Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1058 - 173: Pannis’s Prey

Chapter 1058: Chapter 173: Pannis’s Prey

A small hand mirror reflected Antuin’s full figure, a sophisticated technique for communication among mages, accomplished by two mages casting spells on two mirrors and then each carrying one. Provided the distance between them did not exceed fifty kilometers, they could communicate through the mirrors anytime within twenty-two hours, unrestricted by distance. However, this method of transmission was prone to interference from various energy fields and had a short effective time, making it rarely used on important occasions and mostly during short-distance individual tasks.

The hand mirror not only showed Antuin’s emaciated figure but also the environment behind him, revealing through the mirror that the great mage Antuin had stayed at the abandoned camp and had not moved with everyone else.

In fact, more than a day had passed since the night of the insect storm. After the insect storm that evening, the camp was filled with various insects, most of which had died, but some with more resilient vitality were still struggling in their death throes. The team couldn’t rest under such circumstances, as nobody knew if these barely alive insects could revive. If any venomous insects regained their vitality, it would pose a direct threat to all members inside the team’s defensive array. Thus, the site had to be cleaned immediately, even if it meant going without sleep all night, unless the team decided to abandon the camp and continue the journey, which even the most foolish adventurer wouldn’t dare to do in the darkness of the Forest of Death.

However, cleaning the camp posed a significant problem. Although adventurers could manage without rest for a night elsewhere, it was different in the Forest of Death. Here, any moment of inattentiveness could lead to irreparable severe consequences. If they didn’t get enough rest at night, it would be difficult to attain an optimal mental state during the day.

After a brief discussion, the expedition team finally decided to rest an extra day in the camp after clearing it to regain their full strength before setting off. However, Pannis’s speculation about the changes in the leylines’ energy gnawed at everyone like a needle. Leyline energy was not very stable and frequently underwent minor fluctuations, which usually didn’t have a significant impact. Occasionally, major shifts occurred, directly affecting the surface, leading to natural phenomena like earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions, all induced by changes in leylines’ energy.

The size of the insect storm experienced by the expedition team at night was abnormally vast. In thousands of years of history, there had been only a few instances of such large-scale insect storms. If the insect storm was genuinely triggered by a change in the leylines’ energy, then that shift could not be minor and must cover a vast area. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have affected so many insects. Yet, such a large impact theoretically should have triggered tell-tale signs of upheaval on the land, but the Forest of Death remained as calm as ever, with no anomalies found.

The absence of anomalies was an anomaly in itself. The only possibility Pannis could think of that could cause a significant shift in leylines’ energy without tangible effects was human intervention. Only deliberate extraction of leylines’ energy could intentionally maintain its balance, causing only chaotic flows of energy while the intensity didn’t affect the surface. In the Yarran World, the goblins of the Silver Age had done this, the various races of the Bronze Age, and in the Iron Age, people still did. Most of the mages’ Magic Towers and Floating Cities actually used this technique to extract leylines’ energy for power.

This implied that someone might be extracting a large amount of leylines’ energy inside the Forest of Death, causing the massive insect storm, and the members of the expedition team all had a common suspect in mind.

Everyone knew that for the Yarran World, the Divine Servants’ plans were perilous and must be stopped. By deducing from the insect storm, they probably were collecting vast amounts of energy, indicating that their plans had advanced to a new phase. As for how long it was until the completion of their plans, whether or not it was as Philarx said, continuing until July, nobody could be sure. Everyone only knew that disrupting their plans even a day sooner would enhance the safety of the Yarran World, thus for the expedition team, every day was precious, and any delay could lead to the failure of the expedition.

Therefore, even though they decided to rest for a day, everyone’s feelings were still conflicted, especially the young girls. They were constantly wrapped with a vague sense of guilt in their hearts, yet they felt helpless about it.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, Pannis merely mentioned he wanted to take a walk and then disappeared from the camp, gone for the entire day. The girls couldn’t help feeling anxious, knowing that he wouldn’t truly die, but still worried he might have invited trouble upon himself, feeling very uneasy. However, looking at the demigods around them, they seemed to take it for granted that he should disappear at this time, which made the girls hide their concerns intentionally, not wanting their enemies to perceive their worry about Pannis, as it could easily be misconstrued as distrust in his strength and actions.

