It was at least seven or eight meters away from where he was now! This was not a jump after a full run-up, nor was it even a standing long jump with full power. It was just a hasty jump to avoid the enemy's crossbow arrows. It was just such a casual jump, but with one jump he jumped straight up to a full seven or eight meters! This inhuman jumping ability was the reason why he fell just now. His awareness of his body was still at the level before he fell into a coma, and it did not match his current actual state at all. In this state, with this astonishing jumping ability - while Li Yin continued to run forward, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning: ——It is a natural ability unique to ghouls! What on earth was going on? Li Yin wondered again. Have I really turned into a zombie? However, he quickly put this question aside because there was a more urgent situation that he needed to deal with - he had to escape immediately and use all his strength to escape, otherwise no matter whether he was a ghoul now or not, once he fell into the hands of the dark elves, he would probably end up becoming a "ghost". "Stop!" At the same time, the dark elf's loud shout came again from behind.
The sound was not far from Li Yin. Although Li Yin had unexpectedly jumped a full seven or eight meters, in the space when he fell and stood up, the dark elf had quickly approached. "Slave." The dark elf shouted again, with an indescribable surprise in his voice, as if he had discovered some treasure, "Monster slave!" As he shouted, more footsteps were heard in the distance. The dense footsteps were not uniform. Among the fragmented and chaotic sounds, there was a faint heavier and richer sound. Li Yin suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. He looked back and was shocked. Suddenly, several huge figures appeared in the thick darkness in the distance. A lizard as big as a bull was running towards him at a rapid speed, its scaly jaws opened wide, its white teeth stood like swords, and its scarlet forked tongue flickered in and out, making a terrifying hissing sound in the air. Damn, it's the giant lizard cavalry! The giant lizard cavalry unique to the dark elves! "Damn it!" Li Yin cursed, then clenched his teeth and quickened his pace. "It would be nice if there was 'Grease the soles of your feet' or 'Light Feather Steps'," he sighed helplessly as he stepped over a rock that lay before him. These two spells can greatly increase the user's movement speed and ability to move in difficult terrain, and are the best choice for low-level mages to escape and save their lives. Unfortunately, he couldn't cast either of these two most basic first-level spells. To be precise, he is now unable to cast any proper spells, even though he is a wizard. Because he was not prepared. In the minds of ordinary people, mages are powerful beings who can call down wind and thunder with a wave of their hands and turn enemies into ashes with a smile, but this is not the case. The spells themselves may have power as great as people imagine, but casting spells is by no means as easy as they imagine. The essence of arcane magic is to use human spirit to interfere with the universe and drive the majestic power of heaven and earth to achieve one's own goals. In order to manipulate the universe, people must first manipulate their own spirit - shape their own spirit into a form that can maximize the drive of cosmic energy and achieve the results that fully meet their own goals. Such a form is called "spiritual structure" or "spell model" by mages. The relationship between mental structure and spells is like that between architectural drawings and finished buildings. Different spells have different mental structures, and each structure is very detailed and complex, hundreds or thousands of times more complex than a real architectural drawing. Such a complex structure is simply impossible to be clearly stored in the mind forever. Therefore, mages always build these "mental structures" in advance - referring to their own spell books that record complete spell information. In other words, every spell cast by a mage is prepared in advance. When it is needed, it is quickly released through the guidance of spells and gestures. The biggest difference between a mental structure and an architectural blueprint is that the architectural blueprint is only a reference for construction, while the mental structure itself is part of the spell. It is both the rules that guide the operation of magic and the "fuel" that drives magic. This means that every mental structure will be consumed when the wizard completes the spell. If you want to recast the same spell, the wizard must rebuild the mental structure of the spell - or he has anticipated his needs and prepared multiple identical spell models in advance. The dilemma that Li Yin is facing now is that all the spells he has prepared had been used up when he was fighting against the mind flayer before.
