Chapter 1 Facing the Inquiries of the Reef

Fang Senyan took a deep breath and said to Reef!

"Brother, our goal is to live longer, not to explore. That arrow shot into the tree definitely didn't appear here for no reason. It's likely that the guy who shot the arrow left it behind while chasing some creature. Judging from the direction the arrow was shot, which points to the top of the mountain..."

"...If we run to the top of the mountain, it may seem like we can avoid the attacks of these orcs in front, but we're likely to run headfirst into the guy who shot that arrow—I don't think that guy will be excited to hug and shake hands with us, and then invite us to eat barbecue and drink a little wine."

Reef suddenly understood and took the lead, rushing to the front. When the four orcs saw that the prey was not escaping but instead coming towards them, they excitedly raised their weapons and roared loudly, striding forward with their thick legs. Who knew that after Reef let out an angry roar, the withered branches and fallen leaves within dozens of square meters scattered everywhere. These four crude and barbaric primitive guys staggered backward, realizing that the world was spinning and they couldn't move their feet at all, and could only watch helplessly as the two prey escaped.

Fang Senyan's agility was 28 points, and Reef's agility was even around 30 points, making it his second attribute besides stamina. Therefore, his dodge probability in battle was also quite good. In fact, his basic attribute points were similar to Fang Senyan's. Fang Senyan relied on high perception to predict, while Reef relied on high agility to dodge instantly. With both sides running at full speed, and Fang Senyan also activating the movement speed bonus of his soul equipment, he naturally left the orcs far behind after a while.

They ran down the towering ridge line. The distance between the spruce trees was large, which provided a good running environment for the two. If it were in a tropical jungle, the vines and shrubs alone would be enough to cause great trouble for the escapees. The two trampled on the fallen leaves all the way at high speed, and then quickly moved forward along the nearly dry stream valley between the two mountains.

The principle of the two's advance was: never go where there is a road... because it is likely to have been trampled out by orcs... Although they were occasionally blocked by collapsed boulders along the way, it was easy for the two contractors to climb over them.

In this case, Reef's travel speed was significantly faster than Fang Senyan's. Although the surrounding environment was almost without roads, he could still maintain a considerable speed. Fang Senyan carefully observed Reef's way of walking and found that it was simple but not lacking in agility, as if he had a natural intuition to distinguish the jagged rocks and dense bushes, and then cleverly drilled through the gaps.

Fang Senyan asked, and only then did he learn that his basic footwork had been raised to lv7, and all of them were selected: The effect of reducing the deceleration effect suffered by the owner in harsh terrain (desert, swamp...). No wonder he always felt that he couldn't keep up.

Although the bodies of the two had been datafied, maintaining a high speed for a long time would also come at a price, that is, the slow decline of their health points. So after confirming that they had gotten rid of the orc pursuers, the two began to slow down and drink some water to replenish their strength.

Unlike the mountain ridges, which only had tall, cold trees growing on them, the stream valley of the Misty Mountains had some shrubs and plants on both sides due to the nourishment of water and the appearance of sunlight. But for some reason, Fang Senyan always felt that there was a hazy grayness on the leaves of these plants, probably because the evil aura of the orcs had polluted them.

Suddenly, Reef stopped and became alert. The bushes in front swayed for a while, and a nimble figure jumped out.

This was a delicate and slender girl who looked delicate and slender. Her upper body was almost completely bare except for a chest wrap woven from grass. Her left arm was painted with red patterns representing the moon, and she carried a delicate bow and arrow on her back. A slightly yellowish grass rope was tied around her neck, and she wore a piece of animal skin around her waist. The two symmetrical and shapely long legs made Fang Senyan couldn't help but take a few more glances. Her skin was very fair and delicate, and her mouth was tightly pursed. Although she looked young, she already had a fresh and determined temperament.

What completely betrayed her race was that pair of long, pointed ears. When these ears combined with her temperament, they gave off a sense of youthful freshness. Although it should be winter at this time, the elf girl still had a seemingly ordinary leaf necklace around her neck. The leaves on this necklace were bright green and looked like they were woven from oak leaves. It is worth mentioning that both Fang Senyan and Reef felt a wave of natural power fluctuating on the leaf necklace, which was obviously not ordinary.

