Shadow country is a place where time flows slowly and changes slowly.
This is not an exaggeration. The special rules of this hemiplane greatly hinder the flow of time. Therefore, a day here is only one tenth of that of the outside world, or even slower.
That is to say, even a dying person can live ten times longer as long as he can enter the shadow Kingdom, but it''s not the same as it seems. This is not a blessing. At least for the creatures living in the shadow Kingdom, it just means that they will suffer more.
Ten times more torture!
For any creature, this is not a good place. The unique shadow and fog will penetrate into the body of every creature who breaks into this place. Without their awareness, they will quietly transform their body. Gao Mu is an example.
After spending tens of thousands of years with Hella in this half plane, it was almost completely transformed into a shadow creature, and even its own power system was greatly biased towards shadow and darkness. In fact, if Gorm had not met dick in the order world, it would never have been defeated so miserably, even lost its life.
Gao Mu is in favor of the reformed side. He is willing to become what he looks like here. There are also some people who would rather die than obey. What he accepts here is the real torture.
For example, the captured souls of varagal are bound in this place by Hella, and they don''t even need to be shackled or imprisoned. As long as they stay in the shadow country and continue to fight against this place with their own will, they will feel the attrition and pain from the soul.
It''s almost eternal. As long as they don''t yield, they won''t get salvation and liberation. With the passage of time, their will may still be so firm, just like steel, but other things, such as memory, such as thinking, will be thoroughly ground away by this ubiquitous rule.
They wandered in the sewage of the shadow Kingdom, attacking everything that could be attacked. These wanderers are the most dangerous creatures in this country. Even the fog warriors of kwadir are unwilling to provoke them, but the ones who fall into the shadow kingdom are more miserable than the heroes.
Anduin was awake in this situation.
When he woke up, he found himself trapped in a cage made of steel. The shape of the cage was like a bird cage on the railings. He leaned against the railings. At the moment he opened his eyes, a musty smell and rotten smell rushed into his nostrils. Anduin''s eyes suddenly widened.
His vision was gradually clear, and the world in front of him was no longer shaking. He gave a groan, and felt that the bones of his whole body were becoming sore. He looked at the railing in front of him, which was full of bronze rust and uneven burrs. When he looked at the pain, he immediately understood where the pain of his body came from.
Anduin stood up from the cage with difficulty. His shoulder and back against the railing were covered with blood stars. He was not painful, but numb. It seems that he has been in a coma for a long time.
The last memory of the little prince is that he was rolled back into the shadow by a tentacle full of fishy smell, as if there was still anweina''s scream. He stood up from the cage, looked at the sky which was definitely not a good place, and thought about everything here.
But... It''s a blank.
In addition to the pain behind, a blank.
The fog rolled outside the cage, but it would never invade it. Looking from left to right, Anduin soon found that there were more cages on his left, which either bound the viku people as tall as gavinson, or just a pile of white bones. The ground below the cage was full of bone stubbles and mixed filth, This place is a real hell!
The sight was startling at a glance. Anduin simply looked back and did not look at it any more. He stretched out his hand to look for the opening of the birdcage fence. But just as his hand was about to touch the birdcage, a voice stopped him.
"Don''t touch it"
Anduin subconsciously retracts his finger, then turns his head and sees an old viku leaning against the birdcage. He doesn''t look like a soldier. Judging from his silver white robe and the magic lines on his face, he should be a mage. He closes his eyes and seems to be resting, but he doesn''t care about the barb on the birdcage and allows it to pierce into his body.
It seems that he is also very tired... It is difficult to say whether it is because of physical fatigue or mental fatigue. At least within 5 minutes after waking up, Anduin has already felt the depression of the world.
"Who are you?"
The little prince asked, and the answer was silence. It wasn''t until a few minutes later that the wizard of the naviku answered,
"Is there any water?"
The little prince was stunned by this problem. Then he tried to open his storage ring, but found that it was very difficult to infiltrate his spirit into the ring, just like putting his will into a crack in the rock. It took him five times more time than usual to take out his water bottle.
It''s a delicate glass bottle. Thanks to Dick''s instruction, Anduin''s storage ring is almost full of these "meaningless" things in the eyes of other nobles, including food and water, as well as necessary medicines and ointments. According to Dick, fate doesn''t know when it will surprise you. All we can do is to be ready at any time.
Now Dick''s words and deeds work.
But the little prince soon found that at the moment when he took out the bottle, the water in the bottle became turbid at the speed visible to the naked eye. The little prince put it in front of his eyes and observed it carefully. As a result, the old viku swore mercilessly.
"Fool, give it to me! Come on
Anduin did it immediately, not because he was afraid or for any other reason, but because the viku looked really anxious. He passed the glass bottle through the railing of the birdcage. The old viku took it in his hand, turned it away, and without saying a word, drank the water which had already been covered with grey wadding.
His dry lips became moist, and the running water stained his beard. After drinking, the viku threw the bottle and said to Anduin,
"This is the first lesson. In the shadow Kingdom, the only thing you have to do when you get a bottle of clean water is to drink it before it is completely corrupted by the rules and can''t be drunk... Ah, it''s really enjoyable. I haven''t tasted the taste of water in 30 years. Thank you, rookie."
