It was a night, the smoke from the extinguished mountain fire was thick, the bright moon was obscured, the smell of scorching mingled in the moist air, and the evening breeze carried the residual heat, passing the tragedy around to it on in all directions.
The campfire in the stables was bright and Fina slowly opened her eyes to find herself resting on a pair of warm thighs.
The owner of the thighs was sitting upright on the floor on his knees, his back straight, his eyes closed as if in deep meditation.
As if sensing her sight, the dark eyes slowly opened.
Eleazar lifted his hand and gently touched her head softly and asked, "Nana, are you alright, do you feel sick anywhere?"
By the campfire, Eve, who was hugging her legs in a daze, cast a complicated glance.
Fina stared at him for a long moment before her head suddenly snapped up.
"Where is this?"
She seemed to have amnesia and had no recollection of why she was there.
It wasn't just her, it was everyone around her who woke up.
"Ah... My head hurts!"
Mr. Investigator, the last one to regain consciousness, covered his head with pain and rolled over and over on the ground.
This is one of the after-effects of memory erasure, and this headache will continue to recur for a long period, accompanied by memory loss, dementia, inability to concentrate, and other complications, until the damaged brain tissue is healed.
Eleazar gently rubs Fina's head.
"Better."
"Mmmm~" she purred like a kitten.
Over there, Investigator Vessey sits up with his head covered and asks the people around him about the situation.
Eleazar has prepared an initial memory for them.
They hit a ghost...
It was a bit absurd, it might be hard for one person to say so convincingly, but if everyone said so, then the persuasive power was much greater, and it was none of his business what would be brainwashed later on.
The look on Vesey's face was shaken, as one of the eyewitnesses who had witnessed the transcendence, he was obviously not that good at fooling around, and those images might have been deeply embedded in his mind.
But Eleazar didn't care, that memory of his had been destroyed anyway, no amount of recall would help now, and like the female medical student, the pain of knowing but not being able to remember would torment him for a long, long time...
Seeing that everyone has woken up, Eleazar offers to go back.
There was no objection from the crowd, only Vessey's face was a bit hesitant, but everyone agreed, so he could only helplessly agree, perhaps his heart was also full of contradictions, wanting to confirm something, but at the same time, he was afraid of something...
The way back is not the same as the way they came, the forest was burned to the ground by a lightning strike and Eleazar and the three of them had to follow the expedition team into a remote mountain road.
The atmosphere was a little silent as we walked along the darkened path with flashlights on, and no one said much.
Fina suddenly tugged gently on his sleeve.
"That ghost, is it scary?" She asked, full of curiosity.
Eleazar recalls the demon spirit's appearance slightly.
Compared to the illustrations in the book, it's kind of eyebrow-raising.
But to the average person, this stuff is still terrifying.
"Scary, very scary."
Eleazar's tone was unmistakably serious.
"Oh~"
Fina responded softly, eyeing him for a long moment.
"What are you looking at, do I have something on my face?"
Eleazar felt a pang of weakness at her look and subconsciously touched his face.
"Not telling you~"
With her head empty Fina became adorable as she giggled softly and twisted her head around, bouncing to catch up with the person in front of her.
Eleazar smiles helplessly, walking in the shadows slowly following the crowd.
Silently sensing the movement around him, the smile in his eyes slowly disappeared and became ice-cold.
Who the hell...
...
Back in the bright lights of downtown, everyone's heartstrings finally dropped and they began to say their goodbyes.
Vesey's brow was furrowed, still trying to think of something.
Eleazar gave him a faint look and stepped forward to take Fina and Lingyin both by the hand and left silently.
After a long time, when everyone around him had gone, Vesey looked up with a shocked face.
"No, there's five more!"
"Hey, do you guys remember the five guys who went in for the treasure hunt?"
He turned his head with a look of urgency and asked to his side.
"Yeah, there's 5 other people, why would we forget?"
"Did we get hit by some curse and lose our memory at the same time?"
"No, it's not that simple!"
"It's really simple, we'll just go back and confirm it."
"Go back... Back?"
"No, I'm not going back there after beating myself to death!"
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[Evening report: The forest fire triggered by thunderstorm weather has been extinguished, but some experts point out that the residual high temperature in the mountain forests may still trigger a second fire...] [Second report: A man with strange behavior was arrested on Narcissus Street, the man was carrying an imitation firearm and a fake police badge, suspected to be suffering from paranoia and schizophrenia, and has been sent to the psychiatric department to confirm his condition...]
...
Sending the two back to their dormitory, Eleazar returned to his single dorm room as well.
Unlocking the door behind him, he took a fine sense of his surroundings, and then took a small heathered case from his person as if by magic.
Without opening it for confirmation, and without needing to do so, he simply stored it along with the small box of extraordinary value as well.
Then taking a seat at his desk, he propped his forehead and closed his eyes in contemplation.
[Magic potion residue: 90/100]
[Consumption: 1 Frost Detonator, 2 Silver Bullets].
[Kill: One newborn demon spirit]
[Harvest: 16 Gem Material, 1 Seal Box]
...
As the magic potion was digested, his abilities were promoted.
"Whew..."
Exhaled like a sigh.
A layer of frost quickly condensed on the tabletop.
Eleazar wipes his hand lightly.
According to the classification of spell levels in the book, this level of freezing could only be considered a trick.
If you use all your strength, you are estimated to be able to exert about 1 level of spell energy.
After digesting the entire magic potion, you should be able to reach level 3.
His own growth was not slow, but the things he faced were likewise becoming more and more dangerous.
After experimenting with his new abilities, Eleazar leaned back a bit wearily, trying to empty his head and get some rest, but as a result, he couldn't help but ponder the day's encounters.
Demon Spirits, Deer Head Goblins, Cave Trolls...
The first two were nourished by the rich resentment there, and the latter should have been attracted there by the carrion.
Regarding the two unseen dark creatures, he actually didn't have much certainty.
At that time, there were only three silver bullets left on his body, and an energy sword that looked cool, but actually did very limited damage.
At best, you can still use a little low-level cold energy.
He had already discovered that against dark creatures, it was actually weapons made of silver that were the most lethal.
Or maybe it's an advanced spell...
Eleazar silently recalls the eerie mountain fire.