Mercenaries and Adventurers

Along the crudely made wooden ladder, Kil held an oil can in one hand and an oil lamp for lighting in the other hand to the second floor of the guard tower of the supply point camp.

The second floor is quite cramped, and after going up the wooden ladder, there is a walkway that goes around the outer wall of the sentry tower. The corridor can only accommodate one person walking, and there are small rooms on the inside.

The rough room had no door lock, so Zhao Ji opened it with a push.

The room near the wooden ladder is a storage room, with many pots and jars filled with things. Zhao Ji didn't pay much attention, took one look and left. The house next to it is a residential house. The room is small and has only a simple low wooden bed and a few wooden shelves fixed to the wall.

I looked at several houses along the corridor and they were all the same.

Only one room was slightly larger, with an extra desk in the middle of the room and wooden boxes for storing items. This room should be provided to Knight Lanisa.

After walking around the back-shaped walkway, Zhao Ji stepped on the wooden ladder from the first floor to the second floor and reached the third floor.

The place is relatively empty, surrounded by closed wooden windows, and there is a toilet covered with animal skins in the corner. He stuck his head in and took a look and found that the defecation channel was directly connected to the outside of the guard tower diagonally.

This is convenient as there is no need to clean up. Moreover, this passage is not big and is located at a relatively high place, so there is no need to worry about small animals outside sneaking in and settling in when no one is around.

Zhao Ji opened a wooden window and looked at the dark mountains and forests in the distance with the faint last light on the horizon.

The darkness is like a wild beast, crawling in the shadows, staring at every life that tries to conquer it. Only the most powerful and ferocious creatures can be recognized by it and get everything they want from it.

Zhao Ji looked at the deep dark mountain forest and asked himself, what does he want to get from here?

wealth?

He secretly sold dozens of tons of silver plates, and he probably won't be short of money in his lifetime.

strength?

Knight Crow has made a deal with him and will teach him how to become a knight-level warrior next spring.

Fame?

He didn't even have a single house to settle down in the local area, and gained some fame by defeating monsters.

what is that?

Breathing the cold air, Zhao Ji thought silently.

perhaps.

Is it a desire for adventure and exploration that drives him?

He wanted to see the animals that lived in that forest, the weird and terrifying monsters.

Fight against the ferocious wolves yourself and conquer these ferocious animals.

Spend this winter to the fullest.

-

"Kiel, what are you doing?" Someone suddenly spoke from behind, bringing Kiel out of his thoughts.

When he turned around, he saw that it was Knight Lanisa who had taken off her armor. She wore a hunting suit that was not too thick, and a cloth cloak embroidered with her family's crest.

"It's the Lord Knight. I was distracted just now while looking at the mountains and forests outside."

She patted Kil's shoulder. She was tall, even taller than Kil. She patted Kil's shoulder easily and naturally: "The conditions here are not good, and this expedition is quite dangerous, right? You just joined the team."

Smiling, Keir said: "I just figured it out. For me, none of this is important."

The female knight rolled her eyes at Keir: "This is not important, so what is important?"

Gere pointed to the deep and dark mountain forest outside the wooden window: "Adventure, conquer the forest, prove yourself."

"It's not a small tone. Hey, I used to think so too. When I first walked out of Kendal and came to the big city. I originally thought that with my own ability and hard work, I could always get someone there that satisfied me. success."

She leaned against the wall and waved.

"After that, you may have heard. The responsibilities of the family and the obligations of the knight came one after another. It disrupted every arrangement in my life. \u0026%%￥%."

"Now, compared to the quills and paintbrushes I often picked up before, I trust the weapons in my hands more. When I defeated the first monster, I still felt that I could return to my previous life. But I broke through the 100th When I saw the head of a monster or a human being, I had already forgotten my previous life.”

Keir touched his nose: "Perhaps if we defeat them this winter, starting from next year, the old life may come back?"

Knight Lanisa squinted her eyes and looked at Kil, looking at him carefully, especially the long sword on Kil's waist: "You are familiar with Knight Crow, right? Then you must have heard about next year's event. matter."

Kiel did have some vague guesses about next year, and Knight Crowe had hinted at him more than once. He hesitated and nodded lightly.

