Chapter 1108: Chapter 901: The Open Plot Targets the Heart
Even though Leonard grew up under the radiance of Coron, living in the stronghold of Nature Mages didn’t turn him into a believer of the Natural Divine System like the other elves.
Perhaps this was one of the reasons for his dissonance with the Tower of Nature... While others sang the glory of nature, he alone called for the eternal Father God, the eternal Protector.
Leonard suddenly looked up, as if he heard cheering coming from the valley?
"You can enter the valley now!" Miss Edna, who was already informed, stood at the entrance, cheerfully beckoning them, "Come and enjoy the scenery of our North!
Although Neverwinter Forest here is not very safe, the landscape is rather unique."
With his straightforward nature, Leonard promptly entered the valley... He didn’t notice the wary gaze of Devis, nor the little ice ball he tossed without hesitation at Luca’s neck, who was engrossed in plant research.
Feeling a bit uncertain, Devis caught those slow-moving balls with the Hand of the Mage and said to the surprised Luca: "Hurry up and pack up, prepare to enter the valley.
It sounds like there are more magic creatures there, don’t just focus on these small flowers.
By the way, have you discovered anything?"
Swiftly tidying up his experimental table, Luca walked over to Devis’s side: "Neverwinter Forest is quite interesting~ Despite the presence of so many Evil Faction monsters, the energy of magic plants tends towards light."
Devis frowned: "The captain’s tone was a bit off earlier, I don’t think the valley is very safe, but you say, light..."
Walking alongside Luca, Devis suddenly stopped, unable to speak... The unique landscape before them truly merited Miss Edna’s emphasis.
Trickling streams flowed gently down from a small Ice Mountain only five hundred meters high, winding through this valley of less than ten thousand square meters.
Devis couldn’t help but turn his head to glance around; the surrounding thousand-meter high mountains encircling the valley proved he wasn’t mistaken... In this valley, the scenery of all four seasons appeared simultaneously.
And on patches of pasture divided by that small stream, countless magic plants grew.
This was actually a natural four-season botanical garden!
The Magic Botanical Garden in their Magic Tower seemed far less suitable for plant growth compared to this place!
Of course, the types of plants were definitely more abundant at their location, but the growth condition here was entirely different.
Devis was astonished... In such a good place, where Lord Hill, clearly also a mage, simply let the Teraxil Elves gather freely?
If it were their Quel Senta, not to mention how much bloodshed Archmages would have to endure for this cost-saving natural botanical garden, every piece of land would definitely be put to use! No dead corners left!
Even if Lord Hill was famous across the continent for being wealthy, surely he wouldn’t be this wasteful?
Breaking free from Devis’s grip, Luca raced toward Leonard, who was bent over caressing a Moonlight Flower gleaming silver-blue: "Wait a minute, don’t pick it yet! I’ve never seen a Moonlight Flower growing on a branch!"
Leonard looked up in bewilderment: "Beautiful flowers are at their most beautiful when they grow on branches, why would I pick them for no reason?"
The Alchemist being closely watched by the Nature Mage tightened his grip on the small knife, nervously speaking: "You... won’t forbid us from collecting these precious herbs like the Druids, will you?"
Leonard blinked strangely: "Druids aren’t as boring as you say, they just don’t allow the felling of plants with sentience.
Those plants can become Treants, produce Tree Sprite Flower Spirits, they obviously cannot be killed.
Or if they are plants so rare in the world, they must be preserved until more of their kind can be cultivated.
Though the value of the Moonlight Flower is quite high, it hasn’t reached the level requiring protection, as Celene walks wherever she pleases."
Luca glanced at the Half-Elf, his gaze slid past the slightly pointed ears: "The Druids the elves encounter, are still the legendary kind?
Over there in Quel Senta, they don’t even let humans cut grass, and often burn farms and pastures."
Leonard shrugged and firmly refuted the Alchemist: "The kind of people determine the kind of things they encounter. The emergence of extreme Druids must have its reasons.
That must be a question for you Quel Senta people’s ancestors on what damage they have done to nature."
Standing behind them, Devis couldn’t resist glancing at this Half-Elf Mage... as always keenly observant, he had long understood Leonard’s nature, hence he did not stop Luca’s recklessness.
But it seems, no matter how simple, one who can become an extraordinary mage is definitely not foolish... having a pure nature doesn’t mean having a pure intellect.
