Translator: Silavin
Editor: Rosyprimrose
Proofreader: Bluerazbeary
"W-Where are we?" Debbie anxiously looked around, only able to seek answers from the only person next to her at the time, Ye Chui.
When they became conscious of their surroundings, they saw that everything around them was close to pitch black. The moonlight, which was supposed to be shining down between the gaps of leaves, seemed to have ceased with the prolific canopies up above. [This must be the Dark Forest… Damon once said that the forest canopies are so thick that hardly any light pa.s.s through.]
[But… how in the world did we end up here? I set the teleportation to be directed towards where Alfea had fled.]
With anxiety sinking into his soul, Ye Chui explained: "This is most likely the Dark Forest… I have no idea how were ended up here with my teleportation. There shouldn"t have been any problems. But… hold on… maybe… just maybe… this was caused by that Wind Wolf. When we were running away, there was a Wind Wolf that happened to roar at the exact time the teleportation spell was activated. During that brief duration, I felt that the s.p.a.ce around us became more chaotic. Maybe it was the Wind Wolf"s skill?"
"Isn"t that Wind Wolf a Level 3 Magic Beast? How is it possible to use a skill capable of influencing s.p.a.ce Magic?" Debbie asked with doubt.
In terms of intelligence, Magic Beasts also possessed a higher level of intelligence than that of their animal counterparts (though in most cases, it would not be greater than that of a human). Of course, the difference in strength between an animal and a Magic Beast was nothing short of the distance between Heaven and Earth. However, if one were to compare Magic Beasts to humans, there were some similarities and differences. For one, Magic Beasts develop magic crystals within their bodies while humans do not. On the other hand, their levels are determined in nearly the same way. For a Wind Wolf or any other Magic Beast, to achieve Level 4, they will need to gain a Skill.
"Then, it must be that the Wind Wolf was Level 4." Ye Chui thought of this possibility and elaborated: "it is highly likely that it has an affinity with s.p.a.ce Magic and obtained a skill which wraps the s.p.a.ce around it, disturbing our teleportation, forcing us to land here."
"So, what do we do now?" Debbie inquired with an intensity that seemed murderous.
"Of course leave this place!" Ye Chui constantly scanned his surroundings as he quickly shared his worries. "The Wind Wolves left the Dark Forest for a reason; causing them to head to Skull Town. Their unusual movements must have been due to something inside this forest. Something I fear must be even more dangerous than us. We need to leave as quickly as possible. This place is too dangerous!"
"But… how are we exactly going to leave this place?" Debbie looked around in worry. "Which way is East?"
Ye Chui frowned. Due to the warp in the teleportation point, he felt as though he was floating. The dizziness he felt during that time caused him to be unable to tell where they had come from. Worse, even if he no longer felt an aching headache, it was still impossible to tell which direction he was currently facing. Above was a thick canopy which they could not see past, therefore they could not count on using the sky to tell the direction they faced. Meanwhile, the trees around were similar; too similar that if they were to walk in a straight line, it would seem as though they walked in a circle. Of course, some would think that they could have easily flown up to the sky and scout from above, but this was nothing more than suicide. The canopies contained a large and unknown number of poisonous snakes and insects, some of which were territorial Magic Beasts. Any experienced Mercenary would never dare try to get close to the canopy.
Even a magnet would not work. This world did not have a north-south pole.
After trying to think of a solution, Ye Chui could only raise his hands in resignation and helplessly answer: "Debbie, just choose a direction for us to take. There is nothing we can do in this life and death situation so, let"s hope that luck is in our favor. "
After hearing Ye Chui"s answer, Debbie frowned and casually pointed in one direction: "Alright then. My gut is telling me to go there."
"Well, I will have full faith in your guts." Ye Chui nods but before doing anything else, he looked back at the corpse. "But before we move off, let"s bury Antano first."
The pair hurriedly dug out a pit and gently places the corpse inside. It was regretful but the journey they were about to undertake definitely could not allow both of them to take her along. Though, if they were to strictly ask Antano beforehand, they would surely get a response that this burial is more than what she expects. As a City Lord Guard, she was most likely prepared to have her corpse exposed to the cold ground or inside her murder; similar to how the rest of her dead team members would have been after the siege of Wind Wolves.
Before they part ways, Debbie closed her eyes and leaked out a few sniffs before murmuring a declaring: "don"t worry and just rest. I"ll take good care of your sister in your place." Meanwhile, Ye Chui simply paid a simple tribute of respect, standing there in silence and swearing in his heart that if he were to meet Bedwick again, he will definitely have that b.a.s.t.a.r.d end with all of the Iron Swordsman"s might; his ultimate attack.
