This level of intelligence and ruthless tactics, in his opinion, absolutely couldnât belong to low-level demons like kobolds.
Even if a rare kobold priest emerged from the larger kobold tribe below, it still wouldnât be possible.
But where exactly does this secret passage they discovered lead to?
What secrets are hidden inside?
Also, is Robinâs death related to this secret passage?
âIf we retreat immediately now, weâre safe, but....â
Raineâs eyes grew more profound.
Additionally, even if itâs intelligence, for recognition from the Adventurerâs Association, more clarity is needed, at least a preliminary outline of the situation without physical evidence.
âWhat exactly are those three humanoid creatures?â
Humanoids....
Shorter but sturdier than humans...
Raine couldnât think of it at the moment.
It couldnât possibly be dwarves, right?
At the thought of dwarves, Raineâs mind instantly conjured the image of Master Humbertâs appearance.
Thinking about it, Raine asked, "Taller than kobolds, but sturdier than humans, possibly cohabiting with kobolds."
Upon hearing Raineâs question, the other few exchanged glances, each seeing the surprise in the otherâs eyes.
Because from Raineâs words, it was not difficult for them to discern that Raine must have found some clues, perhaps even confirmed the specific traits of the unknown creature.
"Bear goblins? But bear goblins usually donât live this deep underground, and generally, they prefer mingling with goblins." Chris first mentioned bear goblins but quickly dismissed it as unlikely.
"Not bear goblins. The other party is shorter than us..." Raine carefully thought about the shape outlined by the sonic feedback.
"Isnât that the physical characteristic of dwarves?" Fabian said casually, twirling his dagger.
Dwarves?
Reya suddenly seemed to think of something, her delicate face turning serious as she looked earnestly at Raine and said, "Are you sure theyâre shorter than us and sturdier?"
"Yes." Raine nodded without much hesitation.
Even though Reya didnât know how Raine managed to determine the bodyâs characteristics through magic, she had no doubt about what Raine reported.
"Not good! They might be gray dwarves!" Reya blurted out.
"Gray dwarves?!"
The other four, including Raine, all widened their eyes in astonishment.
After all, arenât gray dwarves known to live in the Underdark?
But they had never heard of any passage linking to the Underdark around the Azure Mine or even near Dorne City.
So even though the size characteristics matched well, none, including Raine, had thought in the direction of gray dwarves.
"Captain, you must be mistaken. Thereâs been no talk of any such passage connecting to the Underdark near Dorne City."
"Besides, gray dwarves have a challenge level of one and usually act in groups, making them very hard to deal with. Raine, are you sure?" Chris couldnât help but turn and ask Raine.
It was understandable for Chris to counter-question.
Despite the gray dwarvesâ challenge level seeming similar to common Wild Boar People, once their numbers increased, they were much tougher than the Wild Boar People.
Take Raineâs previous encounter with a Wild Boar Warrior, for example. Its strength could single-handedly tackle three regular Wild Boar People, but it would never stand a chance against three gray dwarves.
In fact, two fully armed gray dwarves could easily go head-to-head with a challenge level two Wild Boar Warrior.
Once the number of gray dwarves increased, their difficulty could be described as exponentially rising, even without considering any special individuals among them.
Possessing such combat ability was to be expected, considering gray dwarves were one of the leading tribes in the Underdark, alongside drows and mind flayers.
Seeing the expressions of the others, Raine also became a bit uncertain.
After all, he had never seen a gray dwarf before and was merely judging by sonic reflection.
Raine felt it necessary to confirm once more.
But as he opened his mouth slightly again, echo-location re-calibrated, and his expression instantly changed, saying:
"Theyâre charging towards us!"
"Twenty meters!"
"Three in number!"
Including Reya, members of the Howling Hunter Squad, after a brief pause of less than 0.2 seconds, immediately sprang into action.
"Prepare for battle!"
"Quick! Raine, you three block the entrance, donât let them charge out!"
"Fabian, use crossbow arrows to disrupt the gray dwarvesâ attack. Iâll aid Chris."
"Raine, you three must be cautious of the gray dwarvesâ attacks. Their power is incredible..."
Reyaâs rapid succession of words almost froze the atmosphere.
Though initially a bit flustered, thanks to their solid combat skills and teamwork experience over time, everyone quickly began adjusting their formation.
Raine, Chris, and Grande held their shields at the forefront to block the entrance, while Reya and Fabian wielded their bows and crossbows from behind.
All eyes, tense or excited, watched the dark and deep passage.
...
Letâs rewind the clock to a minute earlier.
Gray dwarf Sos Darkfurnace and two other tribesmen were calmly waiting for the human adventurer team to enter the passage.
What they didnât expect was that although the other party initially seemed inclined to enter, they soon halted, discussing something at the passage entrance.
Just a moment ago, he felt a slight, almost imperceptible, sonic wave flash by his ears, which made Sos feel something amiss.
Could it be....
The human adventurers at the entrance were conducting a magic probe on the passage?
However, before Sos could speculate further, slightly rapid voices came from the human adventurer squad at the entrance, and the gray dwarves exchanged a glance with their dark gray eyes.
They quickly realized that the humans must have discovered their presence through some means.
Without much thought, Sos decided to charge towards the entrance with his two tribesmen immediately.
As the scouting array outside hadnât triggered an alarm, it indicated that the arriving human adventurers werenât top-level experts from the Adventurer classes.
According to the collaboration agreement with the Talin Association, they needed to ensure the underground mining safety by eliminating all intelligent beings discovering the site, just like they had with the previous human adventurer group.
Therefore, without resorting to stealth, the three stout gray dwarves, clad in leather armor and carrying shields and massive single-handed warhammers, burst out from the shadows.
"Holy crap! They really are gray dwarves!" Chris couldnât help but exclaim.
Facing the gray dwarf warrior in front of him, resembling Master Humbert by about seventy to eighty percent, especially with the heavy metal warhammer in the otherâs hand, Raine couldnât help but tighten his grip on his shield, eyes narrowing!
Instantly, the hole in the center of Robinâs shield now had an answer in his heart.