Chapter 85: Important Matters

"Blowing mouth-to-mouth..."

Rayan looked down at Sola's stubborn lips, feeling his face blush to the base of his neck.

If Duke weren't around, with that meaningful gaze of his, he might have just done it without a second word—after all, Sola was still unconscious, no one would see his expression.

But now, Duke's eyes narrowed like a secret slit between trees, making an otherwise mundane scene take on an ambiguous tone.

"Isn't there another way?"

Rayan pursed his lips, "Like using a fan to blow air or something."

"That won't work."

Duke said with a mischievous smile, "Using a fan won't let the air be completely recognized by her body, if you don't want to save her, then it doesn't matter."

"But neither water nor soil has been infused into her body either?" Rayan felt that Duke was definitely teasing him.

"Water and soil are tangible, but air is intangible, what, are you questioning me?"

Duke snorted, and without waiting for Rayan to speak, he continued, "Such a good opportunity, if I were twenty years younger, I would definitely fight you for it. But now I'm old, my teeth leak air, and my breath is soft, so it's up to young people like you to save lives. If you hesitate and she dies, don't blame me for not warning you."

"Boss, you..."

Rayan sighed deeply, "Okay, okay. I'm not kissing her, just blowing air into her mouth."

"Uh huh, of course."

Duke looked at Rayan with a teasing expression.

Rayan gently turned Sola's face, then bent down, his lips pressing against Sola's tightly closed lips.

Sola's lips were full, not at all like those of a young maiden should be, creamy and warm like milk, almost making Rayan think he was actually drinking milk.

He quickly steadied his mind, used his tongue to part Sola's clenched teeth, and then blew air into her mouth.

Sola's brow furrowed slightly, and a moan escaped her throat.

"There's a reaction!"

Rayan excitedly raised his head, "It seems her body's element is the wind spirit!"

"Bullshit! That's not an elemental reaction."

Duke laughed loudly, "With your kissing technique, even a thousand-year-old female corpse in a coffin would react!"

"I'm not kissing! I'm just blowing air into her mouth!" Rayan argued anxiously.

"Okay, let me rephrase—"

Duke propped his chin with his hand, pretending to be deep, "You're just blowing air, and it caused her a physical reaction."

Rayan felt his face burning, quickly trying to shift the topic, "Since it's not the wind, then only the fire among the four elemental forces remains."

Duke continued to tease, "You just blew once, and she had a physical reaction."

"Boss!"

Rayan couldn't help but shout, "Be serious! We're trying to save someone!"

"Cough, alright, alright."

Duke chuckled, waving to Crow, "Go to the kitchen and bring a piece of wood with fire."

"Wu ah!"

Crow, upon receiving the command, swiftly flew down from the attic, returning shortly with a burning piece of wood in its talons.

"Thanks, Brother Crow."

Rayan took the wood, the fiery end nearing Sola's body, the flames catching on Sola's ragged clothes, plunging her immediately into the fire.

Rayan scrambled to extinguish the flames on Sola, not panicking at the sight of the rising flames but each touch of Sola's body...

Fortunately, the fire was quickly put out, Rayan wiped the sweat beads from his forehead, saying with relief, "Sola still hasn't responded, but we've tried all four elements, boss, could you be mistaken?"

"Take a good look at her."

Duke pointed at Sola, "Even a Ninth Tier Fighter like you is sweating profusely from the flames, while she, a severely injured little girl, only had her clothes burned, don't you understand?"

Rayan looked closely at Sola, her body almost completely exposed, her golden skin shining even more brilliantly under the fire, dazzling like true gold.

"So it's the fire spirit!"

Rayan then asked, "How should I heal her?"

"It's simple, use fire to bake her." Duke said nonchalantly.

"Boss, don't joke." Rayan frowned.

"I'm not joking."

Duke spoke seriously, "Her fire spirit was hurt by you, and she must be in a fiery environment to heal herself."

Rayan puzzledly asked, "How exactly do I do it? Should I stuff her into a stove?"

Duke glanced at his apprentice, "Stuffing her into a stove would turn her into a black girl by the time she's pulled out, even if she's completely healed she'd still fight us both. Besides, ordinary flames can't truly activate the fire spirit."

"So what should I do?"

Rayan sighed, "I can't just throw her into the lava river at Dwarf Furnace Mountain, can I?"

Duke nodded in agreement, "Yes, that's a good idea."

"What? Really throw her into the lava river?" Rayan looked at Duke incredulously.

"Don't worry—"

Duke said breezily, "This girl, being an Achisola, must have been blessed by the four elements, and also possessed by a fire spirit, fire can only heal her, not harm her."

