Although Ness didn't want Fern to see her weakness, the growing feeling of vomiting completely knocked her down, and after struggling for a while, a sudden sour taste came to her mouth, and Ness finally couldn't support it anymore, grabbed the edge of the carriage and vomited. After vomiting up what he had eaten in the morning and at noon, he collapsed weakly on a pile of straw.

In a trance, a pair of hands gently draped a wide cloak over her curled up body, and she felt reassured and satisfied. The previous vomiting made her lose energy, and she instantly fell asleep. With the regular sound of the wheels of the carriage colliding with the ground, Ness gradually lost consciousness.

"Mage," a strong white light shot into Ness's eyes, "where are you going?" a deep, deep voice came from ahead.

Kan Rui ...... Wait, who are you?" Ness looked around in alarm, but there was no one, just a dazzling white. Ness felt her eyes burn with white, and she closed them in pain.

"I'm your master, mage, who do you think you're doing for all?" said a clear mockery in his voice.

"For my own sake!...... Where is this?" Ness shouted hysterically, turning around and running away with all her might.

"You can't escape, the wheel of fortune has tied you and me together, I need you, you need me. The voice was always in her ears.

The white was still boundless, and the frustration and fear had exhausted Ness, sweat oozing from her forehead and dripping down her chin. The feet were as heavy as being shackled, and every step was an ordeal. Ness almost didn't want to run anymore, and it would have been better to just fall to the ground and do nothing, but the only glimmer of hope left her still dragged her legs forward.

Just when Ness was about to despair, a verdant meadow appeared in front of her, with flowers of all colors blooming in the grass and butterflies flying in it.

Most of Ness's tiredness was driven away by the sudden beauty, and she walked aimlessly on the grass, and in the distance, a golden light shone directly on the ground, attracting Ness to it.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Ness finally stood in the golden beam, and the soft gold enveloped her, slowly taking her off and rising higher and higher. Peaceful whispers and beeps gradually became clear all around.

The low voice before sounded again, "Mage, you can't escape, you can't escape, you have your mission, you can't retreat......"

Ness lost consciousness in the soft gold, "Who are you...... I don't understand ......."

"You'll understand, slowly, you'll get to know ......"

When Ness woke up again, the carriage was slowly moving into the city of Canrito. The knights guarding the gates scrutinized every traveler who passed through the gates.

"It's worse than when I left a month ago. Fern avoided the knight's gaze and looked down at Ness, who was lying down.

The carriage passed through the city gates, and after passing a few streets, stopped.

"Here we are. The coachman jumped out of the carriage, "You have picked up a big bargain, if it weren't for me, don't think so easily into the city, the guards must have taken you as the escort of the convoy." ”

Fern also jumped out of the car. "Thank you so much for your generous help. As he spoke, he took out two silver coins from his broad belt.

The coachman, apparently pleased with the result, took the silver coin and stuffed it into the inner pocket of his clothes. "Your friend doesn't look good, I have some herbs here to make her feel better, see how generous you are, I'll give them to you." ”

Fern helped Ness out of the carriage and took the herbs. "Thank you, and may the god of trade bless you. ”

The coachman nodded, "Good luck on the journey." Then he pulled the carriage and walked towards the market in the distance.

Fern put Ness on the mare's back and led her down the street to the inn she was familiar with. Once everything was settled, Fern gently laid Ness on the bed, and Ness fell asleep as soon as she touched the soft and comfortable pillow. Fern handed the herbs to the innkeeper and left the inn to gather information.

As night fell, the loud bells rang almost simultaneously in several parts of Canrito, and the gate guards began to pull up the thick chains that connected the gates, each as thick as Fern's arm, and several guards could pull it together. All exits were blocked, and the entire city went under martial law.

