Half-elf Ranger

On the fourth floor of the tower, chaotic thick fog enveloped the entire space and dissipated at a very slow speed.

After finishing the last construct, the giant elephant guard, Thorne and Andrina disappeared into the thick fog and set off towards the upper floor.

"Do you know all these herbs?" Andrina followed closely behind Thorne, looking at the various strange-shaped plants under her feet, and asked curiously.

Thorne frequently swung his long sword while walking, cutting off the activated vines that were trying to intercept them. Hearing Andrina's curious question, he paused slightly, glanced at the plants growing under his feet and replied:

"This orchid-like plant is called shilan grass. It has the effect of dispelling the negative energy in the body. It is the favorite of wizards who are proficient in the necromancy school. Although the taste of direct consumption is very bitter, as long as a necromancer with a little common sense, they This herb is regularly added to food.”

The wizards of the necromancy school are a group of spellcasters who like to deal with corpses and undead creatures in silence, so in order to understand the true meaning of death, they are in contact with negative energy breath all the year round.

If they don't take medicines or ingredients made of stone orchid grass for relief, their bodies will be gradually assimilated into undead creatures because they can't withstand the erosion of negative energy aura.

However, the effect of this medicinal herb is only to relieve the time of the dead energy eroding the body, and it cannot completely eradicate it.

This is why among the wizarding groups, the necromantic wizards are the group with the highest proportion of transformed liches.

In addition to the near-eternal life and immortality of the lich, it is one of the important reasons why the flesh body cannot withstand the erosion of negative energy aura.

Seeing the stone bluegrass, Thorne seemed to think of something, so he reminded Anderina beside him:

"Also, your physical banshee is an undead creature. They are born with the ability to touch negative energy. Before she has mastered this ability, you'd better not have too much physical contact with her. , these stone orchids may be of some help to you."

After listening to Thorne's reminder, Andrina nodded slightly to him, then looked at the stone orchid grass almost everywhere in this area, and said her inner guess:

"So, with so many shilan grass growing here, does it mean that the wizards in the tower are mainly necromantic spellcasters."

"Not necessarily, the best growth environment for shilan grass is moist soil and sufficient light. Obviously, because there is no person to control the temperature difference and climate all the year round, the most favorable environment for them has been formed, and it is normal for the reproduction speed to be too fast. ." Thorne disagreed.

Of course, there is another main reason, that is, the two of them have come from the first floor of the tower to the present. Except for a few banshees, they have not encountered other undead creatures, even the underground secret passages and the second floor are all over the place. None of the corpses were successfully transformed into skeletons.

At the beginning, when he explored the cave left by the lich, it was precisely because of the strong negative energy in the cave that he encountered many skeletons that were naturally transformed.

If this tower is really dominated by the necromancy school, it is impossible for the skeletons to wake up naturally.

"That's true." Andrina no longer struggled too much with this issue.

I saw her looking at the looming ecological environment surrounded by thick fog, her eyes flickered slightly, as if thinking of something, and then a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth and said her thoughts to Thorne:

"When we finish exploring this tower, I plan to build this botanical garden into a garden of my own."

"In addition to being beautiful, the garden is useless at all. It is better to plant some practical herbs. In the jade field where the seasons alternate frequently and the cold wave is too long, the annual output of herbs in this greenhouse environment is also a lot of money. money."

Thorne stopped in his tracks and made a direct objection without hesitation.

"Growing herbs is time-consuming and labor-intensive, aside from the fact that the output of this area in one year is only a few hundred gold coins at most. Are you short of that?"

Andrina glanced at the fog-filled space and analyzed Thorne seriously.

"..."

Thorne had nothing to say, because he thought about it carefully and found that what the other party said did make some sense. In the end, his vision was too low, which he still had to admit.

The original intention of the wizards to establish the planting area itself is not to make money, but mainly to cultivate some rare plants or to facilitate the experimentation of their own research results.

