On the seventh day, the group continued to march in the hinterland of Dagger Mountain, and judging from Niss's description last night, they were not far from the end, which also meant that danger was near, although no one knew what the danger was that the stone elemental was talking about.

Fern kept glancing at any place in front of him where any enemy might be hiding, and even he felt that his surroundings were different from the previous days. "It seems to be very quiet today, I feel that something is wrong, is it like Ness, you said last night, that the elements here are dying?" said Fern to his companion behind him.

Stan looks up and sniffs the air. "I don't feel anything, is it your psychological effect?"

Fern shook his head in confusion and continued to look ahead.

"Maybe it's the connection, you and Ness. Rui thought for a while and said slowly.

"Connection?" said Fern and Stan at about the same time, their tones full of bewilderment.

Even Ness looked at Rui in surprise. "But isn't the bond officially established after a ritual between a warrior and a mage?"

"That's right, but that's a good fit for you and Fern. Rui smiled at Ness. "I think you'd better explain it to them, their mouths can almost swallow your head. The mage gestured to Fern and Stan.

Fern simply stopped, stood where he was, and rested, waiting for Ness.

Ness cleared her throat and began to speak, "At the Mage Tower, every mage needs to do the same thing, whether you are male or female, so some tasks that require long treks in the wild will become very difficult for female mages. Not only is it because women are far less advanced than men about how to survive in the wild, but also because a woman travels alone in Wallis and has to face far more dangers than men. So sometimes, female mages travel with their escorts. ”

"It's like Fern is your escort this time, it's nothing special, any mage can hire a mercenary to protect him. Stan frowned, "Of course, you'll have to make sure you're looking for the right mercenary, and I'm sure you won't find someone better for you than Fern." ”

Ness's face flushed slightly, and the mage lowered her head, buried her face in her hood, and continued, "As you said, Stan, it's not easy to find a suitable guard, so some female mages will bond with the most suitable guard for her, and once that bond is established, it will be very difficult for them to separate again, and the guard will protect the mage until either of them dies. ”

"Doesn't sound like a good thing, it seems that the warriors are restricted in their freedom?" Fern pursed his lips, groping his beard in thought.

"No mage would force anyone to bond with her unless the warrior volunteered, so every warrior must be deliberate before becoming a guardian, and in fact few guards will regret it. Ness stole a glance at Fern. "Once connected, both the guard and the mage can perceive each other's feelings. Like what...... While guarding and protecting mages, they will also feel things that only mages can feel...... Fern, as you said, you also feel that the elements around here are dead. ”

Fern's eyes widened. "But we haven't connected yet, so why can I feel it?"

"This suggests that we might be better suited to bond, and in some cases, even if there is no formal connection, some warriors can still feel what the mages around him can feel......" Ness's head lowered, and her voice lowered.

Ray couldn't help himself and interrupted Ness. "Since you're embarrassed to say, I'll tell you. Before Ness could say anything, Rui said, "Usually, this kind of situation where you can feel each other before you are connected only happens between couples or siblings, and occasionally some couples can feel it, so I doubt what you did that night alone in the cave." Rui slanted at Fern as if the mercenary had done something bad.

"The Seven Gods testify that we have done nothing. "There must be other reasons, but you don't know about it. ”

Ray glanced at Fern and walked over to Nessy and hugged her, as if to conclude that Ness had been bullied by Fern before.

"Alright, the rest is over!" Fern was speechless, so he continued on his way to get through this awkward moment.

It was already afternoon, and the sky was still as it had been on the first day they had arrived at Dagger Mountain, the gloomy sky had not changed in the slightest, and Fern had already relaxed a little, and drowsiness gradually occupied his mind, yawning one after another.

A clearing appeared not far ahead, and Fern seemed to see a savior. "Let's go there and rest for a while, I can't hold it anymore. ”

"The next time I offer to keep a vigil with you, you might consider my suggestion more carefully. Rui said lightly, without any tone mixed in, but Fern and Stan could still hear the displeasure.

Fern ignored her and led the way towards the clearing, where drowsiness struck again, and in a trance, Fern felt that a black rock at the far end of the clearing seemed to move. The mercenary stopped, blinked, and stuck his head out to look in that direction.

