After running for a good five minutes, the companions finally caught up with Fern. At this time, the mercenary was standing in front of the fallen leaves of a cedar tree, looking at a thick cedar tree in the middle of the fallen leaves.

"Fern, do you have anything in mind?" asked Ness, panting, running over to Fern.

"Yes, Stan's words gave me a hint, and I remembered the cedar tree I saw on my patrols. Fern was still staring at the trunk.

"Does what I say have anything to do with this tree?" Stan frowned, rubbing his fingers to his nose.

Fern paused for a moment to inspect the cedar trees and turned his head to look at his companions. Stan had just questioned whether the holy water also had an effect on the mechanism, and the answer was obviously no, the holy water only had an effect on the dark tide, which meant that the holy water was only needed when dealing with the dark tide, but what if you thought about it in the opposite direction. ”

"You're saying that the thing that needs holy water the least. Queai stood on the other side of Fern, his head up, his bright eyes looking straight into Fern's heart.

Fern avoided her gaze. "Yes, the ones who need holy water the least must be the healthiest creatures or plants that grow. The mercenary looked back at the trunk in front of him. "This cedar tree, for example, as I noticed just now, is not the tallest tree in this wood, not even the first few trees, at best it is of medium height, but you can see that there are many more fallen leaves under his feet than most cedar trees. ”

"That's true. Rui walked gently on the leaves, feeling the softness coming from his feet. "This tree shouldn't have so many fallen leaves. ”

A smile appeared on Fern's lips. So maybe here's the answer. ”

Quiai quickly walked over to the trunk and began to circle around it, hoping to find some clues.

Seeing that Quiai was so positive, Rui quickly glanced at Ness, telling her to act quickly. Ness woke up from a dream and ran to the other side of the trunk, but she didn't know where to start. This is too hard for me, Rui, I'm just an apprentice who has just left the Mage Tower, how about these search skills with Queibi. Although Ness's heart was anxious, there was nothing she could do.

In a trance, a whispering voice appeared in her head, and Ness looked blankly at her companions, but everyone was focused on looking around the cedar tree, and no one spoke. The voice of Two-Eight-Medium-Text-Netting reappeared, this time Ness could be sure that the voice was different from anyone present, and it seemed to appear directly in her head as if it had not passed through her ears, but could not understand what was being said. The whispering voice became more and more frequent, and it was subdued, like singing, and like telling an epic. Gradually, Ness felt as if she knew the meaning, even though she couldn't understand a single word. Finally, Ness could piece together a complete sentence that could be understood.

"Ten steps in that direction at the widest part of the rings, the secret is at your feet. Ness muttered.

"Did you find anything, Ness?" Fern heard the mage's whisper.

"I don't know, I heard a voice, no, it was that voice in my head, and although I didn't understand a word, I knew what it meant. Ness herself was a little disbelieving, her eyes were full of doubt, and even a little scared.

Rui also came around. "Fern, you do what Ness says, and we'll see the results. She seemed to have something in mind.

Fern's left hand was across his chest, his right elbow was propped up on his left hand, and his fingers touched the stubble that was already full of chin. "The widest part of the growth ring should be the south side of the tree, and walk ten steps from the south......," Fern walked ten steps forward facing south, his back against the cedar tree. "This is it, unless it's not a human ten-step. ”

Everyone watched around Fern with bated breath, but nothing happened. The woods were quiet, with the occasional wind brushing through the leaves, but other than that, there was no movement.

Just as Fern was about to give up and walk away, all the leaves fell in a straight line he had just stepped on, and the dirt covered by the leaves began to crumble, and a stone staircase about ten steps long, large enough for three people to pass side by side, appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

"Oh my God, this ...... Is that the entrance to the armory?" Stan couldn't believe his eyes, crouching down and stroking the dirt remaining on the stone staircase.

Fern observed the entrance for a moment, then looked noncommittally at Ness, who was also at a loss. "Ness, what is that voice you are talking about? Why do you say you don't understand it, but you understand it, and ...... It turned out to be correct. ”

Ness shook her head in confusion. "All I remember was that the voice was beautiful, like singing, and although I didn't understand it, it wasn't even heard by my ears, but it went straight to my heart. ”

Quiai walked over to Rui's side. "Could it be that Ness...... elemental make?"

