Red Dragon Monster Hunter Template.

With a single glance, in a world unseen by ordinary people, flashes of magical light appeared one after another, and the chosen bat instantly became his puppet.

This place is about 30 kilometers away from the abandoned underground city, not too far, not too close, enough for bats to arrive quickly, and enough time to escape if danger arises.

As he opened the small door on the cage, a flying mouse immediately darted out, flapping its membranous wings and quickly disappearing into the night.

Chapter 105 Re-exploring the Abandoned Underground City

Looking down at the world from a bat's perspective, everything seems magnified dozens of times. When looking at the Cyclops's lair again, it feels unusually empty and vast inside.

Since it hadn't been long since my last visit, this place hadn't been invaded by other creatures yet. On the thick layer of embers covering the cave, in those corners where the wind couldn't reach, you could occasionally glimpse some scattered footprints left by Thor.

The tiny bat didn't linger for a moment, but continued deeper into the cave, rushing straight into the narrow, eye-like crack.

Arriving at this abandoned underground city once again, Thor saw the same scene as before.

Time seemed to stand still here; the ground was covered with a thick layer of dust and scattered with bits of bat droppings.

He carefully observed his surroundings as he continued toward the area he had explored before.

Before long, the dust on the rooftops was blown away, revealing buildings marked with anvils and barrels, which appeared right in front of Thor.

He recalled the scene he had seen before he left, and soon spotted the pile of gold coins scattered on the ground in another place not far away.

This was not some kind of illusion, but real gold.

Below and around the pile of gold coins, he also saw some rusted rivets and iron bars, as well as wood chips that were rotting away.

It seems these things were once packed in a box, but were exposed to the air over time.

Thor ignored the pile of shiny, obviously suspicious gold coins and instead steered the bat deeper into the dungeon.

He left behind rows of wide, low, and heavy houses in the style of dwarves, with skeletons lying on the ground and various items scattered everywhere.

Most of the materials used in these items could not withstand the erosion of thousands of years, but some stable metals, ores, and jewelry have survived.

Even the eyes of a bat cannot obscure the keen ability to discern wealth ingrained in the very bones of a true dragon.

The sight of all these treasures made Thor's heart itch, and he almost couldn't resist wanting the bats to carry them away.

He suppressed the rising greed in his heart and urged the bat to continue. The underground city was unexpectedly vast, and it wasn't until more than ten minutes later that they finally approached the center of the entire city.

This is a huge square, several hundred meters in diameter, with a huge stone monument standing in the center.

Surrounding the stone tablet were the skeletons of many dwarves, who were no longer lying prone, but instead lying on their backs on the ground.

Some of the skeletons were still covered in heavy armor. Even though a long time had passed, the armor still had a silver-gray tone and a cold metallic luster, and was decorated with silver-white cold patterns.

Thor's keen sense of treasures allowed him to quickly identify that these suits of armor were actually mixed with adamantite.

He gazed at the more than 30 suits of armor surrounding the entire stele. If each suit were like this, it would probably cost hundreds of kilograms of refined gold.

In addition to the armor, there were also scattered weapons and a few robes that had not decayed nearby, which showed that these dwarves who spent their days mining underground were indeed wealthy.

Unfortunately, as time has passed, these weapons and equipment, which were originally likely some kind of magical items, have all lost their magical energy fluctuations. It is unknown whether they have temporarily lost their power or whether even the enchanted bases have collapsed.

After circling the entire square, Saul then focused his attention on the central stone monument.

It was an irregular boulder about 50 meters high, shaped like the Chinese character "山" (mountain), and was dark blue-black in color. There were no words or patterns on its surface, only a few small cracks.

Thor couldn't identify what material it was made of; it was completely bare, and he had no idea what its purpose was in standing there.

After a brief moment of thought, he began to control the bat to approach little by little, carefully extending one of its claws and gently touching it.

boom!!

An invisible explosion suddenly resounded in his mind, and the fragile mental connection between him and the bat was instantly severed. Everything went black, and his vision returned to the wilderness under the starry sky.

Thor raised his head in a daze, scratched the hard scales on his chin with his paw, and didn't realize what had happened for a moment.

He just touched the stone tablet, so why did the bats he was controlling explode?

