Falcon!

"Get out of here quickly."

A gentle Air Elemental brought Soren to a light landing. Maintaining Mass Fly was very taxing, Goria looked up at the sky and said in a low voice, "Let's go into the forest first. That eagle in the sky is acting strangely."

The drawbacks of Fly are quite obvious; without a large number of Feat, one is extremely weak while in flight.

Wizards who often fly like to solidify [Wing Technique] or [Dragon Wing Technique]. Directly relying on spell energy to fly is not advisable. Wizards who are not legendary level or above basically cannot bear it, and the flexibility and maneuverability when flying are very poor, making it easy to become A living target for far-end units. The melee system basically has no combat effectiveness in the sky, because there is a saying that "force rises from the ground", and it is impossible to have a power point appear out of thin air in the floating state. (You can use your left foot to generate force by stepping on the right foot. Doesn't that mean you can fly to the star realm? [])

Soren looked up at the sky and, sure enough, spotted a Toughness falcon circling overhead.

It had already circled their heads once, but hadn't left; it was still hovering in the sky. This was very unusual; wild falcons wouldn't fly over their heads for no reason.

Aladdin glanced at the sky and muttered, "There's still some time. Why are you in such a hurry? In a second or two at most, I could grab another ten or so gems. That's thousands of Gold Daler!"

Soren glanced at him and said coldly, "You can't have money if you don't have the life to spend it. What just appeared was Stone Giant close to Legendary level. Our attacks couldn't hurt it at all. Even Goria could only defend herself against it and couldn't help us at all. This trip has been quite fruitful. I think you just got at least dozens of gems."

The Halfling chuckled, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I just feel it's a pity, after all, it's all money!"

He glanced up at the falcon in the sky, then followed Soren into the forest. He opened his Bag of Holding, counted the items briefly, and said, "I took about forty or fifty gems, and some Gold Daler too, but I didn't have time to take them. I just picked out some of the more valuable things and put them in. How much do you think they're worth?"

The Halfling didn't seem to have much of an ability to Appraise; they couldn't even figure out how much these gems were worth.

Don't underestimate the Appraise skill; sometimes it can be surprisingly useful. Soren remembers teaming up with someone to steal from Dragon Lair, managing to lure the Dragon away for less than ten seconds. In that mere ten seconds, his partner stole three valuable items from Dragon Lair five-meter-high treasure mountain, each worth over ten thousand Gold Daler's. That's the power of Appraise. Adventurer often encounter unexpected situations where you don't have time to carefully collect your loot. Sometimes you have to grab whatever's available and stuff it in your pocket.

Whether it's worth anything depends on your judgment and luck.

Soren took the Bag of Holding and glanced at it. The gems inside were a mixed bag, but their total value was definitely over seven or eight thousand Gold Daler, as they were all of relatively good quality. The Elemental Plane was rich in Gem Mine; sometimes, if you were lucky, you could even find Obsidian, Minotaur Gold, open-pit mines, and other such things on the surface. Aladdin had obtained some mid- to high-end items. Combined with the Elemental Core they had initially acquired, the three of them could easily divide up several thousand Gold Daler.

The Elemental Plane repel the outside world. Even high-level Wizard find it difficult to enter, unlike other Plane where entry and exit are much easier.

The Elemental Plane of Fire has the most minerals, but its average temperature is around 100 degrees Celsius. An ordinary- Constitution professional would be roasted alive upon entering; the aroma of roasted meat would fill the air. Without Spell enhancements, movement is impossible. Basically, Four Elemental Planes are similar. The Elemental Plane of Earth isn't as harsh, but it's a Supergravity world. A physically weak Wizard like Goria could only walk a kilometer or two before giving up. Of the four Plane Elemental Plane of Earth is where most legendary melee- Legendary Professional enter the most, as they can use the Supergravity to hone their skills.

However, your combat power will drop by more than half when you first enter! [Super Gravity Domain]

Goria glanced at the gems, her eyes quickly lighting up. She took out two gems that were as clear as Crystal and said slowly, "I'll take these two; they're exactly the materials I need. You can distribute the rest."