Fern, who had been gathering information for an afternoon, was drinking sullen in the hotel. According to the information he gathered, Sarah, the frontier nation of the far north, had been captured by a sudden Grim army a dozen days earlier, and only a handful had escaped, with a small number fleeing into Canrito. According to survivors, the Dark Tide suddenly appeared from Sarah, and by the time the warriors guarding the border rushed back to the capital, the castle had fallen and the king was nowhere to be found. The last remaining army was then flanked by the Dark Tide army that poured in from inside the city and on the border, and the whole army was wiped out.

It seems that the dark tide is really coming, and Fern can't help but shudder at the thought of this. This would explain Canrito's current state of martial law, as soon as Sara fell, the only thing left in front of Canrito was Doyle and the marshes of central Wallis.

As she thought so, Ness came downstairs and sat down across from Fern. The innkeeper immediately brought a bowl of herbal juice, and Fern nodded in gratitude and gave him a silver coin.

"Looks like you've recovered quite a bit. Fern finished his glass.

"Yes, I've been like this since I was a child, so I hardly ride in a carriage. Ness's face was still a little pale.

"In order to avoid the guards at the gates, we had to resort to caravans. Fern poured Ness a cup of hot bitter tea, "Canrito is under martial law and won't let idle travelers into town. ”

Ness drank the herbal juice with Kuding tea, "Ah...... It's really bitter," she digressed, "what did you hear?"

Fern pouted, "It's not good, it seems like something big is going to happen, maybe it's already happened, I'm not sure, but people are spreading the word that the dark tide is coming." ”

"Dark tide?" a hint of unease flashed in Ness's eyes, "The library of the Mage's Tower records that it has appeared more than once in the past few thousand years. ”

"What does its appearance mean?"

"You won't want to know, but I'm not sure," Ness continued sipping her tea, "unless I see it with my own eyes." ”

"You may be able to see it right away," Fern sighed, "right in the village we're going to, and some say it's abandoned because someone saw moving bodies in the woods around the village. ”

Ness's eyes widened, "Moving body?!"

"Yes," Fern continued, "the villagers who had taken refuge in the city said they were slow and ragged, and others said," Fern paused to confirm that Ness was ready for his next statement, "and in the moving bodies, saw their dead relatives or friends. ”

"Ah!!" Ness cried out in horror, "Bright, why is this happening!?"

"It seems that I brought back too much information. Fern stopped talking and continued to pour a glass of wine.

Ness clasped her hands, her mind searching for information about the Mage's Tower. "If Dark Tide returns to the Wallis Continent, there must be some reason, we have to complete the trial quickly and rush back to the Mage Tower, what should the ** masters know. ”

Neither of them spoke anymore, quietly drinking their own things.

During the night, Fern had not slept for a long time, and thinking about all the information of the day, he began to realize that this journey was far more dangerous than he had imagined. Ness, in the next room, couldn't sleep either, and did the strange dreams in the carriage during the day have anything to do with the bad news that Fern had brought in? After hypothesizing several possibilities, Ness finally lost consciousness.

At dawn the next day, Ness and Fern rode out. The destination is a village northeast of Canrito, the village of the sheepfold, which, as the name suggests, is a farm where sheep and livestock are raised. To be safe, the two tied their horses to the woods two miles away from the village and entered the village on foot.

The entire village had been abandoned, and the door of the village's only tavern was beating against the edge of the door in the wind, and there was no other sound, and the atmosphere was eerie.

Ness and Fern slowly approached the nearest house from the outskirts of the village. With no shelter around the village, the two were completely exposed to broad daylight.

Fern urged Ness to keep up, "We'd better find a hidden place, it's a live target to be exposed." ”

Ness looked around, as if looking for something, and was not in a hurry to keep up with Fern, "That room is just the right distance, let's go there." Ness pointed to a house not far from the tavern.

"It's good, it's better to have a bad decision than no decision at all. Fern looked at the tavern near the house, and felt that there was something hidden inside.

With his left hand on the hilt of his sword, Fern tried to kick open the door of the house with his foot. The door was unlocked, and Fern quickly flashed into the room, and after making sure there was no danger, beckoned Ness in.

