Kalinger came to the middle of the mountain, sat on the stone pier engraved with warning words, and put the scimitar and hand ax flat in front of him.
He opened the velvet bag containing the pills, and the flat glass bottle containing the blood, and smelled it.
"Oh, Raven's Blood," he wrinkled his nose, "it's really exciting, as expected of a necromancer and alien study."
Necromancers often use blood as a catalyst for casting spells. The outside world thinks that they will draw human blood, but this is not the case at all. Human blood has limited effects, and the most efficient catalyst for casting spells is the blood of ravens or night owls.
"It's a good thing you prepared the blood very thoughtfully, otherwise I would have to catch the small animals first." Kalinger was thinking like this, while dividing the pills into several parts, some were placed on the blade of the weapon, and some were held in the palm of his left hand.
He will not cut himself with his own blood. Certainly not.
The blood of the pills touched the blood of the raven, and slowly melted on the weapon. When the scimitar was dyed red, Kalinger smelled something strange.
The smell was not common, but it aroused some feelings that Kalinger had forgotten for a long time... He was a little dazed for a moment, and continued to pour blood on the pill in the palm of his left hand, and continued to observe.
The medicine particles are first decomposed into powder, and then completely integrated with the blood. The black-red blood becomes lighter, the off-white medicine powder darkens, and finally fuses into an amber translucent smooth liquid. From the appearance, it looks like a maintenance weapon. used oil.
Potions that come into contact with the skin emit a stronger odor. At the same time, the medicine on the weapon has also been transformed.
Kalinger stood up with a "swipe". He looked at the solution on his palm, then shook his head from side to side and sniffed around. He remembered, and he recognized what the ingredients in the pills were.
He couldn't help but took a deep breath, then changed to breathe as shallowly as possible, and finally couldn't help but take another deep breath. Finally he rubbed his hands together with a tangled face, and applied the remaining solution to his clothes.
In fact, the neck and face are exposed, so it should be painted a little bit, but he decided not to, if the head and face are painted with this thing, he is afraid that he will be distracted during the battle.
This smell was so strong that it occupied a huge space around him, giving him the illusion of being wrapped in something dizzy.
If he knew the ingredients of the raven blood and the pills in advance, he might not want to agree to this plan... But it's too late now, and the potion is indeed effective, and it will definitely attract a large number of infected bodies successfully.
Thinking about the possible ingredients of the pills, Kalinger couldn't help swearing. He has a small reputation in the bounty hunter industry, and he rarely speaks foul language. These days, vulgar mercenaries will be annoying. Only by being friendly like a knight can he gain more trust.
But today he couldn't bear it anymore and had to show his emotions.
After revealing it, he heard a rustling sound coming from the depths of the forest, and the hidden infected people had already smelled it.
"Rime, rime," Kalinger said to himself, fastening the ax behind his waist, picking up the scimitar, and throwing away the scabbard, "Oh, you can't blame you for the damn smell. People in Shucun, or to other hunters, they may not smell anything... "
A few seconds later, there were low, dull thunder-like guttural sounds everywhere, and in the distance, there were sharp and crazy screams one after another.
"Thanks to this smell... Rime, you don't need to confess yourself, I already know what you are."
While Kalinger was talking to himself, pairs of blood-red eyes lit up in the dark forest.
Kalinge swung his scimitar vigorously, drawing a long silver arc, and at the same time, dozens of monsters of various sizes jumped out of the bushes, roaring and rushing towards him.
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The flocks of birds startled, the trees moved without wind, the sound of beasts or monsters came and went...
The people of Heishu Village stood on the ridge and looked at the mountains and forests, and they could feel that something big was happening on the mountains.
In the village, there were more than a dozen people sitting on the first floor of the Huange Hut, and more people gathered outside, some chatting quietly in twos and threes, and some frowning and walking up and down.
The people in the house were all the famous people in the village, such as the elderly village chief, Mrs. Marlowe, the widow of the sheriff, the resident bard, the shopkeeper, and several middle-aged people and the village chief. Old people of the same age.
A dark-skinned fat woman said: "The elf has protected us for so many years, and now it has died inexplicably. What happened on the mountain, what is the devil trying to do... Do we just wait and do nothing like this?"
The old man in the wheelchair said: "Something is wrong, so you can't act rashly. For example, the elf was fine before, why did he suddenly become grumpy?"
The bald middle-aged man said: "It's the same as I get older, and my personality will change. My mother was fine when she was young, she didn't beat or scold me, and quarreled with me every day when she was old."
"That's the elf, not your mother!" said the female shopkeeper. "In my opinion, the elf's temper has not changed. He is still for our own good. You have all read his letters. Why is he so irritable? Isn't it because he is afraid? Is something wrong with us? He doesn't want us to go up the mountain, he is afraid that we will be killed by the devil. If we go up the mountain regardless, wouldn't it be a disappointment to his painstaking efforts?"
The resident poet picked up the lute and fiddled with it: "My mother is right, but I have to add something else."
"Speak well and don't play the piano."
