Sword of Dawn

The hunt was not very rich, but it was still satisfactory. They brought back three rabbits and two unnamed large birds with gorgeous feathers, and they also picked back a lot of wild fruits , It should be no problem to fill your stomach.

Seeing Amber handling the prey's body deftly and skillfully, Gawain curled his lips: "You also said that you don't know how to hunt. You are as skilled as the gray elves in the moss forest."

The Moss Forest is a vast forest located on the border between the Kingdom of Anzu and the Ogore Tribal State to the west. The Gray Elves living in the Moss Forest - a subspecies of elves - are considered the best hunters in the world In terms of the ability to chase prey in the dense forest alone, they are even better than the forest elves.After Gao Wen realized that he really needed to catch up on the common sense of this world, he looked through the memory bank in his mind when he was free. He had just found this knowledge, so he used it here to learn and use it.

Trying to pretend I'm a local with roots.jpg.

Amber tidied up the internal organs of the gorgeous big bird and replied without raising her head: "You really deserve to be a great hero 700 years ago—your story about gray elves must have a history of hundreds of years at least." Right? Do you know that the gray elves are now engaged in the import and export of medicinal materials, and they no longer hunt?"

Gao Wen: "..."

Amber kept moving her hands, skillfully strung the packed prey on a long wooden stick, and set it up beside the campfire, then glanced at Gao Wen: "Let me tell you, I really don't know how to hunt, although I I'm half-elf, but I've been living in human society since I can remember, and I was raised by an old thief..."

"Then your craft..."

"Although I don't know how to hunt, I know how to steal chickens." Amber smiled like a child who can chat and laugh happily with the client just after digging someone's ancestral grave. "I learned this skill back then."

Gao Wen: "..."

Hetty next to her frowned slightly when she heard Amber's words: "It's really vulgar."

Amber shook her finger: "Yes, yes, I am very vulgar, who told me to be a thief, I can only occasionally pick a few copper coins from the pockets of passers-by, compared to those of you who live in the castle and can dignifiedly take them out of the pockets of the vassals" Aristocrats of money."

Before Miss Amber could finish her sentence, the long sword in Knight Byron's hand came out of its sheath with a "clank" and fell on her neck.

The cold sweat of the half-elf came out on the spot.

Gawain waved his hand, asking Byron to put away the sword, and then looked at Amber curiously: "I'm just wondering, apart from anything else, how come you haven't been beaten to death just because of your mouth?"

Before the half-elf lady could say a word, Gawain imitated her tone and shook his head and said, "The ability to escape is first-rate—isn't it?"

amber:"……"

"Okay, let's put aside any class conflicts and consciousness conflicts. Now we are on the same boat," Gao Wen breathed out, and casually touched a fruit from the side and put it in his mouth. "Everyone recover first." For physical strength, those of the legal system must hurry up and meditate to restore their mana, and they must leave before noon. We have already spent the night underground, and we cannot waste the next whole day."

"Betty, put that aside for now," Rebecca glanced at her little maid, and kindly reminded, "It's not needed now."

Betty looked at her hostess, then at the frying pan in her hand, as if in hesitation.

Gao Wen was a little curious: "By the way, why do you keep holding this pot?"

Betty seemed a little afraid of Gawain. She shrank her neck and tightly grasped the handle of the pan: "Mrs. Hansen told me that I will be responsible for frying sausages and slices of bread in the future...using this pan."

"Mrs. Hansen is in charge of managing the kitchen in the castle," Hetty explained to Gawain in a low voice, "but she is dead."

Gao Wen sighed, looking at the little girl with a few freckles on her face.

"This pot is yours, and it will be yours from now on," he said, "Now you can put it aside and come over to eat."

Chapter 0012 Shadow

The nameless jungle.

In this undeveloped area far from the center of civilization, similar unnamed areas can be seen everywhere-although all lands have lords, not all lands can be reclaimed.

The kingdom does not have the extra manpower and material resources to develop the border areas close to the wasteland of Gondor, and since the elves helped humans build a magnificent wall that stretches and surrounds the entire wasteland of Gondor with the Sentinel Tower as a node, contemporary countries do not Needing to hoard too many troops on the frontier to deal with the monsters that occasionally wander from the wasteland, the frontier has thus fallen into a vicious cycle of continuous decline.

