Jill wasn't surprised that Rody could discern the cabin as a witch's house with traps inside, as she knew both she and Rody were extremely sensitive.
But how did Rody know for sure that Andrew and little Colin were inside? Jill was very curious and puzzled. She knew Rody was intelligent, but she didn't expect him to be so certain and accurate.
"It's actually very simple," Rody said with a slight smile. "Earlier, Jill and I met Aaron and little Colin's brothers, so it couldn't be them. Tommy and Terry's illusions, despite appearing in front of us, made laughable mistakes, so it couldn't be them either. And what proved their departure were these words and drawings on the door. As for Elizabeth and Shira, I believe their strength wouldn't let them easily fall into your trap. So who else could it be, besides them? Sani and Ollaria, who have the vision to see through all illusions? Of course not."
"Why didn't you guess it was Leo and Benson?" Andrew asked in doubt.
"Because Benson is more cautious than you think. He is a defensive swordsman and wouldn't be easily fooled," Rody chuckled. "Even Tommy could see through such childish tricks that would make kids laugh. Do you think they could deceive me?"
"I'm going to kill you!" the old witch sneered coldly. "No matter how smart you are, you can't escape death."
"Why don't you scare me by saying you'll chop off my head and scoop out my brain as a snack?" Rody chuckled. "I don't have much time to waste words with you, but before I leave, unlike Tommy, who left without manners or a gift, I won't do the same. Jill, are you ready? We have a surprising gift for this witch!"
"Yes." Jill stretched out her hand, conjuring a ring of fire, then concentrated an ice ball to its limit, controlling it just before it exploded, and then made it slowly rotate around her.
"God, what are you trying to do?" Andrew was terrified.
Water and fire are difficult to coexist, and when ice and flame collide, a huge explosion can occur. If Jill's control was even slightly off, the explosion could be unimaginable. The old witch was dumbstruck, never expecting this shy girl to have such terrifying magical control. In her horrified gaze, Jill conjured three rings of fire, each with rotating ice and flame.
What made Andrew, little Colin, and the old witch faint was that Rody actually managed to grab each of these fire rings one by one with his hand and then forcefully hurled them.
The rings of fire with rotating ice and flame broke through the door. The old witch desperately tried to repel them with her mental power.
Suddenly, she felt a heavy blow to her forehead, her world spinning as her mental power instantly scattered, helplessly watching the rings of fire explode inside the fireplace, causing a deafening blast.
Just after Rody threw the third ring of fire, he struck the old witch with a mental warhammer in a sneak attack and quickly fled the cabin with Jill.
The terrifying explosion behind them knocked them to the ground, the shockwave spreading, and the trees around them toppled. The witch's cabin was completely destroyed. Although Rody wasn't sure if the old witch was dead, he quickly picked up Jill and swiftly left.
Regarding Andrew and little Colin, Rody didn't check on them; he only wished them luck in fending for themselves.
If they were not classmates, Rody would not have acted this way, as it posed certain risks.
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The massive explosion could easily attract enemies.
It would be a big problem if the old witch hadn't died.
After running several kilometers with Jill, when she was put down, she dared not look up at anyone, her ears red. After walking more than ten kilometers through the rainforest, Jill finally asked in a voice as small as a mosquito's, "Do you think classmate Andrew might have been killed in the explosion?"
"He won't be, he's a fire mage with resistance to fire magic," Rody replied with a light laugh.
"Classmate little Colin isn't," Jill hummed in agreement, and after a long while, she added that sentence.
"He's thick-skinned," Rody nodded, reached out to pat Jill's head to signal her not to worry about others. Jill seemed to like Rody stroking her head, she lowered her head and stopped talking, but she sneakily looked at him under her eyelashes, and whenever he looked back, she quickly cast her gaze down. The two of them followed the direction given by the tree herder elder Toka, heading towards the land of the dwarves.
A day later, they emerged from the rainforest.
Just after crossing a small hill, they found clear skies and bright sunshine on the other side, lifting their spirits.
The hills were dotted with clumps of bushes, full of figs and unknown flowers. There were small streams babbling and springs everywhere on the ground, and in the distance, rainbows hung beautifully over the mountains.
"This place is so beautiful, it's like a fairy garden," Jill exclaimed in admiration.
"Let's rest for a while then!" Seeing nothing suspicious around and wanting Jill to relax, Rody decided to take a break right there.
