This time, with the three of them fully prepared and on high alert, the surprise attack by the two Cursed Cat Demons not only failed but also left the creatures injured.

The one that had rushed Lin Mo in particular, already blinded in one eye by Cody’s dagger, now took two more sword strikes from him. A continuous rustling sound echoed from the dark jungle; it could no longer conceal its tracks as perfectly as before.

"These damn things are so hard to deal with."

Cody rubbed his sore, numb arm, still shaken. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

In this situation, there was no opportunity for him to use his Skills, severely limiting his combat prowess. If it hadn’t been for Bain’s help, he doubted he could have blocked the Cursed Cat Demon’s follow-up attack.

If it happened again, he wasn’t even sure he could block the first strike.

"They probably won’t attack again..."

Bain stared in the direction the Cat Demons had retreated. Having fought this type of Demon more than once, he had some knowledge about Cursed Cat Demons beyond what was recorded in books.

Cursed Cat Demons possess extremely high speed and considerable Strength, posing a great threat to Adventurers, especially new ones. But of course, this type of Demon has a weakness: its Constitution.

This was noted in the Monster Atlas.

But a weak Constitution manifested as more than just fragile Defense Power; it also meant a severe lack of Endurance and poor sustained combat capability.

The most dangerous aspect of these Demons is their first few ambushes. Once the ambushes fail—after three attempts at most—they will give up and retreat.

Especially since that last exchange had left the two Cursed Cat Demons at a significant disadvantage. In Bain’s experience, they wouldn’t be reckless enough to try again.

Even so, he didn’t let his guard down and continued to cautiously observe his surroundings.

"They’ve retreated..."

Lin Mo listened to the faint movements in the jungle. The Cursed Cat Demon he had injured, at least, was already retreating away from them.

The three continued to stand guard until the sun finally rose and the world before them gradually brightened...

The crisis was over.

Cody let out a sigh of relief and walked over to a tree to sit down and rest.

Bain wiped the sweat from his forehead, picked up the firewood on the ground, and rekindled the bonfire that had just gone out.

Millian’s condition had stabilized. Her wound was beginning to scab over. Thanks to the timely treatment, she hadn’t lost too much blood and seemed to be in decent shape.

But she was clearly in no hurry to get up, continuing to lean against Evan’s embrace. A slightly annoyed expression remained on her face as she spoke softly in a hoarse voice.

Lin Mo was finally starting to understand why Life Potions were called an adventurer’s second life.

The stuff was truly incredible. As long as the injury wasn’t fatal, one bottle, or even just half, could get you most of the way back to normal. Even with a fatal wound, if you used it in time, you’d have a good chance of being saved.

Aside from not being able to heal major trauma like severed limbs or broken bones, it was essentially an adventurer’s second health bar.

At this thought, he instinctively touched his waist. Inside a pouch on the inner side of his Leather Armor, he felt a small, slender bulge.

That’s right. Lin Mo, of course, wouldn’t pass up on something so useful.

Earlier at the forge, when he had told the young Dwarf Blacksmith, Edgar, how much money he had, he had intentionally understated the amount by 16 gold coins. That was because he had already decided to buy a Basic Life Potion, which cost 15 gold coins.

He kept the remaining 1 Gold Coin for emergencies.

After the recent crisis, a hearty breakfast helped soothe their frayed nerves.

Lin Mo took some cured meat and a chunk of cheese from his bag, sandwiched them in a piece of bread, and toasted it over the campfire.

The edges of the bread were toasted until slightly charred, and the aroma of the melted fat and cheese soaked into its soft center. A single bite was enough to lift anyone’s spirits.

Bain sat next to him, eating a nearly identical breakfast. He’d fallen in love with this recipe ever since Lin Mo had shown it to him.

Not far away, Evan and Millian were nestled together. Evan had heated a bowl of water, torn some bread into small pieces to soak in it, and was feeding it to the girl beside him, one spoonful at a time.

"When Evan was little, he loved to grab a carefully chosen tree branch and play the hero. Back then, Millian’s parents had died in an accident, so she was often bullied by the neighborhood kids."

"Every time Evan saw Millian being bullied, he would strike a pose he thought was cool, stand in front of her to play the hero, and then get thrashed by the other brats... He wasn’t content to keep taking a beating, so he started training nonstop, practicing his ’Swordsmanship’. As he grew taller, he slowly beat those kids into submission and became the leader of the pack."

"After Millian’s parents passed away, she had to live with her uncle. When times were good, she might get some of the family’s scraps. But if the harvest was poor, she’d often go hungry for several meals at a time."

"Back then, Evan would often come to me to take on tasks like ’feeding chickens’ or ’running errands.’ He’d earn one or two copper coins and use them to buy dark bread to share with her."

"Later, when Millian was ten, her uncle finally kicked her out of the house. She had to fend for herself, finding odd jobs in town."

"But not many people were willing to hire a ten-year-old, so most of the time she couldn’t find work. She had to rely on Evan’s help just to scrape by..."

"I think it was the year Evan turned thirteen. He came to me one day with a worried look on his face, asked for a two-copper-coin advance, and then asked why I had so much money... I told him it was because I was an adventurer and could earn money by taking quests from the Association. From that day forward, he made it his goal to become an adventurer."

"When he finally turned sixteen, his parents asked me to take him along on adventures. He used the money he saved to rent a room for Millian, at last putting an end to her life of sleeping out in the open."

"In the blink of an eye, almost two more years passed. Millian turned sixteen, the age for registration, and joined our party..."

’So that’s their story.’

Lin Mo watched the two of them chatting about something. Millian, pouting slightly, gave Evan a gentle thump on the chest. Evan didn’t retaliate, just grinned foolishly.

For some reason, his thoughts drifted to the receptionist at the Adventurer’s Association.

The Half-Beastman cat-girl with beautiful silver-gray hair, named Lena.

’I feel like we’ve been getting to know each other better lately. We always exchange a few words whenever I accept or submit a quest...’

He shook his head with a wry smile. ’I’ve seen too much of their lovey-dovey stuff. It’s starting to make me delusional.’

’It’s just her job. I’d better not read too much into it.’

Not wanting to dwell on it, Lin Mo changed the subject.

"It’s a shame about those two Cursed Cat Demons. If we’d managed to kill one, our quest would be complete."

When the two Cursed Cat Demons had retreated, he had been tempted to give chase, but on second thought, it seemed too dangerous, so he’d given up the idea.

"Not a shame at all."

Bain shook his head. "That Cursed Cat Demon is badly injured. It can’t have run far."

"You mean..."

"We can pursue it!"

Cody, who had come to their side at some point, added, "And during the day, they’re not nearly as frightening!"