In Yongquan Court, the sun in March penetrates the young leaves of poplar and elm, which is pleasant to the eyes.Between the shadow and the light, the spring water gushes and ripples.The open-air inner court was surrounded by towering stone walls on four sides. Beyond the stone walls were many halls, courtyards, corridors, halls, towers, and the thick outer wall of the "Great Pavilion" of Roke College.This thick wall can withstand any fire, earthquake and tide, because in addition to being made of stone, it is also obviously infused with magic.Roke Academy is the "Island of the Wise", a place where the arts of magic are taught.Therefore, the Hongxuan Pavilion is equivalent to the School of Witchcraft, and it is also the center of witchcraft.As for the center of the Hongxuan Pavilion, it is this small inner courtyard away from the outer wall.Here, the fountains are constantly flowing, and the trees stand tall all year round under the sun, rain or starlight.

The nearest tree to the fountain was a gigantic sorrel, whose roots had grown so thick that they cracked the marble floor.The cracks are filled with bright green moss, which stretches in all directions from around the densely grassed fountain pool.A boy sat on a low rise of marble and moss, his eyes following the rise and fall of the very center of the fountain.The boy was almost an adult, but he was still a teenager.He was tall and thin, and richly dressed.His features might have been cast in golden bronze to make them look so well molded and settled. About fifteen steps behind him, on the other side of the small lawn in the center of the inner courtyard, there seemed to be a man "standing" under a tree. It was difficult to be sure because of the dancing light and shadow.But what is certain is that there is a man in white with a calm demeanor.As the boy gazed at the fountain, the man gazed at the boy.The surroundings are quiet and still, only the leaves dance lightly, the running water dances, and the fountain sings endlessly.

The man stepped forward, and the breeze gently brushed the young leaves of the pear tree.The boy quickly jumped up and stood up, bowed to the man, and respectfully called: "The Archmage." The man stopped in front of him.The man was not tall, but his torso was straight and powerful.He wore a woolen white cloak with a hood. The hood of the cloak dropped his shoulders, revealing his face. His face was reddish, with an eagle nose, one cheek was scarred, his eyes were bright, and he spoke softly: "This Spring Court is a pleasant place. resting place." The boy didn't have time to apologize, and he went on to say: "You have come from a long way, and you haven't rested yet, so please continue to sit."

Kneeling on the edge of the white pool, he stretched out his hand to touch the circle of water droplets flowing down from the high basin of the fountain, letting the spring water flow down through his fingers.The boy sat back on the raised marble.The two were speechless for a moment. "You are the son of Yinglad Island and the prince of the Yinglad Islands, and a descendant of Lord Morad." The archmage said: "The longest and most upright hereditary inheritance of the Earthsea Islands belongs to your family. I have seen The spring orchards of Enlad, the golden roofs of Berilla—what do you all call thee?"

"They call me Arren." "That should be the dialect of your island. When you usually say these two words, what do you mean?" The boy replied, "It's the 'sword'." The archmage nodded.The two fell silent again.Then it was the boy who spoke first, neither rude nor timid: "I thought the Archmage knew all languages." The man looks at the fountain and shakes his head. "Knows all the names too—" "All the names? Only Xiguoyi, who speaks the "Talk of the Beginning" and raised the islands from the deep sea, knows all the names." The man stared at Arren's face with bright and sharp eyes. "Of course, if it was necessary to know your real name, I would know it. But there is no need at present. So from now on, I will call you 'Arren'. And I am 'Sparrowhawk'. You come by ship, how the journey is, Tell me."

