Chapter 81

Salaris, who had agreed to be their guide, seemed to be a rather quiet woman. After the initial greetings, she hardly spoke, only shaking her head in response. Now, without a word, she pointed towards the wilderness, indicating to the group, who were ready to depart, that they had to choose a direction.

"Right, there are supposed to be three paths, right?"

"I can't see any paths. Sora, are your eyes okay?"

"No, when I say 'paths,' I don't mean like in the city. Uh, how should I put it?"

"Whoever walks, that becomes the path, Muu."

"Oh, Tou, that sounds cool!"

Muu, who had been untied from the swirled cloth and given a sand-blocking hat with a brim, leaped at Tou with shining, cat-like purple eyes.

"Hey, is this fine? That's not fair!"

Sora, who had skillfully tied her hair with a white cloth, mimicked the child and clung to the other arm.

Tou, with both of them hanging from his sides, faced east with the sun at his back.

As Sora had said, there were three routes through this wilderness:

The northern route, filled with strange rocks shaped by the wind.

The southern route, which passed through several canyons that split the earth.

And the eastern route, which went straight through the wilderness.

The northern and southern routes were longer, taking an average of one and a half days to reach the depths of the wilderness. However, the shorter eastern route could be completed in less than a day. From there, it would take one to two days to search for a dungeon in the depths and one day to return, making a total of four days the ideal journey.

It was said that the maximum stay in the wilderness for a D-rank adventurer was four to five days. The constant strong winds and monsters that attacked from the terrain made long explorations, while carrying food and tents, exhausting both physically and mentally. In the past, many parties had overexerted themselves and disappeared, leading to the current rule that explorations with a guide could only last four days.

Additionally, the carriages used for transportation were only available for four days due to booking constraints. The driver's food and the horses' fodder were only stocked for that duration, and they would return promptly if the time limit was exceeded. Thus, even if a party managed to return late, they might find no carriage to take them back.

This time, the central route that Tou chose was the shortest but also the most difficult.

After about two hours of walking, the group fully realized the meaning of this.

"Which way are we heading now?"

"Tou, Muu's eyes are spinning too much. I need to be carried soon, or it'll be too late."

"Here, grab on. Are you okay, Yuril?"

"Yes... I think I can still walk. This wind... it's stronger than I expected."

Indeed, the wind was troublesome, but it wasn't so strong as to hinder walking significantly. The problem was its direction. It would blow from the front, then suddenly change to a side wind, causing one to stumble, and then push from behind, changing direction erratically. Tou, who was supposed to be at the front to shield the wind, found this approach ineffective. Muu, being light, was being tossed around by the wind, and the sand it carried had already turned everyone's bodies white.

"My eyes feel gritty, Tou."

"Hehe, Sora's face is all white."

Muu's long eyelashes were also covered in white sand. The girls and the child looked at each other and giggled.

"I heard the wind in the central route is irregular, but it's even worse than expected. And there's a lot of sand."

The wind in the wilderness, strangely, did not blow outwards. Instead, the white sand it carried seemed to gather in the center. Indeed, their feet were gradually sinking into the sand.

The irregular wind, the unclear vision, and the unstable footing made it difficult to move forward. A new obstacle was about to appear. Salaris, who had been silently following at the back, suddenly spoke up.

"Be careful soon—"

"Tou, it's there."

Muu, who had been flying a purple snake in the air, pointed to the ground in front of them. Tou, who had put the child down, silently drew his sword and nodded to Sora. The girl nodded back, and he approached the spot that looked like just ground to the naked eye.

The moment his leather boots touched the soft sand, something shot up from beneath. A white, rod-like object reached Tou's waist in an instant and then stopped. Or rather, it was stopped. Though it moved faster than the human eye could see, the girl's magic technique had caught the surprise attack from beneath the sand.

—<Fix>.

What had emerged from the sand was a monster's head, as large as an adult's torso. Its face, covered in rough, white protrusions, looked like a cluster of rocks. The cluster opened up in the middle, revealing a row of conical protrusions along the edges. The long neck, smooth and covered in fine scales, contrasted with the rock-like head.

The monster, with its face fixed in mid-air, writhed. Its long neck, which had been extended, suddenly retracted, pulling its body from the sand.

