novelraw Chapter 146 : What a Mess
Chapter 146 : What a Mess
Chapter 146: What a Mess
After a bout of commotion had passed, the Oak Tree Inn regained its usual peace.
It was said that it had been the first time Serena had taken control of the inn in such a manner.
Normally, Serena hardly spent any time downstairs on the first floor.
She had been glad to see Robin after so long, and considering Aelin’s circumstances, she had dismissed the others.
Fortunately, the guests returned to the inn as if nothing had happened.
Of course, after that, the way they looked at Robin’s party changed.
“It seems Serena holds quite a high status among Adventurers.”
“She’s taken on quite a few troublesome matters here and there.”
During the last summons, Serena had accepted the Guild’s request and earned no small amount of merit.
It was thanks to Serena that the survival rate of Silver-Ranked Adventurers had increased.
Even just removing the fog that obscured vision while defending the Rest Stop had been a great help.
“Then, for the time being, wouldn’t even the dangerous areas be safe?”
“If you go with me, you probably won’t die under most circumstances.”
‘Under most circumstances….’
Even Serena, a Gold-Ranked Adventurer who handled all kinds of spirits, could not guarantee one hundred percent safety.
“Maybe if I were alone. But it’s the kind of place where you let your guard down and end up dead as a matter of routine.”
‘That’s true.’
Robin had explored the Uncharted Area twice.
During the first expedition, he had encountered a bandit disguised as a good-natured Adventurer, and the second time, he had stepped into the Great Forest and met the Demon Tribe.
Various strokes of luck had overlapped and things had worked out, but if they had not, there was no telling what might have happened.
“Wait. You went around the Uncharted Area alone?”
“Sometimes. Most of the time, I hired a guide.”
At the mention that he had gone as far as dangerous areas alone, Aelin listened closely.
From now on, Aelin would be taking the role of guide.
She had wondered if a Gold-Ranked Adventurer had some special secret technique, but what came out of Serena’s mouth was surprisingly common sense.
“There are paths that Adventurers frequently use. They’re hard to memorize, but I have spirits, don’t I?”
Rather than memorizing the routes herself, she used spirits to find her way.
Aelin asked in a puzzled voice.
“Then doesn’t that mean I don’t have to take the lead?”
“What’s our objective?”
“To go to the Demon Realm and cause chaos.”
“The farther we get from the Empire, and the closer we get to the Demon Realm, the more unpredictable the terrain becomes.”
If Serena were only responsible for finding the path, that would be one thing.
But no one knew when or where a battle might break out, and she could not devote all her strength solely to navigation.
“You’ll understand when you see it. From the dangerous areas onward, there are no fixed paths.”
Fog Canyon, where securing visibility was difficult.
A desert of such extreme heat that it was impossible to cross without passing through oases.
An archipelago of floating islands gathered high in the sky.
With terrain that changed from moment to moment, there was no such thing as a predetermined road.
One had to find a path suited to the situation, and every moment was an extension of exploration.
That was why skilled guides were rare, and earning a Gold Token was no easy task.
“Aelin, your role is important.”
“When you put it that way, it feels like a huge burden.”
“It should be a burden. You’ll be deciding whether the team lives or dies.”
At Serena’s serious words, Aelin steeled her resolve as well.
“You can’t get full on the first bite. Our goal this time is to advance to Silver Rank.”
“That sounds good. There’s nothing better than real combat to get in sync.”
Serena actively stepped forward to offer her opinions.
‘Was she always this reassuring?’
She shared everything she knew without holding back, and it truly felt that Gold Rank was on a different level.
In particular, she was passionate about educating Aelin, and Aelin wrote down Serena’s words, not letting a single one go to waste.
While they were setting their schedule, Sigbard spoke up.
“I hear most parties hire porters. We don’t have one, do we?”
“This time, we’re focusing more on exploration than hunting.”
“Pulling a cart isn’t difficult. I’ll take care of it.”
It was true that a porter was needed to bring back spoils.
However, if Sigbard pulled the cart, there would be no meaning in assigning him to the vanguard.
If they were ambushed, his reaction speed would slow.
Robin shook his head.
“Let’s put aside our greed for money. Getting all of us accustomed to exploration comes first.”
“It’s a shame, but if you say so. Understood.”
After diligently finishing their preparations, the four of them passed through the Narvik Gate.
An open field with an unobstructed view in all directions.
Ten kilometers beyond the city lay an uninhabited plain.
After crossing the plains that stretched to about fifty kilometers from the border, one would reach the jungle—the last zone of the safe area.
One might wonder why there was a jungle in such a relatively cool climate, but that was simply how the Uncharted Area was.
It was a place one had to pass through before entering the dangerous areas.
