Sophie flicked the charcoal fire with a branch, and a handful of sparks rose from the ashes. The flames of the bonfire flickered slightly, causing the shadow to flicker on the ocher rock wall. She turned back and looked out of the cave. There was snow and wind outside, and there was only a gray patch of darkness. The cold wind carried the snowflakes into the cave, but they instantly melted into the golden red firelight.
The strange howling of the north wind in the distance, like the long howling of wild beasts, spread into the quiet cave. There was only the rustling of fire, and each movement and silence reflected each other. Outside the shelter, the forest seemed to be making a shivering rustling sound. If you listened carefully, it seemed like a set of footsteps were approaching.
But after a while, it turned into the sound of wind, whirring, the trees creaked and swayed, and occasionally there was the sound of falling.
Sophie turned around again, a bit of golden light reflected in her dark eyes, and the red firelight reflected on the side of her face, like a curved jade tooth. The girl was very quiet, and there seemed to be a thin layer of mist in her eyes - the kettle placed on the campfire let out a whimper, and white steam rose.
She took off the kettle, picked up the cup, took a cup, and added some brown sugar cubes.
Then he held it up with both hands and took a sip, tested the temperature, and blew lightly for a few times before bringing it to Akane's mouth. "Come on, open your mouth." Sophie's voice was extremely gentle.
She probed the girl's forehead with her cold hands.
The companion knight girl's forehead was hot, her amber star eyes were half-opened and half-closed. She was wrapped in a thick blanket and glanced at her main knight with some sleepiness: "Sophie, I'm sleepy..."
"It doesn't matter if you're sleepy, just open your mouth."
Akane looked at her helplessly, and could only tilt her head weakly, and opened her mouth slightly in obedience.
"There is a cure-all potion here. When the weather gets better, you should be better." Sophie carefully supported the mountain girl, and when she saw her frowning, she asked, "Is it hot?"
Akane shook her head weakly.
Sophie couldn't help but be startled when she saw her like this. She suddenly lowered her head, pointed the tip of her nose to the girl's nose, looked at each other, and asked with a clear breath: "Would you like me to take a sip and feed you a sip?"
The mountain girl heard what she meant, her face turned red, and she looked at her at a loss.
Sophie chuckled and then stood up: "I lied to you, go to bed early——"
Akane buried her face with the blanket, not daring to look at her, and only whimpered slightly in reply.
The cave became quiet again, leaving only the girl's gentle breathing.
Sophie picked up another branch and stirred the charcoal again to make the flame brighter. Outside the cave, the sound of the wind seemed to be louder. She stood up and looked outside the cave. She slowly walked to the entrance of the cave. The cold wind blew against her face, which made her sober up.
She had hardly slept for three days.
Because Qian suddenly fell ill, she had to shoulder the work of keeping watch and camping alone, trudging through the wind and snow, and finally found such a shelter.
All because of that annoying guy.
If it weren't for him, he wouldn't have brought Akane to this place. However, although she was a little dissatisfied, she was actually a little surprised when she learned that the other party did not die underground in Fenris -
Even when Fang asked her to help bring things to Dulum, she never thought of declining or refusing.
Thinking of this, she picked up the communication crystal, displayed a line of communication columns on her system, then poked one of the IDs and sent a message to it:
"I'm almost through the Great Valley. Where are you?"
Na Pian waited for a moment and quickly replied:
"Miss Sophie?"
"Did you not remember my ID?"
"Ah, sorry...I didn't pay attention just now."
Fang? sent over a cold sweat expression.
He sent another picture, and Sophie saw that the other party was assembling a magic furnace. He must have been concentrating on the work at hand and ignored her information.
"We are almost there. Mr. Gray Rock should be on the east side of the Big Valley now... If it hadn't been for this sudden snowstorm, we might have reached the northern edge of Ash Mountain Forest."
Sophie estimated the time. If the snowstorm dissipated in about three or two days, they should be able to reconcile.
She paused for a moment before typing: "Qian is sick."
"Ah, sorry..."
Fang? asked: "Do you need us to pick you up?"
"No, do you have a resting place and medicine?"
Of course Sophie knows the method? They transformed a platform. Fang? and his party regarded her as a friend, so they told her about this matter early in the morning. Besides, the two parties were originally going to meet in Du Lun, so they couldn't hide it.
"have."
"That's good."
"But do you really don't need our help?" Fang? couldn't help but ask.
"Suddenly you are so concerned about Qian," Sophie raised her eyebrows: "Do you have any evil thoughts?"
"……of course not."
"Haha," she couldn't help laughing, "Why are you so nervous?"
"..."
After teasing Fang?, Sophie closed the communication crystal with satisfaction, raised her hands like a lazy cat, and stretched. But suddenly, the girl stopped and looked out of the cave suspiciously.
She heard a strange rustling sound.
