Bear School Astartes

Chapter 453: 453. Blood-sucking monster

”I must again commend your acuteness, little cub.”

The Dwarf Elder’s words still lingered in their ears, but the three humans had already walked out of the angular hall.

Under the high-altitude sun, Lann used his hand to shade his forehead.

Originally, young Mr. Lan thought that the Warlocks, who mastered advanced technology, were already the wealthiest group in this world.

Unexpectedly, there were more experts!

The dwarves held a financial nuke in their hands! No wonder they recklessly opened banks across the continent without anyone daring to sabotage or blow the whistle.

Human racial persecution against dwarves has always been sporadic and disorganized.

Quite different from the treatment of elves and tree spirits.

”Alright, originally thought money could pave the way, didn’t expect their toilets to be pure gold, now have to honestly work... Snap out of it! Think of ways! Time for a task!”

Lann sighed and slapped Ged on the shoulder beside him, waking him up.

The burly man, now half a head shorter than Lann, shuddered, then closed his gaping mouth.

”Right, task, task... Damn, dwarves are really rich!”

Though Ged came back to his senses, he couldn’t help but mutter in a jealous tone.

Regis, however, quickly returned to normal. After Ged’s muttering, he spoke lightly.

”I think you should be grateful the dwarves guard their gold mountain. If they opened the gates, the money on the continent would be like pebbles by the roadside. Think positively, don’t they have the money but dare not spend it recklessly too?”

Lann led the way, walking inside this dwarf fortress-like settlement.

Regis and Ged followed behind.

The young man didn’t look back and said, ”Regis is right, think positively, Ged.”

”After all, you were pretty poor to begin with, this matter doesn’t have much to do with you.”

Thus, the burly man’s initially relieved expression once again dropped down.

Conversely, according to the conservation of smiles, Lann felt his mood improved considerably.

”Alright, Ged. We didn’t walk away empty-handed either. I haggled with him to modify the parameters of the arm guard and the full-body armor plate on the design, changing them to the scope suitable for Valerian steel, and got you a Grandmaster-level Crossbow as a reward upon task completion. Quite a big haul.”

Thus, now Ged grumbled twice and admitted he gained big.

Items like those Grandmaster-level Crossbows in the design are equivalent to noble heirlooms in the outside world.

And according to Lann’s requirements, adjusting the parameters of the armor plate and the structure of the arm guard, such Grandmaster-level designs can only be completed by a Grandmaster.

Since the deal didn’t go through, tasks had to be completed, so Lann wouldn’t miss the chance for bargaining.

Belonging to the realm of human interaction, the negotiation and teasing concluded, the next realm was the professional domain of Demon Hunters.

Lann and Ged adjusted their mindset during this process, with seriousness and calmness taking over their hearts anew.

They found the dwarf who led them into Hein Castle at the time, the one with a cotton robe over his armor.

He seemed to have gotten the news early. After meeting, he didn’t say anything, just led the three of them out of Hein Castle towards the forest.

”The front is the site of the most recent incident... We’ve seen too many over the years, initially we would tidy up the scene, but now we tend to let the bears or wolves in the mountains clean the traces. Here, take this.”

The cotton-robed dwarf handed Lann a scroll, which, upon unfolding, revealed a map of the mountains, with several red dots marked and dates next to them.

”The sites of recent scenes are marked for you. A little further back, you understand right? Bears and wolves are quite efficient.”

”This’ll be it, the place is right ahead, just two or three steps away, I’m not going over.”

His mouth mentioned ’two or three steps’, but the dwarf’s feet seemed rooted in the ground, not moving.

Lann and the other two stopped, the young man lowered his head and looked at his slightly trembling thick beard.

”Shall we send someone to escort you back?”

Lann asked earnestly, without a shred of contempt or mockery.

”No, no need!” The armored dwarf first shouted, then mumbled. ”Who’s afraid of this thing? I have a hammer!”

After speaking, he waved his hand and left on his own.

”Want me to go have a look?”

Regis asked lightly, adjusting the strap of his shoulder bag, addressing Lann.

”No need.” The young man looked up at the sky, the sunlight was good, UV rays strong. ”This trouble has been here for dozens, maybe hundreds of years, dwarves know well how to protect themselves.”

After speaking, the three took a few steps forward, arriving at the scene the dwarf guide mentioned.

There did exist a deterrent force that stopped a Dwarf Warrior.

Two thick-furred mountain goats were already torn apart into pieces on this snowy ground.

Lann estimated the number and species by the amount of meat and those iconic cranial horns.

They were ripped too finely.

One goat’s horn was split in half, separated by seven or eight meters. And the distance between its intestines and hooves is similar to this.

The stomach of the goat was pulled out, the undigested fodder inside spilled on the ground, frozen into a yellow-green lump.

Thanks to the scents not spreading severely under cold conditions, no one had breathing difficulty at the scene.

”Does the guy only kill mountain goats? Just two? This threat level isn’t very high.”

Ged’s cat eyes fluctuated in his sockets. He was crouching, carefully examining the scattered remains.

Lann mirrored him, albeit in another direction.

”Dozens or hundreds of years, surely many dwarves died too, otherwise Hein Castle wouldn’t care... To provoke or frighten a dwarf settlement with a considerable number of warriors and decent crafts, this guy is formidable.”

The young man spoke while activating [Spirit Sight], attempting to obtain more valuable information.

After a glance around, his refined brows lightly furrowed.

”Am I inexperienced? I’ve never analyzed monster traces in snowy environments, but I always feel... is there too little blood here?”

Ged evidently had experience with tasks in snow, he began to clear the upper layer of snow with Lann nearby.

But even when they cleared down to the bare gray-white rocky mountains and black soil, they didn’t find the red ice crystals.

The two simultaneously lifted their heads, their breath turning into white mist in the cold air.

”Vampire?”

Ged hesitated to ask, while Lann affirmed his guess.

”Yes, vampire-like monster.”

He spoke, subtly casting a glance at Regis outside the scene.

The barber seemed a bit bewildered, pointed at himself with his fingerless-gloved forefinger.