There is not only one way to go from Cecil to Tanzania in the north, but the official road through the woodland is the closest one.If you choose another route, you will either have to bypass the entire area or cross the more dangerous lawless zone, which is not a wise choice.

The deeper one went into the forest, the darker the sky became, and the thick rotting leaves piled up on the ground became more annoying.Although this place is not a big forest yet, a forest that is free from human interference and grows wildly has really increased Gawain's knowledge. In his previous life, he lived in an artificial forest made of reinforced concrete. For many years, he could only observe the world from a too distant perspective. Now that he stepped into it himself, he realized that his imagination of the natural environment was still too superficial.

But fortunately, he is gradually getting used to this body. The strong physical strength and comprehensive quality of this body itself allow him to face the challenge of surviving in the wilderness relatively easily. Byron Knight and Amber beside him have also experienced mountain crossings. Based on Lin's experience, the trip was not that bad.

It's just that Hetty is going to suffer a bit - even if the Cecil family has declined, it is still a noble family with a long history and is directly loyal to the king. In the aristocratic circle, this lady has been well-trained and has a tough style, but she really needs some experience in the face of the challenges of nature.

Besides, for a mage, physical strength itself cannot be so strong.

Rebecca's performance surprised Gao Wen: This girl who looked like a female high school student on earth did not fall behind all the way, and her running in the woods where there were no roads was no worse than those tall and burly soldiers. , Gao Wen asked curiously, but Rebecca was a little embarrassed when she replied: "I was crazy when I was young. I always ran around like a boy, and even explored in the forest of the territory. At that time, I I didn't show any talent for magic, and my father thought that I might be able to be trained as a knight... The result disappointed him. But although I can't walk the road of being a knight, I usually pay attention to exercise. After all, the ancestors said that if you want to To become a lord who can protect the people, you first need a strong body..."

Gao Wen nodded silently. Although this great-granddaughter on the N+1 floor sometimes seemed to have her head caught by a door, she was still quite simple and upright.

This is rare in aristocratic circles.

The great-granddaughter on the nth floor next to her who was almost out of breath had to learn a little bit.

"There may be some monsters in the depths of this forest, but they won't be very strong." Knight Byron picked up a black mass from the ground with his long sword, and the mass slowly became dark at the tip of his sword. It is transparent and gradually dissipates in the air. "Shadow elements are enriched. There should be a natural magic focus in the center of the woodland, but it should be a very weak one."

"It must be very weak," Amber twirled a delicate little dagger in her hand, looking around while talking, "If there is really a high-quality magic focus, this forest must have been announced by the Mystic Society or the Astrologer Association long ago. It has been their territory since ancient times. And looking at the surrounding plants... there is no obvious variation, which shows that the degree of element enrichment here is not even affected by flowers and plants."

Gao Wen looked at the two field survival experts in surprise: "You guys seem to understand it very well?"

Rebecca glanced at Byron: "Uncle Byron used to be a mercenary before serving my father."

Byron didn't seem very used to mentioning the past: "It's all in the past, miss."

The small dagger in Humber's hand was spinning more and more cheerfully: "Tch, with a vicissitudes on his face, who hasn't pointed it yet?"

Although the half-elf lady's face was full of "I was also very powerful in the past, so come and ask me if I'm okay", Gawain didn't intend to cooperate with this girl's performance at all.From this short day and a half of contact, he has enough understanding of the other party's temperament. Her rich field knowledge is probably because she will be chased and killed by the patrol team all over the city every now and then, and then she has to She didn't get into the woods to survive in the wilderness, but if you really want to ask, she will definitely not say that. She will definitely tell you a thrilling and magnificent story—for example, she once traveled the entire continent and talked and laughed with the Elf King. Category……

While talking, they had already walked further into the forest, the surrounding trees grew denser, and the skylight shining on the ground through the treetops also became more sparse.

