Half Elf Ranger

Chapter 507 Deep in the Forest
The group of people who entered the dark forest stopped for a while, and after not finding anything unusual, they planned to continue exploring the depths.

However, just when Thorne was about to lead the way with the paladin Avar, he suddenly realized that he didn't know which direction to go.

Thinking of this, Thorne subconsciously stopped and looked up at the sky.

Although it is early morning, the bleak dawn light can hardly dispel the deep shadows on the forest path, the ancient trees gather into a thick canopy overhead, and the clutter of vines and shrubs on the ground is almost imperceptible. There are traces of human activities.

"Strange, we obviously walked in through the gate of the cave, why did we appear in such a weird place?" Seeing the two stop and watch again, the female wizard Cecil murmured to herself, attracting everyone's attention force.

"After the gate was opened, a black light curtain appeared. We should have passed through the light curtain of the gate and came here." The paladin Avar explained to the witch while carefully looking around, as if Look for the exit back.

Unfortunately, to his disappointment, apart from the ancient forest, there are only wild vines and dense bushes here, not even a small animal or beetle.

Finding the way back is obviously not as easy as imagined.

"That is to say, the black light curtain uses the folding space technology. In my opinion, this place is more like a separate sealed space." Thorne thought for a while and expressed his guess.

The so-called folding space technology is to use the powerful arcane gravity to bend and overlap the surrounding space.

This ability can make a building that looks extremely small on the outside turn into a huge space inside.

This technique is often used in wizard towers among spellcaster groups.

"That's right." The paladin agreed with the ranger's opinion, then he frowned, and said slowly:

"I can clearly sense that this forest should come from a corner of the main material world, but the negative energy in the air is very pure."

"Pure negative energy breath?" Thorne repeated suspiciously, saying, "It seems that a crack should have been torn open in the space around this forest, which caused the negative energy breath overflowing from Shadowfall to pollute this place. "

"If that's the case, then why is the negative energy atmosphere here not as strong as imagined, not even as strong as that cave in the valley." The female wizard Cecil asked.

"The whole area has been sealed." Thorne rubbed a small pure white spar inlaid on the ring of the paladin with his finger, and after feeling a sense of comfort gradually flooding his body, he continued:

"As for why the caves in the valley are not as strong, the main reason is that most of the negative energy in this area is absorbed by the plants, and a small amount of it flows into the small space of the caves, so it is easy to gather and not disperse."

"Okay." Thorne stopped the witch who was about to ask another question, and then looked around:
"The question we need to consider most now is where to go, rather than standing here and studying how the forest was born."

"Kevra, can you sense where the negative energy is strongest around you?" Thorn finished speaking, looking at the little banshee beside him.

Kefla heard the words and immediately responded to Thorne's question with actions.

Her eyes were slightly closed, she was wearing a pure white dress without wind, and the free negative energy breath in the air gathered to her whole body at an extremely fast speed.

At the same time, a cool breeze suddenly floated in the forest, making a soft rattling sound in the silent space.

As the negative energy around the little banshee gradually became stronger, Thorne, who felt the bone-piercing chill attacking his whole body like a flexible poisonous snake, couldn't help but take a few steps back and keep a certain distance from her.

The little devil standing on Kefla's shoulder also screamed, flapped its little wings, and flew down to the branch of the big tree.

In the expectant eyes of everyone, when the strong negative energy breath was completely inhaled by Kefla, she finally opened her pale red eyes.

"No." The little banshee came to Thorn's side. Her pale face showed a bit of frustration when she couldn't help, and she shook her head slightly:

"The plants growing in the forest have long adapted to the existence of negative energy. With their existence, my perception has been greatly disturbed, and I can't even detect where the source of the negative energy is."

"Does General Avar have anything to say?" Thorn, who was a little disappointed, suddenly noticed that the paladin was hesitant to speak, thinking that the other party had discovered something unexpectedly, so he asked.

"Nothing found." Paladin Aval naturally saw what Ranger meant, and then gave him an apologetic look. Then he looked at the little banshee, brought back the words he had swallowed, and then solemnly reminded Thorne:

"I know that Ms. Kefla is a physical banshee, and I also guessed that she has undergone the washing of arcane energy to retain her kind heart and become what she is today.

