For the jungle that stretches thousands of miles southwest of Xifengyi and forms the natural border of the Kingdom of Tuminis, whether it is the Whispering Forest or the Lost Forest, they are just convenient names and conventional terms, and the one that truly belongs to it,
It has long been forgotten in the slowly passing time of eternity.
On the map of the kingdom, its official name is Mordauga... In the Aigar dialect thousands of years ago, the meaning of this word is, suddenly.
I have to say that this is indeed simple, but appropriate - the jungle connecting with the wasteland appeared so suddenly, without even any buffer in the connection. From the wasteland with only fluffy grass inhabited, to the place where the sky and the sun are blocked.
In the vastness of the world, in just a few dozen feet, a clear, shallow and slow river sharply separated the yellow brown and the dark green.
Dense forests, sparkling rivers, and vast wilderness form a wonderful, but completely contrary to the natural landscape under the sky.
Amazing.
Well, perhaps, this kind of admiration can only come from the mouths of those who look at this green land from afar. When you are in it, walking one foot deep and one foot shallow for three days, the change of mood will make people
Feeling the coldness and hostility of the open space, the vast Lin Hai has never been a generous and friendly host, and will let humans approach his embrace...
Dark green and gray, densely covering all directions, stacked up to form the deepest landscape in the field of vision. In the depths like the shadows of black tree trunks far and near, light shines through the gaps between the occasional leaves, illuminating the surroundings.
One area was dyed fresh green, which also brought out the almost ink-like blackness of the rest of the area. The dust rose and fell under the occasional light, and light spots fell on the knotted tree roots. Under the tree roots, large and small dark green puddles were scattered.
There are no ripples in the ancient well as it is laid out on the ground. Occasionally, small bubbles bubble up from it, causing ripples.
Light and darkness intersect, creating a quiet yet bizarre scene.
But danger exists everywhere, visible and invisible.
Those dense tree crowns are filled with huge spider webs and fist-sized cocoons. Lepidopteran and myriapod insects are densely clinging to the tree trunks in the darkness. They are fighting for their lives quietly, and they
He also never minds using his natural weapons to let the uninvited guests who rashly break into this world experience the impermanence of life - at least several or even dozens of them can easily break through ordinary alchemical anti-virus potions, and even drink them
No time will be left for the potion...
The soft soil on the ground may at any time be a camouflage formed by countless years of fallen leaves. There is a bottomless quagmire hidden under it, waiting like a resentful girl to keep every unlucky traveler behind.
Cold embrace.
And for those who try to carve a way in...the ever-hungry predators and scavengers in the jungle may be the most welcoming existence.
Even those who have mastered unnatural power are equally harsh here... Whether they are wizards, priests, warlocks or bards, they all have to bear part of the risk of spell casting failure in this huge green prison. There are even rumors that,
Those guys with low abilities but still trying to show off their abilities here will naturally enjoy the punishment from the magic network - they will be broken into pieces or turned into coke. In short, the energy of the magic backlash will make them pay a suitable price.
The combination of all the disadvantages makes this vast forest one of the fourteen most mysterious secret realms on the entire continent. The number of adventurers who disappear here every year can almost arm the garrison of a small city.
It was like the trees had absorbed all the sounds, and they fell into a silent sleep in the forest. But immediately, the silence that had lasted for an unknown period of time was broken by a crisp click, and a sharp sword stretched out from the dense forest, and cut off a person.
The dense branches broke, allowing the sound to enter the original silence.
The light outlines the young shadow walking out from behind the trees.
Edward moved his arms slightly and looked around. The golden sunlight reflected the emptiness in the forest in his eyes. The leafless crowns of several dead tall trees transformed the small space in the forest.
It was much brighter, and the sky that had not been seen for a long time glowed with the golden light of dusk behind the bare branches, and the wind that slipped into the space swept away the disgusting damp and rotten odor.
He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, then pursed his lips and let out a sharp whistle.
The young hunter was beginning to feel tired after several days of trekking.
Going straight in one direction is not what cave bears are used to. When the vague foothold changes from vague to unclear, and sometimes they have to rely on intuition to move forward, the most experienced cave bears also feel the experience
The lack of resources, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, gravel, broken branches, thick roots and tangled vines, making progress an extremely tiring exercise.
The forward speed has been reduced to the lowest level, and what consumes more energy is the tense and depressive atmosphere that envelopes the entire team. Everyone knows that they have not encountered any decent opponents along the way, but it is not just
Because those monsters are afraid of their size, they actually always pass by the edge of the territory of those powerful monsters and try not to provoke them.
