The bitter cold of the north was overwhelming, and the cold winds blowing from the Black Ridge Mountains swept across the Doyle Plains, and there was no color to be seen except white.

Ness and Nellfi had been frozen the day after they left Wolfsburg, and it seemed that they had never been as cold as they were now, even if they wrapped the coats of the newly purchased locals in Wolfsburg tightly, they could not withstand the invading cold. Once again, Ness felt her ears and nose freeze off, and even with the protection of her warm plush leather boots, she felt her toes slowly begin to go numb. Nellfi rode behind Stan and Ray along with Ness, hoping that the knight's broad body would shield him from some of the cold wind that was blowing in front of him. The mages' faces were flushed with the continuous cold wind, and the scarves that covered their faces only brought them a hint of psychological comfort.

Every hour of the march, Stan would have everyone dismount and rest in place, and everyone would take the opportunity to stomp their feet and regain consciousness on their numb toes. Every two hours, the knight fills the teapot with some snow and then has Ness cast a spell to boil the snow and make twice as hot tea for everyone.

"It's so much more convenient to have Ness here, and when we don't have a mage with us, we can only drink some hot water every half day when we eat. Stan Wei handed the cup of hot tea to Ness.

Ness took the teacup contentedly, letting the moisture moisten her lips.

"yes, we'd be freezing to death here without Ness, and although I know some fire magic, I can't help at all. Nerfi sneered as she took the teacup from the knight.

"That's not what I meant, Nerfi, you said you weren't good at elemental magic, I just wanted you to save your mental energy. Stan explains awkwardly.

Nerfi glanced at the knight expressionlessly, turned to drink tea alone, and ignored him. Stan reluctantly gives up trying to apologize and pours Rui a cup of hot tea.

"Okay, Stan, am I the last person you thought of now?" Rui took the teacup and didn't forget to give Stan a blow.

"Hell, Rui, stop making fun of me, I can't imagine what kind of problems you're going to give me in the next few days. Annoyed, Stan makes two deep footprints in the snow. "I can't handle the relationship between three girls like Fern does. ”

"You have a stronger belief than Fern does, unlike how he first thought of how to escape something when he encountered something. Rui thinks he's overdoing it, Stan isn't really good at it.

"But there's no denying that the decisions he made were really the best and always kept the damage to a minimum. Stan hides on the side of hope to avoid the cold wind.

"Everyone has different personality traits and is suitable for different roles, but to win a war, every character is indispensable. Rui said lightly, and drank the tea in one gulp, the cold of the weather could completely drain the heat of a cup of hot tea in such a short time.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've heard in these days, thank you, Rui. Stan smiled knowingly. "I'll just do my part, and I'll leave the more troublesome things to Fern to think about. ”

"Is Fern your head? I wouldn't have listened to him if I had to act with him, I've only heard orders from one man, and he's dead. Nerfi returns the empty teacup to Stan. "There's no one to command me anymore. ”

"When it comes to a crisis, you can't help but listen. Rui looked at the mage with a-for-tat look. "Or don't join us, we can't put others in danger just because you're alone. ”

"Exactly what I want, I'd rather go it alone. Nerfi climbed into his horse and was ready to go.

"I wish you the best of luck in the task alone. Rui stepped on the stirrup and sat on the horse's back with a thump of force, her cloak fluttering in the wind with her movements.

Stan felt his head start to hurt again, and I had to ask him for advice on how to deal with these women when I saw Fern, and the knight glanced at Nerfi and urged his mount to the front.

Five days later, they arrive in Olaf, a small village of a dozen rooms and the last village they can encounter in Doyle before entering the Twilight Forest, where Stan decides to rest for the day. The previous five days had almost exhausted their strength and patience, and the arguments and secret rivalry between the two mages had also made the knight very nervous, and he didn't want to rush into the twilight forest with his exhausted body in tow. To Stan's surprise, they didn't encounter any mages along the way, and they were the only thing they were thankful for along the way.

