"Walk slower, the road is getting slippery." Mike warned from the front, his boots sliding slightly on the ice, "If we fall, we will probably roll all the way to the foot of the mountain."
Perry listened and hurriedly slowed down his pace. He couldn't help but look around and found that even the surrounding vines were frozen stiff, turning into crystal clear icicles, as if the whole world was still in a cold eternity.
As they walked, they passed the fallen ice-armored mammoth, its huge body lying across the ice and snow, covered with thick ice armor, looking particularly majestic. Joyce stopped and looked at the mammoth's body, and said casually: "The ice mammoth is not an ordinary monster. Its leather armor is extremely hard and is a top-grade material for shields or armor. Moreover, its meat..."
He deliberately prolonged his tone, glanced at Perry, and raised his mouth slightly, "It is said to be extremely sweet. It is a first-class delicacy when stewed or roasted. Some nobles are even willing to pay a high price just to taste its meat."
"Really?" Perry's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but move closer, looking back and forth at the mammoth's body.
Thinking of the gold coins that these things might be exchanged for at the market, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, "If I can bring some meat down the mountain to sell, can I make a small fortune?"
Mike heard this, looked back at him, and couldn't help laughing: "Little money-grubber, do you think this is ordinary beef sold in the market? The meat of the ice-armored mammoth must be specially processed to be preserved, otherwise it will stink before it reaches the bottom of the mountain."
"And..." Joyce snorted coldly, interrupting Perry's fantasy, "Do you think we have time to cut up the mammoth here now? Let's go quickly, the mission is urgent."
Although neither of them was interested, Perry still stared at the huge mammoth corpse unwillingly, thinking in his heart: When they are not paying attention, I will secretly cut off some meat and put it in my schoolbag. It won't be discovered, right? Anyway, they don't care about these things.
He hid his thoughts very well, pretending to be indifferent on his face, and continued on the road behind Mike and Joyce. This journey was unexpectedly smooth, and there was no attack.
"Strange, such silence makes me a little uneasy." Mike broke the silence and looked around. "Normally, there would be other creatures active in the territory of the Ice Mammoth, but now there are no birds."
Joyce nodded and frowned slightly: "It's indeed a bit abnormal. The magic fluctuations here are getting stronger and stronger. I suspect that we are approaching the outer area of the Ice Dragon Seal."
Perry looked up at the mountain top that was getting closer and closer. It was shrouded in thick fog and cold air. A strange light could be vaguely seen under the ice. He was a little nervous and looked forward to finding the Moon Shadow Glass as soon as possible.
"Don't think too much." Mike patted his shoulder, "Enjoy this quiet journey. God knows if there will be more difficult things waiting for us next."
Perry nodded and continued to move forward.
There was no danger along the way, and the three of them were able to successfully reach the top of Mount Bidanea. Compared with the frost and coldness on the mountainside, the cold here was even more biting, and even breathing was painful. Although Perry was more tired than usual, he could still maintain his strength thanks to the recovery potion Mike gave him on the way.
Standing on the top of the mountain, the view suddenly widened. The mountains in the distance were shrouded in thick fog, and under his feet were layers of ice and snow. Occasionally, a few frozen plants could be seen embedded in the snow, like natural sculptures.
"It's really cold here..." Perry wrapped his coat tightly and shivered. He turned to look at Mike and asked, "What should we do now?"
Mike did not answer immediately, but raised his eyebrows and said with a meaningful smile: "Do you still need to ask? You can use your magic. Don't forget, you have 'professional knowledge' about plants... You should remember it, right?"
Perry was stunned when he heard this, and his heart felt weak. He knew that Mike was hinting that he was Henry, but in fact, he was not the real Henry, and his mastery of magic was very limited. Although he had his magic book in his hand, he still couldn't fully know all the magic in the magic book left by Henry.
"Uh... yes, yes, let me take a look." Perry smiled awkwardly, took out the magic book he carried with him, and prayed in his heart: I hope there is magic that can be used. After all, the skills he has now don't seem to have the ability to deal with finding plants.
