Chapter 384: The Hollow

Chapter 384: The Hollow

“Captain, how are you adjusting to those eyes?” Rick asked. In today’s battle, Oss contributed the most. Among those who were transformed, some were already stronger than them before the transformation. After being transformed and fighting without fear of death, the power they unleashed was even greater. If not for Oss holding the line, they would have been wiped out long ago, then transformed again into those monsters within the environment of Windwhisper Valley.

“Not bad. I have some experience using them now. As long as it’s not the third stage of use, maintaining the pressure from the first two stages is no longer a problem,” Oss said. His eyes had adjusted quite well. Even though the adaptation period wasn’t completely over yet, the burden was greatly reduced. Without activating the super burst of the third stage, it was enough to handle ordinary battles.

His current strength was such that even if he faced that Stitched Abomination they encountered before, which almost wiped out their entire team, he could now deal with it alone without taking any damage. This pair of eyes had increased his power by more than fivefold.

“Given the chance, I’d like to get a pair of eyes like that too… no, even an arm would be good,” Gale said with some hope, then shook his head. Things related to Witches… were far too difficult to obtain, let alone things that had no downsides, only benefits. Only items originating from the Witch of Life had such characteristics.

However, from that adventure, they did gain some rewards, but what they obtained wasn’t very suitable for them. At that time, there were too many competitors. Oss hadn’t yet gotten these eyes. As an ordinary team, having any harvest at all was already a very good result. Some teams got nothing at all and even suffered losses themselves.

The exploration of Windwhisper Valley was proceeding rapidly. Those Mercenaries and Adventurers, driven by profit, dug around inside, searching for things that could bring them benefits. With them sharing the pressure, the Sanctuary Church’s team hurried their search of the place in Windwhisper Valley where the Undying Witch’s power first appeared, trying to find useful clues there, or perhaps locate something very important the Undying Witch left behind.

In the end, all they found there was a Magic Rune Array whose power was mostly depleted. At the core connection points of the rune patterns, some grey cores were embedded. These things couldn’t be touched lightly. Once interfered with, it would cause the entire Magic Rune Array to erupt completely, affecting the whole of Windwhisper Valley. This was not something they could handle; they needed professionals. However, on their way back, they found their escape route blocked. They fought their way through several teams and barely escaped from the blockade of dozens of Wind Dragonflies.

This also indicated the importance of that place…

Others also suffered attacks from Wind Dragonflies, but they weren’t targeted so intently.

“What exactly left this hole…?” Gale looked at the enormous hollow in front of him. Looking down, the air currents swirling up from inside had a pulling force, as if trying to drag a person in. Below was pitch black. Someone with a timid heart would probably have already sat down on the ground, tightly gripping something nearby to steady themselves.

The matter of the Element Crystal was not known to others. If the Adventurers and Mercenaries gathered here found out, even if the blockade wasn’t lifted, some would recklessly charge in to try their luck. Dying wasn’t the issue, but if they caused some trouble before dying, ruining the overall situation, that would be the real disaster.

Therefore, related information was top secret. So when Oss and the others saw this hollow left behind after the Element Crystal was dug out, they only felt puzzled, unaware of what priceless thing had existed here before.

“Maybe it was affected by the Undying Witch’s power… I remember below might be a… Wind Element Vein?” Wood thought for a moment and said. As soon as the words left his mouth, Gale’s eyes immediately lit up.

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s quickly find a way down! Even though Windhowl Stones can’t be traded, if it’s normal Wind Element ore, there wouldn’t be any restrictions!”

“…” Wood didn’t speak. He just took out a cheap glowing Alchemy Tool from his pack, activated it, and threw it into the hollow before them. The bright light emitted by the tool illuminated the space below. The hole was very deep, over a hundred meters. The opening was irregular, but the depths appeared very smooth, as if something had drilled through it forcefully. With sufficient light, even though there was a faint grey mist, they could all see the environment at the bottom of the hollow.

Gale was somewhat stunned. “Is this fake?”

There was nothing at the bottom of the hollow. That was the surprising part. Since it was an Elemental Vein, and they had dug over a hundred meters deep, there should still be no sign of any mined ore vein. The Wind Element ore contained here must have been extremely abundant. Not to the point of not needing to dig at all, just picking up a few pieces of Wind Element ore casually, but at the very least, there should be many related traces visible.

