Mercenaries and Adventurers

He took off his cold-proof gloves and tried to sense the possible movement of the surrounding air.

However, nothing was found for a while. Kil looked at his fingers and found that they were all covered with rough skin, and there was a thick layer of calluses on the inside of his palm, which often held weapons and tools.

Sighing, Kil was silent for a moment. Then he opened his mouth and touched his fingers with his tongue a few times, and then let his saliva-stained fingers wander around the rock wall.

This trick worked very well, and he quickly discovered the blocked wall gap through the changes in heat and cold of his fingers.

Taking out the dagger, Kil used the tip of the dagger to poke and scratch at the place where the cold wind was blowing, widening the originally small gap. Following the widening gap, Keir made a crack along the edge of the stone.

At this point, the dagger was of no use. The stones collapsed one after another and were stacked together. It couldn't be broken apart with this thing. His sword, while strong, was not a suitable tool.

Although he couldn't get through it himself, he still moved his head to the gap he had opened, trying to see what it looked like on the other side of the gap.

He was disappointed. It was pitch black inside. Although he felt that the gap was straight through the cold wind blowing from the gap and there was no stone obstruction, he still couldn't see anything on the other side, and he didn't have a small enough torch at hand. Naturally, you can't see what it looks like inside.

After thinking about it for a while, Kil gave up. He put away his things and resumed his previous work.

Compared to curiously exploring the inside of this rocky mountain, the preparations for the battle in front of us are much more important. These things can be put off until after defeating the Northern Wolf and the Wolf King, if everything goes as smoothly as he expected.

-

The steepest part of the rocky mountain is the top platform. Somewhere down from there, there are no steep cliffs that go straight up and down. Although it is still very steep, at least it is a slope.

Kil, who came back to the edge of this narrow platform, chose a suitable path downwards. They don't have many ropes, so they can't take the route with the most landing spots. Instead, they can only take the steepest possible route that doesn't require as many ropes.

After choosing the direction of the route, Kil used his long sword to split the rock at the right place and hung a rope of suitable length on it. Then he slid down the rope at an angle and came to the next narrow platform where he could barely stand.

Here, Keir discovered two more rocky mountains not far away. They were not made up of a whole body, but looked like they had been forcibly blocked with huge rocks.

He rubbed his chin and observed, guessing that these two places must have been relatively conspicuous a few decades ago, but after many years, the wind, sun, rain, and snow covered the places that were originally blocked. If you don't look for it specifically, you basically can't find it.

Keir shook his head, calmed down, stopped paying attention to those suspicious places, and focused on his work.

-

Soon after, when Keel tied the last section of rope to the gap in the rock edge, his specially designed escape route was finally completed.

After simply packing up the things at hand, Kil grabbed the rope, turned around and climbed down.

The last platform in this section was only about ten meters from the ground, which was not a long distance. When Kil was only three meters away from the ground, he let go of the rope and jumped down.

Boom.

Kiel landed on his feet. He bent his knees to absorb the impact of the landing, and his strong body absorbed the impact of the jump very well. Stamping his feet on the spot, he felt some numbness in the soles of his feet, but it was nothing. Instead of caring about it, Kil raised his head and looked down the mountain at the route that had gone all the way down.

On the snow-covered rocky mountain, the thick brown and strong hemp rope is still very conspicuous. But if he climbs up again in the opposite direction and retracts the ropes on the platform, the few cuts on the edge of the rock will be impossible to detect from the bottom.

If you let him ignore the rope and find the original route, it will be difficult for him to find it.

I carefully checked the surrounding conditions at the bottom of the rocky mountain and found nothing bad. This place is very far away from the rock passage of the rocky mountain. It is basically on the other side of the mountain. Even from here, we can't see the situation there at all.

Feeling that he could do it, Kil climbed up again with the rope.

It's easier to come down than to go up. This sentence is somewhat appropriate here. Fortunately, Kil was not wearing his full armor, otherwise it would have been more difficult to climb up.

When he was less than one meter away from the first platform from the ground, Kiel grasped the rope with one hand, and then used his feet to use the rough texture of the rock wall to stretch out an arm far away to hold the edge of the platform. .

After having a strong bearing point, his other arm also released the rope and climbed up. He kicked his feet and his whole body rolled up.

After gathering the rope and coiling it into a circle, Keel placed the rope on the inside edge of the platform for easy access later.

Then turn around and continue climbing to the top of the mountain.

-

"Hoo, ho, ho, ho. Ha, it's really scary." Kil was lying on his back on the top platform of the rocky mountain. He didn't care about the cold wind on the top of the mountain. He took a big breath of fresh and cold air. Soothe your pounding heart.

After resting for a while, until he felt chilled, Kil fiddled with his limp hands and feet and pulled up the rope on the edge of the platform and coiled it up.

After returning to the stronghold, as time had passed for a while, everyone who was resting also got up and crawled out of their tents.

