The roar of thunder woke Kraft from his nightmare, and he sat up from the hard stone bed, feeling a sharp pain in his brain.

It was a stone cell, small enough to fit a stone bed and two barrels, plus two steps of space.

The room is cold and damp, the stone walls are covered with black moss, all kinds of dirty reptiles and flying insects are also rampant here, and when it rains, water will continue to drip from the cracks in the ceiling, which can be described as an extremely harsh living environment for people.

And that's the only space Kraft has to move around every day.

But what is this to the prisoners of the prison? there is no hope, no future, life is already endlessly bleak, and the physical pain is no longer relevant to the torture of the soul.

Kraft groggily grabbed the barrel in the corner, and there was not a drop of water in it. Kraft laughed miserably, life was so far away, he looked out of the iron window, a cold crescent moon hanging in the air, and his mind went back to two years ago.

The Kingdom of Nit is located on the continent of Monre on the other side of the sea and has a history of thousands of years. The comfortable climate and abundant resources allow the people here to live and work in peace and contentment, and civilization is constantly improving.

However, more than a hundred years ago, a new life form suddenly appeared on the continent. They resemble a cloud of black smoke, but they can remain in a gathering state, constantly changing shape.

They are able to extract a gleaming red crystal from the earth and use it as a source of energy, one crystal feeds a tribe, and they surround it to recharge to sustain life, and if a lifeform is not recharged for a long time, it will shrink completely.

After they appeared, energy crystals were soon extracted from many places in the Mon Continent, and tribes were established. As they continue to recharge, their size gradually increases, and they seem to deliberately transform their form in the direction of humans, slowly turning into clouds of black smoke in human form, with hands, feet, heads, and even facial features.

Soon after, these creatures began to attack humans, a few of them using spells to create flames or lightning shocks, and most of them mimicked humans using cold weapons such as swords.

But they all have one thing in common, that is, they are brutal, inhumane, and they don't even see any knowledge of life, and what they do is kill, and they seem to want to exterminate the entire kingdom of Nit.

As for their origins, although there are many theories circulating among the people, no one can really explain where they came from, and they can only be called demons and demons for the time being.

Fortunately, they were still able to be injured by cold weapons, so a human war against the demons began on the Monr continent.

This long war lasted for more than a hundred years, and as the Terran general Vidigi pierced the sword Sigh of Silence into the last power crystal, the humans finally wiped out the demons, declared the victory of the war, and the kingdom of Nit finally returned to its former peace.

But since then, the legendary hero Vidigai and his razor-sharp sigh of silence have disappeared, and the king has sent a nationwide search for him to reward him, but he has not been able to find him.

The village of Peso is a small village in the southern part of the mainland of Monre.

Kraft had just turned fifteen that year, and he was born in a time of peace, and he was fortunate to have avoided those days of constant fear and struggle for survival.

It's spring, and the village is full of flowers, green grass, and the stream that runs through the village is crystal clear and sparkling in the sun.

This is the village where Kraft grew up.

In his eyes, everything here is so beautiful, the villagers are kind and friendly with each other, and the children can play happily together.

Kraft's childhood was full of happiness and joy, and his favorite thing as a child was to go to the stream with his friend Sidan and his sister Lena to catch fish.

Even now, when Kraft closes his eyes, he can often see the burly, muscular Sidan scurrying out of the water, holding a big fluttering fish in his big swarthy hands, and Lena picking colorful wildflowers and putting them on her head, her blonde hair fluttering in the wind, smiling brightly at Kraft.

Although there has not been any war in the Moner Continent since the demons were wiped out, there is always a faint worry in people's hearts, fearing that one day the demons will make a comeback.

Therefore, the Kingdom of Nite has set up soldier training camps in the northern capital of Cold Ice City and the eastern city of Streamer City, and all men over the age of fifteen can volunteer to participate in the conscription for three years of military training to ensure that the kingdom is always capable of dealing with emergencies.

It was the day Kraft was drafted.

Since last night, Kraft has been excited. His father used to be a brave warrior against the demons on the battlefield, and the most common words were: "Man, the first duty is to defend the homeland and let the family live a stable life." ”

Influenced by his father, Kraft grew up looking forward to one day stepping on the battlefield and fighting for the peace of his homeland. Therefore, even though the demons are now extinct, Kraft still signed up for the training camp as soon as he reached the age.

