Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1031 - 146: I’m Not Going Down

Chapter 1031: Chapter 146: I’m Not Going Down

"No, their home isn’t in the Core Area," Flare seemed to have realized something and began to pace uneasily in place, her fingers constantly fiddling with the hunting bow she had unknowingly taken into her hands. The notes she played were still beautiful, but those with a knowledge of music could hear the anxiety in them, "Even though they aren’t in the core, they aren’t far from it either. If it’s as you guessed, then the difficulties of your expedition might be greater than imagined."

Flare’s experience had led her to guess what the knightly young girl, Catherine, was thinking as soon as the question had been posed. Catherine had understood from her conversation with the Thunder Element that the latter did not always hold enmity for the Undead, but now their attitude had suddenly turned unfriendly. Such an abrupt change must have a reason, and the most likely one was that the Thunder Elements’ dwelling place had suffered an attack from the Undead. In the previous speculations of the Demigods, though a portion of the Forest of Death’s core area had been encroached upon by the Undead Land, serving as the Divine Servants’ headquarters, there should not have been a significant number of Undead there. The expedition team was expected to battle mainly against Undead Mages and ghouls resurrected by the moribund. However, if Catherine’s guess was right, the situation would have to be reevaluated. The opponents might also include a massive number of Undead, so many that they could trouble the Thunder Element tribe enough to turn them against the Undead.

"These tireless and fearless Undead are far more difficult to deal with than a large number of Undead Mages. After all, the latter are intelligent beings with a variety of weaknesses common to such creatures, but the Undead do not possess these weaknesses. Once they enter battle, unless you destroy the very last Undead, don’t expect their attacks to cease," explained Flare, who as a survivor of the ’Return of the Dead’ catastrophe, naturally understood the nature of Undead very clearly. "Moreover, although the Thunder Element was just pressured by Kyle without the ability to retaliate, don’t underestimate them. Their strength is not weak, especially when the entire tribe combines their power, which can far exceed the strength of individuals. The Undead that can trouble them are certainly not easy to handle. It’s strange, how could so many Undead appear in the depths of the forest? There isn’t a source to provide the corpses."

"Why not ask the party involved over there?" Pannis lay on a branch, swinging his legs leisurely and spoke, "You’re too concerned about this, Flare, relax a bit. The situation may not be as you imagine it to be."

"Do you think she is ’too concerned’ as you said, for whom?" As a fellow woman, Catherine understood Flare’s anxiety and concern very well and even felt a sudden kinship. She took Her Majesty’s hand, refuting Pannis on her behalf, then whispered, "Don’t worry, it’s not time to draw conclusions yet. Let’s first clarify the issue."

"Could you please come down from there, sir?" asked the tall merfolk priestess, looking up with a seductive voice, "Isn’t it tiresome to fly about in the air like that? Come down, and we can all sit together and talk at leisure."

"Nope, I’m not coming down." The allure of the merfolk, which could affect both men and women to some degree, was lost on Elemental Creatures who could not be considered normal beings; thus, Doris’s charm had no effect on the Thunder Element, who rejected the gentle request that no one could bear to refuse, without hesitation. He kept darting about in the sky, crackling as he said, "I think it’s quite nice up here, safe enough. I really don’t want to come down."

"Please come down, Mr. Thunder Element," Catherine couldn’t help but smile at the Thunder Element’s frightened reaction, and the anger caused by the unprovoked attack had dissipated with his childish demeanor. She turned to pick up two little Undead and whispered words of comfort to stop their wailing before addressing the Thunder Element, "Don’t fly around up there any longer; the whole thing is probably just a misunderstanding. Once it’s cleared up, there’ll be no more problems, and no one will attack you again. Rest assured."

The rapidly shuttling Thunder Element paused in mid-air, significantly slowing its speed, yet still refusing to come down. Flare finally regained her usual gentleness and beckoned to the Thunder Element, "No one is attacking you any longer; I guarantee it. Isn’t that right, Kyle?"

*Huff*, *huff*," Pannis lay on the branch, emitting snores that were obviously feigned, radiating a ’don’t bother me’ attitude. However, he didn’t deny Flare’s assurance. Seeing this, the Thunder Element tentatively lowered its altitude and gently landed on the ground, but it still stubbornly maintained a linear lightning form, resolutely refusing to transform into human shape.

"Did you encounter the Undead near your home?" Catherine soothed the little Undead for a while, making them no longer afraid before putting them back on the ground. She stealthily pointed towards Pannis, and immediately, the two little ones let out a cheer and rushed towards him. As for the miserable events that would follow, Catherine turned her back, unable to bear the sight, and distracted herself by talking to the Thunder Element, "Could you explain the situation, and where exactly is your homeland?"

"Home is home," the Thunder Element flickered as it spoke, "A place with lots and lots of food."

"They live in a swamp I call the Muddy Land. It’s the place in the entire Forest of Death with the highest density of thunderstorms," Flare supplemented for the Thunder Element, who couldn’t clearly explain some things, "It’s not the core of the Forest of Death, but it’s quite close, and it’s near the range covered by the Temple of Danacus. It should now be affected by the restricted area for the living. I’ve tried to venture into the Core Area with friends from my tribe before. The farthest we got was there. We just wanted to circle around the Muddy Land and return, but we didn’t expect to encounter such a group of Elemental Creatures."

"So, that means the geography aligns," Catherine nodded and asked, "Mr. Thunder Element, did you encounter the Undead in your homeland? You wouldn’t despise the Undead so much otherwise."

"The Undead are all bad things. They should be eliminated," the Thunder Element finally transformed into a human form, first casting a vigilant look toward Little Deer and Annie, who were happily trying to climb the tree and pulling on Pannis’s arm to drag him down. Of course, this also included Pannis, who was perched at the highest point of the whitevine tree, striving to free himself from the Ghosts’ entanglement. He couldn’t help but mutter, and ultimately, humanized, he nodded, "Yes, there were Undead in our home. Very troublesome, very powerful, always harassing us, causing us much pain. Not even lightning could cheer us up, and in the end, we had no choice but to migrate. Now we are searching everywhere for a new home."

"Were there many of these Undead?" Catherine pressed on, "They must be quite formidable to trouble you."

"Many, there were five, no, six," the Thunder Element counted for a while before confirming the number of Undead, "Exactly six of them."