It was spring, and everything had woken up from the cold winter. Birds chirped happily in the trees, green buds bloomed on the dry branches, and tender green leaves began to cover the branches. Colorful flowers competed to decorate the hillside, and all kinds of insects flew among the flowers and plants. It was a scene full of vitality.
This was a season full of vitality, but also a season full of danger.
The cold winter had just passed, and the herbivores 'breeding season had begun. The carnivores, who had survived the winter, were in desperate need of a large amount of food to fill their hungry stomachs and make up for the loss of winter. The carnivores nowadays were more aggressive than in other seasons. They didn't even want to let go of targets that they wouldn't easily provoke in the past.
In the beekeeping field about ten miles away from the village, several beekeepers were pointing at the mess on the ground and answering a middle-aged man, a strong man, and a young man.
"Yes, I understand. Don't worry, it's no problem."
The middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader promised the beekeeper.
The beekeeper left the beekeeper's farm after hearing his promise, leaving only the three people who were asking questions.
"What do you guys think?"
the middle-aged man asked his companion.
"It's just a few bears."
The brawny man among the three said indifferently.
"Emerson, bear king, you're in charge. We'll take care of the rest.”
"What do you think?"
The middle-aged man asked his companion who was thinking with his head lowered.
"I find it very strange. Why would the Bear King suddenly appear?”
The young man among the three raised his head. It was Daley, who had just been admitted as a Level Three Martial Artist.
" There are no Mithril mines in this area, so it's impossible to meet the requirements for producing a Beast King. Even if there is a Mithril mine that we don't know about, it's impossible for it to suddenly support a Bear King. I've never heard of any impressive bears before.”
"Yes, it's very strange."
The middle-aged man named Emerson nodded.
"Looks like I still have to investigate. Let's go back and get some test liquid first. Michael, you should use your brain too. Maybe one day, you'll become a warrior.”
"You might as well count on a pig climbing a tree than on me to be enlightened.”
The brawny man named Michael grinned disapprovingly.
"Everyone knows that advancing to the rank of a warrior requires skill and wisdom. I'm not afraid of fighting, but I'm not afraid of using my brain.”
"Sigh, can't you have some ambition?”
Emerson shook his head helplessly and left the beehive with the two of them.
There were all kinds of plants growing in the mountains. Some plants grew on the mystical silver ores and naturally absorbed some mithril. Then, those plants would be eaten by herbivores. Mithril would accumulate in the bodies of herbivores and enter their flesh, strengthening them. One day, when the mithril accumulated to a certain extent, the animal would also make a breakthrough due to certain factors and become the king of its kind. And because of the same reason, the animal would become the emperor of its kind. The beasts that attacked humans back then were almost all led by emperor-level monsters, so humans suffered a great loss when they were caught off guard. Of course, because carnivores ate herbivores, this accumulation process would be faster. Moreover, carnivores often fought, so the possibility of breaking through was higher.
Recently, some bears had attacked the beekeepers in the village. Although the villagers who stayed behind beat drums and gongs and used fire to scare them, they did not have much effect. After sweeping through the beekeepers, they left in satisfaction. According to witnesses, there were about five bears, including a bear king.
The Bear King that the mission was going to eliminate was a Bear that had just broken through. It had yet to grasp the technique of using the power of the soul, but its skin was thick and its flesh was impenetrable. Its strength was shocking, so it needed a warrior to deal with it.
Daley and Emerson's mission was to get rid of the other bears and attract the Bear King's attention, creating an opportunity for Emerson.
After passing the exam last year, Daley wanted to spar with Hank and the others again, but he didn't expect that by the time he returned to the village, Hank and the others had already gone home.
With a trace of regret, Daley could only continue to cultivate in the village. In the early spring of the second year, Daley clearly felt that he had signs of a breakthrough, but he could not break through that layer of window paper. Helpless, Daley could only follow the experience of his predecessors and go up the mountain to fight the wild beasts to find an opportunity.
After returning to the village to get what they needed, Emerson led the two into the forest.
Not long after the bear herd destroyed the beehive, a heavy rain fell, destroying the traces left by the bear. All Daley and the others knew was that this area was the territory of the bear herd.
In order to ensure their food supply, the bears 'territory was estimated to be about a hundred miles in radius. Since the beekeeping farm was the first time it was attacked, it should be at the edge of their territory or even outside. This time, they might have gone so far to find food because they were too hungry. This meant that the person who accepted the mission was likely to enter the danger zone. Therefore, after the mission was issued by the Adventurer's Association, although the reward was quite high, no one was interested. Only Daley had taken on this mission because he wanted to take it to the next level, while Emerson and Michael needed money urgently due to some unforeseen circumstances at home.
After about 30 miles from the village, they finally found traces of the bear.
"There are more and more traces of bear activity in this area. It seems that we are close to their nest.”
Emerson said to the two people sitting beside him while eating his rations.
"But according to our investigation, the plants in this area have no signs of absorbing mithril at all. There is no mithril in the blood of herbivores. Where did that damn bear absorb so much mithril?”
"Maybe the Mithril mine is very small but very pure. It's in the bear cave.”