As evening approached, Pannis finally returned, dragging a Jumping Bear. Despite its name being similar to an ordinary bear and having an equally fierce attack power, the Jumping Bear is much smaller, weighing only about two or three hundred kilograms. Mostly, they pursue their prey by jumping, which makes their hind limbs extremely well-developed. It is said that their flesh is tough yet uniquely tender and tastes excellent. Seeing Pannis return with a bear after disappearing for a whole day, even though the girls knew his purpose wouldn’t have been just seeking dinner, they couldn’t help but feel a mix of amusement and exasperation.

However, they soon noticed that the expressions of the others around were somewhat odd; everyone was looking at the Jumping Bear with a strange glance, surprised yet with a hint of "I knew this would happen." It wasn’t until Pannis, sweating profusely, dragged the Jumping Bear into the camp that Flare smiled and nodded, "I guessed you had gone to do just this, but I didn’t expect you to actually succeed."

"It could be considered a coincidence, luck was pretty good." Pannis tossed the Jumping Bear aside and grimaced at the Little Fox who jumped on the bear’s carcass, making a threatening face. After harvesting more and more of the Little Fox’s disregard, he didn’t feel embarrassed at all; he wiped the sweat from his face and shrugged, "Everyone can try tomorrow; theoretically, it should be fine."

"What exactly did you do?" Catherine seemed to understand a bit from the conversation and tentatively asked, "Did you scout ahead? And you even had a decent catch?"

"Do you guys know where the territory of the Jumping Bear is?" As Flare dragged the Jumping Bear and Little Fox out of the camp, the game brought back had to be processed immediately and certainly not inside the camp. This was a fundamental practice in wilderness adventures, no matter how strong the team is, basic rules must be followed. Meanwhile, the Lizardman hunting priest came swaying over, took over the Jumping Bear from Her Majesty, and with a flick of his tail, shooed the Little Fox aside, hissing, "Ssss, you tell them; I can handle this."

"That would be much obliged." Flare nodded elegantly, "I think you wouldn’t know where it is; from our current position as the starting point, it’s about thirty-four kilometers to reach the territory of the Jumping Bear. Along the way, we have to pass through territories of six different magical beasts, all of which are herd-living and highly aggressive, basically launching indiscriminate attacks on any intruders. Originally, if we wanted to go straight through, we needed to either confront these six groups of beasts head-on or try to sneak past without being detected. Either approach would take two to three days to cover these thirty-four kilometers."

"Actually, this speed isn’t too slow; the Forest of Death is filled with enemies everywhere," said Doris as she swayed over and bent down to pick up the Little Fox, who seemed to enjoy the moist environment of the Merfolk Priestess’s water barrier, comfortably purring and curling up in Doris’s arms with its tail. As Doris teased the little creature’s chin with her fingers, she added, "Though this is only my second time here, I remember my last experience quite clearly. Here, every hundred meters forward takes a lot of time and energy; the current situation is actually quite relaxed."

"But now, someone has traveled thirty-four kilometers there and back in one day." Flare’s gaze then shifted to Pannis, who was vying with the Little Deer over her own skull. The little skeleton seemed to have taken a liking to this sport recently, always appearing very happy after winning each tussle. Watching Pannis’s childlike behavior, Her Majesty laughed and shook her head, continuing, "And not only did he return, but he also dragged back a trophy. This means he found a gap between these six groups of beasts, a safe passage without triggering any fight."

"More importantly, this saves a lot of time, at the very least recouping the day spent resting today," Doris implied, "This way, no one needs to feel guilty any longer for wasting a day, don’t you think?"

The girls felt a warmth in their chests. Every demigod had lived through lengthy years and was very adept at adjusting their mentality. Therefore, from the beginning to the end, the only ones unable to adjust well and who felt uneasy today were just the four of them. And in the girls’ minds, if it were just the demigods, even if they spent a night clearing the camp, they could depart normally the next day. The team agreed to rest for a day out of consideration for them, so their sense of guilt was even more severe. Pannis’s actions had unconsciously dissolved everyone’s guilt, although the cost was running seventy kilometers within a day.