Huck seemed to have endless energy. He dragged a simple sled made of tree branches and raced through the snow forest. The sled carries Max, who is unable to move, and Wiltok, who is unconscious.
Max, the dark hunter, is still a little confused. He vaguely remembers that he was stabbed in the left back shoulder by the cursed bone blade of the Orc Shaman and was cursed with decay. He then used the living secret medicine made by Dr. Cole to heal his wounds and fell into a coma. When he woke up, he found that he and Wiltok were already on the sled, being dragged by the shield guard Hack, and continued to move north.
Surrounded by hemlock trees, forest intersects with clearings. Max is convinced that this is no longer the Lake Braun Basin, and Huck brings them to a strange environment. His rotten wounds have been healed by the living elixir, but the curse of the orc shaman is not so easy to remove, and the rotten curse has turned into a cold-hearted curse. Max was gasping for air now, and his heart might have stopped for several seconds.
Although the Cold Heart Curse is not fatal, Max will be dizzy after running a few steps, which is equivalent to being disabled. If he wanted to completely dispel the curse, he could only find a senior doctor to perform a targeted secret ceremony.
Wiltok's condition was not good either, he was basically in a coma. The whole person felt like he had turned into a big baby again when he first arrived in Braun Town.
Because he had a similar experience, Max believed that Wiltok would get better. His real concern is actually the Shield Guardian Harker.
Max remembers that Huck chose to stay behind in order to cover Wiltok's breakout in the Shadow Forest, and was besieged by a group of shadow beasts. Max thought his old friend had died. Unexpectedly, not only did Huck not die, but he also dragged him and Wiltok to escape north. Moreover, Huck's turning speed was very fast. It took half a day to trek more than 40 kilometers continuously without taking a break in the middle.
Professionals in the physical system are all good at physical fitness, but the profession with the best physical fitness is the oak guard, while the basic strength of the shield guard is higher. Huck's performance has exceeded Max's understanding of the third-level shield guard, not to mention that he saw Huck engage in a fierce battle with the shadow beast with his own eyes.
Huck can't be in such good shape, it's not normal.
Max suspected that he had used some kind of secret medicine with extremely side effects, in exchange for a superior state at the cost of consuming his own life force.
"Huck, old man, can you stop and take a breath? I don't understand. Why are you so nervous? My intuition tells me that there are no enemy pursuers behind." Max couldn't help but persuade Huck. Stop and rest.
The stout Huck turned around and asked, "Are you sure there are no pursuers behind you?"
"No!"
"Okay." Huck dropped the simple sled and let out a long breath. His eyebrows, eyelashes and beard were all covered with snow and ice crystals, and his original appearance was no longer visible.
Max was startled, sat on the sled and asked: "How long did you drag us?"
Huck sat down on the snow, wiped his face, and said a little tiredly: "It should be five days... I took a break in the middle, and you were not awake at that time."
Finding that Huck's breathing was still stable, Max felt a little relieved, and asked again: "You were running like crazy before, and you ignored me when I talked to you. Now, can you tell me what happened?"
Huck grabbed a handful of ice and snow from the ground, stuffed it into his mouth, and said after a while: "I thought I was dead, but Wiltok saved me. He made me eat an egg."
"Egg? What egg?" Max had a bad feeling in his heart.
Huck said truthfully: "It should be the main egg laid by the shadow lurker...I haven't seen it before, but it's very big anyway."
The dark hunter's mind was instantly confused, and he looked directly at Huck, as if he were looking at a monster.
He heard that the main egg of the Shadow Lurker was priceless, and the Dragon King Palace could use it to cultivate fifth-level dragon-veined war beasts, which would greatly enhance the strength of the fifth-level beast tamer.
This guy actually ate the Shadow Lurker's egg?
Max swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked in a strange way: "Is that thing... delicious?"
Huck took out a piece of dry bread from his satchel and said as he ate it, "It's not as delicious as dry food."
Max came back to his senses and asked nervously: "Is its mother dead?"
"Huh?" Huck glanced at Max suspiciously, then understood that he was referring to the shadow lurker. He shook his head and said, "I don't know. Anyway, there are corpses of shadow beasts and bald-eared butchers all around. Corpses. They were all killed by Vertok... As for the shadow lurker, I didn't see it."
"That is to say, the shadow lurker escaped?!" Max immediately jumped up from the sled, and his emotion triggered the cold-hearted curse, and he was stunned for two seconds.
