Chapter 17
Everyone's here?
As Matthew ventured deeper into the area, his eyes remained constantly on the surroundings, keeping an eye out for any potentially valuable items.
Soon, he arrived at a rock wall.
The rock face was covered by frozen ice, and there was a huge hole below.
It was pitch black inside, and I had no idea where it led.
After Matthew fused with the bloodline of the Flame Devourer Dragon, he gained extremely strong night vision. Coupled with the system's detection capabilities, he could cope with even the deepest darkness with ease.
He entered the cave, passed through a long passage, and came to a wide open space.
He sensed his surroundings and found that the concentration of magic here was much higher than in his dormitory room.
"Perhaps we can actually find a large amount of raw materials here for refining elements."
Matthew was overjoyed and intensified his search of the surrounding area, afraid of missing a single gap.
But he soon became disappointed; there was nothing of any use in the place.
"Hey, there's another passageway leading underground."
Matthew discovered that at the end of the open space, there was a tunnel leading underground.
As he descended the tunnel, he discovered that the concentration of magic underground was even higher than on the surface.
Suddenly, Matthew noticed a faint light in front of him.
This light is not natural light, but comes from a luminescent fungus.
This type of fungus is called the fluorescent fungus. They typically grow in damp, dark places and are often used for lighting.
Not far ahead, there were piles of dry wood and scattered animal bones, which looked like signs that someone had lived here.
Just as Matthew was about to get closer, he suddenly heard a "whoosh" sound coming from not far away.
The sound seemed to be a language, but Matthew didn't recognize it.
Turning his head, he saw that it was a humanoid monster.
This magical beast has some strange patterns on its body, which seem to be a kind of totem.
The light was a bit dim, and Matthew couldn't make out the details of the totem.
【Name: Snow Beast】
[Physical Fitness: 7]
The Snow Beast is recorded in the "Winter Realm Monster Compendium".
These magical beasts are quite intelligent; after training, they can act as assistants to humans, handling complicated and trivial matters.
Snow beasts are naturally timid and cautious, but this snow beast in front of them seemed to have been provoked by something, its expression filled with terror, and it kept howling at Matthew.
"Splash... splash... splash!!!"
"Something's not right. It seems a bit off; it looks like it's been frightened."
Just then, the snow beast swung a thick log haphazardly and charged at Matthew.
Matthew quickly dodged to the side.
He had originally planned to wait until the snow beast calmed down before trying to tame it, but now it seemed impossible.
Without any hesitation, Matthew threw a punch.
With a physique of eight, a punch shattered the wood that the snow beast was sweeping across.
The immense impact also sent the snow beast flying several meters away.
"Whoosh!!!" It let out a miserable howl as it lay on the ground.
Taking advantage of the lull, Matthew quickly constructed the spell runes, slapped the ground with both hands, and cast "Vine Growth".
Thick vines burst forth from the ground, tightly binding the snow beast's neck, and with a sudden jerk, dragged it toward Matthew.
Immediately afterwards, Matthew threw another full-force punch at the snow beast that was being dragged towards him.
"Crack—" Matthew heard the sound of bones breaking, and then the snow beast went still.
The vines loosened, and the small beast's corpse fell heavily to the ground. Matthew went forward to examine it.
The moment Matthew saw its totem, he suddenly had a sinister and eerie feeling.
The totem is composed of twisted and bizarre lines, and it looks somewhat like an eye.
However, the snow beast was injured, and the wound was located at one corner of the totem, making the totem incomplete.
"I clearly remember that the Snow Beast doesn't have the habit of drawing totems."
"Furthermore, the 'Winter Realm Monster Compendium' records that Snow Beasts do not appear in the Great Snow Mountain, so why is this little beast here?"
Completely baffled, Matthew didn't waste any more time.
"It should be getting dark outside."
"Let's search here. If we still can't find it, we'll have to go back to the school's headquarters."
……
The outer perimeter of the Great Snow Mountain.
A group of five apprentices dressed in the robes of the Tide School wizards were searching for something in the mountains and forests.
At this moment, a young man with red hair spoke up impatiently.
"Why haven't we found Matthew after searching for so long?"
"Olive, are you sure you didn't see that wrong?"
"I'm sure, Rex."
After leaving, he headed north towards the school's headquarters. Where else could he go besides the Great Snow Mountain?
At this point, Eric, who had been silent, spoke up.
"But further ahead lies the depths of the snow-capped mountains."
"That kid wouldn't be so brave as to venture deep into the snowy mountains alone, would he?"
Just then, Jack seemed to discover something.
"Look here, there seem to be trampled marks," he said, fiddling with the weeds on the ground. "Look in this direction, Matthew really ran deep into the snow-capped mountains."
"Heh..." Rex grinned maliciously. "He's been running around in the mountains for no reason, making us wander around aimlessly. We'll make sure Matthew suffers a bit later."
"Brother, please don't go too far. I'm currently training a cursed puppet and I need an apprentice's corpse."
"Don't worry, Kevin, I'll be careful!"
Jack was getting impatient. "Let's go, let's follow this trail!"
……
No, not here either, still nothing!
Under the system's exploration, Matthew conducted a thorough search of the underground cave.
Unfortunately, he gained nothing from this place.
Matthew shook his head helplessly. "It should be getting dark soon, we should head back."
The number of wild animals on the outskirts of the Great Snow Mountain has increased dramatically, and previously rare monsters are now appearing frequently.
The snow beast here, and the strange runes on its body, all of this made Matthew feel that something was unusual.
Although his strength has increased considerably, he does not intend to spend the night here.
Matthew was walking back along the road, but before he had gone far, he suddenly heard a series of footsteps.
At this moment, several apprentices dressed in the robes of the Tide School wizards slowly emerged from the dark tunnel.
"Hey, Matthew, we meet again," Jack greeted Matthew with a playful expression.
Matthew's expression remained calm, unchanged despite the arrival of the group.
After Todd's reminder, Matthew had a premonition, but he didn't expect so many people to come.
He smiled and said, "I didn't expect everyone to come."
"You bet it was quite a journey to find this place." Eric looked around and exclaimed, "I didn't expect this cave to connect to an underground cavern. Matthew, you've got a good eye for finding places!"