Although there was only one oil lamp on the third floor of the sentry tower, resulting in insufficient lighting, Knight Lanisa's keen eyes still noticed Kil's movements.

"You know. So the peaceful life you mentioned next year will definitely be gone for me. Kil, the same is true for you. Knight Crow will not let go of anyone who thinks he can use the power. This You can’t reveal this to others yet, so remember to keep your mouth shut.”

"I understand, I won't say more." Kil nodded sharply.

-

Using the plump lake fish tails they had obtained earlier and the clean snow on the ground outside, the old hunters made a beautiful pot of fish soup.

Everyone was given a large bowl of fish soup and soaked the frozen bread in it. Finally, we no longer had to waste our teeth chewing the dreaded bread.

In the evening, everyone was assigned subsequent tasks by the female knight. Keel and a young hunter returned to Bayou Town driving a carriage and horses. The knight himself will ride to Wumihu Village early tomorrow morning. As for the other two old hunters and one young hunter, they need to tidy up the supply point camp and send people to pay attention to the surrounding open space on the top of the three-story sentry tower.

See if those cunning wolves have prepared any surprises for them hunters.

This time they brought a cart full of gifts to the wolves.

the next morning.

After Kil got up, he took out his armor and put it on, and put some necessary items into his backpack. He picked up his backpack, equipped himself with weapons and equipment, and walked downstairs.

The horses were drinking water from the barrel. The water was scooped out from the snow outside and then slowly baked by the fire pit. Some were given to the horses to drink, and some they drank themselves.

What I drank in the morning was the belly of the lake fish. The belly of the huge lake fish was enough for everyone to eat.

The fat-rich and soft belly is very delicious. The wooden spoon slides into your throat as soon as you put it in your mouth. There are no fish bones to worry about, and the soup is mellow and delicious.

Kiel and the hunters who returned to Bayou Town carried only a little food and set off with an empty carriage.

Since Hekou Town is located in the lower part of the south, so on this trip back to Hekou Town, they can be said to be going down the river.

There is also an easy thing to do when walking back. They only need to follow the snow traces when the carriage came and then go back along the road. Saves you the trouble of finding your way.

The weather is also relatively beautiful. Although it is still cloudy, at least it is no longer snowing.

The carriage led the way, and Keir followed behind on horseback. Carrying a wooden spear, he was alert to the surrounding wilderness.

They need to be careful not only of cunning and ferocious wolves, but also of other hungry animals.

During the day, they quickly walked most of the way back, and when they were resting at night, Kiel was most nervous.

After simply feeding the horses, the young hunter armed himself and sat by the campfire to take a nap, while Kil was always vigilant about the dark snowy wilderness around him with his spear.

The horses discovered something before Keel did. They swung their long ears and neighed uneasily as they looked at Kil.

Kil became alert and walked around the simple camp. He handed the spear to his left hand and pulled out the long sword from his waist with his right hand.

Feeling Kil's fighting spirit, the sword's blade became brighter, as bright as a campfire.

Then the long sword emitted white light, and Kil saw a pair of eyes reflecting brightly in the snow in the distance slowly retreating. He shouted towards it, trying to scare the other party away.

As a result, when the thing was frightened by Kil, it became ferocious. It made a strange sound and slowly approached Kil.

After getting closer, a large reflective circle suddenly appeared around the opponent's reflective eyes.

With the light of the sword and the reflection of the surrounding snow, Kil finally saw clearly what that thing was.

A giant lizard covered in pure white, with a circle of reflective fin spurs spread out around its head, was approaching Kiel step by step.

Its feet are wide, so it steps on the thick snow. It opens its mouth and makes a demonstrative sound.

Kil looked at his opponent, stuck his long sword in the snow next to him, then took out the giant ax from behind and held it in both hands.

"I'm afraid of you, come here! Big lizard!" Kil also shouted.

Stimulated by Kiel, the big white lizard quickly swung its six legs and flew across the snow, its open mouth full of sharp and fine teeth.

It was still several meters away from Kil, when it charged up and swooped down, opening its mouth to bite Kil.