Gawain raised his head, and between the shadowy branches, the huge sun was divided into fine spots of light, as if a huge plate was turned upside down in the sky, and the sun shining on his body seemed even colder. Some.

Betty, who was the weakest, couldn't help but sneezed. She felt her hands were so cold that the pan almost fell to the ground.

Amber stopped the small movement of spinning the dagger, she suddenly lowered her body, a pair of light-colored eyes flashed with a look of vigilance, she looked at Gao Wen, and breathed out a white breath when she spoke: "Do you feel that...the temperature is so hot right now? A little too low?"

Hetty's eyes flickered suddenly, and the fatigue from the previous journey was suppressed abruptly. She raised her staff and slammed it on the ground, and at the same time quickly uttered a difficult incantation: Detect Distortion.

This is a general-purpose magic, which can be learned from the second level of official mages. Magisters up to the ninth level have corresponding spell models. This spell is not offensive, and its function is to detect hidden within a certain range. Energetic phenomena, such as hidden magic traps or invisible energy fields.In the case of full casting, Detect Distortion can detect energy traces that are one level higher than the level of the caster—and Hetty is a third-level mage.

In terms of professional level, Hetty, a third-level mage (the peak of the low level), is weaker than Byron who has entered the middle level (although it is only at the primary level), but from the perspective of the convenience and versatility of magic, her spells can play a greater role than force.

With the activation of the distortion detection effect, Gao Wen found that there was fog around him.

No, that's not fog, but the previously hidden spiritual body energy that is already dense enough to affect the material world.

They gathered from all directions, constantly enriching and becoming stronger. At this moment, it was so thick that it was almost impossible to see the trees tens of meters away, and in the tumbling pale mist, some people could still be seen faintly. The hazy shadow flashed by.

Betty's eyes widened in horror, and she was about to scream, but Gawain covered her mouth: "Shh, don't make any noise, it will disturb the things in the fog."

The little girl's eyes were wide open, tears were about to flow out, and she nodded hard while clutching the pan in her hand.

Gao Wen couldn't help but shook his head: He had never been scared to cry when he saw a giant dragon before, but he was so scared now, it's true that people have different weaknesses.

"What are these things?" Rebecca was also a little scared. She clenched her staff tightly, and there were already some small sparks jumping at the tip of the staff. "When were we...surrounded by these things?"

"Mist of Wraith, hell," Hetty gritted his teeth, "How can there be such a thing here?"

Gawain has already found the corresponding knowledge in the memory of the fog of resentful spirits. It is a product that can be produced naturally or artificially. Among them, the natural ones are more common: in places where shadow energy gathers and undead wander, The mist of wraiths has a very low probability of appearing. It is part of the shadow environment, but it is also affected by the breath of the undead, making it extremely destructive.But this mist is invisible after it appears—it takes shape and grows in the spirit world, and no trace can be seen in the material world.

Unless the victim has stepped into the depths of the mist.

It will unknowingly slowly kill the victim who strays into it, and completes this process through low temperature and the illusions and fears that invade the mind. If ordinary people stray into it, many times they will not understand it until they die What happened because they couldn't see anything until they died.

The Fog does not appear until the moment their souls fall into the Shadowlands, taking over all their dying memories.

It is also possible to artificially create the mist of wraiths, but the conditions are too harsh, the requirements for the caster are extremely high, and the effect is not as good as most spells of the same level, so those dark psychics will not waste time on it .

Gawain had already drawn out his Pioneer Sword, but he didn't make any attacks: The mist of wraiths is very special. Although it will take damage as long as it enters its range, in fact it will not actively attack at the beginning, and the damage is just It is only an inherent attribute of the "negative environment", and it will only go berserk when the "things" in the fog are disturbed.

And the mist of wraith after berserk is very difficult to deal with.

Gawain wasn't sure if the mist had been disturbed, so he didn't order an attack, but cautiously searched for the weak point of the mist, waiting for an opportunity to break out, but just as he did so, there was a soft, ethereal laugh The sound suddenly came to his ears from a certain direction deep in the fog.

Damn chicken was tricked by a cloud of fog!

Gao Wen immediately raised his long sword and swung it down in the direction of the sound. A dark red flame broke away from the blade, splitting a vague image in the mist into two.

