My Magic Age

The caravan walked eastward along the solid hard soil layer on the edge of the grassland for two days before arriving at the initial entrance to the mountains on the northern foot of the Pai Plateau. This place is called the Salt Railway by the dwarves who love to drink cider and live in caves and the orcs who roam the Pai Plateau.

From here, after crossing the rolling New Siachis Mountains to the west, you can reach the dwarf kingdom that is rich in refined iron ingots. It is also from here that you can climb the Death Road full of cliffs and reach the Pai Plateau that is rich in magic antelopes and various primary herbs. Every year, the orcs use a large number of magic antelopes to exchange for a large amount of refined iron from the dwarves, so this place is called the Sheep Railway, but over time it has been renamed the Salt Railway by homophony.

Originally, the biggest obstacle for the merchants here was the mountain road that was almost as difficult as a natural barrier.

On one side is a deep abyss, and on the other side are cliffs. There is only a four or five meter wide winding mountain road between the two, winding through the mountains on the northern foot.

If it is just this, it is not a big deal, but if you go a few hundred miles north, you will reach the ice and snow tundra. As long as the north wind blows, the biting cold wind on the ice and snow tundra will blow south along the Xinghu grassland to the foot of the Pai Plateau, and be blocked by the mountains of the entire Pai Plateau.

Only on this salt railway will the cold wind from the north go up along the mountain road. At this time, if it encounters the warm southeast trade wind from the Pai Plateau that comes from the Endless Sea, it will form strong convective weather, and rain, snow and hail will turn the entire salt railway into a giant ice sculpture stretching for thousands of miles.

At this time, the caravan trapped on the salt railway cannot turn around and retreat. The giant land beasts and huge magic transport vehicles have almost no way to turn around on such a narrow mountain road. They can only temporarily avoid natural disasters or move forward against the wind, so this place gradually becomes a road of death.

Despite this, there are still people willing to risk their lives to walk on this trade route, but the situation changed more than a decade ago. A group of elusive and very powerful robbers appeared on this salt railway. They came from the territory of the Dark Iron King, one of the seven dwarf kings. All of them were exiled dwarf prisoners with serious crimes, as well as some dwarf civilians who could not make a living and dwarf slaves who escaped from the dwarf kingdom. They hid in the mountains on the northern foot of the Pai Plateau to avoid the wanted and hunted by the dwarf kings, and gradually formed their own force. They called themselves gray dwarves.

They are natural robbers. They occupied a vein on the salt railway and settled down. They usually rely on robbery for a living. This is the infamous gray dwarf robber group.

They live in the gap between the powerful dwarf kingdom and the orc tribe. The dwarves will never step into the Pai Plateau according to the agreement made with the Beast King, and the orc tribe at this time is more like a pile of loose sand.

The friction between tribes made them exhausted, and it was even more troublesome for the dwarves who were good at digging holes. Once they found that the situation was not good, the gray dwarves would immediately abandon their companions and hide in the mines.

The orc army surrounded and suppressed them several times, but there was no effect. In this way, in the past ten years, the power of the gray dwarves has gradually grown like a snowball.

Many small merchant groups are afraid of the gray dwarf bandits in the mountains on the northern foot of the Pai Plateau. There are fewer and fewer caravans taking this salt railway, and the profits are increasing exponentially. This time, the caravan's seventy thunder rhinos are carrying more than 500 tons of fine iron ingots. Once they are successfully transported back to the Green Imperial Capital, they can get at least five times the profit, but before that, they still need a little bit of luck, such as the road of death in front of them.

Leipas made a lot of preparations. Almost every thunder rhino has a powerful crossbow. In addition, the thunder rhino itself is a fierce land war beast, and it will be unmatched when charging. Such a caravan of 70 thunder rhinos is definitely not something that a small group of gray dwarves can take. In addition, there are two adventure groups that can play a deterrent role and a caravan engraved with magic patterns as a backup, which is also very powerful.

After entering the salt railway, the caravan walked forward along the winding mountain road paved with countless gravel.

