Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1066 - 181 Rhinoceros Sparrow

Chapter 1066: Chapter 181 Rhinoceros Sparrow

The forest rhinoceros is a distant relative of armored bulls and is a very powerful magical beast. Most of these magical beasts live in the Forest of Death, and there are only a very small number of forest rhinoceroses in the outside world. Moreover, most that do live outside reside deep within jungles that don’t have forest characteristics, so very few people have actually seen them.

"Forest rhinoceroses, when they’re born, are relatively fragile and about as strong as average large wild animals," Pannis said as he cut a few obstructing vines with his sword and introduced the creatures to the girls. "This state lasts for about five years, and after five years, when their size grows to a certain point, their strength and physical condition start to increase at an extremely fast rate. This process probably also lasts for five years, until their developmental period ends at the age of ten. During these five years, they go through the process from the lowest Iron Rank all the way to Legendary Rank."

"Does that mean every forest rhinoceros is of Legendary Rank?" Catherine followed Pannis up a break in the path, turned back to offer her hand to Vivian, pulling her up, and wiped her nearly streaming sweat with her black robe that she had put back on. "Um, or should I say, at least of Legendary Rank?"

"Be careful." Pannis reached out to stop Catherine’s impending step. He rushed forward and kicked a fruit that was buried under a layer of fallen leaves and showing just a bit of its surface, which was right where the girl was about to step. This kind of hidden fruit was common along the way, and everyone had grown used to these innocuous and seemingly harmless objects under their feet. But this fruit was different. As it was kicked away, it suddenly exploded, and a long, cone-shaped thing, resembling a seed, shot out from inside at an alarming speed. Before the exploding sound had ended, it had already traveled tens of meters and hit a thick tree, creating a fist-sized round hole that was fifty to sixty centimeters deep, inside of which wisps of smoke rose due to the high temperature, leaving a burnt smell coming from the tree hole.

"Hiss, what’s this thing?" The sudden event surprised not only the girls but also drew the attention of most of the demigods. Alcmene, clenching her Throwing Spear, couldn’t help but tighten her grip, puzzled, she asked, "How come I’ve never seen such strange fruit?"

"It’s nothing, just an extremely rare semi-plant life form. It hibernates in the fruits of plants or at the roots of flowers. Once the fruit is damaged or the flowers separate from the branches, something like what just happened will occur. If this happens naturally, they will also seek other targets after their hosting body is damaged. It would be quite troublesome if they hit you, not only would the wound be serious, but they would also burrow into your body, consuming flesh from the inside. To dig them out again would mean enduring quite a bit of pain. However, they have a distinct smell, and by following it, you can find them," Pannis shrugged, treating what he’d done as a trivial matter and changing the subject as he spoke to Catherine: "You were right just now; each forest rhinoceros is at least of Legendary Rank, and more than half of them are even Demigod Rank magical beasts."

"Such a powerful herd animal?" The strength of the forest rhinoceroses somewhat exceeded the girls’ imagination. Lina couldn’t help but pull out the Magical Beast Handbook and flip to the page about forest rhinoceroses to have another look. The handbook never mentioned that most adult forest rhinoceroses were of Demigod Rank. The priestess girl clicked her tongue, "With such terrifying power, aren’t we in great danger? It would be even more terrifying than facing the mouse swarm earlier if we’re discovered by the forest rhinoceroses."

"On the contrary, if we’re just passing through, the territory of the forest rhinoceroses is actually the safest," Flare shook her head and said, "They are one of the few herbivores that can reach Demigod Rank. Unlike their distant relatives, the armored bulls, forest rhinoceroses are very gentle by nature. Apart from defending against invaders with ill intentions, they rarely attack other magical beasts. In this respect, they might be considered the kindest group of Demigod magical beasts in the Forest of Death."

"Eh?" Lina asked out of curiosity, "Then why were those Arrow Mice so afraid to enter the territory of the forest rhinoceroses?"

"Because they are neighbors," Flare said with a smile. "These creatures are very vigilant toward the masters of adjacent territories, hence once the mice enter, the forest rhinoceroses will quickly come to confront them. They are very sensitive to information about their territory. Don’t think that we are well hidden now; we have actually been discovered long ago."

"Because of the Thorn Birds?" Lina looked at the picture in the handbook and said, "The materials say the Thorn Birds live alongside the forest rhinoceroses and undoubtedly act as the forest rhinoceroses’ early warning signals."

