Chapter 425: Exchange Equipment, Buy One Get One Free
"Alohomora."
Alohomora struck the wooden door, and the rotten doorknob turned with a crisp creak.
Aaron entered the dark room via a flight of steps. Due to the war, a section of the dark room's edge had collapsed, but overall, it was still relatively intact.
Passing through an iron gate, Aaron reached the innermost part.
Here were four large wooden chests, in front of which stood four different statues: two males and two females.
"It really looks like four kings!" Aaron shook his head, then opened the treasure chests.
Contrary to what he expected, they didn't contain gold and silver treasures for national restoration, nor valuable historical texts, but rather the personal belongings of the four kings.
Clothes, armor, swords, bows and arrows, but what was most striking was a bottle of red Potion.
As a disciple of a Potion Master and a descendant of a Botany Master, Aaron's gaze was fixed on the Potion the moment he saw it.
A Potion, an incredible Potion, whose cost-effectiveness would not be lower than his resurrection Potion.
Rip!
Aaron drew his magic wand across his palm, and a crimson bloodstain appeared.
He immediately used the Levitation Charm to extract a drop of the red Potion, and after consuming it, the wound instantly healed as if new.
"No matter how severe the injury, as long as there's still a breath left, it can recover?
The effect is somewhat abnormal." While Aaron marveled, he gained a new sense of reverence for this world; anyone who could concoct such a Potion was certainly no ordinary person.
More importantly, this bottle of Potion seemed inexhaustible; just one drop was taken out, and another drop appeared in the bottle.
The bows and arrows also possessed a certain magic; those red arrows seemed able to somewhat increase their hit rate according to the wielder's will.
The two swords were taken from the treasure chests of the two male kings. After several centuries, they were still sharp. Though not comparable to the Elven-forged Foe-hammer and Orcrist, they were still excellent divine weapons.
"Good equipment, now it's mine," Aaron said calmly, without the slightest hint of guilt.
Unclaimed items, whoever finds them owns them.
Rather than letting them gather dust in a sunless Chamber of Secrets, it was better for him to make the most of them; it wasn't impossible for him to achieve historical renown in the future.
When Aaron left the Chamber of Secrets, he had two swords at his waist, a set of bows and arrows on his back, and a bottle of red Potion in his pocket.
He had been in this world for two days, and this was the first time he experienced the joy of being fully armed. This trip was not in vain... After changing into a new set of equipment, Aaron picked some fruits and continued on his way.
He didn't want to stay here and live like a savage; finding human society as soon as possible was the top priority.
Continuing along the river, he entered a dense forest, wading through water several times. However, he didn't mind, as he felt he was getting closer and closer to human society.
Unbeknownst to him, night fell.
Camping deep in the jungle was dangerous, but he had no choice.
He dug a pit in the ground, covered the surroundings with a thick layer of leaves, and then started a fire.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Just as Aaron was about to eat dinner, a sound of horse hooves caught his attention.
He pricked up his ears, listening carefully.
It wasn't the sound of just one horse; after the first horse, there were at least seven or eight more horses in hot pursuit.
But that wasn't important; what was important were the people riding the horses.
After tonight, he would have completed three days of wilderness survival, but if he continued, he wouldn't last much longer.
He didn't care what these people were doing, but he absolutely couldn't let them get away. Otherwise, who knew how long he would have to wander in this primeval forest.
Thinking of this, Aaron no longer bothered to finish his meal and chased after the sound of hooves.
It was impossible to outrun four legs with just two, but Aaron easily managed it. His footsteps were light, yet he kept close behind the cavalry, steadily approaching the leader.
But gradually, he noticed something was wrong. The leading young man seemed to be in a panicked flight, with no planned route, purely trying to shake off the seven or eight people behind him.
"Damn! He's being hunted down!
It's my bad luck to run into such a mess." Aaron said dejectedly. He needed these people to take him to a human town, but the question was, who to help?
He couldn't even distinguish who was good and who was evil right now.
If the larger group were the good guys, he would certainly stop the fleeing young man without a second thought, both to punish evil and promote good, and to seize a horse, making his journey less arduous.
But if the larger group were the bad guys, he would have to consider whether to help the young man.
Saving him wouldn't be difficult, but doing so would inevitably offend the forces behind those seven or eight people.
From their attire, these people were elite soldiers; behind them were either nobles or royalty.
As a newcomer, unfamiliar with the place, offending these powerful people would bring him no benefits, only a host of disadvantages. Even a mighty dragon doesn't oppress a local snake!
"What a bother!"
