Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 202 - 57 Brutal Hunting Ground_1

Chapter 202: Chapter 57 Brutal Hunting Ground_1

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For sentient beings, the unknown is always the most terrifying. Most known things can be handled through wisdom and experience to find countermeasures or ways to avoid, but no precautions can be taken in the face of the unknown, one can only passively wait for danger to emerge.

This is the case within a radius of thirty kilometers around Dragonscar. Maybe because of the destructive power lingering underground around Dragonscar, many strange magical beasts seldom seen in the outside world gathered. They didn’t inhabit a fixed territory, had no fixed hunting time, no fixed diet and hunting targets. The whole area of Dragonscar was like a huge hunting ground. Every creature there was always preparing to hunt other beings, and of course, was also always ready to be hunted by others.

"We’ve already entered the territory of Dragonscar." Elrad carefully lay in the grass, his voice lowered, "From here, within thirty kilometers, I can only guide the way and can’t warn you of any dangers or provide precautionary measures in advance. If we continue, pray for yourselves then. Everyone could die, no matter how powerful. Take that magical beast ahead for example, it looks strong but might soon be eaten."

The unknown beast Elrad pointed at was crawling from a hiding place the group had concealed. It was a gigantic creature about seven meters long and three meters wide, somewhat similar to a crocodile, with short and stout limbs, crawling forward as its stomach clung to the ground. Judging from its sharp claws and fangs, it should be a carnivorous predator. Its back was covered with hard scales, and its robust tail swished, leisurely crawling past the concealed place with a relaxed attitude after feeding, completely oblivious to the impending danger.

Although it didn’t expect it itself, and everyone secretly watching also didn’t expect it. Not even Elrad, who had conjectured the conclusion, imagined his prophecy would be fulfilled so quickly. Just as he mentioned, that seemingly powerful unknown beast was soon dead.

Death came without warning. While it was casually crawling on the ground, its abdomen suddenly split open, and a large number of organs accompanied by gushing blood scattered on the ground due to gravity. What’s even more frightful was that it was totally unaware of all this, still crawling forward as usual until it felt something wrong with its body and cast a puzzled glance backward. It, having no high intellect, couldn’t comprehend the large pile of organs on the ground falling from its own body, nor could it understand why its sheltered organs had abruptly fallen to the ground. Therefore, it could only stare at the suddenly ejected organs and blood on the ground with a dumfounded gaze until it was finally engulfed by a sudden surge of fatigue and its eyes closed forever.

As the magical beast died, the earth covered by its organs began to stir, and a few seconds later, a bizarre beast burrowed out from underneath. The subterranean beast also seemed to belong to the lizard family with a considerable size, four meters long including its tail, a plump body numbered with dark horny layers, appearing as if it was wearing heavy armor. The animal’s head was triangular and its neck attached to two semi-transparent air sacs, containing air that enables its long-term subterranean hideouts.

"Blade Lizard." Pannis whispered softly, "This is a Blade Lizard."

"How is that possible?" Lina silently flipped through her field guide, "Aren’t they only found in the moist Lost Forest?"

"Obviously, this is an exception." Pannis clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Look at the blades on their back, a terrifying weapon."

As the name suggested, the protruding parts on the back of the Blade Lizard had undergone certain variation. The ridged part is extremely thin, as sharp as a sword blade, about ten to fifteen centimeters high and semi-transparent. It can retreat and extend at will. Usually, they would employ their digging-adapted limbs to hide in the ground. When any crawling or large snake-like magical beast passes overhead, it would eject the semi-transparent blade from its back, slicing open the prey’s abdomen from below. Because the blade is too thin and sharp, and the surface secretes an anaesthetic substance, the victims fail to perceive what’s happening until they have been completely disemboweled and can only meet their ends in confusion, becoming a hearty meal in their mouths.

"Blade Lizards are quite bothersome in the Lost Forest." Pannis divulged quietly, "Occasionally, elves would step on their un-retracted blades. At that time, unless they’re an Eternally shielded Demigod, even the Legendary Rank would succumb. Their blades are highly penetrative, even the sturdy bodies of a Legendary Rank would be injured, and the bodies of the Gold Rank or below would be worse off, likely being severed right off the instep. That’s why in the Lost Forest, the elves have developed a habit of dragging their feet when they walk."

"Pfft." Imagining elegant elves dragging their feet on the ground, Lina couldn’t help but burst into laughter, covering her mouth with her hand she asked, "Isn’t that too exaggerated, is it true?"

"Of course, it isn’t." Pannis shrugged indifferent, "Actually, the elves have methods to detect them, but no matter how many times I tried, I couldn’t get the hang of it."