"Too long." "Is the sea breeze bad?" "The sea breeze is calm, and I am carrying bad news, Lord Sparrowhawk." "You might as well talk about it." The archmage said solemnly, with an expression that seemed to be tolerant of the child's impatience.As Arren spoke, he looked again at the transparent curtain of water dripping from the high basin to the low basin, not listening, but as if he was listening to more than the boy's words. "My lord, you know that my father is a wizard. He is a descendant of Morad. He studied at Roke College for a year when he was young, so he has some power and knowledge. It is only because he concentrates on ruling the territory, managing towns and trade affairs , so seldom use witchcraft. The fleet of our island has sailed westward from generation to generation, even as far as the western frontier, engaged in trading in sapphire, cowhide, tin mines, etc. In the early winter of this year, a captain returned to the city of Berilla and brought back some knowledge , My father learned about February 1, so he sent someone to ask the captain to explain it in detail." The boy spoke neatly and confidently, and he received strict court-style teachings since he was a child, and he was completely free from the shyness of ordinary teenagers. "The captain said there was no magic left on the Isle of Narvedon, where the ship sailed about five hundred miles west of our island. Spells had no power there, he said, and the words for witchcraft were forgotten. My father Asked him if both wizards and witches had left the island? He said no, because there were still some people on the island who had been wizards, but they couldn't cast spells, not even spells to mend pots or find lost needles. My father asked again: Did the islanders of Navidun Island panic? The captain denied again: The islanders didn’t seem to care. He said that the situation on the island is really weird, and the autumn harvest is bad, but everyone thinks it doesn’t matter. I was there Hearing him say, "They all look like sick people. It's as if someone told him that within this year he would die; but he told himself: That's not true, he'll live forever. They're wandering around, all Cover your eyes and don’t see the real world.』Other merchants came back and described the same situation, saying that Navidun Island has become a poor island and has lost its witch skills. But these are just rumors in the frontier area, and the frontier area Always full of anecdotes, this time only my father pondered them.

"Later, the "Lamb Festival" held every New Year on our island came, and the wives of shepherds from all over the place brought the newborn lambs to the capital. My father instructed the wizard Root to perform the production increase technique on those lambs. But afterwards, Root was very sad. Dejected, he returned to the temple, put down the witch staff, and said, "My lord, I can't tell the mantra." My father asked him for details, but he could only reply, "I can't remember the mantra and its meaning." So my father went to the market to cast it himself. However, when he returned to the palace that evening, he looked very tired and said to me: "Although I have recited the incantations, I don't know if those incantations have any meaning." This spring, the condition of the sheep is really miserable : The ewes died during childbirth, and many lambs were stillborn, and some were deformed." The boy's originally comfortable and eager tone slipped suddenly, and when he mentioned the word "deformed", he blinked and swallowed. "I saw some of them with my own eyes." After he finished speaking, there was a moment of silence.

"My father believes that this, and the situation on Narvedon Island, is a sign of some evil at work in our region. He is eager to hear the advice of wise men." "His lord sent you to prove that his desire is strong," said the Archmage. "You are your lord's only son, and besides, the journey from Enlad to Roke is not short. Do you have anything else to say?" "It's just the rumors of some old women in the mountains." "What did the old women say?" "They say that all the fortune-telling witches see bad luck in the smoke and in the pools, and that their aphrodisiacs go wrong. They're not the kind of people who do pure witchcraft, though."

"Fortune-telling and aphrodisiacs are not worth much attention, but the old woman's words are worth listening to. Well, Master Roke will indeed gather and discuss the information you have brought. But, Arren, I don't know if they can give your father. What advice, because Enlad Island is not the first island to hear similar news." Arren's voyage, from north to south, passed the Great Isle of Havnor, and crossed the Inner Sea before reaching the Isle of Roke.This is the first time he has traveled far in his life. Only in the past few weeks since he was born, he finally saw a land different from his hometown, and he was aware of the "distance" and "difference" for the first time, and he understood: Beyond the pleasant hills of Rade Isle lay a vast world and many inhabitants.He was not used to thinking about the world in a big way, so he listened to the words of the archmage for a while before he understood the meaning.

"Where else are similar news coming?" He was a little stunned and frustrated, because he originally hoped that he would bring immediate countermeasures to Yinglad's hometown immediately. "The first one was South Frontier. Later, even Vasuo Island in the south of the Archipelago Kingdom had a similar situation. People say that Vasuo Island is completely incapable of performing spells. But it is difficult to determine the truth, because the island has always been unruly, and Pirates have been around for a long time. It is often said that listening to a Southern merchant is like listening to a charlatan. But at any rate, the legend is the same everywhere: that the fountain of witchcraft has dried up."

