Deathly silence ensued.
Sivir, Dennis, Skol, Scott, Sam, and Monkey stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up at the father and daughter duo up above. Their eyelids twitched, and they gulped in unison.
One of the Ironhide Bulls had been slain, while the other had been frozen. The two of them had descended like death gods, easily dispelling what had seemed to be an impossibly dire crisis.
Amy's magic had completely stunned them, while Mag's almost untraceably fast blade strike sent shivers down their spines.
His speed wasn't all that phenomenal, perhaps about the same as that of a 1st-tier knight. However, the blade strike was almost too fast for the eye to follow.
The tiny bull-slaying blade was somehow able to easily tear through the Ironhide Bull's body. What was even more incredible to them was that he had managed to kill it with a single strike.
Even the most experienced hunters found the Ironhide Bull to be extremely troublesome prey. They possessed almost no weaknesses, and hunters could only exhaust them before subduing them in a trap.
No one had attempted to land a killing blow on it as it charged past them, as its two horns were like scimitars, able to inflict grievous wounds at any moment.
"Who... Who is he?!" Evan's eyes widened as he stared at Mag, and his entire body felt icy cold. If he had tried to attack Mag earlier in the day, would he have ended up in the same state as that Ironhide Bull?
He suddenly understood why he was struck by that sense of fear earlier in the day. If Mag really did harbor killing intent toward him, he probably wouldn't even be able to launch an effective retaliation, not to mention that he had an intermediate magic caster as a daughter.
"Ding! Congratulations, you have completed the mission to capture the Ironhide Bull. You have done so in six hours, therefore successfully completing the mission within 12 hours. You now possess the right to use all ingredients and utensils required to cook beef kebabs, and you also get half a strength point, as well as a mooncake recipe!" The system's voice sounded amid a virtual fireworks display.
"Perfect!" Mag's eyes lit up upon hearing that. Both the half a strength point and the mooncake recipe were imperative to him. His power level would be enhanced, and he would be able to make the moon festival celebration a reality at the same time. Those rewards were certainly worth a risky foray into the Illusionary Mist Valley.
"Father is so strong!" Amy clapped her little hands as she looked up at Mag with reverence and adoration.
"You're very strong as well, Amy." Mag patted Amy's head with a smile. He looked down at Sivir and the others with a smile, and said, "Looks like I accidentally stole your prey again, Ms. Sivir. You don't mind, do you?"
"Without you here, we would have become prey for these two Ironhide Bulls already." A wry smile appeared on Sivir's face as she extended a bow toward Mag, and said, "Mr. Mag, you saved our entire Rose Mercenary Squad. Thank you."
"Mr. Mag, you sure had us fooled! Are you a 4th-tier knight?" Dennis was stunned as he looked up at Mag. He had been well and truly shaken by that blindingly fast blade strike.
"You're too kind, Mr. Dennis." Mag shook his head as he said modestly, "I'm only good at killing cows. If it were another magic beast, I might not even be able to handle a 1st-tier
one."
At his current power level, he would indeed have some trouble against 4th-tier magic beasts. However, after slaughtering countless Ironhide Bulls in the test field for the God of Cookery, he was extremely familiar with their structure. As such, he was able to immediately identify the weakness of the oncoming Ironhide Bull and deal a lethal blow.
"So you're saying practice makes perfect?" The mercenaries all stared at Mag with wide eyes, feeling as if he were messing with them. However, his genuine expression suggested that he told them the truth. Furthermore, his beef kebabs really were extremely delicious. A superb chef like him really didn't look like he would also be a knight.
"I'll go treat Eva and Evan's injuries first." Sivir rushed up the hill. She had been quite touched by Evan's selfless gesture in attempting to save Eva. All of the comrades in their mercenary squad stuck by one another through thick and thin, so at the very least, Evan had done the right thing just then.
The other mercenaries also hurried up the hill. Meanwhile, Sam and Scott were lying on the ground at the foot of the hill. They had also been wounded in battle.
"The... There's medicine in the bag. Tr... Treat Master Evan first..." Eva stuttered with difficulty before falling unconscious.
"Save Eva first; I can still hold on." Evan looked at Eva with a concerned expression. His face was almost entirely devoid of color.
"You guys go set Evan's bones and stop the bleeding. We'll have to take him back to Chaos City and seek out a healer to treat his wounds." Sivir took the back off Evan's shoulders and handed Dennis and Monkey some medical supplies. Meanwhile, she carried Eva to an obscure location and took off her clothes to administer treatment.
"Father, what should we do now?" Amy asked.
"We can help out Mr. Sam and Mr. Scott. You can conjure up some ice to put over their injuries and soothe their pain." Mag carried Amy in his arms as he made his way down the hill. He quite liked Sam and Scott, so he was rather concerned about their wounds.
Sam and Scott had also been gored by the Ironhide Bull. Thankfully, they'd been prepared, and managed to avoid sustaining injuries to their vital regions.
Scott had a broken rib, while Sam's injuries were a lot less severe—there was only a gash on his stomach that wasn't bleeding very profusely. Their pain was alleviated significantly with Amy's help.
Sivir and the others administered some basic first-aid to their wounded comrades. Evan and Evan were in very bad condition, but they were going to survive, so everyone heaved a temporary sigh of relief.
Mag made his way over to Sivir, and said, "I only need one of the Ironhide Bulls here. If you need the other one, I can give it to you. After all, without you guys, we might not have been able to discover any Ironhide Bulls."
Sivir looked into Mag's in silence for a short while before replying solemnly, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. We'll have to trouble you again for the return journey, though," Mag replied with a smile.
"Of course." Sivir nodded in response. After taking care of their wounded comrades and the frozen Ironhide Bulls, they began to head back to Chaos City.
Dusk was approaching, yet there were still many customers outside Mamy Restaurant.
Some were customers who didn't know that Mamy Restaurant was closed, while others were trying their luck to see if the dinner service would recommence.
However, all of them had their attention attracted to one person standing in front of the restaurant entrance.
Ricky had a fat arm raised high into the air as he yelled, "Let me say this one more time: owner of Mamy Restaurant, if you're in the restaurant and if you're a man, then speak up! As long as you admit that your cooking skills are inferior to mine and bow to me with a formal apology, then I'll let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, accept my challenge and let's have a cooking contest like real men!"
All of the customers were discussing spiritedly among themselves, wondering if Mag would appear and accept the challenge.
"Hmph! Spineless cowards don't deserve to cook in the Aden Square!" Ricky's ego became even more inflated as the smile on his face widened. He didn't believe for a second that Mag had truly gone out to source ingredients. He had to be petrified of his challenge, and was in hiding. Otherwise, why would he close down such a successful restaurant for an entire day?
Ricky looked around at all of the customers in front of the restaurant, and was struck by just how much money Mamy Restaurant had to be earning. A thought occurred to him as he yelled again, "If you think such a small bet isn't worth your time, then I'll up the stakes. The one who loses must do three things: kowtow to the winner and call them 'daddy' three times, give all of their restaurant's recipes to the winner, and relinquish ownership rights of their restaurant to the owner!"
Right at that moment, Mag's voice sounded in reply. "I accept your challenge, but I only accept the third condition. I don't' want Amy to have a strange little brother like you."