave the humans and elves time to breathe, and the demons' re-conquest could not destroy their strong barriers.

In this way, in the following days, although the demons continued to infest the territory of humans and elves, it did not pose any threat.

At that time, the orc kingdom of Angarmasi was overwhelmed by the flu and plague within the race, and there was no time for external conquest, so the war did not continue to expand.

Of course, perhaps the orcs should be grateful to the demons, because because of them, the orcs were saved.

Otherwise, it is inevitable that other countries will take advantage of this opportunity to invade, and the orcs at that time were basically powerless to fight back.

As for the dragon species, I don't think I need to say much, as the most powerful existence in this continent, but for some reason it disappeared in the long river of history thousands of years ago, as if it never existed.

To this day, the cause of their destruction has not been found in any literature.

"I said, uncle, you don't think I'm a baby who still has to be nursed in my arms, seriously, I'm not interested in bedtime stories anymore. The black-headed young man interrupted the five big and three thick men in front of him who were talking endlessly and had hideous scars on his face.

He looked at the man with a look of disgust.

After all, this big man has been grinding him for just two silver coins for an afternoon.

But the man was quite enthusiastic, and he hugged the black-haired boy with his backhand: "How good the story is, for the sake of the story, these woods are still cheaper." ”

"Uncle, with so much wood, I only charge you ten silver coins, which is a great loss, okay, I also have to live. The black-haired boy shrank and broke away from the big man's arms.

"Life is hard, so be it, nine silver coins. Dahan smiled and made a concession first

The black-haired boy was a little stunned, and he muttered in a low voice, "It turns out that there is such a shameless guy, are you serious?" ”

Seeing that the young man still didn't mean to give in, Dahan's face became a little serious.

He pulled the black-haired young man over again, then lowered his body and said with a mysterious expression: "Otherwise, I see that your qualifications are okay, and I can reluctantly accept you as my apprentice." ”

The black-haired boy rubbed his forehead, he now had the intention of jumping off a cliff to commit suicide.

"I'm out of luck. He complained, his tone full of compromise.

Then he raised his head and said to the big man, "Okay, eight silver coins for you, but I won't be in charge of transportation."

Dahan was a little helpless about this, and he casually patted the black-haired young man on the shoulder: "I think you'll see you in the future." ”

This almost made the black-haired boy stumble.

Immediately afterwards, the big man hurriedly handed the silver coin to the black-haired young man: "Tell you, this can't be reversed." ”

After that, he loaded all the timber onto the wagon with astonishing speed.

The black-haired young man sighed, cleaned up the stall, turned around and left.

"Hey, no more apprenticeship?" shouted the big man, who had already moved all the timber to the carriage, to the thin back of the slow march in the setting sun.

"Those two silver coins are for you. The black-haired boy waved his hand behind him, but did not stop

This made the big man grin: "Then I should also repair my ship, the current task is really not easy to do." ”

The setting sun illuminates the land a little dimly, and everything is rendered a little old.

The black-haired young man's face was a little tired: "After a busy day's work, I only earned eight silver coins." ”

Looking at the silver coin in his hand, which had been worn out and lost its luster, he sighed and thought silently, "Let's go dig for herbs tomorrow." ”

The only consolation is that today's dinner is settled.

He lifted his heavy legs and walked towards the only small restaurant in the town of Sivel.

After a day's work, his physical strength was exhausted.

But in order to save money, he still had to walk back to the town of Sivir.

"Squeak", he gently pushed open the door of the restaurant, which had fallen into disrepair.

The proprietress glanced back.

Then he put down the work in his hand, walked over to him, and asked softly, "López is back, what do you want to eat today?"

López didn't answer right away, though, he pulled a chair from under the table and sat down, then pinched his chin and thought silently.

After a long time, he made his final decision: "I want to have a roast chicken today." ”

But he had to rest first, or he would have to die of exhaustion.

Seeing his exhaustion, the proprietress smiled kindly: "Then you can rest first." ”

After saying that, he turned around and walked into the kitchen.

López, on the other hand, sat in his chair and waited quietly.

Because he was so bored, he unconsciously remembered the past.

He lost his parents at an early age and was adopted by his grandfather, Hayes, at the age of three.

He has lived in the town of Sivel for as long as he can remember.

The town of Sivir is a rather poor town, but fortunately the people are simple and friendly.

So that he and his grandfather will not starve to death in this real world.

His only wish at the moment is to live in peace.

Although it was extremely difficult for him at the age of fifteen.

But he couldn't give up, even for the sake of his elderly grandfather.

Maybe he should be thankful for the damn kindness.

While she was thinking, Edvina had already brought the roast chicken to him: "López, you're going to have it." ”

After speaking, she wiped her hands with the apron on her body, and then rubbed Lopez's head dotingly: "I have grown so tall unconsciously, time flies so fast." ”

"Aunt Wenna, what you make is really delicious as always. Smelling the rich aroma emanating from the roast chicken, López said heartily

"You know how to pat yourself on the back. Edwina gave him a blank look, but still smiled happily.

