Mercenaries and Adventurers

The wooden stick whizzed over and hit the branch where the little animal was squatting.

The branch was shaken up and down greatly by the knocking. The little animal originally wanted to escape after being surprised, but at this time, it was shaken by the branch under its feet, and it couldn't stand at all, and fell directly from the branch.

With a pop, the small palm-sized animal smashed a hole in the soft snow on the ground. But before the little guy could get up, Kiel's next blow came one after another.

boom!

This stick smashed the little animal's head open, and it died immediately.

Gere rushed forward and caught the small animal and found that it was a small stuffed animal that looked like a squirrel. While continuing to move forward, Keel twisted the squirrel's head off, pulled on the broken neck, and peeled off the entire squirrel's skin.

The fur was left stuck on the belt, and then Kil simply cleaned the squirrel's internal organs, then broke off a passing branch and wrapped the squirrel's fur around the fork of the branch.

Although the items in the backpack were very scattered and broken, the flint was still intact. With the shape of the flint in his memory, Kil still picked it out of the backpack with his backhand.

As he moved forward, he carefully rubbed the flint. Soon the oily fur of the squirrel on the branches was ignited. Holding a simple torch in one hand, Kil grabbed the cleaned squirrel trunk in the other hand. After briefly roasting it, he couldn't wait to swallow the dried squirrel meat into his stomach.

Even though this little squirrel is relatively fat, such a small size still cannot satisfy Keer's hungry stomach.

But the timing was bad. If there were no werewolves chasing him behind him, he could easily camp in place to rest and hunt and eat. It's a pity that it doesn't work. You can still eat while moving, so this stupid little squirrel can be easily knocked down with a stick.

Ordinary long-eared hares are not very good at it. He doesn't have time to look for rabbit holes and then hang the rabbit.

After he had eaten the little roasted squirrel in several bites, Keel came to the water source in the center of the woods.

The water source in this forest is a small pool of frozen mud.

Judging from the frozen mud beside the pool, it is obvious that this is the kind of place a family of wild boars likes in summer. Even in winter, you can still see traces of mess here. Keir did a little inspection and found hoofprints and footprints of many kinds of animals.

There are also messy fresh traces left on the animal trails on both sides of the pool.

After finding an animal trail that was in the same direction as the ruins, Kil extinguished the torch and put it away, then walked over with the wooden stick.

After walking for a while, I heard the sound of wild boars grunting in the woods on both sides.

Instead, Kil smiled and followed the sound, passing through the leafless shrubs, and soon caught sight of an alert wild boar.

Facing the adult wild boar that was on alert and digging at him, Kiel went up and hit the boar on the head with a stick.

This immediately angered the wild boar. It yelled for support from its companions, then lowered its head and charged towards Kiel.

Slightly getting out of the way of this direct attack, Kil kicked the wild boar on the butt, knocking him to the ground. Hearing the grunts of more wild boars and the sound of approaching boars, Kil retreated to the animal path and hurriedly left here.

Those wild boars had suffered a lot, so how could they spare Kil, the guy who escaped. The wild boar that was kicked and hit with a stick grunted loudly to its family members, which made the other wild boars full of indignation and chased after Kiel.

The wild boar leader asked several female wild boars to take the piglets back to the depths of the woods and shrubs, and then led the other adult wild boars straight after Kiel.

That's what Kiel wants.

He quickly left the small forest along the animal path, and then quickened his pace towards the ruins.

-

The werewolf Wolf followed Keir's progress into the woods.

It saw the small tree trunk that had been knocked down and torn off, and snorted disdainfully.

Then he smelled the smell of blood from his nose, and found the squirrel viscera left by Kiel on the road, which made him immediately know what Kiel's plan was to turn into the woods.

"So you're hungry because you haven't eaten? How could I give you a chance to eat?"

Having said that, it moved faster, but the woods were different from the wilderness outside. Tree roots and shrubs always hindered its progress, which made the werewolf more and more annoyed.

