The wind whistled and messed up Ados' somewhat withered silver hair.
This old wizard leaned on his magic staff and gazed at the rolling clouds in the sky. His gaze was deep and sorrowful, as if it could pierce through time and space.
At this moment, his already stooped back seemed to be even more crooked.
"I'm sorry … Mr. Ados, I didn't know …"
Tony opened his mouth with a guilty expression.
However, Ados quickly retracted his gaze from the sky.
He took a deep breath and squeezed out a somewhat ugly smile.
"It's alright, Sir Tony. This is all in the past.
"The catastrophe has brought indelible harm to everyone. It's also because of this that we know the beauty of peace, that we know the preciousness of the blue sky and white clouds …
"As survivors, we are already much, much luckier than those who were killed.
"Live well. Work hard to live for that possible beautiful future. This is what survivors like us should do.
"We should be strong, and we must be strong. The dead are gone, but we can't forget that we still have a future …"
Ados's words were powerful and resonant, as if they contained an incomparably resolute strength.
Looking at his persistent gaze, Tony's heart trembled, and he was filled with awe for a moment.
"Mr. Ados, you're really a strong elder. After chatting with you, I realized how cowardly I usually am."
Tony sighed slightly.
Looking at this resolute old man, he could not help but think of himself at this moment.
He thought of the unforgettable setbacks he had experienced since he was young. He also thought of how he became even more engrossed in the game after his recent breakup, but it was actually self-anesthesia to escape from reality …
The breakup of his relationship caused by his addiction to games was only the surface.
He had always known that what really surrounded him was the introversion and inferiority buried in his bones …
Because he was introverted, he did not like to socialize. Because of his inferiority complex, he escaped from reality and became addicted to games.
It was also because of this that when he was dating his girlfriend, he did not work hard to solve the problem when there was conflict. Instead, he chose to escape every time.
Time and time again, he chose to remain silent after the conflict. He chose to turn and bury himself in the game. In the end, it was in exchange for the other party's complete disappointment.
It was just a vicious cycle.
Compared to Ados, who faced his painful past, and compared to the old man who buried his sorrow and continued to move forward, he was really too inferior.
"No, Lord Tony, please be confident. The fact that you are willing to embark on this journey with us is enough to prove your strength and benevolence."
"If it weren't for you, we probably wouldn't have been able to make it here."
Ados shook his head and said.
Tony smiled bitterly and did not answer.
Strong? Benevolence?
No …
He knew very well that he was only willing to participate because it was a "game".
He was far less noble than Ados described him to be.
It was precisely because of this that he felt even more ashamed when he saw the grateful and respectful gazes from the crowd.
With Ados's narration and Tony's exclamation, the atmosphere in the team became a little gloomy.
Until the warrior, Bolles, let out a laugh.
"Hey, let's not talk about these sad things! Why don't you listen to my story with Ramis and Muriel? "
"Speaking of which, we were really unlucky. The three of us were originally mercenaries of a small mercenary group. We had saved up a large sum of money and were preparing to retire and open a small tavern together. Who knew that the cataclysm would strike just as we finished discussing our retirement with our leader …"
"It was really tragic. We had saved up gold pounds for more than ten years, but when this darn cataclysm struck, all the gold pounds turned into useless rocks. Instead, food and water became hard currency. What the hell!"
"The most infuriating thing was that we had specially exchanged most of the resources we had for gold pounds before we retired. In the end, all the gold pounds added together couldn't even afford a box of ale!"
"Isn't it very unlucky? Hahahahaha … "
Bolles laughed loudly and tried to change the topic.
However … his ability to change the topic didn't seem to be very good. Apart from him laughing awkwardly, no one else echoed him.
This burly warrior laughed for a while, seemingly realizing the awkwardness of the atmosphere.
In the end, he rolled his eyes. His gaze paused on the silent crowd for a moment before he said dejectedly,
"Damn it! It seems like my story isn't funny. I swear, I won't interrupt at such an unlucky moment in my life. "
"Pfft …"
Looking at his silly appearance that resembled a dejected brown bear, Miriel couldn't help but laugh.
Following the female mage's laughter, the silent atmosphere was suddenly broken. Everyone looked at each other and laughed at the same time.
"Pfft, Bolles, it's best you don't mention what happened before. If you hadn't always said that gold was easy to take care of, Miriel and I wouldn't have changed everything in the end."
