Arcane splendor begins with the throne

Chapter 58 Dryad Woodland
The cold moonlight shines through the dense and lush branches and leaves, printing pale round spots in the forest, reflecting two fast-moving figures.

The path in the forest was spacious and quiet, and Brian found that this jungle was quite unusual compared with the dense forest before.

He instinctively felt that the natural atmosphere here seemed to be stronger.

Moreover, the tree-shaded path they were walking on was obviously man-made, so that the speed of the two of them would not be slowed down by the dense bushes and wildly growing weeds.

As the forest encircled him even deeper, and just when Bryan began to wonder how far this peaceful forest really was, Torviel finally led him into a small glade.

The moonlight filled the quiet space, as if covered with a layer of hoarfrost. The arrangement here was very simple, with several logs arranged in a square frame, surrounding a fire pit made of stones.

Out of respect for the dryads, in Blackman's forest, the elves are forbidden to light fire, unless a fairly solid protective measure is added to the camping place, as in the present case.

Under the bright moonlight, Brian's vision was not affected much.

He carefully looked at the surrounding environment, and found that this was not the elves' usual campsite in the forest, but more like an open gathering point, or a temporary resting place for elf rangers who didn't come home at night.

"The camp where you settled has been destroyed, and it will only take more time to bring you here." Toviel looked around vigilantly, and after careful inspection, he turned and said to Brian:
"Actually, in Blackman's forest, there are many gathering points like this, and the surrounding evil creatures and beasts will be cleaned up regularly, so you don't have to worry about the safety here. Of course, even so, I will help you Watch the night, you can go to rest at ease."

Toviel finished speaking in one breath, but was disappointed to find that Brian didn't respond, just glanced sideways at himself, and nodded silently.

Then she saw the half-elf, who was also a wizard, walking around the camp step by step, holding the hilt of his sword, and reached out from the inner pocket of the wool coat, and took out a ball of silver with a small bell hanging on it. The line shakes out with a crisp and pleasant sound.

Then, he carefully hung this almost invisible silver thread on both ends of the trees around the camp until it disappeared from sight.

Just like that, this silk thread, which was still glowing silver under the moonlight just now, suddenly disappeared without a trace in front of her eyes, no matter how she observed it, it was difficult to find it.

Thinking of the identity of the other party as a wizard, Toviel was no stranger to it, but couldn't help guessing curiously what the purpose of these gadgets was.

It should be similar to the role of vigilance, the female ranger thought to herself.

"That's not necessary. Relatively speaking, I still think magic is more reliable." After setting up the security circle, Brian straightened up, turned around and said to Toviel: "You should also rest early, get enough energy, and continue tomorrow Hurry up, it will act as a qualified guard, allowing us to sleep peacefully until dawn."

After saying that, Brian turned around and walked under a thick oak tree, raised his head and stared at the trunk silently, as if looking for something unusual.

As the cold breeze blew by, a yellow oak leaf whirled and fell silently, just falling into his open palm.

Toviel noticed Brian's calm and focused eyes, she walked slowly to his side, crossed her hands on her chest, and bowed respectfully towards the oak tree in front of her.

Immediately, with a rather helpless sigh, the pale face of the elf girl showed a look of sadness, "Do you know how Blackman's glade was established?"

"Not sure." Brian shook his head slightly, and threw the oak leaf full of moth marks in his hand to the ground.

In this world, he has only lived for 25 years, and the elves, who were driven into Blackman by humans 500 years ago, naturally don't know much about these secrets.

He just instinctively believed that the function of these clearings in the forest was nothing more than to provide a temporary foothold for the elves who did not return home at night, nothing more.

"It's because of the Dryad." Toviel said calmly, looking at the tall oak tree.

Hearing this, Brian glanced at her, and found that when the elf girl was staring at the oak tree in front of her, there was a touch of sadness on her pretty face.

Although in this small world, he has never met a real dryad, but he knows it very well.

In fact, the so-called tree spirit is not an ancient war tree that evolved from ancient trees that have accumulated over the years in the imagination of the world.

On the contrary, dryads are actually a kind of fey creatures that live in hidden forests. They are beautiful and intelligent, and they belong to the kind of charming existence that is full of temptation, temperament and elusive.

In the main material world, some wizards even transplant the oak tree that lives with the dryad into their residence, and then use it as their servant or concubine who warms the bed.

The reason for transplanting is mainly because each dryad has a permanent symbiotic relationship with a very large oak tree, and once they leave their natal oak tree more than a certain distance, they will become weak and die within a few days .

Of course, the premise of all this: must have enough strength, and how to find a way to meet the wrath of the druids after the news is leaked.

Although these tree spirits look delicate and beautiful, they usually don't compete with the world. They only care about the trees and woodland they live in. They are veritable natural darlings.

But because of this, they are also fascinated by nature and are proficient in many natural spells.

In the main material world, Silvanus, the god of nature, a powerful god of the natural pantheon, has focused on the believers' responsibility to protect the dryads in their teachings.

