Sword of Dawn

This eerie and terrifying scene made Gawain subconsciously look at his hands, and he was slightly relieved after confirming that the hands were still human limbs. Then he clenched his pioneer sword and walked quickly towards Rebecca, ready to Cut off those obviously harmful black mist.

But as soon as he took half a step, Amber suddenly appeared next to him, and the half-elf lady grabbed his arm tightly: "Don't get close, external forces can't help them, and if you are not careful, it will make the situation worse."

Gao Wen looked at Amber in astonishment at this moment—she actually had another appearance in this black and white world.

Her hair has grown longer, and she floats behind her as if weightless, but the light brown eyes are filled with a faint golden light at this moment, and a cloud of black smoke like a flame gathers at her feet, repeating Condensation—the process of dissipation.

There is no corresponding thing in Gawain Cecil's memory that can explain the scene in front of him.

"Don't ask me too many things, it will be embarrassing if you ask me and I don't tell you—especially if I just dug your grave, it will make me feel guilty," Amber said quickly, "We time Limited, it is the first time for me to enter such a 'deep' place, and with you, God knows how long it will last."

"What is this place?" Gao Wen asked the question he was most concerned about.

"Shadow Realm," Amber said lightly, and pouted at the place where Heidi and the others were, "Look."

That was where Betty and the soldiers had been at the beginning, but one of the soldiers had fallen to the ground in countless pale fragments—really like shattered china, while the others and Rebe Like Ka, he still maintains the movements and demeanor he had when he first came into contact with the mist of wraiths.

It's just that under the feet of the little maid, Betty, there is a row of small footprints emitting a glimmer of light extending forward...

Chapter 0014 Wild Mage

Shadowlands.

Gao Wen doesn't know how the human countries today understand the Shadow Realm, but in those inherited memories, the Gondor Empire more than 700 years ago has done some research on this aspect—those scholars who are rich and poor Facing boring classics and data all day long, staring at the lattice ruler buried in the magic well, in order to guess what the world really looks like, and there is a classic model used to describe the "layering" of the world.

In this classic model, scholars believe that the world is divided into several "layers", and the uppermost layer is the most stable material world. Everything in it has laws to follow, can be directly contacted, and is easy to observe. The layer where most creatures live; and below the material world is the shadow world that most humans cannot directly touch. The shadow world is a distorted reflection of the material world. Ordinary humans cannot directly touch and observe it, but they can Perceive and measure it through the skills of the magic and spiritual realm; from the Shadow Realm further down is the Shadow Realm, which is a more illusory and mysterious area, and it is the reflection of the Shadow Realm. To the extent that it cannot be explored, some lucky magicians caught a few shadow creatures with basic rationality and could communicate, and only guessed the existence of the Shadow Realm from the few words of those creatures.

And some radical scholars have expanded this classic model. They believe that there may be a deeper layer under the Shadow Realm, but that layer already belongs to the realm of the gods, and was laid down by the Creator God when he created this world. "The foundation of origin" is no longer a category that ordinary people can study.

From Gao Wen's understanding, this model is like layers of translucent kraft paper. The real image of the real world is at the forefront, and the shadow of this real image is projected on the layers of paper. Blurred and distorted.

What he and Amber were in was the back of the first piece of paper - the Shadow Realm.

Even if it is only the second floor, it is already a place that most human beings have never set foot on.

He wisely didn't ask Amber why she has the ability to enter the Shadow Realm at this time—and judging from what Amber said just now, it was also the first time for her to "enter such a deep place". what answer.

There are still many secrets in this world that are worth exploring, and many things cannot be understood by hanging in the sky for many years.

After a simple judgment, Gao Wen felt that following in Betty's footsteps was the only breakthrough point.

But before he left the scene, he still looked back a little uneasy. Hetty, Rebecca and the others were still standing there in the state of "porcelain dolls". Their bodies were resisting the fog of wraiths in the real world. However, in the projection of the Shadow Realm, they were still at the moment of the attack, and the black mist seeping out from the ground was constantly disintegrating them.

Fortunately, judging by the speed at which those mists were eating away, they still had a while.

"Perhaps this is the true state of the fog of resentful spirits." Amber also glanced at Gao Wen's line of sight, shook her head and said, "If our discovery is sold to the Arcane Society or the Astrologers Association, how much do you think it is worth?"