Ramis scolded jokingly.
Miriel also shook his head and complained.
"That's right, it's all your fault."
However, although they were complaining, there wasn't the slightest resentment in their eyes.
On the contrary, there was only the tacit understanding and friendship of old friends.
With this commotion, the originally gloomy atmosphere in the team was swept away.
The team that escorted the magic energy gathering core once again returned to their high-spirited and optimistic state.
Aldos looked at the few people who began to expose each other's shortcomings, laughing and cursing as Bolles took the lead. His gaze became gentler.
He looked up at the rolling clouds in the sky and said, "It's still early.
Let's continue moving forward. If everything goes well, we might be able to walk out of the central plains today. "
With Aldos' order, the laughter and cursing in the team slowly stopped.
The few people's expressions returned to their serious and vigilant state as they continued on their journey.
Tony slowly retracted his gaze from the few people.
He didn't continue to ask about the whereabouts of Aldos' son. Instead, he took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and followed the few people's footsteps.
The past was the past. Facing difficulties head-on and facing tomorrow would allow for a better future.
…
The rest of the journey was normal. It wasn't difficult, but it wasn't smooth either.
The group continued with their previous tactics. With Tony as the core, they fought as they walked, destroying one monster after another that blocked their way.
And with the continuous fighting, the group's cooperation became more and more perfect.
Tony also gained more and more experience points.
There was a watershed between Iron and Silver, and the experience points required greatly increased.
It was also because of this that Tony's speed of advancement slowed down.
It wasn't until the group passed through the central plains and entered the heart of the canyon forest that connected the north and south of the Western Continent that his experience bar barely reached half.
However, although he hadn't officially advanced to the Silver rank, Tony's use of Eagleshot was becoming more and more skillful. His combat level had also greatly improved compared to the beginning.
At this moment, he even suspected that if he were to encounter a vicious robbery in reality, he might be able to kill the other party with his bare hands based on the experience he had accumulated in the game …
The terrain of the canyon forest was more complicated than all the terrain they had walked through before. Although it was less than ten kilometers wide, it was very difficult to pass through. It required a long winding path.
Not only that, but there were also more fallen magical beasts hidden here. They had to be careful with every step they took.
However, the group's overall combat strength was no longer the same as before. Although there were several thrilling situations along the way, they were able to overcome them with everyone's hard work.
Finally, on the thirteenth day of the journey, the group finally walked out of the canyon forest that was filled with difficulties.
At this time, the group was still more than six hundred kilometers away from Dawn Fort.
In other words, the group had only traveled a hundred kilometers in a straight line over the past ten days.
Of course, if they were to convert it to actual kilometers, it would be much more.
After all, they had taken many detours in order to avoid powerful monsters along the way.
At this time, Tony was also glad that he had been able to contact the Chinese players in time. It was so necessary to obtain their support.
If they really had to walk on their own, the remaining six hundred kilometers would take them at least a month or so to reach the end.
Not to mention whether they would encounter monsters that they couldn't fight against on the way, just looking at the amount of time they were online, Tony would not be able to satisfy such a long journey.
He still had to work during the day. Now, he was taking advantage of the weekend and the fact that it was his turn to take a few days off. If converted to game time, it was actually only twenty days at most.
Therefore, he had to complete this mission within this period of time.
Fortunately, as the days passed, the distance between his teammates on the mini-map was getting closer and closer. It was obvious that … the Chinese players were about to arrive.
Tony did some calculations. According to the current distance, combined with the average speed of the Chinese players a few days ago, they would be able to meet in three days at most.
And if it was early, perhaps two days would be enough.
By the way, Tony's EXP slot was about to be filled.
After accumulating enough EXP, it would be time to advance to the Silver level.
However, unlike advancing to the Iron level, advancing to the Silver level not only required sufficient EXP, but also a special item — the Silver Profession Change Quota.
Or rather, the Silver Profession Change Scroll.
Tony had deliberately inquired about how to obtain this item in advance.
The most mainstream method was to enter the Demon God's Labyrinth in the first level of Hell through the Plane Channel in the World of Segers and kill demons in the Labyrinth to obtain it.
By the way, it was said that the Demon God's Labyrinth was originally located in the World of Segers. At that time, the World Tree had not yet become the "World Tree," and the Demon God's Labyrinth was located at the roots of the World Tree.
