Mercenaries and Adventurers

The bear in the forest may be the opponent that hunters least want to encounter.

Different from the slow and slow image in people's minds, real forest bears are not only sharp in perception, but also flexible and fast. Not only is it difficult to withstand the impact when running, but the overall speed is no slower than that of a horse.

Except for their slight lack of endurance, they basically have few opponents in the forests they inhabit, and they are the overlords of the forests.

There are naturally forest black bears in this large forest in the northeastern part of Kendall County. This is not a problem. They are wild beasts with their own living ranges and will not come out of the forest to attack human settlements like the Northland wolves. And there is no special species of bear with magical powers in Kendall County.

These are all detailed information recorded in the past books of the Baron Kendall family. Before coming to attack the Northern Wolf, Knight Lanissa naturally checked and sorted out the relevant books and information in the county.

In the early years, there was a group of roaring black bears that could kill animals with their roars. They crossed the divine border from the human border, but they were quickly wiped out by the Imperial Border Knights patrolling the border. Regarding this matter, she found it from a city founding notebook of the previous generation, Baron Kendall.

Of course, monsters with certain strength will not be marked by the border mark of God for no reason, their strength will plummet, and then come to the human world. Behind the scenes, the dwarves from outside the border were driving them. As Knight Lanissa read at the time, Baron Kendall suspected that the dwarves were driving this monster and tried to secretly migrate a family of roaring black bears to settle in the north of Kendall. forest.

The roaring black bear that broke through the Shenli border back then was naturally greatly reduced in strength, but it had no problem dealing with some ordinary beasts in the forest. As long as the roaring black bear family successfully settles down, the newborn bear cubs will naturally return to their original powerful monster species.

When the time comes, the dwarves will naturally use their back-up tactics one after another. For dwarves whose life span is far longer than that of humans, this kind of plan that takes at least ten years is quite like those dwarves.

But they completely underestimated the knights with the gryphon knights.

The senior Baron Kendall did not record the details of how to find out how to kill the roaring black bear family, but Knight Lanessa could still figure out what happened that year based on the situation of the two gryphon knights she met before.

-

After coming back to her senses, Lanisha Knight focused her attention on the scratch marks on the surrounding tree trunks. Through the multiple tree trunks with scratch marks, she roughly judged the direction in which the center of the forest black bear's territory was.

And there was a smile on her lips. Among the claw marks left by the bear's claws on the tree trunk, she saw one or two fresh scratches that were different in size from the bear's claws.

"Got you."

She closed the metal visor of her helmet, held the one-handed heavy sword in one hand, and held the hilt of the armor-piercing rapier inserted in the scabbard with the other hand, and strode towards the possible winter bear cave of the forest black bear.

Her steps were heavy, and such a wanton fall would naturally be heard by the Wolf King with his keen sense. It doesn't matter, I just want it to know that the human being who wants to take its life is here.

Passing through a tall and strong snow-fallen tree, Knight Lanisa soon discovered a bear cave that should be the forest black bear's cave at the intersection of the trunks of several fallen trees.

The surrounding forest is flat, and it is impossible for the forest black bear living here to dig holes like a vole, so this beast with no natural enemies thought of a clever way.

It knocked down several large trees that were close by, and caused the fallen trunks to gather in one place. After that, this guy probably dug down into the collapsed area, dug a small pit, and then covered the excess soil with the outside of the tree trunks that served as the walls of the bear den, and barely connected these tree trunks to build a semi-underground shallow bear den.

However, Knight Lanisa who got closer noticed that a lot of snow had fallen off the tree trunk that served as the roof of the bear's den.

Because there are no animals around, and the tall trees are blocking the sun, the snow here is still very thick. But there wasn't much snow on the tree trunk that served as the roof.

She guessed that the huge vibration in the bear's den shook the snow off the tree trunks.

"Hoo." She exhaled a breath of hot breath.

Obviously, a hibernating bear would not think of crashing his home into this. This must have been done by the wolf king.

She slowed down, walked half a circle around this 'alternative' bear den, and found the place that should be the entrance to the bear den. Sure enough, at the entrance to the bear den that was supposed to be blocked from the inside by the hibernating forest black bear, the wooden blocks and stones blocking the way were violently pulled apart.

Knight Lanisa gradually quickened her breathing, providing a large amount of cold air to her body. Then she held a one-handed sword in both hands, raised the sword blade and placed it horizontally on the side of her head, and stepped sideways closer to the entrance of the bear's den.

"Hoo, ho, ho, ho." Her eyebrows were hot and slightly numb.

She knew that this was the body's spontaneous reaction after sensing the strong killing intent.

Knights' combat perception is very keen, far beyond that of ordinary people. Perhaps some ordinary people with sensitive senses will also have this ability of theirs, but this ability of knight-level warriors is acquired through training. Unlike instinct, it is reliable and can be improved through some methods.

Many special training methods allow knights to acquire different abilities. The ability passed down from the ancestors of her family, Lanessa, is the ability to observe magic through the naked eye.