Asking him to grow herbs here is like a country farmer accidentally discovering a researcher's laboratory, a flash of inspiration in his mind, thinking of a way to get rich, and starting to grow cheap Chinese cabbage here for sale.

Noticing the other person's teasing eyes, Thorne suddenly thought of something and asked, "Didn't you say you didn't plan to live here? You started to pay attention to this place so soon."

"I suddenly changed my mind, can't I?"

"Okay, as long as you're happy."

Looking at the playfulness in Anderina's smiling eyes, Thorne shrugged helplessly, not bothering to argue with her about this issue, signaled the other party to follow, then turned and continued towards the spiral. Go in the direction of the stairs.

Stepping on the steps of the spiral staircase and gradually walking towards the upper floor of the tower, the thick fog gradually fades as it rises until it disappears.

When Thorne and Andrina were about to approach the entrance of the fifth floor, he suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" In the dim passage, Andrina noticed Thorne's thoughtful expression, her heart tightened, and she immediately came to her side and asked.

Through the encounter from Winter City to the present, she has discovered a characteristic of Thorne, probably because his occupation is a ranger, and his intuition and vigilance for danger are more sensitive. Something unpleasant will always happen down there.

"I'm thinking about what area the fifth floor will be." Thorne said, looking in the direction of the passage.

"Instead of standing here in a daze, it's better to walk in and have a look." Andrina gave Thorne a beautiful white eye.

Thorne shook his head slightly, and said with a slightly dignified expression: "The hall on the first floor belongs to the tower. It is very empty inside. There are only two clay golems guarding it. It should be the place where the tower's master and apprentices gather.

Although there was a fierce battle on the second floor, most of the buildings were damaged, but it can still be judged from the broken marble columns and some collapsed ruins. The second floor is the area where wizards and apprentices impart knowledge.

The third floor is the laboratory. According to the crude equipment on the table and various discarded materials, it can be inferred that this is a public place for wizard apprentices to practice and study.

The fourth floor is a plantation established by a wizard. It has three plantation guards. Obviously, it is the private laboratory of the owner of the tower. When we stepped into the area, we were immediately noticed by the guards inside. Early, it is very likely that they will be successfully attacked.

So, what area is the fifth floor? Are there other guards or unknown dangers hidden inside? "

"For wizards, they all like to live on the top floor of the tower, which means that the higher you go, the more dangerous it is." Andrina glanced at Thorne and guessed:

"The teaching area, the laboratory, and the plantation where relevant personnel are arranged to take care of it, then the fifth floor is likely to be the living area of ​​the apprentices, and then upwards, it should be the private area of ​​the tower owner, which is a forbidden area for others. "

"Yes." Thorne nodded slightly, agreeing with the other party's guess: "That is to say, when we step into the fifth floor, we will not encounter any danger, but there may be unknown guards at the entrance of the sixth floor. "

Thorne, who wanted to understand the question, waved and motioned for Andrina to follow, and walked to the entrance of the fifth floor of the tower.

The fifth floor of the tower.

Thorne looked at the silent space, and indeed, as guessed, there was no danger.

In the area where the wizard apprentice lives, there is a dusty corridor in front of Thorne, and there are habitable rooms on both sides. Judging from the number of rooms, there can only be a maximum of twenty people here. people around.

The corridor is very quiet, and there are still many oil paintings with only outlines left on the walls due to the age. The magic of the magic lighting source of the light source has long been exhausted, and it is inlaid on the ceiling, which can only be used as decoration.

"Om!"

Andrina followed behind Thorne, her staff slightly in her hand, and a bright and soft light filled the space, shrouding the two figures.

Then, under the leadership of Thorne, he walked cautiously in the channel covered with heavy dust, and walked cautiously towards the sixth floor.

"Crench!"

Thorne stood in the distance and gently pushed open a rotten wooden door with the tip of his sword. In the not-so-spacious room, except for a bed, table and chairs that were eroded by years, there were no other extras.