The house was in a mess, and it was clear that the owner had left in a hurry, taking only a few things with him. The firewood in the fireplace is artificially extinguished before it is completely burned.

"Something must be going on here, you better hurry, the sooner the better, I don't feel good. Fern looked out of the window uneasily.

"Protect me when I cast spells!" Nessy lifted her cloak with her left hand, raised her wand with her right hand and stabbed the end into the ground with all her might, then fell to her knees and began to chant the incantation. With the sound of an incomprehensible incantation, a blue swirl appeared in the gem at the top of the wand, spinning endlessly.

Fern looked anxiously out the window, years of mercenary life had made him realize that danger was approaching. Suddenly, he noticed that a ragged "person" had "walked" out of the tavern, and then the other "people" had "walked" out one by one. They seemed to be attracted to something, and together they approached the hut.

"Hell, what is this, the living dead?" Fern immediately closed the curtains, lifted the table behind the door, and pressed his foot against it.

Ness was still chanting the incantation, the blue whirlwind spinning faster and faster. However, she had no intention of caring about Fern's condition and had to concentrate on channeling the spells.

There was a bang, and the door was vulnerable and cracked under the strong impact. Fern didn't expect the force of that group of things to be so great, obviously not the strength of ordinary people, and the foot that was against the table was bounced away. Fern quickly drew his sword, blocking between the living dead and Ness.

That's when Fern saw the monsters clearly. His face was lifeless, his eyeballs had long since lost their luster, his skin was dry and dull, and his body exuded a choking stench of corpses. A group of walking dead ghouls. Fern, who had traveled most of Wallis, had never seen such a sight, his scalp tingled, his stomach turned upside down, and he could barely stabilize his emotions after steasing his nerves, and his hands clenched his sword as hard as he could.

The leading ghoul slowly approached Fern, who did not dare to make a rash move, so he had to retreat step by step. Suddenly, the ghoul shuddered and slammed into Fern. The collision was so fast that Fern managed to dodge it with all his might. However, the ghouls left Fern behind and pounced on Ness. The hut was small, and seeing that Ness was in danger, Fern raised his sword and slashed at the ghoul from the side. The ghoul had no intention of dodging, allowing Fern's sword to slash into his body. Suddenly, the ghoul screamed, looked down at the sword still embedded in his body, and then looked at Fern with empty eyes, and just fell down.

Fern drew his sword and refilled it several times at the ghouls on the ground before stopping, gasping for breath as he asked, "Are you alright?" Fortunately, the ghouls at the doorway did not continue at this time, they seemed to be driven by some kind of force, but they were afraid of the sword in Fern's hand in front of them.

There was a moment of stalemate, but Fern felt as if it had been a whole day, sweat oozing from his forehead and pooling to his chin, his hands and feet stiffened, and his sword seemed to become unusually heavy. The stench of ghouls irritated Fern's nerves, nearly knocking him down.

At this moment, the voice of Niss chanting the incantation behind her was louder than before, and the blue wand swirled rapidly, forming a blue ring that was suspended in the gem. The whole gem glowed brightly, and a strong gust of air spread out in all directions, and Ness's long hair and cloak were blown up.

The ghouls seemed to be stimulated and pounced on Ness. Fern roared, raised his sword in both hands, and slashed at the nearest ghoul. The sword slashed through the ghoul's left shoulder and through the right side of the abdomen, slicing it in two, sending foul-smelling black water to splash. The ghouls behind took advantage of the gap between Fern and before he could retract his sword, raising their claws shaped like dead branches and sweeping over. Unable to parry, Fern had to retreat diagonally to dodge the attack. Before he could get to his feet, another draugr rushed to him and slammed his stone-hard shoulder into Fern. Unable to dodge, Fern raised his hands to protect himself, but was still knocked into the wall by the massive impact.