"Little Kil, where did you go? We looked everywhere and couldn't find you?" the old hunter asked, roasting a potato over the fire.

Kil said hello to everyone, and then told him about making an escape tunnel.

The hunters were very interested in this and got up to have a look. Knight Lanisa was not very interested in this. After all, for a knight of her skill, where to go down the mountain is not a problem. She was more worried about her response to the subsequent battle situation.

While the hunters were looking at the escape passage of the rope, the female knight told Keir about the battle that would definitely happen in the future.

"Little Kil, can you tell me how you plan for the next battle? You are not an ordinary person, and everyone can see this. Tell me quickly, after all, this is related to the success or failure of each of us. It also depends on whether we can seize this big opportunity." Knight Lanessa leaned against the rock passage and put her legs in thick armor next to the fire and asked.

Kil scratched his head, thought for a moment, and then explained his predictions and arrangements for the subsequent battle. Basically, it was designed based on the information provided by Knight Lanisa before. When faced with a large group of Northland wolves, a female knight who is not affected by the terrain will serve as a containment of the wolf king of the same strength on the opposite side, trying to Without breaking out of a fight, keep the opponent away from the battle between ordinary wolves and hunters.

After that, the hunters relied on using the rock passage as a position to block the attacking Northland wolves layer by layer.

Judging from Kiel's judgment on the individual strength of the Northern Wolves, if the weird Northern Wolves with special abilities encountered before are very rare, basically on the first and second positions, they can give the attacking Northern Wolves bring serious losses.

At this time, the wolf king of the Northern Wolf will definitely not just watch. It will definitely find a way to intervene in the battle, either attacking directly from the rock passage, or rushing over from the rocky mountain next to the rock passage to find a way to kill the hunters.

At this time, there are two possibilities. Or start the falling rocks next to the rock passage to hinder the wolves, and then the knight himself and the hunters attack the wolf king together.

There may be losses, but based on the battles in the past few years, the knights will definitely have the upper hand with the support of hunters and Kiel.

Another possibility is that the wolf king leads the wolves to attack together from the rock passage.

At this time, Knight Lanissa needs to contain the Wolf King at close range and keep it on the ground of the rock passage as much as possible. At the right time, the knight would send out a signal to guide the hunter to shoot the stones, causing the big stones to fall from the side of the passage, causing as much damage to the Wolf King as possible.

It's best if you can hit the Wolf King. If you can't hit the Wolf King, you can kill a large number of Northern Wolves fighting with the Wolf King. If the wolf king didn't want his northern wolves to be severely injured, it would be best to actively bear the impact of falling boulders.

In this way, the most critical aspect of this battle - defeating the Wolf King, will make great progress.

"At this time, Sir Knight, you can give it a go. This will be the best time to hunt down the Wolf King. If it runs away, you can chase it. Don't worry about us. Our main role in this battle is Already done it," Keir said.

Adding a handful of firewood to the fire, Knight Lanisa frowned and said, "I'm going to kill the Wolf King who will definitely run away. What about you?"

Kil smiled and pointed at the hunters who were returning from the rock passage: "We have a retreat. After you and the Wolf King leave the battlefield, we will still resist the attack of the northern wolves step by step, if they attack again. Those animals would have never imagined that what seemed like a dead end at the top of the mountain would actually be our escape route.”

"Cunning boy." Lanissa Knight smiled slightly: "The situation will probably be like what you said. Phew, don't die."

"Haha, Lord Knight, it's hard for us to die here. Little Kil made that thing look pretty good." An old hunter said while sitting by the fire.

"It just looks too high. To be honest, it's too high and too dangerous. I feel dizzy." Another hunter muttered. He seemed to be a little afraid of heights.

"Then don't look down, just keep staring at the rock wall." Kil gave advice to the hunter who was afraid of heights.

Although some people think that thing is a bit dangerous, it is at least an escape route. No one doesn't like an escape route if the battle fails, so even if he thinks it is dangerous, no one says that he can't use it.

Everyone ate something, and then they all got up and joined in the construction of the defensive line.

With the addition of Knight Lanessa, Kil can hand over the work of designing and creating rockfalls in rock passages to female knights who are interested in her.

Everyone is busy building one line of defense after another.

Until the next night, the pioneer wolf howl of the Northland wolf pack sounded in the forest outside the rocky mountain.

-

"They're coming! Even though it's night, let's go to the first line of defense!" Knight Lanisa said loudly. She herself hurried back to the stronghold camp and filled the small bag around her waist with the dried meat that had been roasted. Pull up the war horse and seize the time to put a metal vest on it.

Keir and the four young men quickened their pace, rushed down from the last position with running and jumping, simply picked up their weapons, and continued running down.

While running, Kil shouted to the old hunters who were lagging behind: "Old men, bring more torches for lighting and food!"

"Got it! Let's go quickly, don't delay!" The four old hunters shouted in unison.

