Chapter 874 Into the Misty Land of Tall Trees
After our kerfuffle with a village, Almira decided that it was best to avoid some villages for now. Knowing the circumstances and how fast news and gossips fly, we will have to head straight to our destination, which is towards the camp of the elves where they are last seen.
Despite the information being a little more vague than usual, we decided to take advantage of it especially since it is in Resurgia Continent. I also just realized that the Resurgia Continent is much bigger than I thought it would be. Since most players barely do any kind of exploration into deeper areas due to the monsters being low level, most of the players who have explored one continent fully are either born explorers or just someone who was dragged to a long quest that involves them interacting with someone from one place to another which in turn would let them explore the world unwillingly just to track down one guy who lives in between 5 mountains or something similar.
So now that we are traveling to find the Tree of Life, I can already see it deviate from the game that I know to a new world that I am eager to explore.
Right now, Almira decided to let us scout ahead to ensure that we will not run into the territory of a monster or we enter a village area. Despite having the invisibility spell present, it's best to stay clear from them for some time to avoid further trouble.
The current party right now is Akira, Sora, and I. Although surveying the area isn't that hard, mapping and finding out secrets is a bit troublesome. And with my Ex Skill for Cartography disappearing, I am back to square one as well. I know my skills are "Brother! It seems up ahead is a ravine, we should tell Almira about this," Akira alerted me.
still here, but it's a lot harder compared to the time I have the Ex Job.
"Brother! It seems up ahead is a ravine, we should tell Almira about this," Akira alerted me.
I headed to where Akira and Sora is standing and right behind them is a deep ravine. It's kind of a rocky type of ravine and the slope is quite full of rocks, making it difficult for us to cross if we wanted to do so.
"Guess we will have to look for a longer way then. This place is too dangerous to proceed on."
I took note of the ravine for a bit and took a good close look by descending to it and checking anything at the bottom. Seeing not a single noteworthy aside from the fact that it is wider than expected and in the ravine, I returned to the surface.
"Yep, nothing important here, just a deep ravine. Let's steer clear here and find an alternative route."
We traced the ravine's end to find a good place to cross it and soon, we arrived on a misty area. It's a bit hard to see due to the fog but it's a bit of a different place and the ravine ends before reaching the place. We scouted the area but the place is a bit more troublesome due to the mist. Although we can't see much beyond the mist, the ground is stable and the ravine is nowhere to be found, allowing us to cross from it.
"Looks like we found our way out," I marked the map properly to ensure that we won't be lost.
"A-are you sure about this? This place is giving me some bad vibes and not only that but I can't see anything past the mist. What if there are much stronger enemies hiding there? What if we get lost?" Sora looked worried.
"Nothing to worry about, dear sister. With the walking mansion's height, perhaps we will even surpass the area of mist and walk over it in the process. We just needed a flat solid ground for the mansion to properly walk and seeing that the ravine ends here, it is fine," Akira shrugged.
I nodded and stood up after finishing the final sketch.
"Alright, let's head back. Let's report to Almira our findings."
The two nodded. Little did we know that we will be plunged into a little trouble that will allow us to get a vital clue about our ultimate destination.
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"A misty area huh? Have you guys gone deeper inside or you just went near the entrance?" Almira asked.
"We didn't want to get lost inside the mist so we didn't proceed further but we do know that the ravine ended there, which will allow us to safely travel to the other side without any complications. Besides, we can't use the other side of the ravine as well since that was the location where the village that was attacked by the demons was located," I explained.
"Hah...Alright fine. Since the legs of the walking mansion are much bigger and higher than usual, we should be fine. We can also try blowing off the mist if we find it annoying."
As a result, Almira directed the direction of the walking mansion towards the misty land area. We went outside, watching as we soon entered the misty area.
[You have discovered the Misty Land of Tall Trees]
Tall trees? I frowned as I don't see a single tree. The others also saw the name of the location so every one of us are looking at the surroundings and trying to locate the said tree.
The only problem is that... I don't see a single tree in the vicinity. Only the endless mist seems to extend beyond the area.
"Did the system just say "tall trees" as part of the place's name? But why does it feel like we don't have any way to see these trees?" Riko asked, seemingly confused as well.
"I am pretty sure I also saw what you just saw. But if that is the case, where are the trees that were being presented here?" Rika is also confused and is looking as well. Akira and Sora peered below to check if there were any trees present as we may have just passed them due to how tall the walking mansion's legs but there are no trees present as well.
"That's strange. Are our vision so clouded by the mist that the trees are practically invisible in our eyes then?" Mother speculated.
Just then, Almira came out from the underground tunnel and met up with all of us.
"Nope, the trees are not invisible. They are totally visible and anyone including those who don't have sixth sense can detect them without any problem. You guys just have not seen the trees. But perhaps you guys will see it now.
After a few whiles of walking, we soon realized why we couldn't see any trees in the vicinity. The trees are moving. Or more accurately say that they are currently walking under the cover of the mist. And it makes sense considering that everyone cannot even see any trees.
"The trees that were mentioned in the name of the place were not actually real trees. But like the description, they are pretty tall. And although they looked like trees, they are not made of wood and does not belong to the trees. They can mimic the trees but they are not going to replace the forest," Almira explained.
I soon realized what are these "trees" were. These are indeed not the normal trees but a monster called Treant. In this case, though, they are not the normal ones but the ones called Giant Treant. They are big tree-like monsters that mimic trees to lure in some wondering adventurers using their fruit-like tentacles they use to capture and kill unsuspecting prey.
"What the hell? Did we just walk into danger?" I ready myself and grab the Versatile Weapon's handle.
"Chill, my apprentice. Although they are treants, they don't consume humans. In fact, they are friendly treants," Almira grab my hand holding the Versatile Weapon, and calmed me down.
"But these are monsters, how can you say they are not dangerous at all?" I frowned.
"Because I have passed here a long time ago. Even Zena should be able to confirm this as well, right?" Almira then turned to look at Zena who was just standing at the back.
"Yes. These Treants are indeed not the same as the Treants you would normally fight. They don't eat humans and in fact, they act like real trees. I can testify as I have passed through here before when I was still on the run." These guys are not hostile so just like what Almira said, let's all calm down."
"If they are Treants, why are they moving away? It seems like they are running away."
Almira shrugged. "Of course, they will run away. With all of the ruckus, our mansion does while walking, they will also try to flee as well."
"Shouldn't we be not discovered at all by them due to the spell?" Mother immediately recalled.
"Normally, yes. But because these Treants are capable of seeing through lies and illusions, I doubt the spells can even cover our tracks. They are pretty sensitive to anything so it is useless. Which is why they are also present here in this mist."
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