Henry squatted down and patted Rigor’s shoulder with a grin. “Good job, fat-ass.”
“Argh!”
“Damn you, old man!” Rigor cussed out.
After making sure that he was alright, Alaric instructed the rest to inspect the body of the Spiked Grizzly Bear.
Monsters that possessed mana could form a special type of crystal near their heart, the beast soul crystal. It contained the purest energy of the monster which was beneficial to the Knights. Upon absorption, their training speed would increase dramatically.
“My lord, this guy has a beast soul crystal!” Aldrin exclaimed after he dug out a small brown crystal in the beast’s chest.
Alaric nodded. “Keep it first. We will deal with it once we return to the mansion.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Aldrin put the crystal inside a sack and tied it carefully to his waist.
“Rigor, can you walk?” Alaric turned his head at the former mercenary.
Even with a face full of sweat and the stabbing pain in his shoulder, Rigor still managed to smirk. “This little bit of injury is nothing, my lord. I will be fine.”
“Look at you acting so tough.” Henry scoffed, staring at him disdainfully.
Rigor ignored the old man and went to grab his shield. He then tied it on his back.
He couldn’t lift it anymore since he could barely move his left arm, but he could make use of it to protect his back.
Seeing this, Henry clicked his tongue.
“Don’t exert yourself. Your wound might worsen if you move excessively.” Alaric reminded him.
“Yes, my lord.” Rigor nodded.
It turned out that they had yet to reach the end of the tunnel. They had only arrived at an intersection that led deeper into the cave.
“Mark our path. There might be more intersections ahead.” Alaric instructed.
Hearing this, the Knights immediately carved out markings on the wall using their swords.
As they went deeper, they arrived at an intersection with four different paths.
“Where should we go, my lord?” Henry asked for his opinion.
Alaric furrowed his eyebrows and thought for a moment.
We can move separately, but doing this will pose a greater risk. One of us might end up encountering another monster. It seems like the best option here is to stick together. Our search will be slow, but we will be safer as a group.
As he thought of this, Alaric randomly pointed a path. “Let’s move that way as a group.”
No one questioned his decision.
They probably thought that moving separately would be dangerous given their recent encounter with the Spiked Grizzly Bear.
Who knows what kind of monsters were hiding within the cave?
The group followed the path, but they soon reached a dead end.
“Let’s search the other three pathways,” Alaric muttered calmly.
The group acknowledged his command and silently traced back their trail by following the markings they made on the wall.
Soon, the group returned to the four intersections and entered another route. However, this path was still a dead end so they returned once more to choose a different route for the third time.
Finally, on their third try, they discovered a large cavern at the end of the pathway.
The group encountered more creatures, but they were only wild animals with no mana.
As they stepped inside the cavern, they saw a crystal clear pond in the middle. It was so clear that they could see the aquatic animals swimming in the water.
“Woah! This place is huge!” Aldrin’s voice echoed.
“My lord, look!” Henry suddenly exclaimed while pointing in a certain direction.
Alaric and the others immediately followed his gaze. And there it was, the very herb that they were looking for, the Dragon Tail Fern. Furthermore, there wasn’t just a single stalk, but dozens or probably even hundreds of them!
Just as Alaric was about to say something, Galanar suddenly stepped forward and looked deeply at the pond. “Hold on! There’s something strong in the pond!”
Everyone narrowed their eyes, their hands slowly reaching out to their weapons.
At this moment, ripples appeared on the calm surface of the pond. In the next moment, a reptilian creature that looked like a mix between a crocodile and a snake emerged.
It glared at them and emitted a sharp hissing sound as if telling them not to come closer.
“Isn’t that an Iron Back Crocodile?” Henry muttered upon seeing the creature.
The monster was over thirty feet long and its back had black scales that were as tough as iron.
It smacked its long whip-like tail on the ground- an intimidation tactic that it always used on its enemies.
Iron Back Crocodiles were common in the Silent Lake, but they rarely ventured out to other places so the group was surprised to see one here. Not to mention that this one in particular was an adult Iron Back Crocodile, a Fatal-grade monster.
“That one is weaker than the Spiked Grizzly Bear, but you guys must be careful with its tail. Getting hit by that would feel like a direct hit from a sledgehammer.” Alaric warned them.
“Yes, my lord!”
“Aldrin, you are the fastest in the group so you must draw its attention. The rest will wait for my signal to attack.” Alaric issued a series of commands.
“Yes, my lord!” Everyone answered in unison.
“Go!”
Aldrin rushed out with a spear in his hand.
“I’m coming, big lizard!” He yelled in provocation.
The Iron Back Crocodile’s territorial instincts kicked in when it saw Aldrin charging towards it. The beast growled and lunged at him, crawling with surprisingly quick speed.
When Aldrin reached its range, the beast abruptly stopped and lashed its tail at him.
Swish!
Aldrin jumped and rolled to the side, expertly avoiding its tail.
As soon as the beast turned around, Alaric motioned with his hand.
The Knights immediately rushed out, brandishing their weapons with unstoppable precision!
In just the blink of an eye, they skewered the beast with their swords!
The Iron Back Crocodile flailed for a few seconds before its movements faltered.
The Knights only pulled their swords when it was no longer moving.
Alaric nodded to Aldrin and said. “Check if it’s still alive.”
“Yes, my lord!”
Aldrin carefully approached the body of the beast and prodded it with the tip of his spear. He then stabbed its head to make sure that it was dead.
“Good work, everyone!”
“Aldrin, go and check if it has a beast soul crystal.”
“The rest of you… collect the Dragon Tail Ferns!”
Alaric instructed.
Everything is going smoothly. Good thing we have Galanar here.
This trip would have gone differently without Galanar. Having an Elite Knight made things easier for them.