At dawn, we started to prepare for dinner and set off officially when we saw the first ray of sunlight. The early frost sprinkled on the mountains, showing a dazzling white. I really didn't dare to look at the mountains, for fear of hurting my eyes. On the cliff stood a wild goat that could walk on the top of the mountain as if walking on flat ground. It seemed to be looking at us with pity. I lay on the back of the thunder rhino, curled up in the seat, wrapped in a thick blanket, too comfortable to get up, just willing to expose my face to greedily breathe the dry and cool air.

Kuz squatted beside me, chewing a smoked rabbit head in one hand, and prepared another one for me in the other hand, but I didn't want to eat it. Maybe Kuz was the only one in the whole caravan who lived a happier life. Kuz always managed to get some special game, like these two rex rabbits, which Kuz brought back last night, but he didn't have time to cook.

We had to be cautious and vigilant all day long to see if there would be rolling stones falling from the cliff. I only needed to stick my head out to see the bottomless mountain stream on the other side. The sound of water flowing at the bottom of the stream was annoying. My heart was like a taut string, and I would only feel relieved when I rested at night, so I cherished the rest time.

Precisely because I didn't have time to take care of the two rex rabbits, I thought of the laziest way. If I could get some yellow mud, there would be an even lazier way, which was to just squeeze together with the Thunder Rhino to rest on the gravel road that was only a few meters wide between the cliffs.

There was no loess to be found, so we had to smoke the two Rex rabbits. The method was simple. We twisted the wicks of ten oil lamps together and threw them into a large bowl filled with meat oil. A copper plate was placed on top, and the prepared pine wood blocks were thrown on top. As long as the wicks of the oil lamps in the large bowl were lit, it would not take long for the oil lamps to roast the wood blocks in the copper plate, and hot green smoke with the aroma of pine oil would rise. We put the Rex rabbits marinated with seasonings on a plate set aside, and put them all into the pot with a large iron pot. We only needed to sleep comfortably for a night, and when we woke up in the morning, we could eat the fragrant smoked rabbits.

At this time, the morning sun had not yet rushed out from the mountains, and we were all waiting for the horn to set off. I simply chose another smoked rabbit head and a leg, and asked Kuz to send the other smoked meats to Old Kuru and Uncle Fred. Kuz put the wooden plate left for me next to me, and went to find Old Kuru and Fred as if offering a treasure.

At this time, Uncle Fred needed to sort out the supplies carried by the Thunder Rhino. He was very busy in the morning and evening every day. He had not gone to find Singer for several days in a row and had been guarding the caravan camp. I estimated that this situation would continue for a long time. It is likely to continue until we safely crossed the mountains on the northern slopes.

Old Kuru would be asked by Leipas to survey the terrain ahead every morning. As an experienced old orc, every suggestion of Old Kuru could save someone's life.

I drank a bowl of hot corn paste and was about to get up to taste the smoked rabbit head last night, but when I glanced at the plate, I found that the rabbit leg on the plate had disappeared. The cold mountain wind in the early morning made me sober up a lot. I curled up and put on my cotton clothes and trousers swiftly. The cotton clothes were light and warm. Kuz said that I was becoming more and more human.

"Pah!" The skin of the rabbit head smelled a bit smoky. It was indeed a bit too long to smoke it all night. It seems that I have to control the oil and reduce it appropriately. But the taste was very good. I tore off two pieces of meat and put them in my mouth, jumped off the back of the Thunder Rhino, and walked around along the narrow mountain road. I didn't find any suspicious people. I thought to myself, this is strange, could this rabbit leg grow wings and fly?

It's okay to eat my food, but I want to be a ghost who knows.

I forced myself to be quiet, because I heard the sound of chewing lightly and the crisp sound of biting bones in the middle, which was like a mouse on the beam biting the wooden rafters at night. The sound was very subtle. If it weren't for my recent magical perception, which made my five senses much more sensitive than normal people, it would really be difficult to find this tiny clue.

Following the sound, I turned around and looked over, and saw a thin figure hiding in the shadow between the two thick hind legs under the belly of the Thunder Rhino. Her slender back was leaning against the inner side of the calf bone of the warm hind legs of the Thunder Rhino. She was absent-mindedly scratching the Thunder Rhino's itch while quickly chewing the rabbit leg. Her big eyes seemed to be particularly eccentric and secretly looking out.

