Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 721 - 82 Growth Method_1

Chapter 721: Chapter 82 Growth Method_1

"We’re getting closer." As Pannis’ toes lightly touched the ice, an Aggression Burst surged within him, greatly increasing his jumping and pushing power. Each step covered a few meters, his speed resembling that of the wind. Aske kept close to him, almost running shoulder to shoulder. After a few rounds of alternating chases, Aske had fully regained his strength, thus, they no longer needed to take turns but acted together. As he took another step, Pannis turned to the Sand People assassin and said, "At this speed, we should catch up today."

It was now the morning of the third day. The two had jointly been chasing for almost two full days, successfully closing the gap. It seemed that the moribund they were pursuing noticed them trailing behind, thus quickening their speed. However, this acceleration could only slightly delay the chase, as it didn’t significantly alter the situation.

"Hmm." The reticent Sand People assassin grunted in response. After another few strides, he finally gave voice to the question that had been troubling him. In a raspy voice, he asked, "You’ve broken through into gold. Can you walk this path?"

"I don’t know." Pannis forcefully pushed off with his thorny sole, balancing on the smooth heel of his boot, effortlessly sliding forward on the ice for some distance. "But in a fortuitous circumstance, I broke through from Silver to Gold and felt a significant increase in my own abilities. If I can advance to Legendary, I can return to my peak combat power, I can hardly imagine what it would be like thereafter. If I broke through to Demigod for the second time, I might even stand a chance against the strongest even at their full power."

"The strongest?" Aske, unaware of the adventure team’s encounter at the Goblin Research Center, was unfamiliar with this term. But given his wealth of wisdom earned over a long span of time, he understood Pannis’ reference quickly enough. "Deities?"

"Yes, the most powerful beings among the Deities. Common Deities can only look up to them. You can think of them as Demigods among the Fourth Epoch beings," Pannis explained. "The moribund we have encountered don’t count as the strongest. Even stripped down to a tenth of their strength, I’d need to break the Seal and return to my optimal state to fight them. But all the strongest should be dead by now. The last one remaining in the Yarran World accepted the Divine Duty of the Goddess of Vengeance a few months ago and returned to the void to build her Divine Kingdom, so you don’t need to worry about coming up against them."

"Good." Aske responded succinctly. The two figures grew silent again, leaping forward on the ice plain. Except for the sound of footsteps crunching on ice and the occasional howl of the wind, nothing else disturbed the silence. The wind of the ice plain was an invisible hindrance to their chase. As it was a downwind pursuit, they couldn’t acquire clues from smell, weakening their tracking skills by about a half. It became even harder to trace their enemy.

"This way." Aske sniffed the ground like an animal for a few seconds before adjusting their direction. As he and Pannis continued the chase, he suddenly reached out a hand. "Food."

For three days, they had barely stopped to eat or sleep. Pannis occasionally nibbled on some food while on the move to replenish the energy his body consumed. But as the physiological characteristics of Sand People differed from humans and their need for food substantially less, Pannis was not concerned when Aske didn’t consume any food during their pursuit. It was only when Aske now asked for food that he hesitated, taking out the food and asking, "Did you not bring enough food when you entered the ice plains, chasing after him?"

"Yes." Aske nodded. After a moment’s thought, he added, "No time, very little, ate it all, planned to return."

"Oh, so you’ve eaten it all and were wondering whether to give up on the pursuit and leave the ice plains the way you came? Luckily, I’ve arrived. Otherwise, we would have lost him. Here, this is for you." Pannis quickly grasped Aske’s intentions due to their past synergy. Pannis continued to run as he handed over his cold bread and even took out his water flask, which was not yet frozen due to its proximity to his body warmth. Aske, however, shook his head to refuse the water and only accepted the bread. As Pannis put his flask back, he said worriedly, "Now we’ve got a bit of a problem. Not knowing the situation, I didn’t bring much food. Even after we kill him and return to my base, it will take at least another three days. The food might not be enough."

"Then I won’t eat." Aske put away the piece of bread he was about to put in his mouth. "I can endure, but it will weaken me."

