It was a series of rolling hills. After several days of heavy snow, the hills were covered in a thin layer of silver.
Looking at it now, Angor could tell that it was quite beautiful.
When he first came to the Overwatch Base, he once stood on the top of a tower and looked at this place. It was dark, desolate, and bleak.
This was the Shadow Hill.
Thanks to Bobota's clues, he came here.
There was a river in Shadow Hill. If one was lucky enough, they could occasionally find a Silver Ring here. Besides, Shadow Hill was so close to the Overwatch Base that it could be seen with the naked eye. It was considered a safe zone. Therefore, many apprentices would come here to search for treasures during their free time.
Yesterday afternoon, Bobota and two of his friends wandered around Shadow Hill.
Then, they saw Toby.
"I saw it using its beak to catch fish, but it didn't seem to catch anything, so it flew away. I didn't see where it went though. The snow was too heavy, and the sky was too dark. I couldn't see anything after it blended into the sky. "
This was Bobota's explanation.
Although the others did not see it clearly, Tasky did see Toby flying into the sky, so he could roughly determine that Toby was still in the Shadow Hill yesterday afternoon.
Angor quickly went to find Toby.
When he arrived at the Shadow Hill, all he could see was snow. It was not easy to find traces of Toby here.
The first place he went was the river where Bobota said Toby had fished.
At the bottom of the hill, there was a wide river that was covered in ice. There were fish baskets covered in snow on the bank, which meant there were quite a lot of people here.
Bobota found the place where Toby chiseled the ice. On the other side of the river, there were two trees with intertwining branches.
It didn't take long for Angor to find the exact location. However, after a night, the river was already covered in a new layer of ice.
Still, based on the thickness of the ice, Angor was able to confirm where Toby chiseled the ice.
He tried to reopen the hole. The water below was still flowing. If one listened carefully, they would hear that some fish had begun to gather at the bottom of the hole because of the air entering through the hole.
He was not in the mood to fish right now. When he was about to leave, he noticed something dark sealed inside the ice.
He opened it curiously and took out the black fan-like object.
He licked it, and there was a salty smell after smoking.
"This is … Head Maid Mana's dried fish?" Angor rubbed the ice off the object and saw that it was a fish tail.
This was obviously Toby's stuff. Perhaps, when Toby was digging a hole to fish, he didn't forget to chew on the dried fish.
Now, he was sure that Bobota was telling the truth.
However, although he found the leftover fishtail, where would Toby go?
He searched for a high ground and released several scouting puppets. The metal balls with eyes flew out in all directions.
"If even the scouting puppets can't find Toby …" Angor muttered to himself. He had no choice but to ask for Sunders' help.
The scout puppets were scattered all over Shadow Hill. Since they were small in size, they could easily find many hidden areas and explore them faster than Angor.
Angor didn't find anything in the east or west.
As the snow grew heavier, Angor's expression grew more serious. He wondered if Toby got too comfortable in the abyss aura and ran away from the safe zone.
Time ticked by. When Angor was about to return to the base to ask for Sunders' help, he saw two trembling figures captured by a scouting puppet.
They were a man and a woman wearing apprentice robes. They were running down the slope of a hill while trembling.
Their faces were pale, and their hair was covered in frost. Their lips were turning blue as if they were frozen. However, Angor remembered that Moonfrost Union gave all the apprentices who came to the frontline a set of robes that could keep them warm.
He took a closer look and realized that there were obvious holes in the robes of the two apprentices. There were also bloodstains and scratches on them as if they just went through a battle.
Angor could tell that they were also panicking. They kept looking back to make sure there were no pursuers behind them and sighed in relief.
Angor was puzzled. He didn't know what happened to them to make them so scared. What he was most concerned about was, where did these two people come from?
His scouting puppets flew all over Shadow Hill and didn't find them at all. It was as if they came out of nowhere.
Could it be that there was a hidden passage here?
Angor considered for a moment. His boots glowed, and he appeared in front of the two people who were still in shock.
The male apprentice was alarmed by Angor's sudden appearance. He quickly moved in front of the female apprentice.
Judging from the guards' actions, they must be a couple.
Angor took off his hood and revealed his face. "I just came from the base and saw you two."
Angor still looked like a young man. His gentle smile made them lower their guard a little.
Angor saw them relaxing a little and asked again, "You seem to need some help?"
