Paladin

This piece of music starts from the melodious tone, and continues to gradually expand the scene, as if fine water flows out of the endlessly rushing agate river, and it seems to be walking out of the distant and sad memories, and going to the bright future.

Evan listened quietly.

This small blade can't carry much tone, and there is no technique to speak of when Hewitt blows it.

But in this piece, Evan heard a moving hope.That is the hope that makes the grief die down and the strength pass on.

When Hewitt stopped to wipe the blade silently, Evan asked, "What tune are you playing?"

There was a mocking smile on the mage's mouth, but it quickly faded away: "This is the song of 'Heretics', paladin. Do you know the secret capital Drizzt?"

This was the first time Evan heard a familiar place name, and subconsciously replied: "I know, located in the south of the Onyx River, one of the twin stars guarding the imperial capital, the secret capital of Drizzt is the place that all spellcasters yearn for in their dreams. ... Scarlet used to have a laboratory in it that belonged to him."

Memories about the past suddenly flooded into the paladin's mind. He shook his head and said with a smile, "Sorry, you don't know Scarlet. I just thought of him suddenly. He is also a mage."

"Have you met Drizzt, Evan?" Hewitt asked.

Evan showed a little smile: "Yes, I have been there too. I have seen hundreds of magnificent mage towers in Drizzt, as well as the star research institute hanging high in the sky, which lasts for two and a half months every year Mystic Bazaar——Even if the twelve city gates are opened, the crowds pouring into the bazaar cannot be diverted. Every time you go to Drizzt, you must prepare a lot of gold coins. The damn mage in the regiment can earn him half a year My money was wiped out within half a day, but I shamelessly asked me to borrow it..."

The paladin paused for a moment, and suddenly couldn't help laughing.

This was the first time Hewitt had seen him smile like this, and it seemed that the emerald eyes were full of joyful vitality—like a real young man.

Hewitt sneaked a head out from behind.

The deflated demon Louis sniffed Evan's breath. It was only half the size of Hewitt's palm, and Evan was surprised when it came out in a daze.

Louis looked back at Hewitt, and flew wobbly in front of Evan, circling twice - so Evan was able to see it clearly.

It was a round, semi-transparent creature that looked... well, kind of ugly.There are no eyes and noses on the black face, only two scars, one on the left and one on the right.

"It's Louis, the thing you rescued from the fire." Hewitt grabbed it blankly, squeezed the demon back into his hand, and then wiped its face in distaste, "After being roasted by the fire Much darker...and uglier."

Oh, the demon was a little sad, and made a gurgling sound when the mage wiped his face back and forth.

Evan thought for a while, then stretched out his index finger and gently touched its round head: "Actually... quite cute."

Louis swelled suddenly, and then realized that his reaction was too much, so he quickly shrank back and hid in Hewitt's slap.

The paladin thought to himself: Ugly, cute, ugly....

Hewitt shook his head and said, "Let's talk about the secret capital Drizzt... This guy should also be attracted by your story."

The demon twisted twice, and nodded his head.

Evan laughed and said, "I'm not a bard, and I don't have much rhetoric to describe that city. Do you really want to hear my story?"

Hewitt threw Louis into the air, raised his eyes and looked at Evan for a moment, and said in a low voice: "Speak, Paladin. Tell me the story of the Tree of Drizzt."

From his purple eyes, there seemed to be a fleeting sadness, which was a look that Evan had never seen in his eyes.

As if sensing his master's emotions, the demon spirit circled him twice in mid-air and returned to his place.

Evan came back to his senses, stared blankly at the bonfire jumping in front of him, and said, "The tree of Drizzt...is planted in the center of the Arcane Research Institute of the Magic Academy of the Secret City. I have never been to the Arcane Research Institute. However, the Tree of Drizzt grows too tall, and its canopy can be seen across the walls of the inner city—there are many research platforms suspended above, and besides the research platforms, there are also suspended observation decks, which can be used for three days a year. people visit.

"This tree... changes color every few years. When I saw it for the first time, it was pink. I thought it was a tree full of cherry blossoms... Then it just started to lose its leaves, and the whole secret city, the sky was full of The ground is her leaves, and the branch of the Agate River flowing in from the north of the city will be covered with pink leaves, and when it flows out of Midu, it will become a pink river.

"Crimson said that the group of arcanists and people from the Life Research Institute were just playing tricks. They spent all day looking at this tree to study how it lived for so long, doing experiments on it, and playing pranks on it—— The Tree of Drizzt accepts everything gently, and when the magical power it bears reaches its limit, it will change color, then store these powers in its leaves, and wither away... When spring comes again, it will be rejuvenated, Get a new life. The saying that the leaves of the tree of Drizzt contain lucky magic is probably because of this.”

