Open Your Quest Log
Chapter 36: Traces appear
On the fourth day, Luck kissed Barrett's rough, stubble-covered cheek—they spotted the frost bug.
The trace appeared earlier than the best result expected by the barbarians. It was a ravine-shaped trace with a width of about 2 meters that ran straight in front of everyone. The trace extended into the depths of the fog, leaving a mess everywhere. .
"I heard that this kind of monster burrows in the ground, and only emerges from the ground when hunting." The half-elf squatted beside Barret, picked up the clods on the trail like a barbarian, and observed it carefully, "But now It seems that they like to 'hang out' on the ground."
"There is a saying in the proverb, 'You can only know if a girl is beautiful if you open the curtain.' After all, it will be different from what others say and what you see with your own eyes." Old Will stood behind the two and expressed his opinion.
"The frost worms on the permafrost tundra may be like this, but their cousins in the misty forest don't have this habit. After all, this is the misty forest." Barrett explained, 'After all, this is the misty forest', which he did not know. How many times has it been said. "It's not like the permafrost tundra, it's a white world covered in ice and snow all year round. In the misty forest, frost bugs only come out in winter."
"You said they would hide and sleep the rest of the time." The half-elf looked at Barrett, "Like snakes hibernating?"
"Like a snake! Adventurers in the Bay of Pigs used to call this kind of slumber 'Summer Sting'. But not only in summer, this kind of slumber will last for three seasons: spring, summer and autumn. It's a dream of the sky." Barrett replied, "And the way of hunting like the frost worms on the permafrost tundra waiting for the prey to come to the door, obviously cannot allow the frost worms in the foggy forest to accumulate enough energy to consume three seasons, so Those frost worms in the forest would be more aggressive, um..., more aggressive 'hanging out'."
"Has anyone found these 'summer sting' creatures?" the half-elf asked again, "I mean, found them in other seasons than winter."
"This..." Barrett pondered, "a former companion of mine." The dwarf whose life and death are unknown, "found a frost worm's lair. But at first we found only a round shape , I don't know where the passage leads, and then we had to go in..."
The half-elf stood up and clapped the soil on his hands, "I have to?"
"We had to," Barrett repeated, "we were chased by an eight-legged adult petrified lizard with nowhere to go..."
"Moglock doesn't like petrified lizards." The ogre said suddenly, "their eyes are very unfriendly!"
"No one likes those guys." Barrett echoed, "After all, turning into a stone is not a comfortable thing. We were chased by a huge, four-meter-long female petrified lizard, an ordinary petrified lizard. The lizard was not even half its size. The stone-carving lizard was covered in thick tan scales and had a warhammered scar on its forehead."
"You caused it?" the half-elf asked.
"My comrade made it with a warhammer." Barrett said, the dwarf was a good at throwing a warhammer. "But it didn't chase us because of the scar, but because my companion accidentally broke the egg of the female petrified lizard. Oh, it should be a nest of eggs." , an inconspicuous one. "I have to say that it was a petrified lizard with a vengeance. Since then, every time we entered the foggy forest, the petrified lizard would run towards us from a distance, more than the waitress in the 'The Naked Lamb' tavern. Also 'passionate'."
"Oh? The waitress in the 'The Naked Lamb' tavern?" The half-elf smiled, "If you have a chance, you should see it."
With your face, they will even post the 'King' upside down to you, Barrett murmured inwardly.
"The mother beast who takes care of the cubs is sometimes more dangerous than the dragon," Old Will said.
"You're right, Master Mage." Barrett straightened, "the petrified lizard roared with a terrifying 'petrified stare' in its eyes. You know, it was harder to resist than the petrified cow's breath. We were There is no other way but to run away. By coincidence, they escaped into the cave leading to an unknown place. There are many such caves in the misty forest, but adventurers generally do not go deep into it unless it is necessary. in."
"Then what?" the half-elf asked again.
"Then we had a disagreement. He wanted to go deeper, but it was too dangerous." Many people couldn't control their curiosity, "and I plan to stay where I am and wait for the petrified lizard to leave. Get out of the passage. But my companion didn't follow my instructions, and went deep alone." The damned dwarf who can only cause trouble is rarely obedient, "but before a meal, he again Running back, followed by a frost worm..."
"In the narrow passage, a petrified lizard is blocked in front and a frost worm is chasing behind. You are lucky enough to survive." The mage sighed.
That guy can always save himself from danger, except for the last time. Barrett recalled, "Fighting with your eyes closed is not a good way to go, but if you're dealing with a magical creature with a 'petrified stare' that's certainly an option. I was closed I raised my long sword to the front and rushed forward. Fortunately, the petrified lizard escaped from the hole, and we rushed out, only my arm was bitten by the lizard in the whole process." The dwarf was unscathed. .
"What about the frost bug chasing you?"
"Follow us out of the cave. I don't know if it's because we disturbed its sleep, or if the hot temperature made it uneasy, but in short, it's angry, I can feel it. But it seems to be more interested in the petrified lizard, After the frost worm came out, it left us and rushed towards the petrified lizard." Barrett said, "And the lizard's 'petrified gaze' obviously couldn't completely petrify the more than ten-meter-long frost worm. The frost worm just paused. At one moment, only a small part of the body that was more than ten meters long turned into a stony grayish white. But at the next moment, it was even more angry and used two giant jaws to pinch the petrified lizard..."
Barrett sighed, "It's obviously not a good idea to stay in place to watch the play, we ran away without waiting for them to decide the winner. But since then, the petrified lizard has never appeared again. …”
"Is it possible that the frost worm you found now is the one you encountered at the time?" The half-elf said, pointing to the traces pressed by the frost worm crawling over in front of him.
Barrett looked at the left and right sides of the trace, and shook his head again, "I don't know how big the frost worm in the permafrost tundra is, but the frost worm in front of me is in the foggy forest, and it should belong to the 'dwarf' level. As soon as he finished speaking, Barbarian realized that his words seemed to be rude to someone, "I'm sorry, I mean, this frost worm is bigger than the one I encountered before. , much smaller."
The dwarf Mapra, who was sitting on the shoulders of the ogre, shrugged his shoulders expressionlessly, showing that he didn't care.
"Oh? The little one? This is undoubtedly good news!" Old Will raised his eyebrows happily, "The task only indicates the number, but there is no requirement for the size of the frost worm. If it can be better than what we baked yesterday It would have been better if the snake with the blue pattern was even smaller."
Then this quest is not worth the starting employment price of 50 gold coins, and it may not be worth the 100 soul energy points, Barret thought to himself. How much soul energy will I give if I receive a quest to hunt 'Blue Ringed Snake'? Even if a snake only rewards a little soul energy, it is much simpler than the current task.
In other words, if this kind of soul energy is really useful, where should I go to receive these quests that will jump out of strange words? Muya's Adventurers Association? Or is it the Adventurer's Association of any city? Barrett was lost in thought.
"Can you tell how long it took that frost worm to leave here?" The half-elf interrupted the barbarian's thinking, "Also, which direction should we go?"
"The left-hand side is the direction it left. As for the time of leaving, it should not be long, no more than half a day at most. From the mud that it has run over, a little hoarfrost residue can still be found, which can only be left by frost insects. , because the fog forest never frosts." Barrett replied, "Even in the extremely cold winter, the forest will not snow, let alone ice, and even the stream will not freeze."
"Oh? What's this for?" Old Will was curious about this.
"Because the fog in the forest can only draw temperature from living organisms."
......