Warhammer: Return of the Dragon.

The coldness gradually faded away, and Anasta, who thought she had been fooled to death by the nobles, suddenly woke up. She stared blankly at the golden spear in front of her and the unharmed arm.

"I am dead, am I not?"

"No, I am only revealing to you the fate that will emerge if you hold this spear." Imrik remained on the sidelines, still pointing at the Spear of Valor and said, "Then Anasta, do you still have the courage to hold it? I cannot reveal fate to one person twice."

"Whoever is afraid is a coward." Although she said that, Anasta was still a little scared. This spear was too strange.

She rolled her eyes and focused on the sword beside Imrik, pointing to the white scabbard and said, "But I don't want to use a spear, I want to use a sword."

Cosher pointed his axe at the ignorant kid. If he held the Spear of Valor, it only meant that His Majesty wanted to find a student to inherit his martial arts, but what was the Sword of Creation? How could he let a wild girl from the mountains touch it?

Imrik raised the sword and shook his head. "This sword represents a heavy fate. The one who pulls it out will shoulder the entire elven race."

"Forget it then." Anasta fearfully reached out for the Lance of Valor again, muttering in her heart, "Grandpa, please bless me and don't let your granddaughter be killed by some noble lord."

But unexpectedly, the Spear of Valor turned into golden light and disappeared.

Anasta was stunned for a moment after grabbing nothing, then stared at Imrick and said angrily, "Where's the gun? Are you afraid that I will pick it up and it will be mine?"

"There's no gun, but if you want to pull out the spear of bravery, you may need more practice."

"Humph, how could you guys who enjoy life in the city…" Anasta shrank her head and looked at Cosir behind her cautiously, not confident enough to say, "You know how to use a spear."

"How about we have a competition. If you lose, you will be my student."

"Imric! You have to understand the weight of your words now. If you rashly add a student, it will cause a lot of people to think about it." Phyllis was worried. Prince Caledo's students were often given important tasks. Even if Imric took him in for fun, the nature of the matter was completely different in the eyes of others.

Imrick rolled his eyes. "She is just a little girl. How can she be involved in these things? Besides, if no one inherits my martial arts, wouldn't it be a waste?"

"But she..." Phyllis was still worried. She wanted to find someone to inherit her martial arts. There were a group of noble heirs with outstanding talents in Caledo, so why should she find a wild girl?

But Anasta obviously didn't understand the value of her students. She crossed her chest and snorted, "No, you must be trying to trick me. Don't think I don't know that Master Arion is the best at using a spear."

"Then what do you want to compare?"

"Bow and arrow."

Imrick's expression became a little strange. When it comes to archery, he is not really good at it, but he has no problem guiding a little girl.

"Cohil, find two bows. I want to teach this wild girl a lesson."

"I recommend you wear armor."

The captain of the guard gave a reminder, but the Phoenix King ignored it, and finally the two plain longbows fell into the hands of Imrik and Anasta.

Anasta stroked the longbow with a magical aura. The bow was compact and straight. She could feel a noticeable rebound when she pulled the bowstring lightly. It was obviously a rare and good bow.

"Let's compete in hunting. Whoever can kill a powerful monster will win."

Anasta, who had lived in the Annulli Mountains since childhood, had no objection to this, but her only doubt was about victory.

"If I win, this bow will be mine." The two onlookers shook their heads and smiled bitterly. If you become the student of the Phoenix King, you can have as many of these standard longbows of Avalon as you want, and you will never be able to pull them all in your lifetime.

"Okay, but if you lose, you must learn spearmanship from me."

"But I can't use a spear."

"You will. When you have the courage to reach out to Solarion, it means that the art of spearmanship is open to you."

The strange remarks made Anasta mutter that the city people were trouble. She quickly put out the campfire with rocks and walked towards the path above.

"I'm going to cause trouble for the Manticore. If you're scared, leave now."

Manticore. Even Anasta, who had no exposure to elven society, knew that this kind of monster was extremely feared. But with this longbow, she could definitely shoot the monster to death.

As for the noble boy who still dreams of taking in students, just get out of here.

It turns out that the hermits living in the Annulli Mountains are really good at self-protection. Anasta knows the activity range of every magical beast nearby and knows how to hunt them.

She threw a homemade magic potion bomb into the bottomless dark cave. With a roar, a huge ugly lion head rushed out of the cave.

The two sharp arrows hit the manticore's eye sockets accurately with a time difference of less than half a second. The arrowheads made of fine steel easily pierced the weak protective layer of the brain and hit the manticore's weakness.

A blind monster naturally wouldn't pose much of a threat. With her agility, Anastasia used the rocks between the mountains as cover to avoid the scorpion-tailed lion's attacks based on its sense of smell. She pulled the bowstring and shot arrows into the monster's weak belly.

Imrik, who was watching from the side, rubbed his chin and watched the wild girl's actions with great interest. She had a quick reaction speed, knew how to use the terrain flexibly, and could seize the gaps in the manticore's attack to counterattack accurately... She was a good candidate.

The Phoenix King glanced at the maid and found that she was also a little surprised. It was hard to imagine how Cossier had caught such agile skills so easily.

"How about it, this little girl has good qualifications, right?"

Phyllis twisted her face, "I wonder why she didn't show this talent at the beginning... Lord Cossell, I don't doubt your ability, but Anasta's skills are obviously different from my initial impression."

Cohill paid no attention to what Phyllis said and made his assessment with certainty.

“Her fight with the manticore was exemplary even by Charis standards, but Maid Phyllis is right, her intentions are questionable.”

"Have you ever heard of the legends about hermits? The gods proclaimed revelations to them, so they lived alone in the mountains... and I am the Phoenix King."

When it comes to mysterious gods, the two followers mean that you are the chosen one by God and have the final say.

Anasta, who came to see him with the manticore head, was in high spirits. She had hunted down the most terrifying monster in the Anuli Mountains, and wanted to ask Imrik how he wanted to lose.

"Well, I'm awesome, right?" The girl with her hands on her hips was full of energy and had already made her decision on the outcome of the match. She fiddled with the longbow, put it behind her, and said with a smile, "This longbow belongs to me."

"Little girl, I haven't even started hunting yet, how can I judge the winner?"

"Do you still want to hunt a monster stronger than the manticore? Forget it. Don't risk your life for the sake of face. It's just a matter of a longbow. No one will laugh at you when you get down the mountain."

Imrick smiled and turned to ask Cosir, "Are there any signs of Chimera or Hydra activity nearby?" (End of this chapter)