paranoianovel Chapter 822 - 753: Gray Mist (Part 2)
Chapter 822 - 753: Gray Mist (Part 2)
He dared not move too fast, nor did he dare to make any waves, silently retreating five kilometers like a drop of water merging into the sea before daring to slightly increase his speed.
Then he turned upwards at a slant, beginning to ascend.
No matter what was on the surface, it was safer than approaching that sleeping presence.
A quarter of an hour later, Duke emerged from a dense thicket, standing back on the ground.
The sunlight was somewhat glaring; he squinted to adapt for a moment before seeing the surroundings clearly.
This was an undulating hilly area, with much sparser vegetation than the Wilderness Forest. The sky was azure, and several towering peaks were vaguely visible in the distance.
The air was dry, carrying a strange scent of wood and grass.
Duke stood still and closed his eyes to perceive for a moment.
The underground aura had completely vanished, as if it had never existed.
But he knew it was there, sleeping hundreds of meters deep underground.
The Ancient Fairy Plane is always a High Plane, where life forms beyond level six can exist.
Life forms as high as level nine can descend upon this plane, the unknowns and risks hidden here far exceed those imagined by ordinary wizards.
Duke took a deep breath, firmly engraving that location in his mind, then turned around and looked around.
Now he needed to figure out where he was, then re-plan the route, bypass that area and continue west.
Duke always kept in mind the direction and distance he had traveled, matching it with the map Vera shared in his mind, roughly determining he had entered the northern region of the Wilderness Forest continent.
This area had already gone beyond the range explored by predecessors of the council, the map was blank here.
He was about to continue forward when he suddenly noticed something was wrong with the surroundings.
A faint gray mist began to permeate, he didn’t know when.
Initially, it was just a thin layer, like the morning mist, Duke didn’t pay much attention.
But after walking a few steps, he found the mist became denser, and he could only see objects a dozen meters away.
Even more bizarrely, the mist was eroding his body.
Very subtly, almost imperceptible, but Duke’s spiritual power sharply captured it.
When the gray mist touched the skin, it would take away a trace of weak life force, like countless tiny mosquitoes slowly sucking blood.
He stopped walking, frowning as he pondered.
Gray mist... erosion of life...
Suddenly, a memory was triggered.
He recalled the materials he had read in the Six-Ring Tower library, a Chapter in the "Overview of Dangerous Areas of the Plane" specifically talked about the special area of the Ancient Fairy Plane - the gray mist zone.
This is a unique phenomenon of the Ancient Fairy Plane.
It is said that the war back then tore apart the plane rules, causing the dark attribute energy in certain regions to lose control, forming this persistently permeating gray mist.
The mist would erode all life, long-term exposure would slowly drain a Level 2 Wizard.
The information especially noted the extreme danger of the gray mist zone, suggesting detour, avoid entering unless necessary.
Duke looked at the increasingly dense gray mist around him and remained silent for a few moments.
When traveling underground, he couldn’t see the surface situation and unknowingly ventured into this area.
And now, the unknown presence underground was sleeping in the direction he came from; there was no chance of returning the same way.
Continuing forward, he didn’t know how vast this gray mist area was, venturing further recklessly...
He looked up at the surroundings.
Though the mist was dense, there was still vegetation underfoot.
A type of low shrub with gray-white leaves, its roots deeply entrenched in the soil, growing tenaciously.
They could survive in the gray mist, clearly they were evolved plants adapted to this environment.
Duke squatted down, reaching out to touch a shrub.
His spiritual power probed in and sensed carefully.
Sure enough, within these plants, there lay a thin layer of dark attribute energy, like a protective film, shielding against the erosion of the gray mist.
Dark attribute...
Duke stood up and closed his eyes.
A moment later, his body began to change.
Not complete dark elemental transformation, but a semi-elemental state.
A very faint gray phantom appeared on his surface, the flesh beneath his skin looming, like he had become an existence between physical and energy.
Dark attribute energy circulated on his surface, forming a thin protective membrane.
When the gray mist came in contact, it was gently bounced off by this energy film, unable to erode a single bit.
Duke opened his eyes and looked down at his hands.
The shape remained, still human, but that feeling of being between real and imaginary gave him a sense of novelty.
"This will do."
He stepped forward, completely merging into the gray mist.
In the following days, Duke continued advancing westward.
It was always a gray blur around him; he couldn’t see the sun or distinguish day from night.
The vegetation increasingly sparse, until eventually only some lichens and mosses remained, stubbornly clinging to rocks.
No animals, no fairies, no sign of any living thing.
Duke occasionally stopped to perceive the surroundings, ensuring his direction didn’t deviate, then continued forward.
He didn’t know how large this gray mist area was or when he would be able to get out.
But since he was already inside, he could only keep heading west; that was the direction of the base.
The third day, perhaps the fourth, Duke was no longer certain.
Within the gray mist, something suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Not a rock or a bush, but a square contour.
Duke stopped and squinted his eyes.
As he got closer, the outline became clearer; it was a cabin.
The cabin wasn’t big, about two or three stories tall, entirely built from some kind of light yellow timber.
The roof was pointed, there was no smoke from the chimney, the windows emitted a warm yellow light.
A circle of low fences surrounded the cabin, inside were even a few unknown plants.
In this dead silent gray mist, the cabin appeared particularly abrupt.
Even more abrupt was the presence of a figure moving around.
Duke’s gaze fell upon that figure.
It was a rabbit.
To be precise, a rabbit wearing clothes.
It was about the same height as an adult human, walking upright, wearing a deep red waistcoat, with a white shirt underneath and plaid trousers.
Its fur was a light brown color, its long ears drooped behind its head, holding a white cloth, meticulously wiping a delicate porcelain cup.
A whole set of tea utensils was laid on the long table, there were teapots, milk jugs, sugar containers, and six or seven similarly delicate cups.
At the corner of the table rested a lit oil lamp, the warm yellow light emanating from it.
The rabbit seemed to have noticed something, stopped its action, and turned its head.
Its black eyes fell on Duke, first hesitated for a moment, then bent into crescents.
"Oh my!" The rabbit’s voice was crisp and enthusiastic, with an irresistible friendliness, "A guest! What a rare visitor!"
It put down the cloth and quickly walked around the table towards Duke.
Reaching the fence, it pulled open the small wooden gate and waved warmly:
"Please come in, please come in! It’s fate to have visitors even outside of tea party time!"
Duke stood still, not moving.
His gaze swept over the rabbit, his spiritual power carefully probing, trying to sense its presence, but sensing nothing.
The rabbit stood before him, yet like a lump of air, a phantom, with no sign of life.
But Duke’s intuition was frantically warning him.
Like standing at the edge of a cliff looking into an abyss, not knowing what lay within but instinctively knowing falling would be terrifying.
The rabbit seemed to understand Duke’s hesitation and didn’t urge, standing there with a friendly smile, still holding the cloth in its hand.
"Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous. My tea-making skills aren’t bad; you’ll know once you try." It sidestepped, gesturing invitingly, "Come, come, have a seat. It’s rare to have someone come into the gray mist, drinking tea alone can be quite dull."
Duke hesitated for a while, didn’t choose to flee recklessly.
This rabbit was mysterious and unpredictable, far surpassing his own abilities; if the opponent truly meant him harm, escape was likely futile.