Outside the shutters where the paint is peeling off, the morning mist dissipates, and the sun starts to brighten from a moist, soft start.

For Thorne, although this inner fort hall is spacious and bright, the shutters installed in the walls provide enough light for the hall. But whenever he recalled that he was in a deep black inner castle, he always felt that it was more like a gloomy and depressing cage.

In this regard, he really can't understand why these dignitaries prefer this style of architecture.

Maybe it's because of having enough security, Thorne thought.

Finally, under Gilt's surprised eyes, he couldn't help getting up from his chair, went to the window and reached out to push open the shutters, which were as closed as the door.

The cool breeze lifted his messy hair and floated across his cheeks, finally making him feel much better.

"Patience and waiting are the first steps to becoming a ranger and hunter. Quietly dormant and patiently wait for the prey to reveal its flaws. This is what even beasts can understand."

For some reason, the slightly irritable Thorne involuntarily popped out such a sentence in his mind.

This reminded him that when he was still weak, he usually became very patient in the face of stalemate battles or hunting until the enemy showed his flaws.

Thinking of this, he seemed to realize a serious problem.

That is, with the continuous improvement of his strength, the opponents who can be comparable to him in the entire emerald field also begin to gradually decrease.

Even if he encounters an uneasy enemy in the Great Sword Mark Mountains, he will directly send a message to Anderina and launch a shake-up tactic.

The sorceress then rushed out of the portal with troop of construct golems to help him quickly resolve the fight.

On the surface, this undoubtedly made his fight a lot easier.

If he wants to go deeper, he will find that just because the battle is easy and the fatal threat is reduced, the depths of his heart gradually become relaxed.

Human willpower is actually very fragile. As long as it is completely relaxed, all previous persistence and efforts will collapse in an instant and become decadent.

That is to say, the reason why he relaxes is probably because he lacks a sense of crisis.

This is not a good thing.

A sense of crisis is the source of a person's enterprising spirit and an important driving force for a person's growth and development. When a person loses the sense of crisis, he will become content with the status quo, stand still, and only the fate of being eliminated is waiting for him.

Although his heart has always been seeking to cultivate a perfect state of mind like Master Withered Wood and Master Qingchen, he is obsessed with reaching 100% of the perfect progress of the advanced conditions.

But he didn't really realize that a truly perfect state of mind couldn't be achieved by fighting and killing in the Great Sword Mark Mountains all day long.

Thorne couldn't help but think back to his past life.

When he was a little ranger, he would follow the teachings of the ranger mentor, and he would over-complete his own training every day. The reason for his weak strength also made him often struggle on the edge of life and death.

But now, there is almost no strong sense of crisis and oppression in his heart. Even if he goes out to fight, it is more like a task for him.

After he returned to the tower, sometimes he would even lie on the bed with Andrina, tired to the point of the sun rising.

Just like him at this time, after just waiting for a while, an impatience appeared in his heart.

He was a ranger, widely regarded as the best wilderness hunter in all of the Emerald Wilds.

At this time, the excellent ranger was a little impatient for this trivial reason.

Thorne was shocked by this discovery, as if the piercing bell rang suddenly in his ears, echoing for a long time.

Throughout the ages, how many professionals have not fallen under the hands of vicious monsters, and have not fallen into difficult living conditions.

They have withstood the test of death, withstood inhuman torture, and faced countless deadly threats, but in the end they were easily corrupted by the enjoyment of life.

And now, isn't he gradually approaching the brink of corruption?

Fortunately, it was discovered early, and Thorne, who was aware of his own problems, couldn't help but feel fortunate.

He finally understood the huge role played by the ordinary life that he had never cared about.

This made him understand that the so-called tempering of the state of mind is not a process of better integration into life. In fact, many truths are discovered in the seemingly ordinary life.

This is like a physicist who is hit by an apple and discovers the law of universal gravitation.

A person's life is like a glass of water, you have to taste it slowly, chew it carefully, and appreciate it with your heart. Only then can you discover that the happiest life is to live a wonderful life in the water-like insipidity.

Facing the warm sunlight, Thorne in front of the shutters stroked the hilt of his sword and calmly surveyed the scene outside the inner castle.

It was overgrown with trees, and in many places covered with moss and lush ivy.

He also found that at the end of a gravel path was a decorative fountain with a dolphin statue at the center, sitting on a finely carved white stone base, with its notched tail raised high.

Behind the fountain is a rose bush. Except for the color, the flowers are nothing special. Most of the flowers are indigo blue, and some petals have a faint purple edge.

Thorne, who was standing against the wind, also smelled the fragrance of roses in the flowers, but it was more intense than ordinary roses.

