【The city-state of Kuyman of the Crescent Moon Empire in the Western Continent】

Every morning you can hear the sound of slaughtering livestock, and the people in the streets are gradually immune to this sound, and they feel very comfortable bathed in the warm morning sun and cool breeze. This life lasted less than a week, and one morning, the morning light was still warm, but the sound did not appear, as if suddenly something had changed, and the early morning rooster crowing returned to people's ears, and the old man who got up early squinted his eyes, holding a pipe made of ceramics in his hand, and puffed the clouds.

"Why didn't Ike get beaten and scream today?" Curious people would mumble this, and then they would go to the camp of the expedition to take a look, which was now empty, no sleepy-eyed Cruise, no human-like Ike, an empty camp, and the wind blowing only dust.

"Strange, where did these two go?" People would leave with a hint of confusion, and there was a crash from the hills outside the city, and a few birds were startled from the trees.

On that hill, Cruise stood in front of a boulder, his hand emitted a misty white light, as if plated with a layer of silver white, a fist mark appeared on the boulder, extremely powerful, that terrifying fist mark made Ike who was watching on the side stunned, his jaw was about to fall, the big sword in his hand kept trembling, looking at the boulder he had just struggled to cut for a long time, only a small gap was cracked, and Cruise hit the boulder with one punch, this gap made him feel very weird.

"Isn't that incredible?" Cruise asked him, he nodded in shock: "My magic is the magic of the strengthening system, different from the general elemental magic, this kind of magic acts on the human body, can enhance the human physique, strength, and make people strong, but unfortunately, my talent is not enough, so I can't specialize in the magic of this department, so I can only let him cooperate with my body to improve combat effectiveness." ”

"No...... I think you're a big pervert......" Ike accidentally told the truth, and as a result, the grumpy and violent Cruise punched the dragon and knocked Ike dozens of meters away, and Ike who landed on the ground twitched all over, and his fingers were in a stiff state of middle finger, and he stretched out fiercely and pointed at Cruise.

"Boy, your strength is simply poor, but, as a teenage ghost, although this is a bit reluctant to you, but, you yourself said that you want to join the expedition, don't blame me for being strict." As he spoke, Cruise picked up the great sword from the ground, and the silver light in his hand spread to the sword, and the sword seemed to have a spirit, and he lifted the sword and hurried towards the boulder. In Ike's astonished gaze, his figure turned into an arc of light, slashing towards the boulder.

With a loud "boom", as if it had been detonated by gunpowder, the boulder was split into two pieces by Cruise, and the cut surface was extremely smooth, like a prism, Ike's pupils shook three times, and he looked at Cruise with a monster look.

"How about it, boy, when you practice to my level, you will be able to take charge of the expedition alone, but after all, the expedition is a group activity, and it is necessary to pay attention to cooperation, and it is not only us Noah humans who participate in the expedition." Cruise walked up to Ike with his sword in his hand, helped him up, and the two walked in the direction of the city-state.

"Are there any other races participating in the expedition?" Ike asked him, he put the big sword into the scabbard behind him, and said unhurriedly: "The elves will come every time they go on an expedition, the scale of the expedition team is not large, compared to the regular army, an expeditionary team of 100 people is really not a large-scale team, but this team has extremely strong combat effectiveness, there will be more than a dozen magicians and experienced warriors in a hundred people, and their combat effectiveness is no less than that of a regular army." ”

Hearing Cruise say this, Ike had some longing for the expedition, and he always felt that he should belong to that distant place, that mysterious place with his family, his relatives. He looked at his young hands and couldn't help but feel that he was too weak now.

"Hey, Cruise...... Captain, do you think I can do what you do? Ike's voice was low, low, like the whispers of mosquitoes. Cruston paused and nodded.

"Actually, you have a lot of potential in your body, anyway, I haven't heard of a twelve-year-old ghost who can learn basic swordsmanship in a week, and you did it, although it was very lame, but, it was indeed done." Cruise's words moved Ike a little, he felt very subtle, at this time he saw a kind light from Cruise, and thought that this guy in front of him was not a violent maniac, not a drunkard gambler, not his captain, but his eldest brother.

Ike smiled, his blond hair blown by the wind in the morning light, Cruise glanced at him, smiled and said, "Boy, go to Mahana's house and steal two eggs for me, I'm going to have a few drinks before I go, and fill my stomach by the way." ”

"Cruise......" Ike muttered his name, and Ike smirked, "What a bastard!" ”

In the tavern of the city-state of Kuyman, several figures in black robes sat at the round table of the tavern, they wore such thick robes in the summer, and wrapped their bodies around the scarf, they could not see their identities at all, and the tavern waiter came over with a lot of fruit, and said in a timid tone: "You...... The fruit you want. ”

The masked men didn't say much, but just motioned for her to put it on the table, so the waiter put the plate on the table stiffly, and the people began to eat the fruit very elegantly, very slowly, very. At this moment, a chaotic commotion came from outside the tavern.

