In the early morning, a slight mist rose in the woods. As we entered September, the temperature dropped significantly in Northern Europe, and the trio had to take out their warm clothes from the bottom of their bags and change them in. Two or three months ago, they could only wear a simple slim jacket, but now they have to add an extra one.

Take, for example, the young porter: on top of the linen shirt he wore as underwear, he was wearing a slim-fitting wool jacket with a linen lining sewn on the inside. This coat is a knotted part of formal wear and can only be worn as an outerwear in hot and dry weather. Most of the middle class and aristocrats, who did not have to work all day, wore it, and most of the workers and peasants at the bottom were the lower classes who did not wear this loose linen shirt.

In addition, because the weather was getting colder, a heavier loose wool robe was added to the coat. Although the Suomirs are superior in their ability to tolerate cold, they will only become a drag on their companions if they catch a cold because of their indifferent stubbornness.

The placket of the robe is still open at the moment, because the weather has not yet been cold to that extent. These garments, which are made of wool as the outer fabric, are very waterproof, so the robe itself is sufficient as the outermost layer of clothing.

It has the same positioning as the cloak, but is more flexible than a heavier and warmer cape, and is more flexible than a snug with sleeves.

When winter really arrives and the first snow falls, most people will put on their wool cloak on the outermost layer and be fully armed.

But for now, that's enough.

Henry and Mira were dressed in a way that was somewhat different from that of Caleva, and their woollen robes were replaced by cotton and linen padded tunics, which was a fairly common attire for combat professionals. It's not expensive, but the defense effect is comparable, and if the highest level layer has 30 layers of linen and sewn firmly with wax thread, it won't even be able to penetrate it unless it is polished to the level of blowing hair.

Because of the high quality and low price, this is the first choice for many teenagers and girls who aspire to engage in the mercenary profession. However, this kind of cotton armor sewn from multiple layers of fabric is too heavy and stuffy, and if it is not cut well, it will be as difficult to move as if you are wrapped in a quilt, which will lead to the death of the wearer. Therefore, if you can have iron armor, the person who wears it will generally reduce the number of layers, or even wear it at all.

This cloak of the Roan Maiden and the Sage belongs to this unpretentious type, with only 9 layers. Able to resist the cutting of blunt knives or the scratches of various thorns when traveling through the jungle, it is a suitable equipment to match with the Brigundy-style plate armor.

This is the first time that the two have officially worn this kind of coat except for trying it on. Because it was summer when I set off, and because the well-made Brigunti-style plate armor had cushions everywhere to prevent itself from being cut, it was not too much of a problem to simply wear it over the regular clothes. Although blunt weapons are more susceptible to damage without cushioning, due to the skill of the dwarven masters, the stiffness and curvature of the armor itself can absorb a considerable amount of force.

Of course, in the long run, it is better not to be hit or not to be hit. After all, no armor is invincible.

When it comes to the armourier profession alone, the dwarves are indeed top-notch. Although they are equally good at weapons, the best craftsmen among the human race are still capable of forging weapons of the same level as the dwarves. It's just that in the matter of armor, humans have never been able to compare with dwarves.

This problem is also related to the mixed composition of metals.

If you ask a non-combat professional layman, what should top-notch armor look like. He'll tell you that it's invulnerability - that's what armor is all about, of course, but one detail that only the best knows is that armor tends to be deliberately made less hard than swords.

It's not that it's unattainable, it's that it's not necessary.

Because the fundamental purpose of wearing armor is to protect one's own life. Hardness is naturally one of the pursuits, and the reason why materials such as brass are eliminated in today's rampant steel is because the lower hardness will break down. But at the same time, if the hardness is too high, the armor worn on the body will become a weapon in the face of extremely strong impact force, damaging the wearer's body.

- "The Threshold of Miracles" Dwarven craftsmen call their armor "traits" that human armorers cannot replicate.

The hardness is up to standard, and ordinary attacks can't even leave a mark. However, if the impact force exceeds a certain value, it will no longer resist stubbornly, but will deform and absorb the impact force. Preserve the wearer at the cost of damage to the armor itself.

A destroys people's lives. This is the core concept of high-quality armor design.

The reason why exquisite weapons and equipment have formed such a look has always had its own core reasons. Many laymen don't understand these points, but when they see the details of good workmanship, even if they don't understand them, they subconsciously come to the conclusion that "this is very high-quality equipment".

Because the instincts of the creatures tell them that these well-designed and crafted equipment will save their lives more than shoddy things.

The so-called judging people by their appearance is actually probably like this.

The oncoming fog was cool and cool, and the speed of three people walking on the country road was not high.

Even though the fog is not very thick, not taking unnecessary risks is the secret to living a long life.

From this point of view, the adventurer is also an industry with extremely high selection standards for the mind.

People can only see the few people who stand at the top of the fame and fortune, and ignore the countless stepping stones under them who break into this industry with only one blood and finally die without a body.

Those who dare to do what others dare not do are risk-takers.

But this is not the fearlessness of the ignorant who does not know the risks, but the perseverance of the ignorant after analyzing it with a cautious and cool mind.

