Chapter 814 Back in the Jungle: Suspicion and Cooperation
"You trust him?" Shadow glanced around the jungle as he made his way through it with Reign. It had been about 5 minutes since they left the Enclave, which was the name of the territory, and the two made sure that nobody was following them during this time.
"Not at all, he has been pleasant to talk with and none of them have acted suspiciously at all, but there's just something about that guy, something I can't really put my finger on." Reign said with a serious expression as Shadow sighed.
"His soul?"
"No, it's … it is a bit different, but it's not the first time I met someone that has a slightly different soul, those with powerful abilities have souls that are different than normal, as do almost all beings that can manipulate souls."
"His mana seemed normal as well, his behavior, those around him, they were all normal, nothing was out of place in the territory, they were all quite friendly, none had tried to spy on us when we were staying the night, there really isn't anything that I could say caught my eye or made me believe they wish for something other than a peaceful alliance."
"But there's just something about that guy man, I don't know, I can't explain it." Reign said as he shook his head while walking alongside Shadow.
"Yeah, I think I get what you mean, I have to be honest, during the time we were there, that guy gave me the creeps a couple of times, even though there was nothing that should have made me feel out of the ordinary."
"Right?" Reign glanced back at Shadow and nodded his head as they moved some bushes.
"He's definitely not normal, but still, I just-"
"Get down." Reign suddenly said before crouching down with Shadow immediately following and staying quiet.
As they continued staying in the crouched position, a monster suddenly appeared about 50 meters away from them. Neither of them was able to sense the presence or mana fluctuation from the monster, even when seeing it right now, they felt as if something was wrong, that there shouldn't be anything that was there.
The monster moved, its body slithering across the ground. Even though the monster had a pair of arms at the front of its long body and a couple of legs, it didn't use them to move.
The legs didn't really look like legs, and the arms were elongated and seemed very sharp. Claws could be seen on the feet of the monster, making it obvious to Reign and Shadow that it used them to tear apart an enemy it managed to coil around with its long, slippery body.
The 22-meter-long monster slithered away to the side as Reign and Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. Even though they couldn't sense the presence or mana of the monster, they were able to sense the danger emanating from it, which made them believe that the monster was definitely one that had reached the peak of Tier V.
"It's gone, let's continue." Reign said before he and Shadow continued walking through the jungle.
The monsters present in this area were mostly low and mid-grade Tier V monsters, but from time to time, there would be more powerful and dangerous monsters that would appear, forcing them to stop.
It wasn't because they were afraid of the monsters present, even if a peak Tier V monster were to truly attack them, the two of them were not without any means of defeating it, the reason for their lack of fighting was simply because fighting such a monster would produce a lengthy, and a very loud battle, one that would definitely draw in more monsters that would gladly join the battle.
In that case, it would be extremely difficult for them to flee unscathed, and even if Reign were to transform, there was no saying just what kinds of monsters would arrive. Even in his Nephilim state, it wasn't as if Reign was invincible.
If over ten peak Tier V monsters appeared, it would be difficult for Reign to even escape, much less kill them all without suffering heavy injuries.
"So, what do we do, we just forget about them?" Shadow asked as Reign shook his head.
"For now, we will contact them from time to time, perhaps even create a channel between our territories, we can always create a portal that leads to an area of Doncaster of Wilkashere that we can cover up and make sure that they won't be able to locate it from the outside world."
"That way, we can minimize any risk, and we can slowly start cooperating."
"Hmmm … so you want to make like a sort of market where we can freely exchange information and resources with them, but without allowing them to explore any of our territory?"
"Yeah, we could even use one of the bases we have for that, if we let them come to the mountain range, then we wouldn't even need to limit their movement, I can even make the barrier prevent them from leaving it as well." Reign added as Shadow nodded in agreement.
"That does seem better than only letting them come to a large warehouse or a similar area."
"Yeah."
After deciding on a plan to establish a channel for cooperation without revealing the full extent of their territories, Reign and Shadow continued their journey through the jungle. They relied on their stealth and vigilance to navigate the treacherous terrain, avoiding confrontations with powerful monsters.
The jungle had its own unique challenges, with flora and fauna that had adapted to the game world's dangerous nature. They occasionally came across rare resources that could be harvested, including unique herbs, crystals, and magical plants. These items were valuable for various purposes, including crafting and magical research.
Reign and the others hadn't gathered materials for quite a while. Most of the resources in the territory were from the gathering teams in the territory that had decided to specialize in that field, making their way through areas, most of them dangerous, with the help of other teams, in order to identify and gather different forms of resources, be it ore, plants …
The plants in the jungle were something only Reign and the others could gather, and they could let the alchemists concoct potions with them. Still, that didn't mean they would use them.
Even though many potions could be very useful for them, the main reason they didn't use them was because using them could lead to complications.
Using mana potions and health potions was fine to a point, but if one used them every day and even used more than was advised in a period of time, there would be damage done to the body.
Using too many mana potions would form impurities in the mana channels, which would take some time to return to normal, causing the person to be unable to channel mana as efficiently as before.
Using too many health potions would lead to damage to your organs or even bones which would take the body time to heal.
Using potions such as a [ Rage Potion ] had the side-effect of causing incredible damage to the body, as well as causing the person's mind to be clouded for some time.
All potions had their side effects, and upon using them, one had to rest for a while, otherwise leveling up could become difficult as the system wouldn't allow you to level up before the hidden injuries you had suffered from all the potions were gone.
As they explored, they gathered materials and made mental notes of the jungle's unusual properties, after all, they hadn't really been to where the Enclave was before, and the part of the area was a bit different from the one they had visited. The eerie beauty of the bioluminescent plants and the mysterious sounds of the creatures added to the sense of wonder and danger that permeated the environment.
Reign and Shadow continued to observe the activities and power dynamics in the jungle. The region was vast, and different monsters seemingly held control over various areas. The jungle had its own hierarchy, with monsters, corrupted creatures, and powerful entities ruling different domains.
The jungle's inhabitants showed distinct characteristics and abilities that made them formidable adversaries. Some wielded elemental magic, while others possessed unique adaptations for survival in the world. Reign and Shadow kept a cautious distance from these beings, not wanting to attract unnecessary attention.
It became apparent that the jungle was a realm where numerous entities competed for resources and territory. They noted that the enclave they had encountered earlier had wisely chosen to carve out their domain amidst the chaos, utilizing the tunnels to secure multiple connections to the outside world while maintaining a hidden stronghold.
Of course, that couldn't all be attributed to them as, as they had told them before, they had found the enclave in the same state it was right now. They had virtually done nothing to change it except add buildings inside of it.
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