Chris, who traveled day and night, took eight days to reach the other end of the dwarf country.
He paid thirty silver coins and made a tavern owner swear by faith that he would take good care of his horse within a month. He also bought a small bag of salt, filled a large wine bag with rye wine, and then left.
Out of the dwarf country.
Yes, he plans to come back in a month.
The area close to the dwarf country has been visited by many adventurers, and there are no rare beasts waiting for him to hunt.
If he wanted to earn enough gold coins as soon as possible, he could only find valuable prey by going farther and not even reaching the edge of the Terror River.
This is a journey that takes seven days or more, and there are no people along the way.
But Chris, who was walking alone in the empty mountains, felt that everything was very friendly.
Looking around, the mountains are surrounded by clouds and fog, Yunlaishan is even better, Yunquishan is picturesque; the tall trees are towering into the clouds, and the green grass is green under the trees. The mountain road winds away from the feet, with green grass on both sides of the path
, wild flowers, stones and trees are scattered high and low. Insects that cannot be named in the grass are singing happily, and summer cicadas hiding in unknown trees are not willing to be lonely, using their loud chirping to wake up the prosperity of vegetation in midsummer.
.
The mountains are quiet
Occasionally, the breeze blows on my face, taking away the light heat and making ripples of thoughts in my heart.
It’s been nearly half a year since you left the north, and you don’t know how your family is doing now?
Sion should have returned to Eaton territory at this time, right?
I just don’t know if my grandfather and father will confirm my choice after reading my letter?
...........
Unconsciously, Chris was lost in his thoughts.
"唳~~~"
Suddenly, a loud eagle cry echoed through the sky.
Chris was awakened and ran to the bottom of the big tree in three steps. He raised his head and looked through the branches at the mottled sky. He saw a giant eagle soaring in the sky, holding a long eagle in its two giant talons.
The thing, with its head and tail already hanging down, must be a snake.
Loki Eagle, the uncrowned king of the Loki Daran Mountains.
They stand at the top of the food chain in the entire mountain range. Every adult Loki Giant Eagle is a powerful person, and each one grazes a territory with a radius of thousands of miles. All flesh and blood in the mountains are their prey, except for kobolds.
and dwarves. The meat of the former is too smelly to be eaten, and the short body of the latter makes giant eagles disdain to hunt them.
"唳~~~"
The eagle's cry echoed through the sky and earth again, accompanied by its figure escaping into the thick clouds.
Chris was shocked and envious. Compared with these Rocky giant eagles, he seemed insignificant and had a long way to go.
Fortunately, he is still young.
"Bah! That damn long-haired bird, I'm scared to death!"
A very sudden curse sounded.
Chris immediately pulled out the knife and turned to look at a big rock beside him. The sound came from behind the rock.
A figure appeared at the right time. His brown shoulder-length hair was not tied up, as if it had not been washed for a while, and the strands were stuck together and hanging on his face. This was a man who was about forty years old, and his face showed signs of aging.
Wei Wei was not very strong, and he still held this half-eaten piece of rye bread in his hand. A very common long sword was crooked on his waist. His clothes were also dirty, covered with mud and other dirt.
His first reaction when he saw Chris was to throw away the bread and reach out to draw the sword, not very neatly.
The clumsy movements made Chris feel relieved instantly.
"Who are you?"
The two people said in unison.
It was the older man who lowered his guard first and lowered his sword first.
"Good day, beautiful young man."
He raised a hand in greeting and showed a kind smile, "I am Kurt, an adventurer who comes here to find beasts in exchange for ale."
"Good day, Kurt. I'm Chris, a traveler looking for some excitement."
Chris also flattened the long knife slightly to show that he was not hostile.
The two sides greeted each other politely, which made each other's wariness less tense.
Kurt directly inserted the long sword into the scabbard, took two steps forward to pick up the black bread, blew the dust and gravel on it, leaned against the rock and ate it slowly.
This move also allowed Chris to see several small rodent prey under his feet.
I also understood that Kurt was silently announcing that he had occupied this area in advance and expressed his unwillingness to cooperate with others in hunting-either Chris left voluntarily now, or he used a long sword to drive Chris away.
Walk.
This is also a tacit agreement among people who come here to hunt to avoid conflicts.
Because there are so many stabbings in the back, adventurers have become accustomed to dealing with dangers in advance.
Chris, who originally had no intention of hunting here, saw this and put away his long knife and strode deeper into the mountains.
