Chapter 16: Grass Forest
Mateo was stunned because he still had no idea how to evolve his bones into Diamond Bones.
The moment 20% of his bones transformed, he felt his physique become far stronger and more flexible.
If he ran now, he could move at twice his previous speed.
After passing through the forest, Mateo unexpectedly discovered a grassland.
This was nothing like the grasslands he had seen on Earth. The grass here was unbelievably tall, reaching heights of fifty meters and growing densely together.
Even though the wind could easily sway the grass, their sheer height made the place feel more terrifying than a forest.
"Eh..." Mateo froze in shock.
Someone emerged from the grassland covered in bite wounds.
If it had been someone else, he would not have reacted so strongly.
This person was William, his dormmate.
What were the chances they would meet here?
"Ma-Mateo..." William spoke weakly.
"P-Please... find someone who can heal me," he begged.
Bam!
He collapsed unconscious.
Even though Mateo had refused to help him repay his debt, he still could not stand by and watch his friend suffer like this.
He moved quickly.
Buzz!
He immediately released his Primordial Life Element to envelop William.
The results were instantaneous. Every wound on William’s body closed in an instant.
His pale skin quickly regained its color.
William slowly opened his eyes again, looking confused.
"Ahh..." He immediately sat up, shocked by how light his body felt.
But then confusion filled his face when he realized he was still in the same place.
His memory was perfectly fine.
He clearly remembered his surroundings.
"Are you okay?" Mateo asked.
"Mateo, what did you use on me?" William asked back.
"Life Element. I have it," Mateo answered.
"Really..." William looked slightly surprised.
"Wait, my injuries were extremely serious. Even a Life Element shouldn’t heal me this quickly, even if it were Sky Life Element," he said.
Earth, Sky, Supreme, and finally Primordial.
Those were the rankings of Elements.
Primordial was something unimaginable.
Supreme was already considered the highest for most people, while Sky alone was enough to satisfy ordinary users.
The more William thought about it, the more confused he became.
Another question appeared in his mind. Mateo had only recently entered Magic World, so how could he already possess enough Spiritual Energy to use a Life Element powerful enough to heal him?
"What kind of place is this grassland?" Mateo did not answer and instead changed the topic.
William looked stunned by how naturally Mateo ignored the question.
"This place is called the Grass Forest. There are many monsters inside that can attack suddenly. To us, it feels endless, but if you manage to cross it, you’ll arrive at a truly prosperous major city," William replied, forced to follow the new topic.
"Sounds dangerous."
"You definitely shouldn’t go inside. Just look at me earlier—I almost died," William warned.
"By the way, Alex is looking for you. He even approached me and asked me to arrange a meeting with you," Mateo suddenly changed the topic again.
William’s expression shifted several times before he let out a sigh.
"This really is my fault. You were right too. If I keep holding money, I can’t escape gambling. I’m truly addicted. It’s probably better for me to keep being chased around like this without any money until I can finally overcome my addiction."
Mateo did not know what to say after hearing that.
"Mateo, thank you. I would’ve been in real trouble if I hadn’t met you, but I need to leave now. You should leave too. This area is safe for now, but monsters could still appear at any moment," William said while standing up and patting Mateo’s shoulder.
Mateo simply nodded.
He was not particularly afraid.
William ran off toward one of the forests.
Meanwhile, Mateo calmly walked into the Grass Forest without worry.
Because of how dense the grass was, the inside felt rather dark. However, there were many paths that looked as though they had been made by travelers—or perhaps monsters for the larger ones.
Every path resembled a tunnel, almost like a maze.
The air here felt hot due to the lack of wind, making breathing slightly uncomfortable.
Even though the atmosphere felt gloomy, Mateo continued walking forward.
"Mm..." He suddenly stopped when he noticed something shining directly ahead of him.
It was a bracelet—a golden bracelet decorated with tiny diamonds.
Mateo picked it up but sensed no spirituality from it.
It appeared to be an ordinary piece of jewelry.
"Did someone drop this?" he wondered.
"Mm..." He narrowed his eyes slightly.
He noticed something strange. Ahead of him was a narrow trail about the width of a wrist, resembling the marks left behind by a snake slithering across dry grass.
But Mateo felt it was not that simple.
Upon closer inspection, it looked more like the marks of a human hand being dragged deliberately across the ground.
Mateo followed the trail.
Strangely, no monsters appeared to attack him.
The grass grew denser, yet he continued following the hand marks until they suddenly ended atop a pile of grass.
Whoosh!
Mateo kicked the pile aside.
A massive hole was revealed beneath it, dark and deep like the mouth of a cave.
Mateo was not foolish enough to ignore the possibility that someone was trapped down there.
Who would kidnap someone and imprison them here?
No, perhaps it was not done by a human at all, but by a monster.
Mateo suddenly remembered the townspeople’s conversation, causing his eyes to light up.
If that was true, then perhaps the chameleon was here.
Realizing that, Mateo jumped down without hesitation while one fire ghost floated beside him, illuminating the hole and revealing a vast underground chamber no different from a cave, with walls made entirely of stone.
Mateo did not see the chameleon he was searching for.
Instead, he saw a blonde-haired woman lying helplessly in the corner, face-down and motionless, possibly unconscious.
He could not see her face, but her body looked alluring with captivating curves. She wore a luxurious blue dress, and both her hands were adorned with shining bracelets.
Mateo approached her, slightly hesitant to touch her, but he could not turn her over otherwise.
Eventually, he knelt beside her and gently pushed her over, finally seeing her beautiful face and flawless pale skin.
She was most likely the Baron’s wife.