It must have exploded, since at the last moment he seemed to hear a loud bang like an explosion.

However, when he glanced down casually, a striking sign instantly caught his attention.

Mental Essence +97.

It seems that what happened before was not an explosion at all, but a fierce mental attack that resembled a mental shockwave.

The attack even attempted to strike Thor's physical body directly through the mental connection between Thor and the bat, but it was absorbed by the giant wheel in his mind, only severing that fragile mental link.

Realizing what was happening, Thor immediately flapped his wings and soared into the sky, looking around warily, ready to guard against any danger that might come at any moment.

However, more than ten minutes later, the rolling hills beneath their feet remained calm, and even the cave leading to the abandoned underground city was silent.

'It seems this unknown creature really can't leave that abandoned underground city. Perhaps it's sealed inside that stone tablet?'

Slightly relieved, Thor landed from mid-air and, finding himself temporarily safe, his mind immediately became active.

A bat for nearly 100 points of essence—there's no better deal in the world.

Without even thinking, he pulled another flying rat out of the vine cage, cast a series of spells on it, and controlled it to fly back to the abandoned underground city.

Entering through the eye-shaped crack with practiced ease, this time, Thor headed straight for the central square.

Ten minutes later, the dark green stone tablet in the shape of the Chinese character "山" appeared before him. A quick glance revealed the corpse of a bat—or rather, a sculpture—below the tablet.

The familiar appearance was the same one he had controlled before, but now, every inch of its skin and fur had been completely petrified, and even its eyeballs had turned black and gray, with no trace of flesh or blood left.

Does Mind Blast also have a petrifying effect?

With a slight sense of doubt, Thor once again manipulated the bat to extend its claws and touch the stone tablet in front of it.

Another deafening roar exploded on the level of the mind.

When everything went black and his vision returned, he quickly looked at the notification below his line of sight, and sure enough, another one had been added.

Mental Essence +85.

Chapter 106 Re-exploring the Abandoned Underground City

Having tasted success twice in a row, Thor couldn't resist and immediately sent out a third bat.

Following the familiar path, it flew all the way, and when it saw the towering stone tablet again, it did not hesitate at all and crashed straight into it.

boom--!

This explosion seemed particularly loud; in the bat's last moments of vision, Thor could even clearly see a noticeable fluctuation in the air.

When his gaze returned to the bottom of his field of vision, the newly added mental energy essence displayed in the notification message far exceeded the previous two times, reaching a full 208 points.

Could it be that the repeated probing angered the creature that might be sealed in the stone tablet, which is why it had to do something so drastic to him?

Thinking of this, Thor became more vigilant, but this did not deter him, and he still released the fourth bat.

It still slipped through that narrow, eye-like crack, hovering and soaring above the abandoned dungeon. But this time, when the bat's claws touched the gray-black stone tablet, the mental attack Thor had been expecting never came.

Only a streak of stone gray appeared on the bat's claws, and it quickly spread across its entire body, making it seem as if it had been stared at by Medusa's eyes, causing it to fall hard from the sky.

After the view returned to the wilderness under the night sky for the third time, Thor stopped sending out bats and instead sat down on a hilltop, lost in thought.

Sure enough, it wasn't so easy to fleece them. The sealed creature seemed to realize that the continuous mental attacks were ineffective, so it chose to give up.

The petrifying power clearly did not originate from a mental attack, but rather seemed to be the sealing power inherent in the stone tablet itself.

Could this be some kind of constant magical effect? ​​Or a magical barrier?

The Dragon Legacy in his mind did not involve the profound knowledge of these dwarves, so Thor could only guess from the appearance that it might be a highly aggressive earth elemental power.

I don't know if my elemental resistance is enough to withstand this petrification effect.

But this thought only flashed through Thor's mind for a moment before being instantly forgotten.

Who knows what kind of creature is sealed inside the stone tablet? He's not stupid; he wouldn't take that risk out of curiosity.

The most reliable way is to wait until you reach adulthood, advance to the legendary level, and purify your bloodline to the level of an ancestral dragon, then simply crush them with pure strength.

Thoughts raced through my mind. Since the sealed creature wasn't going to continue attacking, then I wouldn't hold back.

