With a clear master-follower relationship, Gargamel was no longer as lazy as before.
With his special ability as a potion maker, small monsters would immediately hide as far away as they could the moment they smelled the herbs hanging on his staff. This also allowed the exploration team to avoid many unnecessary battles!
However, Gargamel's potions were obviously only effective on monsters, and had no effect on normal forest beasts. This was the time to show the value of these mercenaries.
Lowi, Gillian, and Neil, who was a half-baked Hunter, could deal with normal beasts. If they were attacked by a large group of beasts, Sabrina's terrifying combat power would be completely unleashed. No matter how terrifying the beasts were, they were nothing more than pieces of rotten meat that could be slaughtered and eaten at will.
If it weren't for the fact that she didn't want to disturb the powerful monsters, Sabrina could even slaughter the entire pack of 200 wolves by herself without getting hurt.
Sabrina, who had the protection of witchcraft, was already a god-like existence in the eyes of adventurers. However, in front of the two wizards, she often did not even dare to breathe, obediently obeying their orders. Even the skinny Gargamel, who seemed like he could be blown away by a gust of wind, was arrogant and unscrupulous when commanding the mechanical girl.
With the full cooperation of the Wizard Gargamel, the team's speed naturally increased by countless times. It only took them three days to arrive near their destination under the lead of Luo Wei and the others.
Since it was their first time here, the team did not act rashly. They set up a camp near a hidden canyon.
Sword and Shield Warrior Lowi led Grimm and Gargamel up a small slope. Through the gaps between the dense trees, they peeked at the mysterious area half a mile away.
Sick Forest!
This was also the name that the locals gave the Black Forest that covered an area of 50 miles.
The only reason why it was given such a title was that the trees here seemed to have contracted a strange disease. All the leaves were yellow and withered, looking sickly.
Seriously speaking, the Sick Forest was actually a small hill. The highest point was no more than 200 meters. The top of the hill was smooth and flat, without any steep peaks. The entire mountain was covered with bony ancient trees. The leaves were half yellow and half green, looking rather strange.
The ancient trees on the hill were not very tall. Large chunks of metal rocks were exposed from time to time under the thin layer of soil, reflecting the light of the sun. The roots of the ancient tree extended through the soil and rocks with difficulty, and many places were already exposed outside the soil.
The soil on the hill was greyish-brown with a hint of burnt yellow. It was as if an infinite heat was slowly seeping out from the ground, turning this place into a small oven. The ancient trees on the hill were like half-baked cheese. If it wasn't for the intermittent heat that gave them the opportunity to survive, the entire hill would have become a barren land!
Grim and Gargamel looked at each other and silently nodded.
From the shape of the Sick Forest, it could be seen that there was indeed a source of heat underground. If they wanted to figure out the cause of the heat, they could only take the risk and go down to investigate.
"There, there's a hole there and there. They're both very narrow and short, and can only fit an adult bending over to walk through. In that direction … there's a slightly larger cave entrance, but it's filled with terrifying bats. It's difficult for outsiders to enter without alerting them … "Lowi was indeed an adventurer who made a living here all year round. He was extremely familiar with a dangerous place like the Sickly Forest.
However, it was obvious that his understanding was limited to the surface of the Sick Forest. As for the world below the hill, it was not something he could come into contact with!
Fortunately, Grim had already obtained some information from the forest demons. Otherwise, he would have no choice but to bite the bullet and go down. Even with Grim's confidence, if he were to run into a group of Manticores blindly, he would at least be covered in dust. If he did not pay a price, even with his strength, he would lose a layer of skin even if he did not die!
At this point, the adventurer's party had actually completed Grim's mission. As for exploring the underground world, this was not a mission that ordinary adventurers could complete. Even if Grim offered a bounty of magic crystals, Lowi would not be so foolish as to lead his party into a nest of monsters.
Although magic crystals were good, one had to be alive to spend them!
Grim did not insist on this, and only asked them to maintain the temporary camp on the surface. The real members of the expedition were still Grimm, Gargamel, and Sabrina.
In the evening, the sky darkened again, and the people gathered in the camp suddenly heard a strange sound.
A large number of nocturnal bats swarmed out of a huge karst cave at the foot of the Sick Forest. There were so many of them that they covered the nearby sky. They circled around in the sky, and when there were enough of them, they suddenly pounced towards the forest in the distance like a dark cloud.
