The Book of Hibernation

Ryan was full of guilt for arriving at the pier later than the agreed time, but the others didn't mind.

Ryan silently walked to the corner where the boxes were stacked, checked it routinely, and found that there were three more wooden boxes today.The boxes are each a person's length, an arm's width, and half a person's height.The board is very thick, nailed tightly, leaving no gaps.

Out of politeness, Ryan kept holding back his curiosity and didn't take the initiative to inquire about the contents inside, but the other temporary guard didn't care so much.That person often chatted with the bodyguards of the caravan, and found out that this batch of goods seemed to be antiques, from an ancient dynasty that had long since fallen on the southeast island chain. The things were very valuable and had to be handled with care.

But there are two problems with this batch of goods. First, some of them are ritual instruments, which involve the belief of ancient false gods. Second, they are likely to be unearthed by adventurers without permission, and their origin is not very clean.

Therefore, the caravan that takes over them will have to be a little troublesome, and cannot be transported normally like ordinary bottles and bowls.They cannot directly enter the territory of Sandonia, and can only be temporarily stored in the port warehouse. The boss has to mediate with the city lord to complete various documents before the caravan can continue on the road.

After the guard heard about this, it didn't take long for other temporary guards to hear about it.So the origin of the goods is not a secret.

Ryan heard a similar speech at Kanai, but he didn't hear the part about the pseudo-magic artifact and the theft.

Now he was thinking silently, if there was such a reason, then it was no wonder that the caravan was mysterious, and it was no wonder that the bodyguards accompanying the team didn't look like good people.

Later in the night, Ryan was more tired than usual and a little sleepy.Probably because I didn't have a good rest today, not only rode around, but also got into a fight with the dead hunter, and my spirit has been tense.

He washed his face with cold water in the basin, and then walked outside the warehouse, wanting to blow the night breeze and wake up.

His hair was also soaked in water just now, and water droplets slid down his forehead.He wiped it with the back of his hand, and when he put it down, he just saw a black figure swaying by another warehouse in front of him, and shrank behind the wall.

Ryan woke up instantly, put one hand on the hilt of the sword, and followed calmly.

He didn't call anyone else.He considered that the figure might not be a thief, even if it was a thief, he might deliberately distract the guards so that his accomplices could enter the warehouse.Ryan wanted to go and see alone first, as long as he didn't go too far, even if there was any situation, he could inform others at any time.

Ryan walked around behind the house just now, quickly looked around, judged the most likely direction of the other party's escape, and continued to follow.

Sure enough, just after chasing a fork, he found that figure again.The figure hurriedly turned to one side of the room, and Ryan could only see the general figure of the other party, but he couldn't see his appearance clearly for the time being.

There are several empty warehouses in this area, so there is a lack of lighting.Ryan couldn't see the way clearly, so he took out a flat white crystal hanging on a wax rope from his collar, and quickly tapped it three times on the silver holder behind it, and the crystal immediately emitted a cold light.

White crystal light does not diverge around, but cones forward.In this way, it can illuminate the road without dazzle the wearer's eyes.

This luminous pendant is of course made of winter thistle, and the enchantment method on it is different from ordinary magic items.

General lighting items need to be activated by spells, that is, the user needs to cast spells; if they do not require spells, then they must belong to spell storage items, and there is a limit on the number of times they can be used.

And this pendant does not require spells, and there is no limit on the number of times. You can also use different activation gestures to control the light, change its intensity and direction, and even control the temperature of the light. It usually maintains a cold flame mode, and can also imitate the temperature of an open flame when needed. , to provide convenience for camping in the wild.

When Ryan was fourteen or fifteen years old, Winter Thistle made him this pendant.Once Ryan discovered that Winter Thistle would cast spells directly when it needed lighting instead of using this convenient tool.Ryan asked Winter Thistle why he didn't make one anymore. Winter Thistle said that only those who don't understand spells need it, and spellcasters don't need it.

Later, Ryan went to the temple as a seminarian and met some friends from better-off families.Although they don't understand magic, they are amazed by this pendant. It is said that the crystals on it are worth a lot.

They heard that Ryan's elder brother was a mage, but they felt that this person had no fixed place and no reputation, so they all imagined this elder brother as an unfathomable legendary hermit.Ryan himself knew that was not the case. He and Winter Thistle were not living well.

Many years later, when he grew up a bit, Ryan gradually understood—understood why Winter Thistle repaired the cauldron many times without buying a new one, but gave him such a useful pendant.

With the pendant now, Ryan would naturally think of Winter Thistle.When he was in the tomb before, he was in a hurry to stop the hunter of the dead, and pushed Winter Thistle aside... Looking back now, it seems that Winter Thistle almost fell because of his push.