Now he is like an archer who has lost his quiver, a merchant who has lost his goods... The word "Mage" has no meaning except as an identity mark! No... maybe there is still some meaning... A flash of inspiration suddenly came to Li Yin's mind. The knowledge of undead biology he had studied as a wizard told him that ghouls' movement patterns were different from their human forms in life. When running at full speed, they often used all four limbs. So, maybe I can run faster, as long as? but…… Li Yin's hesitation was not due to the dignity of walking upright, he was just worried about whether he could master this new way of running in a hurry. Just like falling while jumping just now, maybe forcing himself to move in a way he was not used to would only make him slower? While hesitating, he subconsciously turned back, wanting to use the approaching giant lizard cavalry to push himself, letting the emergency situation stimulate his potential and force himself to make changes. However, in this quick glance, he was suddenly stunned. Needless to say, the dark elf who was close to him was left further and further behind. The incredible athletic ability he had acquired was not only his jumping ability, but also a great improvement in his normal running speed. Now the dark elf was not only left far behind by him, but also by his own cavalry companions. Li Yin could no longer see his figure. All he could see was the terrifying giant body of the giant lizard. Four or five giant lizard cavalrymen lined up and rushed towards him. However, to his surprise, even those aggressive cavalrymen were not as close to him as he imagined. He doubted his own judgment, rubbed his eyes, and looked back several times while running. After several times, he finally confirmed something that shocked him: In the field of vision, the figures of the giant lizard cavalry did not show any trend of getting bigger, and even seemed to be shrinking slightly. In other words, the distance between them not only did not shorten, but even showed a trend of slowly lengthening? This incredible discovery made Li Yin secretly shocked for a moment. "Am I really... that fast?" Chapter 4 Dark Elves On the back of the monitor lizard, Zanger's muscles were tense. He held the reins tightly and clamped the saddle tightly, trying to maintain his balance in the violent bumps. He and his mount had just crossed a nearly three-meter vertical rock wall - his mount was a giant gecko unique to the Underdark. Although it looked a bit bulky, it was actually as flexible as its numerous tiny counterparts, able to move freely on vertical steep slopes and even completely upside-down rock domes. In the extremely complex terrain of the underground world, they were perfect mounts. However, this excellent mobility also poses a challenge to the riders, especially when crossing some complex terrain. Despite the help of a special saddle, it is still not an easy task to maintain balance on the bumpy back of a monitor lizard. Stepping onto the rock wall, Zanger steadied his body amid the strong tremors, and looked forward. His scarlet pupils shrank slightly, and his two silver-white brows like sharp swords couldn't help but twist. The distance is farther! In the distance, pale figures flashed in the darkness, rising and falling in the rugged terrain. This prey...what kind of monster is it? At first, judging by its size, he thought it was a human or an elf, but the target's athletic ability was far beyond the normal level of these two races. "Captain!" Behind him, Denis also controlled his monitor lizard to climb up the rock wall, gasping for breath. Although he hadn't had time to say the next words, Zanger had already understood his thoughts through his shocked tone. "Shoot," he gave a brief command, and at the same time he pulled out his crossbow from his left saddlebag. Unless necessary, they would try to avoid using long-range weapons when hunting slaves, especially for extremely precious and rare slaves. Because arrows have no eyes, if they accidentally cause serious injuries to slaves, the value of the slaves will be greatly reduced. In order to ensure that the prey can retain the highest value, the most commonly used strategy is to rely on the excellent mobility of the giant lizard to approach the target, and then use the unique martial arts of the dark elves to subdue it in close combat.
However, Zanger never expected that they would encounter such a freak today. Its maneuvering speed was no less than that of the monitor lizard. Although it did not have the monitor lizard's innate ability to adhere to the surface of objects, its terrifying jumping ability also allowed it to move freely in complex terrain without any hindrance. If they continue to let it escape like this, they will soon lose their target. Therefore, Zanger did not hesitate much. Whether it is a wounded or dead prey, it is always better than an escaped prey. At a command, all the cavalrymen drew their crossbows, and while continuing to spur their mounts in pursuit, they aimed their crossbow arrows at the rising and falling figures in the darkness in the distance during the violent bumps. ------------ Flutter, flutter... Suddenly, a dense and rapid sound of breaking through the air came from behind. Li Yin was startled, his body hair stood on end, and he subconsciously jumped to the side. A rain of arrows passed through his original position, striking sparks on the hard rock surface in the dark. This time, because he had gradually gotten used to the rapid increase in his jumping ability, Li Yin did not lose his balance, landed steadily, and continued to run forward without hesitation. After a while, there was another rain of arrows. Li Yin was well prepared. This time he concentrated his mind and captured the trajectory of the arrows more quickly than before. He leaped to the side and once again avoided all the arrows without any danger. Even so, he still felt a little anxious. This won't work. We'll keep being treated as sitting ducks by the other side and eventually we'll get shot. Moreover, his running speed was not much faster than that of the Dark Elves' giant lizard cavalry. He was inevitably dragged down by the need to jump and dodge the opponent's arrows. If this continued, he would probably be gradually approached by the opponent, and then he would be left with no way out! He turned back hastily, not knowing whether it was a fact or a psychological suggestion, he felt that the monitor lizard in his field of vision was a little larger than before, and he felt even more panicked. At the same time, he saw cold stars on the giant lizard's back. It was the dark elf who had reloaded the crossbow and was about to aim at him and shoot again. He immediately turned around, ran as fast as he could, and pricked up his ears to listen carefully to the movement behind him. This can't go on any longer. At the same time, his heart was screaming anxiously again. The arrows came again. He dodged them again. However, the anxiety and helplessness in his heart did not diminish in the slightest. It was not surprising that he still had no solution after thinking hard. As a captive who had just escaped from the cage, he had no weapons or tools at hand; as a wizard, he had already used up all his magic... Otherwise, a second-ring "Protective Arrow" magic can perfectly solve the current problem. He looked up helplessly and scanned his surroundings, subconsciously trying to find an unexpected life-saving straw. Suddenly, he couldn't help but feel happy. Looking up, the heavy rock dome suddenly fell in front of him, the rugged ground kept rising, and the rock walls on both sides were gradually narrowing. About one kilometer ahead of where he was now, it was no longer an extremely wide cave, but a dark cave entrance. As long as they could get into the cave, everything would be fine. He looked very happy. In the cramped, narrow, and winding cave, neither cavalry nor crossbows could be effective. Of course, the premise is that it is not a fatal point.