"What happened to make the owner of this house go in such a hurry." Thorne glanced at the messy furnishings and couldn't help but wonder.

"Could it have something to do with the tragic battle on the second floor of the tower?" Andrina looked at the layout of the room and said her thoughts.

"It must have something to do with that battle." Thorne nodded. "I mean what happened to this tower and made these people leave in a hurry."

Then, Thorne doubled down on the room again, turned and left after seeing nothing, and continued to explore.

But unfortunately, he pushed open all the doors in the corridor in succession, and found nothing of value except dust.

Finally, when Thorne and Andrina were about to walk to the end of the corridor, they found something strange, and a corpse was scattered on the ground not far ahead.

This corpse should have been a warrior before his death. In addition to the scattered long swords on the ground, he was also wearing a long rusted armor. The chest of the armor was engraved with an indistinct flower crown, which looked like some kind of aristocratic emblem.

Looking at the corpse lying quietly on the ground, Thorne pondered for a moment, motioning Andersina not to move around, and he took his sword and walked carefully to the corpse.

When he approached the attack range of the long sword, he used the sword to gently turn over the disintegrated corpse, trying to find the cause of the soldier's death.

After all, the corpse of a soldier appeared strangely in the residence of the wizard apprentice, which made Thorne have to think whether it was related to the battle on the second floor of the tower.

After opening the armor, Thorne also found a rotten light crossbow and a short sword on the warrior's waist, as well as an iron-inlaid leather shield behind him, and even hidden in the rotten boots of his legs. a dagger.

Upon closer inspection, Thorne found two wounds on the soldier's corpse, and a collapsed bone in his chest, as if it had been hit by some kind of hard object.

However, this kind of injury is not fatal. The real fatal injury is the throat, which is cut by some kind of sharp blade. The deadly weapon is extremely sharp. When the throat is cut, it also leaves a gap on his neck bone.

After the general inspection was completed, Thorne planned to check the style of the armor carefully, so he used the tip of the sword to lift the upper body of the armor, and when he was about to move it to his side, a folded yellowed paper slipped from the gap in the armor.

Seeing the paper slipping to the ground, Thorne looked startled, looked closely, and immediately recognized the material of the paper.

This is a kind of high-quality paper commonly used in the mainland.

Due to their water resistance, moisture resistance, durability and long-term preservation, they are sought after by most low-level wizards. They are mainly used to make spellbooks and write dusty histories, usually priced at 50 gold coins.

Then Thorne, with curiosity, carefully picked the paper with the tip of his sword, opened it in his hand, and looked at it. Andrina, who was standing behind, saw the paper in Thorne's hand, and immediately moved over.

Salute to you!

Your Majesty the Great Wizard! I am your most loyal ally, and the town of Falls is in desperate need of help. Please lend a hand.

The love of my life: Kefla Chorenov, tormented so deeply by an evil that even the kindest priest is not enough to protect her, the pain is emaciated, I swear I will save her she.

I have a lot of wealth here, and I promise to give you and your companions all the help I can, and please answer my desperate request, Your Excellency the great wizard!

Please come as soon as possible because her time is running out! Everything I have will be yours!

Lord of the Falls

Viscount Adal

...

"An unsent letter for help." Andrina took the paper handed by Thorne and said after reading it.

"That's right." Thorne didn't deny it, and at the same time expressed his inner doubts:

"How did this warrior from the town of Falls reach the fifth floor of the tower for the time being, what I am most puzzled is why he died here, and whether the love mentioned by Viscount Adal in the letter will be Something to do with the battle on the second floor of the tower?"

"Deeply tortured by a kind of evil, even the priest is helpless." Andrina looked at the contents of the letter: "So, the reason for the demise of the Falls Town more than a hundred years ago was that it was targeted by some kind of evil. ."

"The so-called evil is very likely to be in this tower. Don't forget, there are more than a hundred dwarf skeletons in the underground chamber." Thorne looked at the direction leading to the sixth floor and was slightly absent-minded.