Chapter 34: The Bonfire and the Beginning of the Ancient Story
Mazak slowly walked to the level with Fang Plover, and faced the dragon with him. He raised the sword in his hand, and the black smoke diffused from the dragon spread back, as if he was very afraid.
This sword.
Fang Yu looked at this scene with some curiosity.
Of course he knew that Aitaria was not born because of the arrival of the chosen ones. The world itself has a long history. Several continents are suspended above the sea of clouds. There are countries, peoples, legends of the past, and bright bonfires.
There are so many ancient stories and legends circulating among them.
The sword in the hand of the innkeeper can make the black smoke so fearful and appear extraordinary. It is not even an alchemical weapon. The sword has left the bright mark of repeated tempering, and under the moonlight, it is like a smear of fluorescence. It may be forged
In a long time ago, the hammer fell on the anvil, sparks flew out, and it was born in the flames. It was one of the many dragon-slaying swords made by fairies.
Fang Yu knew the story, the story of goblins and humans forming an alliance to fight against giants and dragons. The goblins forged the five most famous dragon-slaying swords, which were held by the five ancient Oath Keeper clans.
Is the sword in front of him one of them? Those bizarre pictures appeared in his mind. Is it the Annihilator who drank the blood of the Dragon King? Or the sword of Moa that killed seven dragons? Or that?
The legendary sword was later acquired by the hero Shujod as the fairy's companion, Garapea.
I think it should be the latter.
Because he heard the angry low roar of the giant dragon.
Mazak pointed his sword at the behemoth and said in a low voice: "You are indeed alive, Nicol Bolas, but today is not the time to end all grudges. Leave, as long as I am here, you can't even think of harming this child.
"
The dragon let out an angry scream.
It lunged forward, but a dazzling light burst out from the sword, causing it to scream and retreat.
It looked at the sword tip with fear - it recognized this sword, and had drunk its blood, leaving it with unforgettable memories. The cold light on the sword tip still made the wound on its body hurt. Especially.
When the sword was pointed at it, it felt a throbbing in its heart, its right horn and right claw showed signs of physical collapse, and a heartbreaking pain came from its blind eyes.
It whined, reluctantly retracted its wings and took a step back, and the diffuse black mist also retreated. It looked at the two of them with a look that was both resentful and greedy, and said: "Oath Keeper, Oath Keeper, I
I will never let you go again, just wait, the flames of revenge will burn us all together - the star of disaster has arrived again."
As it spoke, it spread its wings and slowly rose from the water. The wind pressure blew the water and raised waves. The mangroves roared, but only Mazak remained motionless. The giant dragon glanced at the two of them for the last time in mid-air.
, turned around and flew into the vast night sky.
Fang Plover raised his head and vaguely saw it flying towards the depths of Traveler's Swamp.
He was about to ask something. But the innkeeper was slowly sheathing his sword and raising his right index finger to signal him to be silent.
After a while, a distant scream came from the depths of the swamp. The whistle was completely different from anything Fang Plover had heard before. It was so majestic and powerful that it made the entire swamp feel overwhelmed.
Trembling.
There were slight ripples on the water surface, and the mangroves were also trembling, and the leaves were hanging down one after another. A flock of aquatic birds appeared in the distance, and flew up into the sky in a black mass in the night sky. The noise echoed through the sky, over the heads of the two people, towards the swamp.
Went outside.
Fang Yu looked at this scene with his mouth wide open.
The towering man on the side looked as normal. He turned his head and said to Fang Plover: "This is the real dragon roar, how do you feel?"
The long roar from before was still echoing in Fang Yu's mind. He didn't know how far away the depths of the swamp were from here, but he thought it wouldn't be too close. After hesitating for a moment, he asked with some trepidation: "...What on earth is that?
?”
"That is the true form of Nicol Bolas, but they generally call it the Dragon Witch. It fell deep in this swamp thirty years ago. What you saw before was just its severed parts.
It's just the remaining strength in a horn." Mazak said as he waded forward and dropped a sentence: "If you want to hear a story, just follow me -"
At this time, Fang Yu saw two lines of prompts appearing on his system window from left to right:
‘The event is over and the experience gained is recorded - 33,000 points.’
‘Already stored in the event directory——Dragon Witch.’
'Superior event catalog, the arrival of the third evil star.'
He took a breath of air-conditioning and was almost shocked by this experience reward. The system's summary and record of cognitive experience is divided according to the level of the events behind it - according to the length of the process, the wider the scope, the number of participants
How much, the strength of the enemy, and most importantly, the far-reaching impact it has on the entire world, will give varying degrees of rewards to the inspirers, participants, and experiencers.
