Black Hearted Mage

Chapter 109 Elemental Spirits

Within the deep and mysterious Black Rock Canyon, within the crevices of the jagged rocks, lurk the terrifying Black Demon Snakes. These slender snakes, their bodies as black as ink, their scales gleaming with an eerie light. Their fangs are deadly weapons, and a bite can be disastrous.

The returning mercenaries were clearly aware of the dangers posed by the Black Demonic Snakes. They were all heavily armored, especially in sturdy short leather boots and leggings crafted from hard armored leather. This gear could effectively block the Black Demonic Snakes' ferocious attacks and protect them from their fangs.

Kaisas followed the winding mountain road, gradually deepening into Blackrock Canyon. The further he went, the fewer mercenaries he encountered. Gusts of northerly wind howled, bringing a hint of chill. The wind carried scattered snowflakes, which fell lightly. These flakes seemed to have been swept in from the distant north by the strong wind, foreshadowing that the entire Blackrock Mountains would soon be covered in a blanket of white snow.

With the arrival of winter and the sudden drop in temperature, the black snakes in the Blackrock Mountains began to hibernate. As a result, most of the mercenaries who could return safely had already left, leaving behind this quiet yet dangerous valley.

After two days of arduous trekking, Caesars, accompanied by the tireless Liv, finally reached the southern reaches of Blackrock Mountain. What unfolded before them was a desolate landscape, the ground covered with withered, yellow grass, as if forgotten by time. The once lush, low shrubs were now bare, their dry branches shivering in the chill wind.

To the west is a lush green forest, where is the dangerous and mysterious Endless Forest.

"Liv, let's stop and rest for a while. I need to check the map carefully to determine our next route. Please keep an eye on the sky to see if there is anything unusual."

As Caesar spoke, he panted heavily, beads of sweat covering his forehead. Although his physique had been greatly enhanced, the long journey still left him feeling somewhat exhausted. In contrast, Liv, beside him, remained energetic, showing no sign of fatigue at all.

"The sky was so clear that not even a nighthawk could be seen. I walked slowly along the road, my eyes always scanning the surroundings."

Kaisas was walking silently beside him when he suddenly heard Liv's voice: "Kaisas, bring out some puff pastry! My stomach seems to be growling again!"

"What? Didn't I just give you a whole bag of puff pastry yesterday?" Caesars' eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief. He remembered clearly that since leaving Fire Maple City, Liv had already taken three bags of puff pastry from him! Each bag of puff pastry weighed a heavy fifty kilograms. Even if Liv was greedy, she couldn't possibly finish them all!

However, Liv retorted righteously: "Hmph, what I gave you yesterday is yesterday's, and you haven't given me today's puff pastry yet!" She put her hands on her hips, staring at Caesars with her big eyes, as if to say that she would never give up if he didn't give her the puff pastry.

Caesars shook his head helplessly, sighed deeply, and asked, "Liv, even if you like soufflés, you wouldn't want so many, right? What are you planning to do with them?"

Liv blinked and answered as a matter of course: "Need I ask? Of course I'll save it for later! Although some puff pastry is distributed in the crater, the amount is not enough to fill my teeth. I'll eat it all in a few days!" As she spoke, she licked her lips unconsciously, as if she couldn't wait to taste the delicious puff pastry.

"I really don't have many puff pastries left. I can only give you five bags at most. This way, you won't have to come to me every now and then to ask for puff pastries!" As he spoke, Caesars shook his head helplessly.

Hearing this, Liv couldn't help but exclaim, "Five bags?" Her eyes widened in surprise. Then, as if realizing something, she suddenly laughed and said frankly, "Actually, Caesars, I was only going to ask you for one or two bags!" With that, Liv's face broke into a bright and happy smile.

You know, for Liv, who was over three thousand years old in elf age and had just reached adulthood, having so many cream puffs was a pleasant surprise. After all, they lived in this crater, and although they had no worries about food and drink, the food variety was too limited. The elves mostly relied on various forest fruits as their staple food.

At this moment, Caesars leisurely put away the animal hide map, then took out the bags of puff pastry from his space ring and handed them to Liv, comforting her, "It's just a few bags of puff pastry. We can buy more when we get to the Gravel Kingdom. We're quite close to the crystal mine now, only a dozen miles away!"

Kaisas knew very well that if he unfortunately encountered the elves from the Endless Forest on the way, he would have to rely on the magic archer in front of him to help deal with them. After all, he knew nothing about the elven language.

After resting for about a quarter of an hour, the two continued their journey. However, after walking only a few miles, two small black dots appeared in the sky.

"Nighthawk has discovered us!" Liv looked up at the sky and immediately pointed her hand high in the sky.

"Where? Why can't I see Nighthawk?"

Caesars also looked up at the sky, but his eyesight was limited and he couldn't even see the small black dot.

"The Nighthawks will be here in half a minute. Let's stop and wait for them, otherwise these guys will attack us from behind!"

"Nighthawks attacking us directly?"

"Well, the nighthawks have discovered us a long time ago, but they didn't make any calls, which means that the nighthawks want to attack us directly. Don't worry, Caesar, they will be very well behaved with me here!" Liv, who was wearing elven leather armor, patted her slightly bulging chest and said to Caesar with a smile.

Nighthawks are at the pinnacle of high-level magical beasts. Even the feared Black Demon Serpent is merely an appetizer on their menu. Their incredibly sharp claws, as hard as magic steel, gleam with a chilling glare, like indestructible divine weapons. When these claws strike down, they easily pierce the Black Demon Serpent's tough, thick hide.

The nighthawk's inky black beak radiated a captivating metallic sheen, like a razor-sharp scimitar forged through countless hammerings. Even the hide of the formidable Golden-Eyed Black Demon Snake was as fragile as paper before it, easily ripped apart.