The five Kiers quickly quickened their pace. Although it was considered that the Northern Wolf might come here at night, possible preparations for night battles were considered in the position. But Keer hoped that the other party would come during the day tomorrow. After all, considering the distance from the gathering place of the Northern Wolf to Rock Mountain, he judged that the other party was more likely to come during the day the next day.

Unexpectedly, the other party exceeded the time he calculated all night long.

Kil was running and cursing, feeling a little anxious and worried.

"Huhu, Kil, don't worry, you did a great job! At least this time we are better than the previous times!" A young hunter who was following him said with a smile.

"Huhu, that's right. In every crusade in the past years, there has never been a heavy casualty. To be honest, none of us have been injured so far. This is already the best situation I expected."

"Hey, it's not like this time, Kil's joining. The Lord Knight has brought you into the team this time. It's really great! Huhu."

"It's best to get rid of the wolves this year. I don't want to have to come again next winter! Whoops."

The young hunters following him expressed their opinions as they ran. After hearing this, Kil relaxed: "Ha, that's right. In that case, let's all cheer up! Defeat them!"

"Okay!" X4

Everyone climbed over wooden walls one after another, not forgetting to ask one person to put up the wooden ladder for walking back and forth to make it easier for others to come and go later. Especially the old hunters, their bodies are not as strong as the young ones, so they have to bring enough things to support the front.

Kiltang first ran to the wooden wall of the first position at the entrance of the rock passage. Just hearing the sound of rustling in the distance in front of him, he knew that the northern wolf was taking advantage of the darkness of the night to sneak up on them.

Kiel was not surprised at all that these northern wolves knew that humans like them were here so quickly. Although he had killed several northern wolf detectives before, those could not be all of them.

There must have been the most cautious northern wolf who did not rush to attack Kil himself who was deliberately alone. Therefore, it is only natural that after the vanguards of the Northland wolves arrive, they attack them as soon as possible.

Kil raised the torch he was holding high and stood on the top of the wooden wall of the position. He first instructed the young hunter to light the fire next to the wooden wall for lighting. In addition, he asked a hunter to tie up the fire that had been prepared. The head-removing arrows tied with a thin rope are ready. Wait and immediately shoot at the wood piled in the grooves of the rock walls on both sides of the rock passage.

Once the wood in those places is ignited, it can provide lighting for the entire defense line. Far better lighting than a fire behind a wooden wall.

Phew, crackle.

The young hunter lit the fires on the left and right behind the wooden wall with torches. The dry wood that had been prepared was quickly ignited, followed by slender branches, and then thick, strong and burnt-resistant wood blocks.

After the fire behind him was lit, the shadow of Kil's body standing on the wooden wall extended far away from the rock passage.

Then, two arrows whizzed.

A young hunter who was well prepared fired the lit rocket, and accurately followed the illumination brought by the fire behind him, hitting the wood in the groove of the rock wall in the dark night.

These pieces of wood were smeared with wolf's fat, which was animal fat after all, and ignited when exposed to an open flame.

The hunter quickly pulled the arrow back along the rope, stamped out the flames with his feet, and carefully put away the arrow. It's hard to get a supply of arrows here, so it's better to use them sparingly if possible.

With the lighting on both sides of the front end, although the flame was not large, it still showed the sneaking figure of the creeping northern wolf.

"I see you!" Kil smiled slightly, and then he yelled: "Ah!! Come on!"

come!

come!

come!

The young hunters also roared. In the quiet winter night forest, the false calm was broken, and the night became restless.

-

Seeing the humans who had been rushed towards the sneak attack, the northern wolf pioneers stopped hiding and jumped up from the ground. They also howled in unison, not to be outdone.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The number of Northland wolves far exceeded the five of Kiel and the others, so the human shouts were immediately suppressed.

The pioneers of the wolf pack roared one after another without interruption, shaking off the snow from the big trees in the nearby forest and also shaking off some unstable snow on the rocky mountain.

The two young hunters who had not followed the attack before were even frightened by the roar of this large number of ferocious animals and took two steps back.

Everyone became nervous and vomited, and then they realized that there was a huge disparity in the number of humans and northern wolves.

"Hold on, don't be afraid! They can't get through. Ahem, we have a response plan." Kil was also a little nervous. Can the arrangement he envisioned really be able to deal with so many northern wolves? There are so many wolves, but that’s not all.

Taking a deep breath, Kil jumped off the wooden wall and stood behind the wooden wall. While inserting the torch in his hand into the specially made small hole at the top of the wooden wall, he pulled out his long sword.

Then, he thought about it, put back the sword, turned around and pulled out the ax from behind. He also touched a small leather bag on his waist, but gave up using the contents.

The bag contained a sugar pill made from red-eyed mushroom powder, which he carried with him as a key combat prop for critical moments.

The battle hasn't started yet, so I'm not in a hurry to take this thing now.

Then, the northern wolves, who gained momentum, rushed towards the rock passage together.