When the dragon climbed rapidly at an extremely dangerous angle and passed through the clouds, Gawain didn't even feel the slightest bump or strong wind at high altitude.
This will undoubtedly be an extremely rare travel experience, and he will not miss observing any details during this journey. He noticed that Melita seemed to be covered with blood during the flight. Shrouded in a nearly transparent shield - if it were not for the disturbance caused by external air currents and clouds, he would not even have noticed the existence of this shield - the strong winds and temperature changes at high altitudes were unable to penetrate this shield. Shield, its function is somewhat similar to a combination of breeze shield and wind elemental blessing, but the effect is obviously far better than the latter two.
After asking, he confirmed that this layer of protection was not only to make the "passengers" on the journey more comfortable, but also a necessary auxiliary measure for Melita's flight.
"I wonder if Maggie has a similar 'protective talent' when flying." After crossing the clouds and entering a bright sky, Gawain's thinking was slightly divergent, "Dragon Clan The flying height and speed seem to be far higher than that of the Dragonborn, even the Dragonborn equipped with steel wings..."
"Don't think about these mind-burning things at this time, are you tired? Ah," Amber stood nearby and muttered casually, and then showed a hint of excitement, "Hey, it feels like a dream! I can actually have the experience of riding on the back of a dragon once in my life... There are so many bard stories where you don’t dare to brag like this casually! That’s the kind of treatment that only heroes get near the finale..."
"You can brag about this in the tavern after you go back. It's been half a year, right?" Gawain glanced helplessly at the half-elf who was starting to get carried away. "Be careful, falling from here is not just a matter of several consecutive shadow steps."
Amber didn’t know how to restrain herself at all, and her complacency became more and more serious: "Half a year is not enough, I can blow it until the Easter Day in three years..."
"Don't worry, it won't fall," A deep female voice came from the front. Melita turned her head slightly and said to the "passengers" on her back, "I have already prepared protection on the edge of my back scales."
Gawain looked Looking towards Melita's neck, I saw the beautiful scales covering it and the horny protrusions located on the back side of the blue dragon's head - they looked majestic and glistened in the sun.
“It seems that our treatment is indeed much better than that of Mordor Wilder six hundred years ago,” he couldn’t help but smile. “Back then, he was hung on your paws and flew all the way. "Bingyang."
"It's a pity that I don't even remember it," Melita was obviously in a chatting mood during this boring flight mission, "But it's normal, you are invited by the gods. A distinguished guest, but the adventurer six hundred years ago was an uninvited guest who broke into the Dragon Clan's territory, which is quite different." As he spoke, the Blue Dragon lady paused. , shook his head with a hint of regret: "But... if there is another chance, I will meet the person I am now.I really want to have a good chat with that adventurer back then. Maybe we can become friends. I am also willing to carry him on my back to travel to interesting places. We can even go on adventures together... Ten years , or a hundred years, humans will not live long. This is a very short contract for the dragon clan, but I think it should be exciting.
"After all, judging from that travel book, the adventurer seemed to be a very interesting guy."
Gawain didn't speak for a while, but just cast his gaze into the distance. He saw the clouds undulating and drifting under the wings of the dragon, stacked on top of each other like continuous mountains. There were gaps and wide gaps between the clouds. When Melita passed by those places, he saw The land below is already far away, and the outline of the coast is already faintly visible in the distance.
Human cities are dotted among those mountains and lakes, shining like gems in the sun.
This is really a beautiful world, worthy of an adventurer's lifetime exploration.
"Yes, that is indeed a very interesting guy. I quite admire him." He broke the silence with emotion, and then became curious, "You just said you would sign a contract with Modier." A one-hundred-year contract to travel with him on adventures - is it serious? Is it true that the dragon clan would do such a thing? "
"... …In fact, it’s not that easy. Dragons need to go through a very strict application and permission process to leave Tallond for a long time,” Melita said, “But this kind of thing does happen, but it’s just rare. Many of the stories are not completely made up, after all... Bards are the favorite profession of dragons when they travel in the human world, and we are very good at turning facts into stories in a dramatic way."
"Bards...some bards like to make up nonsense," Gawain curled his lips subconsciously, and somehow "Mr. Bard C" came to his mind, and then he quickly shook it off. Head, shake some inappropriate associations out of your mind.
Then he looked back at the large equipment placed on Melita's back - they were still running very well. Although it was already high in the sky, they were still in the static realm of magic. Within the range, these special magic network terminals and non-directional crystal arrays can still clearly receive signals from the high-power hubs on the surface, and the recording devices in these devices should have properly recorded Melita's climb and flight process. changes in signal strength and interference.
Frankly speaking, the value of these things in Gawain's mind is not even lower than his trip to Tallond - these precious data cannot be obtained under ordinary circumstances, especially After leaving the land and entering the sky above the sea, what these devices can collect are parameters that are beyond the reach of the current empire's technological level.
So Gawain cherishes this opportunity very much. After all... although he is very familiar with Melita, he would not be able to ask a giant dragon to perform surgery under normal circumstances.Tian carries several tons of experimental equipment to collect data for humans. In this regard, he, who has always valued "interests", also knows what to do.
"Will we stop to rest?" Amber on the side asked casually.
"Actually, I can fly all the way to Tallond - but the journey is not that urgent," Melita replied, "We will fly near the coastline and in several places in the northern seas. You can rest a few times on the island, and you can come down and move around - after all, you are flightless creatures, and this kind of long-distance flight is a big burden for those who are new to it."