The elf girl obviously did not expect that two uninvited guests would suddenly appear in front of her, so she immediately took half a step back like a frightened deer, making a fighting stance. She did not attack until she saw the faces of the two clearly, but asked doubtfully:

"Humans? What are you doing in the Misty Mountains?"

Reef took a step forward, pressed his left hand to his chest, and bowed slightly:

"Offspring of the pure spring goddess, please accept the sincere greetings and friendship of a Gondorian."

The elf girl obviously breathed a sigh of relief, immediately looked back in a hurry, and said hastily:

"We must escape quickly, the demon is about to catch up."

As she spoke, she led the way and fled. Fang Senyan and the other exchanged glances: They were completely unfamiliar with the Misty Mountains. Instead of running around aimlessly like headless flies, it would be better to follow this elf girl who seemed to be quite familiar with the environment.

You must know that the threats in the Misty Mountains are not just orcs..."

"...Known threats include stone giants, mutated beasts, evil mud monsters, and even unrestrained undead. Any one of these creatures is very powerful, and there should even be legendary existences among them."

Based on the information the two had at present, they could at least use their fists, violence, or strategic retreat (you can understand it as escape) to solve the orc troubles, but if they encountered the rest of these creatures, they would probably be doomed to not even have a chance to escape. After the elf girl led them to run for a while, she grabbed a handful in the air, as if there was something there, and then put the hand she was holding next to her nose and sniffed it. Finally, she stopped and patted her chest:

"The wind tells us that those filthy and dirty demons have not chased after us for the time being."

Fang Senyan tried to summon the gold mine, but found that it could not be summoned, but this was also reasonable. And if the gold mine could appear, then the advantage Fang Senyan would have would be too great..."

"...It is estimated that even Nightmare Space deeply feels that it is very difficult to get the property that the goblin has already put into his pocket."

At this time, Reef, who was from Europe and had received a deep medieval cultural influence, was chatting happily with the elf girl named Wu Ge. He easily learned that this innocent elf girl was from Rivendell, which was the last elven sanctuary east of the Misty Mountains. She had left Rivendell to find some precious tree seeds and inexplicably suffered the pursuit of orcs.

Fang Senyan and the others also found out that in recent years, these orcs had suddenly become violent, and some fierce orcs had even learned to unite and cooperate. They began to develop, explore, and continuously pollute the Misty Mountains, and even began to attack other creatures. Many Rivendell elves were taken away when they went deep into the Misty Mountains to find tree seeds, and no one knew where they went.

Of course, the Rivendell elves were also very angry about this and dispatched their team, but there were too many orcs in the Misty Mountains. Although they were definitely not a match for the team, they could scatter and escape. Once the elves dispatched a large force, they would scatter into the tunnels dug out before. After all, the number of elves was too small. They had neither the ability to fight continuously for a long time, nor could they relentlessly pursue. Therefore, multiple encirclements were futile. As a result, the elders could only warn the tribe to stay away from Rivendell as much as possible, but Wu Ge accidentally left the vicinity of Rivendell along the stream because she discovered a few precious seeds, and was forced here by the orcs.

Fang Senyan and Reef claimed to be adventurers who came to the Misty Mountains to find dwarves, wanting to buy some rare metals such as black iron, mithril, gems, etc., and then take them back to sell for money, but they got lost and were also attacked by orcs. Faced with this ambiguous and perfunctory statement, the simple elf girl did not suspect anything at all. After the three rested for a while, the elf girl Wu Ge naturally led the way in front, bypassing several settlements of orc beasts, which was considered safe. If it were Fang Senyan and Reef, they would have directly crashed into it and started a big fight, causing countless troubles.

The three continued to travel through the stream valley. Although the lead-gray clouds were still piled up in the sky, the light was at least a little brighter. Some shrubs even cast sparse shadows on the ground. The air was originally cold, and a breath seemed to freeze everything from the nostrils to the trachea to the lungs, but now they could still smell the fresh breath of some plants. According to Wu Ge, they should be getting closer and closer to Rivendell.