"Mr. Ade, I've finished collecting them."
Fang Hong looked at the bag the girl was holding. Although she was blind, she seed to have a certain ability to discern magical attributes. She tapped around, quickly collecting this small pouch of crystals.
Seeing her struggling, he took the bag from her without giving her a chance to protest.
"Ah, thank you."
The girl replied, slightly embarrassed.
"You're welco," Fang Hong explained: "This way we can walk a bit faster."
The girl quickly nodded.
Fang Hong weighed the bag in his hand and couldn't help but think, was the Dragon's Witch always this frail? Although he couldn't be sure that this girl was Nikopolas, he rembered Mazak had once told him Nikopolas's real na.
Despite several tests before, the answers he received were ambiguous. But the Dragon's Initial Scale being in this place explained a lot, and what she said earlier added to his suspicions.
"Mr. Ade, next, I'll take you to that place," the girl whispered once she saw him take the bag: "The seal is deep inside here."
With that, she turned around and began to feel her way forward.
Fang Hong carried the bag, following her from behind. The cave was hollow and silent, but suddenly the crystal in his hand flickered and went out. Darkness engulfed the surroundings. He glanced back, noticing the Magic Guided Reactor still had thirty percent Magic Power, but even after tapping the crystal, there was no response.
Fang Hong cursed under his breath at the swindler, noting that "absolutely not second-hand" was false, confirming that cheap goods were no good. He had bought the crystal from a swindler, tempted by a price twenty bucks cheaper, not expecting it to fail at a critical mont.
Originally, the group had backup light sources, but after suddenly parting from others, those reserves remained with the Big Cat People.
The girl 'heard' him fumbling and couldn't help but chuckle: "Mr. Ade, did the Illumination Crystal malfunction?"
Fang Hong sighed helplessly.
"How about you hold my hand," the girl said: "I can 'see' the path."
Fang Hong was taken aback, then rembered that she was originally unable to see. Perhaps with or without a light, it made no difference to her.
As he hesitated, a cold little hand grasped his. The bone-chilling cold passed through his hand, causing the girl to grab at nothing. She 'looked' at her own hand in surprise, a hint of pallor on her face:
"Ah, I forgot..."
Fang Hong pretended not to see the mont her hand passed through his like smoke.
He glanced at his hand, rembering that not long ago, he had helped her.
But he didn't bring it up, only asking in a low voice: "What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Fang Hong opened the Magic Guided Reactor's shell, allowing the light from the Magic Crystal inside to beco a bit brighter. With this dim light, he told the girl: "I still have so light on my Magic Guided Reactor, with thirty percent Magic Power left, it will last a while. I can barely see, please continue leading the way..."
The girl nodded hurriedly.
"Okay, okay."
She turned around with a tinge of unease.
The two continued forward in darkness, with the cave's Phantom Realm becoming increasingly rugged and complex.
The girl no longer ntioned the earlier incident, and they crossed a steep cliff in silence. Pebbles fell, making a clattering sound as they plunged into the abyss below.
Fang Hong looked at the place, thinking that encountering an enemy here wouldn't be good. Yet, things have two sides: a clumsy opponent would also struggle under such terrain.
He still thought of the spectacular combats he had witnessed in similar environnts.
"Mr. Ade... "
At this mont, the girl finally couldn't hold back, saying softly.
"What's up?"
"Aren't you curious?"
"Curious about what?" Fang Hong feigned ignorance.
"What just happened."
"You an my crystal breaking? " Fang Hong shook his head: "Just bad luck."
The girl didn't speak further.
Though Fang Hong couldn't see her eyes, he felt she seed to sigh with relief.
They climbed over the cliff, and Fang Hong looked back, realizing the treacherous path they had traversed. A single misstep would an plunging into a bottomless abyss. Who would've thought the depths here contained such a towering cliff?
Walking over, he hadn't noticed, but upon looking back, he saw the considerable risk they had taken.
He turned back and called out: "Miss Eve."
"Hmm?"
The girl responded, slightly surprised.
"Do you rember your real na?"
"That... Sorry, I really can't recall."
"But I recall Istania, Eve is an uncommon na," Fang Hong asked: "It's a borrowed term, Miss Eve, is your real na Evril?"
"Ah?" The girl exclaid in surprise, replying sowhat incoherently: "...It seems so, Mr. Ade, do you know ?"
Fang Hong felt a sense of settling dust in his heart.
It was like the mist clearing, revealing the truth. But he didn't know how to answer because the full na was—Evril-Nikopolas. Those malicious eyes under Dolifen's dark mist were unforgettable, yet they clashed with the girl in front of him.
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