The story of the black silk female knight

Valensa, already feeling guilty, immediately surrendered and begged for mercy. She took a deep breath, made up her mind, stood up, and walked out of the range of Tia's spell.

dong dong dong.

Valensa gently tapped the counter twice with her fingers and spoke softly:

"Do you two really want to go to the capital?"

"Miss... Miss?" x2

The two voices, which had just been melancholy, sad, and dejected, suddenly became overjoyed.

Chapter 40 The Witch's Forest

Today must be a lucky day for Qili and Lulu, these two country girls.

Not only did the person they had been longing for suddenly appear, but they also finally fulfilled their wish to go to the big city.

It wasn't until she overheard the two chatting privately that Valensa realized she had made a mistake that many people in her past life would make.

People who are used to living in big cities often feel that life in the countryside is comfortable and carefree, but most real country folk actually yearn for big cities.

Valensa thought it would be fine for Kiri and Lulu to live happily in the countryside for the rest of their lives, but Kiri and Lulu didn't think so. They wanted to leave this border town and go to a big city like the capital to experience a more colorful life.

For Valensa now, this is a piece of cake, and she fulfilled her friends' wishes.

In a couple of days, after the new receptionist from the Adventurers' Guild finishes her job handover with Kiri and Lulu, they can finally go to the royal capital they've been longing for.

The two will temporarily stay at Valensa's house and receive some necessary training from Melina on how to live in a big city.

After that, they were free to choose whether they wanted to stay with Valensa as maids or try their luck in the capital and experience a new life.

Valensa made all these arrangements in front of Tia, completely open and honest.

Valensa felt more like friends to Kiri and Lulu... The events of that summer two years ago felt more like a hands-on lesson in the beauty of deep communication between girls.

As for Kiri and Lulu's feelings for Valensa, they are actually closer to admiration... The two of them are the most suitable bickering couple.

In other words, although Valencia had several in-depth conversations with them, she was actually a very innocent and good friend to them.

At least that's what Valensa thinks, and she firmly believes it.

Tia just sighed slightly, feeling a bit helpless, but didn't say anything more.

Curious, she had Valencia show her the Adventurers' Guild staff quarters where Valencia and Melina had lived together years ago, and then ended her trip to Sergintown.

Without disturbing anyone else, Valensa and Tia left Sergintown and entered the Misty Mountains.

As a dangerous area where non-Radiant Rank cultivators have a near-certain death chance of forcibly traversing, the Misty Mountains present all sorts of monsters with almost every few steps.

Lighthouse-level and Pearl-level monsters, who are already capable of having their own territories, are a common sight in the Misty Mountains. Rare monsters, seldom seen within Fran's borders, are also plentiful here.

Only monster lords of the Radiant rank or higher can be the top predators to own territory here.

Valensa and Tia encountered four monster lords while traveling through the Misty Mountains, but no battle ensued.

The stronger the monster, the more intelligent it is. And no matter what kind of monster it is, once it evolves to the Shining rank, its intelligence will be no less than that of an ordinary human.

The path Valensa and Tia took was a common route for powerful beings of the Shining Rank to traverse the Misty Mountains, and the monster lords along the way were quite familiar with humans.

They knew perfectly well that these two-legged creatures were just passing by and weren't going to compete with them for territory or food, so there was no need for a fight.

There was a large cat that looked a lot like a jaguar but was about 10 meters long. It could even speak fluent Common Language. In exchange for being petted several times, it got a lot of cooked human food from Valensa.

Valensa remembered the lewd white snake she had met the summer before last. Back then, she had even tricked the white snake into trying to cultivate into a beautiful girl. She didn't know if the white snake had succeeded or not, but she hadn't seen it this time. The big cat didn't know where the white snake had gone either, saying that he hadn't seen it for more than a year.

Valensa was somewhat disappointed by this.

The Rank 1 monster lords they encountered along the way were all very docile and friendly, but many of the monsters from the Lighthouse and Pearl attacked Valensa and her companions.

As the saying goes, a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. There are just too many monsters in the Misty Mountains. Not every monster knows that the two-legged beasts are powerful. They just think that the two-legged beasts look delicious and tasty.

Coincidentally, Valensa thought they tasted delicious too.

However, Valensa also personally experienced why it is said that forcibly crossing the Misty Mountains below the Radiant Rank is a matter of life and death... Although the Radiant Rank monster lords here rarely attack humans on their own initiative, it is still very dangerous to be surrounded by double-digit Lighthouse-level monsters.