And dryads are the darlings of nature. Wherever they live in seclusion, the flowers, plants and trees grow extraordinarily lush. This is the fundamental reason why Blackman's elves will take the initiative to protect dryads.

To put it simply, the special ability of the dryad itself is the basis for these elves to survive in the wild mountains.

After all, in the rocky mountains of Blacktman, there is very little land that can be used for cultivation.

The elves only rely on hunting to obtain food, which is not enough to sustain them permanently.

Especially in winter, when the cold wave comes and the mountains are covered with snow, if there is not enough food stored, the elves may even face the risk of freezing to death and starving to death.

Now, with the looming appearance of the ancient evils, these dryads known as "the darlings of nature" have become the first batch of victims, being directly corrupted by the power full of death.

Without the shelter of the dryad, the survival of the elves gradually became difficult.

With a little incitement from interested people, they launched wars to "take back the land that belongs to us" for freedom.

"Once upon a time, in Blackman's forest, there would be a lush oak tree and a secluded dryad at every gathering point here." Toviel sighed, reaching out to take a piece of withered yellow oak tree Ye, looking at the fine veins and withered traces on the leaves, recalled:

“Whenever we stop here to rest, the reclusive tree spirits will take the initiative to help us and provide us with a lot of useful intelligence and news. They will also protect us when human poachers and loggers invade. This last home..."

What Toviel said, Brian is also very clear, in the main material world, the role of dryads is also the same.

Dryads are born with the ability to communicate with animals and plants, and when encountering forest intruders, they will lure them out of the woods.In a pinch, she can even use her own charm spell to make humanoids obsessed with her, turning foes into allies.

It's not so much a tree spirit protection elf family, it's better to say that the two are a cooperative relationship.

Because these beautiful and charming fey creatures are also afraid of the endless cutting down of forests by human loggers.

It's a pity that the dryad has disappeared forever in this small world...

Without the assistance of the tree spirit, if nothing else happened, even if the elves lived peacefully and secluded in the wild mountains, their life would not be much easier.

After all, no human kingdom would dislike the sudden addition of a resource-rich Blackman Mountains to its territory.

For some reason, the experience of other races and the arrival of humans on this continent in towers made Brian inexplicably think of the colonial era of the Western world in his previous life, how similar the two are.

Fortunately, the races here at least have the ability to resist, while the natives in the real world are...

Bryan sighed in his heart, being suddenly led by Toviel to such a heavy topic, he really couldn't bear to listen.

So he furrowed his brows, looked at the elf girl's slightly sad face under the moonlight, changed the topic, and said in a frivolous tone:

"The dryads not only help passing adventurers, it is said that if they see a man they are interested in, they will take the initiative to spend the night with them, and even use their charm ability to forcibly capture him, is that true?"

"what?"

When Toviel was asked such a question suddenly, she was stunned for a moment, and then subconsciously met Brian's half-smiling eyes.

A blush rose slowly from the bottom of her neck in an instant, and gradually spread upwards until it reached the earlobe. Under the silver moonlight, it was so eye-catching that she rubbed her hands in embarrassment, not knowing how to answer.

Brian was taken aback, apparently not expecting such a big reaction from the elf girl to a simple joke.

So in order to ease the embarrassment, he quickly wandered his eyes on the trunk of the oak tree.

Soon, he saw a few marks left on them in a bush at the foot of the huge oak trees in front of him.

Although time has blurred their lines, Brian can still make out one mark as a falcon and the other as a lynx.

This is the mark of the elf ranger, and its main function is to indicate camps, dangerous areas, evil creatures, safe passages, refuges, graveyards or mausoleums, etc.

In fact, he just had the mentality of giving it a try, but he didn't expect to be found by him.

Brian squatted down and rummaged through the thick branches at the root of the bush with great interest, and he found a hidden hole.

He put his hand in carefully, and without accident, he pulled out a bag of dry food, a hatchet, and a skin of good wine.

Brian thought for a while, put the food back, and took out a pack of beef jerky purchased in Thorn Castle from his pocket, and put it into this secret storage place.

Only then did he keep the good wine in this skin with peace of mind.

Although it was not difficult for Brian to carry a few wine bottles with him.

But he is also very aware of the disadvantages of frequent drinking as a wizard, so he never carries alcohol with him, and he never refuses alcohol.

With the wine bag in one hand and the hatchet in the other, Brian stood up in satisfaction.

"Why are you dazing? Go cut down some dead branches and come back." Brian ordered Tovel beside him: "Otherwise, this cold night will be very difficult."

After finishing speaking, he directly handed the hatchet in her hand to her.

Toviel, who came back to his senses, instinctively stretched out his hand to take it, then stared at Brian with water-blue eyes in doubt.

"Is there a problem?" Brian unscrewed the wine cork and asked nonchalantly.

"No... no problem." Toviel shook her head, pursed her beautiful lips, and walked towards the woods with a hatchet in her hand.

(End of this chapter)