What is creation?
Using butterflies as a light source, Mason walked slowly and deeply in the deserted woods.
The address that Pica gave was quite detailed, and the traps that the goblins had set on the ground were quite conspicuous and could serve as road signs. After searching for half an hour, Mason indeed saw a bush.
The lush bushes occupied a large area in the forest. Perhaps some monsters once lived here and brought their seeds, thus providing a sufficient source of food for the forest. There were many unpicked fruits among the green branches. Mason took a few steps forward and suddenly became alert. He subconsciously changed the position of his footsteps, and he always felt that this scene was familiar.
The next second, a piece of mosaic fell on the place where he was supposed to land. This familiar scene made Mason silent again and again, and he slowly raised his head to look between the trees. A bird-shaped monster with black and gray feathers was looking down at him from above, with an extremely arrogant expression.
Some things are destined, and even if you avoid them, you will meet them again. The man and the bird looked at each other for a moment, and the golden brooch on the man's lapel shone brightly under the light, attracting the attention of the bird-beast. It shouted "Ga!" and suddenly swooped down towards the man it had met by chance!
Mason was prepared and dodged it quickly. As they passed by, the bird-beast suddenly poked its head. Mason felt a lightness in his chest and looked up. He saw the other party hovering in mid-air, looking down at him, with something glittering in its mouth.
Mason's mouth twitched. Seeing that the "protagonist" was robbed, he would never let it escape. But before "Heaven" could show its affinity, the bird-beast folded its wings, turned around, and left, its back still elegant.
Mason chased after him without hesitation. Although he wanted to do something, the situation in the forest at night was complicated. The feathers of birds and animals blended perfectly into the darkness, and disappeared in an instant. Only the deserted forest faced Mason, and the leaves rustled and shook, as if mocking him mercilessly.
Mason: “…”
It was so dark, where could he find a blackbird?
A few seconds later, the young man took out a wooden box and took out an ordinary book from it.
The pages of the book turned, and the latest line read, "Pika the Goblin returned to the tribe. With the reminder of Saint Canaan, he discovered some strange things. Saint Canaan decided to split up to investigate the anomaly, but in the dark, he was robbed by a bird."
Mason again: "..."
When a person is in trouble, even Yi laughs at him. The ability of the protagonist is so terrifying. Mason bit his finger and added at the end of the sentence: "He found the bird."
Unlike usual, he felt a strong resistance when he wrote this time, just like touching a stone in water, the deeper the water, the greater the resistance.
It seems that this bird is indeed the key. Mason increased his energy input. Fortunately, he had accumulated a lot of energy in the past few days, which was enough to support his waste. As the last word on the page was formed, Mason suddenly had an extremely strong premonition in his heart, guiding him in a certain direction.
The blackbird is right there!
Without a second thought, Mason headed straight in that direction. He took out a sharp stone knife, which he had sharpened with his Kiss in his spare time. Although it was not as good as the contaminants, it was enough to cut through the tough vines.
The path on the mountain was quite winding, passing through tall trees and avoiding thorns and weeds. Even the nests of sleeping mice were trampled several times. The place that my premonition pointed me to was unusually far away and difficult to find.
It had almost passed through the front of the mountain, and through a narrow path, it meandered into a deep and dark forest somewhere on the side of the mountain.
Even the most active goblins would not come here, but this did not stop the young man from searching for something. It took him almost half a night to find the right direction.
As the distance shortened, Mason heard the rough cries and mournful cries of birds and beasts. The young man's face changed slightly and he stopped walking. He recognized the strange accent as the goblin language.
It’s the middle of the night and there are goblins here?
Mason thought about it, turned around to a safe place, took out the leaf of the World Tree, and wrote something on it. As the energy was absorbed, the butterflies that had just condensed dissipated.
The young man collected the leaves of the World Tree with peace of mind. If the latter was aware, he would surely grit his teeth and praise him for being such a clever little guy.