This comfortable environment made him understand that in fact, he is more suitable for traveling around the world, which is what a ranger needs to do.

Instead of being like wizards, you need to spend countless days and nights in boring spell research.

In any case, each profession has its own method to understand the most essential law power in this world.

Thorne, who finally figured it out, couldn't help but secretly regret it.

Because if he chooses to go out two years in advance, maybe he has discovered this problem long ago, and the advanced conditions will be achieved more quickly.

After all, he has actually struggled on the brink of corruption.

If it wasn't for the fact that his Ranger Heart had not made any progress for half a year, I'm afraid he wouldn't have realized the real problem so quickly, and he wouldn't have chosen to travel.

Thorne subconsciously glanced at Gilt not far away, and found that the other party was holding a glass of wine quietly, shaking his body gently on the chair with his head down, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

Then he left the window and waited patiently in his chair.

Work in a while.

Thorne heard two light footsteps coming from the corridor outside the hall, raising his slightly drooping eyelids again.

Soon, Alvi, the female lord of Twin Towers, pushed in the door, accompanied by the witch wizard.

Compared with the scene when Thorne first met the female lord, she was no longer the weak and weak woman who looked pale.

At this time, Alvie was much more beautiful than the embarrassed appearance three years ago.

She was wearing a red dress and a small dark purple waistcoat that symbolized nobility. She wore a diamond necklace around her neck, and her temples were also illuminated by a pair of sparkling diamond earrings.

The thick long black hair was combed according to the most popular hairstyle of the nobles of the Hescan Kingdom, and there were also some small wood-colored combs on it.

He also wore an antique diamond-encrusted bracelet on his wrist, and two rings on his right finger, one with an emerald in the middle and the other with a large blue pearl.

Thorne, who has the "perceive magic" characteristic, instantly judged the magic aura that enveloped her.

As for the other witch player, her attire was much more casual. She was still wearing a simple, loose gray robe that covered her graceful body, and her pretty face was also hidden in the hood.

Although Thorne had a simple exchange with her yesterday, the other party didn't tell him what his name was, and he also wouldn't take the initiative to ask a sister's name when he had nothing to spare.

Seeing the two women approaching, Thorne coughed lightly.

The dazed bard immediately came back to his senses, put down the wine glass in his hand, and walked over with the ranger.

"Hello, the tower owner of the Emerald Tower, Mr. Thorne, I'm very sorry for keeping you waiting."

Alvey, the lord of Twin Towers, directly ignored Gilt, who was smiling, smiled at Thorne, then bowed and saluted, and then extended his smooth jade right hand to him.

"Understandable." Thorne shook his head indifferently, and he didn't say anything like "It's my honor to be able to wait for you here," but to tell the truth and show understanding.

Women, sometimes a very simple thing is imagined to be very troublesome and complicated in their eyes.

This point, Thorne, who has long since left the ranks of single dogs, is still deeply aware of it.

He remembered very clearly that he had attended a ceremony with Andrina about the successful establishment of the Fortress of Watch Fortress, and the sorceress wasted a lot of time because of worrying about not knowing what clothes to change.

It made him wonder whether to laugh or cry, and in exchange, she put on a dress that she had chosen for her at random.

Even so, he didn't dare to complain, because he knew that this was a meaningless argument, and if it caused a quarrel and annoyed the sorceress, it would be a very dangerous thing for him.

After Thorne finished speaking, he was ready to politely reach out and hold the right hand handed over by the other party.

However, when he saw that the other party handed over the back of his hand, he paused and took it back.

The originally perfunctory smile on his face also disappeared, and at the same time, he frowned slightly, and there was a flash of displeasure.

The other party's intention is obvious, this is to let him give him a kiss.

In Thorne's impression, the kissing ceremony is also a cultural heritage in this world. It is one of the necessary etiquettes for the communication of the upper-class nobles. The recipients can only be married ladies.

If it is seriously pursued, then the object of the kiss must be at least the duchess, and most of them will be kissed on the ring, and usually need to kneel on one knee in front of the duchess.

However, with the spread of culture, this kind of communication etiquette has long been played by people.

Many self-righteous women seem to be arrogant queen bees. When they meet a man, they want to experience this traditional etiquette spread in the upper class, and experience the pleasure of being kissed by a man on one knee.

This is most obvious in the wizarding community. Most witches are keen on kissing hands. To put it mildly, this allows them to enjoy the same treatment as the upper-class nobles.

Even elsewhere, with women of lesser status, the etiquette amounts to a show of affection, and is only done by couples who have established a relationship.

