The waters of Lake Bondmere are quite large. Of course, it may also be the relationship between the night, which gives the two mercenaries the illusion of darkness and immensity of this lake.

"I think this is it. Ian leaned over to inspect the dirt on the shore of the lake. Their torches were dimly lit, enveloped in darkness by the shadows of the trees around them, small and powerless. Still, if they reached out and touched it, they could make out a wet trail in the mud that led into the lake—or rather, out of it.

Roger poked his head in embarrassment. He cautiously approached the water's edge, trying to look into the dark water.

"I can't see anything......"

"Nonsense. Ian glanced at him, "Do you go down or do I go down, or do we go down together?"

Roger struggled for a long time, and finally admitted: "I'm not good at water, so let's do it......"

He tied a rope around Ian's waist so that he could react with the rope's reaction in case something happened.

Ian was also refreshed, took off his shirt and shoes and threw them on the shore, then tightened the knot around his waist and slid silently down the shore of the lake. Roger used his psychic power to reveal a ball of light that could be illuminated underwater, floating above Ian's head. A tiny orb of light floated directly above Ian's head, illuminating a small area around him, but it was better than nothing compared to the darkness around him.

Although the lake is wide, it does not seem to be deep. He dived to the bottom of the lake in one go, and found nothing abnormal, let alone the human bones he imagined. He dived closer to the west shore of the lake, so he tried to swim to the east side of the lake, intending to walk along the shore first, and if he didn't find it, gradually narrow down to the center of the lake.

The rope had been turned out of Roger's belongings, said to be for climbing the cliff, but it wasn't long. Ian swam all the way east, and the rope around his waist followed him unloosely, indicating that Roger was moving along the shore of the lake. He surfaced and exchanged his breath two or three times before finally approaching the eastern shore of the lake.

A faint light migrated with Ian, illuminating the underwater rock face on the east side of the lakeshore. Ian began to float upwards again, intending to take a breath before turning in the direction of the North Shore to check. Just as he had risen five or six figures, a huge black cavern appeared in front of him, where it should have been a rock wall under the shore of the lake. His hand, which was originally holding on to the rock wall, stretched it out and retracted abruptly.

Maybe the hole is too big, so there is no undercurrent rushing in from here. It's like a monster's mouth, just quietly waiting for the reckless mercenary to deliver it to the door itself.

"Is there a hole at the bottom of the lake?" Ian didn't hear Roger mention, and his record only records of a brave villager who once tried the bottom of the lake with a bamboo on the shore. At this moment, just looking at the entrance of the cave, the light above Ian's head could not reach the hole, let alone judge how deep it was. He thought about it, but chose to continue to float - he needed to breathe.

With a loud bang, Ian popped up from the surface of the lake and gasped for breath.

"How?" asked Roger from the shore, concerned.

"It seems," Ian gasped, holding on to the shore, "you're going to have to come down with me." ”

"Why?" rogue whispered reluctantly.

"There's a hole in the rock wall over here," Ian pointed down, "it's big, I don't know how deep it is, the rope may not be long enough." ”

Roger thought about it, and didn't seem to think of a better excuse to shirk it, so he silently took off his shoes and shirt.

"These foolish peasants," he murmured in a low voice, "why the lake gods of Lake Bondmere do not allow their mortals to swim in the lake, or they will be punished by the lake gods...... If they had dived in earlier, we wouldn't have had to work so hard!"

The two of them slid into the water from the east shore of the lake, and carefully dived down the rock wall to reach the hole that Ian had spoken.

Soon, all four of their hands grabbed the edge of the huge black hole. Ian gestured for Roger to follow him, and swam in first. As soon as they entered, they noticed that the passage in the cave was actually gradually ascending, and getting steeper and steeper, until at last they could barely go upstream. The passage became narrower and narrower the further inside, and Roger had been swimming beside Ian, but now he had to follow him.

Ian watched with concern as Roger swam stiff and laborious, and had to admit that he did not have a good sense of water.

Following the direction of the passage all the way up, only a short moment, the two of them poked their heads out of the water.

Ian was amazed that the cave was actually a waterway hidden at the bottom of the lake, leading to a secret cave.

"Where are we?" Ian asked Roger in a low voice, who was gasping for breath and looking around.

"I don't know......," Roger said with a solemn expression, wiping the water from his face uncomfortably, "but I'm sure, friend, we've got the right place." ”

The two cautiously climbed ashore and wrung the water from their sleeves and trouser legs. They are surrounded by rock walls, and some natural stalactites hang on the top of the caves.