It took Valensa and Tia most of the day to travel the approximately 160-kilometer distance before they crossed the Misty Mountains near dusk.

Of course, if Valensa had carried Tia at full speed right from the start, they could have covered this distance much faster.

Since they weren't in a hurry, the two of them strolled around the Misty Mountains like it was a picnic, enjoying the natural beauty that you can't see in big cities, collecting some plant materials along the way, and roasting a few mindless monsters to eat.

If it weren't for the fact that they felt bad about neglecting Alanfei's apprentice, Valensa and Tia could have easily spent the whole night playing in the Misty Mountains.

The boundary between the Misty Mountains and the Witch's Forest is quite distinct, consisting of a very steep cliff. The Misty Mountains are above, and the Witch's Forest is below, with the cliff exceeding 3000 meters in height.

Or, to put it another way, with the Misty Mountains as the boundary, the eastern part of the entire Frenoia continent is about 3000 meters lower than the western region.

This is why the magic power in the eastern region of the Frenoia continent is more concentrated, making it more suitable for powerful monsters to survive and for strong individuals to cultivate.

The eastern region of the Frenoia continent is even below sea level... Only the eastern coastline area has a similar altitude to the western part of the continent, a continuous mountain range with a minimum elevation of over 1,000 meters, which prevents the seawater from flowing back in.

Standing on the edge of the cliff at the boundary line, Valensa and Tia first took some selfies with the Image Crystal, and Valensa even showed off their affection in the community of the Dimensional Hardware Store system.

Then the two of them boarded Tia's flying card and flew down from the cliff.

At the beginning of the flight, everything went smoothly. Valensa even grabbed a bald eagle that was trying to attack them and gave it a good rub.

But when she was less than a kilometer from the ground, Tia's breathing suddenly became rapid, and her face was suddenly covered in sweat.

"I think I'm a little... uh."

Just like drowning, Tia suddenly clutched her chest in pain and collapsed into Valensa's arms. The flying card also completely lost control and began to freefall.

Valensa could no longer care about playing with the bald eagle in her hands. She quickly hugged Tia and, following the spellcasting method taught by Friggia, forcibly controlled the nearby wind elements to cast a levitation spell, bringing Tia down smoothly to the ground.

But this did not improve Tia's condition. Her face turned a strange red, and her body became limp and weak, as if she had carbon monoxide poisoning or was completely drunk.

"Tia? Tia!"

Valensa was terrified and immediately began casting divine spells to heal Tia.

The effect was not obvious... The healing magic seemed to only alleviate Tia's pain, but could not solve the problem at its root.

"...Is it an environmental problem here?"

Valensa quickly made a decision. She picked Tia up in a princess carry, bending her legs to gather momentum, and prepared to rush up the cliff face in one go.

"She's experiencing a kind of intoxication; quickly give her this to drink!"

Just as Valencia was about to start, a very clear little girl's voice came from behind.

It was a little girl who looked to be about ten years old. She was wearing a proper witch's robe, riding a broom, and holding a lantern. She flew over from a distance with great agility.

“You’re Valensa and Tia, right? Just call me Tribes. My master told me to wait for you here… My master is the Destruction Witch you’re talking about.”

Seeing the wary look in Valensa's cautious gaze, the little girl named Tribes quickly explained, and after flying to Valensa's side on a broomstick, handed her a small crystal bottle:

"This is a highly effective potion that can cure intoxication. It's the work of the Harmony Witch... Although that old hag often argues with Master, her medicine is still very effective."

"So you're Sister Alanfei'er's disciple..."

Valensa breathed a sigh of relief, but she was still not completely off guard.

She took the bottle of potion, opened it, and first put it to her lips to feel it... After finding no danger and instead being tempted, she carefully fed Tia a few sips.

As expected of a miracle drug... Less than half a minute after drinking it, Tia's complexion improved significantly, and her breathing returned to normal.

"Yes, this lady seems to be fine now. She will wake up in half an hour at most, and she won't have to worry about these symptoms recurring for at least 10 days afterward."

Tribes was also observing Tia. Seeing the change in Tia, she breathed a sigh of relief and explained to Valensa with a smile.

"Thank you."

Valensa first thanked her generously, and then asked curiously:

"You just said this is called a 'magic intoxication' phenomenon? What does that mean? Why am I fine? And I've never heard of anything like this happening in the Witch's Forest before."

"Then you must be Valensa, right?"

