Encounter

The Adventure Group is preparing to lure and capture a griffin.

This is quite simple: if an elf walks alone on a hillside overgrown with weeds, he will be attacked by griffins circling overhead.

Instructor Nora wanted the Adventure Group members to understand the fighting style of griffins, so she planned to lure one over from the hillside.

At the same time, the Adventure Group also needs to prove the strength of each member to the guide Majeri.

Although the instructors demonstrated their abilities in the previous hunts, those magical beasts were not griffins after all...

Guide Majeri needs to know whether the Adventure Group actually has the ability to hunt griffins.

This is one of the necessary conditions for crossing the Bulwark Mountain Range.

If the Adventure Group can't even defeat a single griffin, then it's best to obediently run back to Bulwark Village before the forest completely disappears.

The woodland became sparse, and clumps of low shrubs covered the grassy hillside.

Some shrubs are covered with thorns, while the weeds are full of gravel, and the slopes are very steep. Landslides occur frequently, making the environment extremely unpleasant.

However, this area is also a natural pasture for argali sheep, with their favorite food and cliffs for them to leap on. Therefore, Adventure Group often see flocks of sheep jumping back and forth on the hillside.

These are also among the griffins' favorite foods.

The argali sheep are agile and adept at climbing rock walls. Griffins can only catch them on this grassy hillside. Once the argali sheep climb the rock wall, the griffins are no longer willing to catch them.

The griffins didn't want to crash headfirst into the cliff face either.

Although griffins possess Iron Will and can smash a large crater in a rock wall, they can never catch a nimble argali sheep.

Almost every member of the Adventure Group was wearing a hat woven from shrubs, and they were all lying in the tall grass.

Instructor Eleanor originally intended to be the decoy.

But this time, Instructor Virgil stepped forward, saying that he was more suitable for the task Instructor Eleanor, since a swordsman would be more agile...

So he lay down on a rock and sunbathed.

Instructor Nora and Instructor Eleanor hid in the place closest to him.

Roy stayed with Instructor Gru the whole time, so he was a bit far away.

Sabrina, Miss Christine, and the Magician Scarlett were hiding in another secluded place.

Instructor Virgil lay alone on a boulder, gazing up at the azure sky.

High above, there were hardly any clouds, and the steep peaks could be seen at a glance, with several griffins soaring in the sky hovering back and forth on the peaks.

In Griffon Bulwark, there are countless such towering peaks that pierce the sky. Clearly, this mountain peak is home to a huge Griffon Nests, or even a griffin colony.

In Instructor Virgil's view, most of the sky was azure, and a small portion was towering cliffs.

Suddenly, a griffin glided down from the sky. With its wings spread, it could rise straight up with the air currents, and when it folded its wings, it would fall like a falling star.

The griffin had clearly spotted its prey, which is why it swooped down so quickly.

Instructor Virgil was somewhat excited; his elbows and feet were braced against the boulder, and although he was lying on the boulder, he seemed ready to leap up at any moment...

Then, Instructor Virgil discovered that the griffin had not suddenly fallen here, but rather on a grassy slope quite far away.

Instructor Virgil was so angry that he sat up abruptly from the boulder. He had been baking in the sun for a long time and his face felt burning. He hoped that a griffin would spot him and swoop down so he could show off his swordsmanship. He even had a plan of what martial arts technique he would use to dodge the griffin's swoop.

Unfortunately, the griffin's target was clearly not Instructor Virgil.

Roy, squatting beside Instructor Gru, sighed with deep regret, knowing he could only continue waiting...

One might assume that the griffins would pounce on the elves as soon as they saw them. But in reality, the little black dots hovering on the summit showed no intention of coming down to hunt.

Instructor Virgil lay on the boulder for half an hour, his face glistening with oil from the sun, but the griffin showed no intention of flying over.

Instructor Nora, her head covered in thorny Thorn Vines, stepped out of the grass and called out to Instructor Virgil was lying on the boulder, "Virgil, get up! Let's walk straight up the lawn and see if they dare to rush down..."

Instructor Virgil quickly flipped over and jumped off the boulder.

The other instructors also stood up from their ambush points, and the group continued forward under the guidance of Majeri.

This grassy slope is also very vast, with wild grass, gravel and thorn bushes everywhere. The vegetation here is quite peculiar, with few leaves and many leaves that are very thick.

There were almost no snakes in the meadow, but there were some Agile Lizard, which would occasionally dart out from a crack in the rocks. They ran very fast and would disappear from sight if you weren't careful.

Further up, the weeds thinned out, and some Sea Buckthorn Grass and moss appeared on the ground.

There are more exposed rocks on the mountainside now.