Jill happily picked some figs and washed them by the stream, and they began to enjoy this unexpected and sweet find. Rody had just eaten a couple when he suddenly said he was sleepy and lay down to sleep. Jill, puzzled at first, saw Rody resting and joyfully ran to the stream to wash her hands and face. She took off her boots, revealing her feet as white as jade, and dipped them into the cool spring water.
A gentle breeze blew, and Jill sneakily glanced at Rody, finding him fast asleep. She then started picking flowers and grass to weave a flower crown to wear on her head.
Unexpectedly, a whirlwind blew, whisking away Jill's newly woven flower crown.
Jill quickly got up and chased after it, her small feet pattering.
The strange whirlwind blew the pretty flower crown not too high or too low, leading Jill towards a thicket far away.
"Got it!" Jill jumped up happily, grabbing the flower crown in her hands. She joyfully put it on and turned around, only to be startled; behind her stood a dwarf wearing a red hat. This dwarf was extremely short and looked comically funny with a long nose, big mouth, bulging eyes, a pointed head, narrow forehead, and long chin. On top of his head, he wore a red hat far bigger than his body.
"You ate my fruit and picked my flowers; I must punish you!" the red-hatted dwarf extended his skinny fingers, glaring at Jill with big eyes.
"I'm sorry," Jill quickly apologized, not expecting that this place had an owner.
"If you don't want to be punished, then pay a compensation of a hundred gold coins!" the red-hatted dwarf demanded exorbitantly.
"I don't have that much money," Jill replied in fright, quickly waving her hands.
"Then you must accept a severe punishment, an extremely cruel punishment! Let me tell you, even dragons can't endure this kind of punishment. Think carefully before you answer, understand?" the red-hatted dwarf warned sternly, then added, "If you compensate with five gems, I can also forgive you!"
"I, I don’t have five gems," Jill was troubled.
"That gem on your neck, I like it. Use it to compensate for my loss!" the red-hatted dwarf pointed excitedly at the colorful gem that had somehow fallen from around Jill's white jade neck. "My figs are sweeter than those in the elves' garden. I water, weed, fertilize, catch bugs, and even sing to them every day to get them this sweet. Even dragons who have tasted them can't stop praising them! Only the demonic fruits of the demon race and the fruits of justice of the divine race can match them, otherwise, even the rainbow fruits of the fairy race can't compare!"
"The figs are very sweet," Jill protected her colorful gem, troubled, "But this is my life gem, my aunt said I can never part with it, otherwise she can't find me."
"You ate my fruit, drank my stream water, and picked my flowers. If you don't compensate, I'll curse you to become an unloved girl! Is that what you want?" the red-hatted dwarf hopped around, trying to grab the colorful gem on Jill's neck, excitedly saying, "Give it to me, to me, to me! If you give it to me, I'll bless you with the dwarves' most adept magic, making you a lucky girl! I am the number one magician of the dwarves, quickly give it to me!"
"…" Jill was too troubled. Her life gem couldn’t be given away lightly, but she had eaten someone else's fruits, and she had always been an unlucky girl. If she could become lucky, that would be amazing.
Suddenly, a foot stomped down from the sky.
It flattened the red-hatted dwarf, hat and all, startling Jill. She looked up to find Rody.
"Want her gem? Why don’t you ask her knight first?" Rody stomped on the red-hatted dwarf, crushing the red hat out of shape. Jill hurriedly stopped him, but although she caught Rody's hand, his feet relentlessly stomped on the red-hatted dwarf, who cried out in pain.
"You're bullying, that’s unreasonable. Wah wah wah!" The red-hatted dwarf managed to struggle up only after Jill pulled Rody away, then started crying loudly.
"Actually, I like to be reasonable. Let me talk to you again!" Rody, with a fist in hand, approached, scaring the dwarf into fleeing quickly.
"It's just a small dwarf; Rody, could you lend me a hundred gold coins?" Jill, seeing the red-hatted dwarf crying pitifully, softened her heart.
"No, no, I don't want money, I want the gem, I want that gem!" The red-hatted dwarf perked up immediately when he heard this. Rody's hand was caught by Jill, preventing him from hitting the dwarf, so he kicked out, sending the dwarf flying ten meters away, laughing, "Here, I give you a gem! Do you think your sleep magic would work on me? You dwarf trickster!"
"I'm not a trickster!" the red-hatted dwarf got up, earnestly saying, "I am the number one magician of the dwarf race."
"Right, you're not a trickster, you're a super big trickster, the number one big trickster of the dwarves!" Rody suddenly kicked out a boot, hitting the red-hatted dwarf on the head and knocking him down again.