Swords, magic, and martial arts

Rod found a few relatively fresh tomatoes in Piltover and the others' backpacks. He asked Aya to wash them, cut them into small pieces, and add them to the pot. He then covered the pot and cooked them with the marinated beef in it. After the broth had thickened considerably, a tomato beef stew was ready.

He and Aya ate heartily, but Aya ignored him all night. In his mind, he had begun to see Aya as a willful little girl.

Perhaps boys are safer than girls, and Aya said she was a boy to protect herself, but Rod didn't intend to force her to reveal the truth.

Rod gave the bed to Aya, intending to practice the Divine Illumination Technique all night. If he was too tired to stay awake, he would sit in the chair and focus on his inner energy.

It was quite cold, and despite the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, Rod didn't turn off the fireplace in the cabin and even sat down next to it, thinking he could rush over before getting poisoned.

However, in a world with magic, is it unnecessary to consider carbon monoxide poisoning?

In the end, Rhode still practiced the Divine Illumination Technique all night, hoping to accelerate his recovery from his injuries. Being injured in such a dangerous forest while carrying a child was extremely risky.

Not counting the minor injuries from fighting the wolves last night, he also had several more serious wounds: his left upper arm was slashed, his right palm was pierced, and his forehead was slashed open by an axe.

Fortunately, the Iron Shirt and Golden Bell Shield made me more resilient, otherwise I would have died countless times. If my head hadn't been so tough, I would have had at least half my head chopped off by that axe blow yesterday. Thinking of this, Rhodes felt somewhat fortunate.

This time when I practiced Shenzhao Gong, I didn't feel the swelling and pain I had before. Is it because there are many injuries that can be repaired, or because my physical condition has improved?

As he practiced his Divine Illumination Technique, the howling of wolves could be heard continuously outside the cabin; they must be gnawing on the corpses of the mercenaries, Rhodes thought.

Aya, who had been asleep, was startled awake by the sound of wolves. She trembled on the bed for a while before falling asleep again.

Rod kicked open the door of the cabin at noon, breaking the wooden bolt. Fearing that animals might break in at night, he moved the table behind the door to block it.

With each cycle of the Divine Illumination Technique, Rod felt the pain in his body lessen by one point.

The night passed quickly. After practicing the Divine Illumination Technique all night and using the Black Jade Rejuvenating Ointment, Rod felt that his injuries had healed by more than half. He stood up from the chair and moved his somewhat numb body.

After practicing Shenzhaogong all night, he experienced a kind of euphoric feeling, like he was floating in the sky without feeling sleepy, as if he had become an immortal.

After glancing at Aya sleeping in the child's bed, Rod had a bold idea: to find out if Aya was a boy or a girl. However, thinking about how awkward it would be if Aya really was a girl, he finally gave up on his bold idea.

He picked up a water bottle and went outside. He took a sip of water and began to rinse his mouth. Nords take great care of their teeth and carry plant powders similar to toothpaste they used before crossing over. Most of them have a set of white teeth. However, Pilt and the three mercenaries were not Nords, and they did not carry such a thing in their backpacks.

Rod walked a short distance away and drained water next to a tree. It was incredibly cold outside; he almost froze to death.

He then went into another wooden cabin, which was filled with miscellaneous items, probably left behind by hunters who rested there at night after hunting in the forest.

He found a small box in a cabinet. He opened the box, held it to his nose, and smelled it. He discovered it was the same plant-based powder he used to use for cleaning teeth.

He poured some water on his hands and washed his right hand fingers clean. His left arm was cut and he couldn't lift it yet. After his fingers dried, he put his fingers into the small box, dipped them in some powder, applied it to his teeth, rubbed them slightly with his fingers, drank a few mouthfuls of water, and spat them out of the wooden house.

People with unclean teeth are looked down upon by other Nords. I don't know why the Nords have formed such a custom, but Rhodes is used to brushing his teeth as soon as he gets up in the morning. He feels very uncomfortable in his mouth if he doesn't brush his teeth.

After brushing his teeth, he quickly washed his face with water from the kettle, then returned to the cabin, closed the door, and began to bury himself in the water to recover his energy.

When he came out of his state of focused concentration, he saw Aya fiddling with that poor pot by the fireplace again.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Rod asked.

Aya was startled and turned around to answer, "I brushed it. I found a box of tooth-cleansing herbal powder in the room next door."

As expected of a child, he wasn't angry anymore after sleeping through the night.

"Are you cooking again?" Rod asked again.

"Yes, I woke up because I was hungry. I'll cook more this time." She turned around.

Rod was a little worried about Aya's cooking, fearing he might make something undercooked like yesterday's, so he said, "I'll cook it instead."

"No need, you're injured, you should rest. I'll do this. I'll cook more today," Aya said stubbornly.

Seeing his state, Rod nodded and decided to give him a chance to prove himself. He was still very sleepy, so he went back into a state of focused concentration.

Aya took out a few carrots and a piece of smoked meat from the mercenary's backpack. He took the carrots and ran to the stream next to the cabin to wash them and the steel dagger he had stolen from Rhodes. Then he ran back into the cabin and started cutting the carrots and smoked meat.

He threw the chopped smoked meat and carrots into the pot, added water, covered the pot, and started cooking. He still vividly remembered the tomato beef stew that Rod made yesterday. He had never eaten anything like this before; he had only ever had tomato beef soup.

He thought, "If I put the carrots and smoked meat in a pot and cook them together, the broth will be thick and delicious. It'll definitely be better than what that idiot made yesterday." Just thinking about it made his mouth water.

After a while, he lifted the lid of the pot to check if the water had boiled away. He then discovered that the firewood next to the fireplace was running low, so he ran into the forest to gather some dry branches.

Rhodes smelled a strange odor that brought him back to his senses. He found the source of the smell: the pot by the fireplace.

He went over and lifted the lid of the pot, only to find that the contents were burnt and emitted a foul, acrid smell.

Where is Aya? His eyes searched the cabin, but he couldn't find Aya.

He used tongs to lift the pot off the fire and put it outside, letting the burnt smell spread outside the cabin.

"What did you do to my food?" Aya asked, her eyes wide, as she returned carrying a tree branch.

"Why didn't you keep an eye on the food in the pot? It's all burnt," Rod said, pinching his nose.

Aya put down the branch and came over. She bent down and saw that the pot was completely charred. She exclaimed in surprise, "How could this happen? Did you use some evil magic on it?"

"I didn't use magic. You were the one who didn't watch it and let it burn. Why are you blaming me now?" Rhodes said innocently.

"I don't care, it must be you," Aya said angrily.

"Young lady, why are you shirking your responsibility like this?" Rod said with a smile.

Aya was taken aback and said angrily, "You're the little girl who dropped the branch and tried to rush over and hit Rhodes."

Rod heard the "rustling" sound of footsteps on the snow and made a shushing gesture to Aya, who was punching him.

Aya stopped, looking at Rhodes with a puzzled expression. Rhodes pointed, and a woman carrying a giant bow appeared in their field of vision...