It's weird.

Curt quietly led Oscar and Lizzie down the mountain path leading to the Koria Pit, while recalling what they had encountered halfway down the road. It had been almost half an hour since the encounter with the ghost bat, and the suspicion that haunted him had widened a lot.

The forest tonight gave Curt a strange sensation that made him feel very uncomfortable. It was a subtle sense of restlessness, as if something in the forest had appeared that was incompatible with their essence, forcing the forest to be tense and unprecedented.

Quack - Quack - Quack -

The wind rose, and the distant mountains resounded with the terrified cry of night crows, and the clouds were layered on top of each other, squeezing in pieces at a very fast speed, and the already hazy moonlight was further obscured. The flickering lightning in the sky was signaling that it wouldn't be long before a violent storm was coming.

The pace must be quickened now, Curt looked in the direction of the approaching storm. The mountain roads in the night are quite dangerous, this is common knowledge that every mercenary keeps in mind. And if you want to drive at night in the stormy mountains and forests, this behavior is no different from actively going to danger.

Curt had already planned the route when he planned the plan, and with the information he had accumulated over the years, he was confident that he could arrange a route that would avoid most of the risks. As it turned out, he was right, and the initial situation was as planned.

It's only natural to encounter wild spirits that come out at night to feed, as these light-phobic creatures call their home in underground caverns during the day and gather food near berry bushes at night. At best, such a variable is a slight slowdown of progress

The last sighting was half a year ago, when several hunters found the corpse of a dead ghost bat near a deep mountain valley east of Catrice, which caused a small sensation at the time.

Matching its rarity is the dangerous dù of this monster. According to the records of the Royal Scrivener's Bureau, this monster is even about to enter the level of "natural disaster designation" - that is, monsters that are "legendary" and completely invincible, and their existence can almost rival the active natural disasters.

Curt knew that this record was not exaggerated, as he had seen the power of the ghost bat once in the past.

It was an impromptu hunting mission, with the goal of "destroying or driving away as many ghost bats as possible from the log-harvesting fields". The mercenary management office even emphasized that "drive away as much as possible, if it doesn't work, retreat, and save your life and come back", which shows how dangerous this monster is.

No one knows if it was the lumberjack who got into trouble with the monster, or if it was just passing by the logging fields. However, when the mercenaries and the guards arrived at the mission site, the devastated camp was only a corpse, and the ghost bat, as a prisoner, had returned to the darkness at some point.

Their existence can be said to be deadly to most living creatures, and the black fog that coils around them is actually a highly toxic gas with a high concentration. With just a slight inhalation of those gases, this overly lethal "self-defense tool" will cause most living creatures to lose their ability to breathe in just a few seconds.

Thankfully, these destructive monsters are timid and cowardly. They are terrified of the hustle and bustle and light that accompanies the human city. In other words, they simply can't be found in a forest so close to the city of Katris.

This was a strange phenomenon, and Curt felt the need to report it to Management after completing the task. He vaguely felt that this thing was unusual, and it might be implicated.

Surprised that he subconsciously accelerated the pace of progress in his thinking, Curt was afraid that Oscar would protest that he was running too fast, so he hurriedly looked back at the situation behind him.

Curt couldn't help but sigh, sure enough, it was too reluctant for a sorcerer apprentice, who was not very accustomed to physical movements, to participate in the field mission so quickly. He stopped and asked Oscar, who was still struggling to support his body and move on, "Oscar, can you still keep up?"

"He's not down yet, but he's getting close. Lizzie raised her left eyebrow, then looked at Oscar angrily and said, "But Curt, with his body, he still wants to be a mercenary, is it okay? ”

She still kept moving forward with a fixed degree, and her slightly furrowed brow declared that she was a little unhappy. Because of the storm that was about to sweep in, all the fire demon butterflies that were originally planned to be caught nearby hid. As a result, Lizzie's plan had to be cancelled.

Oscar, who was next to Lizzie, seemed to be fighting for a breath, he violently wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead for a long time, and said loudly, "I—I think I can hold on for a while, again, again." Mr. Curt, please don't worry about me, and keep frying the destination placket!"

