Alexander's Memoirs - The Trailblazers Chapter 7 Why I'm Not a Spellcaster
Two people and one wolf stepped onto the passage. Because the dense leaves covered their heads, almost no raindrops fell.
Walking on the jungle passage, I accidentally lowered my head and glanced, and I seemed to have discovered something new - the color of the soil in the middle of the road was lighter than elsewhere.
After careful analysis, judging from the sound it makes when stepping on it and the touch it feels when stepping on it, even the hardness is better than other places. It should be mixed with something special.
As we continue to move along the passage, the sound of water gradually fades away, and the trees on both sides of the road become more and more lush, making the passage narrower. There are even a few vines hanging down from time to time, blocking the view.
There was a shallow layer of broken branches and leaves on the ground, and weeds grew vigorously and tenaciously on this path, encroaching on this road that had not been visited for a long time.
Suddenly, one or two hares will emerge from the bushes on the side and disappear quickly into the dense forest. All of this swears to you that this is a pure land that has not been modified by humans and is a place where natural creatures can live.
paradise.
It seems that there are a lot of game here, but it is very troublesome to catch... Noli observed as she walked, paying attention to whether there were any changes in the road under her feet, and what types of plants appeared along the way. At the same time, she clenched her weapon and remained alert.
.
Unfortunately, the plants are all ordinary types, maybe some long grasses are pulled out and dried to be used as hay, and logs can be cut down and processed into wood.
Susie looked around from time to time, her muscles slightly tense, alert to dangers that might appear at any time in the jungle.
Perhaps she was lucky enough. When Noli was checking whether the plants growing on the roadside were of a functional type, she found a human footprint - a serious shoe print - under the shade of a tree about 20 meters away from the roadside.
There are no large horizontal stripes in the shoe prints, only small horizontal stripes and some vertical lines. They look like homemade straw sandals, not hard leather soles.
The footprints on the left are lighter, while the footprints on the right are heavier. Either this person is lame or he is carrying something heavy on his right shoulder. The footprints are still wet, so it seems that they were left not long ago.
Nolly called Susie softly and got closer to see the direction of the footprints. There were signs that the grass on the ground had been overturned.
Susie heard the sound and ran over to the footprints to smell them, but there was only the smell of mud after the rain, and there was a dense forest further ahead, which would definitely be troublesome to track.
Nolly took Susie and a reluctant Sherlock, carefully peeled away the weeds in the direction of the footprints, and chased them, following the series of footprints.
After only walking a few dozen steps, there was no sunlight shining through the leaves at all. After numerous attempts to push aside the vines and sawtooth grass in the dense forest, a path often passed by people appeared in front of the two men and the wolf.
They headed in the direction of the footprints. Beyond the lush forest path, the view was obscured by trees growing randomly. Soon the two heard voices at the end of the road.
Noli turned around and whispered instructions to one person and one wolf, and then got into the bushes. She moved the leaves in front of her lightly, and finally saw a section of the wooden wall through the gap.
So Noli slowly returned the same way, picked a big tree, hugged the trunk and climbed up. Since it was still raining, Noli almost fell down when her hand slipped.
As her vision gradually increased, those seemingly primitive villages protected by wooden walls were revealed in front of her - let's call them "tribes".
"There's something there. I need to observe it for a while. Sherlock, look at Susie and stay hidden."
"Ah... good dog, sit down. Yes, yes, don't stick your mouth out." As if she was dissatisfied, Susie began to grin at Sherlock.
From a high place, Noli saw several single houses on high platforms dragged up by wooden frames. Almost all of these buildings were exposed wooden structures without any stone masonry or tiles. These buildings were scattered at different heights and were of little use.
space, minimizing the loss of rainwater on the panels.
Children with light brown and dark brown skin were chasing and playing in the gaps between the buildings. It was as peaceful and comfortable as an ordinary small village - no one knew whether the arrival of adventurers would break this peaceful life.
On the other side, after finishing the last step of curing the meat, Alexander walked to Freya and planned to look at the map she drew.
This simple map is waterproof and durable, but its disadvantage is that it is not very precise. Freya obtained part of the captain's map logo before, but compared with the map in her own hand, it does not have much more exploration scope. After all, it was a temporary decision to make.
"Huh, it's finally solved." Freya raised her head and saw Alexander next to her and said, "You're here, do you have anything to add?"
"I don't think there's anything to add." Alexander looked at the map and began to circle the camp to be vigilant.
Freya looked at the sky and said, "It's already this time, why haven't they come back yet?" She stood up and caught up with Alexander and asked her, "Is something going to happen?"
"It's difficult to walk in this weather, so it may take a while. Forget it, I have nothing to do if I stay in the camp. I'll go to the joint and wait." Alexander walked towards the creek.
"Are you ready to go there alone?" Freya followed her.