Gawain. While listening to Melita's answer, some thoughts about long-term aircraft and long-distance air routes came to mind. He subconsciously deduced what other applications the empire's anti-gravity aircraft could have, and considered the possibility of establishing a long-distance air route from the edge of the wasteland to the Silver Empire. His thoughts spread wildly for a while before he gradually stopped.
Then he noticed Veronica sitting not far away and resting.
The "Saint Princess" has hardly spoken since Melita took off. Although she usually gives people a quiet and calm feeling, so far she has It was unusual to be silent.
She sat there quietly, with her hands folded on her knees, seemingly in a daze, her eyes looking forward without focus, and the platinum scepter that never left her body was not there at the moment. Beside her - Gawain knew that Veronica had given the scepter to Wright for safekeeping before setting off, and he had no doubt about it, but Veronica's silence along the way still made him a little concerned. stand up.
"Are you feeling uncomfortable in any way?" Gawain walked over and asked casually, "I feel like you didn't say much during the whole journey."
I don't know if it was an illusion, but he Feeling that Veronica seemed to be half a beat too slow to react, she raised her head and responded to herself in a calm tone: "Thank you for your concern, I'm fine."
Gawain frowned subconsciously - this For a moment, Veronica really felt like something was wrong. After thinking about it carefully, he vaguely figured out what was wrong: compared to usual times, Veronica at this moment was even less agile. Although Gawain usually always felt that this saintly princess was as perfect as a human being and as exquisite as a doll, that was just a vague feeling, but now... he really felt that she was from her. My body felt mechanically stiff and inflexible, and in that stiffness even the emotional ups and downs that humans should have were missing.
He frowned and looked at the other person up and down again: "Are you really okay?"
Veronica raised her head, her crystal-like beautiful but inorganic eyes She stared at Gawain seriously for a long time, and then she nodded suddenly: "Ah, it seems that I overlooked some details... Please don't worry, my condition is normal, and there are no problems with my body function and thinking ability. However, You should definitely feel something strange...don't worryThe heart is normal.
"I will suffer some weakening while staying away from the continent of Loren."
Will I suffer some weakening while staying away from the continent of Loren?
Gawain immediately noticed the information in Veronica's words. His expression became slightly serious, and there were questions in his eyes. But before he asked aloud, Veronica had already revealed a hint of He smiled and said lightly: "This is just the price of surviving so far."
"...I understand," Gawain stared at the other person for a few more seconds before relaxing his expression. , nodded slightly, "If you don't want to go into details, I won't ask further, but one day I still hope you can satisfy my curiosity. As for now... just make sure that this 'cost' will not affect our mission. Okay."
Veronica met Gawain's gaze with a smile on her face, as if the smile had been temporarily solidified. She nodded and said with her usual calm and calm attitude: "Of course. , I had already calculated it before setting off."
...
The filthy clouds surged and undulated, like some kind of disgusting, semi-gelatinous quagmire. Covering the sky and oppressing the earth, the whole world seems doubly depressed in these low-hanging clouds - and what is more oppressive than the sky is the dead and severely corrupted and polluted earth.
In the hinterland of the former empire, which was soaked in magic and turned into a wasteland, the black and hardened land is endless. The folds and radial cracks formed by the ancient shock wave spread outward from the center. Viewed from the air, it looks like a There is only a ferocious giant eye covered with bloodshot eyes, and in the center of this giant eye is a huge explosion crater sunken into a crater, and a cone-shaped structure formed by molten crystal pillars at the bottom of the explosion crater.
After seven centuries, the Deep Blue Well is still operating. There is an incredible surge of energy in the remaining reaction tower. A huge blue light pillar rises into the sky, straight into the clouds, and the light pillar meets the clouds. At the location, there was continuous lightning.
Around the Deep Blue Well explosion crater, there are now many things that did not exist before - small fortresses made of some kind of black polymer, as if they were growing together with plants and stones. There are small guard towers, weird and creeping woods, and a figure moving among the woods, the fortress, and the guard tower.
Those figures are several patrol teams. They are all wearing the uniforms of magisters from the ancient Gondor era. Both men and women have extremely perfect proportions and looks that are so exquisite that they seem to be artificially crafted. They are patrolling the empire. The surrounding areas of the capital - just as they did seven hundred years ago.
However, these patrol teams seemed not to notice the new fortresses and sentry towers that appeared around the impact crater. They directly bypassed the obstacles blocking the road and naturally changed the patrols that had been scheduled. route.
Even... they almost look like they are patrolling here to protect these fortresses.
The black fortress on the edge of the impact craterIn the group area, a large number of plant vines and gray matter that looked like mycelium aggregates covered the ground and surrounding buildings. With a burst of sound, a piece of plants at the front of the fortress suddenly squirmed and retreated to both sides, while several human-like figures Twisted creatures growing mixed with trees, with dry skin and proliferating branches, emerged from the underground tunnels.
The leader of these twisted creatures moved his roots and stepped to the edge of the impact crater. An old face appeared on his dry and wrinkled bark, with light yellow eyes embedded in the face. Staring at the bottom of the impact pit - the surging "Mound of Crystal Pillars" and the blue light erupting from the crystal are reflected in these eyes, making the latter more and more radiant with greed and yearning.
"The Deep Blue Well... We are only one step away from it..."
The leader of the tree people murmured to himself, he shook his branches, the boundary of the fortress group A bunch of vines immediately received the command, raised high and extended into the impact pit - however, as soon as the front ends of those vines crossed the boundary line, the "Crystal Pillar Hill" at the bottom of the pit reacted instantly, accompanied by several A bright light flashed, and the vines that crossed the border were directly burned into a gaseous state by the hot plasma beam. < /p>
The leader of the tree people, the current "Grand Priest of the Society for the Death of All Things" suddenly started to curse.