Hunting

The night sky over the Dark Land was a pale red canopy, Darkness Gate Expeditionary Force Camp was built in a mountain valley.

The campsite was flanked by only slightly gentle earthen slopes, which could hardly be called earthen mounds. Roy, wearing a Magic Cloak, climbed up to the top of the earthen mound in one go along the not-so-flat path.

Looking out from the black earthen ridges, under the pale red sky, the entire area is basically composed of these undulating ridges.

The clumps of light-colored black mist on the slope are ordinary Dark Creatures. These black mists vary in size, but they are basically only one or two meters in diameter. They maintain a certain distance from each other and float in the air about one meter above the ground.

Among these black mists, there are also some darker-colored mist clusters, which are generally larger in size; these are considered advanced Dark Creatures.

They possess an independent hunting instinct, wandering freely in the air, and devouring any ordinary Dark Creatures they encounter...

Each time they devour an ordinary Dark Creatures, they remain calm for a long time.

These Black Mist mists were everywhere, but they weren't very dense. Even the Dark Creatures that were relatively close to each other were still more than ten meters apart...

Roy observed them carefully for a while and found that they were moving on the ground, as if they were absorbing some dark energy emanating from the black soil.

Standing in the vast wilderness, Roy decided to venture further out and made his first attempt in the Dark Land.

He cast a ' Glimmer Illumination Spell on a hillside, causing a wisp of Divine Light to slowly float into the air. Under the illumination of this Divine Light, the Dark Creatures floating nearby were affected, and the dark aura on their bodies began to evaporate.

Driven by instinct, these ordinary Dark Creatures gathered toward the Divine Light.

This Divine Light acted like a magnet, attracting the surrounding Dark Creatures. Some of the more vulnerable Dark Creatures were evaporated by the gentle holy light halfway through their journey.

Only a few powerful Dark Creatures are able to gather around the Divine Light Divine Light, shrouding it in a black veil.

Roy, waiting under the Divine Light, was like a hunter, constantly casting ' Purification Art ' on these Dark Creatures. Thick wisps of dark mist vanished into nothingness under the holy light.

Not every Dark Creatures leaves behind a soul crystal. Only high-level Dark Creatures, after being purified, have a certain chance of leaving behind a soul crystal the size of a fingernail.

Roy was a 13th-level High Priest. The Holy Light Tree within him contained a large amount of Holy Light Power. After purifying hundreds of high-level Dark Creatures, Roy was able to pick up more than twenty soul crystals from the ground beneath his feet.

However, for every Dark Creatures he banished, a wisp of soul energy would enter Roy's body, and Roy discovered that this soul energy had a significant nourishing effect on the Holy Light Tree.

Although it cannot directly restore Roy's Holy Light Power, it is still very good since it can nourish the Holy Light Tree.

As daylight approaches in the Dark Land, the number of Dark Creatures in the wilderness increases, and Dark Creatures resembling dark clouds even appear in the distant sky.

The daytime in the Dark Land is pitch black night for the elves.

At this time, the Dark Creatures become unusually active...

Roy dared not linger on the hillside any longer and quickly extinguished the Divine Light above his head. With the burning of the holy light gone, the Dark Creatures around him fell silent once more.

However, the number of Dark Creatures floating on the hillside where Roy was located had dwindled to very few...

Roy wrapped his Magic Cloak tightly around his body, then quickly walked down the slope, dodging the floating Dark Creatures, and jogged back to the Darkness Gate Expeditionary Force Camp.

At the Darkness Gate Expeditionary Force Camp, Captain Timothy, leading a squad of Dark Moon Elf Warrior, had just finished patrolling the camp when he saw Roy, wrapped in a magic cloak, dashing in from outside the valley before it got completely dark.

Seeing that Boss Roy had returned safely, Captain Timothy breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The magic cloak was indeed able to shield the senses of Dark Creatures. He saw Roy walk past the Dark Creatures several times, and the Dark Creatures seemed oblivious to him.

Every day at this time, many Half-Elf Warrior gather by the pool.

During their time stationed at the Dark Lords Expeditionary Force camp, the Elf Warrior of the Mine Guard Regiment had almost nothing to do except patrol the camp every day. Recently, everyone had gotten into the habit of gathering by the pool after dark to practice the 'Gathering Illumination' spell that Roy had taught them. Currently, three Half-Elf Warrior have successfully learned this simple divine spell.

The Elf Warrior heard that only by learning the ' Glimmer Illumination Spell would they have a chance to leave the Expeditionary Force, and their enthusiasm for learning divine magic soared.

Roy walked into the camp from outside, took off the Magic Cloak he was wearing, and went to the pool to take a plate of fruit and a cup of Tree of Life Sap from an Elf Warrior.