Edna walked over briskly and waved to the two mages trailing at the back, who were turning their heads in surprise as they observed the valley environment: "There are many dangerous places in Rose Valley, you mustn’t walk around carelessly!
The Teraxil Elves have cleared out a section of the area, and within this range, there shouldn’t be any problems. Take a look, there are red ribbons fluttering on the small trees and shrubs over there; you absolutely must not go beyond this range~
We’ll be staying here until early morning tomorrow. Make the most of your time!"
The female mage lightly brushed a strand of her long hair fluttering in the wind behind her ear and smiled at Luca, who seemed to want to say something but hesitated: "Although there must be some special herbs in the dangerous area, this place, after all, belongs to the Teraxil Elves.
They are kind enough to open it up for us to freely collect herbs, so it’s not right to ask them to take risks over such trivial matters, right?
In the future, when you become an Extraordinary Mage, you can come explore it yourself, wouldn’t that be better?"
Luca thought about it and then looked at his followers... Now he somewhat regretted not bringing his strongest bodyguards.
But he wasn’t blind to how powerful Edna and Leonard’s protectors were. If they thought it was dangerous, then it would be even harder for his followers to handle.
Though a bit willful, Luca wouldn’t recklessly risk the lives of his people.
As for asking Devis’s high-level bodyguards for help, he didn’t have the nerve... In Toril, even among good friends, you couldn’t just ask the other party to pay a price for your benefit, and no decent person would volunteer unless his friend was a Soul Stealer.
Anyone who would do such a thing couldn’t be a true friend; that would be a sucker.
An intelligent person encountering such a friend, breaking off is the only sensible solution.
So he could only sigh twice in regret but couldn’t help casting a glance at Leonard, pondering whether if it was close to the safety zone, he might ask this Nature Mage for help... Luca was completely unconcerned that Leonard had just criticized their country for disrespecting nature.
That’s just reality... In Quel Senta, first with the dragons rampaging, then the mages sweeping through, the mineral forests were almost exhausted, and only after those Druids kept coming back for revenge over the centuries did they have to show some respect to nature.
Simba City was considered relatively good; after all, for obtaining paper for magic scrolls, they specifically planted large areas of Beacon Firewood and Blue-leaf Trees outside the city.
For mages like Luca, if it’s a fact, there’s no point in struggling; just straightforwardly admit it... Anyway, when encountering those extremist Druids, they don’t consider past grievances, they’d just strike to kill.
They were already enemies, so who cares if there’s some grievance... If there were, they could only make those regrets lament at the Styx.
As for Devis, who had been observing Edna, he first frowned slightly, then quickly instructed his followers to act with utmost caution, no matter how precious magic materials found at the edge of the safe zone, not to step out.
He turned his head to glance at Luca, almost bursting into laughter.
Now he’s caught off guard because of those little schemes, right?
Luca’s personality really leaves one speechless... He was worried about Edna’s character being less than ideal, so he brought plenty of young, handsome young warriors, hoping to ease some troubles for himself.
But he must have reconsidered that if Edna’s character was fine, having someone among his people deceive or trick her would be problematic.
The chosen followers ended up mostly being either steady or honest, even if some were cunning, they wouldn’t dare act independently from the main group.
So apart from some staying by the stream to set up camp, Luca’s followers either followed him closely, action for action.
It’s rather good, while they might not be clever enough to help gather materials for Luca, at least they won’t cause trouble.
Devis smirked slightly, turning his head to glance lightly at the other two mages... Among their followers, there were some warriors just shy of reaching the Transcendent level.
Regarding Edna’s warning, not only did the mages display disbelief, but those smug warriors were also clearly searching for the boundaries.
If they were that strong, how did the two mages get wounded by the Gnoll People earlier?
Miss Edna may not have introduced much, but if you pay close attention, you’d understand that those Gnoll People’s terrifying mutation was due to the forcing by the Teraxil Elves!
Even these powerful elves chose only to open a section as a safe zone; how dangerous the other areas are should be obvious, right?
Most importantly, didn’t they wonder why Edna chose to let them into this valley?
From the start, the picky ones were just the four mages from Quel Senta. Miss Edna hadn’t even assessed whether her teammates were trustworthy.
It’s clear here that what they brought out was a blatant bait.
It’s really... Open plots are terrifying because human hearts are so easy to understand.