Free Web NovelChapter 10: Silva is third on the leader board
[Items Obtained]
Ice Fang ×1
→ Material from a Killer Bear.
Goblin Hide ×1
→ Basic crafting material.
Copper Coins ×40
System Stones ×20
[Mutation Triggered]
Ice Fang → Frozen Fang
→ Adds frost damage when forged into a weapon.
Goblin Hide → Hardened Hide frёewebnoѵēl.com
→ Increased durability.
Mutation Complete.
Inventory Updated.
Levon was quite shocked that he had gotten such basic materials.
This had to be the most useless haul he had seen in a long time.
The Ice Fang was completely unusable without an ice essence to pair it with.
"Wow, just useless," Levon muttered as he went straight to the leaderboard, eager to see how things were going.
[Levon — 120 system stones]
[Draven — 60 system stones]
[Silver — 60 system stones]
Levon knew he was still in first place, but he was more than a little shocked. Who was Silver? How had he risen so fast in the power rankings? What made it even stranger was that Levon couldn’t remember anyone named Silver from his former life.
Levon closed the screen and clutched his head in frustration. Something wasn’t right — was this a bug? Because up until now everything had been running smoothly, and now Silver was showing up out of nowhere.
"Please, I need to leave. I have no time left," Levon said, standing up from the chair. His mind was already cluttered with too many things at once.
Elizabeth didn’t argue; she simply walked over to where he was standing and handed him a plate of hot soup she had been warming the whole time.
"Eat first, then we can talk."
Levon looked at her carefree attitude and could hardly be bothered. After all, she was just an NPC — what could she possibly tell him that he didn’t already know? If he didn’t leave soon, Draven would surely overtake him, and this Silver was already suspicious. The speed of his rise in the rankings suggested he knew something the other players didn’t.
"Oh, I couldn’t care less, could I," Elizabeth said with a smile before restating herself.
"Come on, eat first."
Levon still wasn’t buying it. What she was essentially telling him was to sit here eating soup while Draven and Silver kept closing the gap between them.
"I’m sorry, as much as I’d really like to stay, I just can’t. I have to go — time is running out."
Elizabeth looked straight into his eyes. She could see his impatience, his hunger for dominance.
"Well, in that case, you have nothing to worry about. A night inside the witches’ coven only counts as one or two seconds in the outside world, so don’t worry anymore. Now have your soup before it gets cold," Elizabeth said, continuing with what she was doing.
Levon stood there staring at her for a little longer than he would have liked. He didn’t know whether his mission was tied to this woman in any way, but his gut was telling him she meant no harm.
Still, he couldn’t quite bring himself to stay, so he decided to at least try to leave. He knew where she lived — he could always come back for his sword. But for now, all he needed was to find where the trial was and clear the challenge.
But just as he tried to move, a sharp pain tore through his body, and that’s when it finally hit him — he was actually injured from those last few seconds at the gate of the witches’ coven.
It was now very clear that he needed to heal.
*’Why on earth didn’t I activate the grave ward pendant,’* Levon said, cursing himself. Even though he was wearing the pendant, it wasn’t on by default — he had to activate it himself.
If he had done that, the hit wouldn’t have landed nearly as hard.
Levon shook his head in disappointment as he made a difficult decision — he had to trust this woman.
At least until his HP was fully restored, because he genuinely didn’t know what he was going to face out there. He simply didn’t want to go in unprepared.
Then again, evil NPCs did exist. In his last life, many of his companions had died because they were deceived by one.
But one thing about NPCs was that they never hid their motives. The fact that this woman had taken his sword and still hadn’t killed him meant she wasn’t planning to anytime soon.
Either way, he wasn’t staying because he trusted her — he was staying because he needed to recover his strength. If she tried to kill him, he would just have to fight her to the death, though he seriously doubted that was even a realistic possibility.
Still skeptical, Levon sniffed the soup several times before finally taking a spoonful.
An eerie silence settled between them as Levon quickly worked his way through the bowl. It was hot and hearty — far better than anything he would have expected. freeweɓnovel.cøm
"Just lie down, would you," Elizabeth said as she approached him with a bowl of hot water and a towel.
Levon was surprised, but he complied immediately, understanding the reason behind it.
"So, as I said initially, I took you in because you are on the quest to the witches’ coven, and the gates can only be bypassed with magic," Elizabeth said as she got to work on Levon’s wounds.
Levon’s face immediately twisted into a look of surprise.
Elizabeth continued in a calm, understanding tone.
"Yes, you’re not the first person to actually embark on this quest — all who came before you have failed. Hopefully you won’t go down that same path," Elizabeth said with a gentle smile, though something about it didn’t sit quite right.
She had said that very line to every single person who had ever set out on this journey, and not one of them had ever made it back.
"But I still have a question — no offense — why did you choose to take me in? I mean, this is the witches’ coven. You’re not the only witch around, so if I can ask—" Levon said, leaning up to meet her gaze.
But Elizabeth stayed silent, her eyes flickering for the first time since he had met her.