Kil was not a vegetarian either. He swung his ax directly and accurately hit the white lizard that was coming towards him in the air.

But the feeling coming from the ax handle was wrong, and Keir suddenly realized this.

Instead of the axe's usual overwhelming and refreshing feeling, the ax just hit the lizard's head and then hit the opponent's extremely tough skull.

The hit lizard threw down Kil, kept swinging its six legs, and scratched Kil with its sharp claws. But it doesn't know that some humans are protected by tough armor.

After falling down, he ignored the lizard that was scratching it, retracted his legs and kicked hard, kicking away the big white lizard that was as heavy as a human.

Kil rolled sideways, half-crouched and raised his axe. When the big lizard fell on its back, it turned around and landed on its front, then brought down the blue ax it held high with both hands.

"die!"

With a crunching sound, Kil's ax split open the lizard's head, locking it in place.

It looked like the guy was stunned. Kil tried to pull out the axe, but it seemed to be stuck in the opponent's hard head.

Fortunately, at this moment, an arrow passed by his side and hit the white lizard's reflective vertical pupil accurately.

"Pah!!" The lizard screamed, spinning and twisting randomly on the ground.

Kil let go of the ax, jumped back, turned around, grabbed the long sword stuck in the snow, and hunted.

Sensing his killing intent, the long sword's blade bloomed with light, and then quickly converged on the surface of the long sword.

Kil took two quick steps and jumped up. The long sword turned upside down and flew down. Regardless of the big lizard's rolling, it fell directly into the middle of the lizard's body.

The white smooth and hard scales on the surface of the lizard did not work this time, and were directly penetrated by the narrow and sharp sword tip. It not only penetrated the side where it was hit, but Kil knew from the trembling of the sword hilt that he had also penetrated It hit the other side of the huge white lizard's body and plunged directly into the ground.

White light spurted out from the lizard's wound. Kil let go of the hilt of his sword, stepped on the lizard's body with one foot, and stood firm on the other. He grabbed the handle of the ax with both hands and swung it left and right, causing the lizard that was fixed in place tossing and screaming.

After repeated attempts several times, the ax was loosened and pulled out of the lizard's hard head.

Taking a step back, he swung the ax and slashed the lizard's belly on its side. Kil had already seen how hard this guy's head was and decided to start somewhere else.

When the ax went down, the white abdominal scales flew away. The sound of the ax surface colliding with the scales was like forging iron, and the metal vibrated and made a sharp scream.

With another strike of the ax, white blood splashed out from the wound on the lizard's abdomen. Not only the scales on the outside, but the muscles of this thing's body were also very hard and tough, almost ruthless.

The lizard seemed to feel a fatal sense of danger. At this time, it finally pulled its six limbs desperately. After its body was fixed to the ground by the long sword, it also kept trying to move.

The result was beyond everyone's and monster's expectations.

Kiel's hunting sword remained motionless after being pierced into the ground, while the big white lizard that was penetrated through its body turned around wildly. The end result was that half of its body was cut off by the blade of the sword.

It was free, but half the width of its torso was severed by itself.

A large amount of flesh and blood poured out from the broken hole. The lizard was tenacious and lay there for a long time before stopping to move.

"Is he dead?" The young hunter, who was taking aim with his bow and arrow, slowly came closer and asked Keir his doubts.

"It's hard to say. This thing has very strong vitality. Let me try." Keir pulled out his long sword.

The long sword that was originally fixed on the ground as if taking root was easily pulled out by Kil, which surprised Kil himself.

But now is not the time to be surprised by the magic of weapons. He took the spear stuck in the snow from the side and carefully stabbed the lizard with the tip of the spear.

The lizard was stabbed in the head several times but was not seriously injured.

The lizard made no movement.

He stabbed again at the wound on the lizard's torso that had been severed by his own movement.

As a result, the seemingly dead lizard swung its tail, knocking Kil's spear aside.

The eye that was not blind also moved, stopped pretending to be dead, and stared at the two of them closely.

"It seems like he's pretending to be dead. Good guy, this thing's vitality is really tenacious." Kil said.

The young hunter pointed at the wound of the big white lizard in panic and shouted: "Kiel, look there, after the white blood on the surface of its wound covers the wound, no new blood flows out."

