Mage Legend

They flicked their tongues, continually conversing with accompanying "hissing" sounds. To other races, those inverted triangular heads all looked nearly the same, the only certainty being that those two snake-men were male. The muscles on their upper arms were hard and solid, and their strong chests and abdomens would make any fighter feel ashamed. The most obvious gender distinction was still their lower bodies; female snake-people had two legs, unlike male snake-men who only had curved serpent-like torsos.

Lynch couldn't entirely understand the snake-men's conversation, as records of this language were originally incomplete. The mage could only intermittently catch a few words, such as "work, cooperation, deadline, and protection." Mages had a spell that could directly probe the speaker's mind to comprehend all languages. But not wanting the light and sound from spellcasting to expose himself, Lynch had no choice but to hide and strain his ears for clues.

The two snake-men threw their tools aside, lying down right on the ground in front of the mage to sleep. The mage's heart pounded fiercely, his hand constantly ready to unleash a death spell, prepared to seize the initiative if discovered. But after a while, as the two snake-men slipped into slumber, they showed no signs of noticing the traces of Lynch and the others. "Could it be their sense of smell has been damaged?" Lynch pondered but quickly dismissed this speculation. "Perhaps the elf robes on Zilvra and me masked our scent, blending us into the natural surroundings. Morgan's dwarf aura had long permeated the entire cave, naturally not arousing much suspicion."

However, the two prone bodies blocked the exit route for the three explorers. Zilvra could likely leap over them easily, but Lynch and the dwarf Morgan didn't have the same agility. Red Beard's warhammer kept aiming at the snake-men's triangular heads, as if searching for an angle to guarantee a deadly strike. Lynch fixed his gaze on the cave entrance, then grabbed Morgan's shoulder.

When Lynch put a finger to his lips, signaling the dwarf to keep quiet, another snake-man swam over. Unlike the two who lay there snoring, the newcomer's body was taller, its gray-black scales distinct from the original green armor of other snake-men. Its eyes emitted a red glow, like demons from hell or giant vampire bats hanging upside down on the cave walls.

The towering snake-man, wielding a long rod, struck the tails of the two sleeping ones with a thud. The green-scaled creatures on the ground sprang up, baring their teeth in a threatening hiss. But with the heavy breathing from the tall snake-man's throat and the gleam in its eyes, the two lowered their heads once more.

Under the stick and loud scolding, the two snake-men were driven out of the cave, picking up their pickaxes and heading outside. Clearly, they were about to resume work, continuing to dig in this rocky area.

"Damn! They're practically working themselves to death!" Morgan finally had enough space to stretch a bit, glancing towards the exit and muttering, "Why would snake-men be so dedicated to a miner's work?"

"I wouldn't know." Lynch signaled the two to follow, "Let's keep moving forward."

The deeper they went, the more they could feel the cold breath, an anomaly catching everyone's attention. Generally, in deep caves, the temperature remained constant throughout the year. Moreover, the deeper down, the closer it should be to the hot magma layer under the Ridge Mountains, and cold should not occur. Additionally, as they delved deeper, a chilling sensation enveloped them. An indescribable aura seeped from the earth's depths, chilling the mage to the bone, making his hands and feet sweat coldly. The scenery at this stage became bizarre, with jagged stones and stalactites hanging down and stalagmites on the ground resembling the sharp teeth of a giant beast, opening its bloody maw ready to devour. Morgan mumbled, "How can there be such an ugly place, haven't the dwarves tidied it up?"

Zilvra suddenly pulled at Lynch's sleeve, dragging him to the side of the road. She pointed at a patch of moss on the wall, whispering, "Do you recognize this writing?"

Lynch scraped away the damp plants to expose the hard rock underneath, indeed revealing some engravings. After hundreds and thousands of years of change, the carvings had become blurry, the indented inscriptions nearly merging in color and elevation with the surrounding stone wall. Lynch gently slid his hand over the stone slabs, using the tactile sense of his fingertips to discern them clearly.