So, Lord Thorn, I need you to remind me that in the future, try not to let her actively contact the negative energy from the Shadowfall Netherworld, otherwise she will be easily affected by the evil energy and awaken the evil thoughts hidden in the deepest part of her heart. "

Not only intentionally or unintentionally, when the paladin said these few words, he also gave the female wizard Cecil a few meaningful glances.

"Thank you for the reminder." Thorne thanked the paladin, and reached out to stroke the little banshee's long silver-white hair.

After being reminded by the other party, he finally realized his negligence.

Because Malvisa had already solemnly warned him and Anderina about this issue when she held this ceremony, but he unexpectedly forgot about it.

Fortunately, a small amount of negative energy does not have a great impact on Kefla. As long as you return to the wizard tower, this evil aura will be quickly eliminated by the energy of the element pool.

Then, he looked at the female wizard Cecil who fell into deep thought because of the paladin's words, pondered for a moment, and said:

"Since your teacher asked you to bring us here, there must be some way for you to guide you to the depths of the dense forest."

"Method?" The female wizard who came back to her senses couldn't help being startled, and said a little helplessly: "Except for the magic amulet that opened the door just now, there is nothing left."

"Then take out the talisman and try to use it." Thorne suggested to her without thinking.

He actually knows a lot about the tokens in the hands of the Insighter organization.

After all, he used this kind of token to gain the trust of the plane businessman, came to the abandoned half-plane, and successfully contacted the manager of the upper half-plane.

Even when he went to the Wizard Tower in Winter City, he gained the trust of the legendary wizard Kaladna.

It's a pity that it can't play any role in this forest alone.

So he could only let the witch try with her own token.

The female wizard nodded slightly, and took out the magic amulet in the hidden pocket of the robe again.

However, the moment she took out the talisman, an accident happened, a bone-piercing chill suddenly overflowed from the talisman, and quickly spread from her palm.

Cécile exclaimed, and quickly threw the magic talisman on the ground, shaking her frost-covered palms.

Elf swordsman Lance immediately approached and used spells to help her disperse the frost that continued to spread.

Seeing the abnormality, Thorne subconsciously cast his eyes on the amulet on the ground.

I just noticed that the amulet thrown to the ground by the sorceress was constantly shaking.

Then it bounced up automatically, floating into mid-air, and then emitted strands of dark aura that seemed to be real.

"Clang!"

Seeing this situation, the paladin on the side changed his expression suddenly, and quickly pulled out the holy adamantine broadsword, the dark golden blade instantly emitted a light brighter than the reflected sunlight.

Seeing this, the elf banshee was so frightened that she quickly buried her head in Thorne's arms, and the little devil in the treetops directly submerged her thin body in the dense branches and leaves.

"Don't be impulsive." Thorne comforted the little banshee in his arms, looked at the paladin and said in a deep voice.

The brilliance on the paladin's blade has shrunk a lot, but his eyes on the magic amulet have become more vigilant.

"I... I seem to have heard what it said." Just as everyone was in a stalemate with the magic talisman, at a loss, the witch who had successfully dispelled the frost whispered.

"It's pointing me in the right direction." The sorceress Cecil glanced at the floating magic talisman apprehensively.

She stretched out a finger and touched the surface of the amulet with fear, only to find that the bone-chilling chill had long since disappeared without a trace.

So she tentatively stretched out her palm to the amulet, the floating magic amulet trembled a few times, the overflowing dark aura dissipated invisible, and slowly fell into the palm of the witch.

"From this direction, go straight into the depths of the jungle." The sorceress who regained the magic amulet pointed to the direction where Thorne was standing, and said to everyone.

"Then let's go." Thorne and the paladin exchanged glances, and took the lead to lead the way.

Cecile and the little banshee followed closely behind, while the elven swordsman Lance took the initiative to choose to follow at the end of the team.

Several people walked through the dense forest. As they continued to move forward, Thorne gradually felt a sense of oppression that was close to suffocation.

The air also became uncomfortably wet and greasy, making his forehead wet, mixed with the smell of negative energy and soil corruption.

