Capítulo 1589: Chapter 1589: Lostwoods
It wasn’t that a specific form of monster appeared in the dense forest; at this mont, it felt more like this woodland called “Lostwoods” had co to life, with a kind of malice akin to the complete loss of control in an “Interstice of Life and Death,” making Shard run faster and faster through the forest.
He sensed his stamina depleting at an abnormal rate, and his body temperature was rapidly dropping. Even more unusually, he felt thirsty and hungry, although he was sure he had adjusted his state before setting off.
“It’s this terrible environnt again, why does it always make
run a distance first?”
But luckily, as before, constantly running forward, despite the increasing hunger and fatigue, he saw a firelight appearing between the trees watching the corpses and the thin mist. It was as if a lost traveler found hope, compelling Shard to run even faster. When he finally entered the range of the firelight, he discovered it was a small camp in the forest.
The crackling bonfire seed to shield all the malice in the Fog Woodland, and its glow was so reassuring. However, the smallness of the camp surprised Shard as he walked in completely.
A bonfire and a worn-out single small tent were the only markers in the camp. The area illuminated by the bonfire was about the size of Shard’s bed, and the ragged small tent stood isolated at the edge, probably serving more as a decoration.
Though tiny, it still appeared very reassuring compared to the foggy woodland, like a sanctuary in an apocalypse, the only safe room in a haunted manor.
At this mont, four people—two n and two won—were resting around the bonfire. As Shard sized them up, they also looked at him because they heard footsteps. The eyes of the four were sowhat empty and numb, almost like corpses looking at Shard, and even the crackling bonfire couldn’t dispel the feeling that their souls were about to leave their bodies.
Fortunately, Shard’s arrival seed to break so peculiar balance in this small camp. After looking at him, the four gradually “ca to life,” with the fire of living souls rekindling in their eyes.
However, although it had only been 20 years since Shard last encountered Witch Chloe, these companions clearly did not include that silver-haired, petite, adorable lady.
“Yes, it can’t always be such a coincidence to et soone familiar.”
Shard did not recognize any of the four companions, but it is worth ntioning that although there were two won present, only one of them was a witch. The witch was the one who looked about the sa age as Dorothy and Lecia; she had light brown hair and covered her legs with a skirt while sitting on a soft pad on the ground. The other ordinary young woman, who looked even younger than her, wore a long dress resembling a nun’s robe, presumably the witch’s maid.
The other party was not wearing a maid’s outfit; Shard deduced this from their positions and temperants. After all, he knew too much about a witch’s maid.
The remaining two n, with dull eyes, were unsurprisingly ordinary people.
Among them, the older man had hair that was already half white, but his gradually recovering deanor was rather sharp. He wore silver-gray full body armor, making his cross-legged posture sowhat inconvenient. The chest of his armor bore a painted iris flower emblem, and beside him lay a longsword and a hand crossbow. Although older, he was clearly a skilled knight.
The remaining man appeared to be about thirty years old, and his attire was quite flamboyant. Colorful silk apparel, tasseled boots, a feathered hat, red nail polish on his ten fingers, and a lute placed beside him all indicated his extraordinary taste. However, this did not make him appear effeminate, though Shard found him sowhat peculiar.
“This must be a noble of this era.”
Shard speculated in his heart, then also approached from the edge of the firelight. But he did not greet the four because he wasn’t sure what language they were using for the ti being.
The witch looked at him in a daze, and after a sudden start, her eyes fully ca back to life. She looked at Shard in astonishnt, surprised not only because soone else had arrived but also because she discovered sothing unusual about Shard:
“Are you a man or a woman?”
Shard was not surprised at all by this question.
The unique ability of linguistic comprehension allowed Shard to understand her words, and then he drew from the knowledge of [Witch Echo: Chloe] to gain so knowledge about the witch’s writing. Unfortunately, it was not the common language taught by Saint Byrons for this era, and Shard could barely provide an answer with the [Witch Echo]:
“Male.”
He said, extending a finger, and a silver moonlight blossod at his fingertip:
“Yet I can also use supernatural abilities.”
As the witch displayed increasingly shocked expressions, he further explained:
“I am not an ordinary human; there can’t possibly be a second existence like , so you don’t need to worry.”
