Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 1072 - 187: Entering the Path to the Depths of the Dense Forest

Chapter 1072: Chapter 187: Entering the Path to the Depths of the Dense Forest

"Half a day’s time, leading a team of more than ten people through six territories of magical beasts in the Forest of Death, covering forty kilometers at a rapid pace, yet the entire process was as relaxing as a picnic, with hardly any battle taking place—even though it’s just the periphery of the Forest of Death. To be honest, I’ve lived for over three hundred years and among the powerful ones I’ve heard of, Kyle, I’m afraid you’re the only one who could achieve such a feat," Dwarf Conaida held up a cowhide wine bag, the alcohol flushing his nose red, but his eyes were still clear, only slightly more excited as he exclaimed loudly, "For this amazing achievement, and for the success of Kyle’s plan, let’s have a toast."

"Oh, oh, oh, cheers, cheers." The ones causing a commotion were the identical Light and Dark Twins, Maya and Tiya. Although they were already over one hundred and sixty years old, compared to the thousand-year-long life span of the Winged people, they were still just two young children who loved to join in the fun. They too lifted their cups like Conaida, their wings still excitedly flapping, pushing others to unconsciously stay more than three meters away from them. As for Dillie, who was next to them, she was the most unfortunate one, being continuously slapped by two pairs of wings with a patter-patter sound, and had to flee with her black-and-white feathers, lying down again with a contemptuous shake of her tail, too lazy to express her indignation at their antics anymore.

Although the Winged Twins seemed to be messing around as if they were drunk, in reality, neither of them had drunk any wine—in fact, aside from Conaida, no one had. Adventurers living in the wild, even those who are fond of alcohol, would restrain themselves, unless in some very special circumstances, such as being in a bitterly cold place. Otherwise, they basically wouldn’t drink alcohol because it would be irresponsible to themselves and their teammates. Of course, Dwarves are an exception, due to their unique physiological characteristics and natural dependence on alcohol. Alcohol for them is a necessary substance that must be ingested regularly to maintain optimal condition, and as long as they do not overdo it, it will not affect their reaction speed or judgment. Hence, Dwarf adventurers always carry enough spirits on their adventures, as having an adventure extending beyond the expected duration would be akin to a painful nightmare for them, at which time their strength would often drop by a third.

The raucous behavior of a few at lunchtime was not without reason. Just earlier, when everyone realized that Master Antuin was still waiting in the far rear, they quickly asked Vivian to activate the small mirror at her waist, and the stern face of Antuin once again emerged from the mirror. After confirming that Pannis’s plan had been successfully carried out and everyone had safely arrived in the territory of the Jumping Bear, Master Antuin naturally walked out of the mirror. Yes, just like when he first reunited with Pannis in the City of Knowledge, the shadow in the mirror suddenly turned into a solid form. The old Mage walked out as if he was stepping out of his own front door, coming out of a palm-sized mirror and stepping on the void, growing larger with every step until he was of his original size when he set foot on the ground. This was a special ability that Antuin had developed after pushing Illusion Magic to the extreme, where the difference between illusion and reality had lost its meaning in front of him. Not only could his illusions achieve this effect, but any reality and illusion could be reversed at will, as long as his mana could support it. Obviously, his mana might not suffice for other creatures, but at least for himself, he could easily transform between reality and illusion. As long as his illusions could reach a location, he could appear there at any time.

After everyone had gathered, they discussed and agreed that the day’s progress had been very rapid, and the final stretch had drained every ounce of strength from the girls. If they continued without resting, not only would it be risky, but with the girls’ current stamina, they wouldn’t be able to move much faster either. Instead, it was better to rest for an afternoon plus a night, so that with Lina’s healing magic, the girls could recover their full strength the next day and move normally in the forest.

This decision was unanimously accepted by everyone, including the girls who had felt guilty earlier due to time constraints. Along the way, the girls had also witnessed the terror of these magical beasts. If it weren’t for Pannis finding the gaps between the activity times of each type of magical beast, they might have had to spend a great deal of time and energy fighting the beasts every time they crossed a territory, not only being trapped in a fierce battle but also potentially suffering casualties. Thus, Pannis had already reclaimed a lot of time for everyone, and there was no need to worry about losing half a day’s time anymore.

So, after lunch, everyone decided to move the campsite a few dozen meters away from the direction of the cliff. This was to accommodate the feelings of Freya the princess—apparently, as long as she could be away from those spiders, even if it was just by a meter, it would be good.