I heard that all magicians have this ability, it's nothing special. But for knights who mainly rely on life energy, it seems rare.

The entrance to the bear cave was pitch black inside, and not even the slightest bit of light seemed to be able to shine through.

There was no sound inside.

"Bah." Lanissa Knight snorted disdainfully. How could there not even be the sound of a forest black bear sleeping in the bear cave?

He might have been killed by the injured Wolf King.

The female knight cautiously moved forward, but there was still no sound inside. The dark interior of the bear cave seemed to have swallowed everything.

She made a sound as if she was remembering something, and activated the active life energy in her body to gather it towards her eyes.

Looking up, in the dark bear cave, the scarlet evil magic power bloomed wantonly in the bear cave not far away like a torch swaying in the strong wind.

There was silence and peace around her. If it weren't for the wolf king's magic power that was rolling wildly in front of her eyes, she would not be able to accommodate both of them into her eyes at all.

It's good to know exactly that the Wolf King is hiding inside. Although the magic power of the Wolf King is flowing fiercely at the moment, and she doesn't know what she has prepared, she is not afraid. After all, she is the one who has the advantage at the moment. What is she afraid of?

The one you should really be afraid of is the Wolf King.

Thinking of this, she boldly walked forward step by step. Although she was said to be bold, every step she took was still steady, ready to step back at any time.

About ten steps closer to the entrance of the bear cave. From this angle, you can already look into the small bear cave.

At this glance, the eyes of Lanissa Knight and Wolf King met.

The Wolf King curled up in a bear den that was quite small for it. Next to him was a forest black bear whose neck had been bitten off. The blood flowing out of the neck had already frozen near the wound. According to the wound From what I saw, there was something wrong with the lack of bleeding, and the excess blood seemed to be missing.

Next to the big bear, there were some small bear stumps. Correspondingly, the wolf king lying on the ground had a bulging mouth. After making eye contact with the female knight, it continued to swallow even more boldly. Pick up the bear body in its mouth.

In addition to a little bear that was being bitten and swallowed by the wolf king, there were also two other little bears whose heads were clawed through by the wolf king's claws.

Lanissa Knight didn't express this, but felt that the Wolf King on the opposite side seemed to see that she did not dare to come down and attack.

She was indeed a little hesitant. What she saw with her naked eyes was the injured wolf king eating a black bear in the forest. In the magic field of vision, the magic power all over the Wolf King was blooming and twisting strangely, which was very different from the surge and fullness during the previous battle.

There must be something weird here.

For a moment, she maintained this sword-raising posture, unable to advance or retreat.

-

The sky is getting dark, but the flames and black smoke not far away are still rising. It seems that there are still a lot of combustibles, and I don't know when they will burn out.

Kil rubbed his temples and swallowed red-eyed mushroom candy pills continuously in the past few days. Although the side effects seemed to be gone, the tinnitus in his ears had been bothering him since noon.

His eyes also hurt slightly, and the feeling was like the first time he swallowed a whole mushroom.

"Kiel, if you're not feeling well, why don't you take this opportunity to take a rest?" The young companion who came with Kiel and stared at the burning wooden wall asked kindly.

With a wave of his hand, Kil thanked his companion for his suggestion, and then said he didn't need it.

He was close to the burning wooden wall and looked at the corpses of northern wolves that gradually turned into withered bones under the intense heat wave. Suddenly, I felt how cruel this world was. Whether it was humans or beasts, the fresh life instantly turned into bones burning in the flames.

The remaining wood of the wooden wall above the corpse collapsed with a crackling sound, falling into the same burning bones.

Zhao Ji felt that he might be like these northern wolves, falling silently in a remote place, accompanied by other people or alone.

He turned his head and looked behind him. Not far away, his friend who came with him was sitting on the edge of the rock wall, leaning against the heated rock wall. He seemed to be carving the broken arrowhead of an arrow in his hand. Holding a randomly picked stone.

Maybe after he falls, his body will be the same as that of his dead companions. Even now, everyone has never left the bodies of his dead companions behind. They want to take their bodies back and find a suitable priest to make a complete set of the deceased. After the ceremony, burn it.

That's right, no matter what, a decent funeral should be given, after all, everyone is so heroic.

No matter what it is for.

The family members who were killed by wolves were still greedy for the low salary of the hunter team organized by the knights, or they had the idea of ​​​​protecting the people in their hearts, or they might just join because of their belief in the God of Hunting.

What about him?

Why is he fighting so risklessly?

Resurrection from a dead body has no place of origin or destination.

Is he looking for a place to stay? Even if this so-called place of residence is full of crises.

He rubbed his cheeks that were heated by being close to the burning wooden wall, wiped away the tears left on his face, and slowly retreated to his companions.

"What are you carving?" After looking for a while, he didn't see what his companion was tinkering with. After all, the shape of the stone was simple, and it didn't look like there was anything special about it.

