Emerald Valley, located in the western part of Luso, is different from the poetic name. There is no green in the entire valley. It is full of bottomless swamps and waist-length shallow grass beaches. Locals like to call it deep swamps.

Legend has it that in ancient times, this place was once an oasis and forest with lush water and grass. The only thing that proves that it was once a prosperous area was the beautiful fox. This is a fiery red fox that only lives in a rich area of ​​water and grass. When the Emerald Valley turned into a deep pool, the worm fox, whose original name was the fiery fox, also replaced all black fur in order to adapt to the changes in the environment.

Black is originally an extremely rare color, both among humans and animals. The beautiful fur, like the night, is one of the most popular animal furs of human aristocrats. Because of its extremely expensive price, it has become the main trading item for Luso hunters and merchants.

In order to capture the precious foxes of fur, many people risked their lives to come to this barren land.

There are not only deadly animals such as deep-water scavenging snakes and giant venomous lizards in the valley, but also miasma spreading in the air. Every year, thousands of hunters die due to poisonous gas. Although they know that the areas near the deep-water swamp are not suitable for living and hunting, in order to obtain swamp foxes that can be exchanged for huge benefits, some foreign pioneers and adventurers enter the valley regardless of their own safety.

Winter is the best season for hunting. The cold north wind from the Ice Crystal Continent freezes most of the swamps. The bottomless abyss that originally devour everything can also pass freely. Therefore, the most people come to the Emerald Valley to hunt during this season, and human activities can be seen in any corner of the outer area of ​​the valley.

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"…Woo…Woo…Woo…” The cold wind drifted around the valley with strange sounds similar to the crying of human children.

"Rod, did you hear anything just now?"

In a simple tent set up at a corner of the valley, a group of hunters were asleep. They were hunters from nearby villages and would go to the valley to catch swamp foxes every year.

Gruan, one of the hunters, seemed to hear a strange sound in his shallow sleep. He touched his companion by his arm, and all he could get was sleeping murmurs.

"Damn, come out and take a look." Gruan muttered impatiently, kicking the boy curled up in the corner.

The boy walked out of the tent reluctantly, and was blown by the cold wind, causing him to tremble immediately when he was already wearing thin clothes.

This winter is so cold. Hunters have been here for six days, but they haven't even seen a swamp fox. Everyone can't help but get angry with the orphan Toti in the village.

Toti's father was originally the best hunter in the village. He had been wandering outside for many years and did not return to the village until four years ago. However, he died of illness soon after, leaving only a ten-year-old son.

Because he had no relatives, Totti was often bullied in the village. If it weren't for the kind-hearted old Maiden, he would have starved to death. In order to subsidize the poor old Maiden family, the thin Totti had to go hunting with the hunters in the village to hunt in the Emerald Valley.

Hunters who go out to hunt in teams always divide the prey they catch according to their heads. Although Tote is still young, it is already at the age of being able to participate in hunting. Even if they don’t catch prey, they can still get a certain reward. Therefore, many hunters do not like this kid who gets nothing.

“Woo…”

From the cliff, there was another chirping sound that looked like animals. Toti, who had never seen a swamp fox, subconsciously thought that it must be the sound made by the swamp fox. He had heard the old hunters in the village say that the cry of the swamp fox in the deep swamp was very similar to the cry of a human baby.

"Good luck is here."

Excited to hide his face. Totti thought that if he could catch a swamp fox, he would not have to worry about having no food this winter, not to mention that he would not have to worry about not having food next year.

“………………………………”

The sound suddenly spread far and near to Totti's ears. He searched for a while but couldn't find the prey. The only thing he saw was the thick gray-white ice layer and the overwhelming snow.

"Strange, what was sent from here just now... why did it disappear all of a sudden?"

Totti walked around the small mound where he heard the sound for a long time without seeing any animals, and was even more so by the thirsty fox. Just when he almost thought he had heard it wrong, the strange "whimper" sounded again.