"But here on Roke—" "We Roke Island has not felt such a situation at all. It is guarded against storms, changes, and disasters of all kinds. I am afraid it is too well guarded. What is your plan now, prince?" "Once I have a solid conclusion, I can take it back to my father and let him understand the nature of this evil and how to deal with it. I will immediately set off and return to Yinglad." The archmage eyed the boy again, but this time, despite all his past training, Arren looked away.He did not understand why this was so, for there was nothing unkind in the gaze of the Archmage's dark eyes, fair and serene and compassionate. All the islanders of Enlad looked up to his father, and he was his father's son, so if anyone looked at him, it was as the Prince of Arren of Enlad, the son of the Prince in Power.No one had ever looked at him like this: simply as Arren.He didn't like to think he was intimidated by the Archmage's gaze, but he just couldn't meet it.The gaze seemed to enlarge the world around him, so that not only Enlad was reduced to insignificance, but he too.Therefore, in the eyes of the archmage, he became just a small figure, very small in the background of the archipelago surrounded by sea and shadows covering the sky. He sat and pulled at the fresh moss in the cracks in the marble.Soon, he heard his voice that had just turned low in the past two years, saying weakly and hoarsely: "I will obey your orders." "You should obey your father, not me," said the Archmage. His eyes were still fixed on Arren.At this moment, the boy raised his eyes and looked back.Because, after completing the act of obedience, one forgets one's insignificance, and can look at the archmage: this is the most prominent wizard in the whole earth and sea. The Ring of Worship built the deep breakwater on Naipe Island; he is also a sailor who is familiar with the waters from Estove Island in the east to Keledo Island in the west; he is the only dragon master left today.He, kneeling beside the fountain, is short, old, with a quiet voice, and eyes as deep as the night sky. Arren jumped up hastily, knelt down on his knees, saluted, and said a little stuttering, "Master, let me serve you." His confidence was gone, his cheeks flushed, his voice trembled. At his waist was a sword, placed in a new leather sheath with red gold inlays. The sword itself was unpretentious, and the hilt was an old silvery bronze cross hilt.He quickly drew his sword and offered it to the Archmage, as a retainer owes his allegiance to a prince. The archmage did not reach for the sword, but looked at it, and then at Arren. "That is your sword, not mine," he said, "and you are nobody's servant." "But my father said I might have to stay at Roke until I figured out what the evil was. Maybe learn some spells, for I know no arts at all. I don't think I have any power, but my ancestors Someone was a mage once. If I try to learn a little, I might be able to help you--" "Before your ancestors became mages, they were kings," said the archmage. He stood up and walked towards Arren, his steps soundless but brisk, and took the boy's hand and made him rise. "I thank you for offering to serve me. Although I have not accepted it now, I may accept it after I discuss it with all the masters. No one can lightly refuse the dedication of a generous heart; Not to be thrown away lightly!—Now, you go, the boy who brought you in just now will take care of your meals, baths, and rest. Go.” He nudged Arren’s back in the middle of his shoulder blades, revealing a feeling that no one had ever given to Arren. The intimacy shown would have disgusted the young prince if it had come from someone else, but the archmage's touch seemed to reward him, for he was already full of admiration. Arren was a lively youth, fond of games and competitions of all kinds, requiring physical and mental skill, both of which he excelled at and excelled in.All the ceremonial and commanding responsibilities were with him, even if they were not at all easy or simple.But so far, he has never completely given himself over to anyone or anything.Everything is easy for him, and he does it with ease.Therefore, everything is like a game, and he can play it vigorously.Only at this moment, he was awakened in the depths of his heart, not by games or dreams, but by honor, danger, wisdom, by a scarred face, a quiet voice, a witch holding a witch's staff awakened by the hand.The yew witch staff held by the archmage leisurely, near the place where he holds it, has a silver imprint on the black wood, which is the lost rune of the kings of all ages.There is power in such a staff, but the Archmage does not rely on it. Thus, Arren's first step to bid farewell