"This is the most suitable area for camping in the forest we’ve passed through so far," Pannis took Vivian’s notebook and drew a rough sketch on it: "Because it’s located by a cliff, the ground is all hard rock, with no plants growing, so we don’t need to worry about insect-type magical beasts lurking in the bushes or under the ground to attack, and we have that group of spiders that won’t climb the cliffs guarding our back, eliminating the need to consider enemies from behind. As for the front, that’s the territory of the Jumping Bears, those Wind-attribute bears are quite strong, but their biggest trait is timidity. They hunt weaker prey ruthlessly, but once their opponent shows strength, they will retreat and no longer dare to attack. To put it simply, they are bullies who are afraid of the tough."

"So, the purpose of Master Alcmene throwing the javelin earlier was to deter the Jumping Bears?" Catherine said with a sudden realization, "In that way, the Jumping Bears wouldn’t dare attack us?"

"Exactly, hiss hiss. Just a bit of a Demigod’s aura is enough to guarantee our safety within the Jumping Bears’ territory," Alcmene said, swishing his tail, "Hiss hiss, although there are Demigods among those Jumping Bears, they still wouldn’t dare to attack other passing Demigods lightly, hiss, unless we show intentions to dispute their territory. Actually, for magical beasts, this is also normal behavior, hiss. After all, hunting is for eating, eating is for surviving, hiss hiss hiss, but fighting with powerful enemies doesn’t guarantee survival, so in fact, they are the smart magical beasts."

"No matter what, we don’t need to worry too much about safety when camping here. Adventurers who venture deep into the Forest of Death through this path often choose to rest here for three to five days before continuing further," Pannis said, "The road ahead is not easy. To reach the edge of the original roaming woods, one would need to cross at least four hundred and fifty kilometers, almost entirely through dense forest, and pass through the territories of twenty-one magical beasts. There won’t be places suitable for camping like now on this stretch, so everyone likes to have their last rest and relaxation here, then rush into the dense forest in one go. As for whether they live or die, that’s up to Lord Yarra to decide."

"In fact, you don’t need to worry. While Kyle’s description of the environment is correct, the actual situation isn’t that tough," Flare said, glancing at Pannis with dissatisfaction and comforting the young girls. "This is the route we have chosen... Kyle, draw the map, please."

Pannis shrugged and sketched a few lines in his notebook, quickly creating a surface map composed of lines on the paper, with several territories of the magical beasts being outlined. If Catherine guessed correctly, those represented different territories of the magical beasts. Flare nodded, altered the position of a few lines—likely because the magica beasts’ territories had changed to some extent in the last century. After the corrections to the details, Her Majesty then drew a winding line on the map, marking circles on each end as identifiers before explaining, "Here is our current location. Generally speaking, we will be heading northeast, but when we reach here, we need to turn due north, then veer northwest, loop around, and then head northeast again. When we get to this point, we need to go south first, take a short detour north, and then there’s this..."

"Is this about choosing less aggressive magical beast territories that are easier to handle?" Catherine looked at the map for a while and said thoughtfully, "These magical beasts are weaker?"

"Uh, it’s not that they are weaker, it’s just their relative aggressiveness isn’t that strong," Flare shook her head and said, "First of all, we avoid all social magical beasts; they are the most troublesome. Even though their individual power is relatively lower, they have an absolute advantage in numbers, which makes them hard to deal with. Solitary magical beasts are much easier to manage. In a territory of over a hundred square kilometers, there are usually only a few to a dozen Demigod magical beasts, and the distances between them are relatively far apart. We have a lot of room to maneuver, and as long as we are careful, we can pass through quite safely. If all goes as expected, the team that included your grandfather, Old Field, should have chosen this route too. They faced even worse conditions than we do now, but our combat power, after all, is much higher than theirs was at the time. Even if we are discovered by those solitary Demigod magical beasts and can’t shake them off, we could choose to confront them head-on, and I don’t think we would lose to a few Demigod magical beasts when we fight together."

"Moreover, we have the ultimate weapon," Pannis said, stretching out his leg and gently kicking the scorpion-tailed lion’s backside. The scorpion-tailed lion, now old, lay lazily by the Fire Pit, too indifferent to consider his provocation. Swishing his tail like swatting a fly, the lion shooed Pannis away. Pannis, with a curl of his lip, commented, "With Big Dog here, we already have the greatest assurance of victory."