At this moment, how much he wished for a breeze from the wilderness to blow by, but this was undoubtedly a luxury for the group of them.

The crowd walked for about an hour without any accidents, and they reached a deep and cold stream.

This small stream flows through a dense forest, and the trees beside the stream are old and huge, and the width of the stream completely prevents the branches on both sides from being entangled.

Many gray stones jutted out of the murky water, and in an eerie silence the stream washed them over and over.

"As long as we go upstream along this stream, we can find the source of negative energy." The witch Cecil said to the paladins and rangers who were leading the way.

Then the crowd hurried along the stream again.

Thorne was surprised to find that the stream seemed to be driven forward by a ruthless force, but he also felt a strange tranquility.

The water is deep and often joins a small black pond after a cascade-like or undulating section of flow.

But even in such rapids, the creek that weaved through the woods was not splashing or bubbling as he thought it would.

The experienced Thorne found the mysterious creek more disturbing than the forest.

The same is true of the paladin next to the ranger - it can be seen from his vigilant look and the holy adamantine broadsword tightly held in his hand.

During this short journey, the most relaxed people are undoubtedly the little banshee Kefla and the witch Cecil.

"It's here!" Walking, the sorceress Cecile, who was pulling the little banshee, suddenly shouted, and then lowered her voice: "Do you see the place where the two streams converge? That's there."

Thorne followed the gaze of the sorceress, and he found two streams flowing in a Y shape ahead, eventually merging into this wider and deeper stream in front of him.

The right-hand tributary rushes over a flight of stone steps, and here and there a few rays of sunlight seep through the branches overhead and reflect off the shimmering water.

The fork on the left felt to Thorne more like the creek they had flowed up, for it meandered through a channel that was not as undulating as the other.

Although the current is fast, it doesn't feel as energetic as the other tributary.

The few people no longer hesitated, and continued to move towards the place where the streams meet.

While walking, Thorne looked against the direction of the water flow, and he could vaguely see the black rock outcropping in the distance through the gaps in the bushes.

It was through a gap between these high rock walls that the stream flowed, and although the trees obscured some of the view, he could still see a passage between the cliffs, a narrow valley and a left-hand tributary. source of water.

Thorne couldn't help wondering how the water flowing down such a steep river bed turned into a stagnant stream like footsteps.

Maybe it's the negative energy at the source, he thought.

Not long after, the crowd crossed the stream and came to an open space between the intersection of two streams.

The female wizard Cecil clearly pointed to the narrow gap between several rocks upstream of the creek, and said to everyone: "The source of negative energy is above."

"I also feel the negative energy there is very strong." Paladin Avar answered.

So the few people stopped hesitating and went directly into the crack of the canyon.

The side walls of the canyon are made entirely of granite, reaching high above, the weather-beaten surface covered with traces of moss, and the stone wall emits a chill similar to negative energy.

In fact, the road they walked was not really a road. The canyon was full of fallen trees, huge stones, and thorny bushes. Suffering, but they are not ordinary people, these obstacles will not affect their progress.

The stream was still flowing around them, scouring the gully with a silent force, and flowing over the stones that blocked the stream.

As the stone walls on both sides began to flatten slowly, Thorne and the others finally reached the top of the canyon.

Immediately afterwards, what caught everyone's eyes was a vague outline, which looked square and square, like a long and high wall, showing gray or white.

Thorne saw that such an outline was too regular, not like a rock or something, but some kind of man-made building.

There are many towers and railings at the top of this wall, and the only entrance here is in the center of the wall.

In any case, he always felt that the sudden appearance of the building brought him a strong uneasiness, so strong that he couldn't ignore it at all.

This made him couldn't help but slowly pull out the steel soul sword emitting pale blue light.

When everyone walked through a small pine forest with doubts, anxiety and tension, and entered through the gate of the gray-white city wall, a white castle was completely presented in front of their eyes.

"Oh my God! This castle is actually made of bones." The sorceress Cecil who put away the magic talisman looked at the White Castle in astonishment and couldn't help but exclaimed.

"It's indeed a human skull, it's unbelievable." The paladin Avar walked forward first, looking at the terrifying white castle, he whispered unexpectedly: "Could it be...that legend is true?"

(End of this chapter)