"They will fill you with a bunch of potions and tie a recording spar on your head, and then throw you into the shadow world as a human detective after the last banishment." Gao Wen rolled his eyes at Amber, "Follow up, it's important to do .”

Amber was still muttering while following Gao Wen: "But I can let you come forward. How can you say that you are also the founding ancestor of Ansu? Can they still pour potions on the ancestor?"

"What do you think?" Gawain twitched the corners of his mouth, "They are willing to hang me on the wall, write in books, and put me on the table. Even the king is willing to lead the whole family to personally arrange a bouquet for me every year. Three days off by myself - there is no risk and you can earn a good reputation, but if this ancestor really pops out of the coffin, the first reaction of the wave of people who put me on the stage before is probably to push me back into the coffin, and then nailed more than 200 nails in all directions, and it is estimated that it will be filled with lead..."

Amber was stunned: "Why?!"

Gawain glanced at this unresponsive half-elf, and angrily threw back a sentence: "Because the three-day grave-sweeping leave in the whole country is gone!!"

After saying this, Gao Wen strode forward, leaving Amber behind to react for a long time before suddenly yelling: "Wait a minute! You made a mistake! There is no holiday when I sweep your tomb! Only for the founding king I only had three days off at the time! You died too early, so I don’t know..."

Gawain almost fell headlong.

But even though he gave up on Amber's idea of ​​selling the information about the Shadow Realm, Gao Wen had his own plan. He was full of curiosity about the Shadow Realm, or... he was full of curiosity about the whole world.

So one day, he will figure it out.

The string of footprints didn't extend very far.

Perhaps it was because of the special environment of the Shadow Realm that the habit of judging distances in the material world was difficult to take effect here. Gawain and Amber just walked a short distance along the footprints, and a wooden house suddenly appeared in front of them.

The wooden house is small and dilapidated. I don't know how long it has been standing here. There is a circle of incomplete fence around the wooden house. Judging by the sparseness of the fence, it may not have any defensive effect.And in a corner of the wooden house, Gao Wen noticed a touch of color.

It was the color of moss, which stood out in this black and white world, and as time went by, that bit of color was fading fast.

Betty's footprints stretched all the way to the door of the cabin.

Amber drew out her own small dagger, and gestured nervously in front of her chest: "After a while, you old man will drive directly into the sky to chop melons and vegetables, and I will hold you back..."

Gawain thought for a while, and resisted the urge to throw Amber into a landmine by the collar. Instead, he pressed one hand on the hilt of the Pioneer Sword, and carefully pushed the gray-white door open with the other hand. the gate.

However no attack came.

The inside of the wooden house is just an ordinary room, old and dilapidated, like an old black and white photo.

But there are people inside.

A man with an unshaven beard and a shabby short robe was sitting behind a square table in the middle of the wooden house. He was so haggard and vicissitudes that Gao Wen couldn't judge his real age at all. Behind this man, he could see two A wooden shelf full of bottles and jars and an old alchemy table.

The devices needed for magical experiments can be seen everywhere in the house, but they are all piled up with more tattered debris. Any normal mage will probably want to cry when seeing this shabby and miserable scene impulse.

The man behind the square table raised his head, looked in Gao Wen's direction, and showed a stiff smile: "Ah, guests——it's been a long time since I have had guests come to my laboratory. And there are still two?"

Amber poked her head out from beside Gao Wen, and the half-elf girl's face was full of vigilance: "No...won't you fight?"

Gawain didn't draw his sword, but he didn't let his hand go too far from the hilt, he walked into the wooden house in a state ready to attack at any time: "We passed by from now on, looking for someone - a girl about fifteen or sixteen years old , she held a pan..."

However, the man behind the desk didn't seem to have heard Gao Wen's words. He just smiled dully and nodded slightly: "Please find a place to sit, Annie is preparing lunch, and there is no place to rest in the deep mountains and old forests. Stay here and eat."

"Annie?" Gawain asked subconsciously.

"It's my daughter," the man smiled, "very well-behaved."

At this time, a girl's exclamation came from the side: "Master?"

Gawain followed the prestige and saw Betty standing by a small door in the corner of the wooden house with a surprised expression on his face.

"Betty? As long as you're fine," Gao Wen breathed a sigh of relief, "I'm here to pick you up."

However, Betty shook her head slightly, and the man behind the square table also looked at the little girl and asked gently, "Annie, is lunch ready?"