"Well," so the poet put down his harp again, "the elf's temper has not changed, he has always been good for us, that's obvious. But the problem is, the elf who died is obviously not the elf who was on the mountain hundreds of years ago .”
Everyone whispered for a while, and then all looked at him. Apparently other people have already had such speculations.
The poet continued: "We have all read the letter. Not only the tone of the letter is different, but even the font has changed. Some of you say that it is because the elves were corrupted by demons, and some say that the elves are old. In fact, how can there be such a thing?" Complicated? Isn’t this very simple, obviously there is more than one elf in the mountain. Our village has always regarded elves as gods of nature, but they are not. Most of the elves live in the southwest forest and the island of Yoll, and a few will wander outside , They have to eat, sleep and live like us every day. The elves will die too. When the hunter Kalinger took him out, did you see his hands? Anyway, I saw them. His hands are not only better-looking, but also Our hands are the same, there is a callus formed by holding a pen on the side of the middle finger."
The female shopkeeper caressed her son's knee, a little confused: "What are you trying to say?"
The poet said: "I want to say, this is not 'an elf died', but 'another elf died'! Two elves died in the mountain! The last elf was the one long ago, why did he suddenly disappear? News? What do you think is the reason? Obviously because he died. After his death, the demons began to move around. At this time, the curse-loving elves started to contact us. Irritable, why is this? Obviously because his elders or friends are dead, he is already exhausted from dealing with demons, how can he be polite to us?"
"It makes sense..." the wheelchair-bound old man stroked his beard and said, "In order to deal with the demons in the mountains, two elves have already died. Not only that, some people in our village have also died."
Hearing this, Mrs. Marlowe wiped her tears and raised her head: "My husband told us when he was seriously ill. When he saw the elf, the elf's face was already very bad. But he is still very grateful The elf, the elf helped them with magic, or they would have killed more brothers."
The Poet-in-Residence said, "Now, the elf is dead too, and the bounty hunters from outside are coming up the mountain again. So what do we do? We just wait, wait until the hunter dies too, and then get another hunter?"
Someone in the crowd whispered: "The lord will find a way..."
"If the demons keep killing people, the lord will have to figure out a way. That's for the future. The question is, what do we do now? Look at this shop, Song Hut, what was it like in the beginning, what is it like now? And you —” The poet looked at the bald middle-aged man, “Your daughter is a pharmacist, and your son was directly invited by some college outside to be an apprentice to a spell researcher. The two of them have loved reading various potion and biological illustrated books since they were young. Many of them are ancient books from nearly a hundred years ago, the batch sent by the elves in the mountains. In a few years, if your son becomes an archmage, will you call him back to Black Tree Village? After returning, Let him go to the mountains and protect us like those elf mages?"
Some people were silent, some slowly shook their heads and sighed, and some whispered.
The dark-skinned woman just now said: "I also think it's not okay to just sit, but it's not okay to go up the mountain casually. That elf is right. After all, we are not professional, and there is no point in dying for nothing."
"I think so," the poet stood up and said, "our village guards and young people go up the mountain, and don't cross the cordon halfway up the mountain. If you encounter monsters who want to go down the mountain, you have to stop them. If the hunter in the mountain asks for help Now, he doesn’t have to run back to the village, we can go directly to help him.”
People discussed it and agreed that it would work. The old village chief looked at the poet and made a "come here" gesture. The poet squatted in front of him, and he patted the poet on the shoulder. The old man was a bit awkward in speaking, but everyone in the village could understand what he wanted to express.
So, more than a dozen people walked out of the singing hut, gathered members of the village guards, and gathered young people who voluntarily went up the mountain.
One of the villagers who was not good at fighting came out. It was the girl who had passed out in the mountains because of elopement. She got on her horse and planned to go to the city guard to meet her brother and try to find some people to help.
The resident bard also joins the procession up the mountain. This time he brought a dagger for self-defense instead of a lute. But he was uncomfortable without a musical instrument, so he put on a flute.
After a group of people set off, the poet thought silently as he walked: the dark shadows are gradually spreading, the century-old peace is at stake, and the protected people are determined not to...
No more... He probably wanted to express "no more fear, but also be careful not to add chaos to others". If you want to write beautifully, rhetoric is quite difficult. And this epic has to mention the sacrificed elves and handsome bounty hunters, which is really a bit difficult to write.
Thinking of these, the poet's emotions became more and more passionate. There is something in my chest, but I don't know whether it is the enthusiasm for creation or the courage to fight.
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Although Rime would open the tower door, Kalinger did not go back to rest halfway.
There was nothing to rest, no time to waste, he didn't need it.
Originally, there were many four-legged golems in the forest. They were responsible for daily inspections and distribution of pacifiers. The infected bodies in the mountains will regularly eat the pills made of rime, after eating, they will feel full and be honest for a while.
Now the golems are all gone. Rime said that he would cut off the spell connection of the golem and save his strength to cast other spells.
It was probably time for the infected to eat their next "meal". They smelled a new delicacy, and this time the food was stained with raven blood... They almost fell into madness, and they all rushed out.
Kalinger's body was also stained with blood-dissolved medicinal powder, and he and his weapon became delicacies, attracting all the infected bodies in the mountains.