"Oh, right."

"Vivian should get a share too, after all, she helped out today."

The little girl looked up at her. Her beautiful eyes sparkled, seemingly very interested in jewels as well. Aladdin noticed both women staring at him and rubbed his forehead, saying, "Of course! Of course! Since Vivian came along, she naturally gets ten percent too. It's an old rule among Adventurer."

A single fine gemstone can be worth hundreds of Gold Daler.

He easily earned several thousand Gold Daler on this trip without encountering too many risks, enough for him to enjoy a while back in his hometown.

Halfling are quintessential hedonists; they spend at least half their earnings on making themselves more comfortable, especially their houses. If they have the financial means, they'll decorate them to the highest possible standard, sometimes even adding high-end artwork. Soren has traveled to many places, and in terms of living environment alone, probably only the Elf capital can rival the Halfling. Elf have a somewhat morbid pursuit of aesthetics, while Halfling are practical comfort seekers.

Oh, right.

They also have an advantage: when you're a guest at Halfling's house, you can always get a good meal. It's quite popular among Adventurer to go to Halfling' houses for a free meal.

Once inside the forest, the falcons lost track of them.

The dense forest severely obstructed visibility, with towering trees reaching over ten meters in height. The group continued walking for quite some time before slowly emerging from the forest.

Goria suddenly stopped, looked up at the sky, and frowned, saying, "Oh no! That falcon is following us again!"

Soren looked up!

Sure enough, a circling falcon reappeared above them.

It turned out that the falcon hadn't left; it had merely expanded its range after they entered the forest, patrolling the area around it. Now that it had spotted them, the falcon flew over again, circling overhead every now and then, creating an inexplicable sense of unease.

A murderous glint appeared on Soren's face as he said in a deep voice, "Can you shoot it down?"

Goria frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and said softly, "It's difficult. It flies very high, beyond the range of my Spell, and this falcon seems intelligent. Eagle are the rulers of the sky, and even with the enhancement of Fly, I'll have a hard time catching it. It seems to be some druid's Animal Companion?"

The Halfling took out something that looked like a ruler and gestured with it, then exclaimed in surprise, "This falcon is really big!"

"It's so far away, yet we can still see it's this size. It must have been nearly four or five meters long when it landed. This must be a druid's Animal Companion; ordinary falcons don't grow to this size!"

Aladdin probably studied Alchemy; only those who studied Alchemy in this world would be so sensitive to this kind of geometric calculation. The Rogue would use some small, exquisite tools, which might be traps, or they might still be traps. The higher the level of these tools, the more intricate they would be, and often they could not tolerate even the slightest mistake.

Goria gazed at the falcons in the sky and said slowly, "Come closer."

The group walked up to her.

She then began chanting a spell, and a Spell light appeared, causing everyone to suddenly vanish without a trace.

"Invisibility, Ten Foot Radius".

Their figures gradually blurred and then disappeared without a trace. The falcon circling in the sky suddenly lost its target and lowered its altitude slightly, but dared not fly low. It let out a loud eagle cry, then rose back to its original altitude and flew in an elliptical trajectory.

Soren looked up at the sky and said in a deep voice, "There are definitely druids nearby. We'd better leave now."

The others exchanged glances and quickly headed outside.

Shortly after Soren left, a lithe figure landed in the forest. It was a Archdruid covered in paint, and he seemed to have been out of touch with human society for a long time. His facial hair was long and unkempt, making him look like a savage. Behind him, another agile figure landed, a beautiful Half-Elf druid. A lovely Nightingale perched on her shoulder, carefully preening its feathers.

The savage-like druid examined the footprints on the ground, then frowned and said, "They escaped!"

"These fellows have disturbed the slumbering elements, and the Spirit of the Earth is showing signs of awakening. Nightingale, you'd better tell Earth Walker about this; only he can appease these enraged elements."

...(To be continued~^~)