Among them, the longer the event, the wider the scope, the more people involved, the stronger the enemy, the more profound the impact on the world, and the more rewards are given.
What does thirty-three thousand experience mean? In the Artisans Guild and the Adventurer Hall, a task that takes a team below level five to complete takes a week or more, and the reward is equally divided among everyone, which is almost this
One-tenth of a number.
It is very common for an ordinary selector to go through the normal process before reaching level 10 and be promoted to a level in about half a year. Only elites trained by major guilds can be promoted to level 10 or above within two or three years.
Thirty-three thousand experience, for an individual, is equivalent to completing a 'feat' or a 'glorious deed'. In Aitaria, a typical 'feat' is almost equivalent to having someone in a building.
The degree of fame in a city.
And knowledge refers to experiencing an event - not inspiration and participation. The rewards of the latter two are definitely much greater.
Is just experiencing such an event enough to make someone famous in an area with a population of tens of thousands? Fang Pliance really can't imagine how far-reaching an event is required to achieve this.
It's a pity that no one can tell him the answer to this question——
Because in the information state world of Aitaria, the laws and reality are very different - the system seems to have a power that transcends everything here. It always predicts and sifts clues in advance, but often leaves only a piece of information.
language information.
The 'Dragon Witch' incident in the prompt is easy to understand, but Fang Plover is still thinking about its superior directory and what the so-called 'The Coming of the Third Woe Star' is. But every time at this time, he can't help but
I still have too little understanding of the first world.
Mazak has traveled further and further.
Fang Plover looked over there, then put down his thoughts and chased after him. The former was not walking very fast, and he wanted to wait for him to catch up. After catching up with him, Fang Plover remembered what the other person had said before - he was still a little surprised.
: Just the remaining power of one of the dragon's severed horns can transform into a leader-level monster. So how strong can Nicol Bolas's true form be?
And who is the Dragon Witch?
According to the records of the Silver Tower, the last Dark Dragon died in the Dead Swamp. Are there any other Dark Dragons living in this world after that?
But when he opened his mouth, he asked about another unrelated matter: "Where are we going? Mr. Mazak, why don't we go back to the hotel?"
"It's not safe in the hotel now," the tall man replied, but his tone was a little disapproving, more disdainful than worried. Fang Yu thought he was referring to those who triggered the mission, so he did not ask further questions.
After a while, the former continued: "There is a forest ahead, which is the secret base of your companions."
"Secret base?" Fang Yu was stunned for a moment, and then he remembered that this was not the first time he heard this term.
It was a dense redwood forest. The terrain was elevated, forming a dry slope here. The redwood forest surrounded the island and grew extremely well. The root network inserted into the water was like a maze. Mazak led the square plover in the water network.
I turned left and right and walked for a while before I set foot on solid ground.
Fortunately, they met Tianlan and Jita here, as well as Luo Yu and the Papalar crossbowmen. It turned out that after they heard the dragon roar, they knew that the dragon had flown away, and decided to
Wait here to meet the others.
Tian Lan was extremely surprised when she saw Fang Plover: "Ah, Brother Ed, how do you know this place?"
Behind the little French girl, Luo Yu and Jita were building a stove with wet mud, apparently preparing to light a fire to dry their clothes. The others were fine and only got their pants soaked, but Jita was short because of her stature.
Almost all the body was wet.
Parker was sitting under the tree, struggling to pour out the water from his boots, and unexpectedly poured out a whitebait, flopping on the ground. Several people looked in the direction of Fang Plover, and only Jita turned slightly sideways.
body.
Fang Yu glanced at the 'little young lady' with some surprise, but was surprised to see that the other party's wet robe clung to her body. Although the curve of her chest was very thin, it was also exquisite and graceful.
He thought he had made a mistake and couldn't help but take another look. But he saw Jita lowering her head and whispering to him: "Mr. Ed..."
"ah--"
"Sorry sorry."
Fang Yu blushed and quickly looked away. Of course, he was not an idiot. He had more or less guessed it in his mind, but he just confirmed it now. "Well, I just didn't expect it..." He touched his nose.
, said a little embarrassedly.
"It's none of your business, that's Parker's fault," Tian Lan said angrily.
Fang Plover glanced at the Papalar man curiously, wanting to know what good deed he had done. But after the little French girl explained, he understood that it was Mr. Papalar who bought Jita's robe.
——According to the usual logic of Papalar people, of course he bought it based on his own style.
He couldn't help but shook his head.
At this time, several other people saw the taciturn hotel owner behind Fang Yu. When Tianlan saw Mazak, she couldn't help but stick out her tongue: "Ah, good evening, Mr. Mazak - no wonder Brother Ed can
Found this place!"
