Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 183 - 39 Broken Skull Hills_1

Chapter 183: Chapter 39 Broken Skull Hills_1

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Leaving the camping site, we followed the forest along the edge of the gorge, bypassing the Death Fog Sea. It didn’t take more than half an hour, with the lights from the Flashing Vines as guidance, to enter the vicinity of the Broken Skull Hills.

As the name suggests, this area is hilly with an approximately 300 square kilometers of land. The hills are dotting the landscape, rising high and low, with a rich covering of vegetation all around. The ground does not have thick layers of fallen leaves like before. However, due to the complex terrain and the sheer number of dense vines, advancing is quite challenging.

More than 2000 varieties of animals and insects live within the Broken Skull Hills region, altogether forming a self-sufficient and complicated ecosystem. At the top of this ecological structure sits a species known as the Mountain Apes. They possess rudimentary intelligence, yet not enough to be considered sentient beings. Hence, they still fall under the category of magical beasts. These apes are strong with low magic resistance. They wield simple weapons, essentially gigantic tree trunks turned rudimentary clubs, swinging these several hundred kilograms of timber in battle. Their favorite battle tactic is to crush enemies’ skulls, hence the naming of the Broken Skull Hills.

The Mountain Apes usually stay in the trees of Broken Skull Hills, hiding in shallow caves within the hills during harsh weather. Their population is estimated to be around a thousand, strength varies but overall, they fall above the Bronze Rank. About half of them are Silver Rank magical beasts, with about thirty of the Gold Rank. The leader of the group, the ape king, possesses upper Gold Rank strength and can even use primitive Aggression. These characteristics make them one of the most unique and strongest races among the social magical beasts in the Shining Forest.

The Mountain Apes are omnivores, foraging for plants and hunting simultaneously. They are not highly aggressive. Even if encountered them while passing through the hills, unless they are hunting or starving, it’s likely that one would not be attacked.

Upon entering the territory of the Broken Skull Hills, our group of ten changes our traveling style. Dora and Catherine take turns leading, using their Gold Rank knight physical prowess to clear the vines and open up the path. The guide Elrad follows the lead, continually pointing out the direction to prevent getting lost while avoiding unnecessary trouble. The Night Owl serves as the lookout, following from the treetops with his abundant wilderness survival experience, looking out over the surroundings and keeping the team alert. Kulan, a Mountain Rat, is best suited for this environment. His agility here is no different from on flat terrain, hence he is responsible for darting around the team to provide support. The Shadow Wolf hides in Catherine or Dora’s shadows, always ready to confront any enemy. Shadow Wolf initially intended to follow the team while hidden within the shadows of vegetation at the sides. However, Pannis stopped this. According to Pannis, many forest magical beasts have higher detection abilities than human professionals. The stealth skill of a thief can fool professionals but not magical beasts, making the thief vulnerable to isolated attacks from magical beasts. The three spellcasters, Illusion Fox, Vivian, and Lina are in the middle of the team, only needing to maintain their physical states. They do not need to take on any tasks. The task of trailing behind falls on Pannis. His job is to ensure that no one falls behind or strays off course, and that no magical beasts attack the team from behind.

"Swoosh swoosh," a sound of tumbling stones rang out from the front of the team.

"Senior sister, be careful." A concerned voice from Dora followed.

In the front of the team, Catherine held a machete in one hand and gripped some lateral branches on her side with the other. She hacked away at the obstructing vines and branches while climbing up the steep incline. The soil on the incline was very loose, a slight misstep and one could slip down. Catherine had just broken the loose soil with her foot and almost fell, but managed to stabilize her body with the branch she held onto.

"I’m alright." Catherine climbed a few steps upward before regaining her footing and saying, "This stretch is really tough. It feels like we’ve been here for so long, but how far did we actually move?"

"A professional unfamiliar with the forest here could walk the whole day and only cover seven or eight kilometers at most." Pannis’s voice floated up from the back of the team, "Even the most skilled hunters won’t walk more than around fifteen kilometers in a day. Elrad, is that about right for you too?"

"That’s about the fastest I can go. If I were stronger, maybe a little faster," Elrad replied, panting slightly, "But our pace now is acceptable. Unless we absolutely have to, I wouldn’t go any faster than ten kilometers in a day."

"Senior sister, rest a bit." Dora passed Catherine, "It’s my turn to clear the path."

