My health recovery is incredibly fast.

Spirit 3

Charm 1

Special skills of the person?

..

Vans's Strength and Agility combined only amount to 10 points. Willpower is his highest attribute. Vitality is only 1 point, making his total attribute value significantly lower than others.

After dinner, Snake helped Shazo clear away the dishes, and the two of them took them to the kitchen.

“Snake, why aren’t you eating? You’re just drinking.”

Xia Zuo finally voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

"Because he's a fire-breathing performer. You've seen circus performances, right? They put a mouthful of flammable liquid in their mouths, then spit it onto a torch, and flames immediately shoot out."

Snake gestured with both hands in front of him, mimicking the action of breathing fire.

“This is the most important and most profitable show, Chazo. He earns more money for the circus than any of us combined.”

Snake's words carried a hint of sadness, "This is also the most dangerous act. When Vans was practicing fire-breathing, he burned his throat and mouth. Although it doesn't affect the performance, he can no longer eat anything other than liquids. Sometimes he suffers from pain and needs medication and low-alcohol drinks to relieve it."

So that's how it is. No wonder Vans didn't say a word the whole time. Maybe his throat hurt when he tried to speak, or maybe his vocal cords were burned.

"By the way, Xia Zuo. Let's do some work tonight. I'll teach you what you usually do."

Snake took the boy to the hotel’s backyard.

There were many carriages parked in the open space, and not far away were stables for storing horses, with servants specifically assigned to look after the place.

Among the many carriages, the circus carriage, consisting of three connected sections, was the largest and most prominent.

The carriage at the very front was where Audrey and the clown's sister lived. They were responsible for controlling the packhorses, guiding the carriage forward, and also looking after the food and fresh water supplies.

The last carriage is Xia Zuo's future residence, where he lives with the strongman Poppy, and where performance props and miscellaneous items are stored.

The middle carriage was very tall, with several bundles of rolled-up pointed tents on the roof, and wooden stakes and cables inside.

This carriage serves as the residence of the clown brother, Snake, and Vans, as well as a mobile circus front desk where tickets for shows and small gifts and toys are sold.

"Xia Zuo, go into the carriage and open this partition from the inside."

Snake patted the window of the middle carriage. It was boarded up with a single piece of wood, unlike the other carriages which had a sliding window panel with a small lock.

"Is that so, Snake?"

Xia Zuo lowered the wooden plank from the inside out to a horizontal position, and the window became a ticket window, giving it a feel of a mobile food cart.

"That's it. Your height is just right, enough to show your face. I finally don't have to squat inside selling tickets anymore. Hahaha."

Snake chuckled, twitching his mustache, and placed several copper coins on the ticket window.

"Two copper coins can get you a knife-throwing show, starring the gang leader. My snake charmer show is the same price. Five copper coins can get you a circus act by a strongman and a clown siblings. Eight copper coins can get you a fire-breathing show by Vans."

Snake tapped the wooden board. "Now give me one ticket each."

"Okay, okay, here you go."

Xia Zuo pulled out a small wooden piece from a hanging bag on the wall of the carriage. The piece was carved with the corresponding performance program.

"Very good, little guy, you learn very quickly."

Snake checked the tickets again; the boy hadn't taken the wrong one. "Now I'll teach you how to identify the performance props and some special tools."

The two went to the third carriage, which was filled with things like seesaws, horizontal bars, cushions, and stilts.

Inside the innermost part, there is a locked leather suitcase.

After boarding the carriage, Snake closed the door, leaving only a sliver of light to illuminate the interior.

"This is the tank where Vans mixes the flamethrower. Don't knock it over when you sleep."

Snake carefully pushed the suitcase a little further in, lifted the floorboards of the truck bed, and underneath were the performance costumes. The size and color alone were enough to identify whose they were.

He swept the pile of clothes aside, lifted the second floorboard, and this time found several sets of leather armor and weapons wrapped in oilcloth.

Xia Zuo's eyes lit up! This circus really does have something special.

"Shh, don't get excited, little one."

Snake lowered his voice, "I'll only tell you where to find something to defend yourself. You can't handle these blades yet."

He picked up a curved knife. "This is my weapon. If I encounter anyone with ill intentions, you must bring it to me immediately."

"Okay, I've got it."

Xia Zuo stared at the sharp blade, feeling a chill on his neck, causing the fine hairs on his neck to stand on end.

"This large machete and leather shield belong to the strongman Pope. He was very strong and had killed many wolves."

“These two rapiers belong to the Joker siblings. The eldest sister’s throwing knife is on her leg.” Snake put the floor back on.

