Starting with the goblin extermination

The canopy of the trees above them grew even denser, almost completely blocking out the sunlight.

The gray-green leaves, which were already covered in a layer of dust, became even more somber.

The two walked one after the other through the dark forest.

They were still on the outskirts of the Ash Forest, but deeper inside.

Logan walked behind, his gaze fixed on Elsa, who was leading the way.

Elsa has remained silent since we met today, even though she has never been a talkative person in the past.

"How is your injury?"

Logan suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

"Very good." Elsa didn't even turn her head.

"Then why are you gripping the dagger so tightly?" Logan's gaze fell on her hand. There, her knuckles were turning slightly white from gripping too hard.

Elsa paused, her grip on her hand loosening unconsciously, but she still didn't turn around.

"I'm just being cautious," she replied coldly.

"Being vigilant and being anxious are two different things," Logan said, pushing aside the branches. "If there's anything, you can talk to me about it."

Elsa stopped, turned around, and a look of panic flashed in her eyes as if she had been seen through, but she quickly turned her head away again.

"I'm fine, just mind your own business."

She continued walking forward, her pace noticeably quickening, leaving Logan behind.

Logan sighed inwardly.

Indeed, just mind your own business.

"Whatever, just don't get distracted and accidentally hit me when the fight starts." Logan shrugged, ending the conversation.

The two continued toward the abandoned mine.

Unbeknownst to them, a slight rustling sound was coming from a bush a few hundred meters behind them.

They were being followed.

......

Three fully armed men were following Logan and Elsa at a distance, using the trees as cover.

The leader was a gaunt, bald man. He carried a long spear on his back, and if you took out his inner pocket, you could see a dark red badge engraved with a hyena's head.

"Boss, how much further do we have to follow?" a burly man carrying a spiked iron bar complained in a low voice. "Back at the Guardian Stone, why didn't we just ambush them from behind while they were dealing with the wild boars? Why bother with all this trouble?"

"Is your brain filled with nothing but goblin shit?"

The bald man in the lead growled.

"Didn't you see that old dwarf wielding the axe? That's Thorin, the captain of the Skullcrushers! A seasoned veteran in the guild! If he really fought, he could chop you into ten pieces by himself! Are you trying to kill us already?"

"But......"

"There's no 'buts' about it," the bald man spat. "In our line of work, the most important thing is patience, and you have to pick on the weak."

His gaze was greedily fixed on Elsa's back.

"Judging by her figure, that female wanderer in the gray cloak is definitely not very old. A female wanderer with some strength and a wild streak like that could easily fetch exorbitant prices from those perverted noblemen on the black market!"

"As for that blond kid..." The bald man lowered his binoculars, letting out a disdainful sneer. "He's just a refugee from the North with no connections. Maybe he'll have clients who like that kind of thing. Be careful when you make your move; that woman has to be caught alive!"

"So when do we make our move?" Another henchman, holding a short knife, licked his chapped lips.

"The abandoned mine is just ahead. Those ferocious rats inside are not to be trifled with; the terrain is more complicated than a dragon's rectum."

The bald man sneered, "We'll keep watch outside the mine. Let these two reckless rookies go in and fight to the death. When they're exhausted, crawling out covered in wounds and their spoils..."

"Then we'll comfortably close the net. Understand?"

......

Logan and Elsa finally stopped in front of a large, black hole.

Abandoned mine pit.

A thick, heavy pillar was thrust diagonally into the cave entrance. A cold wind, mixed with the smells of earth, rust, and excrement, howled out from inside.

It was completely dark inside.

Sunlight fell inside, illuminating only a small patch of soil where a rusty iron pickaxe lay.

Snapped.

Logan pulled out a lighter and lit two grease-soaked torches.

He handed one of the sticks to Elsa, and the firelight instantly created a small patch of faint light in the dark cave entrance, casting distorted shadows of the two of them against the rough rock wall.

Visibility is still very low.

Logan frowned slightly as he watched the firelight illuminate less than five meters ahead.

Elsa didn't speak, but stared intently at the darkness at the edge of her vision. Although the Wanderer was accustomed to the dark, her vision was also severely limited in this environment.

Without hesitation, Logan took out the glass bottle that emitted a blue light.

That bottle of night vision potion that Adele gave me.

As he uncorked the bottle, the aroma of mint wafted out, and Logan downed the drink in one gulp.

His eyes suddenly stung.

The icy sensation made him blink repeatedly.

"What did you drink?" Elsa noticed Logan's unusual behavior and turned her head in confusion.

The stinging pain finally stopped, and Logan slowly opened his eyes.

The darkness faded from view, and the whole world turned pale blue.

Although the colors have become monotonous, incredibly, he can now clearly see through the darkness beyond the range of the torchlight.

The protruding ore on the distant rock face, the abandoned minecart tracks on the ground, the beams overhead—everything in the darkness was clearly visible to him.

Now, in the darkness, he could see further than the wanderer beside him.

"Night vision solution. Prepared in advance."

Logan walked to the front of the line.

"You follow behind me, I'll lead the way."

The sound of their footsteps echoed through the mine tunnel, drawn out over time.

As the terrain slopes downwards, the humidity in the air increases, and water droplets begin to seep from the rock walls.

Logan noticed something unusual in the darkness ahead.

At the end of the track, several enormous, umbrella-shaped silhouettes, resembling human figures, were emitting a faint glow as they slowly crept along the edge of the rock wall.

"Stop." Logan lowered his voice and reached out to stop Elsa.

"What's wrong?" Elsa gripped the dagger tightly; she could only see a few blurry spots of light ahead.

"They are mushroom people." Logan used the vision provided by the potion to see the creatures clearly.

It was a fungal creature resembling a giant mushroom, possessing intelligence and typically living underground. At this moment, it was slowly scraping away at the remains of some kind of monster on the ground, ignoring the heat and light emanating from the torches in Logan's hands.

"Ignore them; they're neutral scavengers. As long as we don't attack them, they won't bother us. Let's stick to the right wall."

The two carefully avoided the giant, glowing mushrooms.

Continuing downwards, in Logan's blue field of vision, numerous broken biological remains began to appear.

There were huge rat skeletons that had been gnawed clean, skulls of unknown beasts, and even several blackened skeletons that clearly belonged to human adventurers.

The bones were covered in jagged bite marks, clearly indicating that they had been torn apart alive by a pack of beasts.

"Ahead lies the open area of ​​the first level of the mine; a small number of ferocious rats may appear there..."

Logan hadn't finished speaking.

Thump—!

A dull, loud noise erupted from the depths of the mine.

In an instant, the entire mine began to shake violently.

Logan and Elsa were shaken so badly by the tremor that they almost lost their balance, and a rain of rubble and dust fell on them.

Logan grabbed Elsa's arm and pulled her to a relatively solid recess in the rock wall.

He shielded her with his body, raising his arms to protect her head.

The tremors lasted for more than ten seconds before finally subsiding.

The mine fell silent again, save for Elsa's soft breathing and blushing face.

"What...is that?"

Logan did not answer.

Of all the information he had reviewed about the mine, there was absolutely no mention of the situation that had just occurred.