The one who walks at the front and clears the path is the most exhausted in the entire team, both physically and mentally. The physical burden is apparent since this individual has to create a way for the whole team to pass through and to be prepared for possible attacks from various magical beasts at any time. As for the mental burden, the one leading the team faces the unknown with every step—terrain, plants, magical beasts, incidents, and everything else is unclear, requiring investigation step by step. The rest only need to follow, and the mental pressure resulting from this difference is not to be underestimated.

The most significant danger points don’t come from the terrain or the magical beasts but the act of clearing the path itself. Many plants are passively aggressive, covered in fur and thorns which often carry severe toxins. Many insect and snake-like magical beasts have great camouflage skills. While clearing the path, one could inadvertently step into their traps. Just half an hour ago, Catherine reached out for what looked like a sturdy branch while climbing up an incline, but it turned out to be a grey-brown venomous snake. If she hadn’t reacted so sharply and thrown the snake away in time, she would have been bitten, and we would have had to spare a lot of time to cure the poison.

The small team pushed on through the hilly terrain in difficult conditions, guided alternately by the two female knights. Their purpose was to cross the Broken Skull Hills and reach the bank of the Naramia River. This meandering journey covered roughly thirty kilometers, a distance that was estimated to take about five days of grueling hill walking, somewhat a painful ordeal for the group.

"Phew, finally made it to the top." Dora collapsed on a rock at the summit, too exhausted to move a muscle. She sat there panting heavily. The hill’s peak was a stony clearing, a space only about a hundred square meters, devoid of any vegetation. Looking up, one could see the pre-dawn night sky. Although there were no Flashing Vines here, the sparse jungle surrounding the clearing was adequately lit by the luminescence of the vines. The ambiance felt like sitting in an open-air room filled with brilliant light, a distinct delight.

"Dawn is breaking." The entire team moved into the stony clearing. Pannis looked up at the pitch-black night sky, "In about fifteen minutes, the forest lights will go out. Considering our journey so far, we’re more than halfway there. Let’s eat some food to regain strength, rest for an hour and fifteen minutes, and then set off again when visibility in the forest improves."

"Halfway already?" Vivian, sitting on the rock, was rubbing her temples with a somewhat strained expression, but forced a smile when she noticed Pannis looking her way, "How much longer do we have to walk? We’re not going to trek all day again, are we?"

"Of course not." Pannis inwardly sighed but didn’t let it show, "We’ll set off at seven sharp in the morning, walk for six hours, and should reach the next peak by then. We’ll set up camp on the next clearing."

"You seem to be much more familiar with this place than the previous locations in the Misty Forest, have you been here before?" queried Catherine.

"Yes." Pannis didn’t hide anything, "I’ve been here a few times many years ago and passed through here, so I’ve become quite familiar with these parts."

"You also seem to know a lot about the plants here." Lina voiced her curiosity, "Without your warning, Dora would have been hurt by that plant. Who would have thought that it only reveals its thorns when grasped, and they can even pierce through the gaps in chain mail."

"What can I do? I am quite familiar with most of the plants on the Yarran Continent." Pannis shrugged, "When I was a kid, I thought of becoming a botany scholar."

Although Pannis spoke with a smile, a touch of bitterness could be seen in his eyes as if he was reminded of some unpleasant memory. Indeed those childhood memories weren’t pleasant, but without them, he wouldn’t have such extensive knowledge about various plants. It’s always a tough choice.

Seeing everyone starting to devour the food prepared during their previous encampment, Pannis climbed up a tree on the edge of the clearing and quickly disappeared from sight. The mercenaries were now acutely aware of Pannis’ survival skills so weren’t surprised by his disappearance. After not long, Pannis slowly climbed back to the clearing, where he reached into his bag and pulled out some thumb-sized wild fruits, tossing two each to everyone.

"What’s this?" Dora sniffed at the light purple fruit, "Doesn’t seem to have any smell."

"This fruit is called ’Water Source’." Pannis pointed over to Elrad, who was enthusiastically eating the fruit, "consume two, and your dry mouth will feel less parched for about four or five hours. Although it can’t replace drinking water, it can help soothe your throat after an intense physical activity."

"It’s impressive that you could find so many." Elrad praised, "This fruit grows at the very top of several meter high trees and is not produced in high quantities. I rarely have energy to look for such things when I’m in the forest, and you managed to find over twenty, that’s really impressive."

"Chirp, Chirp." The Night Owl, who was eating and keeping watch on a tree, suddenly issued a warning sound. Everyone turned alert as it swiftly descended from the tree, "Alert, Mountain Apes."