Mazak nodded to them.
He walked to the bonfire, which was filled with dry firewood he had picked up. He took out the match, skillfully scratched it on the stone, and then ignited the velvet and moss in the center of the firewood. The bright flame soon rose.
Got up.
Mazak then turned around, threw a white glass bottle to a few people, and said, "Take care of it first."
Fang Yu still wanted to say that he was not injured, but when he saw the actions of several other people, he knew how ignorant he was. The bottle turned out to be salt - salt is the most important necessity for traveling in the swamp.
things.
It is the nemesis of leeches.
Although he had only walked in the inlet for a few minutes, Fang Plover saw the power of these little things. He watched Mazak sprinkle salt on the leech, and watched the thing shrive up and break away, turning into a pool of blood.
The others followed suit, but Tian Lan was the only one making a fuss, as if the one who died was not a leech but herself.
Not long after, another girl's figure appeared in the mangrove - it was Aitila. When Tianlan saw Aitila, she screamed and plunged into the latter's arms, almost knocking Aitila into the water.
Jita seemed to be very happy, but she hesitated and still didn't go.
Aitila smiled bitterly and pushed Tianlan away. She was slightly startled when she saw Fang Pulver, and then a warm and soft look appeared in her eyes.
Fang Yu foolishly asked the elf girl if she needed salt, but Mazak looked at the pendant on Atila's chest and told him that believers in Aimaya would not be attacked by wild animals, including insects.
.
Of course, except for the crazy ones——
The bonfire was burning brightly, and Etila came over and sat down by the bonfire. Everyone was drying their clothes around the bright flame. Jita looked at the innkeeper with a little curiosity. Of course, she was not only curious about why he appeared.
at this place.
More importantly, everyone wants an explanation for what happened in the hotel.
Mazak silently pulled out the dragon-slaying sword Jalapea a few inches from its sheath, letting the bright sword light reflect the flames and fall on his face. He slowly pulled out the entire sword, and then spoke to the opponent.
Plover said: "Almost a hundred years ago, my ancestor used this sword to seriously wound Nicol Bolas, and in that battle, he cut off one of its horns and claws."
"Your ancestor?" Jita bent her knees, put her legs together, and faced the bonfire with her little hands, and whispered in surprise: "Mr. Mazak, are you a descendant of Shuyode?"
"Our family is indeed the descendant of the Oath Keepers," Mazak rubbed the blade of the sword with his fingers and whispered: "Don't forget the dead enemies——"
His voice was very long, and among the dancing bonfires, everyone was drawn into that era, when dragon wings covered the sun and flames burned the city.
"Wait a minute," Fang Plover said, full of doubts, "Mr. Mazak, is that the horn that Nicol Bolas was chopped off at that time? Was it chopped off by the dragon-slaying hero Shjod himself?"
Shjod was a legendary hero who was active in the Cloud Sea area about a hundred years ago. There are many legendary stories and songs about him in the Kaolin-Ithurion area. The most well-known one is that he slayed the dragon with caution.
He held the legendary dragon-slaying sword, Garapea, and defeated the evil dragon of Istania.
But the evil dragon is not necessarily the dark dragon.
The legend about the dark dragon ended seven centuries ago in the great battle in the Dead Swamp. It ended with the death of the last dragon "Helltongue" under the Holy Sword of Morning Light - the master of that sword was also a dwarf.
Legendary hero, Valit, King of the Steel-Browd Dwarves.
But if you think about it carefully, neither in official documents nor in folk tales, the color of the dragon Shujod killed was never mentioned.
Today, Mazak, the innkeeper who claims to be a descendant of Shujod, holds the dragon-slaying sword Jalapea and tells them that his heroic ancestor fought off a black dragon that day - and the black dragon is without exception
Believers of darkness are the most prominent type among the dark dragons.
And he also told them that the dragon was called Nicol Bolas, also known as the Dragon Witch. His ancestors did not kill it, but only seriously injured it, killing it in that battle.
He cut off one of its horns and claws, and blinded one of its eyes.
But Jita had never read a single word about this story in El Paxin's great library. Only Fang Plover remembered the name. He remembered that it came from the mouths of the strange pair of masters and servants.
Came out.
But that impressive blonde girl is now missing.
He asked Miss Fairy in his mind again, but the latter sat on his shoulder and shook her silver ponytail, but she had no idea.
After listening to Fang Plover's question, Mazak was silent for a long time before asking: "That's a long story, do you really want to hear it?"
"Think about it, think about it." Tianlan nodded as if she was pounding garlic.