"What about Vans?" Xia Zuo blinked.

"Him? He can't do anything except breathe fire. We'll handle the fighting. After you bring us the weapons and protective gear, make sure you hide in this mezzanine."

Xia Zuo lay down on the floor where the performance costumes were, easily hiding inside, and didn't feel oppressed even when the floor was covered.

Chapter 6 Translucent Glass Ball

The circus set off early the next morning.

Before setting off, Xia Zuo secretly entrusted the three silver coins he had brought out from the cave to Audrey for safekeeping. Now, he only had his new clothes and broken crutch with him.

He was traveling with the strongman Poppy.

The two of them were a bit cramped in the carriage, and Popeye had eaten a lot, so he was expending more calories than the average person, which raised the temperature inside the carriage.

Even in such a stuffy, crowded, and bumpy carriage, Xia Zuo felt very satisfied, finding it infinitely better than an underground prison or a forest.

"Xia Zuo, great lad, hehe..."

Popeye is a big guy, but he's a little bit slow on the uptake.

He speaks somewhat haltingly, and when he encounters a sentence with more than five words, he will first laugh a few times and then pause.

"Hey, you're brave to walk alone in the jungle for two days."

"Thanks for the compliment, Popeye." Xia Zuo poked the other's bulging arm muscles. "You're so strong, is there some secret to it?"

"Breathing techniques? Hehe, we all know breathing techniques. You're too young to learn them."

Breathing techniques! It sounds like something that can improve physical fitness.

Xia Zuo's eyes widened. "Why can't I learn it?"

"Hehe, you're still growing. You can only start learning after you turn 18. Hehe, if you have elemental affinity, you can go directly to the mage academy to learn alchemy and spells, saving you the trouble of doing quests at the warrior guild."

Elemental affinity, alchemy, magic!

Mage Academy, Warrior Guild!

According to the Bopai, mages are far more noble and rarer than warriors in this world.

At the same time, becoming a mage is far more difficult than becoming a warrior.

What is elemental affinity?

Xia Zuo sat up straight, gripping Popeye's thick arms with both hands.

"I don't know, hey... Big Sister seems to know. Hehe, she said the next stop is Rosac City, and she'll take you there for a test. Maybe you'll have elemental affinity."

Popeye touched his creamy hair. "I think, hehe, you don't have elemental affinity, just like us."

Xia Zuo felt a little downcast upon hearing this, but then his mind raced and he thought of the mental attribute!

Yeah! If we upgrade and put the points into Spirit, maybe we'll get Elemental Affinity?

Xia Zuo rubbed his hands excitedly, looked up at the sky outside the car window, and felt that the blue sky and white clouds were even brighter and more pleasing under the sunshine.

The three-horse carriage swayed and moved slowly along the country road.

Some traveling merchants would urge their packhorses to speed up and overtake the circus caravan.

"Audrey, where is your next stop?"

A messenger wearing a cloak and carrying a letter bag rode up to the first carriage of the caravan and seemed to know the boss and her circus.

“We’re going to Rosac, my friend. The circus will be staying there for a week.”

The leader's clear voice drifted from the front.

"The children are going to have a blast again. Ha, I'll be going now," the messenger shouted, and rode off into the distance.

"Is our circus famous?" Xia Zuo asked his companion.

"Hehe is very famous in Rosac Province. Every town knows us. Every six months, we travel all over Rosac Province along the roads."

Popeye was kneading a very elastic rubber ball, the muscles on his forearm bulging and clearly defined, clearly not as relaxed as he appeared.

This rubber ball seems to be a small tool for exercising arm strength in a confined space.

"Is our circus the only one in Rosac Province? Won't someone steal our business?" Xia Zuo continued to ask.

Popeye stopped what he was doing, touched his hair, and his two thick eyebrows furrowed at a right angle:

"It seems so. Hehe, the boss should know about these things. Vans used to be a fire-breathing man in another circus, but for some reason he joined us."

Xia Zuo lowered his head in thought. Could it be that Vans' original team discovered his thieving habit? Audrey had never mentioned Vans' bad habit to the other members, so I'd better not say anything more.

It will be about five days later.

The road to Rosac changed from a dirt road to a striped stone road, becoming wider and smoother as you walked.

The carriage stopped jolting, and much less water spilled out when Xia Zuo turned on the water bag.

Along the way, the convoy only stopped at villages to replenish food and fresh water, without stopping even at dusk, and continued on its way under the cover of night.

At first, Xia Zuo was somewhat surprised by traveling in the dark.

Audrey, the Joker siblings, and Snake took turns driving the carriage.

So why can packhorses work non-stop?