The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 41: The Second-to-Last Day

Vol 2 Chapter 41: The Second-to-Last Day

"Spiders? Cave-dwelling spiders, at that." Karl calmly analyzed.

Spiders were a large family, with cave-dwelling spiders being particularly large in size, some even capable of preying on birds.

After Yan blocked the first wave of attack, Sylutia quickly aimed and shot. The bowstring trembled, and a black arrow struck the spider's abdomen, embedding itself within.

Then, Captain 'Bad Apple' also approached silently and at extreme speed from the side and rear. Holding a dagger, its blade shimmered with a faint, concealing light. He directly sliced open a half-meter-long gash on the spider's abdomen. Yellow-green fluid sprayed out in all directions, filling the air with a sour, fishy smell.

Soon, this ferocious spider stopped struggling, fell to the ground, and died.

Seeing this situation, Karl, who had originally intended to act, also saved some spellcasting materials and went up to inspect the scene.

Bad Apple was off to the side, heartbrokenly wiping his new dagger, muttering, "Sigh, I was careless. Shouldn't have used this new dagger on bugs. I should have known these creatures' bodily fluids are all corrosive."

His newly forged, beloved dagger felt exceptionally good to use, which also made him feel particularly pained about damaging it.

Regarding this, Yan could only scratch his head, suppressing the urge to laugh. His shield wasn't much of a problem;

those little scratches were added in almost every fight. He'd only go to the blacksmith for maintenance after they accumulated enough.Sylutia also walked forward now, covering her nose as she observed the dead spider.

Its body was about 1.5 meters wide, covered in upright white fuzz. These were probably organs for sound dampening and sensing. Its two pairs of fangs were black, with serrated edges on the inside, looking somewhat frightening.

"The fangs and forelegs have some value. The rest is pretty useless." After examining it for a while, Karl stood up.

"Ultimately, spiders are also a type of Insect Moth. Individually, they're relatively weak. Within the same tier, they're generally no match for other creatures, relying on ambush, poison, and group tactics to fight."

"Just now, if we hadn't discovered it and been ambushed, casualties could indeed have occurred. But since we found it, we didn't give it a chance afterwards."

"Fangs and forelegs, huh? Then I'll chop them off to carry." Yan nodded, taking an axe from the luggage on his horse and hacking off the spider's useful parts.

[Spider Fangs] (Second Tier - Mist Shadow): Toxin-containing fangs possessing a certain penetrating power. As the original owner is dead, the toxin is gradually deactivating, and the quality is declining. (Current: Good)

After packing up the spoils, the group set off again, not stopping to rest until evening, setting up camp beneath a rocky cliff in the mountains.

Tonight, the food Sylutia prepared for everyone was roasted potatoes, vegetable mushroom soup, and meat-filled flatbread.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone rested around the campfire. Sylutia also took this opportunity to nap for half an hour.

At night, Bad Apple took out the map, checked the route taken during the day, planned the subsequent journey, and then began arranging the night watch rotation.

"Tia, you sleep first. You just need to get up at five tomorrow." The time when the sky is just beginning to lighten is actually the safest period. Creatures that attack at night won't wait that late, and creatures active during the day won't be out that early.

After the arrangements were made, everyone attended to their duties, repairing equipment while chatting about the day's events.

"How far did we travel today?" Yan asked, somewhat drowsy.

"In a straight line, about 30 li. Accounting for the actual curved path, probably over 80 li."

"Walking in a straight line in the mountains is nearly impossible. We can only slowly find our way. Few apprentices come to these Misty Mountains. The map I have was summarized and drawn by a senior decades ago. As for where he got it from, he probably also used maps and notes from predecessors before him to compile it." Bad Apple complained.

"I reckon in recent years, some apprentices have probably tried too, but felt the difficulty and danger were too high early on, so they withdrew quickly."

"This time, if Tia weren't with us, I'd have also led you all back." Their field of vision and perception were compressed too severely, making it hard to assess danger. Venturing under such conditions was gambling with their lives.

"The map records that there should be quite a few white venomous snakes here, but along our journey, we only encountered ordinary venomous snakes, not the kind described that have condensed Aspects."