Of course, everyone here does not include the four core members of the team.
…
The mercenaries began to be busy with joy,
For the cave bears that live in the Whispering Forest, the woodland that has died due to changes in the landscape is the only gift this forest has given them. The soil here is often dry, and the dry trees can set up bonfires without becoming wild beasts.
Or a place where monsters pay attention, enough to comfort every pair of feet that have been trudging in the mud for a long time, and every heart that has been nervous for a long time.
Setting up tents, bonfires and stoves is the job of the cave bears. For the core of this team, the team of four people, it is not needed - the magic little tent owned by the mage, let
They avoid all the trouble, so their employers only have to stand in a dry place and watch while the mercenaries are busy.
The paladin's gaze remained on the young hunter.
Edward, who left Poplar Town, was no longer the young waiter, although his appearance still looked very ordinary.
More than five feet tall, he is somewhat thin and wears a leather armor, linen shirt and trousers, long boots on his feet, and a sword hanging casually on his waist. He is not very eye-catching among the mercenaries.
.
In fact, these things on his body are the same as his own. As long as you look closely, you will find a lot of weirdness - the dark scabbard is a little shorter and wider than the standard long sword often used among mercenaries.
Some, but a few inches longer than the average broadsword. Perhaps it was because of the quiver on his back, and the wide belt hanging the scabbard did not have as many spare weapons as the others, only two daggers.
The two daggers are also very strange. The scabbard is very narrow and bulging. It is more like two steel awls than the blades wrapped in it.
Perhaps the only thing that caught my attention was that the armor and clothes on his body all had some strange colors - gray, green and black patches were randomly painted on the surface to create strange color patches of different sizes and shapes.
But in the forest... this color becomes particularly unattractive.
When he leaves the crowd, the color patch on the surface of the body will create a wonderful sense of integration with the surrounding environment. Although the paladin can be sure that there is no trace of magic on it, when the figure approaches the bushes or shadows, there will be
It became blurry there - those variegated patches blended his figure into the environment.
When traveling through the jungle, this young man was no longer the smiling waiter who introduced them to delicious food and wine, nor was he the smooth-talking kid with money in his mouth - the halfling's rhetoric or special words before
Prejudice, fear or message, but we must admit that this young kid... no, it should be a young hunter, does have an aura that is superior to all the mercenaries around him...
What it is specifically cannot be described - it is just that it is convincing that he seems to be able to do things that most people cannot do. Especially when their eyes meet, you can notice that his eyes - everything about young people has faded away
He is shy and childish, and his eyes scanning the surroundings are so sharp, as if they can penetrate people's hearts if they meet by chance.
As a result, he gave people the impression that he became more and more mysterious. But he was not difficult to get close to.
The paladin shook his head slightly.
Or, this thin, dark boy who kept smiling made everyone feel good - not only because of the satisfactory and thoughtful service and sunny smile, but also because of the previous reminder to their wallets, which was rare after entering this area.
One of the kindnesses he encounters... The paladin does not deny that he has some instinctive affection for him... However, people will always subconsciously apply their own concepts of good and evil to the beings who have a favorable impression of them.
So when that good feeling suddenly dissipated, the feeling of disgust that arose in his heart for this person was particularly strong...
…
Edward's gaze remained on those employers.
Two days may not be long, but it is enough for him to discover many interesting things - for example, the silent, shadow-like existence in the four-person team is probably not a living thing - this is true
This is enough to explain why this guy didn't even order food or even say a word in the hotel.
It is not the explanation of a living creature in this world, it is naturally an undead, but in front of a paladin, especially a paladin from Lansendre, it is obviously impossible to tolerate such a filthy creature.
Then the only explanation is constructed organisms.
This thing is unique to this world. According to what Edward learned from the half-hearted spellcasters among the mercenaries, they should be somewhat similar to the mechanical existences in the memory. But what drives them is the omnipresent magic power of this world.
The power of this thing is almost comparable to, or even far superior to, those in science fiction works.
This realization shocked Edward.
There are also some mercenaries who can cast some magic, such as bards who use music to communicate with gods, priests of certain minor gods, mages who know some tricks, third-rate apprentices, liars, and witches who pretend to be gods.
Doctors are very popular talents among mercenaries, and occasionally one or two mages will join the mercenaries, but when it comes to their strength... they are usually just a little bit better than apprentices.
