Located on the eastern side of the Neville Kingdom, the north-south Misty Mountains are named after the dense forests and lush vegetation that are shrouded in clouds all year round.

The climatic characteristics of the mountain topography give the Mist Mountains a colorful natural environment, with coniferous forests, mixed forests, alpine meadows and lakes and waterfalls intertwined into a magnificent and idyllic natural landscape. The valleys and low slopes are covered with trees of all kinds, including limes, oaks, hemlocks, spruces and red pines, as well as nut forests such as horn ear trees, chestnut trees, hazelnuts, and dozens of berry plants.

Covered with lush meadows, it is a natural high-quality pasture, inhabited by herds of camel antelope, yellow sheep, bobcatow, bison, wild boar, giant rhinoceros, as well as countless small herbivores such as mountain hares, gophers, ptarmigans, and of course, various raptors and monster communities.

The Mist Mountains are rich in flora and fauna, and also contain amazing reserves of high-quality minerals. Mining and stone drilling in this vast mountain forest has always been the main source of income for the lords of the south-central kingdom of Naville. In particular, the Golden River Valley in the Mist Mountains is famous for its abundance of gold and blue diamonds.

Akimosen is the shortest and deepest valley in the Golden River Valley, with a total length of only 19 kilometres and is flanked by cliffs. After more than two hundred years of mining, the Kakimosen Valley has been depleted of gold and blue diamond resources. The Neville people removed it from the Golden River Valley and renamed it the Calimosen Grand Canyon.

Today, no gold prospectors visit the Grand Canyon of Akimosen, it is like a dilapidated family, no one cares about it, and it is difficult to show its glory. The babbling stream flows lonely among the gravel and pebbles, and the occasional cry of mountain apes can be heard from the cliff face, which is particularly desolate and barren.

The tranquility of the Gorge was broken by a cavalry force of several dozen men, who were heavily armed and rode across war beasts and along the cobblestone riverbed into the depths of the canyon.

Marquis Farul, the Golden Knight of the Kingdom of Neville, was at the head of the line, his body wrapped in shiny Mithril armor, and his mount was the proud sword mantis of the Neville people.

This alienated war beast resembles a praying mantis magnified hundreds of times, with a slender and smooth body, a pair of forelimbs like two sharp pure gold long swords, which can easily penetrate the armor made of fine iron, and the end of the side and hind limbs have hook claws that facilitate vertical climbing, and a layer of tough carapace with incredible strength attached to the body surface. The Beginner Knight used the Adamantite Gold Decapitation Sword, slashing the same position twice in a row to potentially break through the natural carapace of the Sword Mantis. Its head is flat, its mouthparts made of two jaw teeth are like huge scissors, it has a pair of tentacles on its forehead to detect temperature and smell, and a pair of big black eyes embedded in its face, which looks a little cute and cute. However, if you look closely, you can see that these eyes are actually compound eyes composed of countless small eyes, indicating that it has a talent for dynamic vision, and the fine hairs on its limbs give it a keen sense of touch, and even the subtle changes in air flow.

Among the alienated war beasts, the sword mantis has the lightest weight, the weakest vitality, no explosive ability, and no jumping. However, they have a relatively small amount of food, are good at climbing obstacles, integrate attack and defense, and have super senses, which can be called the most powerful alien war beasts in individuals. However, the low intelligence of the sword mantis makes them unable to actively cooperate with their companions tactically, and their low intelligence also makes them fearless and very difficult.

There were only 24 Sword Mantis Knights in the entire team, and the remaining 60 people rode the Swift Bird War Beasts raised by the Randall family. The Marquis of Farul was very interested in these land-traveling birds of prey as large as war horses and with a lively spirit, and he was especially envious of the leader of the fierce swift birds that Viscount Randall sat down.

As an ordinary bird of prey, the swift bird's physical fitness and combat effectiveness are one level worse than that of the sword mantis. The distance from King Cogston to the Grand Canyon is more than 400 kilometers, and if the team all rides the sword mantis and sets off in the morning, they will be able to reach Akimosen that night. However, because Xunniao's physical strength and climbing ability were not as good as those of the Sword Mantis, the team had to bypass the steep and difficult shortcut, which took 13 days and nearly 1,000 kilometers to reach the Calimosen Grand Canyon.

The average speed of the Swift Bird traversing 80 kilometers of mountains and forests every day is very impressive, and the fastest speed of Neville's elite horse cavalry is 130 kilometers.

You know, a rapid march and a normal rush are two completely different states.

At the request of the Marquis of Farul, Viscount Randall demonstrated the speed of the swift march of the Swift Birds, who trekked 170 kilometers of mountain roads that day, far beyond the limits of mountain ponies.