to childhood was completed in this instant: without looking forward or looking back; without guarding against and without reservation. He forgot even the polite farewell, and walked briskly to the porch, looking homely, radiant, and submissive.Archmage Ged watched him go. Ged stood still for a moment by the fountain under the poplar tree, and looked up at the clear blue sky. "Gentle messengers bring bad news." His voice was half loud, as if speaking to a fountain.But the fountain didn't listen, and continued to speak with its silver tongue, and it was Ged who listened carefully.After a while, he walked to another doorway.Arren had not seen the doorway just now, and in fact few could see it with the naked eye, no matter how closely one looked.Ged called, "Master Gatekeeper." A small man of indeterminate age appeared.The man was not young, so it could only be said that he was old; but "old" did not suit him either, for his face was sharp and ivory, and his cheeks curved long in a pleasant smile. "What is it, Ged?" he asked. There were only the two of them at the scene, so they called each other by their real names.There are only seven people in the whole world who know the real name of the archmage, and the gatekeeper is one of them, and the other six are: the name master of Roke College; Ged's true name given to the hill of Gont; the White Lady of Gont, Tenar who brought back her armband; The last was a woman named Yarou, the wife of a cabinetmaker and the mother of two daughters, who was ignorant of witchcraft but very good at things other than witchcraft; Dragons, Aum Ambar and Kailasin. "We are going to gather tonight," said the Archmage. "I will inform Master Xingyi, and I will also send someone to invite Kirika Merrick. Let's meet up and let the apprentice rest for one night. Can you go and inform other masters?" "Okay." When the gatekeeper said with a smile, he had disappeared.The Archmage then disappeared as well.Only the fountain is left talking to itself in the sunshine of early spring, calm and steady without stopping. Somewhere to the west - or somewhere to the south - of the Grand Hall at Roke College, there's always a Forest of Hearts to be seen.Xin Chenglin couldn't find it on the map, and there was no way to reach it.Only those who know where the path is can go.However, the average cadet at the college, or the islander, or the farmer, can see that it is not far away.It is a forest with towering trees, and even in spring, the green leaves have a touch of gold.And those trainees, islanders and farmers all thought that the mysterious forest would move inconceivably.In fact, that view is wrong, the wood does not move at all, because its root is the root of "existence".What moves is everything other than the root. Ged crossed the moor on foot from the Great Hall.In the scorching midday sun, he took off his white cloak.A farmer who was plowing at the foot of a brown hill raised his hand in salute, and Ged returned the same.Many little birds took to the sky, chirping: the starweeds were budding in the fallow fields and roadsides.An eagle high up in the sky drew a great arc in the sky. Ged looked up and raised his hand again. The eagle flew straight at Ged's outstretched wrist like lightning, and clasped it tightly with its yellow claws.It was not a sparrowhawk but a great falcon of Roke, striped white and tan, good at hunting fish.It first looked sideways at the archmage with one round golden eye, touched its two beaks, and then looked directly at the archmage with two round golden eyes at the same time. "Fearless," the man said to the eagle in the "language of creation," "fearless." The big eagle clapped its claws and flapped its wings, staring at him. "Then, fearless brother, you go." In the distance, under the blue sky, the farmer at the foot of the mountain had long since stopped farming to concentrate on watching this scene.Last autumn, he also saw a wild bird resting on the Archmage's wrist, but in a blink of an eye, the Archmage was gone, and he watched two eagles whirl high into the sky in the wind. This time the farmer watched them part: the eagle flew back high in the sky, the man walked across the field of mud. He walked up the path leading to the forest of hearts.No matter how the times and the world distort and change around it, this path will always go straight, as long as you follow the path straight, you will soon be in the shade. The trunks of some trees are extremely thick. Anyone who sees such trunks will believe that Xin Chenglin will never move, because they are like ancient giant towers.Some of the oldest trees have thin leaves and branches, which shows that they are not immortal.However, among these towering