Joyce stood aside with her arms crossed and looked at him, half-jokingly saying: "Hurry up, we don't have time to waste here. It's not a wise choice to stay on the top of this mountain at night."
Perry nodded, opened the magic book, and quickly looked for magic about plant positioning or detection. Every time he turned a page, he felt like he was racing against time, and his heartbeat was getting faster and faster.
Finally, he stopped on a page that recorded the spell of "plant scanning". Although the structure of the spell was complicated and lengthy, fortunately he could barely understand it. According to the book, this magic can scan all plants within 300 meters around and accurately locate their existence.
"Found it!" He raised his head and said excitedly.
"What are you waiting for?" Mike motioned for him to cast the spell quickly.
Perry took a deep breath, placed the magic book on his chest, closed his eyes and concentrated. He began to chant the spell in a low voice, and the sound echoed in the cold air. As the spell gradually unfolded, the temperature around him seemed to drop a few degrees, and his body felt a strange power gathering.
"Vivere inter plantas, scientia revelare..."
The spell was long, and the complex syllables made Perry's tongue a little knotted, but he forced himself to stay focused and recited it word by word. Slowly, the surrounding environment seemed to change, and a soft rustling sound came to his ears, like the wind blowing through the leaves, and like the whispers of plants.
After reciting the spell, Perry felt a strange wave spreading from under his feet, as if countless invisible vines were swimming under the surface and connected to the surrounding plants. He closed his eyes and felt a connection he had never experienced before - the existence of each plant appeared clearly in his mind, and he could feel their location, state, and even whether they were still growing.
This was his first time using the "plant scanning" magic, and the novel feeling made Perry unable to help but spend a few more seconds to feel it. He closed his eyes, as if the whole world had become different. The scent of plants spread out like soft ripples, presenting a series of pictures in his mind: not far away was a cluster of small shrubs covered with frost, like works of art carved by ice crystals; a little further away was a withered old tree, with cracked branches and peeling bark, hanging a few withered leaves on it, swaying gently in the cold wind.
Perry was delighted and thought: I didn't expect that this magic would actually work! It turns out that sensing plants feels like this.
After he opened his eyes, he couldn't help asking: "What does that Moon Shadow Glass look like?"
As soon as this question came out, Mike and Joyce were silent for a while, and then exchanged a complicated look.
"You don't know?" Mike spoke first, with a hint of surprise in his tone.
"Uh... yeah, I forgot to ask." Perry scratched his head awkwardly, trying to ease the atmosphere, "But, I seem to have heard that it doesn't necessarily need the moon to appear to pick it?"
"The moon?" Joyce couldn't help but hold her forehead and sighed, "You remember this condition. Yes, it does need moonlight under normal circumstances, but even if there is no moon, we can create an illusion light source through magic."
"Isn't that simple?" Perry breathed a sigh of relief, with a bit of relief on his face.
"Simple?" Mike turned to look at him, speechless, "Are you really amnesiac, or is your brain not working well? Illusion magic is very mentally exhausting, especially in this extremely cold environment. The two of us can only maintain it for five minutes at most. And if an accident occurs while casting the spell, the magic will not last."
"Is that so..." Perry glanced at the two of them guiltily. In order to avoid making the atmosphere more awkward, he quickly changed the subject: "What are its characteristics? You have to let me know what I'm looking for."
Mike rubbed his temples and said helplessly: "Moon Shadow Glass is transparent before it is picked, like crystal. Your plant scan should be able to sense it, right? Focus on finding transparent plants, and the chance of finding them will be greater."
Perry frowned, "There are so few plants here, it shouldn't be difficult."
"Although there are few, the terrain is complicated, you should be careful." Mike reminded, with a hint of worry in his voice.
Perry nodded, took a deep breath, and focused on perception again. He walked slowly around, stepping on the thin layer of ice, making a slight "crackling" sound. His magical perception continued to spread, and information about the surrounding plants emerged in his mind. Some of the plants had strange shapes that he had never seen before. As he identified them, he thought: It would be great if I could call Eno out to analyze them, but he didn't want to waste energy points. He could slightly sense the level of the plants in this situation. As long as there were no special plants, he would not bother it for now.
