Chapter 286: Burrowing Worm |
Demon Race, humans, elves, dwarves, magic, dragons, labyrinths, dungeons, Demon King, Hero.
In his casual chat with the Southern Hero, Bai Mu's understanding of this world became increasingly enriched. And the Southern Hero was not stingy in explaining this knowledge to him; having someone accompany him to chat was probably a very rare thing for him too.
It was hard to imagine what kind of loneliness it was to walk alone on the road to death. Bai Mu asked him why he didn't find some teammates to act together. The Southern Hero said that among the Demon King's Army, there was also a Demon Race existence with precognition magic. He had tried to find teammates in the past, but almost every time someone joined, all he could see was the future where his teammates were killed.
Teammates were merely a burden to him. On the contrary, acting alone allowed him to exert the maximum efficacy of his precognition magic without having to worry about anything else.
The afternoon passed quickly. The clear sky of the morning disappeared, replaced by dense, dark clouds. The sky turned dim, and the howling cold wind roared through the village.
Just as the Hero predicted, the weather changed.
Towards evening, Bai Mu summoned Xiao Wei out, took out that stew pot, and had Xiao Wei help cook.
The Southern Hero brought out ingredients. Besides things like bread and potatoes, there was also some high-grade magic beast meat that he had hunted in passing during his crusades against the Demon Race. In addition, he also brought out spices like pepper. Spices seemed to be very expensive things on this continent, comparable in price to gold.
The Hero brought out these treasured ingredients to entertain Bai Mu. Although the monetary value of these things was nothing to a figure like him, in an unstable war zone, just filling one's stomach was a difficult task, not to mention getting spices. He seemed to feel that he could talk very well with Bai Mu, so he took out these precious things to treat him.
Therefore, he also took out the 'High-Quality Tenderloin' he had drawn previously and had Xiao Wei help make a pot of meat stew using the ingredients provided by the Southern Hero.
There were already several types of high-grade ingredients in here; perhaps there was a chance to make a dish that could provide permanent attribute stats.
"This kind of magic is truly unheard of," the Southern Hero looked with slight surprise at Xiao Wei, who had transformed from a doll into a human girl. The Southern Hero showed surprise on his face but didn't get to the bottom of it, still letting Xiao Wei busy herself with the stew pot and cooking utensils.
The sky turned completely dark. Only in the corner of the church did a warm charcoal fire illuminate a tiny area.
Xiao Wei made a pot of potato, mushroom, and meat stew, and additionally roasted two unknown sausages. A rich aroma wafted from the stew pot. The bread slices were sandwiched with sliced sausages. The piping hot meat soup was served in a pottery bowl. The magic beast meat was very chewy, somewhat like frog meat and chicken meat, while the high-quality tenderloin was much softer and tender. Dipping a piece of bread into the soup where the mashed potatoes had melted, and taking a bite along with the sausage, was truly an enjoyment, making one feel completely satisfied.
After drinking a bowl of meat soup, Bai Mu's limbs quickly warmed up. A warm current flowed from his stomach to his internal organs, dispelling the chill, making him feel like he was bathing in a spring breeze.
His Strength attribute increased by 2 points—not temporarily, but permanently—and provided him with an 'Energetic' and 'Tenacious Physique' buff.
After drinking the meat soup, the Southern Hero looked at his own hands with some confusion.
"This soup seems to have some peculiar effects."
"Actually, this pot is a rare magic item," Bai Mu said. "Food cooked with it can sometimes provide people with some enhancements, though most are temporary. If the ingredients are good enough and luck is good enough, there is a tiny chance to make dishes that can provide permanent enhancements. And today, it seems both Lord Hero's and my luck are pretty good."
"Meeting you is indeed a matter of very good luck," the Southern Hero said. "But... it seems a new guest has arrived outside. Please wait a moment, sir; I'll go send the guest off."
The Southern Hero finished the meat soup in his bowl and left his stool and the fire pit.
Bai Mu knew that the guest he was talking about was actually a man-eating magic beast. As early as when they were chatting in the afternoon, he had said that after dark, a magic beast would come to the village. That guy was the overlord of this area. Because the arrival of the Demon Race disturbed its hibernation, it was currently in an enraged state. It would follow the scent of corpses to the village out of hunger. If left alone like this, it would cause the deaths of many innocent people, so it was an existence that had to be slain.
Bai Mu hadn't even felt the aura of any approaching enemies yet, but the Southern Hero had already calmly drawn his twin blades and walked outside the church.
"Lord Hero, do you mind if I watch?" Bai Mu asked.
"If you're interested, of course," the Southern Hero left a back view. "Please act as an audience with a relaxed mood. However, the process might not be as exciting as you think, because, for an opponent of this level, I only need one move to solve it."
Holding the mindset of watching the fun, Bai Mu followed behind the Hero and came outside the building.
Xiao Wei and the Witch also followed by their side. The Hero stopped at a position about fifteen meters outside the village entrance. After dozens of seconds passed, Bai Mu felt the ground beneath his feet vibrate, as if an earthquake had occurred. The pebbles by the road and the snow all began to shake.
It was as if a giant object was moving on the ground, but the magic beast's figure was still not seen.
"Is it underground?" Bai Mu guessed in his heart.
At the same time this thought popped up, the Southern Hero crossed his twin blades and unleashed a slash towards the snowfield.
That was probably some kind of attack magic. A visible blade aura cut through the air along with his blades. Two deep ravines appeared in the snowfield, and even the earth was cut open by him. A huge, fat white burrowing worm emerged from the ravines. The volume of that thing was comparable to a truck. Bai Mu saw its mouthparts; spiral fangs covered its huge mouth like a meat grinder.
That huge mouth could swallow an entire house or eat several cows in one bite. Yet, such a monster lost all signs of movement without even finding out where the enemy was.
That burrowing worm, as if it had crashed into the path of the slash itself, had its body cut into four pieces from the middle. Viscous juice spewed out. It couldn't even let out a scream before it turned into a corpse.
Seeing this scene, Bai Mu felt even more glad he hadn't come into conflict with the Southern Hero. Otherwise, his fate would probably have been the same as that big worm.