"Three... Thirty years“
Anduin was stunned, while the viku people waved their hands. The big bottle of water just now seemed to make him recover some spirit, and even his godless eyes became a little bright. Looking at Anduin''s surprised expression, the viku people laughed,
"You probably don''t know where this is, do you? Is there any more water? A bottle of... No, half a bottle of water is a problem! It''s fair, isn''t it? "
"Water, is food all right?"
The little prince had some problems. It was not that there was not enough water, but he remembered what Dick said. In this environment, water was always more precious than food, so he decided to exchange information with food. The viku shrugged,
"All right! But here''s a piece of advice. Don''t ask stupid questions. You''d better understand your situation before your food reaches the bottom. Otherwise, it''s hard to live, especially in this ghost place. "
Because of no reply, Andu took out a large piece of beef wrapped in oil paper from the storage ring, tore half of it, and quickly handed it to the old viku. He also sat on the ground, regardless of the slowly deteriorating taste, and quickly began to bite. Seeing this scene, the old viku nodded.
Only a wise man can live longer in the shadow kingdom. It is obvious that this boy is a real wise man.
He sniffed the smell of beef, bit off more than half of it in one bite, chewed and said.
"First question, ask."
"Where is this? Can I get out? "
The old viku glared at Anduin, who was swallowing his last mouthful of beef. He browed and said, "these are two questions. But forget it. On the glass of water just now, this is the kingdom of shadow, the kingdom ruled by Hella. As you can see, there are only two kinds of creatures here. Kwadir, who is subject to Hella, doesn''t want to obey her. As for going out, I''m sorry, I''ve been here for many years... But I haven''t seen anyone who can go out. Even the heroes can''t go out. "
Anduin lowered his head to think for a moment, then took out a glass of water, took a big sip of it, and handed it to the old viku,
"Tell me about Hella."
The old viku drank the water clean again, held the glass in his hand and played with it. He looked at the little prince playfully. After eating and drinking, his spirit recovered completely. He moved his shoulder and stretched out a finger,
"Give me another piece of meat. It''s a long story."
The little prince bared his teeth, but finally he reluctantly threw a big oil paper bag to the old viku, who took it in his hand, put it on his mouth, sniffed and nodded with satisfaction,
"Well, the smoked beef is just cooked. It seems that your elder is a knowledgeable guy. He knows what is the most important thing for you... Well, where to start, HeLa? She was originally the adopted daughter of Odin. By the way, Odin, you should know?"
Anduin nodded. Before he came to the broken islands, gavenson told him the legend of Odin and the viku. So he knew that Odin meant to the viku, just like the light meant to human beings. And Anduin had a good mentor.
Dick told him more than once that Odin was also the guardian of Titan and one of the two leaders of the guardian.
Seeing that he nodded, the old viku continued,
"In the beginning, Odin was the first to build the British spirit army. He selected the brave viku from all things in the world. But there was a problem. After the viku died, his soul would return to the shadow Kingdom and wait for the next life. Although Odin was powerful, he was not omnipotent. So he found Hella, his adopted daughter who was proficient in magic, and went deep into the shadow kingdom with Hella, After thousands of sunrises and sunsets, Odin finally understood the rules of the shadow Kingdom, so he asked Hella to help him transport the most heroic Vikings from the shadow kingdom. Hella fulfilled her promise. For this reason, Odin gave her the glorious wagri form, and she was also the first blessed queen of wagri. "
"You probably don''t know that it''s a great honor for all viku women, just like a viku man becoming a hero."
The old viku put the last touch of tasteless minced meat in his mouth, savored it, rubbed his stomach, and continued to tell the story of Hela,
"This process lasted for tens of thousands of years, which was the most perfect tens of thousands of years. All the viku people who died bravely would become heroes and live in the most glorious varagal. But just as all the stories tell us, there is always greed in the human heart, and so is the spirit. Long term contact with the distorted rules of the shadow Kingdom prompted the greed in Hella''s heart, She was not satisfied with sending her great soul to varagal, but intercepted a part of it as her private army. She stole a part of the secret of the spirit, that is, those guys
The old viku pointed to the shadowy warriors outside the fog, and his tone was full of disdain. "Kwadil, the dead who came back from the fog, Hella''s" spirit ", filled his body with evil and darkness, but they were much weaker than the spirit. Even a viku warrior could defeat them, with more and more souls intercepted, Hella began to start a war in the originally quiet and peaceful shadow country. This is the result of the war. The kwadir army occupied the whole shadow country. Hella became the queen of the dead, and then launched a war against Odin. "
"The eternal war of gods... Continues to this day."
There was a trace of sadness on the old man''s face. "God Odin was also hurt because of the betrayal of Hella and his adopted daughter. He no longer easily believed in mortals. Only those souls who had his permission could enter varagal again, but more war dead were captured here by Hella, and I was one of them... But that''s nothing."
He took a look at Anduin, then ended his story and closed his eyes,
"Have a good rest, boy. This ghost place is not without benefits. Don''t waste your precious water and food any more. A full meal here can last at least one week. Take advantage of this time to adapt to the rules here. By the way, remember what I said... Never get out of this cage unless you want to lose everything."
"But... But this is a cage!"
Anduin yelled, "we can''t live like prisoners!"
"It''s better than you die, and here, even if you die, your soul won''t be free... You can choose, whether you surrender to Hera or fight like this, no one will surrender, but my family is too reckless, I''m waiting for a chance... But maybe never come."