Star Forge Titan

"Respect the unpredictable fate." Andre's low voice sounded in the peaceful night of the desert.

"To precious life." Kalani tapped the staff with his fingers, and with the light "tapping" sound of the wood being struck, he opened his mouth to sing the second sentence.

"To the separation that will eventually lead to reunion." Lilim's joyful voice also blended in, accompanied by the crisp sound of a spoon hitting an empty bowl.

"To the forgetfulness that banishes pain."

"Cheers to the sky!" The orc's deep voice pounded like a war drum.

"To the forest!" The half-elf's high voice was ethereal and magnificent with a metallic vibration.

"To the greed of adventurers!" Andre laughed and continued to sing.

"Here's to the adventurer's luck!" Lilith jumped up with an empty bowl in one hand and a spoon in the other.

"Cheers to failure!"

"Cheers to escaping death!"

"To the old drunkard!"

"And stinky boots!"

……

As the singing drifted away, the smile on Alvin's face grew brighter.

The life of an adventurer is not just about fighting and killing. He began to look forward to tomorrow's investigation.

However, according to Andre and his team, nine out of ten times when they investigated rumors like this, they would find nothing.

Even the most seasoned sandworm hunters can only get used to it.

But who knows what will happen tomorrow or in the future?

Just leave everything to luck!

Chapter 28: Sandworm Appears

Sometimes things that you think are impossible appear without any warning, like a football that suddenly flies in and breaks your window.

Without any preparation or concern, the unexpected thing appeared in front of everyone.

In the shadow cast by the behemoth, Alvin and his temporary friends were all stunned.

"Is it... a sandworm?"

It took the black-haired boy a long time to lower his voice and squeeze out a third of a sentence without beginning or ending.

"Probably." Andre half opened his mouth and spoke in a very noisy voice, like an old door hinge without oil.

"But it's so big." Lilim also kept her mouth open for a long time.

"Indeed, it's very big." Even Alvin was in a similar state as the other friends at this moment.

"Very big." The orc at the mountain scene not only had protruding fangs, but also the large teeth inside were completely exposed because of its wide-open mouth.

"Great." The half-elf wizard was very frugal with his words, but his expression could no longer maintain the indifference of the past. He looked as if he wanted to shout loudly but was forcibly suppressing it.

Just a few hours before this shocking scene that made people want to scream, it happened in a temporary camp on the leeward slope of an unknown sand dune.

Alvin woke up early, lifted the blanket and rubbed his eyes.

After the savage Titan from the North took a few seconds to figure out who I was, where I was, and what I was going to do, I saw a short figure squatting in front of the campfire, busy at work.

"Good morning! (^o^)/~" Lilim, squatting in front of the pot making breakfast, shouted energetically:

Although it was still early morning and the sun had just risen, the spirit of the little halfling was as active as the rising sun slowly climbing out of the horizon behind him, and the soup spoon raised high reflected the bright sunlight.

"Good morning, Lilith." Alvin yawned, his attitude very gentle, completely unable to tell that he had just killed dozens of thieves who believed in Terror and were particularly short-sighted yesterday.

The tall boy had a head of slightly curly black hair casually spread out behind his back, making him look like a large cat yawning in the warm sunshine, lazy and relaxed.

Although Alvin showed astonishing strength in yesterday's battle, the members of the Tracker Team clearly had normal human thinking.

So apart from necessary inquiries, they all behaved very restrainedly.

He neither appears overly friendly or fawning because of the newcomer's strength, nor does he appear inexplicably wary of the newcomer's strength. This rational attitude is what a normal person would have when facing a strong person.

After all, the strong are also human beings, and among humans, apart from psychopaths, who would like flatterers or persecution maniacs?

In addition, they had similar personalities, and although they had not been together for a long time, they had established the most basic friendship.

If you want friends, don't be timid, and certainly don't act superior. It will not be strange if you are open and generous to each other.

Under the heat from the iron pot, Lilith's rosy face was full of pride.

"For breakfast, I made a pot of mixed vegetable soup with the leftover vegetables, chicken, and rice from yesterday and added some spices. It was delicious with toasted bread."

For a Halfling, one of life's most commendable achievements involves cooking: being able to prepare a table full of delicious food that satisfies all guests.

Apparently, the young halfling female thief also regards it as her creed.

Apart from anything else, at least when it comes to cooking, her confidence is - one thousand percent!

