Without other help, Siegel would have died in the woods beside the kobold camp, like Sir Bill's last knightly retinue - dead before he could grow. However, the 20 dice hanging from Siegel's chest emitted an extremely faint light, and the life energy that had been stored for a long time flowed out of it, penetrated into his body, and spread over the wounds that had been hit by the force field missile. This force restrained Siegel, making him unable to move, lying stiff on the ground, unable to speak, and could only silently bear the pain of his skin and flesh being roasted by the high heat. The wound smelled burnt, but it healed quickly, and in the end, there was not even a trace of it.

The robed man was pleased with the effect of his spell, and he looked at Siegel's motionless body, thinking that he had completely killed the unlucky bastard. Now it's time to receive the loot, and while the knight hasn't returned, a simple spell is all it takes to make the black horse change its owner and obediently.

He walked slowly past Siegel's "corpse", holding the enchanting powder in his hand, feeling like he was winning. At this time, the "corpse" suddenly trembled, and the caster looked down to find a pair of black eyes staring at him.

"It's not ...... yet" The robed man only said half a sentence of nonsense in surprise, he shook off his staff, his palms facing each other, and his ten fingers were spread out, forming a blooming fan shape, aiming at Siegel on the ground. As he spoke, a bright red flame flower appeared in his palm. When he finishes the incantation, the flower will bloom completely, turning into a jet of cone-shaped flames that burn the enemies in front of him.

Siegel also clutched the rope that binds the fodder pocket, and he instinctively pulls the rope upward, using the same technique of tying the sails to the mast. The rope turned twice, and the end of the rope was threaded back into a perfect knot that tied the caster's wrists at once. He pulled hard, and the rope immediately tightened, causing his wrists to interlace and make a 'click' sound. The caster screamed in pain, and the flame flowers in his palm vanished.

Siegel kicked his legs hard and kicked the robed man's knees, sliding some distance away from the bean-laden ground. He strained his waist and abdomen, and he flipped back, as strong as a monkey. Now that the tide had turned, Siegel was half-kneeling on the ground, with the scythe he used to do his work at hand. The caster fell to his knees in agony, his hands tightly bound by ropes.

"Fighting is a matter of life and death in an instant. This is how Sir Bill taught his entourage.

Scythe in hand, Siegel jumped up from the ground and shouted and rushed towards the robed man.

"There's only one spell time. The robed man weighed the pros and cons of offense and defense, and then chose a spell.

The rope in his hand twisted, and scales grew into a thick, long viper. The viper raised its head. The two apricot-yellow eyes on the head of the inverted triangle snake stared fiercely at Siegel, hissing and spitting snake letters, and a pair of fangs hung with green droplets. The robed man freed his hands and took the opportunity to stand up, muttering words in his mouth.

The snake that had been transformed into the rope stood between Siegel and the robed man, hunched up, ready to attack. Siegel knew that there was no turning back, so he could only hold back his fear, gritted his teeth, and burst out with a stubborn ruthlessness. He leaped to his feet, jumped over the snake's head, and swung his scythe at the robed man's chest.

With the swing of the scythe, Siegel closed his eyes nervously, this was his first real life-and-death struggle, and the good part of human nature didn't like to take the lives of his own kind.

With a pop, a stream of warm liquid splashed on the squid's face, causing him to open his eyes. He saw the caster kneeling on the ground with a scythe stuck in his neck, blood running down his chin and shoulders - the energy of life was forever lost with the blood. The man struggled a few times, choked on a few mouthfuls of blood, and then fell headlong to the ground. His wrists were still tightly bound by ropes, and there were no poisonous snakes around him.

Siegel wanted to sit down on the ground and gasp for breath, but he was afraid that the robed man would come back to life and kill him. 'Come on, squid, you need to get moving. He cheered himself up, restrained his trembling legs, picked up a branch from the ground and threw it at the corpse.

The man did not move, and his blood did not flow, as if he were dead. Still uneasy, Siegel ran back to his horse, found the dagger he had captured from the kobold, and cautiously leaned on it. He slashed the man's finger with his sword—no living person could endure such pain. The corpse remained motionless, and Siegel was relieved.

"Who is this?" the child's curiosity was aroused, and he forgot his fear for a moment. He pulled the scythe from the corpse's neck, then slowly lifted the hood to see the face of a young human man. This man was about twenty years old, handsome, but a big bald head ruined the whole image—if he had shawl hair, this man could easily coax a little girl to fall in love—Siegel couldn't help but think. On the top of his bare head there is a tattoo, a red swirl pattern.

Behind the robed man was a backpack containing many strange things: the bones of several birds, a box with some plant rhizomes sorted into categories, several suspicious vials containing liquids of various colors, several days of dry food and drinking water, large rolls of vellum, ink and quills, and a few thin books: one of them was locked.

