"We let Lisa and the others take the lead again."
deep and dark underground,
Starfall, March 2, 837, Moldavia, unnamed underground tunnel.
The bright light of the pyroxene lamp swayed in the corridor, and along with the sound of footsteps, the light could be seen reflecting five slow-walking figures on the corridor wall.
This is an unknown tunnel nearly a kilometer deep underground in Moldavia. In order not to consume oxygen and to be wary of possible flammable gases, this team of people wearing mage robes carefully used pyroxene lamps that do not require oxygen as lighting tools. , every time they walk a certain distance, they will carefully use magic to detect the situation of the tunnel ahead to avoid accidental collapse or collapse of the tunnel - although the collapse cannot cost the lives of these mages with high-level silver strength, but they want to After returning to the surface from a thousand meters deep underground, they were still a little weak and could only wait for the rescue of their mentor.
There is no doubt that that is definitely not the result this team wants to get.
"Oh, there's really nothing we can do about it. After all, Number One is with her."
In the corridor, a rather rough voice suddenly complained: "Thanks to her good luck, she was able to find the first entrance to the underground world in the entire empire."
The owner of this voice was a dwarf. He was holding a pyroxene lamp and chattering incessantly: "The first discoverer's point reward is three times that of the others. In addition to the reward for discovering Jilan'er Crystal Grass and Moonlight Crystal, this new school year, It’s hard for us to compete for first place.”
"Nick, don't keep destroying the morale of your own people!"
On the side, a rather dissatisfied female voice scolded: "Although Lisa has the advantage of being the first player, she did not confirm the specific ecological map of the underground world, nor did she draw a road map before coming back... We have plenty of opportunities to overtake her!"
"Come on, Karin, the gap is at least 5,000 credits. How long will we have to work to make up for it?"
It was probably that the long period of underground exploration had made both of them quite bored. When they found an opportunity, they started to quarrel. Nick and Karin were cautiously investigating the way forward while rebutting and questioning each other. Behind the person, a man and a woman who seemed to be brother and sister were also communicating softly with each other.
"Brother, our dragon's appetite is getting bigger and bigger... Half of the points from the last mission went into its stomach."
Amira's tone was helpless. This girl with long platinum hair was holding a strange grass plant that looked like a trumpet - this is a magical plant commonly used in underground exploration. It can quickly convert oxygen under the stimulation of magic. In order to prevent the exploration team from being unable to continue moving due to lack of oxygen. She said to her brother quite sadly: "If this continues, we might be destitute by it."
"My sister, maybe we are already exhausted, otherwise I would have gotten a new staff last time."
The target of the girl's complaint, a young man with the same platinum hair, held a somewhat broken staff in his right hand. He stood at the end of the team, holding a magic drawing in his left hand, which automatically recorded the conditions of the corridor that the team walked along. , Ivan showed the same helpless expression as his sister: "The adults said that because our dragon is far more talented than its peers, it eats three times as much as an ordinary white dragon... It ate 150 credits worth of magic crystals in two days, plus 200 pounds of monster meat, no matter how quickly our team completes the mission, it can't eat it as fast as it does!"
Alva, who was standing aside, did not join the conversation. At this time, he was holding a compass-like instrument, frowning, and muttering something softly.
"It's strange, we have gone 1,800 meters underground, and the concentration of magic power has not decreased, but has increased four times... Where did No. 1 dig? A giant magic crystal vein?"
It was obvious that the seventh prince could not understand the data displayed by the instrument in his hand, but he did not find any dangerous signs, so he continued to explore with his partners with doubts.
The five people walking underground are the first team of Winterfort Academy, Joshua's students.
At this time, more than 50 teams in Winterburg Academy have joined the ranks of underground exploration. Teams of well-prepared and well-equipped caster teams entered the mysterious world with their magic pets, puppets, and even contract elements. In the unexplored underground tunnels, they explored their ends, and the first team was undoubtedly the team that went the furthest and deepest, except for Tunnel Digger No. 1.
