James Carter let out a long sigh of relief. No shoes? He could still buy some. With twenty silver coins, what shoes couldn’t he buy? He could even get a new set of thick clothes, haha.

As for the boy’s dream of becoming a mage, that could wait for another time.

There was also a hardwood sword, about 1.2 meters long, crafted with considerable skill. The grip was carved with anti-slip patterns, and all the edges had been worn smooth. It felt quite comfortable in the hand, clearly showing that the boy used it often.

Unfortunately, such a wooden sword had very limited lethality, while an iron sword was far too expensive to afford. Plus, with no one to teach the boy proper swordsmanship, even if he practiced for ten years, he’d only become more familiar with it and get some exercise—nothing more, nothing truly useful.

But now that the sword was in James Carter’s hands, the situation was completely different. James Carter had roamed the stars for decades, relying not only on an unparalleled mind but also on peerless physical skills.

A sword, as a cold weapon and an extension of the body, was something James Carter could naturally wield with great ease.

“Not bad. This sword is mine from now on.” James Carter nodded in satisfaction and put the wooden sword back under the bed.

As for the stone, James Carter knew it was called a Holy Light Rune Stone, his guarantee for safely working as a night watchman in the graveyard.

Year after year, orc raids had caused the deaths of many able-bodied men in Wildfire City. Their corpses still brimmed with elemental vitality, and combined with the obsessions they held at death, they easily became wandering undead.

These undead were ravenous for the flesh and blood of the living, desperately needing to replenish the vitality of their dead bodies. And the best source of that vitality was the flesh and blood of the living.

The purpose of this rune stone was to suppress the undead!

Today was the day James Carter went to the temple for his monthly replacement of the Holy Light Rune Stone. This was a big deal—if he forgot, he’d be devoured alive by the undead tonight.

What a mysterious stone. It was a pity it had lost its effect by now; otherwise, he would have studied its operating mechanism in detail. But since he could get a new rune today, after examining it for a while, he put the discarded rune stone back.

He looked down again at his swollen, bruised feet, thought about the white snow outside, gritted his teeth, opened the wooden door, and stepped out.

“Gotta go for it this time. Things will be fine once I get some shoes.” James Carter didn’t forget to give himself a pep talk.

He had no choice. If he didn’t go to work at the tavern, he’d lose his source of food. In this damned weather, hunger and cold together could sap the life from this frail body in a single night—there was no room for luck.

Stepping onto the snow, his feet didn’t hurt as much as he’d imagined. It wasn’t that he’d gotten used to the cold—no normal body could adapt to such extremes—but rather that they were completely numb. The sensory nerves on the surface of his feet had been frozen dead.

“Unlucky. Fixing the hidden injuries in my feet later will be a real hassle.” James Carter couldn’t help but complain.

No matter how strong the body, it needed regular care—just like a gun, no matter how good its performance and quality, if not maintained, it would break down quickly.

If this boy’s body kept enduring hardship like this, he might be fine while young, but with so many hidden injuries, once he passed his physical prime, he’d decline rapidly and definitely wouldn’t live past forty.

James Carter had no intention of dying so early. This world was full of mysteries and wonders waiting to be discovered. If he died young, how could he live up to the soul’s journey granted by the heavens?

So, repairing his body was the top priority.

To do a good job, one must first sharpen their tools—an eternal truth.

In James Carter’s eyes, Wildfire City was pitifully small, covering barely five square kilometers, with a permanent population of less than fifteen thousand. Compared to the super cities of the Earth Federation, which spanned entire continents and housed billions, it was utterly insignificant.

But in this world, Wildfire City was the only major town for hundreds of miles around. It boasted the hallmark buildings of a great city here—a temple and a mage tower—as well as sturdy, towering city walls.

There was no choice. To keep out the orcs, the walls were fifteen meters high, built entirely from hard blue basalt, as solid and durable as possible. The city gate alone was made from half a meter thick steel-clad ironwood, with three rows of thick iron plates nailed both horizontally and vertically to reinforce its structure. Even with a battering ram, it would take a long time to break through such a gate.

And that wasn’t all. Below the city walls was a moat nearly twenty meters wide and ten meters deep, said to be stocked with carnivorous frenzy fish unique to the Thunder Mountain Range. Their teeth were like steel files, able to leave bite marks even on steel plates. Anyone who fell in would have no chance of survival.

Moreover, orcs were naturally afraid of water, making this the best way to keep them from breaching the walls.

Even with such towering walls blocking the view, standing in the graveyard on the outskirts, James Carter could still see the spires of the mage tower and the temple. The taller blue one belonged to the mages, while the slightly shorter golden building was the temple. They represented mortal wisdom and faith, standing at the pinnacle of society, above all others.

No building in Wildfire City dared to surpass them in height—not even the city hall under the lord’s command.

Even the lord’s castle on the hillside, in terms of pure height, was no match for the two.