【Outlander, you have stepped into the "corridor of time".】
[Message from the ancient god "Father of the Infinite Tree":]
[Spring of 923 of the Fifth Age, Mid-Continent, Lost Forest.]
[Event: Travelers’ Storytelling Meeting.]
【Duration thirty minutes (2/3).】
【You have obtained additional information.】
[The figure of the father of the infinite tree continues to watch you.]
【The test given to you by the ancient god of time will continue.】
【Assist travelers to end their story with the "God of Journey".】
[The Father of the Infinite Tree will give you rewards: thaumaturgy - powerful spatial perception, a true message - dragon. ]
Without pausing, he continued to take a step in the thick white mist. As the white mist slowly opened to both sides like a curtain, the dense forest land in the dark night with thin mist appeared in front of Shade.
The temperature was very different from that of a warm and comfortable home, and the rancid smell made Shade, who had just had breakfast, very uncomfortable. This time he did not pay attention to the green luminous patterns on the trees, nor did he look at the nails nailed to the trees.
The corpses on the ground immediately ran forward.
[Note that the fog in this forest has a similar composition to the fog on the central island of Green Lake. 】
Last time, "she" didn't have such a reminder, probably because when Shade landed on the island for the second time, he was more deeply exposed to the thick fog on the island.
Of course, now is not the time to think about such things. The malice of the Lost Forest is chasing him closely behind him. In the boundless darkness that he cannot look back at, the remnants of the souls lost on the road and the impact of this land on
The malicious intentions of the travelers tried to keep him in this endless forest forever.
In the strange forest, there were endless whispers that tempted Shade to stop and rest, while the hoarse voice whispering despair was trying to convince Shade that the end of the journey must be death without hope.
The temperature of his body was dropping rapidly, and his physical strength was draining at an abnormal speed. Just half a minute of running in the forest had already left Shade out of breath, but at this moment, a faint light appeared in the gap in the forest in front of him.
warm yellow bonfire glow.
At this moment, all the abnormalities in the forest disappeared. Shade subconsciously slowed down and continued to move forward, and finally came to the forest camp occupied by bonfires and small tents.
It seems that not too long has passed since Shade last left. The witch Arela Andriana, the maid Clara, the old knight Zafir Yellen of the Kingdom of Nabus, and the bard Dika who calls himself a baron
· Enriquez, just like when Shade first came, was sitting around the campfire.
But this time their spirits were not numb.
The old knight carefully took care of the bonfire, with dry firewood picked up from nowhere piled around him; the bard was writing something in his notebook, with a serious expression on his face; the witch was checking the remaining casting materials, and for
Other items prepared to complete the journey included a very conspicuous card; while the maid in black skirt leaned against her master and closed her eyes to rest, and was later awakened by Shade's footsteps.
His footsteps attracted everyone's attention. The young brown-haired witch stood up first, with a relieved smile on her face:
"You're finally back? We've been waiting for you for a long time."
"Long time no see, madam, I kept you waiting. What happened while I was away?"
Shade asked, walking towards the bonfire. The witch nodded:
"Some lost souls have arrived at this camp. But they are all souls, not living people like us. Even though I tried to stay with them to ask about the situation, they still left one by one."
"This woodland can swallow souls."
The bard's voice trembled with half fear and half excitement:
"If we had not completed the story of the seven-day journey of the gods, I think we would have been lost here."
"Calm down."
The old knight patted the depressed bard on the shoulder generously. He still looked so reliable:
"God has given us a chance, and we are doing pretty well so far. Don't give up hope."
He smiled politely at Shade who came over, and Shade nodded in response.
Shade, who came to the bonfire, lowered his eyes and looked at the items placed at the witch's feet, the card with a card back that he was very familiar with;
"This is... our identity card. Didn't it all disappear when the gods allowed us to rest?"
Shade curiously pointed to the card and said:
"Miss Andreana, are these the 'Game of Life' cards you carry with you?"
The witch was stunned for a moment, then shook her head:
"No, I don't play card games. This is my divination card. It led me here to find Clara's sister."
After the witch agreed, the maid Clara bent down to pick up the card and handed it to Shade for inspection. Shade turned the card over and then saw the card face.
The man whose appearance was unclear was facing away from the card, holding a book in one hand and pointing into the card with one hand. The background of the card was a grotesque glowing bubble in the infinite black starry sky.