Since the Mine Guard Regiment entered the Dark Land, the Tree of Life Sap has become a regular on Mine Guard Regiment menu.

Roy took a sip of the diluted Tree of Life Sap, feeling the rich life force spread throughout his body. Roy found Captain Timothy by the pool, sat down next to him, and then proudly took out a few soul crystals from his Magic Pouch and handed them to Captain Timothy.

"Is this all you got from the Dark Creatures?" Captain Timothy asked Roy, examining a soul crystal in his hand.

Roy said while eating dinner, "Well, this kind of thing is only occasionally found by some high-level Dark Creatures."

"What's in this crystal?" Captain Timothy asked, fiddling with the soul crystal in his hand.

"I don't know. I've never seen this thing on the magic market. But it probably isn't worth much. After all, high-level Dark Creatures are everywhere. You can easily get twenty or so by just squatting for a day. It shouldn't be as valuable as Magic Crystal Stone," Roy explained, shaking his head.

He then added, "I plan to go further afield tomorrow."

"Then you'd better be careful..."

Captain Timothy really wanted to go with Roy, but the Mine Guard Regiment only had one Magic Cloak, so he couldn't leave the camp...

"Don't worry, I'll be very careful."

Roy said smugly.

The repair work on the Darkness Gate is still inconclusive, and the mages are weary and irritable.

These individuals, who could represent the highest authority of sealing magic arrays in the Silver Moon Elf Kingdom, were still helpless when faced with the Darkness Gate, which possessed countless obscure spatial runes.

However, the Darkness Gate connects the Elf Continent and the Dark Land, so they naturally couldn't ignore this troublesome situation.

Several mages gathered together, rested for a while, restored their mana through meditation, and drank some Mana Potion.

The two mages leading the repair work started arguing again with the magical blueprints in hand.

Archmage Eroud sat on the steps, charging his staff.

Roy walked over from the camp, and the archmage Eroud smiled and asked Roy, "Commander Roy, is there anything I can do to help you?"

Roy took a soul crystal from his Magic Pouch and handed it to Eroud, then respectfully asked the Magister Eroud:

"Magister Eroud, do you recognize this?"

Eroud glanced at it and returned the soul crystal to Roy, smiling as he told him, "This is a soul crystal fragment, the smallest one. You got it from those Dark Creatures outside the camp?"

"Um."

Roy nodded in agreement.

Magister Eroud said again:

"This is a magical material, but we elven mages rarely have access to it. It's the necromancers who really like it, so I can't really say what its specific value is."

Roy quickly thanked Magister Eroud: "Thank you, Magister Eroud!"

He had never heard of the profession of necromancer before, at least not at the Elf Academy in Castleton City...

Roy didn't bother Magister Eroud any further, but instead tactfully returned to the poolside.

A group of Half-Elf Warrior sitting by the pool exclaimed in surprise. They hadn't expected Roy in just a short while, six Half-Elf Warrior had successfully cast the ' Glimmer Illumination Spell.

Once you've successfully cast a divine spell once and found that subtle feeling, it becomes easier to cast it again.

As clusters of Divine Light rose above the pool, they drew envious gasps of amazement from a group of Half-Elf Warrior ...

In the following days, Roy frequently ran out of the Expeditionary Force, found a secluded hilltop, used the Divine Light to attract the surrounding Dark Creatures, and then used the Purification Art to drive them away. Almost all of the high-level Dark Creatures died under the Purification Art.

There were also a few powerful high-level Dark Creatures that couldn't be purified by the Purification Art, so Roy had to use Holy Light Bullet to completely shatter them...

In just five days, Roy discovered that his physique had changed a lot, and the Holy Light Tree in his body was also growing rapidly, with many new branches sprouting from its lush canopy.

Every day, Roy purifies the Dark Creatures on the mountain ridge. Once the Holy Light Power within him is nearly exhausted, he retreats from the mountain ridge back to the Expeditionary Force...

Just sitting by the pool for one night will quickly replenish the Holy Light Power in your body.

He had already accumulated more than a hundred soul crystals the size of a little fingernail. Roy felt that if he continued to hunt high-level Dark Creatures like this, he would be able to advance again in no time.

He had almost wiped out the Dark Creatures around the earthen mounds near the Darkness Gate Valley, and new Dark Creatures wouldn't be replenishing their ranks so quickly. If Roy wanted to hunt high-level Dark Creatures, he would have to go to more distant places.

The Magic Cloak requested by the Mine Guard Regiment was still not delivered, so Captain Timothy and the Elf Warrior were unable to stay with Roy.

Upon hearing that he wanted to travel to more distant places, Captain Timothy was naturally the first to stand up, stating that hunting in the Dark Land was risky and disagreeing with Roy going to venture further afield alone.