Besides… it wasn’t like you couldn’t actually pick any up. Aren’t Windhowl Stones a special type of ore?

But now, all they saw were ordinary stones and dirt. It was cleaner than if a dog had licked it. So where did the ore vein go?

“…” Oss and the others were also silent. A huge Wind Element Vein had vanished? Was that possible? Or perhaps the hole was dug in the wrong place, so they didn’t find anything? That also seemed clearly impossible. The Wind Element Vein had disappeared into thin air. Perspective and knowledge determined many things.

Among them, only Lena knew the truth. No matter how they guessed, they couldn’t figure out what accident had befallen this Wind Element Vein… Before the Sanctuary Church revealed the truth, this could already be considered a mystery.

Not far from them, another team also found this place. They didn’t think as much as Oss and his group. After a brief discussion, they began preparing tools to explore downward. One of them was still wary of Oss’s team, not worried about competition, but concerned about being betrayed. The hollow was large; their team couldn’t monopolize it. As for someone later blocking the area, it didn’t matter much since they could exit from other places.

Everyone here was strong enough. Even without tools, they could still climb out using just their hands.

“Should we go down and take a look too?” Gale, after a moment of hesitation, suggested. Even though the Wind Element Vein might have vanished without a trace, there was still a layer of mist inside the hollow that seemed thinner compared to the outside, making visibility unclear. If they didn’t go down to properly confirm, they might be mistaken.

“Let’s go down and take a look then…” Oss thought for a while and said. They were Adventurers. If they chose to avoid things they encountered, they wouldn’t be Adventurers. So since they had come across this hollow that might hide treasure, there was no harm in going down to check. After all, yesterday’s gains were already substantial. Even if the gains were much smaller in the following time, it would be acceptable.

“Let’s find another spot to go down.” Wood glanced at that team and said. Three of them had already gone down, a step ahead. Going down now might lead to an attack. Remember, they had a woman with weak combat ability among them. Changing the spot was safer.

Right after they changed locations, several more teams arrived. Upon discovering the hollow, they quickly approached. One team observed the distant teams that had signaled back, then discussed among themselves: “There are quite a few people. The mist below isn’t thick either, not a good opportunity to act.”

“Then forget it. Surely more people will find this place soon. Let’s not make a move for now. Today’s harvest is big enough,” another person in the team said. He patted the bag he was carrying, which was filled with Windhowl Stones, both grey and black. With just the few of them, it was clearly impossible to collect so much in a short time… but having others ‘collect’ for them worked just fine.

“After this job, we won’t need to be Mercenaries anymore!” another person said. Their thoughts were pretty much the same. Be ruthless now, and later they wouldn’t need to live such a life on the edge of the blade. These Windhowl Stones were enough to exchange for the wealth they desired at the Sanctuary Church.

Moreover, they all had considerable strength and didn’t need to worry about being unable to protect their wealth. Of course, even though the wealth was sufficient, given the chance to obtain more, none of them wanted to miss it. They all planned to go down and explore. The fact that there was a Wind Element Vein beneath Windwhisper Valley wasn’t a secret, but they had been hindered by the tight guard of those Wind Dragonflies, making development impossible.

Now, in their view, it was different. Those Wind Dragonflies were desperately maintaining the storm in the sky. How many Wind Dragonflies actually came down?

No more than three; they could deal with them by working together. So why not go down and search for treasure?

Many teams went down. Plus, the mist inside the hollow was limited. After someone brought a light source, most of the darkness here was dispelled. Oss swung his sword at some loose rocks to the side, looked at the scattered stones, and shook his head. “Still just rocks. There shouldn’t be any ore here at all. Let’s go.”

In a short time, many people were inside the hollow. A large number of people could make one feel at ease; after all, if something happened, with many people around, one would think trouble wouldn’t hit them first. But in this place, a large crowd brought a sense of crisis. The only exit was above. If something struck from above… that would really be deadly. So after a simple exploration confirmed there was nothing here, of course they left immediately.

A simple exploration was sufficient here. Any more exploration would just waste time. Better to leave early.

At that moment, Lena suddenly pointed in one direction and said softly, “Everyone, look over there. There seems to be a hidden small opening…”