Today he is extremely excited, because in the afternoon he will join the assembly team heading to Streamer City and officially join the training camp.

As soon as it was light, Kraft picked up his old sword and ran to the open space outside the village entrance to make a gesture.

He often has a picture in his mind of a group of people gathering around for a sword competition, and he defeats them one by one to become a sword master. He is looking forward to the fact that on the first day of entering the camp, he will be able to stand out from the rookies in the same batch and become an excellent soldier. Most children at this age have this idea.

Kraft is emaciated, but his body is well proportioned, and he has been instructed by his father since he was a child, and he has a solid foundation in swordsmanship, and his movements are light and agile.

After practicing more than a hundred moves, he sat down on the stone next to him, wiped the sweat with his sleeve, and prepared to take a break.

At this moment, he caught a glimpse of a man wearing a black cloak and a black mask on the hillside not far away, walking in a hurry, looking around as he could, as if to see if anyone was being seen.

Glancing, he saw Kraft, hesitated slightly, then turned and walked to the back of the hill at a faster pace.

Kraft wondered if there was something strange about this man. Out of curiosity and a sense of justice, Kraft decided to follow along.

He got up and followed quickly, taking care not to make a sound.

Kraft followed the man in black all the way to a huge rock wall at the foot of the mountain, and the man in black stopped in front of the stone wall, with his back to Kraft, as if carefully observing something on the stone wall.

Kraft tried to take a step forward to see more clearly, but accidentally kicked off a stone under his feet and made a sound.

The man in black was alert, turned around instantly, and saw Kraft. He was not very tall, and his long cloak covered his whole body, and his appearance and size were completely unknown. Kraft saw his eyes narrow, revealing a cold glow.

Kraft subconsciously clenched the sword in his hand. He hadn't expected the fight, and his fingers trembled slightly with nervousness.

Suddenly, the man in black stabbed Kraft in the chest at such speed that he didn't even see when he drew it.

But his father's years of training have also honed his good reflexes and dodge skills, he sees the opponent's sword, dodges sideways, and stabs the opponent in the face at the same time.

Kraft's move seemed to exceed the other party's expectations, and the man in black hurriedly swung his sword to block Kraft's stab, while taking two steps back in a bit of a hurry.

Seeing that the other party was flustered, Kraft wanted to stab another sword next, but the man in black suddenly emitted a cloud of black smoke out of nowhere, and Kraft instantly felt a stinging pain in his eyes, and it was difficult to open them, and at the same time, a large amount of powder choked into his nose and throat.

Kraft hurriedly leaped backwards with all his might, his sword across his body, and forcibly opened his reddened and tearful eyes.

The smoke quickly cleared, and Kraft found that the other party was nowhere to be found. The man in black fled! There were three forks in the road ahead, and he didn't know which direction he wanted to pursue.

Kraft still didn't dare to let his guard down, and after standing and observing the surroundings for a while, he made sure that the other party had really escaped, and then gradually relaxed. He coughed vigorously a few times, clearing the dust from his throat, which was an ordinary smoke screen.

He took a few steps forward and walked to the stone wall. This stone wall is large, about twenty meters high, and maple vines grow on it.

As a child, Kraft would occasionally come here with his friends, but the roads were rough and the space was narrow, so he rarely came here as he grew taller.

Kraft looked at the stone wall and found nothing unusual. But according to the reaction of the man in black just now, there must be something strange in this.

Kraft decided to immediately return to the village and inform the village chief of the matter, and the village chief would decide.

The head of the village of Peso is called Binte. Bint was once a valiant anti-demon warrior who slain countless demons in his life. His most famous battle was the Battle of Qing'an City.

Qing'an City is a large city in the southern part of the Monre Continent.

Thirty years ago, Qing'an City was still the territory of the demons. At that time, the demons had been defeated and retreated, and the human race was advancing all the way, continuing to march until the city of Qing'an.

Bint was in his thirties at the time, at the height of his prime, and was a brilliant general in the human army. The 5,000-strong army he led annihilated 10,000 demons, and only lost a few hundred people, and at the same time single-handedly killed three demon generals, which shook the Moner Continent from then on.

