"At the center of the Borderlands is Mount Lef, a volcano that hasn't erupted since I can remember, but it has brought great wealth to the people, and made the town of Kailin at the foot of the mountain the largest town in the entire Borderlands, with a variety of life forms: humans, elves, youkai..."

"But they're all savages, aren't they?" Kyle asked, interrupting Aunt Firi.

Aunt Fili looked at Kyle and sighed,

"Savages, not as bad as you think, child..."Aunt Fili knew that savages were only light as feathers in the eyes of the Four Great Powers, and she hoped that this concept would be changed, "They love each other and have no quarrel with the world, but they are plagued by war because they have no kingdom to protect them." ”

Kyle stopped talking, and he apologized for his presumptuousness.

"Before Kailin was destroyed, there was a Fude Grilled Fish Shop in the market center of the town, and the grilled fish there was the most delicious food in the whole world..."Aunt Fili continued the story, "The owner of the Grilled Fish Restaurant, Fud, raised two big birds, one named 'Freden' and the other 'Thea'. Fredden and Sia are good fishers and catch all kinds of big fish from all over the world every day. One night, when Thea came back late, as she passed by the river, she found many strange hands like tree roots sticking out of the water, grabbing an old woman in her fifties and dragging her into the river. Wanting to help the old woman, Thea flew to the woman's side, grabbed her clothes with her paws and mouth, and tried not to drag her into the river. Unexpectedly, those tentacles wrapped around it and dragged them both into the river together..."

Aunt Fili paused as she spoke, as if she was thinking about something...

"And then?" Kyle seemed fascinated by what he wanted to know.

"When Sia woke up, she found herself lying alone on the shore, soaking wet, as if she had been rescued from the river..."

"What about the old woman?" Kyle seemed to guess something.

"When she woke up, she found that she was no longer a big white bird, and her soul was pinned on the old woman..."

"So... You're the old woman, and you're Thea?"

"Yes, this is my lifelong dream," Aunt Fili stretched out her right hand and looked at it carefully, "My lifelong dream is to be human..."

"But..."Kyle couldn't accept the fact, "this body belongs to someone else, how can you..."

"The moment I got up, suddenly a man in a black cloak appeared in front of me, and her appearance, as if it were coming with the wind, was quiet and swift. Aunt Fili recalled, her eyes full of admiration, "That person is Leah, Locke's mother. She told me that because the old woman's soul had been taken by the Spirit Eater, my soul had been reborn by her, and she had made a contract to lodge in the old woman's body. ”

Kyle listened to the clouds, what a soul eater, what a contract, what a rebirth...

Aunt Fili seemed to see his doubts, and reexplained:

"There is only one way to reincarnate a soul, and that is to sign a soul contract. And in this world, only one race has the ability to enter into this sacred contract. ”

"There is only one race..."

"It's the Hunters. Only hunters can capture souls, domesticate souls, and sign contracts with souls. ”

Kyle's eyes widened when he heard the "Hunter Clan", he couldn't believe it, it was true,

"Hunter Clan, isn't it a legend?"

"The Hunter Clan used to be the most powerful race in the Lorrain Alliance. However, their abilities seem to be limited to legends, and no one has seen them with their own eyes. They take pleasure in taming, and are targeted by powerful magical spirits, monsters with strange abilities, and even dangerous evil minds. These things have great power, and the hunters take them for themselves, which naturally causes panic in other countries, and gradually, they become a thorn in the side of the other three kingdoms, and even the other races in the Lorraine Alliance. ”

"Do they really have such powerful abilities as they are legendary?" Kyle asked.

"All this is just a legend," said Aunt Fili, looking back, "I would not have believed it was true if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes today." ”

Kyle recalls the tornado not long ago, and the mountain people who will be sucked into the wind no matter how far they run, that scene is really shocking.

Now, he looked at the sleeping Locke, and finally understood what Lorna had said to him before,

"He can't fall into the hands of the mountain people, otherwise it will cause disaster!"

