Paddy Fenlin was not exactly the same as the one Harry had met before, but Harry could not tell what was different about him. He had the same plain face and the same thick brown hair. The only difference was that he had shoulder-length curly hair. When Paddy came up to greet them with a smile, Harry realized that the real difference was that Paddy Fenlin's bright and melancholic eyes had not yet been tainted with desolation.
It was still the end of the Golden Age.
Paddy Fenlin did not know them yet, so Harry said his name was Daniel and Snape said his name was Alan, and so he called them. Then he smiled and introduced himself, "Ariel."
Harry knew that this was the name he was using now, so he said, "Ariel, we're here to …"
Ariel smiled and waved his hand, indicating that the two of them should just follow him. He then led the way and led the two of them down the path he came from. It was not long before Harry discovered that the path was neither paved nor trodden. After they had walked for a while, the tall trees that blotted out the sky neatly joined together to form a complete forest. Looking down from above, the path in the woods looked like a zipper that had been pulled shut.
Harry thought that the forest was a natural barrier, but after walking for about a quarter of an hour, they still had not walked out of the forest, and there were people in the forest. Some were carrying rattan baskets, some were carrying bows and arrows, and there was also a small wooden house standing at the fork in the road. At first glance, it looked like a liquor store, but after taking a closer look, it was really a liquor store.
Harry blinked twice, thinking that if the old man sitting at the door suddenly stood up to talk to them, this … this was more like a beginner's village.
So the forest was not actually a barrier, but a part of the Avalon residents' living quarters. After walking for a while, they climbed a cliff and crossed a wooden bridge across a rift valley, and then they saw the elves' settlement. Unlike the castle made of crystal, this place was more like a tribe that had existed since the Mythological Age. Most of the houses were made of wood, either exquisitely carved or crudely built. There was a number nailed to the lintel, but no matter how hard Harry tried, he could not tell what the numbers meant, because these wooden houses, all of them, were built on huge trees.
Harry looked up at the giant trees, whose crowns reached the sky. The forest they had just walked through looked like a grassland.
Ariel jumped lightly onto a wooden bridge that extended from the trunk of a tree and waved at them.
Harry and Snape looked at each other, cast a Light Spell on each other, and then jumped onto the wooden bridge.
There were many other narrow wooden bridges like this, high and low, connecting the rift valley and the cliffs. Looking down from here, one could see thick vines climbing up from the bottom of the valley. They had no leaves, and even their stems were almost transparent. However, a golden thread ran through the crystal clear vines. The golden thread zigzagged and intertwined on the cliff, like a natural art painting. The most bizarre thing was the flower buds hanging upside down between the vines. Each of them was as big as a sunflower, and the translucent petals were half-open and half-closed. Dewdrops fell from time to time, as if they were holding a mouthful of nectar. They sparkled in the light of the setting sun.
"It's St. Valentine's Flower!" Harry had seen it before, but it was a smaller version.
Snape was also shocked at the sight of such a large amount of rare magic potions.
Ariel nodded indifferently, and then pointed out to them, "When the moon turns this way, this valley will be like flowing moonlight. It's a good place to talk about love." He paused for a moment, and then said, "Of course, it's also very beautiful at dusk."
After crossing the wooden bridge, there was a huge tree hole, and in the tree hole was a wooden shed a few square meters in size. Ariel went to the window of the wooden shed to negotiate with the people inside. Harry listened for a while, and it seemed that Ariel was helping him and Snape get identification cards. He didn't care, and went to the tree hole to look outside.
Although the giant trees growing in the rift valley could be described as "towering and covering the sun", after actually standing in one of them, one would find that this description was not enough. They were more like the Tower of Babel, with a spiral staircase wrapped around the thick and hard tree trunks, going up as if there was no end. The branches and leaves were connected into a net, like dark clouds in the sky before a storm, and also like a celestial body that was about to hit the earth, but there was just enough space for the dawn, sunset, and moonlight to land.
From here, Harry could see other villages in the trees. Some people were wearing the same style as Ariel's (and also the same style as Ginevra's) robe. There were men and women, old and young, but not all of them chose to walk. After a while, Harry saw a young man riding a four-legged beast with a long nose and big ears. He happily boasted about his mount in an arc-shaped square, and then rushed out of the platform shouting slogans. To Harry's surprise, the young man fell into the swimming pool in another tree, splashing a huge amount of water.