"Hey, that's..."

Walking along with the sound, Totti stopped in front of a cave hidden behind the mound. It was black inside, and there was a "whirring" sound of wind coming out from time to time.

"Torti, you damn little devil!!"

Suddenly a familiar roar came from behind. Totti looked back and saw that the villagers led by Gruan had arrived at some point, and they all glared at each other.

"Boy, are you going to take your prey alone?"

"I've said a long time ago that this little devil shouldn't bring him."

"Ah, you misunderstood, I'm not..." Totti hurriedly defended himself, and the "whimper" sound in the cave behind him had stopped, replacing the extremely thick gasp.

Gruan, who had originally planned to go up and beat Totty, suddenly fell to the ground with a pale face, pointed his trembling finger behind Totty and couldn't say a complete sentence. The other people's originally vicious expressions instantly turned pale and frightened.

Toti was about to walk over, but found that his body suddenly tightened and was wrapped up by the wet tentacles stretching out from the cave. At the same time, other thick tentacles kept sliding out of the cave, attacking the hunters who were limp on the ground.

"Help!!"

The hunters who were a little farther away got up and ran away, while the hunters near the cave were caught by the tentacles attached with suction cups before they could react. The hunters struggled desperately, but the more they struggled, the tighter the tentacles on their bodies became, and a few people were broken ribs alive.

Amid the hissing and strange screams, a creature with two strange heads crawled out of the cave that had been buried by ice and snow. It looked like a snake, but was not a real snake. The lower part was full of things that looked like the roots of a tree. It was these sticky tentacles that caught the villagers.

"Oh my God, it's a snake lizard!!" The villagers struggled even harder as soon as they saw this monster.

The snake lizard is the abbreviation of the giant venomous lizard. It is a mutant monster, named because it has a head that is very similar to a snake. It is rare to see it in the outer Asakusa area. The unique way of eating is that it becomes the one that people least want to encounter among all the monsters in the Lusso area.

From time to time, the screams of fear from their companions came from behind, making the hunters running in front faster to escape.

After running for a long distance and confirming that they had already escaped from the deep swamp area, several hunters collapsed on the ground. The rapid running just now had exhausted them and they had no strength to move forward.

"Rod, are we just leaving Gru'an and the others behind? If we go back to the camp to get the tools, we may be able to defeat the snake lizards, after all, we have a lot of people." One of the young hunters did not forget to ask the leader who went out to hunt if he could save the others.

"Don't be stupid, the snake lizard is not as easy as you imagined. Its appearance of glamorous skin is actually extremely hard, and ordinary swords are hard to hurt. It must have magic weapons that magicians have applied magic to cut through the fine scales on the surface of the snake lizard." A glared at the young man who was ignorant of life and death, and the old hunter kept drawing with his hands; "Do you know why it is one of the monsters that people in the Luso area most reluctant to encounter? Not just because of its disgusting way of eating. The snake lizard will spit out extremely high concentration of strong acid. As long as you touch it a little, you can melt your clothes and flesh. Without more than twenty well-equipped mercenaries, you will definitely not be able to kill a snake lizard. Ordinary adventurers will not be their opponent."

"Why?" After seeing too many mercenaries and adventurers fighting against monsters, many young people in the village are determined to be famous adventurers in the future, but they rarely think that there is more than just a gap in skill and skill.

"You are stupid, their two heads are white? When you concentrate on one of them, the other will launch an attack. In addition, in the deep water swamp environment, the snake lizard will naturally become the final winner. Why are we farmers going back? They are completely suicide. If we can find a mercenary now, Gru'an and the others may be able to save them, but how can we pay the rogues who don't work without money? Let's go quickly. Although it is in the outer area of ​​the Black Forest, there are still monsters here. Don't forget our protection.