"Dad told me a legend before," Kyle continued, "the legendary knight of the North, the Light of Dawn, died and the soul of Knight Cord guarded the Ice City and made the whole north a land of peace. But one day, the North suddenly raised an army to the south, claiming that Knight's soul had been stolen by thieves from the South, and that the Iron Hoof of the Silver Knights would be able to level the entire south of Ace. However, the southern city-states did not admit to stealing Knight's soul, and the two sides fought against each other from then on, and the entire Ace Empire was divided into two countries: the north and the south. The Northlanders have always insisted that they are the rulers of Ace, but the Southlands disagree, believing that there is no soul of Knight in the Ice City, and that they have lost their chivalry and are not worthy to represent Ace. ”

"Turns out, that's why the Ace Empire is split in two..."Although Aunt Fili didn't know why Kyle was telling this story, she listened patiently, "But why are you telling me this?"

Kyle shifted his gaze away from Locke, who paused for a few seconds, as if hesitating something,

"Knight's soul has never been found, and there has always been a legend among the people of the Esnan land..."Kyle suddenly frowned, his eyes sharpened a lot.

"What legend?"

"It's the Hunter who tamed Knight's Spirit from Ice City!"

"It's... Is it true?" Aunt Fili looked at Kyle with wide eyes.

"It's just folklore," Kyle shrugged, "The truth may only be known to those who live in the Ice City." ”

After that, they were silent for a long time. Because, what happened to these two "little people" seems to affect the whole world. Now they are very nervous and panicked.

...

"Going downstream, we'll be able to reach the Ace Continent. Aunt Fili looked into the distance and said, "When the time comes, I will ask you to take care of Locke and bring him into your country." ”

"What about you?"

"I'm going to find my best friend, Freden. Aunt Fili smiled at Kyle, "After the beard died, that guy didn't know where he flew. ”

"Aunt Fili..."Kyle seemed to have something to say in his heart, but he couldn't.

"Kyle, promise me not to let anyone else know what we're talking about this night, okay?" Aunt Fili looked at Kyle with a pleading look.

Kyle didn't answer, because, if the folklore was true, he would have killed himself when he returned to Ace with a hunter.

"Locke can't go back to Ace with me, I'm sorry. Kyle kept his head down, not daring to look directly at Fili.

"Kyle..."

"I know, I promised his parents, I promised Lorna and Leah, but... I didn't know at the time... He was an orphan of the Hunters, and I thought he was just an ordinary wildling. Lorna suddenly became emotional, and kept explaining, "He will go back with me, if his identity is revealed, he will be sent to the Cold Ice City! He will be regarded as a victim of the reconciliation between the two countries, do you understand?"

"Kyle, Locke is homeless..."Aunt Fili looked at Kyle with tears in her eyes, "As long as you keep it a secret, Locke will be fine..."

"Maybe... After those mountaineers are gone, you can go back to Kailin, and you can rebuild your home..."Kyle began to babble nonsense, trying to convince Aunt Fili and himself that he could convince Aunt Fili and himself that "Locke must prefer Kailin, right?"

"Kyle, look," Aunt Fili pointed southwest, "does Kailin still exist?"

Kyle followed Aunt Fili's hand and saw a fire in the distance, and there was Kailin, and the town was turning to ashes.

"The war is about to begin," Aunt Fili choked, "Locke can't be displaced in the Borderlands. I don't have a contractor, I'll be in my original form, I can't take care of this child..."

Kyle seems to have only two options: he can either throw the kid in front of him into the river, or wait for the shore and carry him to Valanger.

He pondered, and glanced at Kailin again, where the fire didn't seem to be weakening at all. Behind him, the Loft Volcano looked at the burning town alone, like a mother looking at her departing child, sad and helpless.

"I promise you, I'll take Locke back to Ace, back to Valanger. Kyle took a deep breath and said to Aunt Fili, "But, I can't guarantee that he'll stay there, maybe, he'll be ostracized, he'll be imprisoned... I don't know what to expect. ”

"Kyle, I believe in you. The tears from the corners of Aunt Fili's eyes had not yet been wiped away, and she smiled reluctantly, as if to cheer up Kyle, "Locke's parents believe in you, and I believe in you, you can be a good brother to Locke." ”

Good brother...

Kyle is nervous, wondering if he will live up to everyone's expectations. He didn't know what Locke would bring to Ace, whether it was luck or disaster.

Looking at this twelve-year-old child sleeping in Aunt Fili's arms, his little face is cute and delicate, if he abandons his life experience, he should be able to become everyone's little darling...

"It's getting dawn," Aunt Fili looked at the sky, and the darkness faded, "we're not far from Ace." ”

Kyle looked ahead, and the grass grew larger.

He turned around, lay down in the boat, and looked at the sky,

"yes, I'm almost home..."