Mercenaries and Adventurers

They all have ropes, and it’s all in the backpack. As for the wooden sticks that could be used by the two of them to carry the strange northern wolf carcass, Keel said that he would just chop one down with an axe.

After defeating the Northern Wolf, everyone felt relaxed, chatting and laughing, how about hunting a wild boar and going back to eat?

As soon as he talked about this, Kil's stomach rumbled. In this cold and uninhabited northern forest, it is of course the best thing to be able to eat meat.

So he raised his hands in approval, and the young hunters also expressed their joy in participating in the wild boar hunting.

The old hunter ordered two young hunters with superb skills and strong physical strength to follow him.

Others just tidied up the place on the spot. They peeled off the wolf skins of the northern wolves, preferably buried the carcasses in the ground, and re-arranged all the metal clips that looked reliable.

Kiel considered that he would hunt at least one wild boar later, so he immediately went looking for a suitable thick branch with his ax on his shoulder.

Wearing a suit of armor, he didn't worry about anything that could hurt him. After walking around the position twice, he found a suitable big tree, cut off a few of its low branches, and then used it lightly. Use a sharp ax to remove the excess branches, tie them with ropes and drag them back to the position.

Seeing everyone working, some people lit a fire and prepared warm food to appease everyone's hungry stomachs.

Keel picked out a few good branches, which were as thick as an arm and a tree with solid wood. He sat by the fire, took out a steel dagger, and began to scrape off the bark on the surface of the branch one by one, making it into a wooden stick at least two meters long.

The bark scraped off by the dagger was thrown directly into the fire as added fuel.

A thinner wooden stick was used to lift the body of the mutated boreal wolf. Considering that the wild boar might be very heavy, Kiel found two thicker branches to make the other two wooden sticks.

Unfortunately, even though it was winter, there was still a lot of moisture in the branches, so the wooden sticks might not be strong enough and could only be used to carry away the wild boar.

Before the hunting team came back, everyone sat around the fire and ate.

Shortly after dark, when Kil was a little unable to sit still, but the other hunters were not worried, a fire lit up in the woods in the distance, and they slowly walked towards them.

"Here they come. Kil, aren't you worried? They are coming back soon. Go and greet them." An old hunter reminded Kil.

Kilta quickly sat up, took out a torch to be lit from his backpack, rubbed it on the fire, ignited the torch, held the torch in one hand, put the other behind his back, and walked over holding the handle of the axe.

After getting closer, they were indeed hunters out hunting. They were panting, and several of them were dragging a long-dead adult wild boar with a rope.

"Kiel, what are you looking at? Why don't you come over and help!" The old hunter leading the team saw Kiel coming and quickly handed the rope wrapped around his arm and hanging over his shoulder to Kiel.

"Come on, come on, such a big wild boar, looks quite heavy." Kil handed the torch to the old hunter, then imitated the other man, wrapped the rope around his arm, then put it over his shoulder, and walked He calmly began to pull the wild boar carcass.

"Is this so big? In these places where almost no one comes, a wild boar of this size can only be said to be average." As he said, the old hunter kicked the wild boar carcass: "A wild boar of this size can only be considered normal." If an adult male wild boar is bigger, the leader of the wild boar family will drive him out of the family, just to prevent young male wild boars from competing with him for power."

"What power?" Kil asked playfully, of course he understood.

A young hunter who was originally pulling the wild boar carcass was out of breath, but now he was very energetic and rushed to answer: "Of course it is the right to give birth to cubs with the female wild boar, haha. Aren't they all the same in the world?"

"You guy, hurry up and find a girl in the village. I don't know who is wandering around the streets and alleys in the city all day long, staring at every woman." Another young hunter joked.

"Hmph, of course you don't understand the pain of us people. Tell the truth among the girls you rescued from the bandits last time. Have you slept with them?"

Faced with the questioning from his companions, the tall and strong young hunter was embarrassed and did not answer.

