The sun was shining brightly, and the footsteps in the camp were chaotic.
The merchants held the account books and checked the details one by one. The elves supervised the mercenaries to polish their weapons. Several carriages were overturned in the open space in front, and the workers gathered around them, repairing the wheels.
Ken left a large number of troops.
In name, they were to provide assistance to the caravan, but in fact, they were to take care of their own military supplies. In the absence of Zhan Jing, mutual vigilance was the most ideal balance.
He took Kuima with him and led the [Winter Horse Rider] and [Winter Horse Archer] to set off.
Two wolves and ten horses, the mighty team passed through the snow-capped mountains and walked south along the [Lidongwei Ancient Road] for half a day.
Ken came to a river valley, and the footsteps of the mount echoed between the cliffs on both sides.
The accumulated snow would fall from time to time, melting into water on the river beach covered with pebbles, and the shallow stream kept winding, as if guiding everyone to continue to move forward.
Ken, riding a wolf, led the team and found something strange at the right corner.
He expanded his gray vision and saw a spot of light on the empty stone. Someone used some special potion to paint the emblem of [Pistonk] on it.
"The scouts are really hard-working."
The country south of the high wall often dispatched special scouts to the north to search for various resources for the kingdom in the chaotic and disordered land.
Ken took out the commission.
He then found a shining [eight-point mark] on the parchment.
The secret achievements of the continent of Oshua are distributed in daily life, including the technique of guiding direction. Warlocks can make the ink active through the magic circle, constantly rotate at a specific angle, and finally reach the set coordinates.
Ken asked the team to get ready.
When they passed through the narrow gap one by one, the front suddenly opened up. At the end of several forks, streams collided with each other and gathered into waterfalls, rushing down from the opposite opening.
The river beach is very spacious, surrounded by mountains on three sides.
The soldiers on the horses all looked up: the top of the cliff was covered with moss, and the edge of the tree canopy could be vaguely seen. Various birds and animals passed through the gaps, looking lively, and occasionally strange calls could be heard.
The sun could not be fully cast down. Although the sound of the water was huge, it still seemed too quiet and empty.
Ken frowned. Since he came in, he had a creepy feeling of crowding, as if there were people everywhere. The river beach was obviously empty, but it felt "difficult to settle down".
He opened up the gray vision again, and his heartbeat slowed down for a moment.
"Retreat! Everyone, retreat and defend!"
Upon hearing this, the wolf and the warhorse stepped forward, and the hasty and chaotic neighing echoed around. The troops withdrew from the river beach at the fastest speed and gathered at the narrow entrance.
In Ken's eyes:
The river beach became gray, leaving only a rough outline and afterimage, but the ground was full of surging red.
Their movement was loud, and it seemed to wake something up.
The ground began to shake, and the originally quiet stones flew out of the soil. Several of them gathered together and formed a simple human figure.
[Hostile: Stone Spirit]
[Level: F]
[The energy contained in the river gathered here, and over the years, this unnatural life form was formed. ]
Their limbs are rough, and there is no contact between the stones. There is a light blue stream of light in the center, and the flocculent lines are constantly intertwined and wandering.
[Stone Spirit Core]
Ken understood in his heart that it seemed to be these things.
He commanded the team to set up the battle formation, and the archers tentatively fired a volley. The iron arrowheads could only scratch the stone.
After being penetrated, the core in the middle will become dim, and the stone spirit will also become sluggish.
"The weakness is on the light ball in the middle, volley!"
Ken continued to command. The trained [Winter Horse Archers] have made great progress in their accuracy. This moving target is considered a difficult target for training, and they can hit a few of them.
Many stone spirits have stood up, and the riverbank has become a little crowded.
They are stacked up and rushing towards the crowd with steady steps. After the light ball is completely shot, it will turn into a solid black lump, and the limbs of the stone spirit will fall apart and turn back into a few stones.
The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, and several stone spirits are eliminated.
[Progress: 4/30]
The number of opponents is increasing, and the targets are blocking each other, so the arrowheads are becoming more and more useless.
Ken rode on the wolf pack to meet the enemy, pulling out the steel sword and constantly parrying.
He felt that the stone spirit was harder than ordinary stone, and the surface was very smooth, as if it was hitting a blunt object. In terms of strength, this thing can be compared with the fierce bandits.
The bulky body may be their most fatal weakness.
"Dismount and meet the enemy!"
He gave the order, and the archers quickly retreated, while the riders holding shields pushed forward in batches, and the stones hitting the steel made a dull hammering sound.
The following troops took advantage of the gaps and cooperated with each other to poke at the light ball from the middle.
The troops regained their composure and quickly seized another position. The soldiers in the front removed their shields and brought back the spoils. The archers in the back shot arrows together and blocked another wave of advance.
[Progress: 9/30]
"Loop, loop! Move more quickly, have enough strength, and master the rhythm with your partner. Your future enemies are not stupid stones!"
Ken supervised the battle in the back.
The rating of stone spirits is not high. This batch of targets is most suitable for training soldiers. Occasionally being hit by stones will only cause bruises and fractures at most. When the team retreats, they can be treated in batches.
[Progress: 14/30]
Several swords have been bent, but the progress is still fast.
Ken was a little tired from shouting, so he turned over and picked up a "black lump" to observe carefully.
Its original flowing flocculent light completely disappeared, and it was very dense, so it was a bit uncomfortable to hold in the palm of my hand.
[Material: Stone Spirit Core]
These things will come in handy in the Dua tribe.
Blacksmiths collect various things to warm their furnaces so that they can withstand higher flames and smelt rarer materials.
Kuima gathered people and put the collected cores on the saddle bag.
Ken picked up a few scattered "limbs" again. After the stones were broken apart, criss-cross patterns would appear on them, like a token engraved with a totem.
[Material: Dumb Stone]
"This is what the merchant wants."
The materials had been prepared before the team came, and the soldiers assembled a simple cart quickly to ensure that they could pass through the gap.
Batches of dumb stones were loaded and packed, which was too heavy and would soon be full.
[Progress: 25/30]
Ken suddenly felt a strange fluctuation.
He turned his head suddenly and saw a soldier being knocked away with blood spitting out of his mouth.
"Ah, defense, this is different!"
"Be careful, come here."
...
The team was in chaos.
A tall and mighty guy suddenly rushed out from the stone spirits, with two huge arms covered with dirt and moss, much faster than other companions.
[Hostile: Stone Spirit Elite]
[Level: D]
It raised its fist and smashed the shield in front of it into a dent. The soldier with a broken bone fell to the ground and groaned, with a shadow that kept expanding in front of him.
Bang!
The stone was smashed in the air.
Ken appeared next to him with a war hammer burning with blue flames. He swung his two-handed weapon with a sound of wind and hit the core with a bang.
The blue ball of light was smashed away.
The rocks scattered loosely all over the ground, but it was not over yet, something as big as it stood up around it.
Only then did Ken realize that:
The danger level on this river beach is increasing with time.