"It can only be like this. And since nothing happened the first time, it proves that we are valuable, so I will not be attacked rashly, and we are adventurers." Alexander raised his head to observe the rain. With this straw hat, the problem
It shouldn't be big.
Freya shook her head and said, "Don't risk your life." Then she turned her head and took out a throwing knife and shot it at the tree trunk aside to keep it handy. "Then I will watch from the camp and move around."
When Alexander arrived alone, he found the crow resting on the branch. When the crow saw Alexander approaching, it fluttered away, as if it was afraid of being shot again. There was still a paper ball on the branch.
Alexander kicked the tree trunk, caught the fallen paper ball, and walked back to look.
It reads: "Most of the memories I have recovered, there should be things I left in the ruins of a temple, but I am a mage and it is difficult to deal with the monsters in the temple. Explore the temple and clean up the monsters there. This
It’s the first step.”
The crow suddenly flew back to Alexander, grabbed a black metal box from somewhere and threw it down.
Alexander quickly stretched out her hand and grabbed the box firmly. She carefully opened the box in the opposite direction to herself, and after two seconds, turned around to see what was inside.
There is a strange purple pointer inside. The pointer and the box are connected together. This should be some kind of device for finding direction.
As Alexander returned to the camp, he watched to see if the pointer would move as his position changed. No matter how he turned the box to change its position, it always pointed to the same coordinate.
From Alexander's location as the origin of observation, the direction is roughly on the other side of the lake but slightly north.
After knowing the direction, Alexander stuffed the note and the metal box into his bag. When he returned to the camp, he found the captain and said, "Good afternoon, captain. I have already taken over." Then he took out these two things and the first two from his shoulder bag.
On the note from Tian, I compared the handwriting and it was indeed the same person.
When Freya saw Alexander coming back, she just continued to practice her knife throwing skills. The captain rubbed his eyes, cheered up and said, "Really, how is it."
"Let me tell you briefly, I have only seen a vague figure and a series of footprints from the other party in the past two days. The rest of the news was brought by a crow that seemed to be well-trained." Alexander said, holding out two pieces of paper.
Pass the note to the captain.
The captain looked at the note in detail and then said: "I have no impression of this handwriting. I may not even know other people from the pioneer team."
"Hmm. There is a pointer in this box, pointing roughly to the east. I think the temple that the man who calls himself a mage mentioned should be in that direction." Alexander turned the box around.
"But I think the pioneering team cannot afford to hire a spell caster, and this pointer should be a magic item." The captain thought for a while and said this. It seems that the captain has recovered many more memories than the adventurers.
"Magic item?" Alexander probably has never heard of this term, and it's possible that he can't remember it.
"It is an item made by a spell caster and has special power." The captain briefly explained the source and function, but what is the essence?
"Um... In short, a spell caster is the one who makes magic items?" Alexander felt that he didn't understand it at all.
"Spellcasters can release spells or divine spells, ranging from repairing damaged objects to destroying solid city walls in an instant. Mage is just one type of spellcaster, there are also priests, warlocks, etc. Spellcasters who can create magic items
There should be only a few, so every magic item is valuable."
The captain paused: "There is no doubt that the end point of this pointer should be the so-called temple ruins."
"I plan to do what the other party said for the time being. After all, we intend to explore this jungle. No matter whether the other party is friend or foe, there should be valuable things in this temple." Alexander rubbed his forehead.
"Indeed, but there are monsters mentioned here, which is very dangerous." The captain was more cautious.
Alexander thought of the black smoke steaming after the death of the snake and then said: "This place is full of dangerous things. Since it is valuable, it is worth trying."
"Be careful." The captain reminded solemnly again, "The situation is far beyond what I originally expected."
"I will. Now that the matter is over, let's take it one step at a time." After Alexander finished speaking, he took the note from the captain's hand and walked back to the carriage, planning to sit and wait for the others to come back.
It was almost dusk when Nolly, Susie and Sherlock returned to the camp. As soon as they returned to the camp, the first thing Nolly did was to look for the captain and his companions, and Sherlock followed closely behind them.
When Alexander saw his teammates, he stood up and waved for them to come over.
Freya stopped her knife-throwing practice, took out the knife and put it back in her leggings bag. She temporarily let go of the scarred tree. As she walked over, she said, "It's so late. Did you encounter any trouble on the way?"
"It's like this. There seems to be a large tribe near our camp. They seem to be active around here often, but I don't know if they are friendly to outsiders." After returning to the camp, Susie also relaxed.
Then he walked slowly to the carriage.
Alexander called several teammates into the carriage and sat down. He never thought that Sherlock closed his eyes as soon as he sat down and seemed to be asleep. Of course, he might be pretending to sleep, but Alexander decided to ignore him: "How many people are there?"
Noli shook her head slightly and said: "I'm not sure. Judging from the number of houses, there may be about a hundred people. The location of the new camp probably needs to be reconsidered."
