Lillian turned her head slightly, puzzled, then quickly realized.
"So it's been seven days already."
Colin nodded, his mind dwelling on the Exotic Skill, Anando's Dice, which he figured might now be ready for use again after the wind had subsided.
"Based on the marks outside, the Stone Forest probably hasn't been much affected by the Dark Red Wind. Why don't we continue exploring the stone trees around us?" Lillian pondered briefly, then suggested.
"Okay... Huh?!" Colin was about to nod in agreement with Lillian's suggestion when a new change appeared in the incoming wind.
The original wind was blowing directly at them.
Now, however, Colin and Lillian could distinctly feel a new wind coming from behind!
"Hoo~"
Before they could react, the initially colorless, transparent wind instantly turned pale red.
The air, the view—everything was suddenly draped in a light red hue.
"Sister Lillian, something seems wrong with this wind!" Colin said gravely.
In their view, there was a distinct difference between the redness before and the current redness.
The wind blowing towards them was pale red...but behind them, it was bright red!
Judging by the intensity of the color, it had at least doubled!
Caught between these two winds, Colin suddenly felt an inexplicable heat rising from his chest, burning and scorching as if to consume him completely!
He instantly maximized the intensity of his Steel Force Field, as well as the Mechanical Mind and Elf Armor he had encased himself with as soon as he felt the wind.
The glow of witchcraft and armor intertwined in layers, enveloping Colin, making him resemble some mythical creature.
Lillian, standing beside him, looked no different from him, instinctively resisting the sudden onslaught of the Dark Red Wind with all her might!
"Peace within!"
Yet, Lillian also softly exclaimed, struggling to pull a nondescript short silver metal staff from her Storage Ring.
The staff, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, resembled an oversized nail, except with a colorful gem embedded at the tip and wrapped around.
Its use was indeed just like that of a nail.
Lillian thrust it directly into the ground; the silver staff stood upright on the surface, then rapidly began to spin.
Subsequently, the round base wrapping around the gem slowly unfurled like a petal, forming a fist-sized silver circle below, fully revealing the colorful gem.
Hum—
The next moment, a glowing circular Protective Shield burst forth from the gem, enveloping them like a transparent, colorful bubble.
"How can the Dark Red Wind come from this stone tree?!" exclaimed Colin, feeling his body lighten from the pressure as soon as the colorful bubble appeared.
"No..." Lillian shook her head, slowly looking up, "This wind is coming from above!"
Following Lillian's gaze backward.
Their location was an observational balcony, and beyond the balcony was an ordinary study,
However, unlike the other rooms, this room at the very top of the Stone Forest only contained a brown wooden bookshelf.
Now, at that shelf made from unknown brown tree bark, they could clearly see, a denser wind than the surroundings flowing downward from above, as if unimpeded and gently blowing.
"This Dark Red Wind of contamination... where exactly does it originate?" Colin murmured.
He looked upwards, following the direction the wind was coming from, but could only see the sturdy ceiling of the Stone Forest.
"Let's retreat outside first, get through this wind, then plan further," Lillian said gravely, bending down to pick up the silver staff.
"Be careful!!"
Just then, Colin suddenly shouted!
Lillian's expression shifted, and without hesitation, she rolled to the side!
Thump!
An orange-yellow oval Fireball Shield appeared where Lillian had just been.
Bang!!
Immediately after, a loud impact noise.
This collision wasn't between some object and the Fireball Shield—usually, such a crudely transformed shield from the Fireball Technique wouldn't make such noises, instead incinerating anything approaching.
This sound—the collision between the bizarre brown books on the shelf and the transparent Protective Shield confining them, which now acted more like a prison!
"How can these books have undergone such a change?" Lillian stood up, murmuring with a frown.
Bang!
Bang bang bang!
The brown bark books continued to repeatedly collide against the semi-transparent shield enclosing the bookshelf.
Colin shook his head, "I just saw those books come to life suddenly, leaping towards us..."
The rapid transformation of the books was unexpected, prompting his instinctive vocal warning.
He hadn't expected it to be a false alarm; the books couldn't break through the Protective Shield around them!
Realizing this, Colin once again shifted his gaze there, examining it closely.
These brown books, made of bark and unlike usual books, were not pliable. They were thick and sturdy, much like square, multi-layered cookies.
Now, for some unknown reason, they seemed to come alive, and the red glyphs resembling ancient Elf language on them were twisting and shining.