Chương 3: The Carrot Spirit and the Demon-Sealing Stone

Kaba Kaba.

The treasure chest monster is chewing on a girl.

"Wow, it's so dark! It's so scary—let me out—" The girl's upper body was tightly gripped by the mimic, with only her buttocks and legs hanging outside. She kicked and struggled wildly, but could not break free. Her pitiful screams echoed through the silent cave.

Although it was a very unfortunate scene, but...

Xia En put her hand to her forehead, trying hard to hold it in, but couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"?"

Upon hearing the sound, the girl in the mimic stopped her futile struggle.

Is anyone there?

Please help me.

Although he couldn't see the girl's face, based solely on her clothes and the staff lying nearby, Shane was quite certain that the girl stuck in the box was none other than the legendary mage who had successfully defeated the Demon King, "Friday the Fallen".

We definitely should help.

But how can we help?

The mimic has an amazing suction power; once it bites you, you can never pull it out.

In reality, its physiological structure is similar to that of a normal human mouth. If you push the person being bitten inwards forcefully, the treasure chest monster will feel disgusted and spit the person out.

Shaun looked at Frillie's buttocks and hesitated for two seconds.

Then he bent down, grabbed Frillie's legs, lifted them up, and pushed them in quickly with both hands.

yue.

In an instant.

The mimic opened its mouth wide, gagged, and even twisted the wooden planks on its body, vomiting up Frillie.

"Phew... I'm saved."

(≡ᆺ≡) The elven girl knelt on the ground, soaking wet.

A look of relief, as if surviving a disaster.

Her white twin ponytails were soaked through, dripping with "drool," and her magic robe was also stained with large patches of sweat.

Frillie closed her eyes, gently shook her head, and flicked the water droplets off the tips of her ears.

Then he stood up, casually shook his sleeves, looked up at the person who had saved him, and sincerely thanked them.

"Thank you, kind child."

child?

Xia En raised an eyebrow.

Looking the white-haired elf, who was barely taller than his shoulder, up and down, he was somewhat speechless.

Considering that the other party was, after all, an old guy who had lived for over a thousand years and whose brain was somewhat... well, never mind.

Although she didn't know why she, who was supposed to be traveling in the Central Kingdoms, ended up near this small southern town, since they had met, it was a godsend opportunity to curry favor with him.

A life-saving grace should be repaid with gratitude...

cough cough.

Xia En was about to speak, preparing to give a formal self-introduction.

Suddenly a cool breeze blew by, and Frilian shivered all over.

"Achoo..."

The tiny elf, with snot bubbles hanging from its nose, hugged itself tightly, pitifully shrinking its neck, looking as if it was about to freeze to death.

Helpless, Xia En pulled a clean, thin blanket from his backpack and handed it to the other person.

"Thank you, kind child, you are so kind."

"ꐦ"

"My name is Shane, and I'm an adventurer. By the way, you're the mage Frilline, right? Don't you have any magic like 'drying clothes'?"

Frillie quickly dried her hair and then wrapped the blanket tightly around herself.

"Adventurer, no wonder you're here."

"Of course there are spells like 'drying clothes,' but..." With that, Frillie picked up the staff that had fallen to the ground, tapped it lightly in the air a few times, then looked up and said calmly, "It hasn't been usable since just now."

!!!

Xia En was stunned.

Magic seal?

How can you so calmly state such a dangerous fact?

What level of power would it take to seal away your opponent?

The longsword, which had just been sheathed at his waist, was drawn again, and Xia En cautiously looked around.

"Ah, don't be nervous, there shouldn't be any monsters in this cave."

"No?"

Shane glanced at the mimic in the corner, his meaning clear: "Anyway, just to be safe, let's go out first."

boom.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the mine shaft behind him, the one he had walked through on his way here, suddenly collapsed.

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.

Frillie, wrapped in a blanket, pointed to the ceiling and said calmly, "It's normal for natural caves to collapse. I fell from there."

Xia En then noticed that above their heads, about four or five stories high, there was a hole the size of a well opening. Small pieces of gravel were still falling, making it look quite dangerous.

A mine accident?

This feels even scarier than encountering monsters.

……

A few minutes later.

The two began searching for another exit together.

To make it easier to remember, whenever he encountered a fork in the road, Shane would choose the path on the right and keep walking in one direction. Before entering a fork, he would carve symbols on the stone wall with his longsword to prevent getting lost and going in circles.

Frillie, wrapped in a blanket, followed silently behind.

Xia En's cautious behavior made her feel at ease.

"Adventurers should never take risks."

This was the lesson Flame taught her in her first class.

Whether exploring dungeons or fighting the Demon King's army, what kills the most adventurers is often not the strength of their opponents, but their own carelessness.

Surprisingly, this "newbie" who seemed to have little combat experience also understood and followed this principle.

He's a reliable person.

Having entrusted the task of finding the way to Shane, Frillie turned to carefully observe her surroundings.

"... There should be [Demon-Sealing Ore] inside these stone walls."

"What is that?" Xia En asked, puzzled.

"When we walked through the cave earlier, you noticed some beautiful, glowing minerals occasionally exposed on the stone walls. Those minerals are [Demon Sealing Stones]. You can't cast spells within a 3-meter radius of these minerals."

No wonder, a great mage could fall from the sky like that...

"This thing is quite rare. Even if it's only the size of a small stone, it's worth at least several gold coins."

gold!

Xia En immediately became interested.

Seemingly understanding his thoughts, Frillie continued to explain:

"However, it is not possible for humans to mine it with their current capabilities."

"The Demon Sealing Ore has the highest hardness among all materials. Moreover, unlike other materials, it cannot be cut or processed with magic, which is something that humans are powerless to do."

That's a real shame.

"If magic is useless, are magical artifacts useful?" Shane asked casually.

"Magical tools?"

Upon hearing these three words, Frilian stopped in her tracks, a hint of interest in her eyes.

She stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment.

"In the mythical era, there were great sages skilled in crafting magical artifacts, but by the time of the unified empire over a thousand years ago, those sages skilled in alchemy and forging had vanished. Magical artifacts that are still usable today are extremely rare."

Alchemy and forging...

Xia En thought of his "manually created entry" ability. Could his "character class" be a sage?

boom!

A huge shockwave came from the front of the cave, interrupting his train of thought.