"What?elemental make?me?can't be!" Ness's head shook faster. "I'm just a mage apprentice, how can I ......?"

"I thought about it when Ness said it earlier, so let Fern try what she said first, and if she could find the armory, then it would validate my idea. Rui glanced at Quiai and nodded. "Actually, Niss has had a similar experience before, and although I am a little skeptical, I am not sure, after all, it has been hundreds of years since there has been an elemental envoy in the Mage Tower. ”

Stan stood up, looking at the two mages in bewilderment. "Why can the elemental be able to hear sounds that you can't hear?"

Rui clasped his hands. "Let Queai explain this, it's within the realm of elemental magic, and I'm not good at it. ”

Quiai nodded, palms upward, and raised his hands to his chest. "All around us is full of elements at any given moment, like this wind blowing through the branches. Quiai looked up at the branches that swayed slightly overhead. "The water in the river, the burning fire, even the dirt, the stones, and the leaves are all made up of the elements of nature. A small swirl appeared in the mage's palm. "Elemental mages manipulate these elements to cast magic, and obtain elemental power through contracts formed with the elements, and these contracts are achieved through spells or some special magic weapons. ”

Stan and Fern both raised their eyebrows, listening intently to Quiai's explanation.

Queay suddenly swung his right hand at Stan and Fern, and a stream of air blew through their faces. "It's amazing......" Stan exclaimed.

Quiai smiled and continued. "That's all there is to the intersection between the elemental mage and the elemental, and the contract is the only bridge between the two. The mage paced towards Ness. "However, there are very few mages who can communicate directly with the elements, although neither side can understand the other's language, but they can understand the other's meaning, such mages are very rare, they have a special title, the elemental envoy. ”

Ness looked up at Quiai. "No, as Rui said, there hasn't been an elemental envoy in the Mage Tower for hundreds of years, and I'm not even a mage......"

Queai tilted her head to look at Ness. "Ness, you must also know that whether or not you will become an elemental envoy has nothing to do with whether you are a mage or not, even if some people become great sages, they still can't become elemental envoys, and some people who are buried outside the mage tower have the talent to become elemental envoys. ”

"Yes, Quay is right. Rui also walked over to Ness. "If you think about it carefully, at the time of the Hundred Years' War, there were several recorded elemental envoys, and for a long time after that, elemental envoys often appeared in some history books, but since the appearance of the dark tide, there is no longer any material that mentions elemental envoys. ”

"You mean the Dark Tide has affected the elementals, so that they can't communicate with the elementals anymore?" Quiai frowned, thinking hard.

"There is this possibility, but it is not affected by the dark tide, only the dark lord himself can do this, although he was defeated by the seven gods and sealed, but I guess the seal is not foolproof, otherwise there will be no early awakening of the dark tide. Rui looked serious and clasped his hands, and his left index finger kept tapping the elbow of his right hand.

"Then why can I still communicate with the elementals, since the Dark Lord has affected them?" Nessy clenched her fists with her hands, as if resisting the fact that she was an elemental.

"Because you are one of all the people in this era who can become an elemental envoy, no, it can even be said that since the advent of elemental magic, among all the elemental envoys, the most talented. Queai looked at Ness earnestly, and his tone was firm. "Even though the Lord of Darkness has prevented communication between almost all mages who could have been elemental messengers and elementals, you, Ness, have broken through this barrier, and I am now beginning to understand why the Mage Tower has entrusted you with such a difficult task. ”

Ness's shoulders trembled, she knew that all the clues and speculations pointed to a fact, but she couldn't bear it. For her, she would rather imagine herself as an apprentice who was unfortunate enough to be drawn by the Mage Tower to complete this task, but she would rather be an elemental envoy who pinned everyone's hopes on to compete with the Dark Lord.

Fern, who had been silent, gently hugged Niss into his arms, and the mage did not resist, hugging the mercenary tightly with both hands, and letting himself cry in his arms. Fern put his mouth on Ness's hair and patted her gently.

Quiai's eyes were filled with sadness, and he quickly turned away, unwilling to look again.