Chapter 48 – 047 Flood Damage
Hwanin and his party proceeded forward along the river for several days and saw that the width of the narrowed river widened again.
The heights of the left and right jungles were drastically lowered, and the ridges beyond the jungle began to be visible, and the overgrown thickets that seemed to refuse to step in were also disappearing and becoming a forest little by little.
= It’s a really strange forest. It became a jungle, then a forest, then a jungle again…….=
=Uncle Hegel said that there is also a labyrinth where lightning strikes every day. Wouldn’t this be normal?=
= Is that so……. Anyway, isn’t it very strange that many animals live? It’s really hard to see outside the village.=
=Because there are thick forests, many mountains, and abundant water. All around our village are yellow meadows. On the other side, there is only water.=
= That’s right. So, when I go back to my village, I tell the village chief’s grandfather and uncles to go hunting here…….=
After talking excitedly, Ini slammed Ennel’s back, let out a strange scream and twisted her body.
= Are you planning to kill everyone? Have you forgotten what we’ve been through here and what we’re going through?=
= Ugh……. It’s a bone, a bone…….=
=Then this time, I’ll be able to do it.=
Squash!
=Keeek! Hurt! Stop hitting!=
=Wasn’t that bullshit when you asked me to hit you?=
Squash!!
=Quaang!=
Ryuhi lets out a long sigh when he sees Huini desperately crouching to avoid getting hit, and Ennel grabbing Huini by the arm and hitting her back again.
= Those children are really…… I’m sorry. Eunin.=
“It’s okay. It’s nice that it’s not quiet.”
Hwanin listened to the sisters’ bickering with one ear and let it out with the other, looking at the reddish-brown ridge above the jungle.
‘It seems that when heavy rain falls in this area, the rainwater from the mountain merges with the river and overflows.’
In fact, rents were steadily rising. And the river did not consist of just one line.
Traces of the flood were left in many places, such as short, thin tributaries branching out to the left and right of the main stream like blood vessels and connected capillaries and then joining the main stream again.
That afternoon, the party who continued to advance could see a river that suddenly widened several times.
The width of the river alone is well over 100m. It is not even an estuary, but the large delta is wide enough to build a couple of sports fields, and trees and bushes are growing densely.
Finally, when he saw human lizards sunbathing crouching here and there in the delta, Hwanin was convinced.
“There must be Lake of Orzot out there.”
=How did you know?=
“I have seen a river that touches a lake in the jungle of the Labyrinth. Frog people and lizard people live in large numbers at the beginning of the river.”
Not a single one was seen in the other rivers. The fact that such things are gathered there means that the habitat is the beginning of the lake and the river that leads to it.
Moreover, food is plentiful here.
Unlike the place where it seemed to live by eating the heads of animals and green monsters that sometimes visit, here is overflowing with food just by looking at it.
On the other side of the river far away, a herd of antelope-like cows is drinking clear water, and on the other side of the river, animals that cannot be distinguished whether they are cheetahs or leopards (because they are far away) are gazing at the river while noticing their surroundings.
When you open your soul sight and look into the water, you can see fish the size of your forearm swimming in the slow current.
Not only that, but mysterious blue, purple, and silver fruits were growing around the river, and there were also a lot of grass roots with a light green color system on the ground.
This must be why so many beasts and monsters gather.
Watching a few disappear and reappear in a moment, and accepting the information provided by the surrounding geography and landscape, Hwanin opened his mouth as he looked over the river to the right, toward a low hill where a narrow tributary branched.
“I’ll have to find a place where the width narrows to cross the river.”
Although the current speed of the main stream creating the delta is slow, the width of the river is too wide and deep.
While crossing the river, if those lizard people attack, it is obvious that they will be helpless, so they cannot swim across the river.
While leading the women and walking down the tributary for about 2 km, Hwan-in encountered numerous animals.
A four-armed beast resembling a bear. Red bald eagle. From huge ones like brown elephants to gray hogs. A beast similar to a prairie dog. From okapis and tortoise-like reptiles to sand crocodiles.
Most of them were in large and small groups, so I was nervous whenever I encountered animals in Hwanindo.
A group of one or two can defeat them without damage, but the visible number is about 40 to 50, regardless of type.
If you attack and they all come at you…….
“…….”
Fortunately, carnivores and herbivores alike treat each other like stones on the roadside, drink only water, and disappear into the forest. The same was true of the newly appearing beast.
Sometimes, like a four-armed bear, there were growls and threats towards Hwanin’s party, but when Hwanin took out a spear and glared at it, he turned his head away as if it had never done that.
Hwanin furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of him blatantly avoiding a fight.
A similar thing happens with puddles in the African dry season. The animals who gathered to drink the scarce water would finish their errands and leave as if they had signed a peace treaty.
That’s for good reason.
Drinking water is the most important thing for survival.
Just because they are carnivores doesn’t mean they are superior to herbivores.