The five members of the first team are all among the best in the academy. Except for the newly enrolled prince Alva, the others have been enrolled for about five years. Under the education of many elite instructors, they have been able to achieve their goals in the past five years. To grow from an ordinary person to a high-level silver caster, it only takes a little bit of effort and opportunity to successfully touch the golden barrier.
A large number of high-level Silver students who are not yet twenty and have a high chance of advancing to Gold—such an incredible success rate is due to the convenience brought by the Great Demon Wave, but the superior education system of Winterfort College must also be acknowledged. . In addition, it is not without reason that the Empire and Moldavia leaders have increased funding year after year, because even students who are not very outstanding in personal ability and may not be able to advance to gold still have sufficient knowledge reserves, whether as a As an expert on demonized creatures and as a researcher of magical energy technology, both have their own special skills.
In fact, if it weren't for these students, the Moldavia Territory would never have been able to build so many magic energy factories.
"The concentration of magic power is not a problem. It is our profit to discover the veins."
Hearing Alva's whisper, Ivan walked forward. He followed the others and jumped over a small mound of collapsed stars. He shrugged and replied: "Didn't Lisa and the others discover the moonlight because of the abnormal magic fluctuations?" Crystal veins? The reward of 2,500 credits is enough to buy a complete set of the latest generation of magic mechas, which is really enviable."
Underground exploration is too boring. It is always dark tunnels and brown-gray soil and rocks. It is a big test for the psychological quality of the explorers. Therefore, in order to avoid mental problems caused by long-term boring exploration, everyone in the first team will Have some discussions from time to time to avoid losing concentration.
While chatting like this, they continued to walk along the downward corridor for a certain distance, and everyone arrived at a depth of nearly two thousand meters underground.
"Wait, something is wrong, it's been a little strange from the beginning!" Suddenly, Nick, the dwarf who was walking at the front, shouted in a low voice. His expression became solemn, and then it suddenly turned very bad: "No, this doesn't seem to be the first dig... "
Before they had time to say the next words, in an instant, the tunnel under everyone's feet collapsed like broken ice. The fragile soil layer was mixed with scattered rocks, falling downwards. At the moment of encountering such an unexpected situation, The members of Team 1 immediately showed great qualities.
"Levitation!" "Detect life!" "Nitrogen barrier!"
Before falling for a second, the five people stopped in mid-air under the influence of the levitation technique, and a layer of light blue atmospheric barrier also appeared around them, turning into an indestructible wall to resist all attacks. Amira's eyes were flashing with red light at this time. She frowned and quickly said to her companions around her: "A large number of life reactions! We should have arrived at the underground world discovered by Lisa and the others!"
"The tunnel just now was much smaller than the previous one. It should not have been dug by No. 1, but by the local creatures themselves!"
At this time, Nick also hurriedly said what he had not said before. He took out a battle axe-shaped wand from his waist. There was an obvious trigger on the ax handle. The dwarf skillfully took out a few wands with the word 'burning' inscribed on them. Large alchemical bullets with 'freeze' and 'explosion' runes were inserted into a personal magic weapon that God knows whether it is an axe, a wand or a gun, and they were perfectly prepared for battle: "But no matter what kind of creature it is, wait. Go ahead and eat my elemental bombs!"
The luster of various strengthening magic began to appear around the dwarf, and everyone else was also prepared accordingly.
Unlike before, the first team, who had experienced hundreds of battles, had already made preparations to fight in any sudden situation. It was just a sudden collapse. Before starting the underground exploration, they had already prepared the corresponding plan. According to Prepare a plan, even if they encounter a dracolich that lives underground, they are confident that they can escape.
But it was obvious that they did not need to fight against the Dracolich, whose strength usually ranged from the peak of gold to the elementary level of Ultimate Intention. After the earth and rocks under them all collapsed completely, the people suspended in the air fell under the light of the pyroxene lamp. Under the illumination, he could clearly see the huge underground space behind the collapse.
The shimmering slime mold, the group of underground bats that panicked due to the loud sound, the abnormally thick magic power fluctuations, and the strange but extremely regular 'clatter' sounds.
"decline?"
"Of course, aren't we just here to explore the underground world!"
