Shadowland.
Gawain doesn’t know what understanding of the Shadow Realm today’s human countries have, but in those inherited memories, the Gondor Empire more than 700 years ago did a lot of research in this area. ——Those poor scholars spend all day looking at boring books and data, and staring at the lattice ruler buried in the magic well, in order to speculate on what the world really looks like, and there is a classic model used to describe it. The "stratification" of the world.
In this classic model, scholars believe that the world is divided into several "levels", of which the uppermost level is the most stable material world. Everything in it has rules to follow and can be directly contacted. It is easy to observe, and it is also the realm where most living things in the world live; and below the material realm is the shadow realm that most humans cannot directly contact. The shadow realm is a distorted reflection of the material realm, and ordinary humans cannot directly contact and It can be observed, but it can be perceived and measured through skills in the magic and spiritual realms; further down from the Shadow Realm is the Shadow Realm, which is a more illusory and mysterious area, and is the reflection of the Shadow Realm. To the extent that no magic or mental power can explore it, some lucky magicians caught a few shadow creatures with basic sanity and the ability to communicate, and then guessed the existence of the shadow world from the 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 world, but that layer already belongs to the realm of gods, the creator god. The "foundation of origin" laid when creating this world is no longer something that mortals can study.
From Gawain's understanding, this model is like layers of translucent kraft paper. The real image of the real world is at the front, and the shadow of this real image is projected on the layers of paper. , the further back it gets, the more blurry and distorted it becomes.
What he and Amber were on was the back of the first piece of paper - the Shadow Realm.
Even if it is only the second level, it is already a place that most humans have never set foot on.
He wisely did not ask why Amber had the ability to enter the Shadow Realm at this time - and judging from Amber's words just now, it was her first time to "enter such a deep place". If you ask more questions, you will probably not get any answers.
There are still many secrets in this world worth exploring, and many things cannot be understood by hanging in the sky for many years.
After a simple judgment, Gawain felt that following Betty's footsteps was the only breakthrough point.
But before leaving the scene, he still looked back a little uneasily. Hetty, Rebecca and others were still standing there frozen in the state of "porcelain dolls", their bodies were being realized. In the world, they resisted the invasion of the mist of resentful spirits, but in the projection of the Shadow Realm, they were frozen at the moment of the attack, and the black mist seeping out from the underground was constantly disintegrating them.
Fortunately, judging from the speed of the fog erosion, they stillFor a while.
"Perhaps this is the true state of the Wraith Mist," Amber also glanced at Gawain's line of sight, shook his head and said, "What do you think if our discovery is sold to the Arcane Society or the Astromancer Association? How much is it worth?"
"They will pour a bunch of potions on you, tie a recording crystal on your head, and then throw you into the Shadow Realm to be used as a human detective. ," Gawain rolled his eyes at Amber, "Follow me, business is important."
As Amber followed Gawain, he was still mumbling: "But I can let you come forward, no matter what, you are also Ansu. The founding ancestor of the country, can they still give potions to the ancestors?"
"What do you think?" Gowen asked, "They are willing to hang me on the wall and write it in a book? , offered on the table, and even the king is willing to lead the whole family to put a bouquet for me in person every year and give me three days off - there is no risk and I can earn a good reputation, but if this ancestor really gets out of the coffin When I popped out, the first reaction of the people who had me on the stage was probably to push me back into the coffin, and then hammer me into more than two hundred nails from all directions. The more severe ones would probably even fill me with lead..."
Amber was shocked and stunned: "Why?!"
Gawain glanced at the half-elf who was not enlightened, and threw back angrily: "Because the three-day tomb-sweeping holiday in the country is... No more!"
After saying this, Gawain strode forward, leaving Amber to react for a long time before suddenly shouting: "Wait a minute! You don’t have a day off when you’re sweeping the tomb! You only have three days off when you’re paying homage to the founding king! You died early, so you don’t know…”
Gawain almost fell down.
However, although Amber has given up the idea of selling the Shadow Realm information, Gawain has his own plan. He is full of curiosity about the Shadow Realm, or... he is full of curiosity about the entire world. .
So one day, he will understand all this.
The series of footprints did not extend very far.
