Chapter 8

Henry had a dream where he was being chased by countless burrowing worms in a cave. He kept running until he reached a dead end. He pounded on the wall, closed his eyes in despair as the worms rushed towards him, but the expected death did not come. Suddenly, he felt an itch on his nose, rubbed it hard, and opened his eyes. He found that Louise, the pixie, was perched on his nose, looking at him anxiously. Mages and pixies share a mental connection, and the pixie, sensing her master's fear, hurried over to try to wake him up.

"I'm fine, just had a nightmare. I must have been too nervous yesterday," Henry smiled and explained, seeing the little creature's worried face. Louise, seeing that her master was fine, flew to his shoulder and sat down.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Kegan pushed the door open and asked.

Henry pressed his forehead. "Yes, I dreamed that I was being chased by countless worms in a cave all night. These guys are really persistent, even in my dreams they won't leave me alone."

"Ha ha, I had the same experience when I first went on an adventure and killed a giant spider. I had nightmares for three days. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw its ugly eight eyes and eight legs. It's something every adventurer goes through. Congratulations, Henry, from today on, you're no longer a rookie," the dwarf said with a look of schadenfreude.

"But you didn't have to continue fighting the giant spider the next day, while I still have to deal with these big worms today," seeing the dwarf's expression, Henry quickly got up, put on his clothes, and began to counter.

"My first adventure didn't yield 20,000 gold coins. After that adventure, I only got less than 30 gold coins. You can earn so much money on your first outing, I really envy you spellcasters, especially mages. You always have so many good ideas. Even if you don't go on adventures, you can make a fortune by making potions and magic items," Kegan's face quickly changed from schadenfreude to envy and jealousy.

"Alright, stop that. You go down and eat breakfast, then load the worm heads onto the cart. I'll wash up, and after breakfast, we'll hitch up the cart and head to the treehouse," Henry, seeing the conversation veering off track, decisively cut off the dwarf's thoughts.

"Alright, alright. Old Kegan is just a laborer," the dwarf sighed to himself and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

After washing up and having a simple breakfast, Henry, with Brown's help, hitched up the cart. Kegan had already loaded all the worm heads onto the cart. Driving the horses on the morning country road, Henry's mood gradually relaxed. It seemed that last night's nightmare was also flowing away with the stream.

"Kegan, what do you plan to do after this adventure?" Henry asked, feeling more cheerful.

"I plan to go home and open a blacksmith shop. I haven't personally forged iron for a few years," Kegan answered after thinking for a while.

Henry frowned. "Belgost already has the Thundergod Blacksmith Shop, which almost monopolizes all the iron ore in Kenas."

"The Thundergod Blacksmith Shop can only produce ordinary equipment and can't forge anything of high quality. Forging is still the domain of dwarves. Look at this axe, which I forged when I was 150 years old. It's still so sharp," Kegan clearly looked down on the Thundergod Blacksmith Shop's products and began to show off his axe and forging skills to Henry.

Henry took the axe and examined it carefully. It was a one-handed axe, the main material being steel with a small amount of mithril. It was very hard, and the blade was bright and sharp. It was indeed much better than what he had seen in the market.

Henry returned the axe. "It's a very nice axe. Are you planning to forge high-quality items yourself?" The dwarf put his axe back on his belt.

Kegan nodded. "Yes, the money from this adventure is enough to open a blacksmith shop. And I'm getting old and don't want to travel anymore." Indeed, dwarves can live up to 400 years, and Kegan, at 300, was already entering old age.

"What about you? What are your plans for the future?" Kegan asked.

Henry smiled. "After the adventure, I'll go home to see my mother and sister and settle them down. Once I get Morian's recommendation letter, I'll go to High Hedge to study magic. It's not far from Belgost."

The dwarf looked up at him. "When you come back after learning magic, maybe we can collaborate to make some magic weapons and armor, like the Aegis Fang that Bruno made, which is sung by bards." Since Bruno forged the legendary warhammer Aegis Fang, dwarves in the North have looked up to him as an idol and a goal to strive for.

"We're here," Henry interrupted Kegan's musings, jumped off the cart, and called out, "Ms. Jetti, are you there?"

"You completed the task so quickly?" The druid opened the door and looked at the worm heads on the cart in surprise.

"Not yet, we have some unexpected situations to report," Henry explained as the druid lady quickly climbed down from the treehouse.

"At the deepest part of the cave, there are five super-large worms gathered together, the largest being over 4 meters long. We can't kill them with just the two of us. We came today to claim part of the reward and to request help," Henry explained in detail.