There are lions and crocodiles who lose their lives in the counterattack of angry bison, hippos, and elephants, and even leopards run away in surprise when an angry zebra rushes at them.
No matter how carnivorous it may be, if it forms a hunting ground using drinking water as a hostage, it may be attacked by dozens or hundreds of angry herbivores, and the same carnivores may check, suppress, or fight.
Furthermore, in the process of escalating into a big fight, even the puddles can be destroyed, so they implicitly do not fight or hunt near the puddles.
But this situation is different.
Clear and clean water overflowed and food was scattered in the forest. There is nothing that threatens life, so why is this environment created…….
‘…… It’s a threat to life.’
Feeling a bad feeling, Hwanin led the women across the shallow river and headed for the hill he had seen beforehand.
And the moment I reached the top of a hill about 80m high.
=Hee.=
=…… !=
= Ah….=
Across the hill, our eyes met the turtle carrying a small mountain on its back.
On the outside, it had a gentle appearance and did not feel any threat or hostility, but it was probably because it was so huge. The women let out a short groan as their legs loosened and they sat down.
Hwanin’s heart was pounding too.
A turtle as big as an aircraft carrier. Such a monster…… No, what kind of power does a monster that would be rude to say a monster have?
Since it seems to defy the laws of physics itself, it must be terribly strong.
The mountain turtle, whose face was full of wrinkles, looked at Hwanin and the others for a while, then slowly turned his head.
Hot…….
Surprisingly, that small movement makes a noise like a tree falling.
“I guess there was no fight in the vicinity because of that creature.”
= Three, my God. We are like that…… See you first…….=
“Have you seen Allzot?”
= You can only see Seongsu from a very far distance, smaller than a fingertip? =
The gaze of the mountain turtle turns around, and the women come to their senses and stand up from their seats, exclaiming in exclamations. It’s hard to take your eyes off the mountain turtle.
=Is that person a holy water too?=
= When a witch sees a person, they say that he will try to kill him unconditionally. So you must be holy. It looks gentle too.=
‘…… So, is the blue flame tiger also a holy water type?’
Hwanin, who was examining a mountain turtle whose shell itself looked like a mountain, suddenly realized that it had no transparent aura.
“Efnis. That mountain turtle doesn’t have an aura. Doesn’t the Holy Beast awaken?”
= Yes? Uh, I heard the peddlers say that awakening is only for humans, human-like beasts, and monsters.=
‘The blade boar’s soul was covered in an aura…….’
Because she is a country girl, the knowledge she has may not be accurate. Seeing that, Hwanin looked around him and turned his gaze away from the living turtle.
Then, on the other side of the mountain turtle, I found a terrain that looked like a noticeable mark.
“Ryuhi. Look at the back of the mountain turtle.”
= Yes? Um~.=
“Isn’t that a yellow bald mountain?”
= Oh, wait a minute. I can’t see it here.=
Ryuhi, who moved to the side of Hwanin, opened his eyes wide as soon as he saw where Hwanin pointed.
= That’s right! It’s that mountain! What I saw is that mountain!=
= Really!? Wow!=
The women’s attention, which had been directed to the mountain turtle, was immediately turned to the yellow bald mountain, and they were very excited.
They embraced each other and jumped and wiped away their tears.
Of course. I thought I would die in the forest without moving, but now I see the road home in front of my eyes. It’s weird not being excited.
“But a mountain turtle is blocking the way. I will have to turn around, so it will take longer.”
The Mountain Turtle was located in the middle of the forest on the way to Bald Mountain. And to the left and right of the mountain turtle, there were several hills that looked like the group of people standing on top of each other.
It looks like a 25-ton truck has blocked the road in a narrow alley.
It would take many times longer to get there, but even then it would be unwise to pass by such a gigantic creature.
Even if it’s a holy beast, since it’s still an animal, if something small passes by, it might instinctively step on it.
Furthermore.
“There may be a follower of the Mountain Turtle in the vicinity, so I will return far away.”
I told him that we might have to go twice, maybe even three times more than going straight to Yellow Bald Mountain, but the women didn’t care.
He just looked at Hwanin with sparkling eyes, saying that he believed and followed him as he had been doing up to this point.
“…….”
Hwanin, who was staring at the women, looked up at the sky and whistled.
Pretty much!
The emergency rations, which seemed to have doubled in weight compared to when they first met, landed on his forearm.
I asked, feeling the heavy weight.
“Emergency food. Are there any flying animals around?”
Quack!
“Then what about the wild beasts?”
Quack-Quack-Quack-Quack!!
“Okay. Good job.”
After stroking the head of the emergency ration, Hwanin took out a ladybug-like insect from his pocket, fed it to the emergency ration, and sent it flying back into the sky.
“They say there are no flying animals, only wild animals. Let’s move carefully, focusing on the hills.”