Li Yin was not too worried about this. The terrain of the Underdark was like this. The entire underground world was made up of caves connected to each other, large and small. However, some caves were hundreds or thousands of miles wide, and more than ten miles high, like a world of their own, while some caves were as narrow as ordinary caves on the surface. In short, the probability that this narrow cave entrance is a dead end is not high. It is either part of a network of cave mazes that are interconnected, or it is the intersection leading to the next vast "world". Even if that was really a fatal flaw, Li Yin could only consider himself unlucky. After all, he had no other way to escape since he was being pursued. Thinking of this, he took a deep breath, gathered his strength, and ran towards the cave entrance. The sound of rain of arrows came again. He leaped three meters diagonally to the right and dodged it again without any suspense. Then the second time, the third time, the fourth time... The arrow passed through the previous position again. Li Yin couldn't remember how many times this had happened. His body was still floating in the air, but his originally unstable heart gradually settled down. He even felt that he was making a big fuss. According to the poor archery skills of these dark elves, maybe they would not be able to hit him even if they shot all the crossbow arrows. Weird! Li Yin, who was greatly relieved, couldn't help but secretly complain. Aren't the elves famous for their archery skills? How could they - The sound of the wind suddenly increased, and the thoughts came to an abrupt end. Li Yin was in mid-air, and before he could react, a sharp pain suddenly came from his left shin. He let out a painful groan, his body fell rapidly, and he fell to the ground with a thud. Chapter 5: Unparalleled "Stop!" Zanger raised his hand to stop his men from continuing to shoot. He looked at the figure that suddenly fell in the darkness in the distance, a hint of arrogance rose in his sharp red eyes. He nodded with satisfaction and retracted his crossbow. That monster is indeed unusual. It seemed as if it had eyes on its back. It could always predict the direction of the arrows in advance and then avoid them in time with its unparalleled jumping ability. However, no matter how strange and ferocious the prey is, it cannot withstand the elven hunter's time-honed wisdom. After several consecutive failures, Zanger simply gave up the idea of a direct hit. He used his subordinates' arrows as a cover and delayed firing. When his crossbow arrows were fired, the monster was already in mid-air because of avoiding the previous crossbow arrows. At this time, no matter how sharp its perception was or how developed its jumping ability was, it was useless. The sharp vision of the elves, coupled with the unique ability of the dark elves to see in the dark, allowed Zanger to clearly see that his arrow had accurately pierced the left calf of the prey even from a long distance in the dark underground. Sure enough, when the prey got up from the ground again, its posture had become limping and its movement speed had decreased sharply. This way, there is no need to shoot with crossbows. With a clang, Zanger drew out the silver-white long sword at his waist, held the sword in one hand and the reins in the other, clamped his legs on the saddle, shouted loudly, and drove his mount forward to chase after him. Behind him, the other dark elf cavalrymen also put down their crossbows, drew out their own melee weapons, and followed the leader's footsteps. ------------ The giant beast's plop-plop footsteps were approaching rapidly, and along with it came the loud and evil shouts of the dark elf cavalry. Li Yin endured the severe pain and ran with difficulty while dragging his left foot that was hit by an arrow. It was only a few dozen steps away from the cave entrance, but the breathing sound of the monitor lizard Slasla so close behind made the distance seem out of reach. Li Yin turned around hastily and saw a dark elf cavalryman running up to him, raising a spear and stabbing at him. The flashing cold edge of the spear tip made his mind go blank.
He was just a wizard, and had never received any close combat training. The few times he had adventured, he had used magic to deal with enemies from a distance. At this moment, he was in danger, but he didn't have any response plan in his mind. The cold front is approaching rapidly. Just as the tip of the spear was about to touch his body and pierce him through, his desire to survive finally took over, and he instinctively dodged to the side. If his foot had not been injured, he would have jumped up in surprise just like he did before to avoid the arrow. However, the injury on his foot restricted his movements, so he could only move to the side. The spear tip passed by him and with a "swish" sound, it tore through his clothes and left a bloody mark on his chest.