He casually shook the stone in his hand towards Kil, and his companion continued to carve it. He explained: "It is the emblem of the hunting god that the old guy believes in. I think, get one of these things and put it on the old guy." Putting it on his body might make him feel better."

Keir raised his eyebrows: "It doesn't matter if you die after death, right?"

The companion shrugged, without stopping: "The priest said so, no matter which priest it is." He paused: "They all said so."

Then, he continued to work on it, holding the hard metal arrowhead in his hand, struggling against the small stones picked up from the rocky mountain passage.

The rocks here are very hard, and it is difficult for ordinary metal weapons to leave traces. Fortunately, Kiel, a fellow hunter, has many broken arrowheads in his hands, and he has a whole night to work on them.

After watching for a while, Kil also sat bored and came to the middle of the passage, pulled out his long sword and started practicing. He had already slept in the afternoon, but at this time he was not sleepy at all.

His companions watched him practice with his long sword for a while, and then continued to work on their hands.

Kil was sweating profusely from practicing. Even though it was cold winter, the place where the two of them sat was still too close to the burning wooden wall. After drinking a large amount of ice water from the jug, Kil ate another piece of bread filled with sour cucumbers.

Originally, the old hunter had prepared roasted young wolf leg meat for the two of them, but in the past two days, he had become nauseated after eating northern wolves. He killed them during the day and ate them at night. Not only that, but when he thought about the large number of northern wolf corpses turning into ashes in the flames not far away, he lost his appetite even more.

Therefore, I know that I should eat more meat between battles to replenish my energy and physical strength. But Kil still declined the roasted wolf meat prepared by the old hunter, preferring to simply eat some pickled cucumbers and bread.

After eating a few haphazardly, Kil simply sat down and picked up a piece of gravel from the corner of the rock wall, asked his companions for some broken arrows, and started to get busy.

The young companion smiled, found a piece of charcoal that flew over, and drew the emblem of the God of Hunting on the ground.

Kil has actually seen this emblem, in their hunter team stronghold in Kendall City. The dead old hunter arranged a small place to worship the god's emblem in the corner of the first floor of the house.

In fact, Keir didn't take it seriously at the time. After all, you can know the God of Hunting just by his name. If you want to please or worship the God, you have to go hunting, right?

However, it wasn't until the old hunter who didn't talk much died in a series of battles against the Northland wolves and the Northland Wolf King that he realized that this old hunter had indeed integrated his belief in gods into his life. among.

Phew, I hunted all my life, and finally died in the process of hunting.

Kil smacked his mouth and felt that the old hunter lived a simple and direct life. According to the saying here, the dead old hunter would be protected by the gods in his next life, and he might still be a hunter.

Aren't you tired of it?

Kil's hand didn't stop, feeling that these people from another world had a stubborn streak in their characters.

He then thought, maybe it was because these people had little knowledge and cultural connections? Having lived under the influence of the church all their lives, these people's ideas will naturally be affected by the church's propaganda and doctrinal culture.

Ordinary people who have not read a few books naturally do not have the corresponding insight and knowledge to escape from the life arranged for them by the feudal lords and the church.

Unlike his fellow hunters, Kil was much stronger than him, and compared to his companion's slow and hectic progress, Kil held the gravel steadily in one hand and the broken arrow in the other, moving very quickly.

Because he specially wore armor and gloves, Kil was not worried about accidentally hurting his palms, so he used more force than his companions.

Quickly carving the emblem of the God of Hunting on the flat stone surface, Kil handed the thing to his companions for inspection.

"How's it going? I did it."

After receiving Kiel's work, his companion awkwardly compared it with the one he had carved, and found that the god emblem that Kiel had done in a few simple strokes was much stronger than the one he had made.

"Very good, really good. The old guy will definitely like it." The companion said a few words awkwardly, and then encouraged Keir to carve the emblems of gods on the other sides of the small stone. When dawn tomorrow, they can find Tie the stone tightly with a thin rope and hang it outside the body of the dead old hunter.

Kil received the compliment and immediately became excited: "It's not bad, right? I also think it's similar to the god's emblem hanging in Kendall's stronghold."

He thought for a while and then said: "Do you think I should carve one for the other person who died?"

The companion was a little surprised: "But Ike hasn't expressed his faith yet? Which one should we carve?"

Kil thought for a while: "Since we don't know what Ike believes in, let's carve the emblem of the God of the Dead! There are emblems of this god all around the cemetery, so I'm not afraid that I won't be able to remember it."

The companions thought for a while and felt that there was no problem. They hoped that the god who was responsible for the death of mortals could take care of their companions for a while.

Kil first carefully drew the emblem of the God of the Dead in his memory on the ground, then found another small square stone and began to carve it in this pattern.

One of the biggest differences between carving and painting is that once a change is made on the stone, it cannot be changed again.

However, neither Kil nor his companions noticed that the emblem painted on the ground by the God of the Dead, illuminated by the fire, was gradually glowing a little.

Just because of the firelight of the wooden wall burning not far away, this weak firelight was too weak.