Huck, who was sitting cross-legged on the snow, held up one hand, and as if his body was weightless, he glided in front of Max, reached out to support the swaying Dark Hunter, and asked in a panic: "Hey, old man, what are you doing? what's the situation?"
"I can't die. Why have you changed so much? Your skills were not so flexible before, you are simply more flexible than me." Max asked in surprise.
Huck shook his head and said: "I don't know. Mr. Wiltok saved me. He let me eat the eggs of the shadow lurkers, and I felt that my abilities in all aspects were getting stronger and stronger. I think this It’s all because of Vertok. By the way, what’s wrong with you now?”
"Me? Don't mind my business now." Max looked back nervously, fearing that there was a shadow lurker hidden in the snow forest behind him. He said quickly: "If you eat the shadow lurker's egg, the monster will definitely come after you. Yes. Why don’t you continue running for your life?”
Huck nodded, then shook his head and said: "I'm also worried that the shadow lurkers will chase after me. I've been running with you for five days. I really need a rest. Help me take care of Wiltok and let me sleep first. Yes. If anything happens, wake me up immediately."
So saying, Huck lay down beside the sleigh, and soon fell asleep. His breathing rhythm was long and steady, showing a well-proportioned cycle, and he did not make a tired snoring sound. He was obviously in a state of deep sleep.
Max, the dark hunter, is a well-informed senior adventurer. Seeing Huck's ability to sleep at will, he determined that Huck had mastered the "Heart of the Mirror".
The Heart of the Mirror is a state of superb martial arts, able to control one's own power in every detail and fully utilize the advantages in all aspects, symbolizing a qualitative change of reincarnation. Harker inexplicably mastered the "Mirror Heart". Even though he is still a third-level shield guard, ordinary fifth-level lords are no match for him. This gap is like a person with sound limbs dealing with a cripple with broken arms and legs, just beating him at will.
However, with Huck's current strength, he still has no chance of winning against a shadow lurker. The size, strength, and speed of each other are so different that even the chance of escape is very small.
Huck ran for five days without being chased by the Shadow Lurker. He might have had an accident. Max is still very worried. He is now a useless person. Even if he senses the approaching danger in advance, he is powerless.
While Huck was sleeping, Max looked around nervously throughout the whole process, raising the level 4 dark stalker's perception to the limit and becoming sharp and clear.
The heavy snow stopped two days ago, marking the end of winter and the arrival of spring. The forest was still covered in silver, and any movement stood out against the snow-white background. Max's ears heard a slight "click" sound, and he immediately ignited a drop of secret blood and gained extraordinary keen perception, distinguishing it as the sound of humanoids trampling on the snow. In his mind, he pictured a warrior archer using the cover of a tree trunk to approach quietly, more than 140 meters away from their position, with a very clear goal, which was to come towards them.
Even if you encounter a stranger of the same kind in the wild, you must remain highly vigilant, not to mention that the other party is a professional with lethal force.
Max calmly kicked Huck. The shield guard seemed to be sleeping deeply, and even his breathing did not change. Max felt the kick on Huck's leg muscles. He knew that Huck was already awake and was just pretending.
Also an agility-oriented professional, the Dark Hunter is elusive and is good at backstabbing opponents with a short knife. If a level four dark hunter is exposed to the enemy's sight in advance, it is often a problem on his part. Bow warriors will be equipped with bows, shields and short swords, which shows that they are proficient in both long-range and melee attacks. After igniting the secret blood, they can gain abilities such as eagle eye, dynamic vision, vital strike, and blind shooting.
The unknown bow warrior had seen Max sitting on the sled, and two half-elves lying down. He quietly observed for a while, changed his position several times, and finally used his war bow to throw an arrow in Max's direction.
Huck, who was lying on the snow, suddenly moved. His body seemed to be equipped with springs, and he bounced up from a lying position. He caught the flying arrows in the air, flipped the sled, and knocked Vertok and Max down. Snapped under a wooden shelf as a form of protection against ranged attacks.
His movements were smooth and unbelievable, showing superb agility and strength. The muscles in his legs contracted hard, like an arrow from the string, and he pounced on the archer 70 meters away.
The professional archer was frightened by Huck's menacing look. His body reacted instinctively, his steps bounced, he stepped back quickly, and used his war bow to shoot continuously at Huck who was rushing towards him.
The three-edged feather arrows flew accurately to Huck's heart, eyes, throat and other vital parts with a sharp sound caused by friction with the air. The archer warrior was horrified to find that Huck just lowered his head and used his strong forehead bones to catch the arrow that hit his eyes. He did not dodge at all, and allowed the sharp arrow to hit his body, but he was not hurt at all.