He said to himself that he wanted to show off to Kil who was captured later.

It followed the traces and found a frozen pool in the center of the woods. The traces left by many wild animals troubled it for a while. Then it rediscovered Kiel's footprints on one side of the animal trail, and then it chased him.

But soon, Kiel's footprints were covered by the traces of many wild boars.

It could barely confirm that Kil and the wild boar were taking the same route. The werewolf was afraid that Kil would be thrown away at this time, which would be really bad. Its identity has now been exposed. If Keir gets rid of it and finds a way to return to the village first, then it can only leave here in despair.

Killing Kil would allow it to hide in the dark and crazily retaliate against the others before Knight Lanissa takes the next step.

After chasing for a while, it felt a little uneasy. Kil's footprints were covered by a large number of wild boar footprints. Could this be a trap to escape its pursuit?

The more the suspicious werewolf Wolf thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. Just before he was about to walk out of the woods, he suddenly turned back. Returning the way we came, we came to the frozen pool in the center of the woods, and repeatedly identified the various messy traces on the pool.

Not only that, it also used its very sensitive nose after transforming into a werewolf to carefully smell the smell of the places where Keir walked.

Although the previous injuries on Kil's body were healed when he was resurrected, some of the dried blood stains still had a smell.

Especially for Wolf, the werewolf who is sensitive to blood.

It can't be more. After all, it is not a real wolf. After transforming into a werewolf, its nose is more sensitive to the smell of blood that is often exposed to it.

After repeated sniffing, it did not find any traces left by other Kiel beside the pool. It was obvious that Kiel just walked away from the road he was chasing. The rest may be just its suspicion.

This embarrassed the werewolf Wolf, but fortunately no one saw him, so he continued to pursue the same route.

It was not afraid of Kiel running away in the wilderness. Even if the distance between the two chasing people was widened at this time, where could Kiel go in the uninhabited wilderness with snow on the ground?

No matter how hard it ran, there would always be only one trace on the ground, especially after another night. By the next day, the legs that were broken when it hit the horse would be back to normal movement.

At that time, the tall werewolf standing up could easily catch up with the little human who had to move through the snow in the wilderness.

So, it's not in a hurry.

-

Kil was very anxious. Although the wild boars chasing him could barely destroy his footprints, those wild boars would not keep chasing him.

Most of these animals in the wild have a territory similar to that of humans, such as wild boars, which probably only live in a large wilderness around the woods.

Other woods in the wilderness may be the territory of other wild boars. Once they cross the border, it means fighting for the territory.

Unlike the giant wild boar and its huge family team that Kiel defeated in the wilderness glacier before, these smaller wild boar family settlements do not have the ability to go wherever they want in the wilderness without human activities.

Only in their own territory do they know where the grass roots are the most delicious, where there is a lot of rotten wood, and where there are many insects in the rotten wood. Where in the woods are there more insect larvae living underground, and where are edible roots growing?

Therefore, unlike the werewolves, the wild boars chasing after Kil continued until dark before they gave up chasing the weak human who provoked their family.

Returning along the original path, they met the werewolves chasing after them an hour after nightfall.

Although the werewolf smelled of danger, the wild boars that had just won the victory were extremely courageous and had a bad temper. They gathered together and rushed towards the werewolf angrily.

"Looking for death!" Originally the werewolf Wolf didn't want to delay any more, but these blind and ignorant beasts actually regarded the angry wolf as a lone wolf that could be driven away at will.

How can this be!

The sharp claws that regenerated on the palms grew another section. Just as it was hungry and tired after a day, these blind wild boars bumped into the muzzle of the gun.

The werewolf, who was lying on the ground and was taller than the wild boar, ignored the other wild boars that were attacking him. He grabbed the leading wild boar's tusks with both hands and threw it hard, and fell to the ground directly with the force of the opponent's impact.