"Jihuo, the one who is scurrying around in the fog and still wearing white!"

Chapter 0013 The Shadow Realm

Ethereal and strange laughter continued to come from the mist, as if a frivolous woman was teasing those lost in the mist, the phantom that was split in half by Gawain's sword did disappear, but the next moment In an instant, it completed reorganization at another place in the mist.

This fog of resentful spirits... actually has a mind!

After realizing this, Hetty felt slight cold sweat break out on her forehead.

The fog first made the illusion of unconsciousness, so that everyone thought that the situation was not so critical, and tried to seek opportunities to break through, but in the process, as time passed, everyone's physical strength would be continuously weakened by the fog. When Gao Wen and his party really started to break through, everyone's state must have been damaged to varying degrees - at that time, if the wraith in the mist made a sudden attack, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But perhaps an inherent defect in the sanity of the undead, a chuckle from the mist disrupted its (or their) own trap.

But even so, the situation is still bad.

It is difficult for ordinary soldiers to play a role in the face of this kind of weird enemy. They can only rely on the tough will they have tempered on weekdays to resist the malice and fear that constantly seep out of the fog. Betty, who has no combat power, is the first time He was escorted to the very center of the team.The steel long sword in the hands of Byron Knight was filled with scorching heat. He used this sword to dispel the ubiquitous cold air and cut off countless phantom arms protruding from the mist. Under his protection, Only then can Heidi and Rebecca have a relatively stable environment for casting spells.

Hetty chanted the mantra, and constantly used various low-level auxiliary spells to weaken the power of the surrounding fog, but Rebecca's attack was much simpler and rougher - she waved the staff, and the magic released was only one from the beginning to the end. ——Fireball.

Large and small fireballs flew from Rebecca's staff into the mist, triggering a series of explosions, but the effect was really not good: the flames did have a certain restraint effect on undead creatures, but the mist of wraiths was a kind of It is very special, it is thin and wide, there is no entity that can withstand the damage of the explosion, a ball of fire explodes in the mist, and more than half of its lethality will be lost.

"Don't use fireball!" Gawain noticed Rebecca's fighting style, and quickly reminded loudly, "Use a large-area spell—the power doesn't have to be too big, the range must be large! Otherwise, the fog will disperse all attacks." !"

Rebecca yelled, "But I only know how to use fireball!"

Gao Wen was taken aback: "What?!"

"Rebecca only knows how to fireball!" Hetty's voice was almost exasperated, "After five years of learning, I know this trick!"

Rebecca blushed, annoyed at her stupidity in magic aptitude, she gathered the powerful magic power together, and almost used all her strength to restrain it into a spell model, and then waved her staff , a washbasin-sized... The fireball flew to the place where the fog was densest.

There is no such thing as an epiphany, an emergency breakthrough, and a shocking counterattack.

This far beyond standard fireball technique triggered a far beyond standard explosion, and even the fog in front of everyone became thinner, but almost in the next instant, the gap in the fog was filled again, and what was worse was Suddenly, Gao Wen heard a roar full of fear and anger from behind him.

A family soldier's eyes were bloodshot, and the negative power transmitted by the mist of resentment finally completely crushed the soldier's soul, and the damage on the soul was immediately reflected on the body: his skin quickly became shriveled like air-dried parchment Pale, his whole body was also howling and went crazy. He raised his long sword high and began to slash wildly, as if there were enemies of life and death in all directions.

The other two nearby fighters reacted immediately. After avoiding the opponent's disorderly attack, they rushed forward and held down the poor guy who had gone crazy.

The soldier who was held down struggled frantically, his whole body wriggled and twisted violently as if his flesh and blood seemed to be coming out of his body. His eyes widened with anger, and he finally roared hoarsely: "Kill me! Kill me!"

However, in the eyes of the other two soldiers, the color of blood was gradually gathering like a dark cloud, and they did not respond to the request of their comrades.

They are also about to lose their sanity.

Seeing this, Gao Wen immediately stabbed the pioneer sword into the ground, mobilizing the original power of this body according to the method recorded in his mind: "Mind shock!"