Neville's mountain ponies also have the ability to climb and descend hills, but they are a lot worse than the swift birds. As for combat effectiveness, ponies have no combat power at all, while swift birds are as powerful as bears and have a fierce temperament, and can go head-to-head with ordinary brown bears. On the way, the Swift Birds hunted bison alone, and the ability to fight together amazed Neville's Sword Mantis Knight.

There is no such thing as a sword mantis working together...... When fighting, the distance between the sword mantis and the owner must be kept within 500 meters, otherwise, the sword mantis will basically not be recovered. In fact, the number of lost and missing sword mantis in the Kingdom of Neville is several times higher than the number of battle damage.

All Alien War Beast Knights are assisted by elite cavalry, with the exception of the Sword Mantis Knights. Because Neville had many terrains that the mountain cavalry could not overcome.

If Neville can bring in the Swift Bird War Beast, he can make up for the biggest shortcoming of the Sword Mantis Knights. At the very least, they don't have to chase down the sword mantis on foot.

With this in mind, the Marquis of Farul has been observing Viscount Randall's Swiftbird hussars. He was surprised to find that the Swiftbird Light Cavalry already had the mature structure of a war beast cavalry.

If the war beast cavalry wants to form combat effectiveness, it must have a mature and unique structure, which can fully deal with different emergency situations, including the orderly combination of combat skills, animal taming, horsemanship, tactical coordination, equipment, supply, maintenance and other factors.

More than half of the Swiftbird Cavalry are arcane warriors of Rose Manor. This is nothing, adding up to the number of arcane warriors under the command of Lord Neville, there are more than two thousand. The basic cavalry of the Sword Mantis Knights are also the secret warriors of the Rex family. Like the Knights of Glory in Gambis, all the beast cavalry are apprentice knights who have been shaped by divine magic.

The equipment on the Swiftbird cavalry made even the Marquis of Farul blush. Six-legged alligator leather armor, equipped with a pure gold scimitar, iron oak round shield, steel one-handed spear, yew recurve war bow and a crossbow, in terms of the sophistication of equipment, it is not far from the sword mantis cavalry.

The most important thing is that Xunniao is very spiritual and has emotional communication with its owner. They will invite pets to their owners when they are happy, spit on their owners when they are angry, and cooperate in hunting and sharing their prey. This means that the Swiftbird Light Cavalry is able to perform different and wonderful tactics. For example, the swift bird puffs up its feathers to make it larger and makes a threatening chirp to attract the attention of the target and create an opportunity for the cavalry to release cold arrows, or it can quickly stagger and intersperse to interfere with the enemy's target locking and cover each other's retreat, or it can scatter and flee in all directions to lure the enemy into pursuit, using the call to transmit information and find opportunities to break through.

Of course, the predators that infest the swarms all have similar skills, and it is not easy to integrate the human soldiers into it. The Marquis of Farul first thought of the horned wolf cavalry of the Church of Radiance. The horned wolf is the weakest alienated war beast, but the horned wolf cavalry is recognized as the strongest war beast legion, and they rely on coordinated operations.

The Swiftbird Light Cavalry has a bit of a horned wolf cavalry.

Farul couldn't help but make a false comparison between the Sword Mantis cavalry and the Swiftbird light cavalry, and the conclusion was frustrating and exciting. In the case that the high-level knights did not participate in the battle, 50 Xunniao light cavalry and 15 sword mantis cavalry fought, most of the casualties of the Xunniao light cavalry, all the sword mantis cavalry were wiped out, and the sword mantis war beast lost the control of its master, which was bound to be lost and disappeared.

There is no doubt that Viscount Randall's Swift Bird Light Cavalry is an elite war beast cavalry.

It's only been a few years since the Randall family was born, and they actually have an army of war beasts?!

Farul laughed dumbly at his fuss. Isn't there a miracle Viscount Randall has ever created? not a single Swift Bird light ride, perhaps...... Not perhaps, he himself is the most remarkable miracle of our time.

I'll have to make a suggestion to Rex and try to bring in the Swiftbird Light Rider in the Centaur Hills...... It is useless to introduce swift birds alone, and it is necessary to have a complete set of cultivation methods, training methods, tactical tactics, and equipment plans for light cavalry...... But you can't be in a hurry, first ask His Majesty the Pope to come forward and say, if not, negotiate directly with Sylvia, in short, this matter should be as far as possible to bypass Viscount Randall...... The head of the Sword Mantis Knights secretly calculated in his heart, and the surface was unfazed.

Victor had long been aware of Marquis Faruel's intentions for the Swift Bird's light horse, and he could consider selling the Swiftbird if the Neville people offered him a price that was satisfactory to him. Because Wizard Emerson has already bred the fourth generation of swift bird chicks with strong bones, the Randall family's swift bird war beasts will soon be improved in all directions, and the first three generations of ordinary swift birds can be sold to the outside. But he didn't expect that Neville's Golden Knight was already more jealous of him than Sylvia, and he didn't plan to talk to him about bringing in Swiftbird.