In the sleeve of the robe, there was a pouch of powder on one side, and a dagger hidden on the other, but unfortunately the man died before he could use it. Siegel found a purse on the man's belt, well made and beautifully decorated, containing twenty-one gold coins, eight silver coins, and two rubies.

Siegel doesn't give an estimate of the gem, so he can only guess that it's worth a lot. According to Sir Bill's agreement with him, as a knight's servant, he can receive one-twentieth of the knight's total income. So at least one of these gold coins will be Siegel's property. The young man felt that the crossbow he was looking forward to was getting closer, and his heart was very excited. He set the loot aside, and then saw the soft boots on the caster's feet.

Sir Bill, dressed in black, returned to the camp like a shadow. Except for a few kobolds who were scattered and fled for their lives and were not worth chasing at all, the lakeside camp had been demolished, and there would be no more robbers here for a short time. When Sir returned, he was surprised to see the sleeping horses, and silently passed through the last few trees. He saw a robed human corpse lying in the clearing, and Siegel was facing away from him, slamming his hand at the corpse's boots.

He decided to take the opportunity to observe the young man and see what he would do.

"Hey, why are you hiding a key here? don't you think it's uncomfortable to walk?" he put them aside, and then closed the dead man's eyelids with his hand. "I've only seen the funeral of sailors, which is to tie them up and stone them and sink them into the sea so that the god of the sea can take their souls. It's too far from the sea, and I don't think the sea god will like you either. ”

Siegel thought for a moment, then said, "I don't know who your god is, but I hope he can protect you and allow your soul to return to the kingdom of God." Don't hold a grudge against me, even though I ended your life, it was only for self-defense, and self-defense is my right. I don't know what kind of funeral you're used to, so I'll dig a pit and bury you and erect a tombstone for you. I didn't know your name, so I had to write handsome bald head on the tombstone. I guess that's enough, right?"

With that, he stood up and prepared to go to his backpack to find a shovel. Just then he found Sir Bill standing beside his horse, his arms folded, the corners of his mouth twitching, and he looked at him with a strange expression.

"I ...... Yes...... The guy jumped out and hit me, so I had to fight back......" Siegel quickly explained.

"So you fought and won?" said Sir with a stern and grim expression, "I've been here for so long, and you don't even notice it." What if I were an enemy, and what if there were bad guys hiding and ready to attack? Don't you think you don't even know how to die? You stupid, looking like a greedy goblin, looking like a greedy goblin!"

"Ah...... I ......" Siegel hesitated twice, then replied earnestly, "I'm sorry sir, I know it's wrong." ”

"Go and pick up that staff on the ground, and I'll see where this guy came from. ”

Siegel hurriedly stepped aside and picked up the wooden staff from between the leaves and the black beans. The bottom of the cane is pointy and thick, more than a meter long, lighter than expected, and it is made of many tree roots circling and twisting, and it is grabbed and put together. Siegel shook the staff, amazed at its weight, and suspected that it was just a layer of bark, and that it might be hollow inside. He learned the movements of the robed man, thrust the staff on the ground, waved his left hand, lowered his voice to be funny, and laughed twice.

A stream of heat was drawn from his body and carried down his arm to the staff. Siegel's legs went limp, and he struggled to hold on to his staff so that he didn't fall, and a strong sense of exhaustion enveloped his body, as if he had rubbed the deck twice in a row.

A red ball of light floated up from the staff, quietly levitating in the air, emitting a faint red glow like a burning candle. The knight and his retinue looked at the ball of light in amazement, as if they were alive.

The ball of light swayed gently, always staying at the height of a finger at the tip of the staff. Siegel instinctively felt that the ball of light was not threatening, so he reached out to touch it. Fingers passed through the orb of light, feeling neither physical nor heat.

"A magic item! It's worth a lot. Sir said, "I have to say, little cub, you are a lucky cub." He reached out and rubbed the squid's black hair vigorously. "Back in Creekwood, I should be able to get you a decent outfit. ”

So the two of them began to pack their bags. Siegel was in charge of collecting ears, carrying goods hidden by kobold robbers, picking up black beans from the ground, digging a pit to bury the robed man, and transporting everything in large cloth bags. Sir woke up his horse, calmed the grumpy temper of his old comrade, and wiped the sword.

The two had a clear division of labor and set out on the way back before noon.

Along the way, Siegel used the "Flame Staff" as a crutch to help him walk. He always had the feeling that the flames that came out of them actually had nothing to do with the staff, and that they were completely draining the power from his body. And during the battle, after he was hit hard, his wound healed inexplicably. Like his childhood dreams, he didn't know how to explain these strange things to Jazz, so he scratched his head and thanked the squid god for his blessing, hoping that his troubles would soon pass.

The 20-sided dice on his chest shook slightly, and the original crimson figure of 1 turned golden.