Lion was nineteen years old, an adult, with military training; and Winter Thistle, although older, was not good at fighting, and the half-elf was much thinner than a human...

Lane felt a pang of regret.It is really wrong to treat someone who raised you with such a rude attitude.

These thoughts made Ryan a little distracted.When rushing through a corner, suddenly a cold light roared towards him.

Ryan was startled, he reacted extremely quickly, blocked the blow with the armguard of his left hand, and swung it away vigorously. The opponent's weapon drew a spark on the armguard, but did not hurt Ryan.

Ryan's left armguard is also strengthened by enchantment, it can be used as a stainless steel shield, and it is not as bulky as a shield, which will not prevent Ryan from holding a sword in both hands.

The opponent's weapon was swung in an arc, and before it could be retracted, Ryan drew out his long sword with his right hand and chased after it.

That person was probably not good at melee combat, he used a thin dagger that was only suitable for stabbing, and after a couple of parries, his footsteps became a bit messy.

Ryan didn't attack the vital point, he just wanted to subdue the man, but the man couldn't resist, and the weapon almost dropped.

At the same time, Ryan cleverly slashed from another direction. The opponent dodged, but his figure was not stable, and he lost his balance and fell to the ground.

Once down, that person has no chance to get up again.Lion's blade pointed at his neck, and the light of the crystal pendant shone on his face.

This person was wearing simple civilian clothes that fit the body, without armor, and had a light crossbow and leather arrow box hanging from his waist, but he had no chance to use it for the time being.He had a small hood attached to his clothes, which had slipped off after the fall, exposing his hair and face.

This turned out to be an elf.Brown hair tied back, lake-colored almond eyes, slender ear tips... a pure-blooded elf.

The elf was a little out of breath, but his expression was fearless. His gaze first stared at the holy emblem pattern on Ryan's chest, and then moved to Ryan's face.

"Who are you?" asked the Elf.

Ryan said, "You still ask me? Should I ask you first?"

The elf was silent for a moment, gasped for breath, and said, "Are you a Templar Knight? Are you a real Templar Knight? If so, why would you help them do these things?"

Ryan's answer was very honest: "At present, I am not a temple knight, but an apprentice knight, and I am on tour. I am just a temporary guard of the warehouse, not a long-term bodyguard."

After listening to his words, the elf kept staring at him, making Ryan a little uncomfortable.So he hurriedly asked, "Who are you? What are you doing sneaking around here?"

Said the Elf, "I am from the Isle of Yor, and a Messenger."

It turned out to be the Elf of the Isle of Joll, no wonder she looked a little different from the Sea Elf.

In addition to the human confederation of nations, there are three large elf settlements near the east coast of this continent, namely the Sea of ​​Trees, the Island Chain, and the Isle of Yoll.

The sea of ​​trees is the hometown of Winter Thistle's mother. Ryan lived on the border of the sea of ​​trees when he was a child; the island elves have honey-colored skin and black hair, and are extremely slender and short; Most hermetic, humans rarely have the chance to see them.

Ryan had never seen the elves of Yole before, and today was the first time.

The elves call themselves "outrovers".Lane had heard the word before.There are also many young people who are curious about the outside world among the elves of Yole Island. They violated the teachings of the patriarch, left their hometown, wandered around, and regularly brought back some important news or new objects.

However, it is said that his tribe did not appreciate it, and instead felt that these wandering young people were not worthy of the stage.

Although these elves live everywhere, they have never caused any trouble in human society.They attach great importance to dignity and will not do bad things like stealing, robbery and cheating.

Ryan moved the blade away, allowing the elf lying on the ground to get up a little bit.

The elf stepped back carefully and asked, "Knight, you don't know what they're doing, do you?"

"Speak straight, don't play tricks." Although Ryan withdrew his sword, he did not sheath it, and was still on guard.

Just when the elf was about to say something, footsteps came from behind Ryan.

Ryan was afraid that he was an accomplice of the elf, so he turned his body sideways so that he could keep an eye on the people behind him while guarding against the elf.

Seeing this opportunity, the elf stood up on the spot. Instead of using a weapon, he grabbed Ryan's sword with his palm and pushed it aside.

Ryan was taken aback.He could have stopped the elf's movement with his sword, as long as he exerted force, the sharp blade would cut the elf's hand...but he didn't move, and even relaxed the force on his hand.

The elf approached Ryan in two steps, grabbed Ryan's collar and pulled him to lower his head slightly, while he stood on tiptoe.

The elf turned to Ryan's ear and said in a low voice, "The black fish boat, after dusk, before nightfall."