In just a few seconds, Caesars caught a glimpse of the dark shadow in the sky, which was growing larger and larger. Liv, standing beside him, appeared much calmer and composed. She leisurely pulled out a gleaming silver whistle from her bosom, then slowly raised her head and gazed at the sky.

At this moment, Caesars could clearly see the figures of the nighthawks. He saw that these nighthawks had already entered a combat state: their huge wings that had been stretched out were now slightly folded, and their entire bodies were like arrows from a bow, diving down at an astonishing speed towards Caesars's direction!

Liv took the whistle to her lips and blew it. A sharp whistle sounded, which sounded a bit harsh.

The nighthawk, entering a dive, suddenly spread its wings, chirped loudly, and began to fly downward in a circle.

"Liv, why is your whistle different from Rodman's?" The sounds produced by the two whistles were different, and Caesars was a little confused.

"His whistle is an ordinary one, used to guide nighthawks to land. Mine is an eagle whistle, which can be used to command nighthawks in flight!"

In a quiet wilderness, the sun shines on the earth, as if covering the whole world with a mysterious golden veil.

At this moment, two dark shadows flashed out from the sky like ghosts. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be two nighthawks covered with jet-black feathers. They stretched out their broad and magnificent wings and slowly descended beside the two people like two dark clouds.

As the Nighthawk landed, a gust of wind whistled past, sweeping up the grass and dust on the ground, forming a small sandstorm that flew everywhere. Seeing this, Caesars hurriedly dodged to the side to avoid being affected by the dust.

At the same time, the sharp and resounding cry of a nighthawk pierced the silence, attracting the attention of the elves patrolling in the distance. These elves were experienced forest rangers, maintaining a high level of vigilance for any subtle changes in their surroundings. Upon hearing the hawk's cry, two nighthawks suddenly lowered their flight altitude, evidently having made a discovery.

Then, over thirty fully-armed elves, riding shadow leopards, burst out of the dense forest like lightning, galloping towards Nighthawk's location. They were clad in exquisite leather armor that reflected a dark golden light in the sunlight.

As the two adult nighthawks folded their wings, they stood firmly on the overgrown ground. They were enormous, over two meters tall, standing like two small hills. Their golden eyes radiated a majestic and mysterious light, fixed intently on the heroic woman before them, Liv, carrying a bow and arrow.

"You two greedy guys, how come you don't even recognize me?" Liv whispered in fluent Elvish. Although Caesars didn't understand what she was saying, he could feel that there seemed to be a special connection between Liv and the two nighthawks.

After saying this, Liv reached out and took off the mask that transformed her. In an instant, a stunningly beautiful face appeared before everyone. Her fair skin looked particularly charming under the moonlight, and her long gray-brown hair fluttered in the wind.

Seeing Liv take off her mask, the two nighthawks immediately became excited. They chirped softly, then swayed left and right as they strode towards Liv. When they got close, they lowered their heads and gently rubbed their heads against Liv's shoulders, as if they were acting cute to their master.

Liv raised her delicate hands high, gently patting the two nighthawks. Their iron-hard feathers made her feel uncomfortable, as if she were touching cold rock. She calmly pulled out two strips of meat, each as thick as her arm, from her space ring. These were Northern Barbarian Beef she had purchased specifically in Fire Maple City.

Caesars, who was standing aside, suddenly realized that she bought so much meat just to feed the nighthawk.

"Liv, they look very familiar with you!" Caesar said in surprise.

Liv smiled slightly, nodded, and replied, "Yes, they are nighthawks from the elven tribe deep in the Endless Forest. Since they learned to fly, they have often visited this crater. And I, of course, feed them a lot!"

As soon as the words fell, the two nighthawks could not wait to bite the two tender strips of meat with their sharp beaks. Then, they suddenly raised their heads and stretched their necks. In the blink of an eye, the two strips of meat, which were more than a foot long and as thick as arms, disappeared without a trace.

Seeing this, Caesars approached the nighthawks with curiosity and cautiously reached out his hand, wanting to touch their shiny feathers. Just as his fingers were about to touch the nighthawks, something unexpected happened - the originally soft feathers on the necks of the two nighthawks suddenly stood up, like the sharp thorns on a hedgehog; at the same time, their broad wings also spread slightly, bringing up a gust of wind, as if they were ready to launch a fierce attack at any time.

"Kaisas, they don't know you, so don't act rashly. The Nighthawk's beak is very powerful, and a single peck from it can break bones. The high-level magical beasts in the Endless Forest are all on their menu, including black demon snakes, dark demon lizards, and jungle wolves!"

Liv reached out and patted the nighthawks, and their stiff feathers that had stood up slowly calmed down. But their eyes were still fixed on Caesars, and they didn't relax their vigilance at all.

Liv communicated with the nighthawks in Elvish, and the two nighthawks let down their guard.

"Kaisas, take some meat and feed them so they can remember you. Take off the illusion mask first!"

Caesars nodded. He didn't have any cuts of meat, but he did buy a few ox legs. He took one leg that was still covered in skin, hair, and blood.

"Liv, can you feed me the ox leg in your hand?"

"Put it on the ground. When the nighthawks are pecking at it, you'll be thrown away if you hold the animal's leg!"

Just as Caesars dropped the bull's leg, two nighthawks, under Liv's command, grasped the leg bone with their sharp claws and began to peck at the bull's leg frantically. Their sharp beaks cut through the tough bull's hide and began to peck at the tender beef.

After the beef was finished, the hairy hide was also eaten up. The two nighthawks pecked at the leg bones of the wild cattle. The bones were violently pecked by the extremely hard bird beaks until they shattered, and the broken bones were swallowed by the nighthawks one by one.