When it comes to the last few words, he is a little slurred, and with this state, he is probably unlikely to lose his temper or anything. This stubborn teenager was sweating and his face was flushed, and if it weren't for his willpower not to admit defeat, he could barely follow his current position.

Curt wanted to tell Sù Oscar that it was good that he had ambitions, but it didn't make sense to get tired and lie down before he reached his destination. But after thinking about it for a while, I decided not to tell him. It's just a slight slowdown in the degree to keep myself going.

"It's here. ”

Finally, after some tossing, the three of them finally came to the place of work this time. As the leader climbed a series of gentle hills, his vision suddenly widened, revealing a man-made road. The wild grass that grows on the road seems to announce that this place has been abandoned for a long time.

Walking along the overgrown path, a cluster of abandoned buildings surrounded by a wooden fence came into view of several people. In the past few years, most of the fence has collapsed in the wind and rain, exposing all the inside, and it has not played the role of defense and blocking.

After stepping through the gap in the fence and entering the complex, all Oscar saw was a low shack. The wall panels, made of rudimentary blocks of wood and ropes, trembled in the stronger gusts of wind, and rattled like a dying wail.

I don't know how long it has been since I took care of it, and looking through the broken windows, the shack looks gray. It can be seen that when the personnel were evacuated, they also took all their belongings with them, so the shack only had a lonely frame and nothing else.

Thundered!

Dazzling flashes of light fell in the distance, followed by a thunderclap that resounded through the heavens and the earth. By the fleeting light, Oscar saw a slowly rising ramp a little farther ahead that led to the dark cavern - it looked like a dead dog sticking its tongue out.

Oscar has a feeling that this is not a mine, but more like a tomb where many forgotten things are buried. As Curt said at the time, the place had been abandoned for a long time, and the once thriving mining area was now in a decaying and stale state.

Obviously, there was no sign of anyone coming all the way, but when he came to the edge of the mine gate, Oscar noticed that the lock with a fist was obviously new. Instead of the usual keyhole, this large lock has a whimsically shaped groove. The large lock tightly locked the cast-iron gate to the inside of the pit, and it looked quite out of place when paired with the rusted gate.

"This pit was already cordoned off, so no one has been here for a long time. Curt stroked the lock, then pulled out an orb of the same color as the lock, "The Scribes have been here to investigate recently, and they changed the lock. ”

Curt fiddled with the orb a little, pinched out what looked like an open page, and then embedded it in the groove on the door lock. After the strange thing was embedded in the lock, the huge lock made a "clanging" sound, but it was opened in a few moments.

"This is a special model combination lock made by the Scrivener Bureau, and it is said that it cannot be opened without a corresponding model sphere. Pushing open the heavy cast-iron gates, Curt explained, "they said the combination locks were used to prevent unkeyed guys from entering the mines." ”

Similar to the old sheds, the inside of the pit is already in a state of decay. There was only a trail of footprints on the dust that had been deposited to tell them that there had been such a group of men in and out of the pit not long ago—they were no doubt the scriveners who had come to investigate.

Click!

Another thunderclap roared, this time as if it was close to the score, which made Liqi, who had always been very calm, tremble slightly. A moment later, the raindrops of beans began to charge wildly towards the earth. The wind swept and carried the torrential rain, enveloping the world.

After entering the inside of the mine, Ke Ting lit a miner's lamp, and at the same time took out a small map from his satchel and glanced at it: "Our mission this time is not only to collect, but also to check the situation on the inside of the tunnel and record it and report it to the Authority. ”

Then he said to the two behind him: "The terrain inside the pit is very complicated, and if you get lost, you may be trapped inside. So follow me when you get into the mine. ”

"Understood. ”

Oscar nodded, he had managed to recover from exhaustion, and now he had to move on, which was really unbearable for him. However, he also knew that such actions were commonplace after becoming a mercenary, and he had to do everything he could to grow up.

Looking at Oscar, who was trying to keep himself motivated, Curt nodded—the young man gave him a good feeling. Maybe he's not the best, maybe it's strange for a sorcerer's apprentice to want to be a mercenary, but he's proving himself with his perseverance.

Pushing the miner's lamp into the dark interior of the mine, a series of new footprints pointed the way forward for the three who were about to step into it.

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