"Maybe, but it's not safe to move to the lake. There's no other place to move for now, right?" Alexander turned the box in his hand.
"Yes...so how was the contact this afternoon?" Nolly asked.
"There is still no one on my side. They only left these for me." Alexander said and handed the note and box to his teammates.
"...This is considered a guide? Are you planning to go?" Noli asked very calmly after reading the note.
"My personal opinion is to go. Anyway, our current mission is to explore this rainforest, and we will have to go sooner or later." Alexander gave an affirmative answer.
Freya took the box and looked at it and said: "...it feels like I was induced."
"However, the new information you brought. Even if the people of that tribe don't know who the mage who contacted us is, they must know something about that temple." Alexander took the box and the note and put them in his bag and continued:
"The question is whether to contact the people of that tribe first."
"Once we understand that temple, in addition to becoming a forbidden place, it will become a holy place, right? It seems that it won't be too easy for us to get close?" Noli seemed to have thought of something.
"That's what I think, the people of that tribe will not let us in, no matter what is inside." Noli touched Susie, who jumped on the carriage and squatted aside, and continued: "So we may need to
Avoid them."
"So, what's your opinion?" Alexander looked at Freya and continued: "That's what I think. Let's contact the people of that tribe first, and then I'll consider going to the temple after I find out the truth. I'm confident that I still have the ability to make clichés.
A little bit. In fact, if we still plan to hang out in this forest, this tribe basically still needs to meet each other, so it’s okay to say hello first, but I don’t know if they can understand us.”
"I personally hope to avoid them. After all, they may only speak native language, and I don't have the confidence to get close. Their equipment can reach far distances with their spears and guns alone," Noli said before Freya could.
"If there are so many people, we can never afford to offend them." Freya also expressed her opinion, although it would be the same if she didn't express it.
"Then, what do you mean, go to the temple directly? If we do this, if we make any noise in the temple and the tribe comes to investigate, it will be difficult to recover?" Alexander thought more than the two of them.
"In short, it's all about gambling. Betting on success in negotiation means gambling is illegal. If you said you are good at negotiation, maybe you can give it a try?"
Alexander changed his way of thinking: "Actually, from the perspective of which side we can afford to offend the mage and this tribe, it seems that the tribe absolutely cannot afford to offend them at the moment. We can give up going to the temple if necessary. That's what I think."
"You decide." As if she felt that she had said too much, Noli glanced outside. She got up and walked out of the carriage and sat on the ground to enjoy the wind, staring into the distance in a daze. Susie followed Noli and jumped out of the carriage, rubbing gently
Rubbed her thigh.
Alexander helplessly looked at Noli who went out wordlessly and sighed: "Now we just don't know anything, we are not strong enough to deal with unknown dangers, and there is nothing we can do about being in a dilemma. It's getting late today, we will visit tomorrow
That tribe."
"How...how do we communicate with the tribe?" Freya looked embarrassed.
Oops, doesn’t this feel weird? After hearing this, Noli felt that her actions were a bit demoralizing, but that was it.
"I can only bet that they understand what we are saying. If they don't understand, I'm afraid they will start a fight on the spot." Alexander shrugged.
"Lower your posture?" Noli inadvertently spit out the idea that came from nowhere.
The drizzle continued, and the sky was getting dark. "It's okay to keep your posture low, but there's no need to be too low. In short, it's useless to think about it now if we don't meet. I'll go help prepare the meal, that's it." Alexander said and went out.
Check to see if everyone during the day has returned and if anyone is cooking. If not, just do it yourself.
"Ouch?" Susie yelled softly as if she heard the word "eat".
"One more question... was the road we saw before built by the natives?" Freya followed Alexander and prepared to help.
"I'll find out if I can ask them tomorrow, if they speak the same language." Looking around the camp, there was only one technician preparing, so Alexander rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands, and started to help.
Freya had a headache and didn't know what to say, so she could only remain silent.
Sherlock really fell asleep and was not woken up until the meal was ready.
"I'll keep watch tonight, you guys have a good rest." After dinner, Noli suppressed this sentence. And this night she got up on time to keep watch, planning to wait until sunrise the next day to check on Susie again.
The condition of wound healing.
It was another quiet night, without incident. The captain still did not get up in the morning on the third day, hoping that his physical condition would not worsen.
After getting up, Alexander still helped to make breakfast. Breakfast was the same as yesterday's dinner and lunch. The lack of cooking utensils and seasonings meant that the methods were basically the same.
Even if he got tired of it, there was nothing he could do. Besides, Alexander was too busy with unfamiliar work and had no energy to learn any new tricks.
Freya absentmindedly played with the throwing knife and thought about what to do if the natives did not cooperate, what if the road was built by a third party, etc. This chapter has been completed!