Along the way, Master Edwin always pestered him to talk about metaphysical theories of political economy. Victor was actually a pragmatist, and he was so annoyed that he casually nodded a few words from Master Edwin, which left an unfathomable impression on the Marquis of Farul.

Don't rush to negotiate with someone smarter than you until you're ready.

The nobles of Neville, who had attended the Midnight Tea Party at Rock Castle, now believed that the young Viscount Randall had a rare gift for extraordinary intelligence.

The team soon came to a fork in the road in the Carchimosen Valley. A steep cliff 100 meters high dominates the middle, dividing the valley in two directions. Several mountain springs fall from the cliff like white horses, and merge at the bottom to form a shallow pool. Caligula suddenly ran out of the group, rushed into the pool, bent down and groped in the water for a while, then returned to Victor with a round pebble, and said as if offering a treasure: "Look, master, Aka has found a treasure. ”

The stone in Caligula's hand was the size of an ordinary person's head, and the surface was covered with dark green moss, and it looked unremarkable, like an ordinary stone. Marquis Farul glanced at it, his gaze suddenly condensed, circled Caligula's big face, and said in a deep voice: "It should be yellow glazed rock...... You might as well open it and take a look. ”

Hearing this, Templar Lieutenant Commander Dietma also leaned in, looking at Caligula and the stone in his hand in disbelief. Seeing this, Victor nodded at Caligula and said, "Knock it open and take a look." ”

Caligula curled his right index finger and tapped it in the middle of the stone. The stone cracked silently, revealing a crystal clear yellow glaze. The sixth-level holy warrior couldn't help but gasp, and the Marquis of Farul glanced at Caligula deeply and said, "Moist and bright, flawless, it's the top yellow glazed rock. ”

Master Edwin grabbed half of the yellow glazed rock, stroked the smooth section like a mirror, and said, "The quality is pure, very rare, and it can be sold for at least 30 gold soles." ”

Caligula grinned, touched the back of his head, and asked angrily, "How many roasted bison legs can Acre get in exchange for the treasure?"

"Haha, you can't change a roast beef leg, you can only change a cow tail. Edwin squeezed his eyes narrowly, deliberately teasing Acre.

The stupid big blinked his eyes, bargained and said, "Give you the treasure, you give Aka two ox tails." ”

"Aka, is this your treasure?" Victor reprimanded Caligula severely, and Masase: "This is the territory of the Neville Kingdom, and all the treasures in the territory belong to the Neville Kingdom. You give the yellow glazed rock to His Highness Farul. ”

As a lord, Victor certainly has to uphold the rules of the lord's interests. Caligula winced and handed the remaining half of the yellow glazed rock to the Marquis of Farul, and muttered, "I only have half of it...... The half was snatched by Master Edwin. ”

Edwin laughed heartily and said, "Aka, I didn't rob you of the yellow glaze. I traded a cow's tail for you, and you earned half a cow's tail. ”

Caligula hurriedly said to Farul: "Your Highness, when the master gives me the tail of the ox, I will give it to you." ”

"Then didn't you lose half of the ox's tail?" Marquis Farul couldn't help but smile, took the yellow glazed rock, and said softly: "In this way, you find another piece of treasure to come out, and this piece of yellow glazed rock will be given to you." ”

Seeing that his master nodded in acquiescence, Caligula turned and walked into the mountain stream, bending down to pick up pebbles. Master Edwin jumped off the Swiftbird mount and beckoned the Randalls' squires to hunt for treasure by the dry riverbed. The guards also left their saddles, untied the reins, and let the swift bird go to the mountain stream to drink and play.

Marquis Farul withdrew his gaze from Caligula, turned his head, and said with envy: "Victor, this servant of yours is really astonishing. He raised the yellow glazed rock in his hand and said, "I'm afraid he has touched the realm of the touch of the heart." ”

Victor smiled and said, "Maybe it's luck, too." ”

Tall, unusually tall and simple, Caligula is the only one who does not have a mount, and is often teased by his companions along the way. It was difficult for the Marquis of Farul not to pay attention to him. If Caligula casually found a gem from the water, he might have been lucky, but his purpose was very clear, he went for the treasure in the water.

Luck could not explain his motives.

Farul and Tournans are close to each other and know the mystery and preciousness of the touch of the heart. Caligula's actions are clearly characteristic of a heart-touch. The Golden Knight's eyes are above the top, but they also respect the deeply violent warrior, and the Touch of the Heart almost represents the highest level of transcendent power of the fierce warrior.

