"Yes, you're right, but Lui Bu and I want to create something meaningful as quickly as possible. This desire is very hard to resist." Edena muttered.

"I'm going to go to the auction. Perhaps you would like me to buy something there if the opportunity presents itself?"

Edena and Lui Bu pondered. They had the Constructs gear, but they still lacked a lot to reach their full potential.

"I could use special cauldrons and compressed flame essences that can be controlled. That would help process many ingredients with great efficiency, but it's expensive stuff." Lui Bu said.

"Don't worry about the price. I will act on the situation. If I can, I will buy it. Edena, do you have any requests?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure, but I think it would be good if you bought some rare and unusual potions and guides. Potions don't have to be useful and effective. I'm interested in their uniqueness. We can study these potions in detail with the instruments and learn something for ourselves."

"Okay, I hear you." Wain nodded and left the cave.

Unlike Edena, he was pleased with their results. Wain understood that it was impossible to succeed instantly. It was a difficult and long process. He was also sure that the other alchemists could not handle the tasks as quickly as Edena and Lui Bu.

Often the monsters needed different potions to heal their wounds after sparring or speed up the build-up of energy. Edena and Lui Bu would do whatever Elegan asked and prepare the right amount of potions in the shortest amount of time.

...

Wain spent the next half day at the Arenas. He chose low-ranked Arenas, where there was no threat to him. Wain did not want to get seriously injured and miss the auction because of it.

He collected many souls and traded them with Sven for several thousand Void Souls during this time. Wain had a total of 40,000 Void Souls. He decided that was enough, he had no more time anyway. He had to leave to get there in time before the auction started.

Wain opened the portal and found himself at the entrance to Virfal. He had to go up the waterfall and go north, where Nord was, the city where the auction would be held the next night.

"Well... It might even be harder than defeating that monster." Wain muttered, looking up at the massive torrents of the waterfall.

...

It took Wain a couple of hours to get back to Merge Island. He had no idea how high the waterfall was. It seemed to him that the falls were getting higher and higher, and it was impossible to overcome them.

Crackling.

Dark wings erupted from Wain's back, and he turned into a flash. Wain decided not to save his strength and get to Nord as fast as possible. This was the Demon City, and he wanted to explore it before the auction began.

Wain crossed fields and forests, leaving deep trails behind him. His only landmarks were the map Ellen had given him and the blue moon that illuminated his path.

...

As the first rays of sunlight appeared, Wain saw the high mountains in the distance, and the temperature around dropped considerably.

'Great, I'm almost there. According to the map, Nord is behind several mountain ranges. I'll get there in less than an hour.' After a couple of minutes, Wain sped up and entered the northern territory.

The snow creaked beneath his feet, and snowflakes fell on the massive spruces, covering them with a thick layer of snow.

'Ah, how long has it been since I've seen snow? It's been less than a year since I left my world, but I feel like it's been decades.' Wain thought, climbing up the mountain.

Small animals like hares and arctic foxes hid in their burrows at the sight of Wain.

Whoooosh.

Wain climbed the peak and looked around. From here, in the distance, he could see the outline of massive walls, this was Nord, the main city in the area.

"Great, not much left." Wain said.

"Roooooaaaaaaarrrrr!"

Suddenly there was a menacing roar.

Wain turned around and saw a massive polar bear coming out of the cave, which was not happy that Wain had entered its territory.

'A bear? Damn, that brings back memories. Even though it's Demon land, it reminds me of my world.' Wain thought, and the Ring of Damned glowed.historical

The wings swayed, and Wain attacked the bear. He swung his sword aiming for the bear's head. Wain wanted to finish it quickly and beautifully, in one move.

,m The bear gritted its fangs and stomped its paw on the ground in response, creating a shockwave and waves of snow tossing Wain aside.

"Huh, I completely forgot that even bears in this world can be pretty damn strong." Wain muttered and climbed out of the hole.

Wain flapped his wings, and a silhouette of a serpent's tail appeared above him during the spurt. It came down on the bear like a whip, but the beast sustained no serious damage. This powerful attack, which could kill many Second Chronicle creatures, left only a small scratch on the bear's body.

'Damn, he's tough.'

Wain approached the bear and swung his sword, but the beast blocked this attack with its claws and roared deafeningly. This created a powerful sound wave that forcefully knocked Wain back and fell several trees.

'Hmm, what am I supposed to do?' Wain pondered as he lay in the snow.

He could defeat the polar bear if he used more skills or one of the forms, but he didn't like it. This battle was not in his plans, and there was no point in wasting time and energy on it.

Wain smiled and stood up. He looked at the polar bear and said, "Okay, you win this time. This might be my nicest defeat yet, ahaha."

Wain flapped his wings and left the polar bear's territory.

The bear didn't chase him. It stared into Wain's back for a while, then the bear returned to the cave.