Tribes first asked a quirky question, and seeing Valensa nod with a smile, she continued with a hint of smugness:

"Because this is an isolated phenomenon. The concentration of magic in the entire Witch Forest... or rather, the eastern part of the continent is much higher than in the west. A small number of people with magic-sensitive constitutions will experience this magic intoxication if they suddenly come from the west of the continent."

Cultivators who have already reached the Radiant Rank don't need to worry about this, and most warrior-type cultivators don't have this problem either... But spellcasters who are known as geniuses but haven't reached the Radiant Rank might encounter this kind of thing.

Actually, I used to have this problem too, which is why I always carried special medicine with me... but I've overcome that now.

"overcome?"

Valensa raised an eyebrow:

"How did you do that? Can Tia do it too?"

"Of course you can, and the method is very simple... just stay here for a while and get completely used to the environment."

Tribeca shook her head even more smugly:

"Actually, the occurrence of magic intoxication is not necessarily a bad thing. Only those who are particularly sensitive to magic... that is, those you call magical geniuses, will have this problem."

Once they fully adapt to this environment, spellcasters with a magical sensitivity will progress very quickly in their training here... like me, and I'm not even 10 years old yet! Valencia, were you as strong as I was when you were my age?"

As Cui Bisi spoke, she flicked her thumb and middle finger, shooting a wind blade at a tree not far away, severing a branch as thick as a person's waist, leaving a smooth and clean cut.

"This is……"

Valensa's lips twitched; she was indeed quite surprised.

The strength of this wind blade from Tribes is definitely at the Pearl level... Her magical power should be no less than Harry's during the entrance exam, and her proficiency in magic is even higher than Harry's at that time!

Of course, this is the level of a standard Pearl-level spellcaster, which may not seem like much, but the problem is that Tribes is not even 10 years old this year!

Tia is known as a magical genius and has access to many resources from the Britannia family. At the age of 10, she had not yet broken through to the Candlelight level and was still in the stage of learning theory and laying the foundation.

Valensa, needless to say, was a playful and useless rich girl back then. She would only sneak off to play at Pink Rose with her younger sister, only to be beaten black and blue by her parents.

From this perspective, the claim that those with a magic-sensitive constitution are highly efficient at training in the Witch's Forest is probably correct.

But Valensa quickly thought of another point... Theoretically speaking, this was definitely not Tia's first time in the eastern part of the continent, because Tia was an apprentice of the Sage's Tower, which was located directly north of the Witch Forest.

Valensa asked again, expressing her doubts.

“The Sage’s Tower is different.”

Upon hearing the word "sage," Cui Bisi's face showed obvious disdain and disgust:

"The interior of the Sage's Tower is actually a separate space, and the environment inside is completely different from that in the eastern part of the continent... Sister Tia must have never left the Sage's Tower when she was cultivating there."

"So that's it..."

Valensa nodded; this explanation was indeed reasonable.

"Let's go."

Looking up at the sky, which was already mostly dark, and then at Tia, who was still unconscious, Tribes once again mounted her broomstick and flew away with her lantern in hand:

"Stay close to me, I'll take you to where you're staying... Don't get lost, there are many very brutal and dangerous creatures here. Even if you, Valensa, are already a Star Saint, you could still be eaten by them."

"understood."

Valensa has always been very cautious when it comes to security.

She nodded seriously, then followed behind Tribes with Tia in her arms, while asking with some curiosity:

"Since the Witch's Forest is so dangerous, are you sure you'll be okay running around alone, Tribes?"

"As long as you don't go to the dangerous areas that Master mentioned, there won't be any problems."

Tribes didn't turn around; she simply waved the lantern in her hand, which glowed with a crimson light.

"You think I'm holding this up for lighting? No way... This thing can constantly emit Master's magical energy fluctuations. Most monsters will flee in advance when they sense this fluctuation. Those that don't flee are basically people who know Master and won't bully me... Of course, except for the danger zone."

"I see."

Valensa nodded in realization.

Neither of them spoke again after that, and they continued their journey in silence through the forest.

The flight path of the emerald was clearly not a straight line; instead, it was full of twists and turns, and the route it took was at least three times longer than a straight line.

Valensa guessed that Tribes did this to avoid the so-called dangerous areas, and she took the opportunity to silently memorize those areas.

Valensa is someone who doesn't give face to the Witch of Destruction, so she probably can't afford to mess with her right now. If she has the chance to act alone in the Witch's Forest in the future, it would be best to avoid these dangerous areas.

They traveled quickly through the Witch's Forest for nearly two more hours until the moonlight was bright, when Tribes finally brought Valensa and the others to their lodgings.