I saw the half-ling chef, who was very agile and had a little baby fat on his face, scooping up a spoonful of thick and fragrant hot soup.

You can see several kinds of brightly colored vegetable pieces in it, and floating in the fragrant soup are grains of rice and chicken that has been fried in an iron pan until golden brown.

“…” Ivan’s eyes, which were originally sleepy, gradually began to brighten.

However, before he could act, the half-elf wizard, who was lying flat in the tent with his hands holding his body in a neat posture, suddenly sat up with a start.

Kalani muttered something in the Elvish language that no one else could understand. After sitting up, he still closed his eyes, and God knew whether he was awake or not. With his hands stretched forward, he walked towards the iron pot step by step as if sleepwalking.

Alvin stood there in a daze, and then he heard the sound of breathing coming from the other side of the tent. The sound was so loud and frequent that it even reminded people of the range hood in the kitchen.

Orc Gaoshan was still asleep, but his muscular body was wrapped in a sleeping bag, and he was trying to wriggle forward.

In addition to the people, even the only horse in the team pricked up its ears.

The mountain king's big dark eyes rolled around as he glanced at the iron pot on the campfire, and something shiny seemed to be dripping out of his mouth.

Ivan turned his head stiffly and looked at the iron pot in front of Lilith. He began to wonder if the halfling had added something strange into it.

"Good morning, newcomer." Andre, the captain of the last night watch, greeted with a smile.

Seeing the surprised look on Alvin's face, he couldn't help but smile wider before explaining it.

"Don't look so weird. Lilim is the winner of the New Year's cooking competition in her hometown of Shire."

"As for Kalani, he was a little confused when he woke up this morning. According to the wizard himself, what was it called? Oh, right, hypoglycemia, that should be the right word." Andre muttered uncertainly.

"What about Gao Shan?" Ivan couldn't help but ask:

Captain Andre was silent for a while, then raised his head and sighed silently.

"Perhaps, it's the beast instinct that hasn't been completely eliminated..."

After a hearty breakfast, Sanwang also got a big bowl. After packing up their luggage, the team set out again to find sandworms.

I have to say that the adventurers are really bold. They have just offended the Witch King's direct troops, but they are still talking and laughing.

When Alvin questioned this, the answer he got was not something like 'already planned' or 'other preparations'.

"Anyway, we've done everything we can, so we can leave the rest to fate." Kalani's speech was as cold as ever, but it also revealed a sense of adventurer's optimism.

"Maybe we are lucky this time. If we encounter a real giant sandworm, we will have enough money to run away and live a good life somewhere else even if the truth is exposed." Andre, who has a steady personality, spoke with a very casual feeling.

"The hot wind blows across the sky and doesn't care about the sand it brings up." The orc said as he practiced punching in front of Ivan.

Since last night, this guy has been trying to persuade Alvin to learn his style of boxing.

"Friend, haven't you already reserved a very good disciple? There's no need to be so anxious to find a second disciple." Alvin smiled helplessly.

"Hahaha, the tribe with the most fellow boys is the strongest tribe. The wisdom and strength gathered by the people far exceed that of an individual." Gao Shan kept saying proverbs full of orcish style along the way.

Then, the orc Gaoshan's expression became a little more serious.

"Besides, you have such excellent talent. It would be a waste if you don't come to practice boxing."

"Well, I'll think about it carefully." Seeing this, Alvin nodded.

To be honest, after realizing that the boxing style circulating in the Silent Desert might be the prototype or simplified version of some extraordinary fighting skills, he became interested in this matter.

Although the extraordinary combat skill 'Elemental Shell' taught by the Frost Giant Arcade is also excellent, it has extremely high requirements for the user and cannot be pushed to a higher level in a short period of time. It is a high-level skill that is somewhat awkward and cannot be maxed out quickly.

Therefore, Alvin also plans to find a second extraordinary combat skill.

As for the disciple the two mentioned, he was the boy named Lucas who survived the farm.

Because he practiced the same boxing style as Gao Shan, and he also showed extraordinary talent in innovation, he was highly valued by the orc archers.

The two agreed that when the tracker team completed their investigation and passed by the Oasis Farm again, Gao Shan would take Lucas to Ismailia City, where there was a boxing gym that taught the Flowing Stone Fist.

It’s a bit strange to say, because the Fist of Freedom has gathered a large number of boxers, and even the best among them are directly called sacred fighters - Fist Fighters.

