Crimson Servant

Low temperature will slow down the brain's recovery speed, so normal people should delay getting up in cold weather.

But Francis is no normal person.

He grabbed John from the bed when it was still dark, and shook the short bow on his shoulder towards the unconscious warlock. He was going hunting, taking John with him, and the Warlock had no right to refuse.

"You will have plenty of time to lie down in the future." The dark elf walking in front opened the door, and the two stepped into the white snow one after another.

"In a few decades? I will definitely put a secret lock on my coffin that you don't know the secret code of." John rubbed his face. Within a few minutes after going out, the cold air had completely awakened him. It was a little difficult to open my eyes, as if there was a layer of ice condensing on my eyelids.

"No, that won't happen." Francis turned his head, and two red lights appeared in the darkness. The sight of the dark elf made the howling cold wind pause for a moment. Then he slowly turned around, letting the renewed loudness of the wind swallow up his next words.

"I must know the secret word."

They marched about an hour outside the abandoned town, away from human logging, before they had a chance to get close to their prey. John kept stepping on Francis's footprints, which would save more effort. The Dark Elf's footprints were slightly larger than those of the Warlock, but John's soles would always sink a bit after stepping on the footprints. This is definitely not because he is heavier than the Dark Elf, Francis has his unique body skills.

Coniferous plants began to appear around them, making it an ideal habitat for prey. The dark elf is searching for traces of the beast, studying the imprints in the flawless snow with the meticulousness of an ancient scholar studying ruins.

But he has gained nothing for the time being.

There must be no one behind those beasts to drive them out of their warm nests. Maybe they are still sleeping, John thought.

"Do we have to eat meat in the morning? I think this is a little greasy?" John just wanted to end this cool morning tour as soon as possible.

Francis said without looking back: "What? Are you going to start planting wheat now?"

The dark elf's sarcasm made the warlock shrug, "It is indeed possible if there are druids."

Francis didn't speak anymore. He found some traces and turned around to gesture to John. Francis continued to track without waiting for a response.

By the time John caught up with him, they had passed through a coniferous forest and arrived on the other side of the fallen snow forest. John bent down and followed Francis's sneaking traces.

Francis had raised his bow and aimed his arrow at the prey he had found. A hare with snow-white fur and a gray stripe on its face that extends to its lower belly.

The rabbit seemed to sense the threat from the hunter. It put down its front paws, stopped eating, raised its upper body, raised its two long ears, and looked left and right.

Francis remained motionless, trusting his own stealth more than John did. This confidence was justified, and soon they spotted another hunter within sight. A fox slowly approached from behind the hare. Its fur was gray-white, and its downy paws stepped on the snow without making any sound, just like a slowly approaching snowball.

It was so focused that it only had eyes for its own breakfast.

The dark elf loosened the tight bow string, and the rapidly flying arrow penetrated the hare's body. The inertia rolled twice with the sizable loot.

After seeing the miserable death of the rabbit, the survivor fox suddenly jumped up on the spot, turned around and ran away without any hesitation, but his steps were somewhat messy. Francis ignored the fox's escape, and had no intention of drawing the bow and arrows in his hand again. John knew that it would not be difficult for the dark elves to keep the fox.

"I thought you would hate foxes more." John clearly remembered that Francis didn't like people who spoke in a roundabout way, and his description of that kind of person was "like a nasty fox."

"Yes, but fox meat doesn't taste good."

John understood what Francis meant. His current level of cooking skills was not yet able to handle such ingredients. Thinking about the staff arrangement for this trip, maybe Francis is the most skilled cook among the four people in the trip.

They hunted for some time longer and obtained what Francis deemed sufficient game. During this period, the dark elf tried to teach John some archery skills, but he gave up this plan half a minute after John got started with the bow.

At this time, the sky was already bright, and the leaden gray was constantly being smudged with gold. They returned to the abandoned town. Lucian and Dalia had already woken up, and the four of them sat around the fire. The atmosphere in the conversation was no longer as stiff as last night.

“It tastes okay, but not great.”

As Lucian said this, he took out a jar of seasoning bottle from his backpack and sprinkled it on the roast rabbit in his hand.

John was surprised by this, because those fine particles were blue-green, which was more like an alchemical material than a seasoning.

"Oh, it will make the food delicious," Inlucyn said.

"What is this made of?" John asked.

"A kind of mushroom."

John said firmly: "Poisonous mushrooms."

Lucien took big bites of food and explained in the eyes of Daria and John who resisted.

"Relax, you don't need to be so wary of hallucinogenic substances. Ingesting them in trace amounts will not harm your body, it just produces some wonderful reactions that do not occur in the material world. No harm means no toxicity."

"Many people in this world accept the positive role of hallucinations in life. Even religious people will admit that hallucinations are the best catalyst for enlightenment. Believe in my craftsmanship. I guarantee that it is really delicious. Do you want to try it?"

John rejected him without hesitation, and Dalia did not cross her psychological defense line.

The slightly frustrated Lucien could only turn to the only person left, and then he saw Francis's colder eyes.

"Do you want to die once?"

Lucien chewed his food silently, and Dalia looked at the illusionist who was feasting with worry, observing whether there were any adverse reactions on his face.

However, there was no other change on Lucien's face except for the occasional intoxicated expression. He truly controlled the illusion in the mushrooms, making everything look under control.

After the meal, the adventurer continued to move towards the goal along the map given by the Snow family. Except for the dark elf who wrapped himself tightly in a cloak, everything seemed unchanged.

Dalia found Inlucian, who seemed to have nothing to do. This young lady who had just left her family had endless energy and was full of curiosity. She was eager to absorb more knowledge and information from the outside world, regardless of whether it was useful or not.

"Inlucian, you once said that religious people all believed in hallucinogenic substances, but if those gods found that their believers were in a mess during prayer, wouldn't they be angry?"

The illusionist was happy to answer questions, and he was indeed bored now.

"First, priests and priests will strictly select the types of hallucinogenic drugs. They have accumulated enough wealth and status through faith. They have enough time and experience to select hallucinogenic drugs that are powerful and will not insult the ritual."

"Second, this is the consensus of all priests."

"God is above everything. Their power will not be hindered by any physiological or mental influence. If He needs to convey a certain instruction to his believers, no matter what the other party's mental state is, His revelation will definitely be conveyed clearly. Gods will not be troubled by illusions. They stand behind all curtains. In other words, the world's phenomena are their power, and illusions are also part of divine power."

"Hallucinations are a way of communication and the voice of gods."

"Not all hallucinations come from oracles, but oracles are definitely one of the illusions."

"Maybe you will see it soon."

"Oh, let me add that except for those revelations that come from the gods, all illusions belong to Lady Leila of the Mist Shadow. So, it is true that illusions are equal to divine power."