Unfortunately, in a later battle, due to the presence of traitors in the army, the military information was leaked, and Bint's troops were ambushed by the demons and almost completely annihilated.

Bint also almost died, although he was lucky to escape from the siege, but his left leg was poisoned by the demon spell and had to be amputated to save his life, otherwise his whole body would fester.

After Bint's return, the king decided to give him the position of Lord of Qing'an City in recognition of the great merits of his warrior career. Bint is a hero in the hearts of the people of Qing'an City, and it is also the people's desire for him to lead Qing'an City.

However, Binte refused on the grounds that he was physically disabled and unable to move and was not fit to take on important positions again, and finally went to the village of Biso under the jurisdiction of Qing'an City to become the village chief.

As the village chief, Bent became an important food supplier to the surrounding towns, and the villagers lived in good peace.

In the blink of an eye, Bint is now nearly seventy years old.

Kraft sped all the way to Bint's house.

It is a small detached house located in the deepest part of the village of Peso, not close to the other houses in the village and far from the entrance to the village. Probably because Bint is the village chief, he is also older and prefers a quiet environment.

The house is made of red bricks, is three stories high, has a beautiful brick roof, and is lined with manicured flowers and plants in front of the door, making it a very pleasant place to live.

Kraft walked to the door and was about to knock, only to find that the door seemed to be hidden and unlocked.

Had he forgotten to lock the door, Kraft thought to himself, but Binding was a strict man and would not normally be negligent. Strange, he pushed open the door and took a step inside, only to find that the lock had been broken, apparently violently broken!

Kraft suddenly felt that something was wrong and shouted inside twice, but no one answered.

He hurried into the room, climbed the spiraling staircase, and when he entered the study on the second floor, he was stunned by the scene.

The gray-haired, one-legged old man was lying face down on the ground, a large patch of blood oozing from the back of his head, all the way to the door. The slightly deformed wheelchair fell to its side, and there was a blood-stained stone hammer next to it.

The village chief, Bint, was stoned to death!

Kraft froze where he was, his whole body stiffened and his mind went blank with utter shock.

He never thought that such a scene would appear in front of his eyes, and he could not accept the fact that such a kind old village chief was dead.

It took a while for Kraft to come to his senses.

Call the doctor and the guards!! At last, the right thought came to his mind, and Kraft hurriedly rushed downstairs, intending to go to the village for help.

Just as he was about to walk out of the door, two doctors and the escort had already arrived.

"Save the village chief......", Kraft pointed to the room and was about to speak, when two tall guards came directly and pressed him to the ground.

"Don't move!

The two of them were so strong that Kraft felt a dislocated pain in his shoulder.

He was puzzled and angry, why he was treated like this, he found out about the murder, and wanted to help the escort find the murderer and avenge Bint, but he didn't expect to be pressed to the ground like a suspect.

"What are you doing! I'm the informant!" Kraft struggled, but couldn't break free.

"Save it, it's not your turn to speak right now. The other party's voice was indifferent, and his hands were not relaxed.

After a while, the two physicians came out with Binte's body in their hands, put them in the carriage, and left. The men of the convoy also came out, and one of them walked towards Kraft.

"Pull this bastard up for me!"

Kraft was forcibly dragged up, glaring angrily at the man in front of him.

The other party began to search his body. Kraft almost fainted.

"What are you doing? Why don't you catch the murderer and search my body for what, isn't it a waste of time?"

It was then that something even more surprising came to Kraft.

The other party searched his pants pocket for a gemstone that shimmered with a faint blue-purple light.

Kraft had never seen this gem before. Judging by the material and light, it seemed to have magic attached to it, and it was definitely a valuable treasure, and he could never have possessed such a thing.

"It's not mine!" shouted Kraft.

"Of course it's not yours, you want to steal your village chief's gem, and this," the other party picked up the blood-stained stone hammer again, "it's the murder weapon." Everyone's got it, come with me, you bastard. ”

The Jewel of Light, which is said to have been acquired by Bint from a wizard a long time ago, is a magical treasure that can keep a party safe, and everyone in the village has heard of it, but few have seen it with their own eyes.

At this moment, Kraft's eyes widened, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.