Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1067 - 182 Forest Rhinoceros

Chapter 1067: Chapter 182 Forest Rhinoceros

The forest rhinoceros was not very tall, which was the first impression the girls had upon seeing it. However, they quickly realized that this was just an illusion; in reality, the height of a forest rhinoceros was generally between three to four meters. The reason why they didn’t seem very tall was that they were extremely robust, or rather, very wide. The thickest part of their body could even reach two meters, and their body length was also around three meters. When they stood on all fours, they were like a sturdy wall, instinctively giving off an aura of immovable strength.

These wall-like creatures were gray-green, and on their long faces, they had two thick, hard horns, one in front and one behind. Their skin was quite special, covered in several large overlapping pieces, resembling thick metal plates. There were only a few gaps where the plate-like pieces of skin met, and it was said that these gaps were actually where their defense was the strongest. This was because the gaps were covered by overlapping skin, thus offering double the defensive capability.

Their plate-like skin was very thick, with each piece almost as thick as the diameter of an adult male’s thigh, and the outer layer had already keratinized, resembling a layer of armor. If one were to simply measure defensive capability, then even their distant relatives on the plains, the sound-hating armored bulls, were as fragile as infants compared to them. It was rumored that even the largest crystal energy cannons currently available would have a hard time inflicting substantial damage on them.

"That’s true, someone tried before, hmm, that’s right, that stupid goblin." When Pannis mentioned an old friend, there was a hardly noticeable wistful expression on his face, but it soon disappeared as he confirmed, "Goblins’ curiosity sometimes is not much less than Lina’s, don’t hit me, you can’t make such big movements here, alright, alright, I won’t talk about you anymore. Anyway, goblins are also very curious, so once, one of them conducted an experiment. Of course, the result was that it was chased by an angry forest rhinoceros all the way to the edge of its territory, and thereafter, it would be attacked every time it showed up."

"How strong is their defense really?" Catherine looked up at the massive creatures dozens of meters away and said doubtfully, "The way you describe it, I actually have less of an idea now."

"Hmm, let me put it this way," Pannis thought for a moment and then said, "You know cowhide, right, of course, it’s very tough, and it takes a bit of effort to cut it with a blade, right? Now let’s press a hundred layers of cowhide together into one piece, partially keratinize it, and then continuously apply mud on the outside to form a hard shell. Without Aggression, even if you do your utmost, can you leave a scratch?"

"It would be difficult," Catherine seriously simulated the effect that Pannis described and shook her head, "There would be very few people capable of doing that."

"Yet this is just their skin’s defensive capability. Despite their name suggesting they are like the forest rhinoceros, they are actually magical beasts with earth elemental attributes. They can absorb soil to form a rocky Armor on their body surface, which is even stronger than their own skin. Throughout the entire Forest of Death, there are very few creatures that could break through their defense," Pannis explained. "You could say these are magical beasts with virtually no natural predators. If they weren’t herbivorous creatures, they might well become one of the overlords deep within the forest."

"The way has been cleared over here," Flare’s calling voice came from behind. Across the team’s path lay a deep ravine, at least two to three hundred meters deep, with a swift underground river flowing below. The ravine was flanked by steep cliffs, separated by at least fifty to sixty meters, blocking the team’s path. When Pannis passed here yesterday, he had directly used his Inherent Psychic Domain to bypass the obstacle within the domain, but as he was not alone today, he naturally couldn’t use the same method as yesterday.

Luckily, Flare was part of the team. In adventures in the forest, Flare seemed to be all-powerful; there were simply no terrain obstacles in her presence. According to Pannis’ original plan, they were to chop down a giant tree by the ravine, control the direction of its fall, and use it to form a natural Floating Bridge. However, this plan was vetoed on the spot by Flare.

Elves’ reluctance to harm plants was universally acknowledged, but as for teammates, as long as it wasn’t senseless destruction of plants like Conaida’s a few days ago, the elves wouldn’t be too upset. However, if there was another way to achieve the same purpose without harming plants, the elves would still stop their teammates from doing so, just as Flare was doing now.

Her Majesty’s other method was, of course, to use plants. Trees, flowers, and vines found everywhere in the forest were the elves’ greatest allies. By using rapidly growing vines, a temporary Floating Bridge was constructed over the ravine. Although it was a bit slower than chopping down a tree, considering the risk of wasted time from a tree breaking during its fall and failing to make a bridge, creating a bridge from vines was clearly the more reliable option.

