My monster cards can evolve infinitely.

As the first rays of dawn struggled through the thick fog of the gray forest, the mage apprentice Ellie's eyelids fluttered a few times.

Her consciousness seemed to slowly rise from the deep sea, and she heard the clear chirping of birds—

It sounds like the call of a robin.

Memories flooded in instantly: songs, fantasies, my out-of-control self, the backlash of magic...

She suddenly felt a splitting headache, as if someone had been hammering her head all night.

Ellie struggled to sit up and found herself lying on a pile of dead leaves by the campfire, with the simple oak staff lying beside her.

Despite the severe headache making her vision blur, her mage instincts immediately prompted her to check her magical circulation—

Fortunately, his body was not damaged, but his magic power was severely depleted, and he probably wouldn't be able to perform a single trick for a while.

She looked around and found that neither Broken Bones nor Bucky were there, only—

"Captain..." Her voice was terribly hoarse.

"You're awake. How are you feeling?" a deep voice asked.

Captain Ryan leaned against a large tree not far away, his chest rising and falling slightly.

Half of his face was swollen, there was a noticeable bruise on his forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot, but his gaze had regained its former sharpness.

"Your body is severely overworked. You'll need to rest for at least a while to recover!" The captain poured a glass of water from the water bag and handed it to Ellie.

After the cool nectar soothed her throat, Ellie felt a little more alive.

"Where are Bonebreaker and Bucky?" The mage apprentice still couldn't find the other two teammates.

The captain's body visibly stiffened.

He stood up silently and walked towards the woods on the other side. Ellie struggled to her feet and staggered after him.

After walking a few more steps through a patch of tall grass, on a meadow that had been trampled and messed up, there were two ancient trees growing intertwined together.

Beneath the ancient tree, the orc Shatterbones and the dwarf Bucky huddled together.

The orc Shattered Bones sat there like a monument, his back ramrod straight, a smile still lingering on his closed eyes, as if he were merely asleep.

However, there was a clear scratch on the animal hide armor around his waist, and the surrounding flesh had turned an abnormal bluish-purple.

The dwarf Bucky lay at his feet, his eyes closed, his expression serene and peaceful.

His chest appeared to have been cleaved open by a massive weapon, leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound.

They leaned against each other like two old friends who had fallen asleep after drinking.

Ellie covered her mouth, and two streams of hot, glistening tears quietly slid down her cheeks.

The captain stood in front of the two corpses for a long time.

The sun slowly rose, and the morning light filtered through the gaps in the trees, casting dappled shadows on his face.

Ellie could see the captain's shoulders trembling slightly, like a lone tree in a storm.

"Is it...the singing that's affecting it?" the monk's apprentice asked, his voice choked with emotion.

"Hmm!" The captain leaned forward, his back seemingly aging instantly. "Led down by the song, they turned on each other!"

"Bucky's dagger was coated with snake venom; it didn't last long against Bonebreaker..."

"It's my fault!" His fingertips lightly traced the "Grey Blade" squad emblem embroidered on the dwarf's leather armor. "I shouldn't have ventured deeper into the forest after noticing something amiss!"

Ellie shook her head. As a first-time mage apprentice on an adventure, she had no way of judging her captain's decision, and at this moment, she couldn't offer any words of comfort.

She crouched down and looked at the two already cold corpses—one of whom was excessively rude and the other excessively shrewd, but both of whom had taken good care of her during her first adventure.

Recalling the boisterous revelry of the four of them in the tavern the night before their departure, the orc's enthusiastic laughter, the dwarf's gentle, considerate chuckle...

The words still echo in my ears.

"Captain... at least let them... have some dignity!" she whispered.

Raine glanced at her and then slowly nodded.

As a seasoned adventurer, I shouldn't have agreed to this request.

Continuing to linger in this dangerous monster forest after losing its main fighting force is not a wise choice.

However, he did not refute it.

The two began to fight.

Lacking tools, they could only dig through the soft morning soil with their hands and broken knives.

It was a slow and silent process. For a long time, the only sounds were the rustling of the soil being turned over and the two people's panting.

By the time the two simple graves were dug, the sun had already climbed to the treetops.

The captain found two relatively flat stone slabs and used a broken knife to carve his name and the date on them.

His carving skills were rough, but he was very serious, and his face seemed to carry a kind of piety.

After doing all this, the two stood in front of the grave in silence for a long time.

"May your souls return to the land of your ancestors!" Renn whispered.

"May you rest in peace!" Ellie whispered in response.

Then the two turned and walked toward the campsite by the campfire.

After tidying up the campsite, the two began their return journey.

Ellie's gaze was drawn to an unusual color not far away.

Scattered around a patch of tall, flattened shrubs were many long, grayish-brown feathers that shimmered with a metallic sheen.

Through the gaps in the bushes, one could seemingly see a slender, twisted body.

Ellie's heart suddenly raced.

She glanced back at her captain, and saw that Ryan was also looking in that direction, nodding slightly at her.

The two held their breath, crept closer, and slowly parted the tall grass—

The body of a bird demon appeared before them.

The body was already cold. There was a charred wound on the neck, and the back of the head was dented and broken, with traces of burning remaining.

Those amber-colored vertical pupils stared blankly at the gray sky, her full red lips slightly parted, as if she were singing the next note.

"This is... a harpy?" Ellie murmured, her voice trembling with excitement. "Captain, look!"

Renn quickly stepped forward and crouched down to examine the area.

The captain's years of hunting experience and adventures told him that this was no ordinary bird demon.

Whether it's its enormous wingspan, its extremely slender body, or the silvery-white feathers on its body, everything about it shows that it is no ordinary creature.

And more importantly—

"The bounty was posted by the town hall of Summertown a few days ago," Captain Rein quickly pieced together the fragmented information.

"A winged forest singer uses her enchanting voice to bewitch travelers before killing them..."

"They all match up!"

"This bounty mission is worth a whopping 50 gold coins!"

50 gold coins! Ellie's mind went blank.

What does 50 gold coins mean? They can buy 20000 pounds of wheat, 200 goats, or copy 5 magic tricks.

That's enough to support an ordinary person comfortably for several years.

"Was it that man who killed him?" Ellie's gaze swept over the harpy's corpse and landed on the bruise on Raine's forehead.

"Only he could have done that!" The captain's gaze was deep. "I had lost control at the time. He knocked me unconscious and then went over there..."

"It seems he has won."

"But he's gone," Ellie gazed into the depths of the gray fog in the distance, "Perhaps... he's already..."

"No!" Renn shook his head. "That kind of person won't die easily!"

His tone was very certain, and Ellie didn't know where the captain's certainty came from.

Raine carefully removed the identification items from Broken Bones and Bucky and put them away—the orc's tribal totem necklace and the dwarf's dagger engraved with his name.

Then he began to dispose of the harpy's corpse.

As the sun rose fully and the gray fog in the forest thinned, the captain finally finished dealing with the bird demon.

He packed up the most valuable parts of the bird demon and simply wrapped them in the camp's cloth.

"We have to go." Raine slung his bulging bag over his shoulder and called out to the mage apprentice, who was staring blankly in the direction where his teammates were buried.

"Captain," Ellie suddenly asked.

"What kind of person do you think he is... that man?"

Raine paused for a moment, gazing into the depths of the gray fog before finally replying.

"I have no idea!"

"but..."

"Some people are destined to be... extraordinary..."

The image of that cold, clear light illuminating his pale face flashed in his mind.

"Like fireflies in the night, so dazzling, so unforgettable..."