Red Dragon Monster Hunter Template

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.

Because 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 forward. 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.