The winds of the Blackwind Valley were not only loud and heavy, they were also very cold.
Because the beasts of the Blackwind Valley were Night Beasts who hated fire and light, there should not be any warm air in the valley at all.
But Simon could feel a particular breeze coming from the east that was warm.
It was not so obvious, but for Simon who was concentrating on the winds and whose affinity for the wind element was extremely high, he could notice such an oddity.
He frowned, and focused on this particular wind.
When he confirmed that he was not perceiving it wrongly, he opened his eyes and looked to the east.
"Should I check it out or I should not check it out?" He mumbled to himself with a contemplating expression, then he began to weigh the pros and cons.
The main reason why he wanted to check out the location of the warm wind is because he believed he might find something interesting or useful.
He had no proof, and for all he knew, he could even be walking into a death trap or an extremely dangerous location like how some of these unfortunate trial candidates did.
The warm air could even be from an extremely powerful beast of the valley, and him approaching such a beast could spell his doom.
However, there was also the possibility of him finding a treasure the clan had not found.
The possibility was very low, but his instinct told him to check it out.
This particular instinct was not from his bloodline but from his experience as a Hero.
He could not count the number of times where he trusted his gut and decided to check a particular place for a treasure, and he found one over 80% of the time.
’Well, time to trust my hero instincts. My luck has been shitty ever since I reincarnated in the demon world, but I have to take risks at times.’
Simon twisted his neck a few times, then he looked back at the battle that was taking place.
If he decided to play it safe, then he would have to wait for hours before the crimson moon rose.
Since he most likely had enough points, he’d prefer to spend his time on something more worthwhile.
And like he said, he planned on killing any beast that came his way or taking the condensed shadow essence of any unlucky trial candidate.
"An exploration it is then."
Simon turned and began walking to the east, leaving behind the chaos he created.
As he followed the warm wind of the east, he walked and ran for minutes.
He encountered some beasts on the way, and he stopped to kill them, then he made his condensed shadow essence to absorb the beast’s corpse.
It would be really embarrassing if at the end of the day, he did not possess enough points to pass the second trial after everything he did.
There were some candidates who recognized him and tried to stop him, but he either knocked them unconscious or beat them black and blue.
However, he noticed something odd and disgustingly familiar about some of the candidates.
The arms, neck, or even face of some of the candidates were transforming into wood.
Their pupils were always dilated, and the way they spoke was like that of a man on drugs. Some scratched their bodies without stopping despite nearly peeling away all the flesh off their bodies.
It was a sight that was all too familiar to Simon, and he knew why these candidates were acting this way.
The Odrasil.
Simon could see that the Odrasil was spreading its seed and using those who had been infected to gather points for him.
He felt no pity for the demons who had been infected with the Odrasil’s seed, but he also wanted to stop the damned disgusting demon.
However...
’After I get to that location, I’ll come and kill the Odrasil if possible. I’ll kill myself if I failed to get a treasure because of a damned Ordrasil kid.’
Simon had these thoughts as he stared at an infected candidate. The candidate was unconscious and sleeping on the floor in a completely awkward position.
Simon shook his head, then he continued running to where the warm wind took him.
After running for nearly an hour, he finally appeared in a circular clearing.
There was nothing odd or strange apart from the fact that the trees were placed in a circle.
There was no cave, no mountain, no cliff. There was nothing, and Simon was baffled.
"What’s here?"
Simon closed his eyes, then a second later, he looked down.
"Below?"
Simon frowned deeply as he stared at where he felt the warm wind.
"Do I have to dig?" This was what bothered Simon, and he clicked his tongue.
"Anything for potential treasure I guess."
He walked forward and looked around for what he could use to dig aside from his hand.
If he had to use his hand to dig in search of a treasure, then he might as well as weeks in this place.
"Unless the treasure is not that deep... But if it’s not that deep, then it would have been found already."
Simon sighed, then he continued walking around.
Crank
Whoosh
Simon’s ears twitched as he heard an extremely faint and strange sound. He looked around, but he saw nothing.
"What was that?"
He took a step back, and he heard the sound more clearly despite the roars of the wind.
He looked down, but he saw nothing aside from the soil.
He narrowed his eyes, then he kicked the sand to the side multiple times.
Some seconds later, his eyes widened when he saw a wooden door in the ground.
"Guess I don’t have to dig."
Simon bent and pulled open the door with all he had. He had to reinforce his body with demonic energy, and he was surprised by how difficult it was to just open a door.
"Feels like I just carried a car."
Simon exhaled deeply, then he looked at the wooden door which led to an unknown place underground.