When news that Zero Squad had officially accepted the “Hunting the Stone-skin Lizard” quest spread through the Adventurer’s Guild, almost everyone wore expressions of expectant amusement.
“Are they crazy? Those three rookies?”
“I heard that those stone-skin lizards are as hard as rocks. Even veterans don’t want to touch them. Aren’t those three brats just going to their deaths?”
“Shh… keep it down. Did you forget how Barton and his crew fell?”
As soon as those words were spoken, the adventurers who had intended to gossip further immediately shut their mouths. Their gazes toward Helos and her companions became complicated.
They might still have lacked confidence in this excessively young squad, but at the very least, no one dared to talk behind their backs to their faces anymore.
Helos ignored the whispers around her.
She simply took the commission slip, turned around, and led her two teammates out of the Guild without looking back.
Early the next morning, as the horizon was just beginning to turn the color of a fish’s belly, the three of them had already equipped themselves.
They quietly slipped out of the side gate of the duke’s mansion and set off on the road toward the South City mountains.
To the south of Olivius City lay a stretch of rolling hills, and further beyond them were mountains that pierced the clouds.
The entrance to the mountain range, in a broad sense, was a vast area located at the junction of the hills and the mountains.
On this spring morning, the air still carried a hint of early spring chill.
A mist of dawn shrouded the fields, and the outlines of the distant mountains loomed indistinctly through the haze.
Julius walked at the very front. He was dressed in brand-new mithril light armor, carried a shield, and the longsword at his waist cast a soft glow under the morning light.
He looked extremely alert, his black eyes scanning the surroundings like a hawk, not letting a single rustle of grass or movement of a leaf escape his notice.
Gavi followed quietly behind him. Her gray traveler’s robe allowed her to blend perfectly into the somewhat desolate landscape.
Her face was hidden beneath a hood, making it difficult to see her features clearly; only when she occasionally turned could one catch a glimpse of those glimmering eyes.
Helos walked at the very back.
She wore that plain silver mask, and a large hood obscured almost all of her identifying features.
As she walked, she occasionally pulled various small tools from her belt to collect some inconspicuous-looking plants by the roadside.
For the young girl, this outing was a rare opportunity to collect various materials!
“Hey, what are you doing now?”
Julius glanced back at her and couldn’t help but ask, “We’re here to hunt, not to go on a picnic and pick herbs.”
“What do you know?”
Helos didn’t even look up as she carefully wrapped a leaf covered in dew and tucked it into her pocket.
“This is called gathering materials on the spot to prepare for unexpected needs.”
“Besides, the books say that near the habitat of a stone-skin lizard, a plant called ‘soft-stone moss’ usually grows. It has a softening effect on their skin.”
“They eat this plant to keep their skin soft to a certain degree, so it doesn’t get so hard that it affects their movement.”
“Is that so? How come I didn’t see that in the books?”
Julius looked at the girl with a face full of suspicion.
“That’s because you didn’t read carefully enough.”
Helos retorted righteously and then quickly changed the subject, “Stop wasting time. Let’s hurry up and try to reach the mountain pass before noon.”
As the sun gradually rose, the mist of dawn dissipated, and the terrain ahead began to grow rugged.
The flat dirt road was replaced by gravel and exposed bedrock, and the surrounding vegetation grew sparse, leaving only some drought-tolerant shrubs and moss growing tenaciously between the cracks in the stones.
They should be getting close.
Julius stopped and took out the simple map he had obtained from the Guild, carefully comparing it with the surrounding terrain.
“The map says that after crossing this patch of woods, the mountain range starts just ahead.”
“Mm, judging by the tracks left behind, quite a few people must have passed through here.”
“Then we need to be careful.”
Helos’s voice also became solemn. “From now on, we could encounter an attack from a magical beast at any moment.”
The three slowed their pace, forming a triangular defensive formation as they slowly walked deeper into the thicket of shrubs.
Julius pushed ahead at the front, his shield protecting his chest and his sword already drawn half an inch from its scabbard.
Gavi guarded his left-rear, while Helos was on the right-rear, her hands already quietly gripping several small potion bottles.
The light inside the woods was somewhat dim, and the interlaced shadows of the trees cast constantly shifting marks on the ground.
As the wind blew, the leaves made a *rustle* sound, making Helos’s heart feel inevitably tense.
Suddenly, Julius stopped.
He raised his hand, signaling the two behind him to halt.
“What is it?” Helos asked in a lowered voice.
Julius didn’t answer but pointed his chin toward a rock not far ahead.
On the surface of that rock, several clear and deep claw marks remained, as if they had been forcefully gouged out by sharp claws.
Helos’s heart skipped a beat, but she couldn’t confirm whether these were marks left by a stone-skin lizard.
However, based on the area marked on the commission, it was likely around here.
The three could only explore forward with even greater caution.