"Perhaps Tia led us to avoid them in advance." As they spoke, the few of them looked towards the young girl resting against a tree.

"Never mind, we'll just have to ask her tomorrow." They were still quite lenient with Sylutia, the youngest among them.

After a night of rotating watches, Sylutia was awakened in the early morning, making her slowly crawl out of her sleeping bag in the tent.

"Mornin'~" She made a sound like a little kitten, still carrying a hint of sleepiness.

After washing up, Sylutia quickly became alert and, by the way, prepared a simple breakfast for everyone.

After finishing porridge and flatbread, the group continued their advance deeper into the mountains.

On this day, the cave-dwelling spiders they encountered decreased somewhat, but other troublesome monsters appeared.

"Watch out!"

An arrow shot through the air, piercing a black shadow attacking from above, dropping a strange bat. Then, before Sylutia could nock another arrow, more bats surged out from the misty water vapor, assaulting the group.

A bizarre sonic wave spread. The few of them felt a wave of tinnitus and nausea, their ears as if going deaf, followed by dizziness in their heads and blurred, spinning vision.

Bad Apple's figure, originally dashing at high speed with his dagger, was now interrupted. He covered his head and slowed his steps. Yan held up his shield, his body tense, but his consciousness was already somewhat fuzzy, dizzy from the intense sonic waves. Karl in the rear also clutched his chest, feeling his heart painfully shaken by the sonic waves, making it difficult to use his abilities.

Sylutia in the rear wasn't doing too well either, only barely resisting the dizzying sonic wave attack by relying on her 'Lunar Radiance Breathing Technique'.

This time, right from the initial engagement, they were on the brink of a complete rout.

[Sonic Wave Bat] (First Tier - Nightmare): The main body is weak, but can emit strange dizzying sonic waves. When gathered in groups, even many Second Tier creatures have to flee for their lives.

This time, about thirty-plus Sonic Wave Bats attacked them. They continuously emitted intense sonic wave vibrations, making the people below sway unsteadily.

Fortunately, these bats weren't very strong physically and couldn't launch fatal surprise attacks while the group was weakened.

However, this situation couldn't last much longer either.

Bearing the splitting headache, Karl raised his hand and summoned the ghostly black cat under his control.

"Meow—" As soon as this black cat appeared, it surveyed its surroundings, let out a long cry, and then began to act.

Its body, shifting between solid and ethereal, rushed back and forth rapidly in the air. Its sharp front claws continuously tore at the bats' wings, also biting to death any struggling enemies.

And so, with the help of this black cat, all thirty-plus Sonic Wave Bats that had flown in fell to the ground dead. Only then did everyone gradually recover.

"Now we really have to marvel at our good luck." Bad Apple summarized while tidying up the battlefield.

"If it weren't for the Ash Evil Fruit we found last time, which helped Karl elevate his black cat's tier, we probably would have all been done for this time." He concluded with lingering fear.

That day, they traveled another 73 li in stages, resting only when night fell.

Originally, everyone was somewhat inclined to retreat. But thinking they had already covered two-thirds of the journey, giving up now would be such a pity. So, after discussion, they decided to persist.

"Let's try going further in tomorrow. If we can find that stone gate, I'll just steal the spring water myself, so you all won't have to go up."

For this trip to find the water of the Stone Mist Spring, the biggest beneficiary was Captain Bad Apple. Therefore, he didn't want so many members risking their lives upfront just for his sake.

"No need to say such things at a time like this." Yan came over and patted his shoulder.

"I'm counting on helping you get the water from the 'Stone Mist Spring' this time, so you can help me with my tier advancement trial next time."

"If members of the team don't help each other, are we supposed to spend money trusting outsiders?"

"Let's go. Tomorrow we continue climbing the mountain." After saying this, Yan went back to work on setting up the camp.

Sitting not far away, Karl watched this scene, finding it amusing but also feeling a touch of warmth.

Actually, he had been with a few teams before. Although everyone respected him, there was often an invisible barrier, making it difficult for them to fully trust each other.

When exactly did he stop thinking about changing teams? The young wizard apprentice sank into reminiscence.