The energy creatures released by [Heaven] cannot be controlled and will be discovered when they are sneaking, so it will be fine as long as you absorb their energy!
The young man used the same trick to turn around and [disguise] to reduce his presence. When he got closer, Mason saw the fire.
The glowing firelight reflected into my pupils, and in front of the dense forest was a sudden and broken cliff. Countless birds and beasts were circling in the sky, throwing stones and objects down, or using their bodies as blades to peck at the enemy, intending to peck the opponent's eyeballs. The sound of the wings fluttering gathered in one place, like a surging river pouring down from the sky into the ground!
The goblins standing at the bottom of the cliff confronted them. They held homemade bows and arrows and kept shooting at the birds and beasts flying in the sky.
A poorly made bow and arrow should pose no threat to these nimble creatures, but when the goblins pulled the longbows, the taut bowstrings would make a long cry. Hundreds and thousands of longbows were pulled, and the cry resounded through the sky. The birds and beasts that were struck by the sound waves were stiff, unable to dodge the rain of arrows.
These goblins were tall, unlike the usual green ones. Their pupils were a dry grayish white, like countless robots. Even if their heads were smashed, their bodies would still stand still and repeat the shooting action. From a distance, it was as terrifying as a zombie siege.
Behind the goblins was a vast open space at the bottom of the cliff. Someone had built a tall altar here, and countless greenskins and beasts' corpses were piled up under the altar, carrying a strong smell of decay with the wind.
Mason swallowed his saliva and saw a path winding out from behind the goblin altar leading to nowhere. He did find the black bird, yes... but how could he find the bird in such a fierce battle?
No, that's not right. What he should be thinking about now is why did the bird take the [protagonist] away?
The ominous premonition became stronger and stronger. Following this premonition, Mason looked up stiffly and saw a black and gray bird flying down against the rain of arrows!
Fast as lightning! Unstoppable!
It performed a graceful tail swing in the air, and the brooch in its mouth flew out. In the young man's dilated pupils, it rushed straight into the earth elf.
Mason's heart almost stopped.
The golden brooch slid in a perfect arc in the air, and the tip pointed straight down... It brushed the head of the hobgoblin who was drawing the bow, and accurately pierced into the neck of the hobgoblin next to it who had been shot in the head. I don't know which nerve was broken, but the stubborn hobgoblin fell down slowly. The longbow and quiver in his hand fell to the ground.
A long arrow rolled out of the quiver and landed at the feet of another hobgoblin. This had no effect on the hobgoblin who was shooting from the spot. But for some reason, it suddenly took a step towards the fallen hobgoblin and bent down to take out the "protagonist".
This step happened to step on the arrow, and the second goblin fell to the ground with a thud and hit the back of the goblin in the front row.
The front row who were drawing their bows did not expect a sneak attack from behind, and a loud bang crushed their front row...
Under the domino effect, the evil plan of the black bird succeeded, and the hobgoblins fell to the ground one after another. The bird beasts were shocked and immediately raised the banner of resistance.
The vast array of sharp beaks pierced through the goblins' skulls. Just when Mason thought the situation was settled, the goblins that had fallen to the ground suddenly dried up and decayed at an extremely fast speed, just like the corpses on the altar, as if they had always been part of this place.
The altar itself suddenly emitted a strong red light, and all life disappeared where the light covered it. Some birds and beasts that were unable to dodge howled and turned into dried corpses on the ground.
A large number of birds and beasts took off, not daring to approach the altar. In the area covered by the red light, the corpses on the altar stood up again. The bodies of the goblins swelled up, their eyeballs bulged out, and their grayish-white skin turned dark green again...
The hobgoblins staggered to the altar, bent down to pick up their longbows, and continued to shoot at the birds and beasts in the air with expressionless faces.
But it doesn't end there.
In Mason's frozen gaze, a very familiar breath emanated from the center of the altar. It was pollution that shouldn't exist here. The spreading black mist expanded, yet it was as thin as a thread. In the dim mist, a figure in a black robe suddenly appeared.