The sound was far and near, like a line of footsteps, or like the sound of wind blowing through the snow. Sophie didn't know if she heard it wrong, because the wind and snow suddenly became stronger, and the rustling of the coniferous forest overshadowed the previous sound——
She was still alert in her heart, and retreated into the cave, picking up her Pale Flame - inch by inch, she pulled out the shining sword and held it in her hand.
She held the sword and walked towards the entrance of the cave. The sound in the wind and snow seemed to become more and more obvious, rustling, as if a group of people were walking towards this shelter. Sophie hesitated for a moment and did not turn around to put out the bonfire because the temperature was so low and the mountain girl still had a high fever...
Suddenly, the sound stopped a few meters away from the cave entrance, but it was so gray in the wind and snow that it was hard to see what was there.
Sophie suddenly had a creepy feeling.
Because she clearly felt that there was an unknown thing standing a few meters away from the cave entrance, looking at her through the wind and snow, but she couldn't see anything - even for a moment, the surroundings seemed to be completely quiet.
The sound of the wind disappeared, and she could even hear her nervous heartbeat.
Sophie couldn't help but think of some legends about the snowy night, those legendary creatures that only appeared in the harsh winter of Aitaria, such as winter wolves, frost dragons and pale shadows.
She widened her eyes and suddenly saw a swaying shadow behind Feng Xue - it was clearly a person.
She was startled, but still mustered up the courage in her heart, pointed her sword there, and shouted: "Who is there?"
The figure staggered forward.
Sophie took a breath, calmed down, raised her sword and prepared to face the enemy. But suddenly, the figure fell down in front of her with a 'plop' sound, and fell in front of her.
But who is that person?
Sophie looked at it and couldn't help but be stunned. It was just an empty armor, scattered on the ground in the snow. But there is almost no mechanical structure inside it, and there is no dense dark magic power. It seems to be just an ordinary rusty armor, thrown into the snow.
But how could an ordinary piece of armor come to this place alone?
…
Fang? Turned off the communication crystal and shook his head.
He looked out the window. There was also a howling blizzard outside, but a layer away from the cabin, the wind only whimpered lowly. The night was pitch black, the sky was low and thick, and there was almost no light.
Not far away, a fir tree swayed violently in the wind and snow, like a long and narrow ghost shadow, with teeth and claws.
The swaying light of the bonfire reflected on the tree, outlining its outline in the wind and snow. Below was the lumberjack camp - Ms. Su Kui and her lumberjacks, a total of thirty or forty people, were stationed around Mr. Gray Rock. Set up a camp.
There was a vigil in the camp, but no one was talking. Except for the sound of the wind, everything was quiet.
People often only realize how dangerous the severe winter here is after going deep into the main continent of Kaolin - only a week after leaving the Masonk Creek station, Mr. Gray Rock experienced four attacks, one of which even encountered a winter wolf .
If they hadn't evaded it in time, they would have suffered heavy losses - the winter wolf is a level 43 creature, almost legendary in Aitaria, and the legendary creatures in Aitaria all have their own characteristics and ignore the general meaning rules.
The characteristic of winter wolves is that they have a wide range of activities, and they always appear together with snowstorms, even ignoring regional level restrictions. Some people have witnessed their whereabouts in novice areas like El Paxin.
Fortunately, the winter wolf didn't seem to be interested in them. He only glanced at them from a distance and then disappeared into the snow.
A subsequent attack injured two more lumberjacks. In fact, they were just ordinary skeletons. It was only because of the lack of precautions during the windy and snowy night that they were allowed to sneak into the camp.
However, this incident aroused Fang?'s vigilance, and he then placed an alchemical trap outside the camp - of course, it was actually a buzzer that was triggered by a wire, but it was enough to guard against ordinary large beasts and unintelligent undead.
After that, the camp became much more stable.
A candle was lit in the captain's room. The candlelight was unstable and swayed gently with the deck below.
Since it is necessary to fully provide heating and supply hot water and food to the lumberjacks outside, all the magic output of the small magic engine under the platform is concentrated on these two sets of facilities - it can no longer be used in the cabin. For lighting crystals, you can only choose this compromise lighting method.
To be honest, this scarce supply of magic power is a bit shabby, but thinking about the adventurers trekking in the wilderness, it seems to be much better.
However, Fang thought that his ship must not have such problems in the future. It could be smaller, but the supply of magic power must be sufficient. This snowstorm has caused the alchemy workshop on the platform to stop working for several days. It has been delayed a lot. Few things.
The brass heating pipes glowed slightly in the candlelight, and Ms. Delise was lazily leaning on one of the hot pipes, squinting her eyes and pecking at the ground.
Its fluffy tail was rolled up like a sofa, allowing Miss Tata to sit on it and concentrate on looking at the pages. A lot of things had happened recently, and the community seemed to be lively again.
While Fang was assembling the magic furnace, he was discussing some recent news with Tata wordlessly.
Of course, most of the community is about the disaster on Fenris Island. The most speculated about is not his whereabouts, but where did Toragothos go?
And the news coming from the ground of Fenris Island was not good. The Geological Society of the Dwarves went to explore below and received news that although the sinking of Fenris Island had temporarily stopped, the magical reaction inside it was active. .