It could be seen as a testing ground that separated Copper-Ranked Adventurers from Silver-Ranked Adventurers.
The jungle stretched roughly fifty kilometers.
It was similar to the journey from the western border city of Valoria toward the Great Forest.
Thud.
A goblin that had recklessly charged at them was sent flying by Sigbard’s rod.
As if swatting away an annoying fly, the four passed by without paying it any mind.
For three days, they pushed through monsters that attacked first.
With their current level, they could have entered the jungle on the first day, but it was only on the third day that they set foot in it.
“Aelin, are you getting a feel for it?”
Their pace was not fast, but neither was it slow.
At every place they passed, Aelin took in as much as she could, moving her pen across paper.
“This is manageable.”
She stopped writing and showed them the paper.
She had roughly drawn the route from Narvik Gate and marked ticks at equal intervals.
“If we can get up to higher ground, making a map won’t be too difficult.”
When Robin gave her a thumbs-up, the corners of her lips twitched shyly.
In truth, the safe area was relatively safe, as the name implied, and plenty of information was available on the market.
The Guild even sold maps.
In other words, this was part of the process of building teamwork, including Aelin.
“Robin, we’ve picked up a tail.”
“You mean the people collecting the corpses.”
“Are we leaving them?”
“For now.”
If there was one problem, it was the ones trailing behind them.
Robin’s party did not collect by-products even after defeating monsters they encountered.
Seeing this, Adventurers gathered to take the corpses instead.
They were heading that way anyway, clearing the path and leaving behind prey?
It was no different from a windfall.
“Shouldn’t we collect them ourselves, even now? It feels like a waste to just leave them.”
“Let’s hunt on the way back. It’s not like they’re hard to catch.”
It wasn’t that Robin didn’t find it wasteful.
But if they took the by-products, their speed would inevitably slow.
Making an effort not to forget the original goal of this expedition, he kept walking.
“From here on, we’d better not let our guard down.”
“Definitely… there are monsters scattered everywhere.”
“Not bad for a rookie guide.”
“I’ll steer us in a direction where we encounter as few as possible.”
Aelin took the lead and altered their direction from before.
Perhaps it was because she was an elf accustomed to forests.
Like a fish in water, she showed no hesitation in finding the path.
After walking without rest and breaking through half of the jungle,
Serena raised her hand and stopped.
“Let’s take a break.”
In the midst of thick undergrowth, they came upon a wide clearing.
Though it was their first time there, Robin, Sigbard, and Aelin felt a sense of familiarity.
It resembled the clearing where Brandok had built his cabin.
“We’re not the only ones here.”
Adventurers in teams of five or six were resting in their own groups.
And it wasn’t just one party.
Just from what they could see, there were ten teams.
They glanced briefly at Robin’s party and, showing little interest, returned to what they had been doing.
“It’s a good place to camp before heading into the dangerous area.”
“I didn’t expect this many people to be gathered here.”
“It more or less guarantees safety. Everyone keeps an eye on each other.”
Just as Serena had said, no one picked a fight or acted hostile.
Each team kept at least ten meters apart.
As if that were an unspoken rule.
Robin also found a suitable spot and set down their luggage.
Without anyone saying a word, they naturally took out food and replenished their stamina.
“It’s basically a temporary Rest Stop.”
“Exactly.”
There were no Guild-operated Rest Stops in the jungle zone.
Most were located within ten kilometers of the gate, and the deeper one went into the Uncharted Area, the harder they were to find.
It wasn’t easy to operate a place where one could rest comfortably in a lawless zone.
By the time noon had passed.
Robin swallowed a piece of jerky and spoke.
“If we maintain our current pace, we can reach the dangerous area today. I’d like to move quickly—what about the rest of you?”
“I think the same.”
“I’ve been there plenty of times, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
Sigbard and Serena agreed with Robin.
By majority vote, it was practically decided, but Robin listened to Aelin.
What Aelin said next was unexpected.
“Everyone, get up. Something’s coming.”
They set aside their confusion and immediately prepared for battle.
Quick-witted Adventurers who noticed Robin’s party also grabbed their weapons.
Rrrrrrr.
As the ground trembled faintly, someone came rushing into the clearing.
“Help!”
“A crazy monster is chasing us!”
A team of five.
Their faces were pale as if they had seen a ghost.
Aelin whispered softly.
“They’re the ones who were following us.”
“Let’s watch for now.”
Nearby Adventurers asked what had happened.
There was no need to hear the explanation.
Everyone there soon saw it with their own eyes.
Crack-crack-crack.
Dozens of tree roots surged into the clearing.
Wriggling as if alive, they suddenly snatched one of the fleeing Adventurers.
