The cave entrance winds downward, and the stone walls on both sides reflect a faint light under the illumination of phosphorescent moss. Constant droplets of water drip from the top of the stone wall, making a monotonous pitter-patter on the cold ground.
Deluo is holding an unextinguishable torch, which is a simple magic torch. It just requires releasing the "Undying Bright Flame" magic book on a wooden stick to make such a torch. It doesn’t emit any heat, only illuminating the path ahead. Lynch knows clearly that advancing with a torch in the dark is akin to showing a beacon to hungry predatory animals, but Deluo, who can hardly see the road ahead, has no choice but to do so—as he puts it, he’d rather be eaten than suffer the humiliation of falling.
The dwarves, after generations of living underground, gradually developed a certain degree of dark vision. Nimo walks at the front of the team, holding a map in his hand. In the Underdark, it’s often those at the very end of the group who are most vulnerable to attacks first. Placing Nimo at the front is also to better protect him. Although lacking innate dark vision, Lynch hasn’t suffered any vision impairments in the Underworld: his Eye of Insight reflects the complex landscape here clearly. He cautiously leads the lizard, guiding it around various stalagmites protruding from the ground and avoiding seemingly shallow puddles that are actually deep pools, moving forward slowly.
Nimo looks at the map once again, turning around exclaiming excitedly, "Lynch, Deluo, we should reach the Gray Dwarves’ city in two more days. Then we can have a good rest."
Lynch smiles slightly, not taking the "rest" too seriously. Although Gray Dwarves are one of the few "good" races in the Underworld, their kindness is reserved for two kinds of people: themselves and the strong. In the Underworld, they are the second-best weapon craftsmen next to the Dark Elves. Especially some equipment crafting techniques, lost long ago on the surface, can still be found among the Gray Dwarves in the Underdark. These unique pieces not only attract Dark Elves and Minotaurs to purchase them in large quantities, but sometimes even human trade expeditions venture there, hoping to make a fortune from these rare goods.
High profits often come with high risks. Most of these human trade expeditions perish on their return journey, and the goods they initially purchased soon reappear in the shops of the Gray Dwarves. The Gray Dwarves always justify their actions with this reasoning: "We didn’t deceive them in transactions; instead, we even pointed out the harsh realities of the Underworld to them. They weren’t killed by the Gray Dwarves; it was the rules of the Underdark that did them in." Fınd the newest release on novelFɪre.net
Lynch, still contemplating the behavior of the Gray Dwarves, temporarily forgets to use the Eye of Insight to observe the surroundings. In that brief moment of distraction, they run into trouble.
With the aid of the perpetual darkness here, a lizard suddenly leaps out from behind a stone pillar nearby, silently yet with incredible speed, lunging at the lizard Lynch was guiding.
The corner of the mage’s eye catches a dark shadow. Without taking a closer look, he immediately dives and rolls forward onto the ground. The pack animal behind lets out a wail, only then does Lynch have the time to turn around.
A bright red lizard is biting down hard on its prey’s neck, its sharp teeth piercing the prey’s skin, acidic saliva flowing into its blood vessels. It shakes its head, its powerful jaws snapping the mount’s neck.
Lynch stands up from the ground, stretches out his five fingers toward the lizard, chanting softly. His palm emanates a gentle white glow, a web sprays out, covering both the dead and the living lizard.
As the lizard struggles in the web, Deluo picks up a massive wooden club, leaps high from the ground, landing directly on the lizard’s back. With the momentum of his leap, the huge wooden stick in his hands strikes hard onto the lizard’s tough shell. With a muffled thud, the lizard’s head is caved in, shards of skin and scales scattering. Amidst the spraying blood, the massive club shatters into pieces after its maiden strike.
"Dammit, Lynch, what kind of weapon did you give me? It’s useless! Ah~~ I’ll kill you!" Deluo glares at Lynch, throws away the remaining half of the wooden stick, raising a fist the size of a saucepan, pounding fiercely and swiftly at the lizard’s head.