But none of the five wizard kings prohibited boxers from opening boxing gyms or boxing training centers in their own city-states.

I don’t know if there are any unknown secrets hidden in it.

"By the way, I haven't heard you tell me the specific content of this news? How did ordinary businessmen get involved with sandworms?" Alvin asked casually.

"Oh, it's actually a very common rumor. It appears every few days in the desert."

"Six days ago, a caravan heard a strange noise while passing through an ancient river channel thirty kilometers from Oasis Farm. Then, they saw a large sandworm-like figure bursting out of the ground in the distance." Andre pondered and spoke slowly.

"Because the distance was so great, it was difficult for the parties involved to make a definitive assessment. A rough estimate is that it was a sub-adult sandworm several dozen meters long. If the information is consistent with the actual situation, the sandworm may have already begun to develop scent glands."

Speaking of this, the sandworm hunters couldn't help but quicken their breathing.

The value represented by a sandworm with scent glands is enough to change the fate of everyone in the entire team.

Just like that, with a rather nervous mood, the tracker team successfully arrived at the rumored ancient river channel.

The so-called ancient river channel is actually a relic left by a river that ran through the entire silent desert and existed for who knows how many years ago.

Many oases that exist today are not far from the ruins of this ancient river, and the five desert city-states ruled by the Witch-King are also located on both sides of the ancient river. Occasionally, news of successfully dug wells can be heard from the surrounding villages and settlements.

Obviously, the probability of the existence of an underground waterway here is quite high.

Although adult sandworms are also living things, they do not require much water due to their unique physiological structure. However, water is a very necessary supplementary resource for young sandworms.

Therefore, it is not impossible for sandworms to appear around ancient river channels.

However, as sandworm hunters who are accustomed to disappointment, the members of the tracker team do not think that they will be able to find the giant sandworm this time.

The Silent Desert is so vast that it is not without creatures that look a little bit similar to sandworms.

The person who saw that scene was just an ordinary businessman, so maybe he just saw it wrong.

There are many similar reasons, at least that's what everyone, including Alvin, thought before the earth began to tremble.

Chapter 29 Witnessing the Legend

Although there are legends about the existence of kilometer-long sandworms, most of the sandworms people have seen are between tens and hundreds of meters long.

Therefore, the special hunting method passed down by sandworm hunters is also aimed at sandworms within this range.

As for smaller ones, just pick up a knife and chop them.

Even with the physique and abilities of low- to middle-level adventurers, it is not particularly difficult to kill young sandworms.

As for the larger ones that have entered the subadult stage and can truly be called giant sandworms, they fall within the scope of professional sandworm hunters.

Along the way, Andre and others, who are professional sandworm hunters, took advantage of their free time to teach Ivan, the newcomer, the various special props they had prepared and the corresponding usage methods.

These include thick arrows with heavy objects connected to the ends by tough ropes, sturdy net bags woven with metal filaments, dyeing props that emit a pungent smell and leave bright pigments and special magical fluctuations along the way, and special flat sleds designed specifically for sliding on sand dunes.

Yes, it's the flat sled that can be pulled by a mount and slid quickly across the snow. However, in the desert, it's called a desert sled.

Hunting sandworms is an activity that tests a lot of patience. The rapid growth of sandworms from the growth period to the subadult stage forces hunters to use bloodletting tactics to fight against this huge creature.

After all, high-level transcendents who can forcibly kill large creatures only account for a very small proportion among adventurers.

Although sandworms can live underground for a long time, as living organisms they still need to "float" to the surface to breathe.

Taking advantage of this, ordinary sandworm hunters will choose to mark the whereabouts of the sandworm with special dyed props, and then insert a sharp spear and a special arrow with a heavy object connected to the end of the rope into the sandworm's body, causing it to fall into a state of continuous bleeding.

The Sandworm Hunter would then use a Desert Sled to create distance between himself and the massive beast, preventing himself from being fatally attacked.

Since it couldn't hit those pesky little bugs, the sandworm had no choice but to stay away from the dangerous surface. Dragging the heavy object behind the arrow, coupled with the double physical exhaustion caused by the pain of the wound and blood loss, the heavily burdened sandworm soon had to surface again for air.

Seizing this opportunity, the hunters following closely behind will launch another attack, causing more bleeding wounds to the sandworm and placing more burdens on it.