Pick your way north.
It was a long journey with towering trees along the way
Shire was wearing a leather bag, with no other clothes on his body, only a black cloak around his waist, and his chest greeted the cold wind. He was seventeen, which was a special age, neither an adult nor a child, belonging to the youngest and most powerful time.
When the bandages around his waist were removed, a purple scab formed over the wound, as if a witch's plaster had grown together with his flesh, which was strange. But the pain has gone away, there is always a warm feeling.
Etienne said that after the wounds were potioned, some hunters died of complications, while others survived and grew stronger. Perhaps it was psychological, but Char did feel much stronger, healthier and stronger than ever.
The potions were made by wizards who came from a great swamp beyond the border. Rivers flowed down from the mountains of the south into the gulf of the north. Along the way, they formed a dense network of water. The Original sorcerers hid there and taught witchcraft to the local natives, thus making the swamp a land of witchcraft.
The Marsh is adjacent to the Kingdom of Loman, so wizards often enter Loman to trade their magic for supplies, and they are often hired by the lords as consultants to solve supernatural phenomena in the territory.
Etienne takes Charles to visit a witch who is short-tempered, impatient, and alert to demon hunters, and who keeps an agile subdragon in the family to guard against thieves. She also has very deep powers, and the magic rope in Char's backpack was made by the witch.
How to live up to the expectations of the old hunter, Shire worried.
"You're not responsible for the dead, fool." "He is dead," sneered Gladius, "and if you were to fall from grace, he would not complain, for he could not speak."
"Something like you wouldn't understand."
"I don't have to understand that these things that drag you down are all waste, so-called responsibility, duty, morality... It's all about your mental debt, worrying you night and day."
"So you think I should live without principles? No bottom line?"
"You see, I don't know what principles are, and I still live well." Learn to flout the rules so that you can take advantage of other people who follow the rules, and when they are afraid of something stupid, it's your turn to be one step ahead."
If only I were a knowledgeable hunter who understood the workings of society, then I could teach this guy a lesson.
"Bah, even if you spend all your life and acquire countless knowledge, you will at most reach the second level of wisdom and overturn all your previous knowledge." But I've lived for who knows how many years, and now I'm guiding you on Level 5, so you can give up your stupid ideas and follow my teachings."
This chatter with Graddius went on all the way, but Charles was not bored, and the devil was never short of stories and topics to share. The demon held the tone of conversation, sometimes aggressive, sometimes humble, sometimes cruel and sometimes humorous, and was a witty companion, but Shire did not let down his guard. We must protect ourselves from men, let alone from demons.
Shire did not know the specific path, but in accordance with the direction of sunrise and sunset, all the way to the north. He had heard gossip that it was a ten-day walk north of the Twilight Forest to the coast, and that the Grey-Tree Hall was situated on the seafloor, meaning that the great city could soon be found as soon as one reached the sea.
"What a sloppy idea." The devil commented, "You can take a detour, look the wrong way, walk sideways, waste time wandering through the forest, and eat all the supplies before you get out of the forest."
This is true, Shire has been walking for many days, still did not see the edge of the forest, which inevitably let him have a little worry.
He slept at night, endured the cold in the lee, sometimes sleepless, and walked all day, the soles of his feet bleeding from thorns and weeds, missing his shoes and clothes, longing for bed and fire. Most of the time Char was hungry and could only find wild fruits to eat. Squirrels and rabbits could move faster than he could, but he also carried a crossbow, and if he shot an animal, he would soon have cooked meat.
By the fifth day, the wounds under his feet had scarred, the skin had become stiffer, and his feet, which had once only been able to walk on the insole, were now accustomed to touching the earth, and he walked farther and farther each day, alone with the devil in the silent forest. In Charles's soul, Graddiu's vision was very narrow, and he could only see things very close, so Charles described to the devil what he could see, the sun rising in the sky, the pine trees towering in the distance.
There is no human habitation, animals freely multiply, Shire saw the forest animal path, a large group of sacred white deer tread the established road quietly through the forest, these lofty animals let Shire feel as if they were in a dream, and so they all passed through, but also for a long time can not return to God.
The trek doesn't feel so bad, because there's always something to look forward to, and the forest isn't endless.
On the seventh day, the river appeared before his eyes, which cheered Shire. He remembered that when they entered the Twilight forest, they passed a river, probably the one in front of him, and it was not far from the Hall of Grey Trees if they crossed the river.