"If you don't answer, you'll have it if you don't answer? Tell me, did you sleep with the girl who likes you?"

Unexpectedly, the hunter frowned and raised his head and said: "I'm all asleep. Hey, hey, don't hit me! Don't hit me in the face! The girls came to me for comfort on their own, and I didn't want to ah."

The two young hunters began to fight, one chasing the other and running around the trunk of the big tree they passed. He was the only one left here to pull the wild boar carcass, but his speed was not slower than before.

The old hunter ignored the young hunters who were fighting, turned around and asked Kil if he needed help, but Kil shook his head and declined. In fact, when he actually pulled it, it wasn't very heavy. As long as he stepped firmly every step, he could pull the wild boar behind him normally.

-

After returning to their positions, the old hunters gathered around the wild boar. After slapping the ice and snow off the carcass, they began to skin and clean the wild boar.

Keir took the thick skins and internal organs of wild boars that had been cut off by the old hunters, and threw them into the holes that had been dug aside. This pit was filled with beheaded and skinned bodies of northern wolves. At this time, the internal organs of wild boars that could not be eaten or were worried about being contaminated with parasites were thrown in.

For the meat of these animals in the wild, it is best not to eat the brains or internal organs of the animals unless you have no choice. Animals that are not domestic livestock eat a very messy diet and are full of parasites.

Wild boars are okay, because they like to roll in mud or dry earth pits, so there are very few parasites on the skin of wild boars. But their diet is very messy. As long as they can fit into their mouths, they will eat anything, including rotten but not completely rotten carcasses of other animals.

So the old hunters asked Keir to throw all these things into the pit. After they left, other animals in the forest would naturally quickly dispose of these corpses preserved by low temperature.

It will be a different kind of animal feast at that time.

Especially those small carnivores.

Sometimes, old hunters would use this method to set traps in the winter forest to hunt foxes and wild weasels whose furs are valuable, or small ferocious animals such as leopards and lynxes that cannot find anything to eat.

But now that he has joined Lanissa Knight's hunter team, there is no time for this in winter. Of course, the reward income from the knight for killing the Northern Wolf is not huge at all. Especially if the knight gives cash, it can save the old hunters from the possibility of being ripped off by the merchants who deliberately lower the price.

After removing one-third of the head from the wild boar carcass, and then removing the thick fur and intestines, there was not much left in the end, which greatly disappointed Keir.

Even so, the old hunter comforted him, saying that this was the remaining meat, and after removing the bones, there would be even less.

But the good news is that wild boar bones can be used to make soup, and that stuff is also edible.

After cutting off a wild boar's hind leg, the old hunters melted the snow into water on the spot and poured it into the cup-shaped snow. Soon, due to the low temperature around them, the ice water that had not melted for much time quickly froze back into solid ice cubes.

The old hunters used this cutting board made of ice cubes to back up the wild boar and put it on it and use daggers to cut into slices of meat.

Because the weight of wild boar was much less than Kiel expected, he made an extra whittled wooden stick, which was used by veteran hunters. They split it directly and then quickly whittled it into thin wooden strips and pierced a piece of wood. Slice the hind legs, rub them with crushed coarse salt, and give them to Keel to roast.

Having not eaten meat well for several days, Kil was so happy that he quickly greeted several young hunters who were fighting and quarreling and had a stalemate, and used barbecue to melt the barriers between them.

To be honest, the lack of seasonings makes the barbecue lose a lot of possibilities of becoming a delicious dish. Regarding this, Kiel can only sigh helplessly. It is not that there are no seasonings in cities and towns. Unfortunately, most of the seasonings that people often use are simple seasonings grown in their own yards. They are all fresh and difficult to carry when going out.

As for many finely ground food seasonings that have been dried, some are said to have medicinal properties, so they are expensive and impractical. Some inexpensive dry seasonings are mostly not produced locally.

Considering the difficulties and risks of business travel and trade in the local kingdom, few business travelers go to transport merchants to buy cheap dried food seasonings.