Guide Majeri hopped around on the moss-covered rocks and walked sideways along the mountainside, showing no intention of climbing the rock face.

Roy noticed that there were many scree areas on these grassy slopes, and guide Majeri wished he could avoid them.

Elf hunters generally don't venture into this area; only some Adventure Group will venture further up, as the higher the location, the easier it is to encounter griffins.

The Mountain Road was very difficult to walk on, and under the scorching sun, the team stopped to rest much more frequently.

Roy licked his dry lips, took out a water pouch from his waist, took a big gulp, and then poured the rest of the water over his head. He looked up at the sky; the threat above was still there, but no griffins were flying this way.

He didn't believe the griffins couldn't see the Adventure Group; he could only say they were observing them.

Walking on a hillside covered with loose rocks can be tiring.

Instructor Nora always made the Adventure Group members rest frequently. Along the way, Roy also encountered some strange stone arches and faults tens of meters high.

"We have to climb straight up from here..." said guide Majeri, pointing to the cliff face that was more than 20 meters high.

"That's easy, wait for me!"

Without any hesitation, the Magician Scarlett pulled Magic Broom from her Magic Pouch. This Magic Broom broom handle, equipped with a rudder, Floating Device, and thrust device, actually looked nothing like a real broom handle...

Magician Scarlett manipulated her Magic Broom and flew up, standing atop the cliff in a moment. She then took a bundle of rope from her Magic Pouch, tied one end to a protruding rock, and threw the entire bundle down.

Instructor Eleanor picked up the end of the rope, tugged at it twice, and finding it was tied very securely, she didn't hesitate any longer and was the first to climb up...

Instructor Eleanor pulled on the rope with both hands, her feet firmly planted on the cliff face, and she walked very fast.

"Sabrina, you follow behind Instructor Eleanor!"

"Yes!" Sabrina quickly imitated Instructor Eleanor's movements and climbed up rapidly.

"Christine!"

"Yes!"

"Roy..."

Instructor Nora led the three young elves, followed by Instructor Gru, Guide Majeri, and Instructor Virgil.

Instructor Nora walked at the very back.

Sabrina climbed quickly, easily following Instructor Eleanor to the top of the bare fault cliff. There was only a narrow platform there, and above that was a large area of loose rocks. After passing through this area of loose rocks, they would have to climb the actual cliff face.

Sabrina crouched at the edge of the cliff, first pulling Miss Christine up, then reaching out to pull Roy up as well.

Just as Roy was standing on the narrow platform, Instructor Eleanor was observing the sky nearby, shouted, "Everyone, move fast! A griffin is flying towards us..."

Roy was startled.

He quickly looked up at the sky and sure enough, a griffin appeared in his line of sight. The griffin had already folded its fleshy wings and was swooping down towards the cliff like a cannonball.

Instructor Gru followed Roy, quickly leaping up. He stepped aside a few paces, gripped his Battle Shortbow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at the griffin in the sky.

Guide Majeri was so frightened that he quickly climbed up...

Instructor Virgil hung himself from the rope, looked up at the griffin, and shouted as he did so:

"Nora, you go up first, I'll stay here and distract it!"

Instructor Nora couldn't argue with Instructor Virgil at this moment. Seeing the griffin swooping down like a cannonball, Instructor Nora practically stepped on Instructor Virgil's body to climb up the rock wall.

Instructor Gru led Roy away quickly, while on the other side, Guide Majeri, Sabrina, and Miss Christine were also retreating.

Instructor Nora and Instructor Eleanor stood on either side of Instructor Virgil.

When Majeri saw that Gelu had retreated to a distance of 30 yards and refused to retreat any further, he quickly shouted to Instructor Gru, "Retreat a little further, the blast radius is huge!"

As he said this, the griffin swooped down.

Just as it was about to crash into it, the griffin's body color began to change, and its originally light brown body gradually turned into the color of black iron.

The griffin crashed into the rock wall where Instructor Virgil was, causing countless rocks to crack and collapse.

Instructor Nora and Instructor Eleanor retreated to the safe area in a very disheveled state.

Just as everyone was searching for Instructor Virgil, they discovered that Instructor Virgil was actually wielding a sword with both hands and constantly waving it around his body. The sword light formed an impenetrable shield under Instructor Virgil's frequent movements. Any stones that flew over and touched the sword light shield instantly crumbled.

Behind Instructor Virgil, a phantom image of a Crusader Greatsword appeared, indicating that he had activated his 'momentum' to escape from the shattered rocks.

Just then, a griffin covered in iron armor suddenly pounced out following Instructor Virgil.

Rocks and pebbles fell everywhere, yet the griffin remained completely unharmed...