She was wearing a gray-white woolen skirt and a gray-white coat. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail. As she turned her head flexibly, her body tilted forward slightly, and her eyes seemed to be looking for something.

I stood behind her curiously and followed her gaze to look over there, but I could only see the pots scattered in the empty field that had not been cleaned up. At this time, she seemed to be aware of someone behind her. She turned around and saw me. Her thin face was pale with fear, as if she had seen a ghost. She pointed at me and stuttered a little: "You...how did you find me?"

Very cute, this is my first impression of her. She was frightened and panicked like a deer, which was very funny.

This girl is about 15 or 16 years old, half a meter taller than me, but she looks a little thin, with a flat chest and a flat butt.

But the second feeling I get is that she is very charming. There is a touch of black ash on her fair and flawless face. Her eyes are as bright as autumn water and seem to be able to speak. She doesn't even need to speak, I know she must be saying: How did you find me? She even turned behind me and scared me. I didn't find her yet...

In fact, I really want to cover her mouth, but my hand can't reach her mouth. She keeps hiding from me.

It is a taboo to sneak around in the caravan. If you are found, you will be beaten. I think this little girl must have sneaked over from the dance troupe. There are no women in the caravan. Seeing her so thin and weak, and coming to the caravan to steal things by herself, I wonder if she is not full in the dance troupe and is forced to come here to steal some food to fill her stomach. Maybe she is a low-status little slave.

I quickly waved my hand to signal her not to speak, then grabbed her hand and pulled her to hide in the shadow of the Thunder Rhino's hind legs. She just reacted and tried to struggle, and her eyes looked like she wanted to question me. At this time, Uncle Fred hurriedly walked by with a bundle of thick hemp ropes. She was still alert and held her breath at the critical moment, and we luckily escaped.

She wanted to talk to me again, so I quickly stuffed the rabbit head that I had not finished eating into her hand and gently said to her: "There is no time. The caravan will set off soon. If you don't want to be discovered, go back quickly while you can."

She stared at me with her bright eyes in disbelief. I thought she was shocked by this sudden change. Before leaving, I scratched my head helplessly and said to her: "Hey, I said!"

She had already walked out, and when she heard me calling her, she turned back and looked at me again.

"If you really can't eat enough, come early tomorrow!" I whispered to her.

The horn of departure had been heard in the distance. She no longer hesitated and ran back along the edge of the wall on the inside of the mountain road. Her light figure was like a deer in the forest. The gray and white woolen dress actually added a layer of protective color to her. In addition, the Thunder Rhino I was in was the third to last in the caravan Thunder Rhino team, and was very close to the caravan. Her figure just flashed by, turned the big bend in the mountain road ahead, and disappeared.

At this time, Uncle Fred's call came from the back of the Thunder Rhino, and I quickly answered! Seeing me squatting under the belly of the Thunder Rhino, he quickly jumped down and took me out from under the belly of the Thunder Rhino. He lifted me up in the air with both hands and said to me with his face up: "Don't you want to live? Are you afraid of being trampled to death by crawling under the belly of the rhino?"

I didn't argue, but just smiled foolishly at Uncle Fred. He could only hold me and climb up the Thunder Rhino helplessly, and then said to me: "Don't run around, the departure horn has been blown twice!"

"Yes!" I agreed.

I thought that no matter where the lowest people are, they will be the most oppressed group of people, just like me, who was not taller than the waists of those men, but was ordered to do this and that, picking up cow dung, washing leather goods, running errands and delivering letters. But old Kuru only confided to Leipas a little: Oh, look, this is the apprentice I just took in! Learning to decoct medicine. Even Master Leipas didn't say a word, and no one asked me to work, except Uncle Fred of course. I thought that the little girl who was hungry and ran out to find food secretly might be like me.

I subconsciously branded her with a similar fate, and then guessed her pitiful fate, maybe she was sold when she was very young! In the end, I naturally felt that we were on the same path, ha! I should take care of her! I thought so.