In less than ten minutes, the entire elite squad appeared at the camp gate, fully armed. After inspecting their equipment, Unas clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Very good, you all truly are the elite of the elite. Now, let's begin the next exercise. Everyone, mount up!"
"Sir, where are we going?" Marcus asked hurriedly. If the young officer in front of him was going to break through the cordon, he would have to step in to stop him.
"Go level up!" The unfamiliar words came out of the Warden's mouth. Before Marcus could ask any more questions, Unas had already turned around, mounted his horse, and galloped to the front of the group. He had no choice but to mount his horse and follow.
Unas had long wanted to level up properly. After being trapped in the Monastery for so long, he was finally free to do as he pleased and wanted to improve his strength. In other people's eyes, the Venomspider Gorge was a dangerous and deadly place, but in his eyes, it was also a holy land for leveling up.
When he created the elite squad, he planned to turn it into his own exclusive leveling team. Having these guys help him fight monsters would be more efficient than leveling up alone. That's one of the benefits of being an official.
His goal today is not only to level up and train his team, but also to clear out all the monsters in the Argent Dawn -controlled area from the Canyon entrance to the Red Stone Stele.
No one was assigned to guard the Red Stone Stele. After all, the Poison Spiders were just wild animals, and there were always a few that would break the rules and cross the boundary. They might be hiding in some of the woods. For the logging team would be working in this area for some time, and for their safety, it was necessary to clear it out first.
Unas used this excuse to persuade all the team members, and then assigned Perella and Ashina as scouts to go ahead. The ranger was the best scout, and his order also meant that Ashina should learn from the female Elf. Moreover, Ashina was a rather handsome and dashing young man. If he could use his charm to win Perella over, that would be the best outcome.
The Dwarves ' slowing them down greatly affected their speed, and several humans complained incessantly, making Unas hesitate about whether to bring the Dwarves Unas him when they officially set off. The Copperhammer Brothers quickly explained that they could also ride tall human horses, but their short legs made them less agile to control.
This explanation was even worse. Going to war with a malfunctioning mount would be suicide. Bart Copperhammer had no choice but to reveal that there was actually a Mountain War Ram in the stronghold, but it was being kept as Redbrow by Red Eyebrows and no one was willing to lend it to it. The implication was that Unas should go and borrow the ram from the Dwarf lord. Unas patted his chest and said, "I'll take care of it."
He still had plenty of good wine, and he was sure he could tempt Redbrow, but if the Dwarf lord's real name was Dugal-Muhammad-Redbrow, that would be a different story.
The bright red stone tablet reappeared before them. Spiders are generally nocturnal and hibernate during the day, so no living creatures were seen in the valley behind the tablet. However, Unas's idea to cross the line to investigate was strongly opposed by Perella, who claimed that "such behavior could very well provoke a large-scale retaliation from the Poison Spiders."
Unas turned to look at the expressions of the others. Several young men were eager to try, but Marcus and Nightmoon shook their heads slightly, as if they didn't want to cause any trouble.
With morale failing, Unas reluctantly turned his horse around, intending to proceed as planned and sweep all the way to the Canyon entrance. At that moment, the Troll Priest, who had been following meekly at the back, rode up to him. "Lord Unas," he said, "I can help track down the trespassing poisonous creatures."
The Troll had previously claimed to be an expert at dealing with spiders, and now he probably wanted to show off. Unas asked curiously, "What do you plan to do?"
"My lord may not know, but this Red Stone Stele was dyed red by a Potions I concocted using several herbs and the bodily fluids of Poison Spider. Spiders instinctively hate this Potions; it was something I painstakingly researched," the Troll boasted.
"This is a spider repellent?" Unas with great interest. "How much of Potions do you have?"
"Not much. Herbs aren't a problem, but the internal organs of a single Poison Spider can only yield one or two drops of the required essence. Add to that the losses during the refining process, and I don't have much stockpiled here. I'll apply it to everyone before we officially set off."
"There will be more in the future, I assure you," the Troll seemed to have some skill, Unas felt a greater respect for him. "The Haikesi Master can even track spiders?"
"That's right, sir. To be honest, my tribe used to be made up of Desert Trolls who worshipped the Spider God Shadra. I was one of the priests of the Spider God, and few can match my knowledge of spiders." The Troll lowered his voice, as if this were some kind of unspeakable secret.
"Then please, Master, find out where those beasts are."
The Troll dismounted and walked to the Red Stone Stele, wailing and singing an unpleasant tune. Then it began to dance around the tablet, occasionally scattering green powder in the surroundings, as if performing some kind of ritual.
This is nothing like the behavior of someone who has converted to the Holy Light. The Troll has clearly never abandoned his identity as a spider priest. So how does he balance between the Spider God and the Holy Light? How can he maintain both faiths at the same time?
The shamanistic ritual ended quickly. Haikesi closed his eyes and pondered for a moment before announcing, "At least five Poison Spiders have crossed the line in the past week, and I have information on the whereabouts of three of them."
"What are we waiting for? Take us to deal with them!" Unas ordered impatiently.
The Troll remounted his horse and led the group into a nearby forest. After searching, they found their target in a tree hollow—a giant Poison Spider the size of a millstone, covered in barbs.
Haikesi simply calls this species Greenspike. Its characteristic is that it can launch poisonous barbs from its body to injure people. If there are many of them, they will be difficult to deal with, but a lone one does not pose much of a threat.
The Troll lured it out of the tree hole, and the group immediately surrounded the monster. The Copperhammer Brothers, armed like iron cans, rushed forward and almost smashed it flat with a few blows.
Unas rushed over to check on the monster, and seeing that it was still alive, he took out his Firekiss and plunged it into its hideous head. The light entered its body, and he gained experience.
He had repeatedly emphasized that unless absolutely necessary, the final blow should be delivered by him, because that would give him the most experience. To this end, he even came up with the grand excuse of "hoping that I would bear all the consequences of the killings" to deal with everyone's questions.
However, the Dwarf Warriors ' brutal fighting style almost caused Unas to "waste his efforts." Fortunately, the spider was incredibly resilient; even with its body mostly flattened, it was still breathing.
The Troll began to dispose of the spider's corpse. He carefully cut off the spider's eight long legs and even pulled out a few pieces of tender, white flesh from the body.
Unas watched as he carefully stuffed the spider meat and legs into his backpack and asked curiously, "Is this meat edible?"
"There are trace amounts of toxins, but they can be eaten after purification. The crispy spider legs and spider sausages are both quite delicious. Lord Unas, please do me the honor of joining us for dinner tonight."
Unas regretted asking him the question; the leg covered in poisonous thorns and the flesh dug from the disgusting remains didn't look appetizing at all.