Angor took out a fiery red bead from his pocket. It was a broken Fire Relaying Stone. He got a lot of it from the Bone Wizard during the battle at the Cinder Rock. It wasn't very useful, but it could be used to keep warm.
Angor put the stone in his hand. "I can give it to you, but you have to answer a few questions."
The two of them looked at each other, a trace of joy flashing in their eyes.
They were both intermediate apprentices. Their robes were ruined, and their mana pool was completely depleted. They couldn't even summon fire elements to keep themselves warm.
Although this place was not far from the stronghold, they were already exhausted. In addition to the wind and snow, they might not die at the hands of the flying fish monsters. Instead, they might freeze to death in the Shadow Hill.
They didn't expect to run into Angor at their most desperate moment.
Since they dared to venture into the Abyss Plane, they knew about the "broken Fire Relaying Stone". It might look useless to Angor, but to them, it was worth at least a hundred magic crystals.
Now, they only had to answer a few questions to get something that could keep them warm and sell for a good price. Of course, they would accept it.
They nodded without hesitation.
…
A moment later, Angor's eyes brightened up. Not only did he get the information he wanted, but he might also get information about Toby. Without hesitation, he tossed the broken Fire Relaying Stone to the apprentice.
The pretty female apprentice reached out her hand to take it, but the moment her hand reached out, she stumbled for some reason, and the fiery red bead fell into the male apprentice's hand.
"Are you alright?" The male apprentice looked at the female apprentice worriedly. "Be careful. There might be some broken stones in the snow."
As he spoke, he helped the female apprentice up. At the same time, he muttered, "Leave the Fire Relaying Stone with me for now. My fire is strong, so just lean against me."
The female apprentice wanted to say something else, but the male apprentice interrupted her and bowed to Angor. "Thank you for your kindness, mister. We'll return to the base now."
With that, he held the red-faced female apprentice in his arms and walked toward the base.
Angor looked back and saw the two figures disappearing into the snow. He clicked his tongue.
He knew that it was the male apprentice who caused the female apprentice to stumble. Not only did he get the broken Fire Relaying Stone, but he also grabbed the female apprentice's arm. He didn't lose anything at all.
Angor could still hear the male apprentice whispering to the female apprentice in the wind. "That thing is pretty expensive. I'll sell it when we get back, and I'll give you half of the magic crystals."
Would the male apprentice really give out the magic crystals he got from selling the magic crystals?
Angor didn't know the answer. But judging from the way the male apprentice's eyes lit up when he saw the Fire Relaying Stone, it was unlikely.
The male apprentice seemed sincere when protecting the female apprentice. Angor didn't expect him to change his mind so quickly.
Angor shook his head and decided not to think about it. He walked toward the top of the hill with his eyes gleaming.
He learned some secrets about Shadow Hill from the apprentices.
Speaking of which, it wasn't really a secret. It was just that there were very few people who knew about it, and the range of its spread was limited.
According to the rumors, there was a secret passage hidden in the hollow of a dead tree on the other side of the hill. The passage led to a cave under the hill, which was called Shadow Hill. It was also the source of Shadow Hill's name.
According to the rumors, strange white shadows would appear in Shadow Hill every once in a while. They would also let out the screams of babies, which sounded like ghosts.
The apprentices were all talking about it, but in fact, these white shadows were actually the white smoke that evaporated from the geothermal spring water in the Shadow Cave, and the babies' screams came from some long-whiskered fish that swam in from the underground river at regular intervals.
Shadow Cave was a hidden place, but there were still some people who knew about it. However, the underground river in the cave produced more Turbulent Silver Rings. For personal benefits, most people kept it a secret even if they knew about it.
The couple went to Shadow Cave to look for the Turbulent Silver Rings.
This time, when they went to the Shadow Cave, they were originally searching along the underground river. However, halfway through, they encountered some unforeseen events. Out of nowhere, a black flying fish monster suddenly attacked them as if it had gone mad.
These flying fish were at most as strong as beginner apprentices. However, there were too many of them, and the wizard's system took a long time to recover. In the end, they couldn't defeat the monsters and ran away.
This was what the couple went through. There was nothing special about it.
However, Angor got a clue from them, which might lead him to Toby.
They didn't see Toby in Shadow Cave, but the female apprentice was very sensitive to sounds. She said she heard the chirping of birds from the deeper part of the cave.
Angor used Acoustic Illusion to mimic Toby's voice. The female apprentice said with certainty.
"That's it!"
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