Five sharp claws fiercely scratched the wild boar's dirty belly, and large pieces of flesh and blood rolled out. Even though the wild boar's head pressed under his right palm screamed miserably, Wolfman firmly pinned it to the ground. .

Just like it did with Kil, it directly put its left hand together and penetrated through the wound it had just torn open, grabbed the thing it wanted, and pulled it out directly.

The surrounding wild boars were frantically hitting it repeatedly, and it had no intention of tasting the wild boar's heart. He directly opened his bows with his claws left and right, grabbed a wild boar's head each, and then used force to slam the two together.

Boom!

The heads of the two wild boars collided and they immediately became dizzy.

Then, while the two were dizzy, the werewolf directly inserted his intact thumb claws into the eyes of the two wild boars.

The sharp claws penetrated the brain and killed two wild boars directly.

The remaining two wild boars saw that the situation was not good, and knew that they had encountered a hard target this time. They howled and tried to escape, but Wolf, the werewolf who quickly clawed the ground and caught up, grabbed their hind legs.

The two still wanted to escape, but the werewolf Wolf had a violent desire and chased after them, tearing apart their hind legs, buttocks, and backs one by one.

After the two wild boars no longer had the energy to escape, it grabbed the mouths of the two wild boars and used all its strength to tear the wild boars' mouths apart and kill them.

"Whirring whirring."

It panted hard, and although it killed all five wild boars blocking its way, it also had many places on its body that were gored by the wild boar's tusks. But it doesn't care. These minor injuries can be recovered in just over a day, but they will only consume some physical strength and fat.

But with five wild boars in the account, they can fill their stomachs to the fullest, and a few injuries are not a problem.

It hesitated for a moment whether to pursue Kil at night, but after thinking for a while, it still felt that Kil did not have weapons and equipment on him, and he did not bring anything with him when going out. It was impossible to rush on this cold winter night.

Most of them were hiding quietly somewhere, waiting for daybreak before escaping.

Moreover, wave after wave of the smell of blood was sent from the nasal cavity to the brain, and it swallowed its throat.

Hunger eats not only the hunted Kiel, but also the pursuer.

After lying down, it still opened its mouth and bit into its trophies.

-

Unlike what the werewolf Wolf thought, Kil did not hide in a safe shelter for the night. Instead, he carried a simple torch and headed towards the ruins.

Winter nights are quite difficult, but if you just stay in a safe place, that's okay. But once you want to take on a challenge and get out of your hiding place, the freezing, dark, and cold wind will teach you to re-understand the harsh nature.

Kil breathed in the cold air, and then spit out clouds of water mist around his mouth and nose.

The simple torch held high in his hand could only illuminate a small area around him. At most, it could prevent him from falling into a sudden pit, or allow Kil to distinguish whether the next step under his feet was uphill or downhill.

He wanted to make a footrest that was easy to move, but he didn't have any tools at hand.

He didn't dare to linger in one place, so he had no choice but to give up this good idea.

Fortunately, when he was resurrected before, not only did his body recover, but his physical strength also recovered. After coming out of the lady's dream, he was very energetic and would not feel sleepy even if he didn't rest tonight.

Except hunger tortured him all the way.

Occasionally, under the lighting of torches, you can see pairs of bright spots hanging in the air on the top or foot of the slope in the distance.

He knew that those were wild beasts that were active in the winter wilderness, and they were all observing him cautiously.

If he fell or froze to death in the wilderness, the wild beasts would rush to bite him and devour his body. And some beasts that are bold, or overconfident in their abilities, will get closer to Kiel.

At this time, even if Keir was hungry and his hands were empty, he had to pretend that he had no fear.

He yelled and didn't stop.

This allowed him to gradually shake off some of the beasts that were too cautious to stay put.

While dealing with these troubles, Keir carefully distinguished the surrounding terrain. At the same time, he recalled the previous visits to this place and compared it with the current terrain one by one.

