Chapter 2606: Sorcery - Forest Path

The information on "Ancient Ruins" and "Dangerous Zones" marked on the map was also not very detailed. If Xia De wanted to know the details, he would have to explore them himself. He also specifically found the forest where the elf girl was temporarily staying on the map. The hermits, of course, had also discovered the peculiarity of that place and marked it as "Extremely Dangerous, Not Easy to Enter."

Also because this map, although detailed in terrain, lacked key information, the selling price was not expensive.

And Mr. Meloni and Mr. Davis also admitted that the secrets known to the Hermit Society were by no means only those marked on the map. Just to preserve the seal on the Paradox Worms in this forest land, they would not display all that information. But if Xia De really encountered trouble and needed help, he could also come here at any time to ask them for specific intelligence.

After all, no one knew exactly which measures were used to seal the "Paradox Worms," so hiding some information would be safer.

Besides the map, during the years that the 【Forest Hermit Society】 explored the forest land, they had also found stone tablets or ancient objects left in the ruins in quite a few ancient ruins.

They had never destroyed any ruins, but for those ruins that were severely damaged, they didn't mind moving the stone tablets and ancient objects away. Therefore, at the bottom of the hermits' "Goods List," there were a large number of sundries whose origins even they themselves did not know.

Xia De was quite interested in this. Leaving Miss Danister to continue talking with Mr. Davis, he followed Mr. Meloni to the underground warehouse on the side.

Not long after, when Xia De returned, his hands were full of an antique silver-plated vase with a distinct elven style, a notebook recording local demon legends, a scroll of parchment with prayers of the followers of the Old God 【Forgotten Old Man】 copied on it, and a very beautiful pure silver jewelry box inlaid with rubies.

In the end, Xia De's shopping list this time was: Time Stability Anchor x1, Acorns x30, Sorcery - Forest Path, Sorcery - Colorful Divine Berries (for Dorothy), Sorcery - Acorn Blessing Art (for Luweiya), Forest Land Map, and Sundries x4. Besides that, there were some local unique potion materials and souvenirs, which he planned to take back to give to his friends.

The "Time Stability Anchor" was exchanged using 【Noble Blood Red】, and other transactions were paid with cash. The incantation Miss Danister chose was relatively cheap, so Xia De took the initiative to pay for her as well.

This afternoon, besides asking about Paradox Worms, time travel rules, and shopping, the two also chatted more with the hermits and agreed to fight against the 【Tree Hole Society】 together.

It was currently known that the 【Tree Hole Society】 mastered at least one tree hole, and that dragon beast from the past crawled out from that tree hole. The hermits would help look up historical records of dragon beasts appearing locally to locate the point in time to which that dragon beast belonged.

If the records could specify the time of its death, then perhaps there would be a chance to solve it permanently.

"You want to travel through time and kill that dragon in the past? But this does not affect the 【Tree Hole Society】 using it at a point in time before the dragon died."

Mr. Davis reminded him, and Xia De certainly understood this point:

"So the best result is that we cannot determine the time of that dragon's death. This way we can go to the era of the 【Tree Hole Society】 and kill it. Of course, if we can snatch that tree hole, perhaps we won't even need to solve the dragon."

"Mr. Watson, do you want to create history?"

"No, no, history has already happened, and the fate of that dragon in the past was already determined at the point in time when we are talking now. I will not create history; I just want to complete history."

"This is a very dangerous idea, especially since you also plan to travel through time."

He saw Xia De buy a second "Time Stability Anchor," thinking that Xia De actually also had a time curse.

Xia De smiled:

"Of course it's dangerous, but compared to the 【Tree Hole Society】 using monsters from the past, our actions are actually maintaining the stability of time."

The hermits had nothing to say about this, but at least they didn't speak up to stop Xia De's plan.

Although the 【Forest Hermit Society】 was mysterious, they were not an organization that was completely hidden like the 【Light-Guiding Hermit Society】. After the Battle of Pantanal, Old John had personally said that the Hermit Society assisted the 【Nature Sect】 in dealing with the swamp land that was polluted after the death of the evil things in Pantanal, so Xia De was not very sure whether the Hermit Society would really not cooperate with the Sect again in the future.

When he and Miss Danister left the forest land where the hermits were stationed at four in the afternoon, he also expressed his worry about this to the red-haired girl.

Miss Danister told Xia De to rest assured:

"Principal Professor Pigman will soon contact the Sect to ask about the situation in Vista City. When that time comes, we will just say that the Academy detected abnormal time fluctuations locally. If the Hermit Society takes the initiative to contact the Sect, the Academy will also find a way to figure it out."