Approaching the witch, Shard cautiously sensed she should be around the eleventh to twelfth rank.
The young witch looked at him suspiciously, clearly not fully accepting his explanation. So Shard took the initiative to extend his right hand. The witch didn’t expect him to be so proactive, but still grabbed his wrist, let go after a mont, and then looked at her own palm.
Fortunately, in such a bizarre place, she didn’t have ti to delve into Shard’s secrets. She shook her head abruptly:
“Damn it, I can’t even tell if this is a hallucination or reality anymore. Sit down; it’s good to have a helper skilled in spellcasting. I am Aleira Andriana of the Zaras Academy, and this is my maid Clara.”
Shard then sat down between the two ladies and the two n. In the firelight, hunger and fatigue strangely dissipated. The n were seated across the campfire, away from the witch, which was a ans of self-protection in this era.
“You’re from the Zaras Academy? Do you know the witch Chloe Marcus Marquez?”
Shard asked curiously in simple phrases, while the other three ordinary people were still recovering from a numbness of the soul.
Among the witches of the Zaras Academy he knew from the Fifth Era, there were not many, and those appearing with Miss Orland and Fiona in the “Valley of Dead Silence,” like Miss Samuel, probably hadn’t been born yet. So, the only one he could ntion was Chloe.
“Yes.”
Upon hearing the na, the young witch imdiately nodded:
“This lady ventured alone to the Northern Continent twenty years ago to explore her path to becoming a demigod, which was quite famous in the Academy. We thought she might never return or would appear only much later, but she returned within just a couple of months with the powers of a demigod witch. I bet Miss Marques is the witch who has most smoothly ascended to demigod status in this era… You know her?”
“I’ve heard of her.”
Shard replied simply, then looked at the maid behind her, who seed montarily dazed, then greeted softly:
“Hello, sir.”
Shard then looked towards the two n. The man in armor, with graying hair, recovered a bit faster and was the first to speak:
“What is the situation now… Sorry, let
introduce myself first, I am Knight Zaphir Yellen from the Kingdom of Nabus. I’m not quite sure what this place is; I only rember getting lost on my way ho, wandering extensively in the forest, hungry and tired, before finally seeing this place. I originally intended just to rest for a mont and inadvertently forgot… With my usual vigilance, I wouldn’t typically be so easily lured by the strange firelight between this Dark Forest… By the way, where is my horse?”
He grew increasingly perplexed about his decision at the ti and grew more confused as he ntioned his supposed steed.
But fortunately, he was indeed still among the living, not a lost soul after death.
The flamboyantly dressed man also spoke, covering his forehead with a frown, using the sa language as the witch, maid, and knight:
“Your Excellency the Witch, sir, hello. I am Baron Dika Enriquez from the Mohor United Kingdom in the Southern Continent, though I prefer my identity as a bard.”
He wanted to boast about his awarded accolades but, daunted by the witch’s presence and the danger here, didn’t dare say too much:
“I spent a large sum of gold recently to buy a ritual from a peculiar witch, who claid it would allow
to embark on a grand adventure to find a treasure. Following the map, I entered the Dark Forest under the kingdom’s jurisdiction and accidentally lost my way. My servants were separated from , and the hired adventurers disappeared sowhere, then… yes, I fainted from hunger on the ground, and when I awoke, I saw the glimr here and entered this campsite. The fire is indeed warm… By the way, how long has it been since I ca here? Why was I just staring dazedly at the fire?”
He also fell into a state of doubt over his mory, and his surna caught Shard’s attention, aligning with that of the protagonist from the Enriques love story he encountered in Randall Valley, though it was surely a coincidence.
“Madam, do you understand the situation here?”
Shard asked the witch again, who noticed that his speech seed sowhat awkward but didn’t mind too much:
“I don’t know if there’s any treasure here, but there’s certainly danger.”
Her golden eyes looked at the campfire in front of her, and the Spirit’s flow within the soul revitalized the numb spirits.
“I’ve heard the legend of this place—the Lostwoods, a place where ti and space blur, lying in wait for adventurers and travelers before their death. If one loses their way at any corner of the Material World, they might end up here before dying. anwhile, The Great One—the God of Travelers listens to the stories of people’s journeys. If you can please this deity, the lost traveler might find their way ho, but for most people, this place is rely a resting spot before death.”
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