This makes Keir feel quite regretful.

It's still because Kendall County is too remote.

Chewing the salty barbecue in his mouth, Kil's desire to leave this place and venture to wider places became stronger and uncontrollable.

-

That night, as soon as they had eaten their food, they left the place where they were staying. After walking for half the night, I chose a safe place to rest.

They were not very far from the Rock Mountain stronghold at this time, but they could return in a day or two. In addition, they hunted a wild boar. Although there were not many edible parts, it was enough for everyone on the trip to eat for about four days. Yes, if paired with other foods, you can stay here longer.

One day later, they could see the rocky mountain rising abruptly from the forest through the snow and fog blown by the north wind.

Interestingly, everyone can see a white spot that lights up in the dark weather at the highest point of the rocky mountain. Kil was also a little confused. He didn't expect that he just charged the long sword with hunting power for convenience, but the white light it emitted could be seen from such a distance.

It's still daytime, and although the sky is very dark, there is still basic lighting. The white dot on the top of the mountain flashed, looking like a lighthouse or beacon.

"Kiel, you said that was your long sword? Are you mistaken? You can see it from such a distance." The young hunters who were traveling with him were all surprised by this. They had seen how powerful that weapon was before. , I didn’t expect to have this ability.

Kil scratched his hair and expressed that he was not sure. He thought that when he returned, he would have to put it away quickly or find something to cover it. It's okay that they are the only ones in the forest now. If there are other intelligent creatures, such as some smart monsters, wouldn't it be better to tell them that there is something abnormal in this place and come and take a look?

After walking for a long time, everyone was worried about the safety of the old hunter who was left alone in the stronghold at this time, so they speeded up their steps. Kil and a strong hunter carried the carcass of the strange northern wolf together, carrying long wooden sticks one after the other.

After arriving at the bottom of the rocky mountain, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the many neat metal clips placed at the entrance of the rock passage.

Since the outermost metal clip has not been disturbed, it means that nothing has broken through here.

Carefully removing the metal clip blocking the road, everyone passed through. Then he climbed over the carriage body blocking the road, and finally started to walk up the sloping rock passage with a sigh of relief.

After walking for a while, they passed through a rock passage covered with marks of weapons and came to near the middle of the passage. A simple wooden wall blocked the way.

"Old man, open the door! Let's see what delicious food we bring you!" The three old hunters laughed loudly, standing at the wooden door and proudly patting most of the wild boar meat that was carried on wooden sticks by the young hunters. .

The rustling sound came behind the wooden door, and then the voice of an old hunter came out. As he opened the latch of the wooden door, he nervously said to the people outside the door: "Keep your voice down, stop laughing, and keep your voice down." Take it easy."

Everyone looked at each other: "What's wrong? What happened?"

After opening the door, the old hunter who stayed behind put his hand on his brow and looked into the sky behind everyone. After finding nothing, he explained in a low voice: "Everything was as usual after you left, but something flew in the sky yesterday. "

Everyone walked into the stronghold one by one without saying a word. They heard the old hunter say: "I thought it was some big birds flying from the sky, so I didn't take it seriously. It turned out that the thing kept flying around our stronghold, and its wings I could hear the sound of the fan clearly even in the tent.”

"Later, its sound was obviously getting closer and closer, and the three horses began to neigh uneasily. I went out anxiously to see if there was any monster flying over from outside the border."

Someone asked: "What did you see?"

The old hunter who stayed behind imitated the appearance of a horse, and then waved his arms to imitate the appearance of a bird flying: "That is a monster with four claws. It is so big, twice as big as a horse, and its wings are simply The biggest thing I have ever seen. Not to mention that thing flying in the sky. When it chirps, the sound is louder than the biggest eagle in the mountains. It took me a lot of effort to calm your horses. But as long as the horses They chirp, and once heard by something flying in the sky, it chirps too!"