The two were outside the village of Xiaomige at this time, and Mr. Van Buren left after leading them through the tree hole. Although it was no longer raining, the way back was still very long, and trekking in the forest after the rain was not an interesting journey, so the red-haired girl suggested:

"Do you want to learn the new sorcery you bought now? The ritual materials are all there, and the field is also very suitable. I will help you."

The ritual materials required for the sorcery - 【Forest Path】 were very simple, and the ritual content was not complicated, or even interesting.

This required Xia De to find a large tree wider than his waist. After setting up the ritual base around the large tree, he used leaves to hide the ritual traces as much as possible. Then, activating the ritual, Xia De ran quickly clockwise around that large tree. After running 99 laps, he leaned against the large tree in a dizzy state and rushed forward fiercely.

The leaves on the ground in front had been cleared away by the red-haired girl, so a path was formed between the piled-up leaves. Xia De, dizzy, swayed forward along that path and jumped fiercely at the end of the path—

Boom!

He bumped his head into the tree he had just started from, groaned "Oh~," and then covered his head, leaning against the tree to keep himself from falling. With his physical fitness, it shouldn't have been so easy to get dizzy; it was the power of the ritual that made him dizzy and unable to distinguish east, west, south, or north.

"I think it's suc-, successful."

Xia De, feeling dizzy, said, and then couldn't help but retch. The red-haired girl on the side covered her mouth, squinted her eyes, walked towards him, patted his back lightly, and then, not knowing what she remembered, laughed even more happily.

Once the sorcery learning was successful, it had to be tested. And the casting material required for this sorcery was the leaves in the forest land to which it belonged, so it would be a bit troublesome to cast the sorcery in deep winter.

Xia De held Miss Danister's hand. As the leaves were thrown out by him, the forest land in front seemed to have undergone some changes. But no matter how Xia De recalled, the scene in front of him at this moment was no different from just now:

"The casting was successful, but..."

"We will know if it's successful as long as we walk forward, right? Hold my hand, don't let go."

She walked forward with Xia De in a very good mood. Xia De looked around, still not finding any difference from just now. But his spiritual power was being consumed steadily, and the effect of the sorcery was indeed continuing.

The forest land after the rain was very different from when it was sunny, with some special smell of humus in the damp smell. However, near dusk, the whole earth was dyed golden, which was still beautiful from a certain angle.

"You bought those sundries, there must be a reason, right?"

She asked while holding Xia De's hand, and Xia De nodded:

"That antique silver-plated vase with an elven style is very similar to the pattern of the lantern I found where I discovered the Holy Emblem. Since you said the Night Song Elves lived nearby, perhaps this is related to them.

Oh, speaking of which, can you help contact the Night Song Elves of the Academy? I want to ask if they know about the terrifying monster in the shape of black fog that exists in this forest land."

Seeing the red-haired girl nod, Xia De continued:

"That notebook is for me to pass the time. Last time we went to the Bennett family cemetery, didn't we talk about the demon sealed a hundred years ago? I want to know more information. As for that scroll of parchment, very coincidentally, I know a friend who believes in the Old God 【Forgotten Old Man】, and she will like this.

But I really didn't expect that there would be traces of that Old God here in the Vista forest land."

"That friend is a beautiful girl, right?"

She asked with a smile, and Xia De did not deny it:

"As for that pure silver jewelry box, that is an antique in the style of the Fifth Era. Those hermits didn't discover any clues, but I felt a faint element in it. After we go back, let's check it together with Miss Winstlett."

In the end, Xia De and Miss Danister used the sorcery "Forest Path" to shorten the journey by about half and returned to the city.

The air in the urban area of Vista City on a dusk after the autumn rain seemed exceptionally fresh. Although it was a small city, thanks to the city's greening and infrastructure construction being quite good, there were not many mud puddles even on the ground after the rain.

When the two met Miss Winstlett in the hotel, they also talked about this sorcery. Standing in front of the window, with the dim sunset in the background, the young lady asked suspiciously:

"Came back holding hands... This afternoon, there shouldn't have been any major events that required Xia De to use his Maze, right?"

"Of course not, we just went to see the 【Forest Hermit Society】, and of course we wouldn't fight with them. Flora, don't pay too much attention to Xia De's Maze; perhaps when you really see it, you will feel that it's actually not as interesting as you thought."

The red-haired girl laughed, and then suddenly realized that she didn't know when Flora Winstlett had actually started to call him by his name instead of his surname.

"You and Charlotte have only said this after seeing it. Xia De, come on, I have already obtained the materials from the Society and prepared the semi-finished product according to the ancient potion formula you gave. Now I need your flame to give me temperature." ===== CHAPTER 2607 =====