When they rushed up one by one, Kalinger also paid special attention to their appearance. Some creatures were still in the process of transformation, and some had completely transformed into abyssal creatures.
The half-half infected body is easy to handle. They are completely insane, they only bite and bite, and they don't know how to run when they are cut.
When Kalinger's scimitar pierced the throat of a large infected body, it was still struggling along the blade, desperately wanting to bite its head, so Kalinger had to twist the blade, waved his arm, and the monster's head Fly into the bushes and sleep peacefully.
For Kalinger, the more difficult ones are those fully infected. They are not too crazy, they know fear, they know how to run.
At first they were also attracted by the smell, but when they got close to Kallinger, they stopped attacking and turned their heads to run away.
Because the fully infected body is already an abyssal creature, in the words that humans like, it is a low-level demon. They have new awareness and new behavior patterns. When they find that the enemy's coercion is too terrifying, the temptation of "food" is nothing.
Escaping is much more troublesome than storming. While dealing with the irrational monster behind him, Kalinger chased the fleeing lower demons in the forest. After running around like this for a long time, the woods became quieter, and fewer and fewer monsters appeared.
Kalinger continued to patrol and deliberately made some noise. Wherever he walked, the blood stains left by monsters were already everywhere.
He looks up. The trees were so dense that he could not see the sky, much less the distant horizon that was obscured by the forest.
Rime said that it will close the tower gate at sunset. Kalinger couldn't observe the sky, not knowing how much time was left until sunset.
Kalinger thought about it, or just go back and forget it... The things left outside are not very powerful, they should be just some low-level demons who are timid, small, and good at hiding. In terms of danger, they are not even as good as those large moderately infected bodies.
Even if these little things run down the mountain, trained soldiers can deal with them. As long as there are enough of them, don't be afraid, be serious, one person should be fine against one.
But Kallinger decided he couldn't go and had to clean up the things.
Kalinge wasn't too worried about the villagers of Heishi Village. Of course he wants to protect them as much as possible, but he thinks it's out of bounty hunter duty rather than kindness. If there were still a large number of casualties in Heishu Village in the presence of him, it would definitely tarnish his professional reputation.
There is also because of the rime. Rime has been exhorting and exhorting so much, if he can't finish killing the infected bodies in the mountains, he probably won't have the chance to hear Rime swearing again in the future.
Kalinge's body was covered with black blood. He was dressed in black, and he couldn't see it clearly, but the cloak was getting heavier and heavier.
He tore off the cloak and threw it away, and some little monsters who were far away chased after the cloak. After all, his cloak was also stained with the smell of medicine, and he was far away from him. The little monster who wanted to escape couldn't help but want to take a sip.
The cloak fell into a distant bush, sparking a scream. Kalinger could hear it clearly, it was clearly a human voice.
So he pushed aside the branches and leaves, jumped over the bushes, and hurried over. I saw the cloak falling between the warning signs formed by stones and trees, a group of small multi-legged creatures of different sizes crawling around, and several young men dressed as militiamen stabbed wildly with swords and short spears, Several people were riding on thicker branches, holding a pile of stones and throwing them at the little monster.
Kalinger jumped over in two steps and killed the remaining monsters in a few hits. The young villagers looked at him in surprise, and the way he looked at the villagers was also very surprised. He didn't expect these people to go up the mountain, and actually killed some infected bodies.
Before one of the young men wanted to applaud, Kalinger stopped him in time: "I don't have time to chat with you. Listen, since you're here, do me a favor."
Hearing what he said, coupled with the sense of accomplishment from successfully killing the monster just now, the young people were very excited.
Kalinger picked up the cloak just now and cut it into small pieces with a dagger. Next, he found a few militiamen with fast footsteps, and scattered the pieces of clothes that could lure the enemy at several locations on the warning belt. The young militiamen ran to find all the teams that had gone up the hill, and broke the news to everyone.
According to Kalinger's arrangement, they were lying in ambush near the clothes fragments. The remaining little monsters are blinded by the potion and will give priority to the clothes instead of the real living people. Once monsters are seen gathering, the ambushing militia will besiege and kill them.
Kalinger specifically told them to retreat immediately after killing the target until the next target appeared. You can only move outside the warning zone or within the range of the warning zone, and you must never go into the depths of the mountain forest.
This way, the villagers can help him kill the remaining mobs, and they won't be infected by being close to the Moonfall Tower.
Kalinger specifically emphasized that this is the elves' last words, and they must abide by them. Next, he is going to carry out the will of the elves and completely destroy the demons.
The villagers all looked solemn, and swore on the glory of their ancestors that they would obey the elf's instructions.
It took a lot of time to arrange these. Kalinger looked at the sky through the gaps in the trees. The original azure blue color has become dull, and it is estimated that the golden red has climbed to the western sky.
The gate of the Moonfall Tower is about to close. He had to rush back before that.
Wu Ri asked him to leave directly, but he originally agreed. But ever since he recognized the smell of the medicine particles melting, Kalinger knew clearly: If he didn't rush back, Wu Rime would never be able to walk out of the Falling Moon Tower.
TBC