Hellbents
Chapter 11: Adapting

For a while, River slept in the room Ava had rented. Mental breakdown along with fatigue accumulate

what the man experienced to make him limp until finally falling asleep, Ava looked at the haggard and dull face of the man, his eyes were still swollen and his eye bags were black, there's no way she's not sleeping because she thinks about Ava, right?

When he came down from the stairs to the first floor which was the restaurant of the inn, not a few pairs of eyes were watching his movements curiously. Well, what happened did attract attention.

“[Inventory].”

Eve's journal is published. Once again Ava read the recipes that are there, especially on herbs that are quite easy to make by beginners. Ava is not completely dark with traditional medicine, she herself has some modern knowledge of plants that can be used to cure diseases not mentioned in the journal. But as expected from the fantasy world, the ingredients in the recipe that was in his hand involved various types of plants or monster parts that he still did not understand completely.

The crane!

A loud bell rang as Ava opened the shop door. His senses were soon overrun with the smell of soil and grass as well as the exotic fragrances of spices. From the shelves are displayed a lot of dry plants are lined based on the name alphabetis.

“Kak!” The boy who from yesterday was involved with Ava greeted cheerfully behind the table. By the way, he doesn't know his name yet. “Hai, did your mother run this store?”

“Mother is home, Working Dad!”

“Ricky!” The sound of the door labeled ‘Bidden to enter’ distracts them, then

a man with a mustache and had a pair of black hoofed hands appeared with a break. From a panicked expression that then turned confused, Ava could guess what the man was thinking.  “Is here selling black lavender and puff flowers?”

“O-oh, yes. K-we have. Ahem. How much connect?”

“Masing-three each. So your name is Ricky?”

“Eh, I guess I haven't told you yet, so sister doesn't know.” Ava could have used her observation skill, but directly knowing people's names would only make others suspicious.

The man earlier, whom Ava assumed to be Ricky's father, looked at the two of them in astonishment. After a few glances, the man finally said, “Ricky, how do you know this brother?”

“Oh, this is the sister I told you about yesterday! The piano game is good, if fighting is also cool!” Ava growls in her heart, as if she accidentally exposes Ricky to a violent scene. With the darkness of the situation at that time, Ava thought the boy would not be able to see it.

“Yes!” Not yet able to blink, both of Ava's palms were tightly grasped. “Thank you! Thank you! If it wasn't for Miss, our son could be in danger! To this day I was worried that there was another threat from the city thugs, hearing Ricky's usually quiet voice had made me panic earlier.” Ava's business smile appears, this gratitude may be sweet. “It's okay, no need to think,” even so, Ava anticipates with hope. “I actually also need some more ingredients.”

Ava's black eyes flashed with satisfaction.

***

Due to Ava's luck saving on expenses, the girl stopped by the gun shop, perhaps there was something she could buy from the remaining money. The gun he was carrying was clearly unable to wear normally due to the limited supply of bullets. His dagger also felt dull when he wanted to scratch a medium-leveled monster at the gate yesterday, probably because of their harsher skin than low-level monsters such as horned rabbit and tailed cannary. So Ava needs a new weapon when going up against stronger monsters.

This time the one who greeted her was a dark-skinned burly woman with brown hair whose edges were burning, perhaps she had forgotten to cut it. “Welcome!”

Ava nodded, her eyes immediately glancing at the rows of glazed blades on display, the price mounted

also very high. Maybe because the material used came from monster processed products. “These daggers came from iron wolf bones mixed with steel that could not rust! Both the blades are sharp too! Lasting long! Beautiful decoration! It is suitable for beautiful women like Miss.” Wow, Ava was amazed by her ability to peddle her products, deserving to work as a saleswoman. But the money is not enough.

Now Ava focuses on the cheapest item there, which she happens to still be able to reach. A set of bows and arrows. “Oh, if this one can be used for beginners! Imbang and light! Made of teak, so sturdy and flexible!” Although Ava had not held an arrow for a long time, there was no harm in practicing it again so that she could too

fight through long distances, opening up his options.

“I take this one.” The woman in front of him cheered happily.

***

“Have you improved?” River responded to Ava's question with just a light nod, turning his back. The man refused to pay attention to her, most likely still feeling embarrassed by her emotional outburst this morning.

“If you are tired, you can still sleep,” Ava said as she inserted nightingale powder and black lavender into dozens of puff flowers that have been prepared. This anesthetic will be very effective if used in hunting, desperate situations or when he wants to escape, can bring down enemies who are in one area of contamination. To avoid the weapon eating master, Ava also prepared the leaves breeze lily which she made as a DIY gas mask, although the design is still rough, the object works well.

His knife could still be used in close combat, but to fight a medium to high level creature he still had to be careful, he needed to buy a new dagger. The long-range battle was also still in the sharpening stage, the bow he tried was still a short distance away from the target, Ava was still getting used to it. Fortunately when cornered, he still had an anesthetic powder and a gas mask. The problem again is the way he survives. With a variety of skills, capitalized mana that has a variety of attributes, Ava actually requires body armor that is sold expensive, or at least money to buy ingredients to make fire resistance drinks, ice, and ice, or a general antidote to poison, because the benchmark is strangling the neck.

Essentially, Ava needs money.

It seemed like the girl still had to stay in the capital even longer, at least until the dance party in the palace courtyard. Ava heard that the party attended by the nobles was elsewhere, the main hall which was transformed as a dance hall when the event was held, meaning inside the palace. Even if later he could not find a way into the palace, jewelry worn by ordinary people would be stolen. Whatever it is will be profitable.