There are few signs of beasts or animals on the jagged ridgeline, like the body of a woman lying on her side. That must mean they hide a lot on the left and right of the hill or in the forest between them.
Moving along the ridge will reduce the number of encounters with the beast.
It was by no means an exaggeration to say that emergency rations had many wild animals.
Every time I passed through the forest between ridges and ridges with a width of about 100m to 400m, I fought against three or four beasts and more than ten beasts.
In particular, when encountering more than 20 wild dogs, Hwanin thought that one of the women would die.
=Unni, hurry up!=
= Oh no… !=
= Just! Just hanging on a tree branch! Oops!=
=Kyaaak!=
Huini’s base was able to pass the crisis situation.
After throwing Ryuhi and Epnis up the tree, Huini and Ennel quickly climbed up the tree to keep the wild dog from jumping.
Hwanin, who drew solid silver lines to the left and right to keep the wolf-like wild dogs from approaching, created two triple soul shields and floated them behind his back as soon as the women were safe.
Ever since he saw the spirit, Hwanin didn’t spare soul beads.
When the beast opened its mouth and rushed at it, it shattered its head with two stacked soul explosions, and when it aimed for the neck and jumped in, it split its muzzle with a spear or slashed it away with the side of the spear blade.
If I was pushed by numbers and attacked from behind and the soul shield was about to break, I immediately recast the soul shield and secured the soul orb at the right time.
In particular, the soul shield played a big role in one-vs-many battles.
The soul shield that moves according to Hwanin’s will was no different from giving Hwanin two arms to fight by reading the muscle movements of beasts and counterattacking them.
It took 3 stacks to barely block 1 attack, but even that much was enough to split the skull of a struggling beast blocked by an invisible shield with a stone axe.
Thanks to this, Hwanin was able to put more than ten beasts out of action without overdoing it.
Kreurreung.
Growl
“…….”
The wild dogs ran away leaving a short growl at the sight of nearly half of the pack lying on the ground struggling or moaning.
If I was alone, I would have chased it because of the aftereffects, but there are Huini and Ennel, who have a keen sense of hearing and smell.
Whoop- Whoop-
Crack! Kkeek!
Hwanin, who had cut off the breath of a wild dog that was still alive, looked with satisfaction at the translucent gray board visible only to him.
‘He’s excellent at blocking his back.’
It does not fall more than 1m away from the body and has poor durability, but the advantage of moving at will overcomes other disadvantages.
If you spread just one sheet, it’s a little better than paper, but if you spread three layers, it was enough to block it at least once, so there was no skill like this to leave behind.
“Come down. We will move quickly.”
Hwanin, who sensed signs of beasts gathering around him, took the women and quickly left the area where the smell of blood swayed.
After that, whenever they were attacked in the forest, the women took refuge in the trees, and Hwanin slaughtered the animals using all available techniques.
Thanks to that, the consumption of Hungi increased rapidly, and the remaining amount of Hungi dropped to 30% every time it passed through the forest, so it was necessary to rest and move at the same time.
It wasn’t just hard labor.
Through numerous battles, the number of Soul Orbs increased by 2 to a total of 14, and moreover, when you focus your mind while resting, you can receive a little more warmth and coolness through your palms.
‘The amount of heat and cold is also steadily increasing.’
When I first got superpowers, I had to fall into the cold after using Soul Explosion about 12 times. But now I’m fine even after using number 26.
Of course, if you use the lowest class soul orb. If you use a low-level or low-level soul orb, the number of times you use the skill is further reduced.
It wasn’t just this. Changes have also occurred in emergency food.
It was while I was on my watch on a hill when I was attacked by five man-sized owlbaers.
The beast, with the head of an owl and the body of a bear, covered in blunt feathers, silently attacked the camp, but Huini noticed the attack in advance and woke Hwanin, so there was no damage.
The change happened then. The emergency rations he had been avoiding with the women suddenly grew in size by nearly twice as much as the light was scattered on them.
Kww!
= Oh. Did you grow emergency food?=
Quack? Cackle!
=To grow this much at once…… As expected, the green color is different from the normal color no matter what.=
“…….”
Hwanin was quite shocked when he witnessed in real time that the emergency rations, which had been the size of a hen, grew to the size of a goose in an instant.
It was easy to accept because I had been constantly exposed to things about the soul through gossip on Earth, but that’s not the case.
The increase in volume and mass in an instant is a phenomenon that shakes the fundamentals of the laws of physics.
Doesn’t it make sense? That it doubles in size in just a few breaths.
Queek.
Hwanin, who heard the emergency rations, whose cries were a bit sharp as if he had gone through a puberty, compromised halfway and accepted it as reality.
‘The volume has increased, but the mass remains the same.’
It is common for crustaceans to grow at once after gaining weight for a long time.
It was Hwanin who tried to convince himself that the phenomenon that happened to emergency food was a kind of escape.