"May the God of Light protect you, young man!"
When he walked a little further, a blessing came from behind him.
He didn't look back, he just raised his hand and shook it in thanks.
So he didn't see that Kurt's eyes were always chasing his back, and there was still a smile on the corner of his mouth that was about to bloom.
The melted snowwater from the Lokidaran Mountains converges here to form a large lake. The rivers wind along the valley and flow into the terrifying swamp where the snake people live. Land lizards and crocodiles live in the large lake and
In the river, all wild beasts that come to drink water are regarded as prey. The difference is that one is in the water and the other is on land.
What the two have in common is that their leather can be sold at a good price.
The leather of the crocodile is hard and very light. After being tanned, it can withstand the penetration of crossbows. It is the most popular leather armor for light troops such as light cavalry, archers and crossbowmen in the human kingdom. The leather of the land lizard is very soft.
It is elastic and has very comfortable ventilation after tanning. It is the knight's favorite chain armor armor - the lizard leather armor can greatly buffer the attack force when the knight is hit, and well protect the knight's internal organs from shock.
hurt.
They are also Chris' prey on this trip.
First, each of their leathers is worth more than ten gold coins.
If it's in good condition, it can earn a few more gold coins, which is a big temptation for Chris, who is in urgent need of raising money.
Moreover, this is also the most recent prey that he is confident of hunting so far.
Another reason is that no one bothers me.
The Great Lake is already very close to the Terror Swamp, and snakemen will occasionally appear here. Few people will risk being chased by snakemen to come here.
Besides, land lizards and crocodiles are not that easy to hunt.
These big guys, generally over five meters in length, with immense strength and cruel temperament, often regard adventurers as prey.
However, for Chris, who started hunting alone in the Alps at the age of fifteen, it was not difficult to kill these not-so-ferocious beasts.
It only took him four days to successfully lure two land lizards into a trap with the body of a blue sheep.
One large and one small, the price should be about twenty gold coins.
If everything goes so smoothly, I should be able to catch up with the dwarves' next prospecting date, right?
This was what Chris was thinking in his mind as he set out on his way home with the leather on his back.
At the same time, he also regretted that without the help of his companions, he could only carry back the hides of two land lizards at a time, which wasted time on the road.
Unexpectedly, when he entered the dwarf country to buy furs, he met Kurt again.
The old adventurer sold a lot of rodents, but only got one gold coin and thirty silver coins.
The intersection between the two officially began at this moment: when the shop owner criticized the lizard's leather texture for not being beautiful enough and was only willing to pay eighteen gold coins, Kurt, who was about to leave, turned around and cursed, "Treacherous.
Dwarf, your integrity is worse than that of a kobold! The leather of these two lizards is worth thirty gold coins in any shop!"
As soon as these words came out, Chris immediately knew that his young face made others feel easy to bully.
After taking thirty gold coins from the reluctant shop dwarf, he sincerely thanked Kurt.
"Young man, your thanks are very insincere."
Kurt smiled brightly and pointed to the tavern not far away, "Don't you think it would be better to express your gratitude by paying a few silver coins to buy me a few glasses of rye?"
Of course Chris would not refuse his request.
After this small episode, for more than a month in the future, the two of them would greet each other cordially every time they met, and the unfamiliar friendship gradually became familiar as they invited each other to drink.
Finally, one time when Chris was about to go to the Great Lake, he met him waiting along the road.
"Dear Chris, your character allows me to expose my back, and your strength gives us the opportunity to earn more gold coins."
That's what he said, and he extended an invitation to Chris to cooperate in hunting the blue-tailed stoat.
Blue-tailed weasels live in the mountains and forests beside the big lake. Their fur, claws, etc. are not valuable, but their male reproductive organs can be sold for fifty gold coins! Because after being refined into a potion, it can make the elderly nobles of the human kingdom or
The rich would not hesitate to pay hundreds of gold coins to buy it in order to regain their glory.
Kurt is very good at trapping blue-tailed weasels, but he doesn't have the strength to protect himself on the Great Lakes.
So he needs the long knife in Chris's hand to ensure safety, and the profits are divided equally between the two.
Chris went happily.
Because he has already found out the details of Kurt.
Through a few words from the tavern owner and other adventurers, he learned that Kurt used to be the guard of a lord in the Middle-Earth Plain. Later, he died because of a drunken crime and had to escape. He worked as a mercenary and merchant.
