Shifting Terrain

Several days later, one morning, birds chirped merrily.

The weather was clear. Sunlight streamed through gaps in the leaves, piercing the thin mist drifting through the woods and spilling across the ground.

Boy and Zi Di stood side by side, gazing at the mountain cave with complicated expressions.

Boy had golden hair, fair skin, and a sturdy build. Wearing chainmail, he looked alert and full of spirit.

Zi Di wore a purple hooded robe, with some of her black curls spilling from beneath the hood. She had wheat-colored skin and lovely features, while her violet eyes were especially eye-catching, sparkling like gems.

They were Zhen Jin and Zi Di.

Several days ago, they had fled here while being pursued by a swarm of Fire Poison Bees.

After a desperate fight that had nearly killed them, they had luckily kept their lives.

Afterward, they treated their wounds and rested in the mountain cave. It became a temporary, safe camp that allowed them to catch their breath.

Yet although the mountain cave was warm, it was not home.

"Let's go." After one last look at the mountain cave, Zhen Jin turned first and headed toward the woods.

Zi Di followed close behind.

Unlike when they had fled here before, both of them now carried large packs on their backs.

The packs held large quantities of animal bones, dried meat, and ore.

There were also several long spears and short spears.

Zhen Jin's original longsword had been lost beside the campfire. His only dagger had snapped against the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear's sharp skull when he stabbed it.

So over the past few days, Zi Di and Zhen Jin had worked together to make several long spears and short spears.

The long spears were roughly 1.8 meters long, while the short spears were around 1.5 meters. The long spears were meant for wielding, and the short spears for throwing. Their shafts were made from wood gathered near the mountain cave. These trees resembled ironwood, their material as hard as iron.

It would have been difficult for Zhen Jin alone to carve and shape these war spears. Zi Di's Corrosion Potion had played a tremendous role.

Compared to real steel swords and blades, these war spears were of little value. Neither their toughness nor sharpness could compare to blades.

But they had no choice.

Zhen Jin was badly lacking in weapons. The only intact dagger was in Zi Di's hands.

Before setting out, Zi Di had wanted to give the little dagger to Zhen Jin, but he refused. Her dagger was somewhat special, meant for handling materials. Zi Di needed it when preparing potions.

At the same time, if she found herself in danger, Zi Di could draw it to defend herself.

Out in the wilderness, no matter how much Zhen Jin wanted to, he could not protect her completely and flawlessly. Therefore, Zi Di needed some ability to protect herself.

Besides, a short dagger would not be much help to Zhen Jin.

Come to think of it, the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear's claws could have served as weapons. But strangely, after the bear died, its claws rapidly crumbled away, turning into something like charcoal ash.

They lacked not only weapons, but armor as well.

Zi Di wore an apprentice's robe that possessed only weak magical defensive power. Against the bites and charges of fierce beasts, its protection was deeply worrying.

Zhen Jin's pair of armguards had already been discarded. They had played their final defensive role in the fight against the Monkey-Tailed Brown Bear. Without them, Zhen Jin's forearms might have been smashed to pieces.

In short, the armguards had been badly warped. One had nearly split apart entirely and could only be reforged in a furnace.

Zhen Jin also lacked a helmet. The chainmail covering his upper body was his only comfort.

Zhen Jin took the lead, scouting ahead.

Zi Di brought up the rear.

The two gradually entered the forest.

Their first objective was to find the campsite where they had encountered the swarm of Fire Poison Bees.

This had been carefully considered.

Zhen Jin's longsword had been left there. Although it was awkward to use, it still possessed irreplaceable value.

More importantly, only by returning to the campsite could Zi Di retrace the route she had previously taken while leading the guards on their exploration and search-and-rescue mission.

There were several temporary camps along that route, each hiding a small amount of supplies.

Thanks to the stores Zhen Jin and Zi Di had worked hard to accumulate, they had plenty of food at the moment, but little water.

During the journey since Zhen Jin's Awakening, aside from finding several water skins, they had not had any opportunity to obtain drinkable water.

They had crossed rivers, but terrible Python Vines lurked in the water. Drawing water was too risky.

There was even less water around the mountain cave.

The dwindling water in their water skins was also one of the main reasons urging Boy and Zi Di to leave the mountain cave.

The trees stood tall and straight. Zi Di noticed that the deeper they went into the forest, the taller and thicker the trees became. Some were even fifty or sixty meters high, practically shooting into the sky.

Sunlight no longer shone down in pillars here. Within the dense white mist deep in the forest, it weakened and diffused in every direction.

The mist was also filled with the fresh scent of vegetation, while flocks of birds flew among the treetops. Occasionally, woodpeckers could be seen perched on trunks at least three meters above the ground. The sound of their beaks striking wood only made the forest seem more tranquil.

Before long, the two had gone deep into the forest, surrounded by trees in every direction.

Zhen Jin and Zi Di stopped and began leaving marks.

Zi Di carved marks into the tree trunks near the ground with her dagger. Zhen Jin took out a piece of animal hide and used charcoal as a pen to draw a map on it.

They did this to avoid getting lost.

It was very easy to get lost in a forest, since all the trees looked alike. Elves had extraordinary talent in this regard. It was said that no young elf would ever become lost in a forest. To elves, the forest was like home.

The consequences of getting lost were severe. The wilderness was not friendly to humans, so getting lost in a forest often marked the beginning of death.

Zhen Jin carefully put away the animal hide and charcoal pen.

This was already the fourteenth time he had drawn the map.

A small patch of rough black markings had appeared at the very center of the animal hide.

When Zhen Jin set off again, a faintly hesitant expression appeared on his face.

After walking so long, by all reason he should have found traces of the route he had once taken while carrying Zi Di as he fled.

But he had not.