This is one of the few knight abilities that can act on the mind. Strong willpower will sweep across the battlefield, causing strong spiritual oppression on all hostile targets, and can also have a strong encouraging effect on one's own personnel.

Under the effect of mental deterrence, the two soldiers quickly got rid of the state of fear, but the poor guy who was pressed by them on the ground had completely destroyed his soul by the mist of resentful spirits, and after a few struggles, he stopped moving completely.

Gawain's eyes swept across the battlefield quickly. He saw that the surrounding fog did not show any sign of weakening. Instead, it became thicker and denser under the attacks of Hetty and Rebecca. In the position where the three soldiers were originally, Betty has disappeared without a trace.

"Where's Betty?!" Gawain's heart tightened, and he shouted loudly, "Betty!"

Amber jumped out of the nearby shadows: "I just saw that little girl run into the mist - it looks like sleepwalking!"

"Oops...she lost her mind," Gao Wen was taken aback, "How can the situation in this fog of resentful spirits be so strange?!"

Amber's face was full of horror: "I don't know why it's so strange, anyway, the situation is already terrible!"

"The fog of resentment shows no signs of dissipating. It stands to reason that after being attacked for so long, no matter how powerful the fog is, it should be weakened a little bit," Gawain quickly said based on the judgment he made based on the knowledge in his mind. The memories are not his, but he found that as long as he takes the initiative to mobilize them, they will be as useful as his original knowledge and experience, "And we have also judged before that the magic focus here will not be very strong, such ordinary magic power Focus, how could such a mist of resentful spirits that can even produce spiritual wisdom be bred?"

Amber is very smart, she can see right through: "You mean this mist is not produced naturally? Is there something like an artificial energy source maintaining it?"

"It doesn't have to be an artificial energy source, but there must be something sustaining it—" Gawain frowned and stared at the fog, as if he wanted to use his eyes to penetrate the fog and see its essence clearly, "and the one that maintains it Something should be around here, but our perception is blinded, so we can't see it at all!"

"But Ms. Hetty has used the detection to distort..." Amber said in confusion, and then suddenly opened her eyes, "...isn't it on 'this floor'?!"

Before he finished speaking, Gawain watched the half-elf lady suddenly take a step back, and she disappeared into the air just like that.

No, she didn't disappear.

Gao Wen noticed that there was an abnormal shadow floating on the ground nearby. It was a group of vague human silhouettes, and he could vaguely recognize the outline of Amber. This silhouette with only shadows and no body seemed to be teleporting nearby. Jumping and shifting between various planes, sometimes appearing on the ground, sometimes appearing on nearby tree trunks, and only after jumping a few times did they really completely lose their traces.

That is not a real shadow, but a "reflection" that Amber walks on the edge of the material world in a state of shadow and projects in the material world.

Such a simple, brutal yet powerful "Shadow Walk" opened Gao Wen's eyes.

What is the origin of this half-elf thief?

Before Gao Wen could ask more questions, Amber's figure suddenly appeared in the air again, and she rushed to this side. Just as Gao Wen was about to ask about the situation, he was grabbed by the arm by the other party, and then pulled hard by her.

Gawain staggered for a moment, and then felt that he had passed through a cold, illusory barrier. When his eyes were focused again, the surrounding environment had changed.

Everything loses its color, and there are only two colors of black and white in the world. A thin layer of fog covers the world. The fog is cold, but it does not have the power to take away vitality like the mist of resentful spirits.

Gawain looked around and found that the dense forest had disappeared, but there were dry tree stumps one after another on the surrounding ground, and the positions of those stumps matched the positions of the trees in the forest.

And everyone, including Hetty, was standing not far from him, but they stood stiffly in place as if they had been enchanted by petrification, completely motionless.

Rebecca was the closest to Gawain. She was holding a staff tightly and her face was full of tension, but her eyes were expressionless. She had turned into a gray-white "statue" and was just looking at the front in a hollow way. The texture is like some kind of rough ceramic.

Wisps of black mist are rising from the nearby ground, penetrating into their bodies, and creating tiny cracks on their ceramic bodies.