"That’s unnecessary. Ideally, we should remain at our peak until we kill him. If you’re weak from hunger, you won’t have the energy to fight." Pannis shook his head and sighed. He took out a bottle from his bag and teasingly shook it in front of Aske. "Don’t worry, I have wine. You can have the food, I’ll use the wine to supplement my energy. You don’t drink anyway."

"That works." Aske thought for a moment while maintaining his running speed. He bit into the bread in his hand, his feeding unaffected by his movements. After finishing the bread, he took and ate a few additional pieces from Pannis. Only then did he shake his body slightly and increased his speed a bit. Seemingly satiated, the Sand People assassin even began to grow talkative. He curiously asked, "You even brought a whole bottle of wine on your adventure?"

"Ah, that was an accident." Pannis’ smile appeared somewhat forced. He sighed, "Actually, it isn’t mine, this wine belonged to Nellie."

"Nellie?" Aske’s stone-like, sharply-defined face showed a look of surprise: "She’s alive?"

"No, it’s more like a relic of hers." Pannis carefully put the bottle back into his bag, hiding it away with a bitter smile, "I happened to find a safe house we once built on the ice field. It contained this reserve food we put together back then. I didn’t want to leave her stuff for others, so I took it with me. Soon, I’ll just add some other liquor and honey. I had planned to take these few bottles of reserves back and hide them, but I didn’t expect to have to consume one here. But it’s okay, using the relics she left behind as food to get back what is owed to her. If she learned about it, I think she’d be happy."

"I’m sorry." Aske apologized for his role in Pannis consuming Nellie’s possession, but he finally spoke his longest sentence in the past three days in order to resolve his doubts: "I heard that for over a year, you’ve been adventuring with Nellie’s group. It seems they pulled you back from despair, did you join their team?"

"Yes, you can say I formally joined." Pannis laughed, and while swiftly moving, uncovered his face from the scarf, took a deep breath of the cold air, and nodded: "Even though I’m not fully saved yet, without them, I wouldn’t have been able to take the first step. Even if I had to repay them, I could never leave them. And seeing them grow a little bit, it always reminds me of our past. That feeling is amazing, you couldn’t understand unless you experienced it."

"But, isn’t your presence slowing their growth?" Aske asked, puzzled.

"That’s why I’m barely doing anything." Pannis shrugged with a smile, "Apart from things related to experience, unless absolutely necessary, I only engage when appropriate for my current strength. They handle the rest, this way there’s no stifling their growth potential. And it’s working, they’re still growing, in terms of both strength and mindset."

"They agree?" Aske asked, somewhat surprised. "No complaints?"

"Of course." Pannis’ voice carried a hint of emotion: "They are very bright girls, even though we’ve never explicitly stated it, they all guessed my intention quite astutely without any of them expressing dissatisfaction. After all, before our meeting, they made it this far by navigating dangerous adventures, one step at a time. They understand the price that needs to be paid for growth. Professionals don’t need babysitters, only through floundering on a path strewn with blood can one become stronger. Therefore, I think, even if I wanted to do more for them, they wouldn’t agree, that would be irresponsibility towards them."

"I see." Aske nodded, "Even though the interaction model is weird, those folks indeed are qualified to be your new companions."

"Of course, otherwise how could I possibly join the team." Pannis took a leisurely step, saying: "Even from our perspective, each of the girls deserves respect. In some ways, they are no less formidable than you and me. I believe, perhaps after a few more years or a decade, humanity will conveniently have four new half-god ascendants. They have that potential."

"Maybe, I’ll wait and see." Aske’s pace slowed, and they both simultaneously slowed down from a sprint to a jog, as if they weren’t in a hurry anymore.

"It seems he knows he can’t get away at this speed, continuing to run will only highlight his disadvantage." Pannis narrowed his eyes again, his voice gradually freezing: "That’s why he stopped, and is preparing to confront us directly. Smart, but it’s a bit late."

"As he wishes." The Sand People assassin and Pannis exchanged glances. He Uncovered his hooded yellow cloak, and his sandy cloak, like flowing water, slipped into his body revealing his ax-chiseled face: "Fight side by side?"

"My honour." Pannis made a gentleman’s bow, and chased after Aske together. (To be continued. If you like this novel, please vote for it at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users should visit m.qidian.com to read.)