He walked along the banks of the river, where the water made a series of crisp noises against the rocks. It was the middle of the frost month, the tenth month of the year, and the weather was getting colder and the water was getting colder. Shire crouched down and patted a handful of water on his face on the riverbank, feeling refreshed by the biting water.
"Why," complained Graddius, "it's cold."
"Can you feel what I feel?" Shire confused.
"Yes, I can feel extreme feelings. It would be better not to play this hot and cold game again, for it only reminds me how fragile your nerves are to respond so much to such a change in temperature."
"I've seen your body. It looks like it's burning down there. Is it hot?"
"Of course, inside is my diabolical fire that burns constantly. We devour souls. Souls are our fuel. The demons are burning all the time, and if we don't eat enough souls, we will eventually disintegrate."
"So now you can't eat the soul, how do you live?" By my soul?"
"Bah, your soul reeks of the depravity of the flame of Aphon, and I have no place to speak." Yes, if I can't replenish my fresh soul, I'll starve to death. For my sake, find me some fresh soul."
"I won't kill for you."
"Oh, are we demons so weak that we can only live on human souls? How can the devil be such a trouble! Give me the soul of an animal, the soul of a beast or a monster, the soul of every earthly creature."
Shire saw a small river crab crawling on the muddy bank, reached out to pick it up, and crushed it with two fingers.
"Is that so?
"..." Graddius reluctantly agreed. "Yes, I did, but I am still indignant at your use of such rubbish to send demons away."
Perhaps it was Char's illusion that he saw a light green smoke fly out of the crab and sink into him.
He threw the crab into his mouth and chewed it up.
The juice burst in his mouth, salty and tender crab meat mixed with sharp broken shells, chewed into crushed mud in Shire's mouth, the taste is very fresh, very satisfying.
Charles smacked his lips and walked down the river, and soon saw a stone bridge.
We finally have a place to cross the river.
"Look, look, here comes our feast." "Murmured Graddiu.
Char did not know what the devil was talking about, but he walked to the edge of the stone bridge and smelled an unpleasant smell. The whole stone bridge was flat, straddling the river, impressively wide, enough for two carriages to cross side by side and more than enough, with the green-backed hyacinth flag of the Lord of the Grey Tree Hall on both the front and the back, but worn and broken over time so that the original colour was barely visible.
He heard a ripple under the bridge. Something moved in the water. Charles stepped back quickly, his knife clenched in his hand.
A terrible creature appeared before Shire's eyes.
It was covered in moist turvid scales that secreted mucus, its belly was milky yellow, covered with disgusting nubs and barnacle parasites, it had fat hands and legs, and extremely long arms that could hang down to its feet when it stood, with black webbed fingers between them, and it clung to a large, wet wooden stick, looking powerful. The head was very large in proportion to the body, which was about two or three meters high, with its fangs exposed, its eyes thick and fierce, and its ears small, leaving almost two slits close to the skull, and water dripping from the bare head.
Char knew what it was -- a troll.
Trolls are very resilient and, as far as Shire knows, can survive in almost any environment, and will evolve a variety of traits to adapt to their surroundings. The river trolls in front of us evolved webbing on their hands and feet according to the river's condition, and degraded their obstructive ears. While snow trolls are hairy, cave trolls have developed hearing, and there are countless subspecies.
Not only that, trolls are smart.
"Money to buy your way." It hit the bridge next to it with a wooden stick, making a dull sound, "buy the money!" He opened his ugly other hand towards the Shire.
"What do you want?" 'asked Shire.
"Kill it! Let me eat it! I'm so hungry, I want to eat souls!" Graddiu was very anxious.
"Gold, silver, copper, anything, glass, jewelry, I want everything... So can food!" The river troll's big mouth opened and closed, and it sounded like it was rubbing stones against the bark of trees.
He had several skeletons wrapped around his waist, and some of his skulls were still stained with dead meat.
"You kill people?" Shire clenched his weapon.
"Killing trespassers... Do you want to try too?" The river troll roared angrily. "No one can get through without money!"
"If you try to stop me, I'll kill you." The Shire threat.
Raging, the river troll pounded the ground around him with his stick. He climbed onto the stone bridge, clutching the headstone in one hand, and staring at the Shire with hatred.
'I want money! Give me the money! You can't go there!"
"Kill it, cut the skin off, and pick out the flesh inside." Graddius kept whispering, "Destroy it, overwhelm it with your strength, make it your stepping-stone to power and honor, you can do it, you can do it."
Char's heart was aroused by anger and murder, but at the same time, he saw the eyes of the troll, clearly hidden the plot of the beast.