Neither of them spoke, and as they advanced, the weeds and rocks on the side of the road began to increase, giving the appearance of being deserted and infrequently walked.

The reason for the silence stems from vigilance. The girl hung her crossbow and sword in her hand, but they weren't wound. Keeping it tight for a long time can cause damage to the weapon or damage to the partner if it is accidentally hit.

This was even more true of Kaleva behind him, and the young man almost had the word nervous written on his face. Under the warm wool hat, the hair grew a little longer during the trip, and the hair became wet from sweat and fog. His hand was always on the hilt of the one-handed knife, ready to be pulled out.

The only one who still seems calm is our sage gentleman, as always.

The reason for Mira and Galeva's nervousness is clearly related to the current environment.

- This is a path used by smugglers in the past, and the sage spent a little more money on bread and tapped it from the baker's side.

It's been quite a long time since he's been out of the land. Even if you have a good memory and therefore have a general direction, there are still things that need to be asked about the people who really live in this land.

The reason why the trail is no longer used by these petty thieves is because of the emergence of a more terrifying existence.

It has always been the case, and the security agencies often do not punish such "minor evils" too harshly. As a result, no matter how many vigilante troops are there in the area, they are always constantly emerging. On the contrary, when an even more terrible "great evil" appears, they disappear very familiarly.

And this so-called great evil is the exiled magician.

"......." Galeva, who had the soles of his feet on the pavement, looked at the tattered clothes that appeared on the side of the road from time to time and the human bones that had been broken underneath, and swallowed his saliva.

Despite being only one-thousandth the size of the Wizards' Guild, the management structure of the Wizards' Guild is similar to that of the Mercenary Guild - there are hierarchies and qualifications, and benefits are paid at the cost of certain obligations to follow the rules.

And there are rules that will be violated, and those who violate these taboos and are finally removed are exiled magicians.

Their reputation among the people is extremely bad, because such people have gone crazy in order to pursue the ultimate in their hearts. They are dismissive of the morals and values of human society, and will not waver in killing or even slaughtering villages in order to verify their magic.

And the unburied bones next to the path the three of them belonged to these exiled magicians.

You don't need to be a sage to know the magic trails on the torn clothes and the dead vegetation next to them.

Apparently infighting.

"Aggressiveness is a human virtue, but blind aggressiveness is no different from arrogance. Henry looked at the bones, and there was hardly any turmoil in his heart.

They continued to move forward slowly, the scenery of the road along the way unchanged, but as the belated sun finally rose, the fog finally began to lift.

As the morning passed in silent walking, near noon, they finally walked out of the forested area.

"Whew-" A gust of wind blew at once, and then the sparkling lake and the huge island in the center came into view.

The island, which is almost as large as the sea, is surrounded on all sides by the deep water, which is so deep that the color of the lake here is also a terrifying deep blue. Looking down from where the trio were standing, the huge moose skulls on the shore were mixed in with some of the debris washed up by the waves, proving that there was some kind of aquatic creature in the lake that was large enough to prey on them.

Where the Dragonfalls.

That's what the Suomirs call this area.

It is concise and poetic in its entirety about the essence of this island in the middle of the lake.

This is the place where Suomir's legendary protector dragon, Lu Miqi, died.

The island in the center of the deep, vast lake with ferocious beasts is still unattainable for humans. Its only entrance is a bridge built to the north, which was once guarded by the Great Swordsmen and is now guarded by a detachment of the Dragonwing Knights.

With the impregnable gate and the heavily guarded forbidden land, the exiled mages who fought on their own naturally did not choose to break through.

Therefore, most of them chose to sneak to the island from the south where the three of Henry were currently located, but so far, no one has successfully landed.

Most of the dragon feathers that exist on the black market and are used by members of the Dragonwing Knights are scattered feathers collected in the mainland part of the island next to the island.

In the past, the Great Swordsman was not only present at the northern entrance, but also the scattered feathers were said to have fought alongside the white dragons, and these scattered feathers were sacred relics. Even touching was forbidden, so the entire area could only be defended.

Ironically, it is precisely because of this rigidity that many of the scattered feathers are eventually acquired by exiled magicians and merchants and nobles who seek curiosities.

Mira and Galeva both looked at Henry.

After hearing his story, the two already knew the relationship between the two. In the past, Lu Miqi did many deeds to help mankind, but when she died, the human beings really couldn't say that they were full of gratitude.

Humans are a race of self-deception, always looking for ways to justify their actions.

Something like this sounds like a good use of resources, but when the remains of your old friend are sought after as collector's exhibits, if they are not strictly protected, they are afraid that they will be used by some wealthy imperial merchant to hang in their own halls.

Anger is a natural emotion, and there may be a bit of helplessness in it.

Dragons are high up in the sky, and because of this, not only exiled magicians, but also many ordinary people also have this urge to obtain some of the remains.

Just as the defenders of Tarva-Sutar have "special treatment" for "well-mixed mercenaries".

The sage did not speak.

"How do I get there?" asked the girl Roan, glancing back at Kaleva.