With the ravine spanning fifty to sixty meters in width, the vines obviously couldn’t extend across by themselves. Thankfully, Alcmene was part of the team. Tying a rope to the back of a Throwing Spear, the hunting priestess threw it across the ravine, embedding it deeply into the soil on the other side, providing the vines with a suitable object to climb across. Under Flare’s control, two vines grew at a speed visible to the naked eye, reaching the other side in a few minutes and wrapping around the huge trees. A third vine twined around its peers on both sides, quickly constructing a Floating Bridge.

"Hurry up and cross, Kyle," Flare urged, "We don’t have much time left."

"How much longer do we have?" Pannis seemed not to care about such matters anymore, asking casually, "Half an hour?"

"If we include the time needed for climbing, we have at most twenty-four minutes left." Flare’s delicate and beautiful eyebrows were deeply furrowed as she pulled Pannis aside and whispered, "Kyle, unless we run as frantically as when we were chased by the Arrow Mice, it will be difficult to get there in time. You wouldn’t want to encounter them halfway up, would you? But maintaining that speed seems unlikely, the girls are already exhausted. Even if they had the strength, it would be difficult to push it out of them."

"It’s just difficult, isn’t it?" Pannis smiled mysteriously and shook his head, "Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan."

Flare was silent for a moment before her eyes widened and she said with a bitter smile, "Kyle, you... alright, I understand. You actually..."

"Hehe." Pannis shrugged, gave Flare a bright thumbs-up, and then turned back to call out to everyone, "Quickly cross the bridge, stop looking at those bulls. Along the way, we’re going to encounter a lot of Lin Rhinos, enough for you to observe to your heart’s content."

Pannis was not wrong. After crossing the bridge, the rapidly moving expedition frequently encountered wandering Lin Rhinos. Due to their thick armored skins, the Lin Rhinos seemed incapable of lifting their heads and could only leisurely graze on the grass. Many black Rhinosparrows stood on the backs of the Lin Rhinos, occasionally poking their sharp beaks between gaps in the skin to peck at hidden insects. When they noticed the expedition team, the Rhinosparrows on the backs of the Lin Rhinos would cry out loudly, rousing the Lin Rhinos indulged in tender grass shoots. Every time the expedition passed a group of Lin Rhinos, these massive creatures would raise their heads and observe the strange beings with curiosity. However, it was clear that they had no interest in the team members; once the team passed, they refocused on their fresh food.

"Am I right? They won’t easily attack other creatures." Pannis tossed a small stone at a distant Lin Rhino. The stone clearly hit the creature, but the Lin Rhino acted as if it felt nothing, not even lifting its head. Facing the startled and then furiously glaring Lina, Pannis spread his hands, lazily smiling, "Relax, it’s alright. I was just giving an example."

Although everyone maintained normal conversation, in reality, they were moving very fast. Everyone knew that time was not abundant, so, even though everyone’s clothes were soaked with sweat, even though the girls felt hot as if on fire in the humid environment, they kept moving at a speed close to running. At this pace, only Catherine and Ava could speak normally.

"But I still feel like there’s a problem," Catherine still had some hesitation; her question had not been answered: "If the Lin Rhinos are really that gentle and safe, why are there no large magical beasts here, besides them? At most, there are only small creatures like wild rabbits."

"Awoo?" The little fox sitting on Catherine’s shoulder, biting a rabbit it had caught from who knows where, just heard Catherine’s words. It cried out as if it understood, pushing the rabbit close to the knight girl’s face. The girl, caught between laughter and tears, patted the little one’s head and pushed the rabbit’s carcass to the side submissively.

"It’s because they have a particularly bad habit." Pannis suddenly stopped walking. The others, not understanding what was happening, also halted. This time, Pannis didn’t put on airs of mystery and answered directly, "They are overly nervous about their young offspring’s safety. Creatures that get too close to offspring younger than five years, which have not passed their juvenile period, are met with their unquestioning attack."

"So that’s it." The knight girl nodded thoughtfully, "Although they usually don’t initiate an attack, it’s difficult for other creatures to ensure they won’t get close to their young, so they get driven away, right?"

"Err, Pannis, I have a very serious question for you," Lina suddenly tugged at Pannis’s clothes, lowering her voice, "The offspring you are talking about, it’s that one over there, right?"

Lina pointed towards a bush where a little head peeked out, looking much like a Lin Rhino, but with a soft pink, plump appearance, very adorable. The little creature squeezed out of the bushes and walked a few steps towards the team, tripped over some grass underfoot, rolling on the ground a few times. After standing up, it looked around blankly, conveying a clueless expression that made one want to pick it up and squeeze it.

However, no one was in the mood to play with the little one because, just a few dozen meters away, five adult Lin Rhinos had shifted their attention from the grass to their surroundings. Their breathing became heavier, and their eyes started to redden, indicating they were far from pleased.