Magic Crystals

As Li Si and Ya Er examined the rare Kobold Shaman, Arsen checked and cleared out the holes in the surrounding walls.

All the adult kobolds had already been killed by Ya Er and Arsen. Only some kobold hatchlings and unhatched eggs remained in the caves.

Yes, kobolds were oviparous.

They placed all their laid eggs in communal hatcheries. They did not distinguish whether the offspring were their own, instead having the entire settlement raise and educate them together. It was a standard clan-based survival system.

Arsen killed the young kobolds in the caves one by one, including the hatchlings that had not yet opened their eyes.

There was no room for mercy when dealing with monsters that endangered human survival.

If even a few hatchlings were spared, their extraordinary breeding rate could see another kobold nest appear here before long!

Li Si inspected the Kobold Shaman where he stood. Although Kobold Shamans were all Dragon Blood Warlocks, the dragon blood in their bodies was far too diluted to be worth purifying.

Li Si took a longsword from his Storage Ring and began searching through the cave that was clearly the Kobold Shaman's dwelling.

If this kobold tribe possessed anything valuable, it should have been kept near the Kobold Shaman, who was their leader.

Using the longsword to turn over the clutter in the cave, Li Si indeed made a new discovery beneath the bones and animal hides.

Several crystalline stones were piled together, each about the size of a finger and giving off a faint glow.

Li Si used Mage Hand to pick up a small piece and examined it closely before channeling mana into it for testing. In the end, he confirmed that it was a Magic Crystal.

Though it was not as valuable as Magic Gems worth tens of thousands, its excellent mana storage and conduction properties meant it was often used in magical equipment and valuable elemental research instruments. Even the small piece in his hand was worth over a hundred Gold Coins.

This small pile of Magic Crystals before him was worth several hundred Gold Coins. They had not even reached the mission site yet, and they had already made a decent profit. Their luck was not bad.

Li Si glanced at Ya Er. This must have been the luck carried by a Story Protagonist!

After all, his own luck stat was a pitiful three points!

After considering it, Li Si put all the Magic Crystals into his Storage Ring and said to Ya Er, "This counts as our team's loot. I'll hold onto it for now, and we'll split it after we finish the commission and return to the city."

Ya Er had no interest in it. She waved a hand to indicate that it was up to him, while she picked up the Kobold Shaman's staff and kept waving it around. She seemed more interested in some of the patterns inside the kobold cave.

Seeing this, Li Si said nothing more. After carefully searching the Kobold Shaman's cave, he found nothing else apart from a few fragments of gold and rose to leave.

Arsen had already cleared out the entire kobold nest. He wiped the red blood from his longsword and sheathed it.

When he saw Li Si emerge, Arsen asked, "Li Si, all done?"

"Yeah, got a little something."

"Good. Let's head out. Once we're outside, use Earth Magic to bury this nest while you're at it."

"No problem."

With that, the two of them called over Ya Er, who had been wandering around, and returned to the surface through the passage.

The moment he emerged, Li Si could not help taking several deep breaths of fresh air. Even though the kobolds had ventilation shafts in their nest, the strange smell had still made him suffer.

After catching his breath, Li Si took out the Emerald Staff from his ring, gathered mana, and began chanting a spell.

"Stone Claw!"

Earth Movement Spell was a high-circle spell that he had not yet learned, but the third-circle Stone Claw spell he had just mastered could also achieve the effect of destroying terrain.

Under Li Si's control, black three-fingered stone claws continuously emerged from the earth beneath his feet and slammed into the entrance of the kobold cave.

Bang! Bang!

After several loud crashes, the cave entrance had been destroyed. The small hill above it collapsed as well, and the entire kobold nest was buried beneath shattered rocks.

"Job's done."

Li Si waved a hand. After confirming there were no issues, he called Arsen and Ya Er over and headed toward the carriage.

Elena and Lunbos, who had been waiting in the carriage, were relieved to see the three return unharmed.

Elena did throw away the Kobold Shaman's staff that Ya Er had picked up. It was just a piece of junk made of bones and branches, nothing more than decoration. She had no idea why Ya Er, a little girl, had brought it back.

Ya Er pursed her lips. Already used to being lectured by Elena, she did not resist and climbed onto the carriage with a wronged expression.

The group continued toward Tony Baron's vineyard. Although the kobolds had delayed them for a while, they could still reach their destination before nightfall if they hurried a little.

As the sun began to set, Li Si and the others caught sight of Tony Baron's town territory.

The town atop the hill was not very large. A clear stream flowed past the foot of the hill, and the castle at the summit, with its dark gray walls, stood out among the surrounding low brick-and-stone houses. It appeared that Tony Baron's territory had a population of around a thousand.

As far as the eye could see, lush green vineyards stretched into the distance, yet barely any farmers could be seen tending them.

With their destination in sight, everyone perked up, and the exhaustion from riding in the carriage all day faded somewhat.

As the carriage approached the town, a middle-aged man was pacing back and forth outside it. When he saw Li Si and the others' carriage approaching, he hurried over in delight.

"May I ask if you are the esteemed guests from the Mercenary Guild? I am the steward, Zeman. Lord Tony is already waiting for you in the castle. Please follow me."

Zeman knew that these people were all Silver-level experts, so he did not dare treat them with the attitude he used toward laborer mercenaries, even though he had been waiting here all day.

Li Si and the others got down from the carriage. The baron's coachman naturally took care of the carriage, while they followed Steward Zeman toward the baron's castle.

Li Si observed the houses on both sides of the road. Their doors and windows were tightly shut, and not a single pedestrian could be seen in the entire town. Only a few guards remained at the castle gate in the distance.

"What happened? Has that unknown magical beast already invaded the town?" Arsen also found it strange and asked Zeman.

"Last night, two residents disappeared in the town. Only bloodstains were found. It was the first time that magical beast had attacked people inside the town, so everyone is too frightened to leave their homes now," Zeman said uneasily, glancing toward the surrounding corners from time to time as though afraid the magical beast would suddenly leap out and attack him.

"Has it gotten this serious already?" Arsen's expression turned grave. It was quite rare for magical beasts to directly invade a town and ambush its residents.

No wonder the town felt utterly lifeless and so desolate. If they did not resolve this quickly, merchants might stop coming here to trade altogether.

That would be a tremendous blow to the Tony Baron Territory, which made its living by growing grapes and brewing wine.

Please keep reading, brothers. (:з"∠)