It's so hard being a hero!

Sophia stood at the gate of the courtyard, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

Using wind-attribute magic, pale blue light swirled beneath her feet as she slowly rose into the air, then shot into the sky like an arrow.

Bixis looked up at the increasingly smaller figure, her hands clasped tightly to her chest, her muttered words carried away by the wind.

"We must find your father and the others."

Sofia flew through the air, the wind whistling in her ears, and the city of Kyle below gradually shrank into a miniature painting.

Her father, Sulot, is around thirty-five years old.

To be honest, she had mixed feelings about this cheap father. Because of her past life, Sulot was always a junior in her eyes, and it was difficult for her to truly regard him as a father.

But he has indeed fulfilled his responsibilities over the past twelve years.

He was just a retired soldier, a mid-level warrior, belonging to the very bottom of the bottom in the supernatural world.

Thinking of this, Sophia unconsciously clenched her hands.

"Dad, you'd better still be alive."

She sped up and flew towards the town of Slote.

The town of Slote is located about 40 kilometers northeast of the city of Kel.

Although it's called a town, it's actually a large settlement where miners and their families live together.

This area is rich in black iron ore, an important raw material for forging low-level weapons and equipment. The empire has been mining here for decades, forming a sizable mining town.

From the air, Sofia could see the entire town in the distance, built at the foot of a black hill, which was the Black Mountain where the mining area was located.

From the air, Black Mountain looks like a giant beast lying on the ground, with mine entrances of all sizes scattered across its body, resembling a dense array of wounds.

The town was in complete chaos.

The streets were filled with people: miners, their families, militiamen in leather armor, and knights in regular military uniforms—the count's investigation team.

Sofia landed on the edge of town and walked toward the town center, but was stopped by a young militiaman after only a few steps.

"Little girl, this is not a place for you. Go home."

Sophia looked up at him and took out the Bronze Badge of the Adventurers' Guild from her pocket.

This was certified by the Adventurers' Guild in Kyle City, which he had secretly obtained. With this, many things became much easier.

The militiaman's eyes widened in surprise.

"Blue-Bronze level?"

He looked the little girl, who looked no more than twelve or thirteen years old, up and down, his face full of disbelief.

"I need to see the person in charge here."

The militiaman opened his mouth, but seeing Sophia's calm and resolute blue eyes, he swallowed the words he was about to say and turned to run off to report.

Soon, a middle-aged man in a dark blue military uniform walked over.

He was about forty years old, with a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes. He had a long sword hanging at his waist and walked with a swagger. He was clearly a soldier.

"A bronze-level adventurer?"

He glanced at Sophia, his gaze lingering on the bronze badge for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Yes, my name is Sofia, and my father was one of the missing militia members."

The middle-aged man paused for two seconds before replying, "My name is Harris, the vice-commander of the Knights under the Earl of Kyle City. I'm leading the investigation into the disappearances."

He turned and pointed towards the direction of Montenegro.

“Your father and his men went into Mine No. 3. We sent people in to investigate yesterday afternoon, but they had to come back after reaching a depth of 200 meters.”

"why?"

"The depths of the mine are covered with spider webs, very tough, uncut by ordinary swords and knives, and..."

Harris paused, his tone grave.

"Based on preliminary assessment, it appears we have unearthed the lair of a spider monster."

Sophia nodded.

That's consistent with her judgment.

Spider-like monsters are one of the most common threats in the mines. They prefer dark and damp environments and do not kill their prey immediately. Instead, they use their silk to entangle their prey, inject venom to paralyze them, and then store it for later consumption.

This means that if Surrot and his companions were captured by the spiders, they are likely still alive.

When do you plan to conduct the investigation?

Harris shook his head.

"We'll organize an elite team to go in this afternoon, but to be honest, I'm not very confident."

He looked at Sophia and hesitated for a moment.

“Little girl, I don’t know if you’re really bronze level, but the situation deep inside the mine is complicated, and the number and level of the monsters are unknown. It’s too dangerous for you to go in alone.”

Sophia didn't refute, but instead asked, "What time do we go in?"

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Sophia glanced at the sky; it was around 10 a.m., so there were still four hours left.

"I see."

She turned and walked towards Black Mountain.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Harris called out from behind.

"Go and check on the situation."

Sophia waved her hand without turning her head.

Harris watched the small, thin figure disappear down the path leading to Black Mountain and sighed.

"This girl is young, but she's quite bold."

A young militiaman leaned closer and whispered, "Lord Harris, is she really a Bronze-level?"

"The badges are genuine."

Harris shook his head.

"But a twelve-year-old Bronze-level genius is probably one of a kind in the entire continent. When did our Kyle City have such a genius?"

Sofia walked up the mountain path, the soil under her feet growing darker and darker, and a faint smell of sulfur filled the air.

The vegetation in the Black Mountain is sparse, and most of it consists of exposed black rocks.

She found Mine No. 3, with an entrance about two meters high and three meters wide, supported by a rough wooden frame. The ground was covered with messy footprints interspersed with seven or eight deep drag marks, which were very wide, as if something had been dragged across the ground.

"It really is a spider monster."

Sophia stood up, her gaze following the drag marks deeper into the mine.

The cave was very dark; you could only see about ten meters ahead.

She raised her right hand and flicked it gently. A ball of light the size of a fist lit up at her fingertip, and the warm white light dispelled the darkness.

Sofia stepped into the mine.

The air was humid and stuffy, with a musty smell.

The stone walls were covered with thick water stains, and water was still dripping down in some places, making the sound particularly clear in the empty mine.

After walking about fifty meters, the mine tunnel began to fork into three paths: left, right, and straight ahead.

The left side had the most footprints, with obvious drag marks, which was probably the direction the militiamen went in.

The footprints on the right side were few and relatively new, indicating they were left by the survey team.

Chapter 33 Spider Kingdom

Sophia stood at the crossroads, closed her eyes, and her magical perception spread in all directions like ripples on water.

The structure around the mine gradually became clear in her mind.

This is not a simple passage, but a vast underground network.

The interconnected passageways link together the caves, resembling a spider web.

At the deepest part, there is a huge cave where magical energy fluctuations are dense and active.

"Wow, it really is a spider kingdom," Sophia muttered to herself as she opened her eyes.

According to the magical feedback, the huge cavity was about one kilometer away from her current location and more than one hundred meters deep.

Sophia didn't hesitate for long and walked straight towards the narrow passage in front of her.

Harris and her search and rescue team wouldn't be able to enter the mine until 2 p.m., and she couldn't wait that long.

Every extra hour she waited increased the danger to her father.

After entering the mine tunnel, after only a dozen or so steps, the light was completely swallowed up by darkness.

Sophia raised her hand, and a golden orb of light appeared in her palm, illuminating the surroundings.

The further you go, the narrower the passage becomes.

Grayish-white spider silk hung all around.

She quickened her pace.

After walking another 300 meters or so, the passage suddenly opened up, and he entered a cave.

The cave is about 20 square meters in size and about 3 meters high, with stalactite-like objects hanging from the top.

But it's not a stone.

It was all spider silk.

Grayish-white spider silk hung down from the top, dense and numerous, like an upside-down forest.

The ground was littered with the remains of some small animals.