Rayan, recalling the scene of the fire, let his suspended heart slowly relax. "Then I'll take her to Dwarf Furnace Mountain immediately—"

"Hold on."

Duke stopped him with a hand, "Sola isn't going to die anytime soon, but if you go around in broad daylight carrying a naked female slave in and out, it will inevitably cause suspicion, I think it's better to wait until dark. Besides, you've just broken through to Ninth Tier Battle Qi, you should rest a bit, at least eat dinner before you go. From Ninth Tier on, until Tenth Tier, your diet also needs to upgrade to a higher level, tonight you need to eat Third Rank bear meat."

"Bear meat? Where does that come from?" Rayan asked in astonishment.

"From the Stonerock Kingdom's hunting—why do you care so much." Duke said irritably.

Rayan immediately retorted, "Impossible, I've read the Stonerock Kingdom's hunting guide, there's no Third Rank bear there, the only possible place that could produce Third Rank bear meat is Maple Snow Kingdom!"

Duke blinked, "You're pretty detailed with your reading. Well, you're right, Third Rank bear meat indeed comes from Maple Snow Kingdom."

Rayan frowned, "Boss, in the first lesson, you taught me that Maple Snow Kingdom's royal emblem is a ferocious white bear, and their national guild is also called War Bear, showing that bears are a symbol of their nation, how could the people of Maple Snow Kingdom possibly hunt their own symbol? You must have spent a lot of money hiring a bounty hunter, right?"

"It's not your business to worry about money."

Duke waved his hand, his tone firm, "Whatever I do, you just eat it."

Rayan stubbornly said, "Boss, but Third Rank meat itself is very expensive, if you hired a bounty hunter to poach, it would cost even more, this way, the tavern will be eaten into bankruptcy by me!"

"You overestimate your ability."

Duke scoffed, "I've never heard of an assistant being able to bankrupt a tavern. As a businessman like me, if I can't even afford an assistant, that would be really embarrassing."

Rayan knew Duke didn't want him to worry, but since the conversation had reached this point, Rayan couldn't pretend it was none of his business. He then realized why Duke hadn't been training him lately but was hiding behind the bar doing accounts, it turned out he was calculating the cost of food.

Rayan's heart warmed, "Boss, how about this, don't hire bounty hunters, I'll go to Maple Snow Kingdom myself and hunt the Third Rank white bear."

"Nonsense!"

Duke's brow furrowed immediately, "A Third Rank white bear is only equivalent to Sixth Tier Battle Qi, you're already at Ninth Tier, how much progress can you make by hunting an opponent three Tiers below yourself? And if you go to Maple Snow Kingdom, how much time will that waste? The previous Battle Qi advancements weren't that important, I was confident in your self-training, but the progression from nine to ten directly affects how you advance to hero status, how can such precious time be wasted on killing small fry and running around? Do you want to hang around in my shop forever? Do you know how much I hope you leave?"

Rayan bit his lower lip, looking down at his boot tips. He understood that Duke's last two sentences were just to motivate him, and there was no malice, but the clearer he understood, the more difficult it felt.

He and Duke would eventually have to part ways, he hadn't felt the urgency before, but now he realized the days of being together were getting fewer.

Seeing Rayan silent and head bowed, Duke thought his words were too harsh, and softened his tone, "Anyway, you don't need to worry about cooking, and your daily cleaning duties can be cancelled from today."

"Cancelled?"

Rayan looked up at Duke anxiously, "Is it because I'm not doing well enough?"

"No, wiping tables and such daily tasks are a waste of time for you now. Starting tomorrow, you will have someone to spar and practice with."

"Who?" It seemed that there was no one at Shadowcrest Ridge who could be Rayan's match, except...

"Me."

Duke naturally responded, "Who else but me? Oh, my old bones, it's time to get moving."

Rayan was momentarily stunned, the sadness replaced by excitement. "Boss, you're not joking, are you?"

Duke exaggeratedly furrowed his brow, "As the big boss of such a large enterprise, am I the kind of person who casually jokes with an assistant?"

"Then let's start now!"

Rayan reached for his Crow Sword, saying, "I have many things to ask you, I also want to learn how to hide my Battle Qi fluctuations, so they can't be detected by opponents—"

"Wait!"

Duke waved his hand, "Not today, I have to cook later, and after dinner, you still need to take your little female slave to Dwarf Furnace Mountain, we can talk about sparring tomorrow."

Rayan was stunned, "But what do I do now? I've pretty much read all the books in the storeroom, you can't expect me to just sit around all afternoon, can you?"

"You still have one important thing you haven't done."

"…I don't have anything important to do?"

"You do."

Duke said with a smile, "Go apologize to Olivia, that's the important thing."