"Everything is impermanent..."
He was shocked, but blinked and returned the card to the witch.
Miss Arela Andriana asked with some confusion:
"Looking at your expression, do you recognize this card?"
"Yes, it is rumored that the thirteen cards to which this card belongs are the origin of all 'Game of Life' cards. This... is very valuable."
He pursed his lips and said, but in the end he did not propose that he wanted the witch to leave the cards to a specific person or place the cards in a specific place after this adventure.
After experiencing so many things and being exposed to so many impermanent cards, Shade has long understood that these cards can only be owned by those who are destined to own them. Instead of deliberately creating events and letting his future self get this card, it is better to
Let the card itself travel through thousands of years of history, span the fifth era, and appear in his hand in a reasonable way...if he is really destined to have it.
Everything is impermanent, and everything is impermanent. This cannot be achieved through deliberate pursuit. Moreover, Xia De has long learned the lesson of wantonly manipulating time and destiny.
Now that Shade has returned, the seven-day story that has progressed to the second day can naturally continue. The four people at the campfire and Shade came to the small open space between the campfire and the tent, and formed a circle like last time.
After sitting down in a circle, Shade took out the instructions for using the unicorn power he got from the elf girl, and handed the notebook to the witch.
This high-level witch obviously has the ability to read quickly, and while she was flipping through the book, Shade also transformed the toy cat in her pocket back into the appearance of little Mia.
"Meow~"
Although she was a little uncomfortable with the surrounding environment, Mia still screamed happily and kept squirming in Shade's arms. Several other people were also attracted by the cat's meow, but no one asked why Shade brought a cat with him.
Come.
At this time, sounds also appeared in the dilapidated small tent. The traveler carrying the luggage walked out of the tent again:
"The travelers under the moon have returned. The short rest is over. Let us continue the story of this boring night."
The god said kindly, and then looked at the cat that Shade was holding. He was slightly surprised and said nothing.
She still sat on the floor opposite Shade, with her back to the bonfire. The stack of cards in her bag automatically flew out and landed in the open space between everyone, and everyone's identity cards also flew in front of them.
.
Shade's identity card "Moonlight Traveler" was clearly blank last time, but this time there was content on the card.
It was a grassland with the dark blue night sky as the background, and the silver moon occupying nearly half of the area above the card illuminated the small figure walking from left to right on the grassland. The figure on the card was really
It was very small, like an ant compared with the huge moon. If Shade wasn't very familiar with himself, he wouldn't even recognize that figure as himself.
"Meow~"
Mia immediately stretched out her paws to pick at the card, but after sniffing it, she found that it was inedible, and she suddenly lost interest.
"Where did the last story go?"
The god asked with a smile, looking at the bard who lowered his head and did not dare to look around. The poet felt the "weight" of that gaze, so he said:
"The travelers met a black-robed boatman by the river. After defeating the Cyclops and obtaining gold coins, the boatman refused to let the travelers under the moon board the boat."
"Yes, the travelers' story will continue here. Since you don't want to give up your companions, is there any other way? The story must continue. If you don't make a decision for a long time, something terrible may happen.
"
The god looked at Shade again, and Shade nodded:
"Since the traveler under the moon cannot board the ship because he is different from other travelers, he will find a way to become the same as other travelers."
He took out the bottle of brown potion, first touched Mia's little head in a warning manner, and after the cat made a whimpering sound, he pulled out the cork and drank two big gulps under the watchful eyes of everyone.
——Prevent other accidents caused by insufficient deformation time.
The familiar burning sensation in the body appeared, followed by the feeling that the whole body was melting. When it was over, Shade opened his eyes and saw that everyone seemed to have grown taller, and Xiao Mia was looking at him cautiously.
A picture of someone who wants to get close but doesn't dare to.
"I'm not proficient in transformation, so I can only rely on potions."
The man's voice coming from the cat's mouth was very strange, but the witch still nodded. Shade then looked at Little Mia, an orange and white cat about one year old, which was smaller than Shade's cat.
It came over hesitantly, then lay down in front of Shade's front paws, and made a very gentle "meow" sound. Shade did not understand cat language because he turned into a cat, but he at least understood that he
The "warning" given to Mia before the transformation was still very useful.