The team heads south until the edge of the elven forest and then turns west. As everyone in the New World knows, visitors of other races are not welcome in the Elven Forest, and anyone wishing to enter the area must assemble at a specific elven outpost, where they will be inspected and led through by a Ranger Sentinel. Siegel's elven master Leah belongs to this force, and is the defender and patrol of the elven forest.

Despite this system, it was almost impossible for the elves to allow a predominantly orc party to pass through the forest. In some things, they are as stubborn as the dwarves. Naturally, Siegel would not go to this trouble, and under his command, they kept the forest to the left of the forward direction and increased the speed of their march.

"Someone in the forest is watching us. Janet whispered to Siegel, "But I can't see where they are." ”

"It's okay, it's the elven shooters hiding behind the leaves, they're on guard, and there's no ill will. Siegel reassured her. Again, however, he ordered to speed up, and never go near the forest, even if he was forbidden to pick up dead branches for firewood.

"I was very nervous, Siegel. Janet frowned, "This forest gives me a very different feeling from the elven deep forest in Moon Bay in the Old World. The trees here appear stronger, but not elegant. More like a strong fighter than a poet. What do you think caused it?"

"Kitten, after all, the North has just ended the war of the orcs, and even now there are still some scattered orc robbers wreaking havoc in the countryside. Elves and orcs have a feud, and it is conceivable that the entire forest will be on guard. "I'm sure the forest has been shrouded in this atmosphere these days," Siegel said. All you feel is the tension that remains. ”

"But don't you feel a strong hostility?"

Siegel hesitated. Still nodded: "Yes." There was hostility in that forest. But it's much better than the spirit of the wraith. Bear with me, it should be better when you get around to the west of the forest. ”

Jenny nodded and sat back in the carriage. After a while, she felt a little cold and asked for a blanket. Siegel cast a human sleep spell on her, intending to give her a good rest. However, the spell was resisted by Janet, and the magic could hardly elicit a reaction from her body, as if she couldn't find a suitable target. Siegel frowned. I've never heard of a human demon descendant producing such a peculiar spell resistance. He continued to chant spells, relying on precise spell control and surging energy surges, forcibly breaking the spell resistance, and finally letting Janet fall asleep.

The mage turned his head to look at the elven forest, looking at the plants that had awakened from the cold winter, radiating vitality in the warm sunlight of spring. The water melted by the ice is still cold, but it can already moisten the soil and nurture life. Siegel didn't feel the formidable hostility emanating from the forest at all, only a hint of conservative wariness, believing that if he left the orc group. If you go to this forest on your own, you may still be hospitalized. Why is Janet so nervous? Siegel uses psionic vision, uses detection magic, and uses all of his senses for magical atmospheres. None of them got an answer.

With a wave of his wand, Siegel formed an illusion emblem above the team to identify himself as a member of the Mage Guild, and he unfurled his squid emblem, the knight coat of arms of Waterdeep, and the royal knight emblem of the Starry Kingdom. Not long afterward, a white dove flew out of the forest, circled the head of the team three times, and then flapped its wings and flew away. Siegel felt that the group's surveillance had weakened a lot, and the road became easier to walk.

They continued on their way, leaving the realm of Waterdeep, clinging to the elven borders, and spending every day on the road. They encountered a lot of trouble on the road, but they all overcame it one by one by the concerted efforts of everyone. Siegel's item repair spell ensures that all wagons work well and won't be damaged in the wilderness, ensuring that the speed at which the team can travel is not affected. Orc gladiators would take the opportunity to hunt around - no one dared to enter the elven forest, of course - and provide fresh food for everyone to eat. Due to its proximity to the Elven Forest, there were no dangerous monsters or bandits, so Siegel's party had a safe journey.

After ten days of marching, they turned south and embarked on the "ore road" that was distributed along the mountain range of the city walls. Siegel had traveled this road on his way to Dragon Lion Cliff - just another branch route further west. The dirt road has fallen into disrepair, and many places have been eroded by rainwater, leaving large and small potholes. However, as long as the convoy avoids these places and is careful when crossing the river, it can still move much faster on this road than in the wilderness.

As they headed south, the snowy peaks at the top of Mora were already in sight on the right side of the team. It was the first time that the orcs had seen such a majestic mountain, and the land seemed small compared to its original vastness. Some orcs lay on the ground and bowed in the direction of the mountain before daring to continue on their way.

Under the guidance of Fezak, the story of the Top of Mora began to circulate in the procession, and among them there was always the presence of Siegel - the conqueror of the Top of Mora, who defeated the towering snow-capped mountain with the strength of his flesh. Orcs worship the brave, and strength and health are more submissive than clever minds. After listening to these stories, at least they are more obedient.