After speaking, without waiting for Ryan to react, the elf stepped back, picked up the rapier on the ground with his toes, and quickly fled into the shadows of the night.

At this time, the sound of footsteps behind also approached.It was the guard patrolling the dock area, and he brought a caravan bodyguard.

When they found that Ryan had left, they always felt that something was wrong, so they searched nearby.

Ryan followed them back to the warehouse.After returning, Ryan will naturally explain to everyone what happened before.

He talked about how he found a sneaky figure, how he followed up alone, and how he chased here. He clashed with that figure a few times, and the other party didn't want to fight, so he ran away quickly.

However, he didn't elaborate on the appearance of that figure... He only said that the other person was wearing a hood and a scarf, so he couldn't see his face clearly, and he could only tell that it was a small male.

He also didn't mention the conversation he had with the other party, let alone the words "black fish boat".

He didn't know why he wanted to hide it, it seemed that he just had an intuition and felt that he shouldn't say it, so he didn't mention it.

Later, he calmed down and thought about it slowly, and felt that the elf didn't look like a villain, and there must be something hidden in it.

Hearing this, the bodyguards accompanying the team were not surprised, but said "I expected them to come".

So, the captain of the bodyguard found a time to get everyone together and said that he would have a small meeting.

The captain said, you temporary guards only work at the pier, so you don't know the dangers along our way. Now it seems that the bandits on the island have followed us all the way, so I have to explain things to you clearly.

According to him, their caravan originally consisted of twelve people, including bodyguards, guides and cashiers.There were only nine of them now, four of the bodyguards remained on the docks, and the civilian staff went to the city to recuperate.

The other three were of course dead, killed by the bandits they met on the road.

When they took over the shipment, they were targeted by a group of gangsters.The bandits are basically aliens, there are island elves, ogres, and barbarians from Pilot Island... The reason why those people want to snatch this batch of goods is not all for money, but for the fake magic weapon in it.

Those alien races have always wanted to steal these things. They think that whoever digs these things is the living messenger of the ancient god of the island.But they have no skills, no spellcasters, and no ability to explore the underground ruins, so they can only wait for outside adventurers to find the treasure, and then rob and kill it.

The caravan faced many crises on the island, and lost its companions because of it, and finally boarded the ship and set sail.The robbers were not able to cross the sea, and the boat was broken and slow, so the caravan got rid of them.

Unexpectedly, the robbers were really chasing after him, and even chased them to the border of Shandonia.Unable to enter the city, they can only hide on the nearby wild beaches, near which there are trails that can sneak into the docklands.Maybe the gangsters would send scouts to the docks to look for the shipment, and that might be the kind of scout Ryan encountered.

In the end, the captain reassured everyone that there is no need to be too nervous. What Ryan encounters may not be robbers, but maybe just local thieves who don't have eyesight.But after all, the caravan has faced danger before, so everyone can't relax their vigilance.

After hearing these things, the other two temporary guards were angry and scared, but Ryan didn't say a word, his face was solemn.

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When it was time to rest again, Ryan ran to find Winter Thistle as soon as he got back to the mansion.If the winter thistle is not in the room, then it must be in the laboratory.

Ryan took off his armor, washed up and rushed to the laboratory.When he was about to go around to the back of the house, he saw Aldin walking past from a distance through the flowers and plants.

Ryan felt a little strange for a moment.It's fine if it's Kanai, Aldin is not a mage, so why go to the laboratory.

Before Aldin entered the door, he turned sideways, and Ryan found that he was holding a large glass bowl in his hand.

Ryan was very surprised.There are many servants in Aldin's mansion, and he actually came to deliver food to Winter Thistle himself?

Ryan pondered for a while, thinking that this might not be a good thing either.Essentially, Aldin is Winter Thistle's employer, and it must be unpleasant for an employer to come up to you and stare at your work.

Lane remembered a similar experience with thistle before.They had just moved to San Dilian at the time, Lion signed up for City Watch training, and Winter Thistle went to work in a magic item shop.

The shop owner is very old and used to be a sorcerer. He doesn't trust his employees and keeps an eye on Winter Thistle's work every day.Winter Thistle needs to refine spell-casting materials, check the continuation of enchantments, check the quality of incoming and outgoing goods, and make customized items for customers... Throughout the day, the shopkeeper always keeps an eye on Winter Thistle. It's all annoying.

Unexpectedly, in Harbor City, Dongji once again ran into an employer who likes to mark people... Ryan sighed, feeling sorry for his brother.

In this case, he can't knock on the wall to talk.He can only wait until Aldin leaves, and he will come back to find Winter Thistle.