"Yes, those are the Thorn Birds." Pannis signaled Flare, and Her Majesty nodded before walking forward to the edge of a dense bush blocking their way. The bush seemed to come alive, bending aside from its roots to reveal a narrow path through which they could pass. Taking this opportunity, Pannis said, "But Lina, you don’t need to keep looking at the handbook now. Look up, there you have the real thing."

"Ah?" Curiously, Lina raised her head to look into the trees. In the lowest layer of the canopy, several birds with black feathers covering their bodies, only their tails adorned with several white plumes, and their long, curved beaks made them look quite beautiful. The black Thorn Birds were observing the passing people with shiny eyes, and upon noticing Lina looking up at them, they showed no intent to fly away, nor did they seem panicked. Instead, they made a series of cawing sounds, as if greeting the girls.

"Alright, let’s quickly pass through," Flare clapped her hands, having finished her task, "The kids are uncomfortable like this. I need to let them return to their original state as soon as possible. Oh, and be careful when passing. Try not to touch the ’children’ on either side because there are some bloodloss vines mixed in with them. If you aren’t careful, you might get cut."

Bloodloss vines are a type of vine that likes to grow with bushes. Their most significant feature is the growth of a large number of spikes, like thorns, that can easily cut through thick robes and skin. They secrete a substance at their tips, making skin cuts painless, and wounds difficult to heal. If a cut is deep, it can even cause the victim to lose too much blood and die.

"So having an elf in the team is a blessing for a forest adventure," Conaida said with a relieved expression, cradling his beard, "Not only can they clear the path, but they can also eliminate most of the hazards from plants. More importantly, sometimes they can even use the plants to deal with some threats from magical beasts. Your Majesty, next time I come to the Forest of Death, I hope you’ll accompany me again."

"I’m sorry to disappoint you," Flare said with a covered smile and a shake of her head, "You should look for Muir. He led teams into the outskirts of the Forest of Death when he was at Legendary Rank, far more experienced than I am."

"That’s an idea." Conaida slapped his forehead as if he had realized something, his smile turning a bit ambiguous, and he nodded, "Then I’ll go find him. I guess you won’t be available anyway. But that guy is quite lazy, sometimes preferring to stay at home and sing for days rather than getting out and about."

"If you two keep wasting time, we won’t catch up," Pannis interrupted their suggestive conversation with a cough. Everyone else in the team had already passed through the trail in the thicket, leaving only Flare and Conaida behind, "And weren’t you concerned about the shrubs being bothersome?"

"Hee." Flare giggled to herself, hurrying to catch up with Conaida, with the girls quickly checking their clothes to make sure no one was scratched, finally at ease. Looking up, they saw that the forest sparrows had also followed and were still cawing as they swung back and forth on the branches.

"Are they monitoring us?" Lina exclaimed in surprise, "I didn’t expect them to be so clever."

"These forest sparrows are the eyes through which the forest rhinoceros control their territory," Pannis explained, "Be very careful when we encounter a forest rhinoceros. Do not assume a battle stance in front of them. They are very sensitive to battle postures and it can lead to unnecessary trouble."

As the conversation about forest rhinoceros unfolded, the team ventured deeper into their territory, and the environment returned to its original state—hot, humid, dim, and oppressive. It seemed the impact of the insect outbreak had passed, and the buzzing of insects was audible once again, albeit far less than before. Along the way, they saw numerous large trees broken off at the base lying on the ground, with the marks indicating these were forcibly broken with sheer force. However, not many broken stumps could be found, and the few that were, had been overturned by new trees pushing their way out of the soil.

"These trees... did the forest rhinoceros break them?" Vivian asked while jotting down notes, "Why would they bump into trees for no reason? Is there some special need?"

"No, with their strength, running into a tree is no different from breaking a blade of grass," Pannis clarified, "They are also quite large in size, so it’s normal for them to run into or be squeezed against a tree while moving."

"So that triggered the forest’s retaliation?" Vivian pursued, "Only the forest’s retaliation could have caused so many new trees to uplift the old, dead roots, right? And it’s only the forest’s retaliation that could make little difference in size between the old and new trees."

"Yes, forest retaliations often occur within the territory of the forest rhinoceros," Pannis nodded, "Their destructive nature is too great. When groups of forest rhinoceros run or when they erupt in battle, almost certainly they provoke a retaliation from the forest."

"Have you noticed something strange?" Catherine couldn’t help asking as her curiosity mounted, "Since entering the forest rhinoceros territory, we haven’t seen any large animals at all. Could they have been driven away by the forest rhinoceros? Weren’t they said to be very gentle?"

"There’s a reason for that," Pannis said, "It’s... uh, look, there’s a forest rhinoceros."