On a slightly flat rock surface, he stopped and focused on sensing the fluctuations somewhere. He felt a special breath - a faint but unique existence, as if calling him.
"Did you find anything?" Mike's voice came from behind. He reminded: "Take your time, but don't forget that the terrain here is very complicated. Be careful not to fall down."
"Got it!" Perry replied, and continued to move forward following the guidance of his perception. He could feel that the target was not far away. But as he got closer, the road became more and more rugged and the cold became more biting. In addition to the sound of the wind, he seemed to hear the subtle sound of ice cracking.
Finally, he stood in a special place. In front of him was a cliff, the edge of the cliff was covered with frost, and there was a dangerous atmosphere in the air. He stared at the bottom of the cliff and felt that it was the target.
"Here..." Perry whispered, "I feel it, just below the cliff."
Mike and Joyce walked over quickly, stood behind him, and looked in the direction of the cliff.
"So dangerous?" Joyce frowned, "Are you sure it's there?"
"Sure!" Perry nodded, with a hint of excitement in his tone, and also a little nervous. He slowly walked to the edge of the cliff, knelt down, reached out to grab a protruding rock, and carefully reached down.
Through the cold fog and frost, he finally saw the target - it was a cluster of plants growing close to the rock wall, with crystal clear petals, as if carved from ice and snow, emitting soft fluorescence in the weak light.
"Found it!" Perry shouted excitedly, reaching out to the strange plant. However, just as he was about to touch it, the rock under his feet suddenly made a crisp "crack" sound - the ice layer on the edge of the cliff cracked!
"Here..." Perry looked up and found that there was a cliff in front of him, with frost covering the edge of the rock, and a dangerous atmosphere in the air. But at the same time, he also sensed that the characteristics of Moon Shadow Glass were coming from below the cliff.
"It's nearby," Perry said with a hint of nervousness in his tone, "but it seems to be in a more...dangerous place."
Joyce frowned: "Dangerous? Are you sure?"
"Sure." Perry nodded and walked to the edge of the cliff. He knelt carefully, leaned forward, reached out to grab a protruding rock, and slowly reached down. Sure enough, a few meters below the cliff, he saw the legendary Moon Shadow Glass.
It was a cluster of plants growing in the cracks of the rock wall. The petals were like miniature moons, emitting a faint blue fluorescence. The frost condensed into a thin layer of crystals on the petals, like a natural decoration.
"Found it!" Perry shouted excitedly, then carefully reached out his hand, ready to pick the flower. Just as his fingers just touched the flower stem, a slight "click" sound suddenly came from the rock wall.
"Oh no!" Mike's voice came from behind, "Be careful, the rock may be unstable!"
However, it was too late. The rock under Perry's hand suddenly broke, and the fragments and ice slid down together. He lost his balance and his body suddenly leaned forward.
"Perry!" Joyce shouted, and at the same time reached out to try to grab him, but the distance was too far.
At the critical moment, Perry instinctively grabbed the frozen rock on the edge of the cliff with his other hand, but the biting cold and the slippery rocks made it almost impossible for him to hold on. His body was suspended in the air, the cold wind whistled past his ears, and below was a bottomless canyon.
"Help me!" Perry shouted, his voice trembling slightly with fear.
Mike rushed over immediately, and while holding out his hand, he shouted to Joyce: "Hold my feet, don't let me fall too!"
Joyce reacted quickly and grabbed Mike's waist to ensure that he would not be pulled off the cliff. Mike tried to reach forward and shouted: "Hold me, Henry! Hurry!"
Perry gritted his teeth and stretched his hand upward with all his strength, and finally held Mike's hand tightly together. Then, Mike pulled hard and pulled Perry back to the edge of the cliff little by little.
When Perry finally lay on solid ground, he was gasping for breath, and his palms were numb from the cold.
"What on earth are you thinking!" Joyce frowned, her tone full of reproach, "If you fall, do you think you can survive?"
Perry wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and answered with a gasp: "I... I just want to get closer to see it clearly."
Mike looked at him and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "You really tried your best. But your efforts were not in vain."