They encountered an accident but were all safe and sound, and directly found the destination of their group. Although the five people were excited, they suppressed their joy. With Karin's soft chanting and adjustment, the levitation skills on everyone began to slow down. The relief was lifted, it moved closer to the ground, and finally landed on the mound formed by the collapse.
"Is this the underground world? It feels a little empty."
Alva looked around and sighed: "I originally thought it would be a mushroom forest, or an environment similar to an insect nest... I didn't expect it to be so simple."
With that said, he planned to take a step forward and take a closer look, but then, Ivan stretched out his hand and held him.
Alva turned his head in confusion, but what he saw was Ivan's serious face.
"Hostile."
The moment after he said these words, Alva's pupils shrank slightly, and he suddenly felt a weak but extremely solid hostility - or even murderous intent - rapidly gathering towards everyone on his side. .
"Dang!"
Nick did not hesitate to turn the pyroxene lamp in his hand and shine it in the direction of the hostility. He could immediately see countless black and brown insects escaping from the fungi illuminated by the light. And the next moment, In the dark depths where the light cannot shine, two golden rays of light suddenly lit up between the glimmer of light emitted by the fungi.
Soon, these two points became four o'clock, eight o'clock, ten o'clock... A few seconds later, more than thirty golden light points silently approached the crowd and came within the range of the light.
It's a snake... No, for this size, I should say 'python'.
More than a dozen black giant pythons, more than twenty meters long, slowly crawled out of the darkness. They exuded strange magic fluctuations all over their bodies, as if they could absorb the surrounding light, and they made a clattering sound when their bodies rubbed against the rocks. ', the giant pythons scanned the five people in front of them with their indifferent snake eyes. These strange creatures living deep in the ground opened their huge mouths full of sharp teeth to everyone, and let out a silent scream.
Suddenly, dark brown magic power surged, and the soil around the first team began to rapidly deform, turning into sharp and sharp ground-thorn rock blades, pressing towards everyone!
"start fighting!"
There was no tension. The first team, which had experienced hundreds of battles and even slaughtered all the shark lizards along the coast of the extreme northern ice field, had long been accustomed to attacking and being attacked. This sudden battle in the underground world had already happened to them. as expected.
Rather, this is exactly why someone's disciples are so looking forward to this dangerous exploration.
…
"Karin, add more heat."
Deep underground, in the center of a messy battle scene, the exhausted five members of the first team lit a bonfire.
The dwarf Nick, who had already set up the wire mesh grill and spread it with olive oil, was carrying something aside. When he returned to the simple kitchen utensils, the red-haired girl on the side also skillfully lit the frying pan under the iron plate. A raging fire.
Zhila, suddenly, the familiar fragrance of oil appeared in the underground world, but this fragrance did not spread, but was bound within a certain range by magic.
On the other side, brother and sister Ivan and Amira also came from a distance, their arms full of washed luminous fungi and various strange herbs.
"How lucky you are that there is actually Kaman white grass growing here. This thing is the main ingredient of energy potions." The young man said with emotion.
"Compared to the Jilan'er crystal grass that Lisa and the others discovered, this thing has no value at all." The girl shook her head.
On the other side, Prince Alva was skillfully using his short knife to quickly dissect the python corpse that Nick had brought.
The technology obtained by dismantling countless shark lizards is no different when applied to the giant python. The former prince and current adventurer is now exerting the superb sword skills he inherited from the royal family to the extreme. In just a few seconds, the tough skin The giant python, which was stronger than steel and whose muscles were as tangled as tree roots, was easily broken down into pieces of smooth and solid meat.
"Is the sauce ready?"
"It's ready, so are the seasonings."
"The meat is also cut."
"Okay, leave it to me next!"
Everything was ready, and a glimmer of light suddenly flashed in the dwarf's eyes. He used magic to get Alva's cut snake meat from the air, and then took out the iron drills from the pocket on his waist and inserted them. Place on the hot wire grill.
[Urayaki Underground Python]
[Materials required: One unnamed underground python]
[200g granulated sugar]
[150g salt and pepper]
[Holy Water of Life 50g]
[Sauce 200g]
[Detoxification Magic (twice)]
[Kaman White Grass Powder 50g]
[Glowing Fungi Extract 100g]
[Effect: unknown]
“Can this glowing fungus be eaten too?!”