While spiritual essence is important, the various weapons, equipment, and jewels scattered throughout the abandoned underground city, all still intact after the test of time, are also rare treasures.

Thor took one last look at the mountain leading to the abandoned underground city cave, then suddenly spread his wings and transformed into a streak of fire, whistling away.

Next, he planned to catch a few birds of prey with strong carrying capacity and slowly extract all the good stuff from that abandoned underground city.

Of course! Sending family members down would definitely be faster, but that would carry some risks.

Intelligent beings are ultimately different from ordinary wild beasts, and no one can say for sure whether the sealed creature will find a way to escape.

Furthermore, since there is a weak mental connection between the creatures under one's control and oneself, mental attacks launched against them will also affect oneself.

Perhaps after the sealed creature recovers, it will find the birds flying in and out to be displeasing, and that might bring an unexpected windfall.

…………

Based on the knowledge that naturally arose in his mind, Thor knew that the limit of his awakened spell to control small creatures was that he could control creatures no more than 1.2 meters long and weighing less than 30 kilograms.

This is actually a fairly broad range. In his previous life, the largest living bird, the Andean condor, was only about 1.2 meters tall when standing upright and weighed no more than 15 kilograms.

In other words, with the exception of a few ferocious animals, almost all birds are within Thor's magical control range.

However, catching these agile little creatures is not an easy task.

After all, the existence of the Red Dragon was far too conspicuous. Every time it flew over the sky, its imposing presence could be seen from a great distance. Within a radius of tens of kilometers around its lair, it had become a no-go zone for birds.

If Thor were a normal red dragon hatchling, catching a falcon would not be an easy task.

Fortunately, he was not an ordinary red dragon, but had a large number of subordinates.

The biggest difference between intelligent life and wild animals is that they can use tools.

He only needs to give an order, and his subordinates will naturally run around to serve him.

Many of the evil creatures that survive in the wilderness are skilled hunters, and within just one day, several birds of various colors were presented to them.

Thor casually glanced at the rows of wicker cages, but his gaze finally settled on a black-feathered, red-beaked falcon.

Although this guy wasn't the biggest among them, standing only 50 centimeters tall, his golden pupils were quite to his liking.

After accepting the black-feathered eagle, Thor's molten gold-like pupils met its gaze, and magical light quietly bloomed within them, instantly forming an invisible spiritual connection.

As soon as the cage door opened, the black-feathered, red-beaked falcon took to the sky and headed straight south.

This bird of prey flies much faster than a bat, estimated to reach speeds of around 80 kilometers per hour.

In just three hours, it arrived at the abandoned dungeon. Because it shared vision with Thor, it could see even in the dark. After grabbing two gold coins scattered on the ground, it immediately turned around and started to return without looking back.

Half a day later, a dark figure reappeared at the entrance of Thor's lair.

Shenjun's black-feathered eagle returned safely, its tightly clenched claws loosening, and two gold coins fell to the ground with a crisp sound, while it itself landed back in the vine cage hanging on the rock wall.

Saul picked up a gold coin from the ground with his fingertips and brought it close to his eyes for a closer look.

The dwarven gold coins are not round, but rather have an octagonal structure, about three centimeters in diameter and three millimeters thick. The obverse is engraved with a pattern of mountains and furnaces, while the reverse features patterns of anvils, hammers, ears of wheat, and beer.

The gold coins also have serrated edges, which is a special feature designed to prevent people from cutting and stealing the gold.

Dragons' keen intuition for wealth allowed Thor to tell that the gold coin was extremely pure, at least 90%, far exceeding the standard gold coins circulating in the human world, which were only 80% pure.

However, the weight is the same, all 9.1 grams, and 50 pieces together make up one pound.

But none of that is the point. The point is whether these gold coins have been tampered with, such as being afflicted with some unknown curse.

After thinking for a moment, Thor spread out his large right paw, placed the gold coin in his palm, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

A blue-white flame, like a fiery serpent, emerged and enveloped the entire gold coin.

The extreme high temperature quickly turned the gold coin red and shiny, vaporizing any impurities on its surface and eventually turning it into a pool of pure gold liquid.

It burned for almost a minute, and Thor didn't notice anything unusual. The re-solidified golden bean was still dazzling and seemed to be fine.

Chapter 107 Slaying