Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1022 - 137: Storm Brewing

Chapter 1022: Chapter 137: Storm Brewing

"Hurry up, hurry up," Pannis urged anxiously. In the dense forest, where the team was located, the weather was still good. The environment might be dim, but through the layers of branches and leaves, the sunshine above the forest was still radiant, and there was not a single cloud to be seen in the sky. However, the small animals in the forest seemed to sense some threat; most had quickly hidden in their burrows, and some unknown small creatures were moving from the ground to higher tree branches as if to relocate their homes. Even the bird calls that hadn’t ceased for a moment seemed to vanish all at once, making the forest eerily silent.

The girls noticed that it wasn’t only Pannis who was urgently pushing them forward. The Kings’ Court guards hidden in the shadows also hastened their pace. The guards had been moving in step with them so that the girls wouldn’t feel the pressure of the movement. But after a certain moment, the girls realized they had to give their all to keep up with the elves, who were even less powerful than themselves.

"Why has it suddenly become so tense?" Catherine, holding a wailing little skeleton in one arm, closely followed behind Vivian. Whenever the frail mage girl’s movements became uneven and she nearly stumbled, Catherine would support her from behind. She didn’t need to look after the other girls, as each was just barely able to keep up with the team’s pace. But Vivian was different; being a dedicated mage who had not long recovered, running at high speed in the Forest of Death, filled with obstacles, was extremely demanding—especially in the damp and hot environment. The mage girl’s breathing was as loud as a bellows. If one could see through the black cloth covering her face, it would reveal a pale, unhealthy complexion smeared with sweat, which had soaked the entire inside of the black cloth. Catherine had touched Vivian from behind several times, feeling the girl’s trembling and the dampness on her back, and asked with a pained voice, "Is rain here really that terrible?"

"It’s okay for us," Pannis replied, interestingly only urging on but not aiding Vivian, watching her struggle in the vortex of fatigue like a bystander looking on curiously, and what he did was only occasionally give some verbal encouragement: "But it’s different for you and the other elf guards. Try to move a bit faster, come on, we’re almost at the safe area. Once there, you can relax. Come on."

The girls harbored no doubt about Pannis’s behavior. Although they did not understand why he recently stopped helping them when they faced difficulties, as he had done before, they trusted Pannis wholeheartedly and believed he must have a good reason for his actions, and the ultimate goal would only be for their betterment. Therefore, even though they were already very tired, they still quickened their running pace without complaint, following the whole team in the sprint towards the target.

"You all take your time; I’m going ahead," Flare said, scooping up a handful of soil during the run, pinching it between her fingertips and frowning, "We’re running out of time. I’ll go and prepare the shelter first. Follow the others; you won’t get lost."

"Thanks for that," Pannis, seemingly unfazed by fatigue, waved his hand, "Make sure it’s big enough. We’re not just a few people like before; now, there are over a hundred people who need to rest there."

"Don’t worry about that; everyone has their own shelter," Flare said, still full of charm even as she rolled her eyes, her voice as soft and pleasant as ever, "You follow later; I’m off."

Since increasing their speed, the girls had been pushing themselves to their limits. They had always thought that advancing through such terrain at the current speed was already the limit for a demigod, ensuring that they still retained their combat effectiveness. But the moment Flare started, they realized they had underestimated demigods, especially Elf demigods, because before they could finish their sentence, Her Majesty the Queen had already disappeared from everyone’s sight.

Flare was practically not running but leaping. In the girls’ view, the graceful and lithe Queen suddenly floated up like a cloud, her delicate hand lightly touching a vine and in an instant, she was more than ten meters away, without even touching the ground. With a tip-toe on a tree trunk, her dress billowed as she vanished into the dense forest, leaving no trace. Her movements, as elegant as a dance in the woods, made the terrain that troubled the girls seem to pose no obstacle to her.

"Stop wondering, never compare yourself with an Elf in the forest, just like you would never race a Sea Race in swimming the ocean," Pannis’s voice brought the girls’ attention back. "The Elves have been climbing trees in the forest for thousands of years. To them, the forest only offers assistance and never interference. I can’t be sure about others, but I would never try to race them in the forest again; it’s definitely a humiliation, both to oneself and to the opponent. However, you can try your speed against other demigods, like that Dwarf over there who is busily making holes in the ground."

Conaida, a Dwarf in heavy armor and of substantial heft, wasn’t angry at all but laughed heartily, "Sure, I’m the slowest anyway. Even Lady Doris is faster than me, racing me for speed is just right, and you might even win, of course, that’s assuming your stamina is better than mine."

"Don’t drag me into this, I’m just running with you," Doris’s enchanting voice could ripple even a woman’s heart, especially when she feigned annoyance. "The impending downpour you worry about is only my most intimate friend, I don’t need to... Ah, there’s thunder, so noisy."

As Doris had mentioned, glimpses of the sky through the dense woodland remained clear, but from somewhere came a faint and muffled rumble of thunder. Though distant, the thunder had a penetrating force that allowed everyone to hear it distinctly, despite its low volume.

"Yep, it’s thundering, but we should make it in time at our current speed," Pannis, though of no physical help, still tried to distract the girls from their exhaustion with words. "If you climb to the tree tops now, you would see quite a spectacle, the sky is split in two. To the east... no, it should be southeast, it has already entered night, while here it’s still noon. There it is pitch black, here the sun is shining brightly, but it won’t be long before our side enters night as well. Hm, I can already hear Flare building the shelter, we should arrive in less than five minutes. Everyone, a little faster, once we get there we can rest."

Thus, five minutes later, the girls stood still together, gazing at the peculiar shelter before them.