Everyone was a little nervous, but Kil touched his chin and muttered: "Why does it sound like a gryphon?"

As soon as Kil's words came out, the young hunters all suddenly realized: "Yes, yes, yes, four claws, a pair of big wings, bigger than a horse, this is a griffin!"

"Among the militia teams organized by the Crow Knights, the most powerful team seems to have a gryphon as its symbol?"

"It's the gryphon. I've watched the militia training out of curiosity. The animal shown on the flag is exactly what you described!"

The few old hunters who have never seen griffin patterns have rarely heard of legends about griffins. This is also related to the rarity of wild griffins. The vast majority of griffins have been artificially raised by powerful organizations. . Having lived in remote Kendal County all their lives, they knew little about griffons.

"Griffin?" The four old hunters looked at each other.

The young people explained to them, and then the old hunters learned that the Imperial Border Knights on the northern border were raising some griffins and using them to fly quickly.

"So, that's the gryphon of the Imperial Knights? I wonder if there are any knights riding on it."

"There must be some, but I don't know why the other party didn't come down to take a look. I wish I could entertain you. There is such a strong wind here, and flying at such a high place, it must be very cold in winter." The old hunter who stayed behind Finally said.

Regarding the fact that the higher you go, the windier and the colder it becomes, do you think that is something people can bear? Although the leader is Knight Lanisa, everyone has seen the ability of knights to withstand low temperatures, but even so, Knight Lanisha came to the northern forest on this trip, and she wore thick cold-proof clothing inside the armor, and outside the armor He also wore an animal skin cloak to keep warm.

Moreover, on the top of the rocky mountain, no one could stand the strong wind and cold there, let alone riding on the back of a flying gryphon. With the strong wind blowing, it would definitely be three to five times colder.

As everyone talked, they all came into the stronghold. After closing the door, the young people couldn't wait to light the fire, and then got into the warm tent to warm themselves up.

Kil threw his backpack on his bedding, took off his armor, wrapped himself in a wolf fur cloak and walked along the rocky passage to the top of the mountain.

The old hunters gathered around the fire and talked about the strange northern wolf they met this time when they went out. They pointed at the dead body of the northern wolf and gestured.

When Kil arrived at the top of the mountain, he found that his hunting sword was indeed shining evenly.

Since the long sword is inserted upside down, the long luminous sword body looks like a white light tube. The cold wind invisible to the naked eye was blowing around him. Kil wrapped himself tighter and ran to the sword in small steps. He grabbed him and came closer. The intermittent flashes became a continuous hunt.

"It turns out that cloudy days like this can also recharge your energy. It seems that as long as it's daytime. I don't know if you need a place where you can see the sky." He whispered, and Kil tried to break the fixed sword. Handle of ice cubes.

But I found that the bottom was fixed with some ice and snow, and now it is firmly frozen with the stone surface of the top of the mountain.

He took out the dagger and smashed it a few times. As soon as Kil's fingers touched the hilt, a burst of green light burst out from the inside of the hilt, breaking the hard ice and snow wrapping the hilt into thumb-sized pieces.

Kil was stunned for a moment, then chuckled and grabbed the hilt of the sword.

A steady stream of power that he was not yet familiar with came from the hilt of the sword he was holding, and Kil was quite happy.

As his mood fluctuated, the white light from the long sword no longer radiated, but shrouded the surface of the sword, while the hilt emitted a green light that seemed to illuminate all things while nourishing life.

A silver-white metal ball at the end of the long sword was not to be outdone, emitting a silver-white light that was not inferior to the sword body.

Although the summit platform was cold, Kil closed his eyes and tried to communicate with his weapon.

In an instant, the white light of the sword body, the green light of the sword hilt, and the silver moonlight of the sword tail all shrank and disappeared.

Hiss, hiss, clang.

Kil sheathed his sword.

Then he hunkered down and ran quickly into the stronghold, because it was windy here and it was really too cold, so he couldn't even pretend to be cool.