None of them." It's not that I don't want to save you, but that I'm powerless. The old hunters just want to bring the rest back to Qiya Village alive, which is still a long way away from the village. Now they don't have any self-defense weapons and are easily attacked by other monsters. Although I heard that the night elves have stopped hunting humans entering the black forest recently, other monsters in the forest will not let go of food like this. Seven or eight hunters without weapons are equivalent to seven or eight pieces of meat that will move around quickly. It's still noon now, and you have to hurry back to the village.

"But……"

"Shh!"

Originally, I wanted to refute it, but the old hunter's sensitive ears soon noticed that the lush forest was slight "rustling", which was the unique sound of the leaves being trampled.

"rustle……"

The sound was getting closer and closer, and finally stopped not far from the hunter.

Seven or eight hunters looked at each other, and they all stood close together. The forest was quiet, and even the birds that were still chirping just now were silent. Occasionally, the whistling north wind blew across the forest, causing the swaying branches to rust.

"ah!!!!"

One of the villagers who were watching around suddenly found a pair of huge pupils staring at him, and he shouted loudly, "Dragon! Dragon!!"

The others looked in the direction of his fingers and saw a huge head hidden behind the lush branches, and the blood-red pupils were staring straight at everyone.

"ah!!"

People were frightened this time, and they had no energy to run like they had just now.

Just when people were desperate, a slender man suddenly walked out of the woods in the other direction. Even in the winter when the sun was not strong, his golden armor still reflected dazzling light.

The black dragon, originally hiding behind the thick branches, lowered its head and saw the knight lightly pedaling on the dragon back that was originally thought to be a monster by hunters. Rhode, who was frightened, came back to his senses. The golden rose badge that symbolized justice and courage, isn't it a paladin, a legendary knight model with both strength and morality.

"King, please save our companions." The old hunter got up from the ground excitedly, held his hands high and ran towards the black dragon he was originally afraid of.

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"Help!!"

Seeing the snake lizard open its stinking bloody mouth, the captured hunters shouted with great silence, hoping that the escaped companions would turn back to save themselves, or be heard by other hunters also in the swamp area.

The wailing cry of despair before humans attracted other creatures in the swamp. The scavenged crows stayed on the sparse trees in the swamp shallows early, hoping to get a little leftovers from the snake lizards.

The hunter caught by one of the tentacles was thrown up, and the two heads of the snake lizard were fighting for the humans who were still struggling in the air at the same time. Since they wanted to eat prey, the two heads each held part of them and kept it on. While they were tearing it, the strong acid in their mouths quickly decomposed the bitten muscles. Since they had no teeth, the snake lizard could only rely on strong stomach acid to decompose any food it ate. The bitten creatures were torn alive or completely corroded into two halves by the strong acid. This long-term torture was enough to make any humans active in the swamp area retreat.

"Help!! It hurts so much...help me...help!!" The hunter, who was regarded as the first food, moaned in pain. His miserable appearance scared the others. Their struggle only increased the tighter imprisonment of the snake lizard.

Toti regretted his reckless behavior. His greed for a moment not only harmed himself, but also harmed other villagers. Just when he was regretful, there was a strange movement from the direction of the villagers' escape.

The birds in the woods took off quickly and the surface was shaking violently, much like a phenomenon caused by some large animal running.

Before the hunter was reacting, a scorching sword light cut off the tentacles of the snake lizard. While Toti landed on the ground, he saw a huge black earth dragon running at an extremely fast speed, and under the command of the driver, he rushed into the snake lizard. The sharp sharp corners of the head pierced into the highly hardened scales of the snake lizard with a violent impact.

The pain made the snake lizard roar, and its two heads also spit out a large amount of strong acid at the ground dragon that attacked it.

"Defense!"

With a humble humming sound, the green liquid that could definitely be wiped out by a transparent barrier that could wipe out the entire ten-member mercenary team.

After spraying out the acid that it had stored for several days, the snake lizard found that its attack did not harm the sudden enemy at all.