Vivian’s body shivered, and the hand that was quickly noting down on the notebook halted abruptly. With a swift and deft glance, Vivian deeply stabbed her pen into Pannis’s thigh several times. Only then, under Pannis’s gloomy gaze which endured the pain and dared not cry out, did Vivian cross out the past few lines of record.

The Blade Lizard crawled out slowly, shaking off the mud on its body, crawled to its prey, sniffed its prey’s body obediently, satisfactorily licking the bloodstains on the ground. It then opened its mouth widely, bit into the prey’s belly, tore off a chunk of meat, and started chewing merrily.

"Blade Lizards have quite the appetite," Pannis touched on her knowledge, "that gigantic magical beast is barely enough for a single meal. But after it’s full, it can survive without food for a month, which makes it rather economizing. So Catherine, don’t you feel envious? If you were such a creature, you could spare...Hey, stop, the magical beast will notice us."

"If you’re afraid of being discovered, don’t seek death." Catherine said. Silently she sheathed her knight sword and crept up to Pannis. "When should we go - do we wait for it to finish eating?"

"Actually, we don’t need to wait. The Blade Lizards that appear on the surface pose almost no danger. They don’t attack on the surface unless provoked," Pannis replied. "So, we can leave now."

"Then... wait." Catherine said out of the blue, "It’s noticed something."

The Blade Lizard, which had been ravenously eating, suddenly lifted its head on high alert, scanning cautiously in all directions. It seemed unable to find a suitable route to escape, as it frantically spun in circles on the spot. Pulling itself together, it began scrabbling wildly at the ground and disappeared back underground within a few seconds. The ground quickly returned to its normal state, revealing no signs of any excavation.

The silence in the forest was restored, but not for long. Soon, a crisp crinkling noise echoed from every direction. From the woods, twenty or so creatures, roughly the size and shape of small puppies and adorned with a single horn on their head, began to emerge.

The lead creature sniffed the air, let out a low growl, and immediately others came bounding from the woods. They ran to the place where the Blade Lizard had been hiding, but soon discovered it was empty. Consequently, they switched their focus to the Blade Lizard’s current location.

The lead creature walked up to the spot where the Blade Lizard was now hiding underneath the ground. After pawing at the ground, it let out a howl. The other creatures shook themselves uniformly, scattering across and surrounding the spot where the Blade Lizard was hidden.

"Look at the ground." Pannis said, surprised. "Look carefully, it’s very small."

Upon closer inspection, minute insects that were almost invisible to the naked eye began crawling from the tiny creatures. The bugs quickly made their way to the Blade Lizard’s location. Mysteriously, these creatures effortlessly burrowed under the thick soil, disappearing just underneath from the surface.

Soon, the sharp, distressed scream of the Blade Lizard echoed from below. Writhing in pain, the lizard burst through the surface of the soil. Unable to run away, it rolled frantically on the ground and rubbed itself against the soil’s rough texture, perhaps trying to suppress the intense itching sensation. However, its thick hide prevented any relief, regardless of how hard it tried to soothe itself.

The smaller creatures encircling the spot let out cries of thrill. One of them leaped onto the lizard’s head, spewing a cloud of fog from its horn, quickly jumping back. The second creature then followed the same action. All the small creatures began emitting this fog in a cyclical manner. The Blade Lizard, engulfed in this fog, began to weaken and slow down its struggle for survival, ultimately collapsing on the ground, motionless.

Following a low whimper of victory from the lead creature, the rest of the creatures mustered a strength which seemed disproportionate compared to their size. They easily hoisted the heavy Blade Lizard, disappearing into the woods at an impressive speed.

"This is..." Vivian hesitated while writing in her notebook, eventually finding the words she was looking for, "This is symbiosis."

"Yes, it is." Pannis replied, "The bugs, they perhaps feed on the creatures’ blood or share their food. In return, they assist their partners in hunting. The bugs exploit their small size to pierce the hide of the Blade Lizard and move across its skin or muscles, the itching sensation incapacitating their prey. Then, the creatures paralyze their prey by spraying a numbing poison gas. This completes their hunt."

"It’s fascinating symbiotic relationship." Vivian closed her notebook with satisfaction, "This is an amazing discovery."

"Fascinating my arse." Lina retorted while rubbing her hair, seeming disgusted. "Let’s go, let’s go! I don’t want to deal with these creeps again. It just makes my skin crawl."

"Let’s move", Pannis turned to Elrad, "This place is indeed fraught with dangers. Regardless, we will continue to move forward. Could you please lead the way?"