The surrounding environment was full of natural vitality, without the slightest trace of disturbance.

Zhen Jin kept recalling what had happened. At the time, he had run wildly through the night while carrying Zi Di. Though the situation had been urgent and he had not paid much attention, he had not felt that it took long to find the mountain cave.

Judging by the time and speed, he could not have run very far. The campsite should have been nearby.

"Let's go this way." Zhen Jin continued clearing the way ahead.

He chose to head left.

His strategy was conservative and cautious. Using the mountain cave as the center, he searched for any possible traces. The advantage was obvious: nothing would be overlooked.

By noon, the sunlight had clearly grown hotter, and the thin mist among the trees gradually dispersed.

Visibility had improved greatly, but Boy's expression became increasingly grim.

He examined the map in his hand. Every so often, he had recorded their position in the forest. The marks on the map had now formed a large circle around the mountain cave.

Despite such a dense search, they still had not found even the tiniest trace!

"There's something very wrong with this place!" Zi Di said in alarm. "This forest is far too vast."

The place they had traveled through before had clearly been rainforest terrain. The air was humid and stifling, low shrubs covered the forest floor, and countless vines tangled densely together.

But this area was forest terrain.

Though there were trees in both places, the trees here were very straight, with few vines. There were also far fewer shrubs and ferns than in the rainforest.

Zhen Jin had naturally noticed this as well.

At first, he had assumed this forest was small because it lay near the mountain cave, where unusual scorching mineral veins had created terrain entirely different from the surrounding area.

But this forest was far too extensive, vastly exceeding Boy and Zi Di's estimates.

According to the sailing route, rainforest terrain should have been normal for the island. Moreover, Zhen Jin clearly remembered that during the first half of their flight that night, they had also been surrounded by dense rainforest.

The beast that had seemed to be a black panther had leapt down from the branch of a tree that was unmistakably part of the rainforest.

But soon after, Zi Di had discovered the mountain cave and warned him.

"Once I found the mountain cave, I immediately changed the direction I was running. At that point, I should have passed from the rainforest into the forest." Zhen Jin was certain his memory was not wrong.

He had compared his memories with Zi Di's as well.

Based on their memories, the forest should have occupied only a small area, surrounded by vast rainforest terrain. Yet after a morning of exploration, the bizarre facts stood before them, leaving them unable to make sense of it.

"It seems this island is highly strange! Not only do fierce beasts appear endlessly, their species bizarre as though pieced together, but the plants are also dangerous, and the terrain may even undergo strange changes." As Zi Di spoke, a black shadow suddenly swooped down from the towering canopy.

The shadow was slender and incredibly fast, slicing through the air with a sharp whoosh.

But Zhen Jin was even faster.

In an instant, his long spear thrust forward!

The shadow's momentum came to an abrupt stop. Its thick, short neck was pierced by the spearpoint, leaving it hanging from the spear.

It was a strange bird.

It was about the size of an adult's fist and covered in a layer of black feathers. The feathers were extremely hard, as though made of iron. Their weight had robbed the bird of flight, but at the same time had developed its powerful muscles.

This kind of bird usually lurked in the trees. When it spotted an animal moving through the woods, it would leap down, using its legs and wings to accelerate with all its strength, cleverly making use of gravity to peck through the animal's skull in a single strike.

After the animal died, they would feed on its brain matter, blood, and eyeballs before finally eating the flesh.

After encountering them several times, Zi Di had named them Iron Feather Birds.

The Iron Feather Bird was almost entirely without weaknesses. Only one place was vulnerable: the neck beneath its head. The feathers there were very fine and dense, offering the weakest defense.

At that moment, Zhen Jin's spearpoint had accurately pierced the Iron Feather Bird's neck.

It was a Fatal Strike.

Very soon, the struggling Iron Feather Bird stopped moving.

Zhen Jin aimed the long spear at the ground and drove it down forcefully, pinning the Iron Feather Bird's corpse in place.

Zi Di stepped forward, took out her dagger, and began dissecting it. Iron feathers were extremely hard and excellent materials. In addition, Zi Di collected some of the bird's blood.

As for the Iron Feather Bird's flesh, there was not much of it, and it was of little value. Zi Di discarded it without hesitation.

While Zi Di gathered materials, Zhen Jin stood guard beside her with a short spear in hand, watching out for attacks from other fierce beasts.

The first time he encountered an Iron Feather Bird, Boy had been somewhat flustered.

He first swept the Iron Feather Bird onto the ground with his long spear. Though it could not fly, it ran very quickly on the ground. Zhen Jin threw three short spears in succession before slowing it down. Finally, Zhen Jin used his long spear to forcefully pierce its belly—destroying the spearpoint in the process.

But now, Zhen Jin's techniques had become increasingly practiced.

He discovered that an Iron Feather Bird was most threatening when swooping down from a tree, but that also exposed its neck in the air, making it most vulnerable.

With that discovery, Iron Feather Birds no longer posed a threat. Each one became a contribution instead.

Besides Iron Feather Birds, there were many other dangers in the forest.

Venomous vipers often hid among fallen trunks and rotting leaves.

Even motionless plants could not be approached carelessly.

For example, a kind of inconspicuous moss poisoned Zhen Jin when his skin accidentally touched it!

Green spots began growing on Zhen Jin's face. The spots were round, small, and completely painless. After Zi Di discovered them, she immediately gave Zhen Jin an antidote potion, but it could only ease the poison, not cure it.

The two had no choice but to search quickly and find the culprit. After roughly preparing the moss and adding it to the antidote potion, Zi Di finally eradicated the poison from Zhen Jin's body.

All kinds of hidden dangers greatly hindered Boy and Zi Di's progress in exploring.

Zhen Jin looked up at the darkening sky and had no choice but to make a helpless decision. "We'll return to the mountain cave and rest."