Tou, however, was not the type to let this go. He moved around the sand smoothly, and his iron sword flashed repeatedly.

The monster's neck, which had been struck multiple times in the same spot, was nearly severed. The weight of its body caused the flesh and skin to tear with a ripping sound. The severed body then kicked up more sand, and the head, no longer held by <Fix>, fell to the ground.

"Good job, Sora, Muu."

"Muu is a good boy who follows Tou's instructions."

"Hehe, but it was faster than I thought."

Before departure, Tou had asked Muu to use <Electroprobe> every fifteen minutes to search the surroundings. Tou, who had confirmed the monster's head was motionless by tapping it with his sword, examined the monster's face closely.

The large mouth could easily swallow an adult's limbs. The teeth were not particularly sharp, but the biting force was likely considerable. When he tried to cut the rock-like skin with a dissection knife, it didn't penetrate at all. Even with the iron sword, which had been sharpened to its maximum, it barely cut through. The skin was incredibly tough. Moreover, there were no visible weak points like eyes, which might have degenerated due to the monster's habit of hiding in the sand.

"Wow, the Rock Lizard is so big."

"That's what was hiding under the sand. It's surprising."

Sora and the others, seemingly reassured, came closer to examine the body buried in the sand. As the sand was blown away by the wind, the entire body was revealed.

Including the tail, it was easily longer than Tou's height. However, it was not very thick and had a flat body.

The most interesting feature was its neck structure. It could fold and store in the body and extend only when attacking prey. The neck was covered in small scales, which felt different from the rest of the body.

"We can only use the neck skin. The body is too heavy to carry, so we'll leave it."

"What? It's meat, Tou!"

"It's meat, Tou!"

Amid the strong wind, the two, who were about to dance with the meat, protested in unison. Yuril's calm voice then sounded, trying to calm them down.

"Rock Lizard meat is said to be tough and hard to eat. Besides, we still have plenty of food."

"Right. The campsite for tonight is a bit further, isn't it?"

"......Yes, at this pace, it will take about an hour."

The guide, who had been asked suddenly, hesitated for a moment before answering. They had set off in the middle of the afternoon, and the sun was already starting to set.

"Then let's collect the neck skin and tail before moving on. Muu, use <Electroprobe> every ten minutes."

"Understood!"

The Rock Lizard's tail was proof of the kill. Tou, who had secretly used <Restore> to reattach the severed skin, quickly peeled it off with a knife. Despite being very slippery, the neck was the only part where the blade could penetrate, so the work was not too difficult.

Salaris, watching Tou's back, was deeply perplexed. The scene that had just unfolded was too extraordinary.

A Rock Lizard's surprise attack from the sand is something even a C-rank adventurer, who is used to it, can barely avoid. Tou's agility had been evident, but even so, it would have been challenging for a first encounter. She had expected a tough battle and a retreat. However, the outcome was far beyond her expectations.

The magic technique that suddenly stopped the monster in mid-air was something Salaris had never seen or heard of. Moreover, the Rock Lizard's neck skin, though a weak point, was extremely slippery and difficult to cut. Yet, Tou had sliced it in half in an instant. The sharpness of his sword, which was not a martial skill but a simple sword technique, was unprecedented in Salaris's memory.

Furthermore, what surprised her the most was that Rock Lizards are not easily detected by <Electroprobe>. They usually sleep in the sand, with their life activities almost at a standstill. They wake up to the sound of prey, so <Electroprobe> can only detect their approximate location. Yet, the child had clearly pointed out where it was hiding.

Salaris had known parties that overconfidently used <Electroprobe> and suffered for it. This time, it was a child, but her assumptions were quickly proven wrong.

What Salaris didn't know was that the effectiveness of <Electroprobe> is greatly influenced by the user's abilities. The more sensitive a person is, the more they can detect even the smallest signals.

The young child in front of her had shared senses with adults for nearly two months. Tou's ability to instantly grasp key points with his gaze, Sora's exceptional dynamic and deep vision, and Yuril's species-specific acute hearing, all amplified by <Thunderneedle>, had honed Muu's senses to a level beyond that of a normal person. However, no one, including Muu, had realized this.

The party, having easily taken down the first Rock Lizard, began to move forward again, defying the wind. Salaris watched their backs intently.