These nocturnal creatures had finally moved out!
Not long after the nocturnal bats moved out, the karst cave that had just quietened down suddenly heard a loud sound of wind breaking.
Following a series of strange roars, terrifying Manticores that were as large as rhinoceroses flew out of the karst cave. They glided in the sky and landed on a towering stone pillar near the entrance of the cave.
They had a majestic body and head like a lion, and their fur was brown. They had a pair of leather-like dark red bat wings on their backs, and there was a terrifying, segmented scorpion tail behind their tails. The stinger of the scorpion tail was raised high, and the end of the stinger flashed with a strange blue luster. It was obvious that it was not an ordinary poison.
Compared to the huge body of the Manticore, the bat wings on its back seemed too thin and thin. Such a size obviously could not carry them high into the sky, nor could they fly at high speed, but the Manticore did not care at all.
After all, the Manticore was a rare monster that lived in the underground world all year round. The area was narrow and the terrain was rugged. If the wings were too big, it would be difficult to spread them. Therefore, it only needed to glide at a low altitude with the help of its bat wings so that it could swoop down on its prey.
One, two, three, four … … nine … …
Grimm and the other two hid in a crevice between the rocks, using medicinal powder to get rid of the smell on their bodies, and observed the movement of the Manticores from a close distance.
There were a total of nine Manticores, some big and some small, but all of them were mature and young enough to be hunters. This also indicated that there were still two young Manticores guarding the Manticore's nest below the karst cave.
After a moment of 'quarreling' and 'confusion', the Nine-headed Manticores split into three groups, roaring as they rushed in different directions. Although they were underground creatures, food was too scarce in the underground world, so they had to come up to the surface every once in a while to satisfy the new Manticores' thirst for blood!
"Let's go! Let's go meet those two young Manticores! " When the Manticores had completely disappeared into the darkness of the night, Grimm waved his hand and led the other two towards the entrance of the huge karst cave.
As soon as they set off, they could see that Sabrina, who was a coolie, was carrying a huge cloth bag on her back. The bag was wriggling as if it was some kind of living creature.
As soon as they entered the karst cave, a strong, suffocating stench assaulted their nostrils.
Tens of thousands of bats lived here, causing the air in the cave to be extremely polluted. The floor and the stone pillars were also covered with a thick layer of bat droppings, so there was no place for people to step on.
Grimm stood at the entrance of the cave, his eyes slowly swept across the pitch-black space inside, and quickly locked onto an area.
Damp and cold air blew out from there. Behind the jagged stalagmites, there must be a hidden passage leading to the lower level.
With Grimm's elemental vision, infrared detection, low-light vision, and long-range touch alternated, and with the help of a wizard's spiritual perception, the darkness in the karst cave quickly retreated and peeled away. Stalagmites as sharp as wolf fangs, stone pillars that reached the top of the cave, and hidden cracks in the rocks … All of these slowly appeared in Grimm's mind with him at the center.
Multi-dimensional construction!
As Grimm's strength gradually increased, his visual perception ability was strengthened step by step.
In the past, Grimm could only see objects in a straight line of sight, and he could not see things hidden behind walls or stone pillars. But now, with the improvement of his ability and spiritual perception, his vision could even bypass obstacles and see what he wanted to see.
Of course, the premise was that there were no energy disturbances, or the walls were not too thick!
The birth of this ability also meant that there would be no blind spots in his future battles. No matter where the enemy attacked him from, he could react immediately, attack, defend, or dodge. Every time, he could see the bigger picture and make a response that was more beneficial to him.
"Come closer, I'll bring you guys in!"
Grimm whispered. When Gargamel and Sabrina came closer, he reached out and grabbed their arms. His body slightly trembled, and in a sudden burst of fire, he disappeared on the spot.
In the next second, in a dark corner of the karst cave where the bats did not dare to approach, Grimm and the other two appeared in a flash of fire.
It did not matter to Gargamel. With his powerful spiritual power, he endured the dizziness caused by the sudden change in space. As for Sabrina, as a prospective wizard apprentice, it was her first time experiencing a strange spell like 'Flame Teleportation'. In an instant, she felt her throat was dry, and the scene in front of her was chaotic. She staggered two steps and held on to a stone pillar to catch her breath.
"Let's go, there are two babies waiting for us inside!"
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