Chapter 61

# Chapter 61: <Just Flip It>

Kale ignored the uncertain looks Witira and Paseon gave him, knowing they would soon realize the true abilities of On and Hong.

"Let's go."

At Kale's words, the black dragon took off toward the stone wall, and Kale's body floated up to follow. Naturally, On and Hong were cradled in Kale's arms as they ascended the stone wall.

"Paseon."

At Witira's call, Paseon nodded, and the whale siblings took a slight step forward. They began to climb the stone wall at an incredibly fast speed. With each step, moisture appeared and then evaporated.

Swish.

Climbing the stone wall at a rapid pace, Kale soon reached the top.

"Wow."

Hong's voice of admiration echoed.

The Dark Forest. The vast expanse of nature lay before the group.

It was the second-largest area among the Five Great Wonders, located in the northeastern part of the Louen Kingdom, stretching in an oval shape to the eastern coastline. It was as large as two or three average territories. Despite this, the Louen Kingdom had tried to claim this land but no one could dominate it.

'Maybe a dragon or Chuihan could.'

"It's huge."

Kale spoke calmly, confirming the stone mountain rising in the center of the forest.

Contrary to its name, the Dark Forest was not dark. The forest's scenery, gradually brightening with dawn, was enough to make one's heart feel open and free.

"I'm going down."

"Alright."

The black dragon slowly lowered Kale and the cats to the ground. The whale siblings were already on the ground.

Crunch. Kale lightly stepped onto the ground, and the grass under his shoes crumpled with a sound.

"Witira, didn't you say the Dark Forest is divided into two areas?"

Kale nodded at Witira's words and set On and Hong down. He opened his magic pouch and spoke.

"It's divided into the outer and inner areas."

This vast forest was divided into two stages. The first stage was the outer area, which was not very dangerous. There were few mutated monsters, and most were small to medium-sized. However, the second stage, the inner area centered around the stone mountain, was quite dangerous.

'Chuihan only managed to freely navigate the second stage after several decades.'

To freely navigate meant there were no enemies. Of course, such worries didn't apply to Kale's group.

"The swamp we're heading to is at the boundary between the outer and inner areas, so it's not that dangerous."

The outer area was wide in circumference, but if you moved in a straight line, it wasn't a long distance. The inner area, on the other hand, was much larger, extending in a long oval shape.

"I plan to avoid monsters as much as possible, but I won't go out of my way to do so."

At the idea of not avoiding monsters, the whale siblings smiled confidently. They weren't afraid, as they were not facing a dragon and were the rulers of the sea.

"Releasing the spell."

As the black dragon spoke, the appearance-altering spell on the whale siblings was released. Witira smiled brightly.

"Feels refreshing. I didn't realize it was a bit suffocating. Thank you, Dragon-sama."

"Thank you, Dragon-sama."

At the warm greetings from Witira and Paseon, the black dragon flapped its wings unnecessarily and approached Kale. Its expression was peculiar.

"However, the mana here is dark."

"Dark?"

Kale asked, and the black dragon nodded, looking around the forest.

"And it smells."

"What kind of smell?"

"A familiar smell. I don't know."

Familiar but unknown? Kale looked at the black dragon with a puzzled expression, but the dragon turned its head and continued calmly.

"It's not a dangerous smell, just a very old one."

Do dragons have an incredible sense of smell? Kale was curious but couldn't dwell on it for long.

"What do we do now? How do we get to the swamp?"

Witira saw Kale pull out a piece of paper from his magic pouch and unfold it.

"...A map?"

The map was a map, but it was quite rough. However, there were rough divisions based on the four cardinal directions, centered around the stone mountain.

"That's right. It's a map."

Kale drew a rough map based on the content of 'The Birth of a Hero.'

<Chuihan decided to gradually expand his territory from the stone mountain. He started with the north to understand the four cardinal directions.>

<...Finally, Chuihan understood the inner terrain and began to explore the outer area.>

<...Chuihan shed tears at the sight of the massive stone wall. The last part of the southern outer area, where people lived. It took him a long time to get here.>

"But it's not certain. We need to explore and understand it ourselves."

Kale spoke to Witira and Paseon, who were looking at him.

"So, lead the way."

The black dragon was already flapping its wings behind Kale, looking at the whale siblings. Witira smiled and extended her hand to Kale. Kale pulled out a water bottle from his magic pouch and handed it to her.

Witira drank it and immediately extended her hand.

Swish. A whip about three meters long appeared. She lightly flicked it and wrapped it around her arm. Then she playfully said to the group.

"I'll safely guide you to our destination."

Kale felt very secure. The humpback whale, a royal who could easily handle even the orcas, the tyrants of the sea, was indeed different.

However, he didn't intend to follow her words. Without saying anything, he pointed to the entrance of the Dark Forest.

"Let's go."

Kale entered the Dark Forest.

The forest was not noisy, but various sounds echoed. Insect sounds, the distant roars of monsters, or the sounds of animals and birds chirping.

"Isn't a dangerous place usually quiet?"

Paseon asked Kale while cutting through the bushes with a knife.

"That's only when there's a single dominant force."

The Dark Forest had no dominant force. It was just a cycle of eating and being eaten.

"Be careful with your shoes. Don't expose any skin."

"Understood."

Paseon looked at the cloth he had added between his shoes and the bottom of his pants, then at Kale. Kale's magic pouch was truly magical, producing all sorts of items, all of which were necessary.

'You need to be careful of your ankles here. Insects are scary. If bitten, you might be poisoned.'

Paseon recalled Kale's words and wondered how he knew such things. But he couldn't easily ask, as Kale was very busy.

"Look ahead."

"Ah, yes!"

At Kale's indifferent voice, Paseon quickly looked ahead and followed his sister Witira, cutting through the bushes. They were currently passing through a short bush area that reached their waists.

Kale's hand was constantly recording new information on the map.

'It seems pointless, but...'

Kale wondered if he really needed to make a map of the Dark Forest. He wasn't planning to conquer it, after all. But his intuition told him there would be a way to sell it.

When doing work, Kale's style was to be thorough and prepare for potential money-making opportunities.

"The bush area is almost over."

"The next area is the small monster zone."

At Kale's words, Witira nodded and casually swung her whip. The group composition didn't require tension. Perhaps because of this, Wit