Perhaps the environment in the Shadow Realm is so special that the habit of judging distance and distance in the material world is difficult to take effect here. Gawain and Amber only walked a short distance along the footprints, and a wooden house suddenly appeared. The land appeared before them.
The wooden house is small and dilapidated. I don’t know how long it has been standing here. A circle of incomplete fence can be seen around the wooden house. Judging from the sparseness of the fence, I am afraid it can no longer play any defensive role. . In the corner of the wooden house, Gawain noticed a touch of color.
It is the color of moss, which looks extremely abrupt in this black and white world, and as time goes by, that little bit of color is fading rapidly.
Betty’s footprints extended all the way to the door of the cabin.
Hubo pulled out his small dagger and nervously gestured in front of his chest: "You will rush in with the God of Descendant to cut melons and vegetables later, and I will hold the line for you from behind...”
Gawain thought for a moment and resisted the urge to hold Amber by her collar and throw her into the mines. Instead, he placed one hand on the hilt of the Pioneer Sword and the other hand. He carefully opened the gray-white door.
However, no attack came.
The wooden house was just an ordinary house, old and dilapidated, like a house. Black and white old photos.
But there are people inside.
A bearded man wearing a shabby short robe is sitting behind a square table in the middle of the wooden house. He is so haggard and vicissitudes of life. Gawain couldn't tell his true age at all, and behind this man, he could see two wooden shelves filled with bottles and jars and an old alchemy table throughout the house. You can see the devices needed for magic experiments, but they are all piled up with more tattered debris. Any normal mage would probably have the urge to cry when he sees this shabby and miserable scene.
The man behind the square table raised his head, looked in the direction of Gawain, and showed a stiff smile: "Ah, guest - no guest has come to my laboratory for a long time. And there are two of them? "
Amber poked her little head out from beside Gawain. The half-elf girl's face was full of vigilance: "No... don't fight? "
Gawain did not draw his sword, but he did not let his hand leave the hilt too far. He walked into the wooden house in a state of being able to attack at any time: "We are passing by here to find someone - yes A girl about fifteen or sixteen years old, she was holding a pan..."
However, the man behind the table did not seem to hear Gawain's words. He just smiled dullly and nodded slightly: " Please find a place to sit. Annie is preparing lunch. There is no place to rest in the deep mountains and forests. If you don't mind, just stay here to eat. "
"Annie? "Gawain asked subconsciously.
"She is my daughter," the man smiled. "She is very well-behaved. "
At this time, a girl's exclamation came from the side: "Master? "
Gawain looked around and saw Betty standing by a small door in the corner of the wooden house with a surprised look on her face.
"Betty? It's good that you're okay," Gawain suddenly 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’s almost time, Dad.” "
The little girl turned around and went back to the kitchen. Gawain and Amber exchanged glances. After confirming that the strange man behind the square table had no reaction, they followed.
Betty was cooking in the kitchen, using her precious pan. A pale flame danced on the stove, and the sausages on the pan were sizzling.
The focus is very strange: "Can you cook in the Shadow Realm? ”
“How is this?What's going on? "Gawain came to Betty and asked in a low voice.
It can be judged from the little girl's demeanor that she was not affected by spells such as mind control, but she stayed here to do what she wanted of her own will. Rice, and calling the weird man outside "Dad" - this is really strange
"I don't quite understand," Betty's face showed a bit of confusion as always, "But. The person outside seems to regard me as his daughter..."
Hubo's eyes widened: "Then you are so obedient and treat me as your father? "
Betty shook her head: "He is very pitiful...so I just want to cook him a meal before leaving." ”
Gawain and Amber looked at each other.
Then Betty suddenly reached into the pocket of her maid skirt and took out an old notebook and handed it to Gawain.
"Master, here - this is what the man gave me. I can't understand a lot of things in it, but you should be able to understand. ”
Gawain took the notebook which was not very thick in confusion, opened it and hurriedly flipped through the records on the last few pages.
Amber curiously put her head to the table Before: “What what? Let me see, let me see... magic formula? Rune sorting? "
The half-elf lady, who was confused by those complicated symbols and calculations, raised her head and looked at Gawain with a confused face: "So that weird old man is actually a mage? "
"Strictly speaking, he is a wild mage," Gawain rolled up his notebook and knocked on Amber's head, "And didn't you realize it when you saw so many magical experimental equipment when you walked in? What! ”