Once Frey and the other person's figures completely disappeared, Brando also calmed himself. Unlike infiltrating the pasture from another direction, where he could use a vibrant forest as cover, this place forced him to endure the gaze of an entire squad of skeleton soldiers from here to the low thicket below.
Adventure is essential, but unnecessary risks don't need to be undertaken. He decided to wait until the night deepened before starting to act. Although the Undead could directly perceive Life Energy, their search range was limited at night.
But Brando was not idle; he observed the patrol patterns of the skeletal frames below. Soon, he found a gap in their patrol, roughly a ten-second interval when two scattered teams crossed each other.
He looked at the terrain—the distance from here to the low thicket below was twenty meters. Though he had 2 Energy Levels of dexterity, his weakened status didn't allow him to fully use his attributes. Completing a forty-meter round trip and digging out the key buried under the tree within ten seconds seemed an impossible challenge.
He decided to find another way.
Night quickly fell.
Time to act, he told himself in his heart. Immersed in the dim environment, his heart pounded nervously.
This was playing with life itself. What game has a death penalty more thrilling than this?
Holding his breath, he stared below, counting silently to fourteen—the exact time needed for two skeleton frames to pass each other. First, he threw his sword in that direction; this was the first step.
The sword landed twenty meters away with a soft rustle in the fallen leaves. Brando waited anxiously for a long time, only relaxing when the second patrol passed without noticing anything abnormal.
Next was the key part of the plan. Brando counted again, and when the two skeletal frames crossed each other for the third time, he took a deep breath and dashed out. At that moment, his mind was almost blank, unable to think or consider anything but one goal—speed, accelerate.
Three seconds.
Brando arrived, exhaled deeply. He squatted down, swept away the leaves, grabbed the sword, and started digging, though his efficiency was much slower than anticipated. While digging, he counted silently in his heart, one, two, three.
Six seconds.
He gave himself an extra second, then threw away the sword and started running back. The scenery around him almost blurred in the wind. He dived into the bushes and stopped, feeling his heart nearly halt.
The skeleton soldiers passed the fourth time without discovering his presence. Brando took a deep breath, feeling the thrill weaken his limbs, but the rush of adrenaline also filled him with deep excitement.
Then he withdrew to continue waiting for the second round. The second attempt was much calmer, though it ended fruitlessly as well.
The third time, he dug for only two seconds, as he clearly felt his stamina decreasing. Then, on the fourth attempt, he finally touched the cold, square object beneath the soil. Brando had never seen this thing before, but at this moment, his heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably.
It was this.
Brando felt a sense of certainty in his heart. For a moment, he couldn't resist wanting to dig it out, but he knew he didn't have enough time. He took a deep breath to calm himself, put down the sword, and ran back.
On the fifth attempt, Brando was completely calm. He ran to the tree, picked up the sword, and started prying the square stone tablet. It loosened immediately, but at that moment, Brando's ears twitched—wait, something was off, the patrol route of the skeletal frames below had changed.
Impossible! Our hero felt a chill in his heart. Was this some dreadful joke from the heavens? Madara's skeleton soldiers lacked basic intelligence; they couldn't adjust their patrol plans on their own unless directed by a Corpse Witch. But a Corpse Witch wouldn't alter its initial intentions for no reason.
Unless there was an external invasion.
Brando's past gaming experiences became incredibly clear at this moment. He couldn't help but glance towards the pasture direction. Could Frey and Essen have been exposed? But looking down from the slope, everything seemed calm in that direction. The young man immediately overturned this thought.