Therefore, the moment Thorne saw the opponent's hand approaching, his face suddenly turned cold.

Although the other party is a female lord of a baron, his identity can almost be said to be a pivotal existence in the player's territory of the Jade Field, and she is not at all able to touch porcelain.

Asking him to kneel on one knee and give a kiss to the lord of a small place, no matter what the purpose is, he will not choose to accept it, and even think it is a very rude behavior.

So the moment Thorne withdrew his hand, the atmosphere became a little awkward.

The female lord Alvey obviously did not expect that her habitually extending her hand would cause such dissatisfaction from the other party that the smile on her face froze.

The air between the four of them seemed to freeze, and the entire hall became audible, except for the squeaking sound of the shutters swaying in the breeze.

"Aha! Noble and elegant, generous and decent, beautiful and intelligent, heroic and kind, Ms. Alvi, esteemed lord, it is a pleasure to see you again!"

The bard Gilt, who noticed something was wrong, immediately stood up, and he came to Alvie to exaggerately praise.

Then he bowed his head and stood at attention, held up the other's right hand with both hands, bowed his head and used his slightly closed lips to symbolically stick the blue pearl on her ring, and said in a less serious tone:

"Beautiful lady, do you know? I don't even know how to express the strongest and deepest impression you have left in my heart. Is it your plump figure? Fair skin? Dark, dark eyes? Small, rosy lips? Or That kind of unspeakable and unattainable grace is stirring my heart..."

The bard's words seemed to mean something, so that when Alvie heard it, a look of shame and anger flashed on her face for no reason, her bright eyes glared at him fiercely, and she thanked him with a smile:

"I'm delighted for you too, great poet Mr. Gilt. Thank you for your praise, poet of the arts, shining star of ballads and love songs."

Gilt, who didn't care, glanced back smugly, then closed his mouth, shut his mouth wisely, and stepped back behind Thorne.

The atmosphere that had been left a little cold by Thorne was finally restored.

"Let me introduce you." Alvie pointed to the witch beside her and said to Thorne, "This is Cecil, a wizard."

After speaking, Alvey pointed to Thorne again, and said to the witch beside him, "This is Mr. Thorne from Waterfall Town, the tower owner of the Emerald Tower."

"Hello, Mr. Thorne, it's nice to meet you." The witch lifted her hood, revealing her long thick black hair. She walked to Thorne and extended her right hand generously, but her voice was very soft.

"Hello, it's an honor to meet you, Ms. Cecil." Thorne nodded, shook his hand briefly, and took it back.

Then, he pondered for a while, looked at the witch, and said, "I was in a hurry yesterday. There is one thing I haven't figured out yet, so I want to ask. Would you be willing to answer my doubts?"

"No problem, but it doesn't matter." The witch nodded calmly.

"Thank you." Thorne thanked him, sorted out his words and said, "I deeply regret the destruction of your small village in the Barren Skull Mountains by the Mara believers. I would like to ask if the destruction of the village has anything to do with me. ."

He once participated in a "Deer Herding Banquet" held by Mara believers in the Barren Head Mountains. While waiting for the "Deer Herding Banquet" to start, in order to save his strength, he stopped in the small village where the witch lived.

Then, in the spring of the second year after his departure, I heard from a Northland ranger that a village in the Wildskull Mountains had been destroyed by hunters.

Now, seeing the surviving two people, after paying attention to the anger expressed by the elf swordsman who recognized him last night. This made him faintly feel that the destruction of the village seemed to have something to do with him.

However, as a cautious ranger, when he planned to enter the small village and settle down, he had already considered whether there would be such consequences.

Therefore, as he walked all the way, he deliberately used the ranger magic to cover up the traces of his walking. He believed that the traces of his coming and going could not be traced at all by the tracking ability of the Mara believers.

After all, what these hunters are good at is scent tracking, and footprint tracking is what the God of Tracking is best at.

"Mr. Thorne has been thinking too much. This matter has nothing to do with you. It's just a coincidental misunderstanding."

The witch Cecil glanced at the Ranger in surprise, obviously not expecting the other party to feel guilty about this matter, then shook her head slightly and said with a slight smile.

"Then... what caused it." Thorne breathed a sigh of relief, he hesitated, and asked again.

Since the other party said it was a misunderstanding, why the elf swordsman was full of hostility to the other party made him even more incomprehensible.

"To tell you the truth, there is an underground space hidden in the valley, and the negative energy in it just overflowed on the night of the 'Deer Herd's Banquet', and was killed by a high-level hunter in Mara who was proficient in necromancy. found, so..."

The witch did not continue, but the three listening could easily guess the reason.