After hiding in the mound with other villagers, Toti, who stuck his head out, saw a pale hand stretching out from behind the Earth Dragon Knight, and his slender fingers gently tapped the long sword that the knight had raised. The originally dark red blade immediately burned with a burning flame.

A red light flashed, and the large body of the snake lizard suddenly exploded, and the scattered pieces of meat had a strong fishy smell, scattered on the gray ice surface.

Two green beast essence stones fell on the ground with the meat pieces. Although the beast core of the snake lizard can be bought at a high price, none of the rescued hunters dared to come forward to pick them up. They were deeply afraid of the combat power of the Earth Dragon Knight, which required dozens of mercenaries to defeat the snake lizard.

The beast essence stone is a crystal crystal unique to the beast creatures, and the attributes are distinguished by color. Because it has the effect of magic and radiation, it can be used as amulets and magic amplifiers, and is one of the necessary equipment for mages. You can buy a good price on the market. The higher the beast essence stone, the more expensive it is. Moreover, the prices of the beast essence stone of different races and levels are also different. For example, the legendary beast essence stone of the ancient dragon clan is the best among the best. It is called the Dragon Soul Crystal and is the ultimate magic prop that mages dream of.

“So awesome…”

Looking at the corpses of the snake lizard burst into countless pieces, Totti couldn't help swallowing. As a boy, he also hoped that he would one day become a brave knight in the mouth of a bard, holding a sharp sword to kill monsters, and the shiny earth dragon with a scale also attracted Totti to watch.

As a descendant of the ancient dragon subspecies, the color of the earth dragon is mostly gray or brown, which is a mixture of ancient dragons and dragons. It has both strengths, both in speed and magic resistance. Although the forelimbs are highly degraded, the hind limbs are extremely thick and developed. They are stronger in running speed and endurance than horses, and their epidermis is extremely hard, so ordinary weapons are difficult to cause damage to it. It is the dragon beast discovered and used first by wanderers, adventurers and merchants. Because of its strong mobility, it is used as a war weapon by many countries. It is the most common type of all dragon cavalry.

Because it is close to the Black Forest, Toti, who grew up in the village of Zia, has seen many adventurers riding the earth dragon that is too big to rely on. As one of the few troops in the army, the number of earth dragons determines its extremely expensive price. What can be owned by private individuals are very ordinary yellow or brown earth dragons, but the head in front of them is not only dark black, but also has several huge horns on its head. Are ordinary earth dragons without horns?

He could kill the snake lizard alone in such a short time, and also have a high-level earth dragon. His identity must be very noble. Maybe he is a nobleman from a certain country?

Totti thought so in his heart that he had obtained a lot of knowledge from his father that ordinary people did not know. Although the other party's fierce methods just now shocked him, his curiosity was greater than fear. Totti and several other surviving villagers all stepped forward to watch the ground dragon that had already squatted down, and the fierce knight on its back. The exquisite golden armor with exquisite patterns at that moment was of great value, and they all guessed that his birth and origin must have a great origin.

"Ah... Thank you, thank you, noble knight." Until the earth dragon stretched out its fat and short forelimbs, picking up the beast spirit stones on the ground that were still emitting a faint light. The hunters who reacted from a brief surprise immediately walked up to thank the knights for saving their lives.

"No need to thank you, I'm also entrusted by someone." The knight took off his purple-blue cloak, revealing the blonde hair of the same color as the armor and the delicate facial features of the elf. After the dragon squatted down, the hunter discovered that there was a slender elf girl sitting behind the knight.

"Ah, this little lady, please come to our village for a rest. We will treat you and your companions to the fullest." Gruan blushed and asked. With just a glance, he fell in love with this beautiful elf and hoped that she could rest in his village. Even if she didn't have the chance to pursue her, it would be a comfort to take a few more glances.

"This..." The knight was slightly surprised at first, turned around and looked at the girl behind him, and agreed with a smile when he saw her nodding.

"Okay, then let's start, your companions are still waiting for you in the forest."
To be continued...