Chapter 147: Chapter 82 Mysterious Blacksmith_4
Translator: 549690339
Leonard Churchill didn’t mind being the weak link in the team. It was less stress for him.
Not long after their journey started, the sounds of battle echoed through the mine.
Sudden screams of people falling from a height could be heard too.
People were dying the moment they entered.
This environment was a perfect hunting ground for the werewolves. They hid in the shadows and could pop up from anywhere.
The werewolves on the first level of the mine were not much of a problem.
According to the intel, most of the werewolves were transformed from ordinary miners, their power levels were just about that of an advanced card apprentice.
However, the bloodline of werewolves made their combat power much higher.
The real trouble was the Catastrophe Level werewolves, the powerful knights who had been transformed due to pollution.
But, not many were on the first level.
Most of the Catastrophe Level werewolves were below the second level of the mine.
Leonard didn’t let his guard down, his hand resting on the gunstock, his eyes observing their surroundings carefully.
But he also noticed something and murmured to himself, “The dark elements inside this mine is much denser than the outside…”
The deeper they went, the more intense the dark elements became.
The intel stated that the mine had three levels.
He was very curious about what could possibly be at the bottom of this mine.
But the third level was extremely dangerous and would trigger a Level B plot.
Their goal this time was of Level C difficulty, and they didn’t plan to go to the third level.
They hadn’t walked for long before the sounds of gunfire and battle echoed all around them.
The werewolves hiding in the dark on the first level seemed to be attracted by the scent of humans.
Suddenly, a whooshing sound broke the silence.
Leonard’s sharp gaze was on Alison who was the target of a leaping shadow from the cliff.
The attack was very sudden.
Liam Martinez, the leader of the group, also noticed it and yelled, “Watch out!” Alison looked like a delicate huntress, but as a ranger, she was one of the agile extraordinary men, and her response was very quick!
As the murderous intent came from above, she wasted no time and leaped towards the cliff. She fired crossbow arrows with one hand while her other hand shot out a steel cable which wrapped around a wooden stake.
After all, they were a team, and their cooperation was seamless.
Liam also raised his shield in time, charging at the figure that suddenly appeared behind him.
There was a muffled “thud” sound.
The giant werewolf was pushed against the cliff
An arrow stuck in its eye.
A brightly lit longsword stuck in its jaw, piercing through its throat.
Blood gushed out in an instance.
A werewolf, which usually required four or five card master apprentices to kill, was dispatched with one strike by the knight in heavy armor.
At this point, Alison has also retracted the steel cable, lightly landed back on the wooden plank.
The two of them worked together to resolve the werewolf attack within a second.
The fight was quickly initiated and ended swiftly.
Watching the werewolf pinned against the wall, with blood spurting from its mouth, Leonard was intrigued.
This was the first time he had seen a werewolf, a creature of myths.
It was over two meters tall and looked like an upright giant wolf. However, its physique was more human, wearing tattered mining shorts, its trapezius muscles were remarkably so and its lower limbs were strong and robust. Its muscles looked as hard as if they were carved from rocks. Its sharp tusks and retractable razor-sharp claws were terrifying.
The werewolf had used these claws to hang onto the cliff and had an opportunity to ambush them. Even a glance at the armor sparked a flash of fire.
Seeing the power of the target of his journey for himself, Leonard felt an anticipation rising within him: “Supernatural agility, supernatural strength, supernatural self-healing, supernatural tenacity, supernatural perceptual abilities… such perfect attributes.”
He looked at the corpse, eyes burning with eagerness.
Compared to one of the previous choices, the “thunder war bear”, although its defense was stronger, it also had the drawback of slow movement.
On the other hand, the werewolf was like a hexagonal close-combat creature.
If he were to integrate with one, there could be no better choice.
After killing a werewolf,
Liam and Alison, the front runners of the group, did not think they’ve accomplished anything significant.
As Liam wiped the blood off his sword and collected the white extraordinary material from the corpse, he turned around and reminded, “Little Garcia, be careful.”
Tracy Garcia nodded, “Understood.”
As she said this, her gaze inside the helmet shifted to someone at the back of the group.
She chose not to speak.
But Leonard understood the look she gave him, a look normally saved for liars.
He payed no attention, inwardly complementing, “Not bad at all…”
Tracy had mentioned earlier that her companions were quite competent. Leonard hadn’t thought much of it since he hadn’t seen them in action.