Betty nodded obediently: "It will be soon, Dad."

The little girl turned around and went back to the kitchen. Gawain and Amber exchanged glances, and after confirming that the weird man behind the square table didn't respond, they also followed.

Betty was cooking in the kitchen, using her precious saucepan.A pale flame danced in the hearth, and sausages sizzled on the pan.

Amber's focus is very clear: "Can people even cook in the Shadow Realm?"

"What's going on here?" Gawain came to Betty's side and asked in a low voice.

Judging from the girl's demeanor and demeanor, she was not affected by spells such as mind control, but she stayed here to cook with her own will, and called the weird man outside "Daddy"-this is really a bit Strange.

"I don't really understand," Betty said with a confused look on her face as usual, "but that person outside seems to regard me as his daughter..."

Amber's eyes widened: "Then you treat him like a father so obediently?"

Betty shook her head: "He is very poor...so I just want to cook him a meal before leaving."

Gao Wen and Amber looked at each other.

Then Betty suddenly reached into the pocket of her maid skirt, took out an old notebook and handed it to Gao Wen.

"Master, here it is - that man gave it to me. I can't understand a lot of things in it, but you should be able to understand it."

Gao Wen accepted the not-so-thick notebook in doubt, opened it and hurriedly flipped through the last few pages of records.

Amber moved her head forward curiously: "What? Let me take a look...Magic formula? Rune sorting?"

The half-elf lady who was dazed by those complicated symbols and calculations raised her head and looked at Gawain with a dazed expression: "So that strange old man is actually a mage?"

"Strictly speaking, he's a wild mage," Gao Wen rolled up his notebook, and tapped on Amber's head, "and you didn't realize it when you saw so many magic experiment instruments when you entered the door!"

Chapter 0015

In the shadow world intertwined with black and white, Gawain, Amber, Betty, and an unknown wild mage sat around in a simple wooden house, and in front of them was the lunch that Betty had just made—a simple Bread, fried sausage, and some vegetable soup.

It's all colorless, like an old black and white photograph.

Gao Wen didn't intend to touch the food in front of him. Although it is true that cooking is possible in the Shadow Realm, he is really not sure what the consequences will be if he (probably) eats something from the Shadow Realm as a living human being.

Amber and Betty next to them also did not use their knives and forks.

The wild mage across the table didn't urge them, he just ate the food in front of him silently, looking very quiet.

A strange tacit understanding lingers in the wooden house.

It was Gao Wen who broke the silence first: "How long have you been here?"

"It's been a long time," the wild mage put down his knife and fork, looking very polite, "I've settled here since the second year after I left the secret law society."

"You used to be a member of the Mystic Association?" Gao Wen asked with some surprise, "I thought you were always a wild mage."

"I was originally a second-level member of the Arcane Society," the wild mage said quietly. "According to the standards of the Arcane Society, I am a poor spellcaster-I am good at calculation and reasoning, but I lack the ability to convert it into a spell model." In other words, my spellcasting level is always at the beginning level, such a mage is not welcome in the Secret Law Society."

"So they drove you away?" Amber felt incredulous.She knows that a real mage is very precious, even if his spellcasting level is very bad - lame is just for those masters of secret magic, in the eyes of ordinary people, even a mage who can only release a small fireball is considered extraordinary Great people, even if these low-level spellcasters are not valued in the secret society, they will not be swept out.

"I left by myself," Wild Mage shook his head and turned to look at Betty. "For my daughter and to cure her, I had to leave."

Betty stared blankly at Wild Mage, then nodded in confusion.

Gao Wen didn't dwell on this issue, but stared into the eyes of the wild mage, pressed the hilt of the long sword at his waist with his right hand, and said slowly: "You should know what we are here for - we didn't Too much time to waste."

The stiff and dull expression of the Wild Mage finally changed slightly, his body trembled slightly, and then he lowered his head: "...Guest, I don't quite understand what you mean."

Betty looked at Gawain nervously: "Master?"

Gao Wen frowned, and after a while, he removed his hand from the hilt of the Pioneer Sword, and he took a breath: "Then just wait a while."

The wild mage lowered his head, and continued to eat his meal quietly and silently. During the eating process, his only extra movement was to raise his head from time to time and glance at Betty next to him.

The food must be finished eventually, and Gao Wen couldn't wait indefinitely.