Shield Guardians have the strongest defense and the highest basic strength among professionals. After igniting their secret blood, they gain abilities such as Rock Skin, Resistance, and Heart of Vigilance. But they have side effects when using these secret blood abilities, which will reduce their movement speed and agility.
The most annoying enemy of the Bow Warriors is the Shield Guards, and the powerfully solidified bows and arrows are almost ineffective against them. The favorite opponents of the Archers are the Shield Guards. They can use their maneuvering speed to make the slow-moving Shield Guards scream. When the secret blood effect ends, they can only be slaughtered by the Archers.
However, the third-level shield guard Harker can run faster than the fourth-level archer warrior. What about his solid defense and flexible movements?
The half-elf archer came to his senses and made the right choice. He threw away his bow and arrow, raised his hands in the air, and shouted in panic: "Misunderstanding! Misunderstanding! Captain Huck, don't kill me!"
Huck rushed in front of him, clamped his neck, held his hands behind his back, pressed him on the snow, and said: "Misunderstanding? Misunderstanding, you are still shooting at me? Are you looking for death?"
The half-elf archer endured the severe pain in his shoulder and quickly explained: "Huck, you rushed too fast just now, and I didn't see clearly. I saw Max before, and I don't know what kind of situation you encountered. I just dared to Use the projectile to alert him to my position. I swear, I missed him!"
Harker snorted, let go of the archer, and said, "Fortunately you used projectile, otherwise you would have been dead by now."
The Archer moved his shoulders and said with an apologetic smile: "It's all a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding... Captain Harker, you hid it deep enough. I didn't even know that you are a strong man with a mirror heart. By the way, you know me, right?" "
Huck assumed the usual arrogant posture of a guard captain, raised his nostrils and said, "Do you think I'm a fool? I don't know you... aren't you Lison, the fourth-level archer of the Iron Cross Regiment?"
Lison smiled bitterly and said, "I'm a fool because I didn't recognize you." Without waiting for Huck to ask, he took the initiative to explain: "Our Iron Cross Regiment is camping in front to rest, and Commander Rhodes arranged for me to come out to patrol the surrounding area. I noticed the movement here and ran over to take a look, but I didn't expect to meet you and Max."
He glanced at Max and Wiltok, who were still hiding under the wooden frame, and said, "You seem to be in trouble... Why don't you go to our camp, where there are more people, so we can take care of each other."
"wait."
Huck picked up Lison's war bow, turned back to Max and Wiltok, turned the sled over first, and told Max the situation again.
After hearing this, the dark hunter whispered: "There are many of them... Lison just shouted, just to inform the others. You dragged us away, and you couldn't get rid of the iron cross and the whistle. We followed, but Don’t show your cowardice.”
Huck nodded and said, "Yeah, I think so too."
Not long after, Huck took Max and Wiltok to the temporary camp of the Iron Cross Adventure Group, and met Rod, a slave trader active in Braun Town, and six adventurers.
Rhodes heard from his subordinates that Huck was a strong person and acted very enthusiastically. After the two parties exchanged brief greetings, he looked at Wiltok, who had changed his appearance and was sleeping again, and asked with a smile: "Is this Mr. Wiltok, is he disguised?"
Huck said coldly: "You have recognized the wrong person. This is the adventurer Victor."
Dr. Cole's disguise skills are very good. If it were another situation, Rhodes may not be able to recognize that this is the extraordinary and handsome Wiltok, but in this situation, he will not mistake the person.
Rhodes had a gentle smile on his face and nodded: "I made a mistake... Victor, did he suffer a head injury, or is it an old injury?"
Huck understands that his current strength is no longer what it used to be. He is sure to kill the remaining professionals of the Iron Cross alone. But there is no ability to protect Max and Vertok.
Although the two parties know each other, without Braun Town, the friendship is not worth mentioning. Fortunately, since each other's force restrains each other, there is a basis for cooperation. Huck had to show enough toughness, and he answered the question nonchalantly: "Victor is my companion, and I will find a way to cure him."
At this time, Wiltok opened his eyes, slowly sat up in front of everyone's surprised eyes, and said, "I'm hungry."
His eyes were emerald green, full of vitality, instead of the amber color of the past.
The voice was that of Wiltok, but why did his eyes change color... Captain Rhodes secretly thought to himself.