On the side, Alva looked at the dwarf skillfully preparing the sauce and spreading it on the snake meat with a look of surprise. The appetizing aroma made him swallow subconsciously, but even so, for the sake of his own digestive system To ensure safety, he still cautiously raised his opinion: "That thing... doesn't it smell a bit bad?"
"The smell is the smell of decaying mucus from dead fungi. In fact, if you wash the normal luminous fungi clean, you can smell a fragrance similar to lignin."
Nick, who used to live underground all year round, shook his head. He held a clean spherical fungus in his hand and corrected the prince's misunderstanding about luminous fungi: "The reason why this thing can shine is because of the magical mass in its center. Colloid... It can be said that the gum at its core is similar to slime, it is pure magic colloid, and of course it can be eaten."
As he spoke, Nick took a brush and applied a layer of fluorescent magic colloid to the snake meat. Suddenly, the fragrance became even stronger.
"Fungi doesn't matter...but is this creature really edible?"
On the side, Amira said hesitantly: "This giant python can control the soil, rocks and water flow to use magic. It seems to be an intelligent life... Is it really okay to eat it?"
"Some monsters can still talk. The most important thing is that they are delicious. Look at the dragons and civilization. But after the dragon was defeated, there were also many people who ate its meat."
On the side, Ivan said nonchalantly: "We have detected it a long time ago. This giant python is non-toxic and nutritious. What's more, we also added 50 grams of holy water of life. With this thing, even if you lick the blade full of poison, It’s okay… I’ve been exploring underground for so long, so I should add some protein.”
"yes."
On the other side, Karin also nodded in agreement: "Look at Lisa, her face is full of color because she has eaten dry food for several weeks. We are professional explorers. We cannot be like her and learn to follow the rules at any time. Take nutrients from the surrounding environment.”
Ura roasted the snake meat very quickly, and soon everyone started their first meal since entering the underground world.
"Brother, feed me!"
"Really... If this continues, be careful not to get married." Facing Amira who still didn't want to touch snake meat, Ivan had no choice but to obey his sister's willfulness. He whispered: "Open your mouth."
"Ah~"
On the side, Nick was listening to the words 'Uh-huh-huh! ''It smells so good! ''tasty! 'Waiting for the sound, chewing the snake meat and feeling the effect of the product you cooked this time.
"It has a certain energy-restoring effect, which should be due to the essence of Kaman white grass and fungus. It turns out that mixing slime mucus with Kaman white grass powder is the simplest energy potion."
While eating the meat, the dwarf took out a pen and paper while thinking, and wrote down with one hand the effect of burning the python: "It can restore a large amount of magic power of earth and water attributes, and can enhance the perception of night light to a certain extent... I wrote it down, this snake meat It tastes great.”
After roughly writing down the cooking process this time, and the materials were still effective, Nick put away the simple recipe in his hand with satisfaction. He could vaguely see that the other pages of this simple recipe were already densely written, and the entire book was almost full. .
A few days later.
After returning to his own territory, Joshua immediately went to the underground laboratory of Winterfort Academy after hearing the urgent news.
There he met the serious-looking Nostradamus.
"What's wrong?"
The soldier raised his brows, and he was a little confused: "What is so tense? Is there something wrong with the server? Or does the battleship production line need me to correct it?"
"No, you underestimate the empire's magic technology..." Shaking his head, the old mage showed a faint smile, but soon, his expression returned to seriousness, and he stood in the laboratory The tempered glass plate outside the door turned to motion to Joshua: "As for why I asked you to come back... take a look at this."
Shrugging, Joshua turned his head. He did not go to the window, but directly looked through the wall and looked at the position indicated by Nostradamus.
It was a dying black python that was using nutrient solution to sustain life. Its golden snake eyes had become numb and no longer had its original vitality.
"This is… "
He didn't see anything at first, but soon, Joshua's eyes widened suddenly, and then he frowned, and the soldier said in a deep voice: "Supernatural power?!"
"The power of the earth?!"
Got stuck yesterday...
But even so, I still ask for monthly votes today
(End of chapter)