Soon, they passed through the relatively thin woods, and the view before them suddenly opened up.
A vast and desolate slope of jagged rocks appeared in front of them.
Countless gray rocks of various sizes were piled haphazardly on the sloping mountainside, forming a natural maze.
Sparse, withered grass swayed in the cracks of the stones, and further off were steep mountain walls.
This place was like a corner forgotten by the world, filled with an aura of deathly silence and desolation.
Although it was close to the mountain pass, few people usually set foot here.
After all, the paths in this place were not easy to navigate, and some magical beasts lived here.
Therefore, most passing travelers would bypass this area; only those who had lived nearby for a long time would pass through.
“This is the target location.”
Julius’s voice was kept extremely low. “That fellow is likely hiding behind these rocks.”
Helos nodded, her gaze quickly scanning the surrounding rocks as she tried to find more clues.
Relying on her memory from devouring books, she knew that although stone-skin lizards were good at camouflaging, they were not small; therefore, any movement would inevitably leave some traces.
“Julius, let’s split up and look for claw marks like those from before, or signs of rubbing.”
The girl began to calmly assign tasks. “Gavi, you’re responsible for guarding the perimeter.”
Julius and Gavi immediately nodded, and the three quickly spread out, yet maintained a distance where they could support each other at any time.
Relying on his knightly skills, Julius carefully inspected every suspicious rock.
Helos, on the other hand, focused her attention on the moss and lichens growing in the cracks of the stones.
“Found it!”
Not long after, Helos let out a suppressed low cry.
Julius immediately rushed over upon hearing her.
He saw Helos squatting beneath a rock wall, pointing at some marks at the base of the wall.
“Look here,” she pointed at the moss growing in the shadows of the rocks.
“Most of the ‘soft-stone moss’ is growing densely, but only the moss along this single line has been obviously worn down heavily. In some places, the rock itself is even exposed.”
She then pointed at some inconspicuous fragments on the ground that looked like fine sand.
“And these should be flakes of skin it shed. Therefore, this trail is likely the path it frequently takes to and from its nest.”
A flash of approval appeared in Julius’s eyes.
He hadn’t expected Helos to be able to deduce a magical beast’s movement route through such subtle clues.
‘How does she look anything like a rookie?’
But only Helos knew how painful it had been when she was cramming all that knowledge about magical beasts.
However, the result was good; at least it was actually proving useful, wasn’t it?
“Good job,” the youth praised in a low voice.
The two followed the worn trail, sneaking all the way toward the depths of the rocky slope.
Gavi followed behind them silently like an alert leopard, keeping a constant watch on their surroundings.
The deeper they went, the stronger the unique scent belonging to a magical beast became.
They could even see the remains of wild animals left behind on some of the surrounding rocks.
“Well, it looks like we found the right target.”
Helos nodded as she looked at the remains.
It was actually strange that they hadn’t seen any magical beasts along the way.
According to the information they had gathered previously, the number of magical beasts in this area was not small.
Although most were small magical beasts, it shouldn’t have been the case that they didn’t see a single one for this long.
As the three went deeper and saw more and more remains, a suspicion inevitably surfaced in Helos’s heart.
‘Although there is some soft-stone moss in this area, the amount isn’t large, and stone-skin lizards aren’t solitary magical beasts. So, logically speaking, there’s no reason for it to survive here for a long time.’
‘Did this thing eat all the smaller magical beasts in the area as food, and then venture out to attack humans because it ran out of food? But why hasn’t it left this place?’
Holding such questions, they finally rounded the side of a rock that was like a small hill. Hiding behind a slightly smaller rock, they poked their heads out and looked behind the massive boulder.
There was a naturally formed cave beneath the giant rock.
And at the entrance of the cave, a massive behemoth was lying there, naping.
Its body was over 3 meters long, and its entire form was covered in thick, gray, rock-like scales. When the sunlight hit them, there wasn’t even a hint of reflection.
Its sturdy limbs had sharp hooked claws, and a tail—which was longer than its body and covered in bony protrusions—lay haphazardly on the ground.
It lay there with steady breathing, blending almost perfectly with the surrounding rocks.
If their eyesight hadn’t been good enough to find its tracks, they probably wouldn’t have noticed it even if they had walked right up to its face.
Was that the stone-skin lizard?
Helos’s heart began to thud violently. She subconsciously gripped her thin sword, her palms already slick with a layer of fine, cold sweat.
This was the first time she had seen a real magical beast up close with her own eyes.
The pressure of primal wildness radiating from the creature felt far more real and shocking than any written description in a book.
Julius also held his breath. He could feel that the strength of the magical beast before them was definitely not to be underestimated.
Just as the three of them were tensely observing and preparing to discuss a strategy, the stone-skin lizard that had been napping suddenly—without any warning—snapped its vertical pupils open!
Thrust into a boss battle first I see.