Standing at the entrance of the village and looking ahead, you can already see the dark green forest that cannot be seen not far away, and the whole forest is shrouded in a strange gray-white mist, which makes people dare not approach. Nalfi chooses the best room in the best inn in the village and insists on staying alone, Ray and Ness don't want to share a room with her, they even want to go to another hotel, but Stan refuses. Olaf had only two inns, and the knight insisted that everyone should live together in order to deal with emergencies. In the end, Stan agrees that the two mages have chosen the largest room in another inn away from Nerfi's room. The knight chose the room next to Nerfi, who was more reassuring to be alone than Ray and Ness. But Rui walks to his room and looks coldly at the knight, making him feel as if he has done something wrong, and Stan returns to his room in chagrin and slams headfirst into the thick quilt.

Olaf is a small village, but its proximity to the Twilight Forest means that there is an inexhaustible supply of wood, unlike other towns and villages in Doyle, which have begun to supply a limited supply of wood for heating and boiling water. Even so, the villagers only dared to cut down trees at the edge of the forest, and each time the men of the entire village went into battle, and no one dared to approach the forest alone. All three mages wanted to take the opportunity to take a good bath, and in the small bathroom, each girl occupied a large wooden barrel and soaked her whole body in warm hot water.

Ness was about to fall asleep, so she chatted with Rui. "Rui, what the hell is there in the Twilight Forest, why are the trees still so lush in such a cold day, and that strange fog. ”

"There is no doubt that it is magic. Rui opened her eyes, and the mist rising from the tub made it difficult for her to see her companion close at hand.

"Magic—who could be here to cast such a wide range of magic just to create such a strange forest?" Ness waved her dripping hand, pushing the fog away.

"I don't know about this, maybe the villagers here will know some clues. Rui shifted to a sitting position in the tub, exposing his head, which was about to sink into the water.

"It's to defend against the dark tide. Nerfi's voice suddenly sounded, startling the two mages. "There was nothing but a wasteland, which belonged neither to Altuna nor to Doyle, and the dark tide never appeared there. ”

Rui glanced at Nellfi and waited for her to continue, but the mage didn't seem to mean to continue, and Ness couldn't hold her breath. "And then, what changed there?"

Nellfi gave them a smug look. "More than two hundred years ago, suddenly a dark army rushed from the location of what is now the fortress of Magnus, and the people were completely unprepared and taken by surprise, and almost all the nearby villages were destroyed, and the names of the villagers were killed on their doorstep before they could escape. ”

"It's miserable...... Ness sank into the water in fear, and the water flooded her jaw.

"Before that, the people of Altuna had hardly encountered the Dark Tide head-on, so they had no experience in how to deal with the Dark Tide, and seeing that the whole kingdom was in danger, it was the Doyles who saved them at this time, and I can't remember how many times the king of Doyle was Edra at that time, and he personally saved Altoona with the experienced Doyle army, and drove the Dark Tide from the depths of Altoona's territory to the vicinity of the current Twilight Forest, but after arriving here, the Dark Tide also strengthened its forces, and the two armies were at a standoff. Nerfi said slowly, without a hint of fluctuation in his tone.

"What happened later?" asked Ness, like an apprentice in a mage tower.

Nerfi seemed to enjoy the feeling and continued to explain, "Later, a great sage at that time cast a magic spell and created a forest in the place where the Darktide army was stationed, and all kinds of mist floated in the forest, and the Darktide was like a blind man in this forest, unable to even communicate with each other, let alone fight together, they were completely unable to exert any combat effectiveness, and the Doyle army drove them back to the north with a few charges. ”

Nerfi picked up the hot water in both hands and threw it on his face. Later, in order to increase the experience of his army in actual combat with the dark tide, Altoona established the fortress of Magnus in the northernmost part of the Twilight Forest, and sent troops to be stationed there, and the Twilight Forest seemed to become Altoona's territory, but in fact, in order to thank Doyle for the rescue at that time, this forest was shared by the two countries, but Altoona defended it, otherwise these villagers would not be able to cut down the timber there at will. ”

"I see, how could this not be recorded in the books of the Mage Tower?" Ness looked at Nellfi in confusion.

"There are people who don't want most people to know about this, and I read it occasionally in the books that Hussey left in the Tower. Nerfi exhaled and lay down relaxed by the tub. "With all that said, I'm going to rest. With that, she closed her eyes, regardless of Niss opening her mouth halfway.

Ness pouted and looked at Rui, and the mage shrugged helplessly.