.Because in this world, even the poorest official mage can easily find a financial sponsor to serve him, and obtain a fortune that is enough for him to live comfortably and support those weird and expensive magic experiments.
However, at this moment, the person so far away was obviously a little different.
There is no institution such as a degree evaluation committee in this world, and mages naturally have no class distinction. The only reference for ability is the depth of touching the magic network - if you can cast arcane spells of three rings or above, you can break away from the title of apprentice.
If you can touch the fifth level of the magic network, you can be considered a "high-level" mage. As for being able to use spells above the eighth level, even if you only have one, you can call yourself a magician.
According to popular sayings, the fifth level of the Magic Network is another huge barrier - although it is only one step away from the fourth level, it is a lifelong rut for the mage. If it can be overcome, it will be a qualitative breakthrough.
And Leap, from now on the sea and the sky are vast, and you can travel at will; but most mages can't rush through it, stop here, and can only remain unknown for the rest of their lives.
This is a simple classification method that is unanimously accepted by the secular world or mages, but it is only a rough guide. A real magician will not just issue an eighth-level spell to prove himself, but even an apprentice can
Easily immerse a large group of civilians in terror - just a simple illusion is enough to create a terrifying impression.
But if a mage possesses an exquisite golem, it seems that it can be counted as part of his achievement - it is said that those who can create these things are without exception mage with a real name.
This is undoubtedly quite a temptation for Edward.
When there is temptation, action naturally follows.
It was not that Edward had never thought about further expressing his wishes to the mysterious mage - in fact, he had already been prepared. Even if the other party refused, he would still get close to him to see if he could get a chance to follow him.
.Unfortunately, along the way, he never found a suitable excuse to get closer.
Spellcasters always have the highest privileges during adventures - they do not need to carry luggage, open roads for reconnaissance, and are usually closely guarded in the center when traveling. Unless there are special circumstances, there is no need to keep vigil. As for this mage, it seems
She is also a role model for spell casters. She will spend all her rest time in her tent. That magical creation is obviously attached with some kind of space spell, and it is obviously not easy for people to approach.
So Edward often only met the man in the black robe for a moment when he was dining in the camp. However, from the expression and eyes that regarded everything as a coward, he could not understand what kind of impression the other party had on him, whether it was him or not.
It's appropriate to come up and talk.
If the other party was just a mage among the mercenaries, then Edward would have hesitated a long time ago... No matter what profession he has, a mercenary is a mercenary, and their topics will never be separated from those aspects. How to deal with it, the young man has already said
Of course...he had no experience at all in trying to please a genuine high-level mage, and a wrong attempt would undoubtedly greatly undermine his impression and the plan would be greatly wasted.
Especially when there is the biggest obstacle.
In the stories passed down by mercenaries or in the odes of poor poets, the paladins are the best examples of heroes. They are righteous, selfless and fearless. Their significance to the world seems to be the same as what Edward remembered.
Just like the forever young uncle of the People's Liberation Army - of course, people are not gods after all, and even gods are not perfect... so there are always some small, innocuous gaps between legends and facts - this rule seems to apply to everyone
The planes are all connected.
At least now Edward knows that paladins can also hold grudges - every time Edward gets a little closer to them, under the visor of the helmet, the hostility in the two eyes burns like fire, not to mention those words that are similar to driving them away.
Although Edward knows that in this plane, the statement that all people are created equal is still waiting to be developed by a certain philosopher hundreds of thousands of years later, but this does not mean that he will completely ignore this situation.
"As for it...it's just twenty platinum coins. The total of the outfit you are wearing is at least dozens of times that amount. Sure enough, the pretty boy has no good intentions...he will find a place to trick you in two days.
"
This is not just a simple secret slander - in fact, if those mercenaries heard such words, they would probably start to feel uneasy.
Among the many nicknames, only the nickname "Scavenger Wolf" did not describe the young man's achievements in military affairs.
In Edward's eyes, this guy in an iron shell is definitely a standard novice in adventure - he looks around while walking in the jungle, leaving his position in the team from time to time, and even a passing mouse is stunned.
It can attract his attention, but he doesn't pay the slightest attention to his feet - if some kind of magic hadn't been cast on him to prevent him from sinking into any mud, I'm afraid he would have turned into a swamp a day ago
Among the cans slowly rotting.
But the only problem may be his overwhelming strength in battle-during the three-day journey, the occasional jungle monitor, gorgon or other things that the cave bear could not cope with were all in front of him.
A battle that can be over in one or two moves.
---
It's a bit stuck...it doesn't always feel smooth...;
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