Even if the relationship is very close, the natural obstacles in front of them will not change much.

They didn't even have a boat, and the Dragonwing Knight guarding the gate on the other side would certainly not let them through. That's why Henry chose to take this path directly.

The sage exhaled, then dismounted, taking off his leather gloves.

"Stand back a little and get down and hold them, lest they be frightened. He said this, then looked left and right, and finally found a black stone on the ground that looked unremarkable.

"I guess that's it. He said this and walked over.

He walked over in silence, the runes on the skin under the armor lit up one by one, Henry's eyes glowed with a dazzling blue light, he crouched down and stretched out his hand to press on the stone, and then the ground suddenly shook violently.

"Papapa-papa-" The birds of the forest flew up in a panic, and the two horses and Kaleva were also a little panicked, but under the control of the little unicorn and the Luoan Maiden, they managed not to deviate from the course and fell below.

The sheer amount of magic power made Mira feel her mana pool also affected, and she felt a little uncomfortable, but it only lasted for a moment, because the magic circle that was activated in the next second consumed this magic power.

"Bang! Click-" The advanced magic derived from the elves surpassed the limits of what was currently possible with any human earth-based spell.

The bridge, made of stones and dirt, rose flat in front of their eyes and stretched out hundreds of meters away to connect to the island in the middle of the lake.

The huge pillars that rise from the bottom of the lake cause waves to appear on the south side of the entire lake.

The damp mud mixed with many small fish and shrimp were still fluttering and trying to return to the lake, and the stirred up silt made the blue lake start to become muddy.

"Hiss——!" The behemoth of the lake slapped its tail as it was silently startled, and Mira and Caleva only glanced at it, both holding their breath at the sheer size beneath the surface of the lake.

The sound of a large amount of water passing by quickly turned into a "tick-tock" sound, and the pillars of wet mud and the deck of dry earth were perfectly combined to form an arched bridge.

"Whew-" The sage exhaled, and the magically constructed bridge still adjusted itself as if it were sapient, the combination of gaps smoothing out the deck.

"To be honest, I thought the teacher was omnipotent enough. Miss Luoan was a little stunned.

"I didn't do it, it was a ready-made circle made by the druids, and I activated it at best. Well, the bridge will only last about 15 minutes, so hurry up. Henry said this, and such a huge movement would obviously alarm the Dragonwing Knights stationed on the other side, but when they made a detour to this side, the bridge would cease to exist.

The three of them hit the road quickly, and as long as the wide bridge deck couldn't help but look at the deep lake below, there would be no panic. The nervousness in their hearts spurred the group to go as fast as they could, and they leaped the distance quickly, and when their feet were back on the solid ground, the girl and the young porter let out a long breath.

"And what's going to go from here, the island is so big, I can't see the road ahead—" Mira looked left and right, and they came over, but there was only a gray-white cliff in front of them, flanked by dense bushes that looked very difficult to navigate.

"Do you remember what I said earlier? Henry glanced back at the two of them.

"Cognitive Interference Circle. ”

"This is a super-sized version of the small circle I have, and the whole island itself is a circle. He spoke, his tone still seemingly calm, but it was a few words lower: "It was Erica who did it." ”

"After all, I simply want to rely on the faith of the Great Swordsmen to defend this island. ”

"Even I can't say that kind of confident words. ”

"The truth about the island is out of reach for ordinary people, and the entrance to the north is actually a maze of inducements. If someone breaks through, or if the guards are guarding and stealing themselves. They will only make a detour through the maze and eventually return to square one. ”

"Bang-" The sage pulled Kramer from his saddle bag.

"Because the meaning can be interpreted as 'opening the way to the ideal town', so use this as the key? He shook his head to himself, then slammed his sword into the cliff.

"You're such a guy who likes to play with these tricks. ”

"White Snow"

"Bang - ——!!"

The dazzling bright light only flickered in front of the three of them, causing Mira and Galeva to subconsciously protect their eyes with their hands.

When it finally faded, the two of them immediately felt the air around them become warmer.

The crisp chirping of birds sounded in the distance, and they slowly blinked their eyes to gradually regain their adaptation, and by the time the out-of-focus eyes could finally see everything.

"What a beautiful ........" involuntarily uttered such words in his mouth.

The eerie island was gone, and they entered a different world.

What they saw was an endless field, and the entrance they were standing at a high point, down a slope, and then up again.

The wind blowing from the "——!" was different from the outside world, and there was a slight warmth, which made the white hair of the Luoan girl flutter gently. The sun shines on the land, butterflies with blue wings flutter, and the whole land is filled with countless flowers.

Many wild animals are roaming around, and emerald trees in the distance are glistening in the sun.

In the very center, the skeleton of a giant dragon with white feathers curls up on the ground like a cat, sleeping quietly.

People involuntarily held her breath, for fear of disturbing her sleep.

"Ahh Henry spoke quietly, and both Mira and Kaleva looked at him.

"Speaking of you, though you are called the White Dragon of Ice and Snow. ”

"But I like the weather. ”

"Long time no see. ”

"Old friend. ”