About an hour later, Ruth, the ferocious bear, stopped beside a wide tree hollow. The pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info tree hole is covered with soft leaves, about two meters in diameter, not enough to accommodate the body of the mother bear, I think it is the residence of her children.

"She" poked in, searching for something in the empty hollow, and from time to time let out a low, mournful growl. Lynn whispered to comfort her.

The bear didn't do much damage here, and it didn't take much effort for the mercenary to find the traces of the poachers and quickly follow them in the direction of the trails. Grace the griffon flew to the canopy of the trees, surveying the situation from overhead.

The forest was eerily quiet, with the occasional wind blowing through the treetops, and the sound was like a whispered cry, and then disappeared in an instant. Yuffie allowed herself to float in the air, and Lynn took her hand and led her to follow closely behind Lily.

She did not choose to fly. The current situation was rather strange, and she had to save every ounce of energy she could to cast spells.

Bell gasped for breath and complained that the mercenary was walking too fast—but judging by his breathless voice, it was clear that there was still room for it. Alphonse also floated a few dozen centimeters high, leaning forward slightly, gliding quickly close to the ground. A soft blue light enveloped its body, slowly flowing with a faint humming sound.

"It's just a bunch of rookies." Lily pursed her lips, her voice a little disdainful, "There is no trace of erasion at all, and the marching formation is also a mess, and we alone are enough to overturn them all." ”

"They look ...... Are you running away? Lynn looked at the footprints on the ground, as if she was a little puzzled, "But why is the direction deep in the forest?" ”

"That's where the maze comes in." Yuffie replied, "Anyone with malicious intentions will get lost here and unknowingly walk to the nearest border watchtower." ”

"And then." Alphonse asked, "What will they do?" ”

"Then I don't know." Yuffie shrugged, "Of course, the Elna people won't be kind to the invaders, but they shouldn't kill them. ”

She let go of her friend's hand and fell to the ground, stroking a mulberry tree that was no longer bright. From the decaying bark of the tree, she felt a wisp of magic that originated from the depths of the trunk and connected to other trunks in the distance, like a vast web of magic, turning the entire forest into a single life.

However, what was supposed to be a pure and clear web of magic was also dyed with an abnormal aura. Yuffie tried to parse the anomalies, but nothing came of it except a little malice - with her current ability, it was too early to understand the structure of this maze.

She opened her eyes and saw the others pause, waiting for her to say something.

"The maze has been changed, I don't know exactly what the changes are." Yuffie shook her head slightly, trying to look in the direction of the trail, but the shadowy woods and the foggy darkness obscured her vision, "There may be something worse than poachers ahead...... Get ready, everyone. ”

"It makes no difference to me!" Bell grinned, "Anyway, let's cut one and cut one, and two and I cut a pair!" ”

The mercenary gave him a blank look and walked back to the front of the group. Yuffie took Lynn's hand, trying to keep up with the mercenary.

Maybe you need to get some fitness if you have a chance, she thought. I heard that Dean Correns is not only good at spells, but also quite good at hand-to-hand combat.

The trail continues inward along the forest. As time passed, even Yuffie could see that the footprints were becoming more and more chaotic, which seemed to prove that the person who left the footprints was panicked at this time.

The chill around her had dissipated somewhere, and the warmth of her return made her feel more comfortable, but not reassuring. A moist mist began to fill the air, with a faint rancid scent, further obstructing the view.

As we progressed, the fog dissolved into a thick fog, limiting all light to within ten meters. To add insult to injury, the soft soil underfoot was unconsciously replaced by a softer and wetter swamp.

Dry trees are removed from view, replaced by moss and reeds about half a meter or higher. The soft grass was littered with puddles of varying sizes, the shallower ones were just wet shoes or trouser legs, and the deep enough ones to reach the top of a person's head.

Bell accidentally stepped into a pond full of rancid muddy water, and almost disappeared into it with his armor. The mechanics grabbed him with quick hands and pulled him back to the ground, but it was inevitable that he would be covered in mud.

The mercenary could only slow down and let the Perons follow her route strictly.

"It's simply the worst place I've ever been!" Bell gasped in horror and whined with a stomach full of dissatisfaction. The mud and stench on his body had been cleaned up by Yuffie with magic skills, but the wet clothes had obviously hit his morale, "I'll never come again next time, I'll never come again next time!" ”

The only one who seemed interested was Lynn, who jumped up and down lightly, landing on a safe spot each time, and the mercenary couldn't help but look sideways. Yuffie was still floating in the air, clutching Alphonse's arm.

"There weren't swamps here." "There's a lot of rain here, but most of it passes through the soft soil to form underground rivers, and the rest is absorbed by the trees. Moreover, even if the trees die and the soil changes, it will take at least a year or more for this level of swamp to form. ”

"So, it was the spell that directly created this area?" Lynn turned her head to look at her, but her feet didn't stop, "Sounds so funny......" She suddenly closed her mouth and grabbed Lily, who was walking in the front, "Like...... What's the sound? ”

The mercenary gestured, and everyone fell silent. Alphonse fell to the ground, the magic and hum that enveloped him slowly dissipated.

"Save ...... Help me...... Anyone......"

It seemed to be a young woman, and the fluttering cry for help came from not far ahead, and it was very clear in the silence. The mercenary stopped, grabbed Bell, who was about to rush over to check on the situation, and looked at Yuffie with an inquiring gaze.

Yuffie curled her hair and thought for a moment, then looked up at her blonde friend, "Lynn, is there a way to dispel the fog temporarily?" ”

The blonde girl smiled, tilted her head and took a breath. The next moment, a dazzling golden line of fire spat out of her mouth, sweeping across the fan-shaped area in front of her, evaporating the dense fog in an instant.

Through the crisp air, Yuffie saw a woman with long silver-green hair most of her body sunk in the swamp. She lay on her back on the mire, seemingly unable to get out of it on her own. The girl watched each other carefully for a few seconds, and then cast two simple detection spells, but found nothing wrong.

No matter how she thought about it, the possibility of abnormality was in the majority—and even then, she couldn't ignore it. Abandoning action because of possible danger is by no means the quality of a good wizard, and of course, overly reckless actions must also be avoided.

So she winked at Lily.

The mercenary let go of her hand knowingly and patted the eager Peronite on the shoulder, "I'll leave it to you, Bell!" ”