"Damn boy, you dare to tease me!" The old gangster "Octopus" Kodo with a double-barreled shotgun is shooting while chasing Ike with a bag of gold coins in his hand: "Bring me my gold coins!" ”

"Phew! Idiot octopus, you've bullied me for so long, won't you let me get some money back? It's just a bag of gold coins, why are you chasing after it so desperately? Ike ran and yelled at the old man with a fur hat and a beard behind him, "Octopus! The master is going on an expedition soon, so you should pay for my travel expenses! Hahahaha! ”

As soon as Ike turned around, he ran into the tavern and shouted at the bartender, "Hey, that bearded man is looking for trouble!" Help me stop him, please, dear Larouf, we have such a good friendship, right? The bartender's face turned a little green after listening to Ike's words, and the men in black who had just come in were enough to make him feel embarrassed, this kid would really cause him trouble.

At this time, the black-clothed men who were eating fruit also stopped their movements, looking at Ike who suddenly broke in, their eyes were staring at the young man with golden hair, Ike didn't care about them, and quickly ran to the back kitchen of the tavern, as soon as he disappeared, Octopus Kodo walked into the tavern.

"Laruf, do you see that bastard, I'm going to skin him!" Kodo's voice was rough, as bad as the wind coming out of an old bellows, and in his hand, a double-barreled shotgun showed a hideous face.

"Calm down man, you know, we're in business here, don't scare the guests away." The bartender expertly poured the ale into the mixo, speaking in a very calm tone and an imposing Kodo. The eyes of the black-robed men turned to Kodo again.

"Queen Bell said that Noah's human firearm is in the hands of this person, as if he knows how powerful it is." A black-robed man said, he had already stood up, and the one sitting beside him tugged at his clothes and motioned for him to sit down, when the black-robed man sitting on the front seat spoke:

"Let him try, Andrew, since this guy is so expressive, give him a chance to perform." Judging by the voice, this is a young girl, and her voice is very soft, like a clear spring in a mountain stream.

Hearing her words, the man holding him let go of his hand, and the black-robed man stood up and left his seat, walking straight in front of Kodo. He was tall, about half a head taller than Kodo, and the bartender looked at the man calmly, his hands still performing skillful bartending movements.

When Kodo noticed that the person in front of him was a little strange, he had already raised his gun, and this person exuded an unsettling aura, like a dark night, mysterious and terrifying, he swallowed his saliva, and consciously took a step back: "You...... Who are you? ”

"Use the one in your hand to attack me." The black-robed man said very clearly, but Kodo was a little suspicious of his ears, so he dug and pierced his ears, confused, but his heart was already a mess.

"What are you doing! Crazy! Ha, you're a madman! Codo's hands trembled a little, and for some reason, there was a loud bang, and the double-barreled shotgun spewed out two tongues of fire, which slammed into the black-robed man, and thick gunpowder smoke spread around him, Ike poked his head out of the kitchen and touched the bridge of his nose, trying to see which unlucky ghost had been shot, but the smoke was too thick to see clearly.

"It feels very ordinary, such a close distance basically can't do me any harm, but if it's an ordinary person, it's estimated that I will die this time." In the smoke of gunpowder, a faint voice came out, and when the smoke of gunpowder almost dissipated, he saw that the black-robed man had no scars on his body, and a black halo of light floated in his hand, which was wrapped in two huge shotgun bullets, and Kodo had already collapsed on the ground.

"Distinguished guest, your wine is good, but can you clear the smoke of gunpowder, oh, and this scum, my tavern stinks, okay." The bartender put all the wine on the plate, and the waiter respectfully served it to them, and the guy who had just discouraged the black-robed man stood up and waved his hand, and a gust of wind blew it, blowing the gunpowder smoke out of the tavern with Kodo, and the girl sitting on the front seat bowed slightly to the bartender and said, "It's rude." ”

The bartender waved his hand, and at this time, Ike ran out of the kitchen, ran to the girl's side, and looked at her with bright eyes, which made the girl a little hurried, and his blue eyes revealed infinite longing: "Wow! This is magic, you are magicians, it must be, teach me, teach me, how about it? ”

"Ignorant humans, we're not weak magicians." The man walked back to his seat, looking at Ike with a bright face very funny, and his eyes revealed a kind of contempt.

"Hey, hey, this old brother, don't be so angry, can't I invite you to this meal? Tell me what magic is all about. Before Ike could finish speaking, the girl had already stood up.

"No need, Donnie, Andrew, let's go, shopkeeper, this is the food money, no need to look for it." So saying, the girl threw the bartender a piece of gold, and after he took it steadily, kissed its beautiful glossy surface, and said, "Go slowly." ”

Ike watched the people leave with a depressed face, sighed, but couldn't say anything, and walked back to his warehouse to pack his things, Cruise couldn't delay, otherwise he didn't know how he would be abused.

In the camp of the expeditionary team, Cruise took a cigarette in his mouth, looked at the few men in black in front of him, spit out a puff of smoke, and said with a somewhat solemn face: "Yes, there are only three elves here this time, it looks like it will be very difficult." ”

"Mr. Cruise, although we are few in number this time, we are very strong in the clan." The leading girl spoke, her voice the same as the one sitting upright in the tavern.

"However, this expedition is different, it is said that the creature has awakened, and it will be difficult to subdue it if there are not enough magicians or elves." Cruise's cigarette had burned out, and he tossed the cigarette butt into the bottle, his eyes exuding determination, and his wheat-colored skin exuded a compact scent in every pore in the sun.

"Little ones, have you ever heard of 'lava'?"