Deep in the uninhabited forest, there is a narrow valley covered by a canopy of countless giant trees.

At the bottom of the valley, a small hunter's camp stands.

It is still a long way from the ruins of the ancient city of Shuret, the real heart of the hill.

But for Gordon, who has always only been active in the outer areas of the forest hills, this is already a completely strange and dangerous hunting ground.

Sitting cross-legged on a hard bed in the camp's tent, the young hunter peruses a map that has been heavily annotated.

The map was given to him by the instructor Ernest.

If it weren't for this detailed map sponsored by the instructor, let alone successfully completing the mission, it would be considered lucky not to get lost in this ancient deep mountain.

In fact, the instructor was very disapproving of Gordon's task of stealing the dragon egg.

The reward is indeed lucrative, but the difficulty and danger of the task are too uncontrollable.

It's said to be a collection task, but the quest item that needs to be paid is not a herbivorous dragon egg, but a fire dragon's egg!

That's a wyvern in the truest sense of the word.

If you're lucky enough to catch the dragon out of the nest for a long time, pick up the dragon egg and leave, then it's just the most common collection task, and it's no different from picking mushrooms in one star.

What if you leave with your eggs in your arms and bump into a female fire dragon who has just returned to her nest and is known as the "Queen of the Earth"?

The difficulty of the mission has risen to four stars.

In the task division of the Hunters' Guild, only experienced hunters above the four-star level are qualified to confront large wyverns such as male fire dragons and female fire dragons head-on.

However, according to the instructors, this is still not the worst-case scenario.

The male and female individuals in the fire dragon group have a fixed partnership, and if they meet their parents with the eggs and return together, they will usher in the mixed doubles of the husband and wife of the "King of the Sky" and the "Queen of the Earth".

Five-star base on mission difficulty......

If you take into account the more powerful subspecies of the fire dragon group, or even the rarer species, then the difficulty of this task can rise to the level of boundlessness.

Of course, the instructors themselves do not deny that there is an element of alarmism in this.

After all, the gathering mission is not a hunting mission, and the Hunter Guild will not send scouts and hot air balloons to confirm the monster ecology in the hunting ground.

In other words, although the above is unlikely, it is indeed possible.

With Gordon's current strength and equipment, in case, in case of the worst situation, let alone complete the mission, it is a luxury to escape with his life.

After this series of reasoning, the instructor thought that he would be able to persuade Gordon to abandon the task.

After all, the latter, who has completed a large number of one-star missions in the past few months, is not short of money, so there is really no need to take this risk.

But he forgot the stubbornness peculiar to sixteen or seventeen-year-olds, reckless and convulsive.

Gordon finally accepted the assignment and broke into this unfamiliar mountain forest that he had never set foot in.

According to this guy: I'm not for money, I just want to see, I want to see what the legendary fire dragon looks like!

This kind of irresponsible attitude towards his own life really made the instructor angry enough, but he really couldn't completely leave this guy who was almost half his son alone.

In the end, he had to provide Gordon with a map as detailed as possible, and a lot of precautions, which kicked the idiot out of the house.

Recalling the instructor's black face, Gordon in the camp couldn't help but touch his nose with some embarrassment.

When you go back from your mission, apologize.

Patting his knee, Gordon stood up: "Are you ready pork chops, the target's fire dragon lair is about four kilometers to the southwest, let's complete the task in one go, and then go back to have a big meal!" ”

"Meow!"

Following the trail that could only be passed sideways, the hunter and the hunting cat walked out of the hidden camp where they could hide.

From the moment they stepped out of the camp, their spirits were completely tense, and no one forgot that this was a dangerous area inhabited by dragons.

Recalling the route on the map in his mind, Gordon lowered his voice and said, "The way to the fire dragon's lair from here should be relatively safe, the fire dragon is a strong top predator, and will not allow other large monsters to exist in the territory."

We moved along the wooded route, borrowing the shadows of the canopy to hide so as not to be spotted by the fire dragon from above. ”

"Okay meow."

Pork Chop nodded, cautious by nature and more light-hearted than Gordon.

"Pay attention to the smell in the air, the instructor said that the sulfur smell after the fire dragon spews out the flames can be transmitted far away, my nose is not as good as yours, and it is up to you to distinguish the smell."

The pork chop twitched his little nose and meowed with a cautious expression.

Obviously in the wild, a man and a cat crept forward like thieves among the leafy trees.

Gordon was clear that the purpose of the trip was not to fight, but to move as flexibly and quickly as possible, and to keep the items in his bag as thin as possible.

Except for the most basic potions, he didn't even bring a stone.

Originally, he didn't even want to bring potions, but under the strict orders of the instructor, he finally brought a few bottles of recovery medicine G, as well as antidotes and flashbangs that he would never usually bring.

According to the latter, in case of encountering a fire dragon, these are real life-saving things, and they must not be saved.

The journey to the dragon's lair is nothing to worry about.

Not to mention the dangerous monsters, not even the larger herbivores, the biggest guy is actually a mushroom pig with a ridge no higher than Gordon's thigh.

What left Gordon speechless the most was that this creature that was supposed to be timid and cautious was swaggering around in front of them, eating lichens and mushrooms without even the most basic vigilance.

Apparently not having experienced a beating by a predator.

But when I think about it, I think it's very normal, the fire dragon will not allow other predators in their territory, especially in the area near the nest, even the most ordinary blue speed dragon.

And small animals such as mushroom pigs and rabbits, they don't look down on them, so they just vacate an ecological niche.

In normal times, Gordon might have slaughtered this stupid guy so that he could collect some meat.

But at the moment when he was afraid of making a loud noise even when he walked, he naturally would not make any extraneous branches, knowing that the sense of smell of the Wyvern species is very sensitive, and the smell of blood will almost certainly attract them.

That's a big problem.

Recalling the delicate flesh of the mushroom pig and the gelatinous skin with the mushroom fragrance, Gordon sucked hard, and then pulled the pork chop around the fearless guy in front of him.

Cautiously running at full speed for a maximum of fifteen to twenty minutes, Gordon and the pork chop walked for nearly an hour.

When the rocky hill, highlighted on the map, bright red, appeared in front of them, a man and a cat couldn't help but hold their breath.

The faint smell of sulfur in the air reminded them all the time.

This is the dragon's lair.