The next day, refusing her parents' offer to send them a band of militia, they rode to the neighboring territory of Phyllis.
He hadn't seen Shimak and his son since the banquet last night. They must've left already. Now that Irene's request for him to take a bullet for her, they were going to complete the academy's trial mission.
Unlike the white dress she'd worn at the banquet yesterday, Irene was clad in armor with a longsword hanging from her waist and iron boots.
The physical strength of a Knecht was much stronger than that of a normal human. Even though she was a woman, she was still able to wear a chainmail that weighed at least 10 kilograms with ease. It was a drastic change from the delicate beauty she had been yesterday.
He'd seen Laffey switch between the two states before, so he didn't have much of a reaction when Irene turned around. Irene, who'd been secretly observing his expression, was extremely frustrated.
Speaking of Grace's little maid, Lafite, she was also a heroine wearing armor and a longsword. But when she took off her armor and put on her maid attire, she was a cute maid.
He had taken advantage of Laffey at home, but that was all. He wasn't interested in teasing Laffey in front of Glace and Suzanne.
In the dark cave, Locke walked in front with a fluorite in his hand. Behind him was Irene, who was only holding onto his arm.
He couldn't understand why she'd picked such a mission for him. She seemed to be afraid of the dark.
"If you're afraid, you can leave first. I'll look for you after I'm done with my investigation," said Locke helplessly.
She looked back at the entrance, which was also dark and unfathomable. There was only a faint glimmer of light. She then looked at Locke and hesitated for a long time before she said, "No, I want to go with you!" She tightened her grip as she said that.
He watched speechlessly as she hugged his arm like a koala. He had no choice but to turn sideways and slowly walk into the cave. Although she was afraid of the dark, Locke was very touched by the way he protected her.
As Locke ventured deeper into the cave, he didn't expect there to be something hidden inside.
The gloomy cave space, the gloomy short trees, and the distant stalactites dripping with water.
He touched the branches and leaves of the dwarf tree. He had never seen leaves with such strange veins.
Irene was also very curious about the underground space. Although she followed closely behind him, she didn't forget to observe her surroundings.
Suddenly, before she could react, Locke suddenly pushed her down and covered her lips with his hand. She couldn't make a sound.
Before she could react, Locke put a finger to his mouth and gestured for her to mute. Then, he tilted his head and turned to the right.
Irene followed Locke's gaze.
A series of footsteps could be heard, and a 1.3-meter-tall humanoid creature appeared beside the pool. Its slightly broad feet slowly moved towards the pool, its arms hanging down so that it could use both its hands and feet to escape at any time. The black, spindle-shaped nails on its hands showed off its sharpness.
If the footsteps had not suddenly broken the silence, it would have been impossible to notice that it was moving.
Beneath the stalactite was a pool of water. "Drip, dong..." Water droplets continuously fell from the stalactite into the pool.
Slowly, it approached the edge of the pool. Through the reflection of the water, its face could be seen. Its charcoal-black eyes took up nearly a third of its head. Its skin was slightly greenish-grey, and its ears were large and pointy. Its teeth were jagged and sharp.
It slowly lowered its head to lick the water at the edge of the pool. Its movements were extremely small, and its ears flickered as it listened to its surroundings. From time to time, it would raise its head to look around.
Suddenly, three red stalks of grass by the pool attracted its attention.
Its jet-black eyes suddenly lit up. It raised its head and looked left and right. It stared at the pool for a long time, as if there was something in it that made it extremely terrified. After a long time, the greed in its eyes finally won over its fear, and it slowly began to move towards the pool.
Just as it reached the three stalks of grass and was about to reach out to pluck them, water droplets suddenly splashed everywhere. A crocodile-like creature nearly three meters long burst out of the pool. Its giant jaws were two-thirds of the size of its body, and it suddenly snapped down.
"Ah..." The humanoid creature that was about to pluck the grass screamed like a child. It quickly moved back on all fours, unable to hide the horror in its eyes.
How could the crocodile-like creature let it escape? It leaned forward, as if it was about to swallow the grass in front of it in the next moment.
The humanoid creature roared and retreated. A black light flashed in its hands, and it used its body as cover and the dark light to avoid being discovered by the giant crocodile.
Just as the giant crocodile's mouth was about to close in on the humanoid creature's head, the humanoid creature suddenly clasped its hands together and smashed them towards the mouth of the giant crocodile in front of it.
The giant crocodile was caught off guard and hit by the humanoid creature. It let out an angry roar, and its attack was interrupted for a moment. It could not believe that a dwarf that was only a meter tall dared to attack a giant beast that was three times its size, and it seemed to have achieved a significant result.
The bottom of the crocodile's right mouth was abnormally charred, as if it had been corroded by some kind of strong acid. However, this injury was nothing to the three-meter-long giant crocodile.
Its eyes were bloodshot, as if it was furious that the tiny creature had hurt it. It pressed its claws forward again, as if it wanted to press the tiny creature under its body and bite it.
After successfully interrupting the giant crocodile's attack, the humanoid creature kicked back with its legs and fled on all fours.
Its small and nimble body moved left and right under the giant crocodile's body, dodging its claws and mouth from time to time. The giant crocodile could not do anything to it for a while.
The battle by the pool continued. Half an hourglass had passed, and Locke and Irene were watching the battle not far away.
The humanoid creature's body was covered in scratches, and green blood was seeping out of its tattered clothes. Although it was not caught by the giant crocodile, it inevitably collided with its scales and sharp stones by the side of the pool. However, this was the best outcome compared to being caught by the giant crocodile. If it had been caught by the giant crocodile, it would have been torn apart and swallowed instantly.
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This chapter is a little rough, I hope the readers don't mind.
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