“F-fuck!”
The roots wrapped around the Adventurer’s body like ropes.
Then they tightened as if about to burst him apart.
In agony, unable to do anything, on the verge of death—
Slice.
Robin unleashed his Fighting Spirit, and the roots were cleanly severed.
The fallen Adventurer was dragged back by his companions, who hurriedly freed him from the bindings.
“What the hell is that?”
Robin asked Serena, but she only shrugged.
“No idea. I’ve never seen it before.”
“We’ll find out if we smash it enough!”
Robin grabbed Sigbard as he tried to charge out.
“Look around.”
The tree roots had already crept in from all directions.
They completely surrounded the oval-shaped clearing.
“It’s not an ordinary monster.”
“Then what do we do! At this rate, people are going to die!”
Since the moment those unidentified roots appeared, some Adventurers had tried to escape the clearing.
A few managed to get away by luck, but quite a number were seized in the process.
“Serena, do you have a good idea?”
“If it’s just us, we can escape.”
Serena’s suggestion was to manifest a wind spirit and fly away.
“Burning wood is the most effective, but setting a fire in the jungle is suicide.”
Sigbard wanted to fight, Serena wanted to flee.
Robin shared Serena’s opinion.
No one knew anything about that monster yet.
They weren’t captured, so they could widen the distance, observe, and then decide whether to intervene.
Just as he was about to decide,
Aelin took out her bow.
“It’s already too late. Those roots have taken over the surroundings.”
“We can just escape through the sky.”
“No, look up there.”
Aelin shot an arrow toward the sky.
Roots rushed toward the arrow shot into the air, snatched it with a snap, and broke it.
‘It’s not an octopus. What the hell is that.’
It hadn’t even been attacked, yet it prevented the arrow from escaping.
He roughly understood what the monster intended.
It was obvious it meant to seal off this space.
“Good. This is a chance to test the new power.”
“You don’t mean ‘that power’?”
Aelin answered in a voice both solemn and confident.
“The bow granted by the World Tree and Lady Elicia’s Fighting Spirit. A power that even made the Demon Tribe tremble in fear.”
The bow Aelin had brought from Evendel had a bow stave made from the World Tree.
Though the string hadn’t manifested as it had that day, a properly tensioned string was already attached.
She aimed at the roots targeting a panic-stricken Adventurer.
‘But is that really it? It looks ordinary….’
As if voicing Robin’s thoughts, Sigbard shouted.
“Aelin! Infuse it with Fighting Spirit!”
“Don’t worry. I’m ready.”
The fully drawn bow released the arrow.
Fwoooosh!
The arrow embedded itself precisely where Aelin had aimed.
There was no explosion, nor did it pierce straight through.
“Uh…?”
Even Aelin seemed surprised, staring at the arrow lodged in the root.
Three seconds passed, but nothing changed.
Instead, as if angered, the monster snapped Aelin’s arrow.
Inside her helmet, she was probably wearing a dumbfounded expression.
“Let’s get out through the sky while we still can.”
“That sounds good.”
The moment Robin agreed, Serena manifested the wind spirit.
The eagle-shaped spirit was larger than when he had seen it three years ago.
After seating the dazed Aelin, she called out to Sigbard.
“Sigbard, get on!”
Though his face looked displeased, he listened to Robin.
It was understandable to want to save the innocent Adventurers, but it was better to avoid unnecessary conflict.
The once-spacious back of the eagle became cramped once Sigbard climbed on.
Was it his imagination, or did the eagle tilt slightly?
“Aquila, let’s go.”
Piyooooo!
Like a true ruler of the skies, the eagle let out a valiant cry.
The wind spirit should have soared upward.
They expected it to glide gracefully—but their expectation was betrayed.
“…Why isn’t it flying?”
Serena broke into a nervous sweat and patted Sigbard on the back.
“It says Sigbard is too heavy.”
“What?”
“Spirits aren’t all-powerful. Looks like we’ll have to fight.”
She immediately canceled the manifestation, and the four of them dropped to the ground with a thud.
“You crazy bastard of a monster, get lost!”
“S-save us! Somebody, please!”
Looking at the clearing, now a complete battlefield, nearly half of the Adventurers had already been captured by the creature.
“Good! If it’s come to this, we save them all!”
Robin alternated his gaze between his companions and the Adventurers trapped by the monster.
‘What a mess.’
All that remained now was a frontal breakthrough.
He drew both swords and said the words Sigbard had been wanting to hear.
“Go and wreak havoc.”
Sigbard charged in at once and swung his tightly gripped rod.
The rod, infused with Fighting Spirit, collided with the creature like a battering ram.
Crackkkk.
A hole opened in the monster’s encirclement around the clearing.