The man in black robe walked up to the dead hobgoblin, bent down and took out the "protagonist". The hobgoblin looked down at him for a while, took out something from his body, and put it in.
The distance was too far, and Mason couldn't see the details clearly, so he almost wanted to climb the wall. In his anxiety, a "click" filled with anger suddenly rang in the air.
The moment they saw the man in black robes, the birds and beasts in the sky instantly turned red-eyed, no longer caring about the terrifying red light. Guided by this cry, they rushed towards the man in black robes as if they had seen an enemy of life and death!
They did not become a pile of loose sand, but wrapped themselves up layer by layer, using the outermost layer of birds and beasts as a flesh and blood shield to protect the safety of the birds and beasts in the middle. The man in black robe looked at the group of birds and beasts indifferently, standing still.
The red light enveloped him, forming an indestructible shield. Before it reached the black-robed man, the flock of birds and beasts had been killed or injured.
Following another sad and angry "ga" sound, the black bird wrapped in the center suddenly rushed forward, like a sword of punishment falling from the sky, and hit the man in black robe directly!
Without hesitation, it grabbed the thing in the black-robed man's hand and ran away. Even though the red light melted the blood and bones, it still rushed straight into the sky at an unimaginable speed, flying towards the direction where Mason was!
The black-robed man took a step forward, and the hobgoblins raised their bows and arrows, shooting at it. The black bird stumbled in the air, blood dripping from its bony wings, and it was obviously unable to dodge the attack.
But the remaining flocks of birds and beasts in the air blocked a way for it to escape. The man in black robe was obviously no longer as calm as Mason saw at the beginning. Even from a distance, Mason could feel his anxiety.
Even with the terrifying altar, he still couldn't do anything about the black bird that had already flown away. After a moment, the black-robed man disappeared back into the center of the altar. The hobgoblins, having lost their target, lay down under the altar again, turning into skinny skeletons.
Mason looked back along the way and not far away he saw the bird-beast fallen to the ground. It was lying on the ground covered in blood, its bones exposed in its flesh and blood, and its left eye had disappeared.
When it noticed someone approaching, the black bird vomited blood and took a hostile attitude, but the young man held its forehead. It wanted to struggle, but the opponent's fingertips transmitted extremely gentle energy, making the black bird suddenly silent.
The whip marks on his back were burning, they were the Dark Lady's punishment and also Her favor; the scars on his chest were aching, they were the warning and mark of the God of the Sun; the elemental crystals in the flesh of his shoulders continuously absorbed the nearby elements and transformed them into energy, they were the protest and preference of the Goddess of Magic; the round mark on his forehead felt cool to the touch, where the Moon Goddess once gave a gentle glance.
There is no one in the world who can accommodate all the abilities of gods, because the attributes of different gods conflict with each other. Even if they bestow blessings, humans cannot bear the power of conflict.
But in Canaan's body, all the power was assimilated into his power. Positive energy gently poured into the bird-beast's body, regenerating flesh and blood, restoring bones, and resetting internal organs...
Even the most skilled doctors could not perform this kind of surgery to bring the dead back to life. Exorcising pain and soothing the soul. With the faint light spreading, gray-black feathers grew on the tender skin. The blackbird let out a long cry, and its attitude softened.
The young man touched its head, and the latter turned its head away proudly, took out the thing hidden under its body, and handed it to Mason.
It was a wooden box with two silver seal chains around it. There was an ordinary line pattern printed on the lid, and when Mason saw the pattern clearly, his expression became serious.
He had seen this pattern in church records.
The hammer and iron plate symbolize forging, and the thin straight line drawn in the middle refers to both pollutants and raw materials.
The people who created this pattern believed that pure materials are pure works, and the best materials are humans. So they created many artificial pollutants, spread them to various places, and caused a series of tragic disasters and massacres...
This is the mark of a craftsman.
The man in black robe is the Craftsman.