Now, the Goddess had become the ruler of the Dawn Era, and the first level of Hell was under the control of the World Tree. It had become a place where the World Tree had taken root. Naturally, this increasingly large Labyrinth had moved its home.
Of course, Tony definitely could not go to the Demon God's Labyrinth now. He could only use other methods.
There were three methods. One was to obtain it through a mission, one was to draw a lottery ticket from a special prize pool, and one was to exchange it directly with contribution points.
The first two methods were not stable and depended on luck. If one was lucky, one could trigger a mission to obtain a Profession Change Quota while walking, and a lottery ticket could be used to obtain a Soul Prize. If one was unlucky …
It was said that there was a rather famous player in the Celestial Empire. A long time ago, when he drew a lottery ticket, eight or nine out of ten would get Common Shoes.
Unlucky people were probably in that kind of miserable situation.
Of course, Tony did not trigger any special mission, nor did he have enough lottery tickets. At the same time, he did not believe that he would be the lucky one to obtain a Soul Prize.
Therefore, if he wanted to advance in the World of Dawn as soon as possible, there was only one way left for him.
He could exchange it directly with contribution points.
It was said that using contribution points to exchange for a Profession Change Quota in the shop was only available after the official global release of "Elven Nation," and it was only available for the Upper Silver level now.
As for the Lower Silver level Profession Change Quota, it required 200,000 contribution points in the shop …
This was considered a huge sum of money, at least … for new players.
However, Tony, who had already obtained 500,000 contribution points, could still afford it.
Not only that, he calculated that if he exchanged for the Profession Change Quota, the remaining contribution points would be enough for him to exchange for a set of Epic Silver equipment.
Presumably, his strength would be greatly improved by then.
Of course, this was only Tony's consideration.
Now that the team had walked out of the Canyon Forest, from the system's mini-map, the Chinese players who came to support them were getting closer and closer.
If he could bear with it for a while and wait until the mission was completed, he could use the teleportation array to go to Blatem, then teleport from Blatem to the World of Segers, and then go to the Demon God's Maze in the first level of Hell to obtain a Profession Change Quota.
After all, the cost of obtaining a Profession Change Quota was much lower than exchanging it directly, and the drop rate of the Demon God's Maze seemed to be quite high.
If he could save hundreds of thousands of contribution points by holding it in for a few days, why not?
However, putting aside the matter of advancement for now, now that the players who came to receive the team were getting closer and closer, it was time to share this exciting news with everyone.
"Everyone, the other Chosen Ones of the Elves will be able to meet us in three days at most. After we leave the Canyon Forest, we can take a break."
Tony said to everyone.
Hearing his words, everyone's eyes lit up.
"That's great! If we can meet up with the Lord Chosen Ones of the Gold rank, no matter how powerful the monsters are, they will not be a threat! "
Bolls said excitedly.
Ramis also breathed a sigh of relief.
His nerves, which had been on the verge of collapse for a long time, finally got some relief.
"We can't relax. In the next few days, we have to continue moving forward. The concentration of magic in this area is not low, and we still can't stay here for too long. We have to leave the Canyon Forest as soon as possible."
Ados' expression was solemn as he exhorted.
Hearing his words, everyone's eyes focused, and they nodded in agreement.
"By the way, where are we now? Where is the front? "
Ramis glanced at Mirail, who was holding the map, and asked.
Mirail's gaze fell on the parchment map that was unfolded.
However, as she looked at the yellowed map, her gaze gradually turned serious.
She paused for a few seconds and could not help but glance at Ados. Her gaze seemed to be a little complicated.
"In front, is the Snowy Mountains …"
"Snowy Mountains?"
Bolls and Ramis were slightly stunned. They could not help but turn their heads and look at Ados at the same time.
Ados' expression was still calm.
However, in many cases, calm often meant not calm.
Noticing the changes in their expressions, Tony's gaze focused slightly.
Snowy Mountains …?
He hesitated for a moment and quickly checked the information on the continent that the players had collected from the survivors of the Western Continent. Soon, he saw the relevant information.
The Snowy Mountains was a towering mountain range in the eastern part of the Western Continent. It was very famous for being covered in snow all year round.
However, its name spread not because of the steep terrain, nor because of the magnificent scenery, but because it was once a holy land in the hearts of all the Mages of the Western Continent.
The former top academy of the Western Continent, the Empire Magic Academy, was located on the Snowy Mountains.
It was also known as the Ice Castle.
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