This memory came to an end in Evan's eloquent words.

Hewitt fiddled with the leaf in his hand, which was as ordinary as any other elm leaf, long and narrow and sharply defined.

The mage said in a low voice: "In my hand is a leaf of the Drizzt tree, which was preserved through special magic. It passed through the hands of many people before finally becoming my collection."

"It's a pity that I didn't keep the pink leaves at that time." Evan said with a smile, "I heard that pink is also very rare, and it can be sold for a lot of money now?"

"Invaluable, paladin." Hewitt said lightly, "In today's world, no new leaves will be born. The one in my hand is from the last batch of healthy leaves 300 years ago."

Evan's smile gradually subsided, and he whispered, "Sorry, I don't know...is that tree dead?"

The great arcanist twisted the leaf stalk in his hand, watched this ordinary leaf that had gone through 300 years swirl back and forth, and said in a low voice: "Seven to eight thousand years ago, the Holy See began to encircle and suppress the secret capital of Drizzt for the first time. Seven years later, the outer city was destroyed, and the Tree of Drizzt became the protective umbrella of the inner city; the mage at that time guarded the magic capital for 8000 years, but was finally broken by traitors, and the entire secret city was burned by the Holy See... that is also The first mages to be burned - they call it 'the cleansing'."

The paladin fell silent.

The mage continued: "The tree of Drizzt did not die. In the spring of the second year, it sprouted new branches from the ashes. Thirty years later, the secret capital of Drizzt was restored. More than a hundred years later, the Holy See destroyed the secret capital again. , The Tree of Drizzt was felled by thousands of laborers day and night, and it still stood still. In the end, the only dragon knight at that time led countless knights and forcibly pulled it down... The trunk of the Tree of Drizzt is still lying in the ruins Among them, it has not decayed so far.

"Thousands of years later, the root system left by the tree of Drizzt sprouted again in the land, and it grew from a small sapling. tree, they hibernated for 800 years, and finally rebuilt the secret capital of Drizzt.

"Just 300 years ago, the Holy See started the 'Holy War' again. The team led by the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar broke through the secret capital of Drizzt. The tree of Drizzt has never appeared again .”

The 8000-year history, with several ups and downs, is just a few words.

Prosperity and decline, glory and despair, are described lightly.

Hewitt said to Evan: "What you saw should be the original Drizzt ancient tree. It has grown freely for many years. In the most glorious period, it witnessed the most glorious history of the secret capital Drizzt, and then And then it ended together.”

Evan let out a mixed sigh: "8000 years..."

"It's been 8000 years," Hewitt said, "Mages are still trying to earn a glimmer of hope. Every mage wants to see the glory of the secret capital with his own eyes, and wants to have a piece of land of his own, where he can freely pursue the truth, and stay away from the so-called Faith disputes, stay away from the days of being hunted down and forced to remain anonymous."

"This used to be the day every mage had." Evan said in a low voice.

Hewitt smiled lightly. There was no bitterness or sadness in this smile, but he said with a little emotion: "Paladin, you have fallen from a golden age to a dark age."

The great arcanist carefully put away the leaves of the tree of Drizzt, then took out a box, and said, "This thing was supposed to be handed over to you this morning, but you went out to find the druid... in the afternoon I enchanted it a little bit."

Evan glanced at Hewitt, but didn't see any clues from his expression, so he took the box and said, "Is there a 'surprise' inside?"

The paladin shook the box, then opened it, and saw that inside was black velvet lining his emerald earrings—the earrings that Rose had unfortunately sold.

Evan took out the earring, and when he stroked the emerald and flawless emerald on it, he felt the familiar enchanted atmosphere.

——The Grand Arcanist sealed his magical energy inside.

As he moved, the mage repeated the merchant's words.

The blood elf was a little surprised, but also a little moved, silently pulled the hood back, and put the earring back to its original position.

Hewitt quietly looked at his elf ears—they hadn't appeared in front of people for a long time, and sometimes Hewitt felt that Evan was not much different from them humans, except for his unusual beauty and... magic addiction.

Hewitt said suddenly: "The magic energy inside is enough to last for three months. It provides a small but continuous magic power, which should be able to curb your magic addiction. Blood elves, in our age, you must first know: in the wild is very It's hard to find a mage, and even if you find one, it may not be able to provide you with magic power."

I didn't intend to draw magic power from the mage... the blood elf thought silently.

Evan shook his head and said half-jokingly: "At least I can identify a target without having to search blindly in the wild."

The author has something to say: The soul invades the theater randomly:

Li Chu: It's very simple, follow us, come to kiss at 100 o'clock every day, and stay away from addiction for [-] years.Uh...that one over there, what's your expression?

Shen Xiu: It's nothing, it's rare to see that you're not a troublemaker, but a Yue Lao.