After their hearts could finally bear to part, they walked.
However… where they were headed under Debbie"s "trusted" intuition was none other than the core of the forest.
(Silavin: Do note. If we count each degree as a choice for their path, we would have 360 degrees. So, they have 1/360 chances to end up somewhere other than the core of the forest. Such luck!)
It was already daylight but the pair could not see the sun up above.
Ye Chui stood next to a tree and took out his groin protector. However, as he was about to indulge in the pleasure of releasing his yellow goods, the bush beside the tree started to tremble with the sound of rustling. When he noticed, he immediately turned his attention over to the stalker to discover that it was not a human but rather, a small rabbit. It was hiding in the bush in silence, staring at the human in front of it with a strange look before viciously scampering off.
(Silavin: Rip. The rabbit is the one he teleported?)
While they walked through the night, Ye Chui realized that there were two problems at hand.
He was absolutely certain that wherever they were heading, they were definitely not heading towards the exit of the forest. At the very least, it was clear that they were not headed towards the area that they had teleported out from. Since Ye Chui"s teleportation scroll only allowed him to teleport a maximum of one kilometer away, they should have already exited the forest by now if they were headed in the right direction. They had already traveled for hours but they still had not seen anything close to the peripheral of the area.
Another problem was that they were most likely lost. With all the trees in front of them, to travel in a straight line was an impossible task. It was likely that they had been traveling in circles without knowing.
This begged the question: how were they going to get out?
However, in spite of all these gargantuan problems, they had not encountered any dangerous Magic Beasts so far.
In fact, it was strange that half of the beings they encountered were normal animals. Those that were unfortunate to encounter the pair were the kind that was seeking death; they were so easy to kill that it required only one person.
After he took his leak, Ye Chui placed the groin protector on and returned back to where Debbie was waiting.
The little girl came into his view squatting down facing a lakelet (a small lake). With the Great Sword and Gatling on her, she stared with a blank gaze towards the water. It was hard to tell what she was thinking at the moment but once Ye Chui got close enough, he could hear the faint sound of footsteps accompanied with some heavy breathing. There was a wild boar trying to slowly approach Debbie.
Although this wild boar seemed fierce, it was in truth the bottom of the food chain. Within the Dark Forest, it was counted as a free meal if any Magic Beasts were to meet this boar.
On the other hand, the wild boar had a different thought in its mind. When it first saw this small little girl squatting still, it saw a being that it could bully around. Even its eyes were shining brightly to display its thoughts.
Ye Chui, who was worried, tried to open his mouth to warn Debbie.
However, his worries were unnecessary as Debbie had already noticed the presence of the wild boar.
This was obvious when she casually stood up and pointed the Gatling at the wild boar. While taking a stroll towards the target, she fired her gun. The moment the "bangs" sounded off, the birds above the forest all flew away and the wild boar had turned into a piece of fresh pork.
Ye Chui: "…"
Debbie placed the Gatling back on her back and turned around to notice Ye Chui was already back. She casually points to the carca.s.s of the animal she had so easily slaughtered and declared: "Let"s eat."
Ye Chui was once again caught speechless.
Starting a fire, Ye Chui cut off some clean meat from the boar and started to roast. For the rest of the morning, they were enjoying this barbeque feast.
At this point in time, Ye Chui thought about the changes in Debbie. [Her Sword Aura had definitely changed] and asked for a confirmation. "It seems that there are some changes to your Sword Aura. Could it be? Have you become an Intermediate Level Swordsman?"
"Yeah." Debbie nods and took another bite of the port in her hand. "I was thinking about a skill I can create use my Sword Aura just now."
"Hmm." Ye Chui became interested. "What kind of skill?"
"I was thinking of Giant Spinning Top," Debbie said. "I was thinking of combining the Sword Aura with the Giant Spinning Top Technique. Tell me, should I call it Super Giant Spinning Top or Sword Aura Spinning Top? Which sounds nicer?"
Ye Chui started to perspire. [Just what kind of b.l.o.o.d.y attachment do you have with Giant Spinning Top?]
He lamented and blurted out: "If we can"t decide, then how about combining the two of them? How about calling it Super Sword Giant Spinning Top?"
(Silavin: translating just got annoying =.=. Why? Why five words for a name? LOL???)
Silavin: Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. I’m not sure if you noticed but the website was simply awful for the past week. I made a revamp of the site and that took some time. Since this novel is a lower priority, I had it delayed. Nonetheless, I hope the upgrades on the site actually made it worth it for the delay.
Anyways, I really never mention this but I am extremely grateful for the patrons of this novel. Truth be told, you guys are part of the reason I continue to translate this.