In his mind, he kept comparing the path he had taken along the way, calculating his footsteps and direction, as well as the relative position of the village he passed by Dolarlin before.

In this way, he walked all the way, driving away the beasts that wanted to eat him.

When the torch was about to go out, he lifted up the snow on the ground and pulled out the withered grass hidden under the snow. Shaking off the dry hard soil, Kil wrapped the long grass and roots around the top of the torch and burned it.

This didn't last long, so he had to keep doing it.

When passing through sparse woods, Keel would kick down small trees and drag the thing with him, dismantling it as he went. The dismantled items were bundled with dry straw and burned on torches.

As he spent this night that he would never forget in the following days, a glimmer of morning light lit up in a corner of the world.

Keir also climbed up a hillside that was taller than the surrounding hills.

He stuck the very short torch he had on hand into the ice and snow at his feet, looking weakly at everything in front of him.

In the valley, multiple huge petrified tree roots appeared in front of him. Each giant tree root was larger than the tall buildings he had seen in Kendall City.

One side of the valley gradually tightened, leaving only a narrow gap in the end, while the other end was densely covered with trees as straight as arrows. Those trees were so close together that it was completely impossible to pass through.

And in the flat land between the roots of giant trees in the valley, you can still vaguely see the appearance of a camp.

-

Keir sat on the ground and slid sideways.

The inner slope was not steep and he slid down quickly. Patting the remaining ice and snow on his body, Kil strode toward the camp he had established.

The remains of the fire that were originally surrounded by stones have long been buried by the thick snow, but the original appearance can still be distinguished from the surrounding environment. He had no intention of raising a flame; after all, there was little food left in the camp. Even if there were, it would have rotted away long ago.

He still remembered that he had buried most of the elven light metals he had obtained from the ruins under the ground on one side of the camp fire, and he was thinking that he would find time to put them into the building built by Ms. Apolifina. In a special dream.

Not only that, but other valuables that were difficult to take away had to be moved into the dreamland. I just don’t know if there is an upper limit on the area and weight of that dream.

If possible, he plans to put some adventure supplies inside, so that not only a change of clothes and equipment, but also weapons can be carried there.

Some food can also be stored there. Although the lady said that things from the outside will also rot inside, it is at least a solution, right?

He was simply fed up with feeling hungry.

However, he has not yet mastered how to enter the dreamland at any time. After all, as soon as he was resurrected, he was chased by the werewolf and had no time to study the bloodline ring.

He looked around and found the semi-underground crypt he had dug before. Although it was equally cold inside, it was considered indoors after all, which still gave him some extra sense of security.

It was very dark in the crypt with no lighting. Keir groped in the dark and picked up scattered items that had been left here before. He used these items to start digging. He soon dug out a wooden box in the place where he had slept.

He came outside and opened the wooden box. As expected, in addition to a large number of sparkling elf gems, the elf ring that was previously placed in the wooden box was not inside.

Of course it's gone. That thing is now inside his chest, replacing his heart and helping him pump blood throughout his body.

"Damn it, the werewolf must die. Huh, this is your place of death." He said through gritted teeth, touching his heart, and Kil became sad again.

After closing the wooden box, Kil then took off the small backpack on his body, opened it and poured out all the contents.

He put the wooden box containing the elf gems into his backpack, as well as survival supplies such as flints and steel. In addition, Kil put some red-eyed mushroom candy pills in a small bag on his waist and collected all the scattered coins. Into a small backpack.

Then, Kil picked up the smashed remains of the prepared food that were originally stored in his backpack, and put them into his mouth one by one to swallow them.

After simply eating something, Kil packed up, put on his small backpack, and walked towards a tall petrified giant tree stump.

On the top of the tree stump, a simple wooden elevator was built.

And just inside that tree stump is the ancient elf ruins that Kil said, and the research room that Ms. Apolifina said.

Kil left heavy footprints in the snow, preparing to fight the werewolf there.