It took approximately a day and a half to travel through the late giant Kings territory. Since Salazar didn't know whether the times and seasons in this world were different from that of earth, in addition to his boredom, he monitored the time spent traveling using earthen standards.
But , finally , they made it. A giant valley appeared before them , and , even without using [All seeing eye] he could sense the intense magical fluctuation.
'Yo [VOD] , is it possible for here to be magic crystals here. ].
Over this time , he had also taken to calling his AI VOD. His name was shorter and he felt very comfortable with it.
[The chance are about 50-60%. ]
I'll take it. Salazar grinned.
No matter what , this time, he'd evolve , even if he had to do it without a starter. He was tired of waiting.
"Spread out and comb through the valley. Any magic crystals that is found should be returned to this spot immediately. Any insubordination will result in death. Is that clear. "
The monsters silence was all the confirmation he needed. Some people rule with kindness or fear , but he'd taken a more unruly approach. Why not rule with both. Be kind when necessary , and ruthless when required. It was a full proof strategy.
All the monsters scattered, and he himself moved out. He shifted into the silver furred wolf kings form and charge intro eh valley.
But as he progressed , he felt uneasy. There were signs that something or someone had already been to this place. He could see places were the earth had been stirred up and dug through. Whatever had been here , they had known that magic crystals existed here and had specifically moved to extract them.
He activated his [All seeing eye ] and moved around cautiously. Could it be that he had missed something. A monster that he'd overlooked, or failed to kill properly. If it discovered this place, it meant that he was in grave danger.
Or perhaps it was one of his subordinates that was trying to surpass him and take his place. He couldn't allow for this to happen. So although he moved cautiously, he quickened his pace. He had to stop whatever monster it was from advancing.
But, as he was creeping along , he suddenly heard a wolf howl, and immediately understood its meaning. It had discovered something out of place.
Salazar immediately sped in its general direction. Different scenarios entered his head. Perhaps it had found the magic crystals , or , even better , it had discovered the location of the monster that slipped through his hands.
He moved towards of corner of the valley, and discovered the location of the wolf. It was looking down into the valley from a high vantage point , and judging from its body language , it didn't like what it saw.
Following his gaze, Salazar saw something that he didn't think he'd see again for a very long time.
Humans.
The sight of them surprised him so much that he was struck dumb for a few moments. I'm not seeing things right. He gave himself a mental slap to wake up , but hen realized that everything was actually real.
But of course , this is a dungeon. Humans normally come here to train or search fo rare materials.....
Using [All seeing eye ] he scanned the area , and almost immediately noticed several crates full of magic crystals , stacked into a corner , with about three guards guarding them. The guards looked menacing enough and Salazar hesitated, but in the end he made his decision.
They were going to attack and forcefully steal the materials. He looked again at the humans who were he'd at work searching for the magic crystals with some kind of strange device. It looked like a metal detector , if you looked at it from the right angle , and allowed them to scan for resources under the earths surface.
After which several warriors would come forward to dig around and extract the crystals.
'Yeah, these guys are strong,' Salazar thought the moment he saw their stats. Even the weakest present was at level 30. There was no way he and any of his guys would be able to compete with that.
Unless.......
He told the wolf at his side to secretly gather their entire attack force and meet back here in an hour. While they were gone , he scouted out the area and determined the number of humans they'd have to deal with. Determined if the terrain could be used to their advantage and so on.
Within an hour , his entire force had secretly gathered. The plan was to wait for them to take a break. When they were exhausted then they would attack.
The group waited an entire. Just when it looked like they were taking their break, another group of humans rushed them. Salazar was confused and halted the advance of his group. A few seconds of watching allowed him to comprehend that this was a rival force.
It seemed that they had the same idea as them and were attacking while the workers were tired and taking break.
A few more minutes of watching revealed that , even in a tired state, the workers were still stronger than their rivals. Salazar shivered when he thought that it could've been them down there , dying.
The place was slight with fireworks as magical spells collided. Just the aftershocks from these spells could kill him , let alone the full attack.
He said a silent word of gratitude to the men who sided to show him the way.
Now , to the crux of the matter. How was he supposed to steal the magic crystals. He noticed that the wagon they were on was unguarded and a crazy , yet simple plan formed in his head.
If he couldn't take away the crystals , why not evolve here. It was crazy because if the fight finished before his evolution was complete, and the humans came to check up on their store , he was dead.
He was putting all his hopes on the fact that the humans would take a longer time to kill themselves.
'C'mon , you guys are humans. You don't die easily. Last a little longer for me. '
He ordered his subordinates to wait for him then he transformed into a red eyed rabbit, the most inconspicuous storm he had , and infiltrated the battlefield.
He spent several minutes navigating through the area. Dodging attacks evading and all the works , before finally , he arrived at his destination.
The wagon.