"It seems that this is not a place for human digging. Roger said as he checked his heavy crossbow to see if it had failed.

Ian, who has studied ore-based products, certainly sees it. The stalactites that hang here like green silk and the shape of the surrounding rock walls are all naturally formed. As for the passage and cave at the bottom of the lake, it can only be said that Mother Nature has shown off her exquisite skills a little. But since it was a natural cave, how did Roger decide that they had come to the right place?

Ian sniffed his nose and acknowledged his judgment.

A heavy, pungent fishy odor.

"Gollum ......" From the depths of the cavern in front of them, a strange sound suddenly sounded.

"Grunt!" was another sound, as if it had been squeezed out of the throat of some creature.

Roger had already lifted the heavy crossbow in his hand, and the cat bent his waist, squinting warily into the depths of the cavern. Ian also drew his sword and held it in his hand, and at the same time manifested Zack in front of him to the left. This was Roger's first glimpse of Ian's psychic powers.

However, he didn't have time to discuss the art of psychics with Ian when he heard the sound of "popping" footsteps in front of him, like wet duck webs lapping on the ground. A pair of slender legs emerged from the darkness, with long fins on the sides of the legs, and a skin texture similar to duck webs adhered between the toes. Immediately after, its entire body was revealed, standing at the edge of the light range of the two mercenaries.

"Guest, guest?" it repeats these two words, as if asking in lingua franca.

It was a creature less than half a man tall, with light green skin covered in irregular dark green spots. It was smooth and sticky like mucus all over its body. The structure of the torso and limbs is similar to that of a human, but it is less than half the height of a human. The pebble-like bare head seems to be decorated with water plants. A pair of eyes are huge, with a narrow pupil on the lake-blue eyeballs, very similar to a cat man, but there is no rational brilliance to be seen.

It doesn't have a nose, just two tiny holes. At the same time, Ian also noticed that there were some gill structures on the sides of its face.

"That's what it is...... The god of the lake at Lake Bondmere?" Roger asked his companion in a low but daring voice.

Ian was engrossed, wary of the unknown creature in front of him.

Seeing that neither of them responded, the creature persistently asked, "You, names?"

It may seem like it can only be expressed in simple words, but that alone is surprising enough. If this is a no-man's land in the Eastern Old Kingdom, it is understandable to discover some unknown and unregistered new species or civilizations. But where is this? In the hinterland of the Hilfa Empire, where are the new species?

This guy is more likely to be a Warcraft, but why can Warcraft speak the lingua franca of the continent? Roger felt that it was endless to continue thinking, so he just kept his eyes on the target and aimed the heavy crossbow at it. He is a mercenary, a warrior, and he only needs to think about the situation, how to survive, how to fulfill the commission. So the important thing is whether this guy is hostile, whether he has companions, and whether he can cope with it......

Ian wasn't sure if he should answer the other person's question. It's a weird feeling to be asked for a name from a monster.

But the other party seemed to be very patient, and continued to ask, "You, names?"

"Dutt. Roger cautiously called out a fake name.

"Dutt. The other party read it again, as if pondering, "Dutt." It's not good. "In the end, it seems to have given up.

"Yours, name?" it asked after Ian again.

"Bath. Ian casually reported the pseudonym he had used.

"Barn," the other man said silently, "Barn...... "He seemed to be thinking about some complicated issue, and he fell into deep thought.

"Barn, that's good. It finally said, "Barn, yes." Give me. ”

Ian didn't understand what it meant, but felt a hint of hostility. He clenched the sword in his hand.

The faint hostility Ian felt was fleeting, and the creature began to introduce itself again, "I," it pointed to itself, "Dietya Lamar," Ian thought the awkward pronunciation was its name, but before it could finish, "Frideslovie," paused again, "Mimochel Lunasi," and finally, seemingly happily, added, "Umba." ”

Ian couldn't imagine how a creature who couldn't even speak a full lingua franca had such a long name.

"Wmba. It seemed to be genuinely happy and repeated, "That's good." ”

"What does it mean?" Ian whispered to Roger next to him.

"I don't know what it means, but I'll give you a piece of advice," Roger said, "and anyone who says 'give it to me' would do well to break its teeth." ”

As Roger spoke, they suddenly saw one of the creature's eyes glancing at Roger alone. Like a chameleon, its eyes can look in different directions at the same time.

"Everybody, give me, the name," the creature said, "I pick, I choose, I combine." ”

Before Ian could react, the creature said "You're useless" and then didn't move. But Ian found that Roger actually let go of the heavy crossbow and threw it to the ground, his hands naturally drooped, and he turned around and walked slowly into the water behind him.