"What's wrong, Fern?" Ness, seeing that Fern's situation was not right, also looked at the place where Fern was looking.

"There, there's something going on...... Fern scratched his cheek. "Maybe I'm too tired. With that, he walked to the edge of the open space and sat down.

Ness didn't follow him, but still looked at it with some uneasiness. "I'm afraid you're right, Fern, I can feel the elemental there, the living element. ”

"What are you talking about, aren't all the elements around here dead?" asked Fern, looking up with difficulty.

As soon as the words fell, just where Niss was looking, ten black rocks suddenly flew into the air, the largest of which moved to the middle position in the air, and then the other nine quickly leaned towards the rock, forming heads, hands and feet, and a humanoid stone element appeared in front of everyone's eyes. The stone man was very tall, almost as tall as two Ferns, and there were some gaps in the joints of his head, limbs, and body, and except for his two legs touching the ground, the rest of the body seemed to float in the air out of thin air.

Fern, though shocked, quickly stood up and stood in front of Ness. "What is this? Stone Monster?"

Before Ness could answer, the stone elemental on the other side spoke first, his tone was full of anger, as if bursts of thunder were coming from the sky, "Mortals, you have crossed the boundary, this is not the place for you to come, the consequences of crossing the boundary are harsh, your corpses will remain here, now, start praying that your souls will ascend to heaven." ”

"The other elementals here are dead, why are you still alive?" Rui took a step forward and asked-for-tat, "Also, why can you talk to us? ”

"I have no reason to answer you, mortal, but I haven't seen a living person in a long time, and besides her, of course, I will let you die without doubt, seeing that you have put so much effort into getting here. The stone man walked towards the crowd step by step, and with each step, the ground shook slightly with the sound of the stone hitting the ground. "I guarded this place for her, so she gave me eternal life, I don't have to die like my brothers and sisters, I will never die unless I am killed, and at the same time, she also gave me the ability to take shape, the ability to talk to humans. ”

"Who is she?" Ness gripped her wand and set herself up for spell casting.

"I don't know her name, but she's a mage just like you, her hair is already mixed with silver threads, but her face is not wrinkled, she is very powerful, and any brother or sister who dares to resist her will be killed immediately. The stone man stopped ten yards away from the crowd. "Well, I've said enough, enough for those who are about to die, and if you give up your resistance, you will suffer less. ”

"Dream!" said Fern, already rushing out, his sword unsheathed. The mercenary held the sword in the stone horizontally and tried to quickly pass through the left side of the stone man, severing its right leg.

But Fern didn't expect that the stone man's body didn't need to be engaged, and several of the rocks that made it up were floating in the air, even if it was cut by the sword in the stone with an almost penetrating scar, it was hardly a damage to it. Even so, the stone man was still very hard, and the mercenary's palm was numb from the shock of this struggling sword, and he barely held the sword and stood behind the stone man.

The stonemen who were attacked began to roar, as if the continuous explosion of thunder in a thunderstorm hit the ground directly. "You have angered me! Now, I assure you, you will die a painful death. With a thunderous sound, the stone man's body suddenly turned one hundred and eighty degrees to the right, and at the same time, his right hand quickly swept towards the mercenary behind him.

Fern felt the pressure of the air brought by the huge stone hand, and jumped backwards with all his strength, and the black rock block was only a few inches away from his chest, but Fern still felt like he had been hit, and with a sharp pain in his chest, he was knocked out by a force, hit the rock wall behind him, and slid to the ground weakly.

"Fern!" Ness shouted, her mouth already reciting the fireball spell, but only after she had finished the first sentence did she realize that not only the stone elemental, but also the wind elemental in her home, there was no other element responding to her, and she could not cast the fireball spell anymore.

"Don't waste your efforts, except for me, there is only the wind element left here from somewhere else, the others are dead, without magic, what can you do with me? Do you think wind magic can hurt me?" The stone man turned another hundred and eighty degrees, facing the three people in front of him again. "Now, mortal, feel my wrath. The thunder rang out, deafening, and the three people in front of them were drowned in a boundless roar.