After seeing it, Keir was also surprised by the tenacious vitality of this little monster.

"It's okay, its body recovery ability is far inferior to that of the spider-shaped monster. Watch me split it in half!" Kil said, sheathing the long sword, turning the ax in half a circle, and came to the lizard. On the other side, he raised his ax and slashed along the lizard's previous wound.

The lizard that was chopped reacted very badly. It kept struggling, but because the front and back of the body were almost split into two halves, the front and back movements of the body were different. You pulled forward and I pulled back. They couldn't move together well at all.

Kil avoided its sporadic counterattacks, found the opportunity, and raised his ax to strike down.

The huge white lizard was quickly split into two halves.

Half occupies a small part of the body, including the head and a pair of front paws. The back body contains most of the abdomen, four claws and a long tail.

"How about it! Let's see whether you die or not." Keir said proudly, placing the ax on the ground.

Unexpectedly, even if it happened like this, the limb containing the head would swing its left and right claws in sequence, driving the head to move rapidly around the campfire.

The other half of the body is even more exaggerated. Its tail suddenly jumped straight, and then the scales at the base of the tail split, and the muscles underneath exploded, blowing its tail to pieces and throwing it off.

After the two separated, the tail no longer stretched, and began to shrink and twist continuously, bouncing on the ground.

The headless and tailless body swung its four legs and feet and slammed into the surrounding snow, roaring under the snow and running against the snow into the darkness.

Keir couldn't catch up at all. He took just two steps and couldn't catch up.

But he couldn't care less about that.

The lizard's head changed its target. It stared closely at the hunter who shot out one of its eyes and pursued it. The mouth of the bodyless head kept opening and closing, trying to bite the hunter's calf.

The lizard's teeth opened and closed, making a clicking sound of hard teeth.

"Kiel, save me!~" The young hunter let out a strange scream, jumped out of the carriage canopy, stepped on the wheel, and held the thick tarpaulin tightly with his hands.

Kil first kicked the tail of the white lizard that couldn't stop bouncing away, then rushed over and chopped off a claw on the side of the lizard's head with an axe.

Then he used the ax to cut off its other claw.

"You're doomed now!" Kil said with a strange expression.

The lizard seemed to be very stubborn, even though it was only a small size. But it still clung to the carriage wheel with its mouth tightly and would not relax at all.

"Okay, now it can't move anymore." After saying that, Kil sat down on the ground and kept breathing.

The hunter also jumped off the carriage, carefully used his bow to push away the lizard's claws, and then looked into the single eye of the still living lizard's head. With only one head left, the lizard stared at the young hunter with its only remaining eye, blinking every once in a while.

The young hunter had fought against huge monsters before, so he was not afraid of being stared at by this guy who had no ability to attack. He looked around and saw that the monster's body was missing.

Asked about Kiel, Kiel pointed to a scattered pile of snow next to him and said, "Damn it, that thing is really evil. It lost its head and tail, and it quickly got into the snow and ran away."

"It doesn't matter. It has no head and nothing to eat. Even if it is tenacious, it will die slowly somewhere."

"You're right, I think so too." Kil nodded.

As soon as he finished speaking, the white tail of the lizard next to him bounced and twisted on the ground, and suddenly hit Kil's helmet.

boom.

Kil sighed, silently climbed up from the ground, found a rope in the carriage, grabbed the still vibrant tail, tied it in the middle with the rope, and then hung it directly in the middle of the carriage, hanging in the air hanging.

He and the hunter crossed their arms and looked at the lizard's tail twisting in the air, and they looked at each other.

"Have you seen this scene?"

"I haven't seen it. Have you seen it?"

"I do not have either."

"Tell me, can this thing be eaten?"

"It's hard to say. There may be some who die."

"Why don't you try?"

"I won't try, you try?"

"You don't even try, and I'm even less likely to try. Go to sleep, Kil, you can't sleep tonight. You keep your sentry tonight, and I'll catch the train tomorrow, and you can rest in the car."

"Okay. I'll look around. You can sleep, but don't sleep to death. If there is any movement, protect yourself."