Fern struggled to half-crouch up, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the ghoul just now coming again, but fortunately the speed was not fast, and he took advantage of the situation to roll and dodge. The ghoul was so powerful that it crashed through the earthen wall and fell directly outside the house. Taking advantage of this respite, Fern impagulated a ghoul who was about to attack Ness from behind, and turned around to cut off another with a horizontal slash.

The room was small, and Fern was surrounded by ghouls in front of him, still rushing at him. "The only way to fight to the death is to fight!" Fern slashed off a withered hand that had swung in front of him with a sword, and flipped the sword over and cut off the head of the owner. He then slammed his shoulder into the ghoul to the left, causing a sharp pain in Fern's shoulder, but the blow caused him to sway slightly, buying Fern time to swing his sword again. The sword slashed through the air with a screech, and the ghoul on the right fell to the ground. With a retreat, Fern dodged the ghoul on his shoulder, and stabbed it in the face with a sword.

But Fern ignored what was happening outside the wall, and suddenly the world spun around, and he fell heavily to the ground. His body was crushed by the ghouls who had entered through the gap in the wall, and he couldn't move, and he couldn't use his sword at all. Fern dropped his sword and pulled the spare dagger from his belt on the right side of his body, stabbing one into the ghoul's eye socket, black water flowing out of the wound and dripping onto Fern's face. The pungent stench made Fern almost suffocate, but the ghoul was not affected in the slightest, still holding Fern motionless.

"It's over. The thought crossed Fern's mind, and to Fern's surprise, the other ghouls did not come to attack Fern, but walked towards Ness, who was kneeling on the ground. Fern tried his best to break free from the ghouls who were pressing on him to protect Ness, but he couldn't match the strange power of this group of monsters, so he could only lie on the ground and yell at Ness.

Seeing that Ness was about to be attacked, Fern pulled the dagger out of the ghoul's still dripping black water socket and threw it at the nearest ghoul with all his strength. The dagger stabbed deep into the ghoul's head, sticking out from the other end, and stabbing it diagonally into the head. Just like inserting an eye socket, this final blow is completely useless. The attacked ghoul didn't even look back, raising his withered hand and sweeping towards Niss. In despair, Fern raised his foot and kicked the monster on his body, but the ghoul did not let up at all because of the pain. Seeing that Niss was about to be hit, this attack that could even discount her head and neck would kill her immediately.

At the last moment, the glow of the wand gem vanished, the blue swirl no longer swirled, turning into dots suspended within the gem, and a fireball flew out of Ness's hand and struck the ghoul in the face impartially. With a popping sound, the fireball quickly turned into a tongue of fire and spread to the ghoul's body, and the ghoul who was engulfed in flames struggled a few times and fell to the ground motionless. The flames continued to burn the corpses, crackling, and the remaining ghouls stopped in front of the flames, as if out of control. Seeing this, Ness drew her wand and stood up, chanting an obscure incantation softly. I saw that the ghouls fell down like puppets with broken strings, and the ghouls who pressed Fern no longer exerted their strength, and were pushed by Fern and fell to the ground weakly.

Fern staggered to pick up his sword and dagger, leaned against the window with relief, and kept wiping the sewage on his face with his clothes, "This is...... Is it over?"

Ness looked around and looked at Ferne's embarrassment, "I think so, the power to control them is gone. ”

With a long sigh, Fern went to the window and tore down the curtains, wiping his sword and dagger as he said angrily, "If you slow down, we'll all be done." ”

Ness stuck out her tongue at Fern and smiled apologetically. "It's also the first time I've faced these ghouls, and I didn't expect such danger. ”

"Let's get out of here, I don't know what else awaits us. Fern looked out the window, and though the threat was gone, he still couldn't let go.

"I don't think we'll encounter anything unexpected, but there's nothing wrong with getting out of here early. Ness covered her nose and frowned at the ghouls on the ground dipped in the stinking black water.

The two had no intention of staying in the village for long, and after extinguishing the fire, they hurried back to the woods where the horses were tethered, and the two horses were still grazing leisurely, as if the thrilling battle had never happened at all.