They came across a patrol of dwarves on the way, and although there were only four of them, they had the feeling of moving a fortress. Several gladiators looked enviously at the heavy full-body armor on the dwarf's body, and then looked down at the long sword and dagger in their hands, and shook their heads helplessly.

Still using magical illusions to reveal his identity, Siegel greeted him. After verifying the identity of the Siegel Warrior, the dwarf became very enthusiastic and took out the food from the watchtower to share with him.

"You should follow this road all the way south, and you should have a safe journey. When one of the dwarves heard of their destination, he said, "There were some trolls and bandits a while ago, but they have been cleared. Our powerful dwarven guards have cleared the entire road of places where enemies can hide, and have destroyed a lair of a two-legged wyvern! None of the caravans have been in danger lately, and you're just in time. ”

"Every time I come to the top of Mora, I have good news and a good mood. Siegel and the dwarf hug. Share food and wine. "Do you know Elint of the Diamond Family? How's he doing?"

"Poor dwarf. He's not been good lately. The red-nosed dwarf laughed, "Don't care, I'm just kidding." Didn't he lose a leg while taking an adventure a while ago and made a jeweled prosthetic leg, which we were very envious of at first. Later, he didn't know who stole the leg, which made him furious. In order to catch the hateful thieves with her own hands, Elint found the priest and was reborn with a severed limb under the divine power of the patron saint. ”

"Isn't that a good thing?" said Siegel with a smile.

"yes, we think so too. Severance regeneration spells are uncommon. Only devout believers can receive God's blessings. When Elliint returned to normal, she found the prosthetic leg in her bedroom, presumably drunk and left it in the corner - no one else is to blame, is it? ”

Another dwarf leaned over, his beard shaking with a smile: "I heard that he once sighed with his jeweled prosthetic leg. I hesitated to replace this arrow and couldn't shoot it. ”

You can imagine his expression. Siegel couldn't help but laugh. On the same day he wrote a letter to Elliint, greeting him with "best wishes". And told him about his recent situation. Perhaps the intelligence network at Mora's Top has already told the dwarves all the information, but a handwritten letter is still necessary.

The dwarven patrol took the letter with them, and Siegel led his team on the way until the snow-capped mountains at the top of Mora slowly fell behind them. At this time, the "ghost fog" of the backwater swamp began to appear in the east. Every day the east glows with gray light, and the sun often does not look like it rises. Sometimes the fog covers the surface of their feet and obscures the road. Siegel arranged for a few orcs to find the way in case the team went off course.

As if sensing that the team wouldn't be so gullible to it, the Ghost Mist Swamp withdrew its tentacles and unveiled a well-maintained avenue in front of them. On the side of the road, there is a sign every two miles with the distance to the top of Mora and a few words of blessing written in the dwarven language. There are also some large flat stones arranged by craftsmen on the side of the road, so that the stones fit together so that weeds cannot get out of the middle. There is also a simple ditch next to the boulder, which when it rains, diverts the water from the platform into the valley not far away. This was used as a place for caravans to stop and rest, and each platform was enough for ten carts to be parked.

Gradually, they moved away from the dwarven-controlled core, and the roads were still wide, but it was clear that the dwarves could not maintain the same level of maintenance in all places. Thorns and weeds are beginning to appear, and some sections of the road are flooded by the snowmelt from the mountains. However, this is a temporary phenomenon, and when all the ice on the rivers melts, the mountains and rivers will still converge into those rivers and flow under the bridges, providing enough life and vitality to the vast land east of the city walls.

From here there began to be wild beasts, first with cunning foxes and then with herds of wild dogs, trying to rummage through the garbage for food. A bear that had woken up from hibernation appeared clumsily at the front of the group and roared loudly. Manna shot arrows with a bow and killed the bear along with several orcs. The bearskin was given to Siegel - this was the power of the lord, the so-called prey tax. The mage cast a spell and made a warm cloak out of half of it and gave it to Mana. The other half, after a simple treatment with magic, ordered the orcs to make a large drum. He took out his money bag and gave each of the orcs who helped him five silver coins as payment for buying prey and making a large drum. Although they couldn't spend the money for the time being, it greatly boosted the morale of the orcs. There was no such good thing when I was a slave, so the half-orcs who could shoot arrows scout the surroundings every day in good spirits, hoping for some more stupid animals.

In such an atmosphere, after a month and a half of travel, they finally reached Heimhill. (To be continued......)