Aaron patted his forehead, deciding to observe the situation first.
If that person could escape, then he would capture him first and extract information about this world from his mouth.
If he couldn't escape... he would help him first, then capture him. He would take it one step at a time!
Bang!
At this moment, the young man had shaken off his pursuers by a hundred meters, but he was caught off guard and hit face-first by a broken log, falling off his horse.
One of his feet was caught in the stirrup, and he was dragged forward by the horse.
Seeing this, Aaron's mouth twitched involuntarily.
No wonder Ancestor Guster warned him that the most important thing in driving was to be aware of all surroundings. At the time, he didn't take it seriously, but now it seemed he had been reckless.
A living example was right before his eyes!
This guy had a traffic accident just by turning his head, being dragged across the ground by the horse, which looked painful.
However, he was still quick-witted and pulled his right foot out of the stirrup.
The young man lay on the ground, gasping for breath, experiencing the feeling of surviving a disaster.
"The opportunity has come."
Just as Aaron was about to go and control the person, two dwarves with swords emerged from the tree roots not far away, startling him into immediately hiding behind a tree.
Dwarves, this world actually has dwarves?
Aaron's emotions fluctuated. Could it be that this world, like the previous one, was controlled by several powerful races?
One dwarf rushed towards the young man, seemingly intending to kill him.
But when he was less than a meter from the young man, he stopped, and a hint of surprise and unexpectedness appeared in his murderous expression.
At this moment, the pursuers caught up. The dwarf gave the young man a deep look, turned, and said to the other dwarf, "Deal with him."
After speaking, he went to fight the pursuers alone.
The other dwarf approached the young man with his sword. The young man also seemed to realize something and quickly reached for the ground.
However, what he grabbed was not a long sword to protect his life, but a white horn.
"No!" The dwarf was shocked and wanted to stop him, but it was too late.
Woo!
A melodious horn sound echoed through the forest.
The dwarf didn't care about anything else and struck the young man's head with the hilt of his sword, knocking him unconscious.
He didn't kill him, but merely dragged the young man towards the tree hollow.
Bang!
A sword sheath suddenly struck the dwarf's head. His vision went black, and he fell straight to the ground.
"This is what they call 'the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind'." Aaron looked at the unconscious human youth and the gloomy-faced dwarf, feeling quite pleased. It was a buy-one-get-one-free deal!
Without any delay, he dragged both of them into the tree hollow and erased the traces as much as possible.
The sound of hooves gradually approached, and the pursuers stopped here.
"He was just here."
"He might have escaped deeper into the forest, General. Are we still pursuing?"
The General hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Let's go back and discuss it. This forest is more dangerous than we thought.
The mythical creature we caught is enough for us to report to His Majesty." The group all turned back, but compared to before, there was a black sack on one of the horses' backs, and what was inside was self-evident... Aaron surveyed the tree hollow. The interior was much larger than it appeared from the outside.
Living room, bedroom, kitchen, everything was there. Though small, it had all the essential organs, like a low-budget Bag End, except for a bathroom.
Aaron tied the dwarf and the human youth securely, then sat on a chair, tapping the table with his finger while muttering the bits of information he had just gathered.
"Forest... dangerous... mythical creatures..."
Humans have a certain reverence for forests, but not excessively so, and this reverence is slowly fading.
Dwarves should be mythical creatures; they hide in the forest, not daring to be discovered by humans.
"That is to say, humans currently dominate this world, while other creatures are hiding, barely surviving in some desolate places.
But the ruins he found were in the forest, and the kingdom was ruled by four humans... Could it be that hundreds of years ago, humans and so-called mythical creatures could coexist peacefully, and after that kingdom was conquered by pirates, everything changed dramatically?"
Grumble~
Just as Aaron was patiently deducing history, his stomach growled, interrupting his thoughts.
Only then did he remember that he hadn't eaten dinner yet. Three days of wilderness survival, either traveling or on the way to travel, was a huge drain on his physical strength, and not replenishing energy in time wouldn't do.
But when Aaron reached for his ration bag, he found it empty. His face instantly fell.
He had been so focused on chasing these people that he had left all his provisions, including wild fruits, in the pit he had dug earlier.
Grumble~
His stomach protested again.
"What are you grumbling about? Are you the only one hungry? Am I not?" Aaron grumbled, then started rummaging through the kitchen.
But these two dwarves were unusually poor. He searched the entire kitchen, even took out Captain Jack's compass, and in the end, only found a small bowl of rice and a few pieces of hard bread.
"After all, it's in the wild. Let's just make do. It'll at least fill my stomach a bit."