Daley said after thinking for a while.
" Assuming that the bears are very hungry in winter and swallow everything they catch, and for some reason, they can digest mithril, they might be able to evolve without accumulating it.”
"If that's the case, we won't be facing the Bear King, but the Bear Emperor.”
Emerson shook his head.
"Animals that have evolved must know the use of those things. If they know that they have that ability, it's impossible for them not to continue evolving.”
"Then perhaps the amount of Mithril is too little. Even if they want to eat it now, they can't.”
Michael interjected.
Then, the three of them fell silent.
The three of them knew how much they could gain from discovering a Mithril mine. It meant one or even a few high-quality weapons and money that could not be spent for more than ten years.
"Shh."
Emerson suddenly made a gesture to stop talking. The three of them looked at each other and walked slowly to the west.
In an open space not far away, the three of them watched with their mouths agape as a mouse that was flashing with golden light continuously attacked a large poisonous snake. Its claws and teeth were extremely sharp, and every time it bit the poisonous snake, it would leave a bloody wound on the snake's body. No matter how many times the poisonous snake bit the mouse, it could not bite the mouse at all.
"This is the first time I've seen a rat king in my life.”
Michael couldn't help but mutter.
The other two also nodded speechlessly. In theory, something like the Rat King should exist, but the three of them had never seen or heard of it. After all, a rat's lifespan was too short. It was impossible to accumulate enough mithril in that short life. No rat would be bored enough to chew on mithril ore. Moreover, it could not digest it. Even if it was a herbivore, it was not a huge body that a rat could move. It was really hard to imagine how this rat had evolved into a rat king.
After a while, the poisonous snake finally slowed down due to excessive bleeding.
Seeing the opportunity, the rat squeaked and jumped onto the snake's body, biting it tightly. The venomous snake rolled on the ground frantically, trying to get the rat off its body, but the rat refused to let go. Finally, the venomous snake slowly stopped, twitched for a while, and then stopped moving.
When the Rat King saw that the poisonous snake had finally died, he hurriedly turned the poisonous snake over and bit its bulging stomach. After a while, the Rat King pulled out a few dead rats from the poisonous snake's stomach.
Seeing that it was impossible to save its own kind, the rat king screamed angrily and bit the poisonous snake's corpse.
A spear shadow with a faint golden light pierced out from behind the tree and pierced through the Rat King that the poisonous snake could not hurt no matter what.
Emerson walked out from behind the tree, picked up Rat and Snake, and brought them back to the campsite.
He instructed the two of them to take out a drop of blood from the snake and the rat that was eaten by the snake and drip it on different leaves. Then, he carefully took out a bottle from his backpack and dripped a drop of liquid on each of the blood.
"The blood of those rats has enough mithril, but the blood of the snakes has none.”
Emerson's expression was a bit ugly.
"I guess only that rat king evolved because it was forced into a desperate battle. After all, it's unrealistic for every rat to have enough intelligence and combat skills. However, the mithril in the blood of the other rats was enough to support their evolution. If this snake had enough time to digest them, it might even give birth to a snake king.”
"It's really strange."
Daley bit on a grass root and rubbed his hair with his hand.
"Even a mouse can accumulate enough Mithril, which means that there is a terrifying amount of Mithril in a certain place. However, an animal of a higher level, like this snake, can't obtain any Mithril at all.”
"I don't understand either."
Emerson replied helplessly.
"Let's continue searching."
The three of them killed a few batches of rats on the way, but there were no traces of Mithril in the blood of these rats.
"I have a question."
Daley said to Emerson in the new camp that night.
"Are we finding that the footprints of the bears are getting fewer and fewer?”
"Yes."
Michael nodded.
"That means we're getting further and further away from the bear den.”
Daley continued.
"And there were a lot of bear tracks near our campsite last night, which means that the area is very close to the bear's den.”
"You mean those rats are from the bear's den?”
Emerson asked sharply.
"I can only guess."
Daley said.
" A bear king appeared out of nowhere, and a group of rats with enough mithril appeared in the place where the bear tracks were the densest. However, there was no mithril in the blood of other animals that did not dare to provoke the bear…"
"I know!"
Michael patted his head.
"That means that there is a super mithril mine in the bear den, and the ore there can be digested by animals!”
"It can't be the kind of silver mine you're talking about.”
Emerson looked at the black sky above him.
"If it really is a silver mine that can be digested by animals, then based on the speed at which the rats are accumulating, we should have found a nest of bear emperors instead of a bear king.”
"Maybe there are very few silver mines."
Michael was still not convinced.
"If that's the case, the rats won't have a chance to eat it.”
Emerson retorted.
"Not just one rat, but a nest of rats. This means that the number of rats is not small.”
"That's true."
"Anyway, there must be a big secret in the bear den.”
Daley concluded.
"What should we do tomorrow?"
"Forget it, it's already been delayed for a few days.”
Emerson thought about it and made up his mind.
"Tomorrow, we'll deal with the bears first. Let's put the mithril aside for now. After all, if it's really as we think, it might be troublesome for the Bear King to appear in a few days.”
"Yes."
After making the decision, the three of them went into their tents to rest.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]