Sixth-level Holy Samurai Dietma sighed loudly, "I've heard Turnans mention Caligula...... He was once seriously injured and near death, but was saved by the priest with divine magic, and Tournans personally reshaped his body, commenting that his heart was pure and transparent. If Caligula can reach the transcendent realm of the touch of the heart, it is also a gift from our Lord. ”

"Near-death rebirth? No wonder he has what he is doing now. ”

Marquis Farul nodded abruptly and said to Victor, "Victor, can you lend me your slave for a while...... When we catch the fangs, I'll be rewarded. ”

Without waiting for Victor to answer, Dietma shook his head and said, "It's useless...... Caligula was too timid for him to have the idea of killing a gold-tier gnolls like Turnans. Without thoughts, there is no active premonition. Active and passive are the difference between the touch of the mind and the intuition of danger. ”

"Don't worry, Farul, sooner or later you'll be caught. Dietma laughed, "Caligula stays with Victor, and if he notices that the Wind Fang is watching over us, I will definitely help you get rid of that beast." ”

"I hope so. Marquis Farul sighed.

Victor asked curiously, "Is the Wind Tooth very powerful, and His Highness is not sure to catch it?"

"Powerful is not necessarily powerful, cunning is real. ”

Marquis Farul shook his head and said, "This beast's talent for popularity is not the same as yours. The air flow it manipulates cannot be attached to the weapon, but resembles the semi-elementalization of the Wind Rider, the fur is filled with wind elements, the body becomes lighter, and it can turn and change direction in the air, coupled with its bloodthirsty talent and dangerous intuition, the movement speed is comparable to that of the Wind Rider, silent, and does not show a single smell. And it will never show up without the certainty of victory, and as long as it does, someone will definitely die. ”

"Tournans can not only distort the fang's sense of danger, but also determine the general direction of its location based on the killing marks it leaves behind...... Unfortunately, before we could catch it, Tournans was transferred by the Knights of Radiance to fight the centaurs. However, we have trapped the Wind Tooth in a mountainous area, and sooner or later we will be able to get rid of it. ”

Farul was silent for a moment before continuing: "The longer the time drags on, the more likely it is that the Wind Tooth will break through. When you've checked the pass of the Grand Canyon of Akimosen, I'll have to rush to the encirclement and go into the mountains to search for the fangs of the wind. I had intended to leave ten Sword Mantis Knights to protect you and Master Edwin, but with Dietma and Caligula by your side, you shouldn't be in danger. In that case, I'll take all the Sword Mantis Knights with me. ”

Victor's team of clergy alone includes 2 priests, 3 ruling warriors, and 5 third-order paladins, as well as 3 secret knights and 12 arcane warriors from the Rose Manor, 14 elite guards and 7 servants of the Randall family, and Catherine is accompanied by 1 knight of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and 9 arcane warriors, for a total of 56 guards.

Except for Gru, the captain of the Randall family's personal guard, and the 6 small squires, the rest of them will at least not lose to the alchemy militia. Especially the arcane warriors of the Kite Castle, each of them is close to the strength of the beginner knights.

Victor suspects that they are the Arcane Dead Warriors cultivated by the Kite Castle with potions.

Such a team does not need protection, what is needed is surveillance. King Rex sent only one liaison officer, two guides, and a scholar to accompany him, more to show trust.

Or...... Is it to avoid suspicion? The paladins want to find an opportunity to contact me, and the Rex family doesn't want to be directly involved in the secret wrestling between the Knights of Radiance and the Pope?

Victor's mind was racing, both alerting to the strength of the Knights of Radiance and satisfying the restraint of the Kingdom of Neville. Because they chose to stand by and not intervene, they respected Victor's right to choose. If he takes a small role, the Kingdom of Neville will not consider whether he is willing to talk to the Knights of Radiance.

"Okay, let's hurry up and get to the end of the canyon. Victor asked casually, "Which way should we go?"

"The road on the left leads to the pass where the core of the earth is located. The road on the right leads to the construction site, a little farther away. The Marquis of Farul pointed to the gorge on the left and said, "At the beginning, the wind fangs attacked the construction site, killing hundreds of employees. Until we cut off the head of the wind fang, the displaced people did not dare to return, and the construction site was temporarily abandoned. ”

The Core of the Earth...... Or the remains of the Alchemy Tower?

Victor said with interest: "I heard that the core of the earth is a rare phenomenon of earth elemental condensation, and I would like to see it...... Let's go to the right pass first?"

"This rare manifestation of the earth element, of course, has to be seen. Dietma said with a smile.

The Marquis of Farul agreed. Victor turned sideways and shouted, "Master Edwin, Caligula, have you found the treasure?"

Caligula straightened up and replied empty-handed, "Master, there is no treasure here." ”

Victor laughed and said loudly, "Then let's go." The tail of the cow is gone, and you can be given a roasted beef shank. ”