The team guard is a down-and-out adventurer who has a home and cannot return.
His strength is average, and he may never become a peak warrior in this life.
Therefore, it is difficult to live a prosperous life with the sword in his hand. No matter the mercenary group or the caravan, he will not be given a generous salary. Instead, he will chop wood, set up camp, clean up horse manure and other tasks that are only done by farmers and slaves.
.
Since we are destined to live a lowly life, we might as well get drunk today.
This is what he thought and what he did.
He knew that this area of the Lokidaran Mountains was an uninhabited land, and there were many wild animals, so they all wandered here when they had nothing to do, hunting a few small prey in exchange for rye bread and ale mixed with water.
He has low strength, no ambition, and is content with life. These characteristics of Kurt are the reasons why Chris accepted the invitation.
He is in urgent need of gold coins and has enough strength to prevent Kurt from having evil intentions.
The most important point is that Kurt, who is capable but not strong, is more willing to keep the cooperation between the two longer under the temptation of gold coins.
In fact, this is also true.
Kurt was friendly along the way.
Not only did he take over trivial matters such as exploring the route, fetching water, and lighting a fire to barbecue, but he also insisted on walking in front, exposing his back to Chris's long knife. Moreover, his trapping skills were very high, and he successfully trapped him within twenty days of being out.
Eight blue-tailed ferrets.
Unfortunately, two of them were worthless females.
However, the harvest is much better than what Chris hunted alone.
The night falls and the forest is silent.
The two of them sat on the ground around a small fire. A small blue sheep that had been roasted to a semi-golden color kept dripping grease into the fire, and small wisps of green smoke kept coming out, making people's index fingers twitch.
"Chris, shall we go back to the dwarf kingdom tomorrow?"
Kurt used a dagger to cut off a large piece of meat, biting it into large bites, slurring in his mouth, "Oh, praise the God of Light! Thanks to your long knife, this harvest can let me stay in the tavern
I'll be drunk for half a year, if I can't bear to find a dancer."
"It's time to go back."
Chris, who was chewing slowly, said softly, "I've been here too long."
"ah!"
Suddenly, Kurt's face was full of astonishment, "You don't hunt anymore?!"
"Yes, Kurt."
Chris nodded and smiled, "I'm sorry, I have more important things to do."
Kurt was silent for a while, and then said with regret, "Well, may the God of Light protect you. Dear Chris, you are a person with excellent qualities and a good partner. I am very happy."
I hope we can meet again in the future." After saying that, he pulled off a small wine bag from his waist and handed it to Chris, "This is wine from my hometown of Zhongtu Laika. I am willing to share it with you.
my friend."
"Thanks."
Chris reached out and took it, sipping it slowly and savoring it.
The two have been sharing food these days and have built enough trust.
Only this time is different.
Not long after drinking, he felt a little tired.
Originally, he thought it was caused by the heavy summer heat. But as time went by, he felt that his head became very heavy, his whole body could not work hard, and the people and scenery in front of him became blurred. He shook his head hard
, trying to wake himself up, but it had no effect at all, and instead made the scene in front of him blurry.
There's something wrong with the wine!
His hand was already on the handle of the knife, but he no longer had the strength to draw it.
At the last moment when he fell into coma, Kurt's joking laughter could still be heard in his ears, "Oh, thank you, dear Chris, you are my best friend, bar none."
............
When Chris regained consciousness, he found himself locked in an iron cage like a wild animal.
In fact, this cage was made by the dwarves and was specially designed to contain powerful ferocious beasts. Even with his strength, he could not bend the iron bars to escape.
His long knife, dagger and all personal belongings were taken away, even his upper clothes and boots were stripped off.
Fortunately, he still had his pants, which saved him from the embarrassment of being naked.
There are many others who have the same fate as him.
They were just kept in different cages, containing humans, dwarves, ferocious beasts, and several snake-men.
Large and small iron cages were pulled by Loki bulls, bumping on the mountain road. There were no guards or charioteers, but the team was in order. The people who were awake were cursing loudly, and some ferocious beasts were roaring angrily.
, constantly hitting the cage with his tyrannical body.
Chris was very silent, just watching the road ahead quietly.
Tonight's silver moon and blood moon are lazy, so stingy that they only emit a little afterglow and cannot illuminate the road ahead.
The night was dark and he didn't know where he was going.