Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1023 - 138: Thunderstorm Rain

Chapter 1023: Chapter 138: Thunderstorm Rain

The so-called sanctuary was located in a clearing within the forest. To call it a clearing was not quite accurate, though, as it was still undeniably forest, what with the presence of squat trees—standing only about a dozen meters tall with trunks as thick as a wrist—dotting an area less than a hundred square meters. These dwarf trees were clawing at the dregs of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves of their taller kin, striving valiantly to grow. However, their growth had taken on a peculiar shape now.

Named whitevine trees, these plants possessed an uncommonly tenacious vitality and proliferated almost everywhere on the Yarran Continent, from the sweltering north to the frigid south—its presence ubiquitous. Its claim to fame was the soft yet sturdy wood, perfect for making fishing rods. Yet at this moment, it seemed repurposing them for making shelters wasn’t a bad idea either.

In this area, all the whitevine trees were strangely bent towards a central direction, eventually meeting at a single point as if someone had tethered and fixed them in place from the middle. What was bizarre was that there wasn’t actually anything in the center securing them—it seemed as though they had bent over of their own accord. Without question, such influence over plant behavior could only be attributed to the innate powers of the Elves. Gathered at a focal point, the bending whitevine trees formed a natural tent frame, with a multitude of wide, elongated leaves layered over them like scales, making the interior as airtight as could be. Looking at the surrounding dense forest, these leaves likely originated from the fourth layer of trees,

"This is the Thick-leaf Fern; I remember these very leaves were used a couple of days ago in the wind rabbit meatballs we had," Lina said breathlessly. Lowering her gaze to flip through the book in her hands, she confirmed, "It’s recorded here, ’Yarran Continent Plant Compendium’, composed by the Adventurers’ Guild. Whew, I’m worn out; not going to speak anymore."

"Indeed, this is the Thick-leaf Fern. Their leaves are broad and sturdy, ideal for constructing temporary shelters. I just asked for some," Flare said as she pushed aside the large leaves serving as the door curtain and stepped out of the shelter made of whitevine trees and Thick-leaf Ferns, smiling. "Come on in quickly and take in one of the Forest of Death’s greatest wonders."

"Is it a torrential downpour?" Among the girls,excluding Ava whose fitness was exceptional and hence showed no signs of discomfort,Catherine seemed the most composed, breathing heavily, but only slightly. "I really want to know what kind of storm has got you all anxiously seeking shelter."

"You’ll see," Flare said with a mysterious smile, "very soon. In fact, right away. If you don’t want to be drenched, you should hurry up and come in. I won’t guarantee your dryness if you’re any later."

"How is that possible?" Catherine urged the girls into the natural tent with skepticism. In the few seconds it took her to step from outside to inside the tent, the daylight suddenly shifted from noon to night—a transformation completed within mere seconds. What had been a dim environment was now pitch black. Had it not been for the campfire that had been lit earlier inside the tent, they likely would have been unable to see anything. Even with the fire’s illumination, only the space within the tent was visible; the world of the forest outside the door curtain had vanished as if it had been wiped from existence.

"This..." Catherine was about to speak when a torrent like that of a waterfall erupted from beyond the door curtain. Turning on her crystal energy light and peering out, she felt as though a bucket of water had been dumped on her head the moment she poked it outside—her hair instantly soaked through, with no sign of the dousing relenting. Left with no choice, she withdrew her head back into the tent. During that swift motion, she barely made out the scene through the sheet of water—the sky was pouring down so much rain that it couldn’t be called mere droplets or streaks. Instead, it was more accurate to say that numerous gigantic columns of water were forming, connecting the ground to the sky.

"Is this rain?" Catherine, already soaked to the waist, awkwardly dropped the tent flap, her expression strangely saying, "This kind of rain is too exaggerated, isn’t it?"

"That’s why I said, this is a specialty of the Forest of Death that you won’t see anywhere else," Flare covered her mouth and laughed for a while before softly explaining, "With rain like this, even elves wouldn’t dare to move around in the forest, or it would be no different from suicide, and demigods are no exception."

"And most importantly, the most dangerous things in this kind of weather are not the onslaught of rain and the loss of vision, these threats can be mitigated if it really comes down to it." Pannis continued after Flare’s explanation, suddenly falling into a cryptic silence for a few seconds before adding, "As for the real threat, you’ll know as soon as you lift the tent flap."

Lina, the most curious, acted before Catherine could, but as soon as she lifted the leaf-made tent flap, she was splashed head-on by rainwater from the puddles on the ground. However, the priestess girl no longer cared about her soaked clothes revealing her fine figure at this point, because in her eyes, she only saw a dazzling lightning bolt descending from the sky, twisting through the air and striking down in the forest more than a hundred meters away. After the lightning came the thunder, deafening noises followed instantly, causing the girls’ hearts to throb with an unhealthy palpitation. The appearance of this lightning bolt seemed like a signal, with more and more bright electric lights continually flashing, like serpents of light, successively striking different locations in the forest.

The priestess girl put down the tent flap with a stunned look. The natural tent must have had a Soundproofing Array added to it, because as soon as the flap dropped, all sounds of thunder and rain from outside were inaudible. The girl stared blankly at Pannis and asked in a weird tone, "What are those things outside?"

"Just ordinary lightning," Pannis deliberately said, "What else could it be?"

"You say that’s ordinary lightning? With dozens of bolts striking continuously and no tell how many more to come, you say that’s ordinary?" Lina gritted her teeth, speaking fiercely, "So can you tell me what extraordinary lightning looks like?"

"The name of this rain is ’thunderstorm rain’, and it’s extremely common in the Forest of Death," Flare deliberately waited until now to explain, "You must partly know the characteristics of thunderstorm rain, it comes incredibly fast and without warning, with rainfall that is surprisingly heavy, accompanied by lots of lightning. It’s very dangerous to move around in the forest during a thunderstorm because no one can guarantee that lightning won’t strike the tree you’re near. If struck by lightning, a demigod might survive, but almost all other levels and ranks have little chance of escaping unscathed. The good news is it lasts only a short while, generally stopping after about ten minutes, but the bad news is that thunderstorms usually happen three to five times in a few hours, so if you encounter one, prepare for a long period of rest, otherwise, you can’t completely relax even when the weather is clear."