Now that he had seen them, he realized how strong they were.
They were not some ordinary rogue hunters.
That charge and kill move from earlier revealed a lot to Leonard.
Liam must be superior in demon mark, martial skills, and profession card to be able to kill the werewolf in a matter of seconds.
The armor on him was also pretty good.
It’s no worse than the frost knight of the Miller Family.
Leonard Churchill thought it was quite nice too.
With a Black Knight that could withstand damage, he even felt that the four of them could randomly wander into the second layer of the mine.
The four continued their descent.
Tracy Garcia suddenly turned around and asked, “Mr. Leonard Churchill, why don’t you go ahead of me?”
Leonard Churchill looked at the pigtailed girl and, understanding her intention, shook his head, “No need.”
Tracy Garcia thought he was being proud and reassured, “It’s alright. There will be more werewolves deeper in the mine.”
Leonard Churchill tried not to laugh, “Really, it’s not necessary. I’m also pretty good in combat.”
“Oh.”
Tracy Garcia still seemed a bit worried, but seeing his confident expression, she didn’t insist any further.
After walking for nearly half an hour, the hunters gradually descended deeper into the mine.
Many people entered, and as the teams dispersed, so did the werewolves.
Although there were occasional sounds of battle, none of them were too intense.
Some teams weren’t as precise and swift as Leonard Churchill’s in dealing with the werewolves, but none were in any real danger.
Swiftly, they passed through a tunnel and arrived at the second level of the mine.
Here, there was an even larger pit than before.
There were also more complex wooden frames and platforms.
On the rock walls around, apart from the black metallic sheen, there were specks of silver, which was Mithril.
The most distinctive feature of the exceptional material, Mithril, was its strong magic conductivity, hence its widespread use.
It was also very pricey.
The hunters needed to find an iron ore with a purity level above 17 for their mission, but if they could also find a piece of high-purity Mithril ore, they would make a fortune.
Leonard Churchill casually picked up a piece, which the Enlightenment Display showed to be waste iron ore with a purity of 3.
To find high-purity ones, they need to go deeper.
Leonard Churchill didn’t pay much attention to the ores. Instead, he was increasingly puzzled by the ever-intensifying dark element around.
Why would there be such a strong Dark Power here?
It seemed that the reason werewolves preferred to pile up in this mine was due to this dense dark element.
The four continued their descent.
Werewolves were intelligent creatures. Probably seeing that the four of them were not to be trifled with, no werewolf attacked them afterwards.
Leonard Churchill occasionally spotted glowing red eyes glaring fiercely at them from a distance, but they didn’t dare come closer.
And so, they continued their descent.
There were many werewolves in the second level of the mine because this was where most of the miners used to work.
The frequency of battle sounds increased, and hunters were injured or killed one after another.
But this was within the normal casualty rate.
This didn’t deter the hunters from continuing their exploration.
Various treasures were discovered along the way, making everyone excited about their exploration.
Even Leonard Churchill and his team, trailing behind, found some weapons, gold and silver coins, etc.
These could be worth tens of thousands.
The entry fee was worth it.
Under normal circumstances, a few hours in here would be enough for them to find treasures that covered their entry fee, and complete the tasks of collecting ores and hunting werewolves.
Then they could return to the city.
The subsequent two days would be for individual actions.
That’s pretty much what a C-level difficulty was like.
However, like werewolves, the unexpected came without warning.
When the group of hunters reached the depths of the second level of the mine, Enlightenment happened suddenly.
‘Hidden plot triggered, exploration rate +15%; Wolfsbane blooming, dormant werewolves will actively hunt for food; current Disaster Level B.’
Seeing the sudden alert, Tracy Garcia and the other two were taken aback.
The difficulty suddenly increased to B-level, which meant a death rate of 50% was waving at them.
Apparently, it wasn’t just them.
All the hunters saw it.
The mine echoed with curses instantly.
“Damn it, who went to the third level?!”
“Who the hell is trying to get us killed?!”
“Run, the B-level catastrophe from the third level is out!”
Leonard Churchill’s expression didn’t change upon hearing this. Instead, he seemed to have understood something and thought, “So that was the Black Wolf Group’s plan all along.”
They were using the other hunters to trigger a higher-level plot.
As Leonard Churchill had speculated.
However, he also felt the C-level difficulty was rather meaningless,
Now, with the B-level difficulty,
it felt just right..