The wild mage ate the last bite of sausage, and then carefully wiped the vegetable soup on the soup plate with a slice of bread. After eating, he looked up in Betty's direction—but his eyes were not focused on Betty at all. , but to focus on more distant places.His body swayed, as if he wanted to stand up, but he tried several times without success.

In the end, it was Betty who helped him up.

"Father, I'm leaving." The little girl supported the arm of the wild mage, and then let go after confirming that he was standing still. She moved to Gawain's side with small steps, "Miss Rebecca and Mrs. Hetty are still waiting for me —and the master is here too."

The wild mage moved his lips, and finally nodded slightly. His expression had calmed down, and he explained carefully: "Don't eat things given by strangers." "Sleep on time." "Remember to listen to the teacher " "Don't fight with other kids."

The brilliance of reason was gradually fading from this poor man's eyes, and Gawain knew that what he said now was all nonsense.

Although he was barely awake the whole time before.

The figure of the Wild Mage gradually faded away, but within the dimming phantom, a flame-like thing suddenly ignited. Gawain had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He quickly drew out the Pioneer Sword, and the blade There was a faint gleam of light.

Amber quickly pulled Betty into her arms and covered the little girl's eyes in time.

Gao Wen pierced the long sword into the flame on the wild mage's chest, the flames shook violently, the wild mage who had already transformed into an evil spirit suddenly stopped transforming, the illusory figure quickly re-solidified into a solid body, and then the raging flames swallowed He, and burned his whole body into a horrible scorched corpse.

After burning for half a minute, the corpse was completely wiped out.

Crackling sounds came from all directions, the cabin quickly disintegrated after losing its owner, dense cracks covered the walls and roof in the blink of an eye, and the pale light of the outside world spilled in through the cracks in the wooden boards. in the house.

Gawain pulled Amber and Betty and ran out of the house quickly, and the moment they ran out, the wooden house completely collapsed.

The collapsed wooden house burst into flames before their eyes. The fire lasted for a short time, as if what was burned was not a wooden house, but a paper house.

While the wooden house was gradually reduced to ashes and drifted away with the wind, Amber suddenly pulled Gawain's arm and pointed at the foundation of the wooden house and exclaimed, "Hey! Look at that!"

Gao Wen looked intently, and saw that under the ashes of the wooden house, a flickering line was brightening up. The light penetrated the flying ash, and gradually formed a complex and huge structure——that was the structure of a large magic circle. appearance.

"This is probably the highest achievement of that wild mage in his life," Gao Wen nodded slightly. "It's probably because of a problem with the magic circle that caused him to fall into this situation."

While speaking, Betty's figure began to gradually transform into floating light spots. These light spots flew around twice in place, and then quickly flew towards the direction where Gawain and Amber came.

Amber looked down at her hands, the hands that had turned gray and white were now glowing blood again, and as the color returned to her and Gao Wen, the rejection of them from the Shadowlands became more and more obvious .

Some indistinct things condensed from the surrounding thin mist. They were completely shapeless, but they obviously had malicious intentions. The native residents of the Shadow Realm finally smelled the breath of outsiders, and some things in the shallowest layer emerged. , Gathering like hyenas smelling blood.

"We have to withdraw!" Amber said to Gao Wen, "We are not welcome in this place anymore!"

Gao Wen took a deep look at the ruins of the hut for the last time, trying to memorize those glowing lines and symbols, and then pulled Amber's arm: "Let's go!"

After a short period of dizziness, the scene of the real world appeared before his eyes again.

The fog of resentment has dissipated, and the dense forest has returned to its original appearance. Rebecca and Hetty, who have lost their strength, are supporting each other and leaning against a tree. Beside the master, the two surviving soldiers had collapsed to the ground.

Betty should be in the best condition of all of them—she was holding a frying pan and standing beside Rebecca in a daze, as if the dazed expression had already solidified on her face.

After seeing Gawain, Heidi immediately supported her body and stood up: "Ancestor—it's great that you are safe and sound!"

Then she saw Hu Po who was following Gao Wen, and her expression became subtle in an instant: "So the thief didn't run away?"

"Hey! What do you mean by different treatment!" Amber jumped up like a cat whose tail had been trampled on, "My ancestor and I went to the Shadow Realm to save you just now, okay! You big boobs! Brainy old woman..."