When the smile faded, she continued: "Okay, go back quickly, otherwise your grandfather will worry about you again." ”

López answered, then stuffed the roast chicken into the bag he was carrying, turned to Edwina and bowed: "Then I'll go first." ”

After placing two silver coins on the table, he pushed the door open and walked out.

This time he was more and more careful, he was really afraid that he would accidentally break this door.

He can't afford it.

The icy air lifted López's spirits a little.

"Grandpa is still waiting for me to come home, I need to hurry. With that in mind, he glanced up at the moon hanging high in the sky.

Then he sped up.

It was only after a long walk that he finally returned to the place he knew best

Gently pushing the door open, the warm breath in the room came to his face, which made López feel a little relieved, and the fatigue of the day seemed to be wiped clean.

"Welcome home. Hayes sat in his chair, a kind smile that never seemed to recede from his face.

Hayes was always so optimistic.

"Today I met a nice uncle, he bought all the wood, you see, I also bought roast chicken, I can eat a good meal today. As he spoke, he shook the food in his hand at Hayes.

"Well, good. Hayes nodded, then struggled to his feet.

late at night

López lay in bed for a long time and couldn't sleep, although he was physically and mentally exhausted.

This is how his life is, every day he has to worry about whether he can eat the next meal.

This kind of life day after day has trained him to be tenacious.

But so what?

Perseverance will not bring him gold coins either.

The reality is like this, he has long been used to it.

He couldn't change reality, and in the end he was left to go with the flow.

He sat up slowly, the moonlight shining through the window on his face.

He pulled out a short sword from under his pillow.

Draw the blade and take a closer look.

His grandfather had said that it was the only thing his parents had left him.

His name was engraved on the hilt, and it was the only thing he cherished, and he never left it.

After watching affectionately for a long time, López reluctantly inserted the sword back into the scabbard.

He said to himself, "It's time to sleep, I have to dig up herbs tomorrow, I hope to get some harvest and sell them for a good price." ”

He rolled over and lay down again, slowly falling asleep.

Early the next morning, López packed his bags and set off.

The herb-rich Kutler Hill is infested with a large number of wild animals, and the distance from the town of Sivel to the Kutler Hill is a long walk.

Not only do you have to hunt for herbs, but you also have to carefully avoid wild beasts, which is a troublesome and dangerous task.

The sleepy-eyed López walked slowly.

Every time he thought about it, it would be nice to have a carriage that would shorten the journey time and make it easier to transport.

But his hope was enclosed by a wall called a gold coin.

Why can't Lady Luck keep an eye on him?

Complaining is complaining, his life has to go on, and that's the worst.

Finally got to Kutler Hill.

López drew the short sword at his waist and walked cautiously towards the mountain.

If it weren't for this dagger, his corpse would have rotted in this dangerous land long ago.

Suddenly, López let out a low sigh.

He walked quickly towards a big tree, and looked at an inconspicuous silver grass next to the tree with an intoxicated expression: "Oh roar, long live Lady Luck." ”

He looked at it and saw it carefully.

Then he carefully dug away the surrounding soil with his short sword, and whispered, "Fish scale grass, this may sell for a good price." ”

It took a while for its roots to be fully exposed to the air.

Immediately after, he gently pinched the fish scale grass, and then slowly uprooted it.

López held it in the palm of his hand as if it were a treasure and carefully put it in his bag.

However, López, who was immersed in joy, suddenly felt a chill behind him.

He lunged forward quickly.

Dealing with these beasts for many years has honed his keen senses.

With a roar, a dark purple ghost dog pounced on the trunk of the tree.

Where it left two deep claw marks.

López broke out in a cold sweat and turned to run away without hesitation.

Thankfully, he reacted quickly, otherwise his stomach might have been torn open by the damn beast.

The dog straightened up and roared and chased after López.

López's speed was far from catching up with the ghost, and the distance between the two was rapidly shrinking.

He hurriedly surveyed his surroundings as he ran, but he had no way to dodge or shake off the dog.

At this time, the ghost dog had already chased after him, and was waiting for an opportunity to bite off López's neck with his mouth open.

There's no room for any turning back.

López cursed loudly, "Come on, you damn brute. ”

Turning around, a decisive sword slashed at the head of the ghostly dog.

This sword didn't do much harm to the rough-skinned dog, but it had already angered it.

It opened its foul-smelling mouth and bit down on López.

López held his dagger in front of the dog's mouth.

The tremendous force shook his hand numb, and the short sword almost escaped.

But the razor-sharp fangs aren't the only weapon the Ghost Dog has to offer.

It raised its huge claws and slammed López out of the way.

The sheer force made López dizzy.

Three blood-red claw marks were scratched on his chest.

Lopez stood up and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

The dog's murderous gaze was locked on López.

It was looking for a flaw, ready to end López's life in one bite.

And López still clutched the short sword in his hand.

Even if you die, you have to take this damn brute with you.

He thought so.