The residents in the second tree began to throw oranges at the young man. On the other side, Harry rubbed his little heart and exclaimed, "That's so cool!"
Riding a flying elephant was much cooler than riding a broom.
After a while, Ariel got Snape and Harry IDs. It was a thin line of numbers written on a leaf.
Harry carefully pinched the leaf and asked, "With this ID, can we go to Avalon unimpeded?"
However, Ariel shook his head and said, "No, there are many places in Avalon that only O-level members can enter."
Seeing Harry's face fall, the elf kindly said, "But with this, you can rent a house, rent a horse, and your children can be educated in Avalon."
Harry carefully put the ID into his wallet. This was equivalent to getting an Avalon residence permit.
Snape also put his ID into Harry's wallet. He was not that interested in immigration. He only asked Ariel, "When can we see William?"
"William?" Ariel was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "He doesn't live in this neighborhood. Let's go to the 27th floor to rent a horse and then go to see him."
The 27th floor … Harry looked up and was about to cast a levitation spell on himself when he saw Ariel walk to another wooden door and pull down a wooden pole. The wooden door opened, revealing another tree hole. At the same time, a rattan basket was hanging down.
Ariel stepped in and beckoned Harry and Selina to come in. Then, he pulled down another wooden pole in the tree hole, and the rattan basket began to slowly move up.
The elf explained, "This goes straight to the 27th floor."
"… Why don't we stop at every floor? Or above the sixth floor, something like that. "
"I don't know. Maybe it's because most people have horses."
Well, now Harry knew that the spiral stairs were just for decoration.
Although it was said to rent a horse, Harry found that there were all kinds of horses here. Hippogriffs with winged bodies were the most common mounts here. They would be embarrassed to show their faces here if they did not have a few more horns on their heads. In the huge square, there were more than a hundred strange-looking mounts that could be rented. It looked like a Porsche exhibition.
Harry looked around for a while and saw a handsome guy that looked like Thestrus Nigra, but with a fiery red body and golden-red scales on its wings. He handed his ID card to the manager and said, "I want to rent that one."
The manager looked at his ID card, shook his head, and pointed to the other side. "You can only rent the one there."
Harry looked sideways and almost fell over. Unlike the mounts that were wandering all over the square, there were dozens of fat donkey-like animals lying in the corner, just like the Golden Cup that sneaked into the Porsche exhibition. Forget it, let's talk about QQ. Anyway, the difference was quite big.
Harry was not convinced. "You're bullying outsiders!"
Ariel quickly pulled him aside and explained, "He's just following the rules. He doesn't mean to bully you. The point is — you don't have a driver's license."
"…" Harry still wanted to struggle. "How long does it take to get a driver's license here?"
"It usually takes two months to pass the second test."
He gave up. Fat donkey it was. He would just pretend that he was cosplaying Mozart.
In the end, Harry picked out the biggest "horse" from the fat donkeys and handed it to Snape. It was not because of anything else. Except for this one, Snape had to land on both feet. Fortunately, the kind Ariel also chose to ride the donkey with them, which made Harry feel a lot better.
They walked out of the racecourse with their fat donkeys. The side door was a sturdy and spacious wooden bridge. One end of the bridge was connected to the platform, and the other end stretched into the leaves of another tree. Harry guessed that this was the road they were going to take.
Ariel did not rush to get on the donkey. Instead, she looked at the slowly setting sun and whispered, "We can wait a little longer."
Wait for what? The fat donkey Harry was leading seemed to be young. It probably had not been on many trips. It was quite excited and kept nudging Snape's donkey with its nose. Harry had to pull it away again and again until Snape suddenly exclaimed, "Ah!" The little fat donkey stopped messing around and tilted its head as if it was listening to something carefully.
Harry also turned his head and saw the orange sunset falling through the branches and leaves above the wooden bridge. The grayish-brown wooden bridge with moss on it became transparent in an instant. No, it was not completely transparent. It refracted the sunlight, and the crystal bridge looked like it was sprinkled with fragments of rainbows.
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