Chapter 506 — Rebecca's Hunt
Blade of Dawn · Page 2 of 5
In all manner of stories, ancient forests shaped over hundreds and thousands of years are invariably fraught with peril, and the deeper one goes, the more so it becomes. In those regions untouched by human civilization lurk countless terrifying legends that parents use to frighten their children—bloodthirsty wolf-beasts, uncanny witches, trees that walk, and cruel hags. It seems every thing capable of striking dread into ordinary hearts dwells in the forest's depths, ever ready to devour anyone who enters.
The true depths of the forest were of course not so absurd and bizarre as the tales described, but there were indeed no few dangers here. Beneath the vast shadows cast by towering ancient trees, wild beasts and venomous insects were the principal inhabitants, and in certain more peculiar regions—near a magical focus, for instance—there even lurked monsters and spirit-creations that could give pause even to well-trained soldiers and knights.
So to move through such a place, one had to be exceedingly careful.
A warrior clad in black light armor trod over thick fallen leaves and dry branches to the observation point, pressed a hand to the side of his fully enclosed helmet, and adjusted the mode of his tactical goggles. A moment later, the warrior signaled to the comrades behind him: "Clear."
One after another, the black-armored warriors emerged from behind the undergrowth. Next came Su Jilin, likewise in light armor but bareheaded, and behind Su Jilin, ducking out after him, came Rebecca—clad in a short mage's robe suited for movement, an iron staff in hand.
"Ha—" Rebecca stepped up onto a rock protruding from the ground and, gazing at the situation in the distance, let out a breath. "I really have never been this deep before..."
Su Jilin glanced at the viscountess but did not remind her to mind her safety—when they had first entered the forest he had said once, "Mages have frail constitutions, so do not stray from the warriors' protection," but after witnessing the girl club a lunging forest wolf to death with a single swing, he had realized: the women of the Cecil family were indeed as formidable as they had been seven hundred years ago.
This girl, a mage by all appearances, once she donned mana armor, could probably outfight everyone present except himself...
"Stay alert, rotate the observers—shield-bearers, keep watch," Su Jilin instructed the subordinates beside him, then glanced down at the talisman in his hand—the surface of this magical item from his homeland was beginning to shimmer with a faint radiance, which meant the company was already very close to the forest's magical focus. In this position, the likelihood of encountering monsters would rise considerably.
Then he looked toward Rebecca—today's operation had been initiated by this young viscountess, and so the objective naturally had to follow her wishes.
"We are not far from the magical focus now, are we?" Rebecca hopped down from the rock and came to Su Jilin's side. "Whoa—your pendant is glowing!"
"Strictly speaking, we are already within the area of influence of the magical focus," Su Jilin nodded. "The monster you are looking for should be somewhere nearby."
"Mm, I heard it was in this area too..." Rebecca nodded, then sighed. "It really is better to be grown up... When I was small, my father and aunt never let me run deep into the forest..."
"The deep forest is dangerous; it is no place for children," Su Jilin said earnestly. "Even we silver elves do not permit our children to run freely into the forest's heart."
Rebecca pursed her lips and strode on ahead. "Anyway, back then my aunt spun me a whole pile of stories to frighten me, saying the forest hid this and that... witches, wizards, ghosts and goblins, fallen elves and mages, trees that could run and jump, bears bigger than houses, and so on..."