This shows that the disaster only stopped temporarily, and the cracks that occurred at that time may have caused cracks within the island. Perhaps within a few decades at the latest, Fenris will follow Aethorin's footsteps and sink under the abyss.
In fact, the Corrin-Ithurian royal family and the Craftsmen's Association have begun to consider gradually evacuating the hundreds of thousands of people on Fenris Island.
Fang? couldn't help but sigh when he heard the news. Although he tried his best, he could only get this result in the end.
"This is none of your business, Mr. Knight," Tata replied calmly: "Sinking under the abyss is the ultimate fate of the floating continent, but Gotos' plan ran out of Fenris Island's time ahead of schedule. That’s all…”
Fang? was silent for a moment, and of course he understood this in his heart.
Few people know what it was like when Aitaria was born——
According to the records of the aboriginal people, before mortals established civilization on this land, Essolin and Etalia had existed on this sea of clouds for tens of millions of years.
In the ancient narrative poems of the fairies, the world was first born after an earth-shattering war - after a great will named Eta fell, its huge body turned into this floating continent.
And Eta's greatest favor to the mortal world is obviously the magic crystal buried deep in the ground - Guy.
It was Guy's power that allowed Aitaria to exist above the sea of clouds, but the magic power would eventually be exhausted. In fact, it was not until the disaster of Aesorin that mortals began to gradually realize that the lifespan of the continent may not be eternal. .
No one knows how long Aitaria can exist, maybe a thousand years later, or even longer; but it is also possible that as soon as people open their eyes, they will find that the magic contained in the solid earth under their feet has begun to decline...
Since the magic technology revolution, mortals' excessive development of Guy Crystal has actually been one of the causes of the decline of magic in the floating continent.
Therefore, countless explorers will embark on a journey to find new worlds.
That was also the beginning of the history of the Second World.
Fang? Naturally, he has heard about the origin of the second world. At the end of the first world, there is a bridge leading to the second world. Above the upper sea of clouds, there is a world like a paradise.
That is Hailin, the second world.
"Everything that happened in Fenris will definitely make people more enthusiastic about the third world," Tata said softly about another thing: "In fact, even without Toragotos, the decline of magic power in the mainland is very common—— "
Fang couldn't help but recall the abandoned Guy Crystal Mine he saw in Traveler's Swamp.
Such mines were everywhere on the continent during the era when magic technology was emerging. But today, open-pit crystal mines are very rare. Almost all the remaining Gay crystals are deep underground, and the major mines are also in the hands of major national powers on the continent.
That is the foundation of the continent——
However, it is doomed to be impossible to completely abandon magic technology. It would be equivalent to regressing civilization back to the age of ignorance, and the decline in productivity may bring more than just a lack of convenience.
More likely is famine, endless turmoil, or even the destruction of civilization.
Although the discovery of the second world once gave people hope. It's a pity that above the sea of clouds there, after all, there is only a large and small floating island, and there is no real continent like Aitaria.
However, the pioneers among explorers and chosen ones did not gain nothing.
Various clues indicate that after the Second Continental Bridge, there should be a supercontinent, the legendary Promised Land - it is for this reason that the door to the Third World has become the target of competition between countries.
Fang couldn't help but look behind him - only separated by a thin bulkhead was the ship officer's room - people like his father, Sir Ma Wei, may have come into being under such historical conditions. born.
Everything about Fenris Island is undoubtedly the biggest news in the past two months.
However, as a person who has experienced it, Fang? In fact, he is not too concerned about this matter. After all, the news discussed in the community may not be clear to him.
In fact, a major event happened last month. The coalition forces of the Chosen, Stargate Port and Elpaxin repelled the attack of the dark dragon in Charter City. This was also the first time in the Kingdom of Corin-Ithurion. Once the news was announced to the outside world that the dark dragon was still alive in this world.
The news caused a sensation.
Of course, the people who are most concerned about this matter are the chosen ones. What most people are concerned about is that since the dark dragon has made a comeback, will the five legendary dragon-slaying holy swords and their guardians also reappear?
After all, the Five Holy Swords are all sub-artifact-level equipment.
But only Fang? understands that there are actually only four holy swords left in the world - or even higher.
However, these two pieces of news did not really concern him too much. What he was more concerned about was another thing - a small piece of news that was submerged in the turbulent discussions under these two major incidents.
That little news was released a week ago and was related to him - the Stargate Port finally disclosed the information about him and announced that a stowaway might have entered behind the Stargate.
The news said that relevant investigations have been launched, and the stowaway’s family information has been obtained. After obtaining the consent of his family, his relatives have also participated in the search.
And three days ago, that is, the fifth day after the winter solstice in Aitaria, the investigation team arrived at the Stargate Port.
When Fang Yu saw the news, he almost had his head turned upside down.
He only thought of one thing——
They actually found their uncle and aunt!
He couldn't help but feel a little numb, thinking that he might be beaten again this time.
…