giant trees, there are also some young trees: some are tall and powerful, with green leaves surrounded by crowns; some are thin seedlings, just with some leaves, as tall as a girl. The soft ground under the trees is covered with fallen leaves and ferns or small woodland plants.But the giant trees here all belong to the same species, and there is no name for this kind of tree in Dihehe language.The air under the branches smelled earthy but fresh, and tasted like running spring water. Somewhere in the woods Ged met with the Master of Shape and Meaning.This meeting place was created many years ago using a giant tree that fell.Master Xingyi lived in Xincheng Forest for many years, and rarely or never stepped out of the forest.His hair was creamy yellow, so he wasn't from the Archipelago.Since the discovery of the Ring of Eriabah, the barbarians of the Karg Empire stopped raiding the islands and began to trade peacefully with the inner ring islands.The people of the Karg Empire are arrogant by nature and not a friendly group, but occasionally there will be young warriors or sons of merchants who come to the west alone to learn witchcraft based on their love of adventure or good sex.Master Xingyi came like this ten years ago.When he came from Carigol Island, he was a barbarian "with a sword and red feather decoration". When he arrived at Roke College, it was a rainy morning. Learn art!" At this moment, he is standing under the tree in the golden and emerald interlaced light, with a stalwart figure, light-colored long hair, white face and green eyes, he is Dihai's Xingyi master. He might have known Ged's real name too, but had not said it.The two greeted each other silently. "What are you looking at there?" the Archmage asked.Another replied: "Spider." On the forest floor, between two tall leaves, a spider is weaving a web. An exquisite circle has been formed. The silver-gray web threads catch the sunlight. The spider is waiting in the center of the circle. It is just a small gray-black thing the size of a pupil. . "She's a graphic artist, too," said Ged, studying the delicate web. "What is evil?" asked the younger man. The circular spider web with the black center seems to be staring at the two together. "The webs we humans weave," answered Ged. There are no birds chirping in the woods, everything is still and hot in the midday sun, surrounded by trees and shade. "Both Navidun Island and Enlad Island have brought news, and the content is the same." "South and southwest. North and northeast." Master Xingyi said, his eyes never leaving the round spider web. "We are going to gather here tonight, this is the best place to discuss." "I don't have any advice to offer." Master Xingyi looked at Ged now, his green eyes calm. "There's fear in the roots here," he said. "It's fear, and I'm worried." "That's right," said Ged, "so I think we must go down to the roots. We have been basking in the sun for too long in the peace of the restored armband. All that has been accomplished in the meantime, Little things; what we seek is emptiness. Tonight we must search for deep sources." Ged left after speaking, leaving Master Xingyi to stare at the spider in the sunny green grass alone. Grid got the heart into the edge of the forest.The leaves of the giant trees here are stretched out, and the pavilions are like a cover, which is extraordinary.He sat down with his back leaning on a strong old tree root, with the witch stick horizontally on his knees, his eyes closed, and he seemed to be resting, but in fact he secretly sent a secret message from his heart.The message went northward through the hills and fields of Roke, to the headland where the waves lapped the shore, where the Tower of Lonely lay. "Korika Merrico," he called in telepathic messages.The name master who was called was originally reciting the names of roots, herbs, leaves, seeds, petals, etc. to his apprentices. Halfway through, he looked up from the thick name book and responded: "Master, I am here." After speaking, he listened carefully.Under the dark hood, only a tall and thin old man with white hair can be seen.The apprentices at the desk in the tower room looked up at him and looked at each other. "When the time comes, I will come." Kerrika Merrick said, looking down at the book again, and said, "Now. The petals of wild garlic have a name called 'Ibera'; the sepals also have a name called "Patona"; the stalk, the leaf, the root, each with its own name..." The names of the various parts of wild garlic are known to the great mage Ged sitting under the tree.He put away the secret messages, stretched his legs, and kept his eyes closed.Soon, he fell asleep in the sunlight with heavy leaf shadows.