"I think the reason for the large number of worms in recent years is them. Most burrowing worms are solitary or in groups of three or four. The 4-meter-long ones are likely new kings. With a king, the worms start to gather in large numbers. During mating season, they mate more easily and produce more eggs. We must kill them to maintain the balance of this forest," the druid, who had been observing here for a long time, quickly concluded and walked to the cart to count the number of heads.

"20 heads, 4000 gold coins," Jetti said, taking out seven diamonds of roughly the same size. The dwarf quickly took them, examined them carefully, and said, "Excellent raw stones, each worth about 600 gold coins." As an expert in minerals and gems, Kegan quickly gave a price.

"This is the extra reward I promised. I got it during a previous adventure in the wild. I don't know its specific use, but it's definitely a magic item," Jetti said, tossing a ring to Henry.

Henry caught the ring and examined it carefully. The ring was made of gold, with a red gemstone embedded in it. Arcane power flowed over the surface of the gemstone. "Ring of Wizardry" identified the name, and the data of the ring quickly appeared in his mind.

Ring of Wizardry: "Unforgettable" Long ago, it was rumored that a great wizard from Amn broke the limits set by the goddess of magic, Mystra, and could cast spells without any restrictions, without being limited by the number of times he could remember them. It was later discovered that his ability came from the ring he forged, not the power he claimed. His ring, after many years, remains a coveted treasure. Effect: Doubles the number of 1st-level spell slots, usable by: Wizard.

This was practically a godsend for low-level wizards, and Henry immediately put the ring on his left ring finger. After confirming that it did not affect any spellcasting actions, he smiled at the druid.

"A very useful item, for a wizard," Henry said to the half-elf but did not mention the ring's specific effects.

"Good, I'm glad you like it." Jetti clearly had no interest in the ring. She directly asked, "What's your plan for the worm kings in the cave? I'm prepared to help you solve this problem."

"The cave is too deep, and we can only face them head-on in the depths," Henry said, feeling there was no better way.

"I can provide you with 4 bottles of speed potion and some black guafu venom for free. After the task is completed, I'll give you another 2000 gold coins," the druid was prepared to make a significant sacrifice. Others don't have a system to use, and druids generally rely on maintaining the ecological balance of a forest to receive natural gifts for their advancement. Due to the increase in the number of worms in recent years, Jetti had not received much feedback.

"Then we can make some javelins and coat them with poison. As soon as we pierce the worms' bodies, we drink the speed potion and run out. The worms' bodily fluids flow quickly when they run, and it will only take a few minutes for them to be killed," Henry, seeing the druid's generosity, offered a suggestion. Black guafu venom is a neurotoxin, and with enough quantity, it can make the burrowing worms convulse within a few minutes.

The druid considered for a moment. "Alright, I have a few spears that can be modified into javelins," she said, and the three of them began to modify their weapons. By noon, the preparations were complete. Each person had a javelin, a small bottle of poison, and a speed potion.

Lunch was some fruit and bread prepared by the half-elf lady. The dwarf warrior, who preferred meat, expressed strong dissatisfaction and cursed, "Damn, do I have to eat this before a battle! This is rabbit food."

"Make do with it. You can imagine you're eating last night's dinner while you eat," Henry comforted the dwarf from the side.

"I usually eat things that might not suit your taste, but this should make you feel better," Jetti, seeing her temporary teammates a bit dejected due to lunch, took out two bottles of homemade fruit wine.

Kegan quickly grabbed both bottles and argued, "Henry doesn't drink, mages need to keep their minds clear. You don't want to be accidentally hit by his magic in the afternoon, do you?" Henry, seeing the dwarf drink a mouthful of wine and his morale quickly rise, reminded him, "Kegan, don't drink too much, we still have to fight in the afternoon."

"A little bit of wine is fine, but not eating enough is the real problem," the dwarf said while drinking wine and eating bread.

"Sorry, Kegan is always like this," Henry explained to Jetti.

The druid said enviously, "It's clear that you two have a good relationship, you must have worked together for a long time." Henry nodded. "This is my first adventure, and Kegan is my neighbor. I've always liked following him and listening to his adventure stories. Later, I learned some knowledge from mages and druids in the tavern. I became a druid and a mage on my own at the beginning of this year."

"Ha ha, a few days ago, Henry was still a rookie. He was so scared when he saw the ogre that he froze. If I hadn't pulled him, his head would have been smashed," Kegan quickly picked up the topic. Henry was very helpless because that wasn't him. He felt that this would definitely become his black history, and the old dwarf would tell everyone about it whenever he had the chance. ————————————————————————————————————

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