Leaving the Deep Forest

"Uncle John, look. Is that a Magic Beast?"

"Shh... Keep your voice down."

On the seventh day of being lost in the Deep Forest, the two of them, one big and one small, were filthy from head to toe, like beggars. They still had enough food, but drinking water was running low, so they could only collect rainwater to quench their thirst. Fortunately, there was no industrial pollution or anything like that in this other world. The rainwater was not as tasty as the water from the Fluorescent River, but at least it was not poisonous and could satisfy their thirst.

For seven days, the sky had been overcast, with occasional light rain. It simply would not clear up, refusing to let the adventurers find the right direction in the Deep Forest.

Parr recalled the widely known methods of determining direction from his previous life, such as looking at tree rings or leaves, but none of them worked. Who knew what kind of environment this other world had? The trees here had rings, but damn it, those rings were incredibly regular—perfect concentric circles, one after another.

The leaves were the same. No matter which direction he looked, they were equally dense, making it impossible to tell anything.

With no other choice, they could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive. After fiddling with it for a long time, John had more or less repaired the Compass.

Why more or less? Because John himself was not sure whether the Compass was pointing south, but the needle inside kept pointing in one direction.

At least this meant that Parr and John could keep walking in a straight line. They no longer had to worry about circling around in the Deep Forest until the end of time.

On the seventh day, the pair finally saw hope of leaving the Deep Forest, because the trees around them were beginning to thin out. Just then, Parr caught a flash of blazing red from the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a Big Head Tiger lying in the grass not far away, with fiery red fur and black stripes.

The Big Head Tiger was gnawing on the corpse of some unidentifiable animal, eating with great relish. Its tail, tipped with a small flickering flame, swayed back and forth, showing just how pleased it was.

"Uncle John, look. Is that a Magic Beast?"

Parr tugged at John's clothes, only to see John turn and make a silencing gesture.

"Shh... Keep your voice down."

John then pulled Parr to his side, farther away from the Big Head Tiger. Keeping his eyes on the tiger, he tugged Parr away from the area.

Only after they had left that area did John let out a sigh of relief. Facing Parr's skeptical look that seemed to ask, Can't you beat that Big Head Tiger? John pressed a hand onto Parr's little head and ruffled his already messy, greasy black short hair.

"Little guy, it's not that I can't beat that Big Head Tiger. It's that there was no need to. I could tell our strengths were about equal. If we fought, both sides would definitely suffer losses. We're still in the dangerous part of the Deep Forest, and other Magic Beasts could easily take advantage of us. Then we'd both die. That's why adventurers shouldn't fight Magic Beasts in the wild unless they're absolutely certain of victory. Magic Beasts understand that too, which is why that Big Head Tiger didn't chase after us."

"So that's how it is! I understand!"

John's explanation convinced Parr. It made sense. Everyone who ventured into the wilderness had their own purpose. If someone foolishly charged at every Magic Beast they saw, blinded by profit, there was no telling how miserably they would die—unless their strength was overwhelmingly superior.

For now, Parr and John's strength was not overwhelming in this area, so they could only let go of the profit that did not belong to them and continue onward.

The pair set off again, walking in a straight line through the Deep Forest according to the Compass. If someone looked down from the sky and traced their route, they would discover that during the first three days of being lost, they had traveled in an arc and entered the Deep Forest southeast of the Azure Stone Viscount Territory.

Over the following days, once they had a direction, they traveled west past their destination, Azure Stone City, and arrived southwest of it. A short distance ahead was a major road on the city's west-southwestern side that led to the outside world.

Roar! Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship: Upward Flick!

While they were traveling, another blind beast, absurdly confident in itself, launched an attack. Its target was Parr again. Parr did not even glance at it. He merely shifted his body slightly to the side and drew the Black Short Sword.

Slash! The beast was split in two. Neither Parr nor John paused, and neither looked at the dead beast as they continued on their way. This beast also became the last one to attack Parr during this journey.

By evening, the pair who had been lost for so long finally set foot on a road in the Azure Stone Viscount Territory.

"Ah... Wonderful! We finally made it out!"

They threw back their heads and shouted, venting the frustration in their hearts.

After venting, John examined the road, then took out a map and checked it. He confirmed that this was the main road leading from Azure Stone City farther west, and also the widest road in the Azure Stone Viscount Territory. Now that they had confirmed their direction, finding Azure Stone City was simply a matter of using their heads.

How did they confirm the direction? John crouched down and carefully inspected the ground. Then he stood, dusted off his hands, and turned toward Azure Stone City.

Parr hurried after him, ran up beside John, and tilted his head as he asked, "Uncle John, how did you tell the direction? Let's not get it wrong again and walk straight out of the Azure Stone Viscount Territory."

"This time, there's no mistake!"

John casually tossed away the unreliable Compass, looking completely confident. After Parr repeatedly pressed him, he finally explained.

"Little guy, the Azure Stone Viscount Territory produces lapis lazuli, an extremely high-quality building stone. It is mainly sold to noble territories in the west, which is why there's such a wide road southwest of Azure Stone City. Merchants who deal in lapis lazuli travel this road all year round. Look beneath our feet. Those deep wagon ruts were left by carts transporting lapis lazuli out of the territory. Mixed among them are some shallower ruts, left by merchants on their way back."

John paused to catch his breath, then crouched again and pointed at several wagon ruts. "Look here, little guy. These shallower ruts are still fresh, proving that a merchant caravan passed through not long ago. Now look at the direction of the fresh hairy ox hoofprints and horse hoofprints around the ruts. Once you put that together, isn't it obvious which way Azure Stone City is?"

"Impressive!"

Parr understood John's meaning after thinking about it briefly and could not help praising him. At that moment, John finally truly had the air of an old adventurer.

But another question soon arose in Parr's mind.

"Uncle John, what if we run into a merchant caravan heading out without any lapis lazuli?"

"What else could we do?"

John got up and continued walking. Hearing Parr's question, he shrugged and said helplessly,

"Then we can only count ourselves unlucky!"

Having found the right direction, the pair planned to travel through the night and rest only after reaching Azure Stone City. Parr, who possessed the Talent Prompt Wake-Up, had no objections. If he got sleepy, he would only be sleepy for a little while. At dawn, he would be good as new! However, traveling along the main road was rather boring. The beasts around knew that humans frequently appeared here and that it was human territory, so they stayed far away. Parr could not even find a foolish beast willing to ambush him and gift him Life Energy Points. He could only silently follow behind John, who led the way with a torch, and stare thoughtfully at his Status Panel.

Name: Parr Tianxing
Gender: Male
Race: Human Race

Age: 10 (20)

Realm: Elementary Knight Apprentice (41/100)

Stamina: 23/100
Mental Power: 6/10
HP: 100/100
Talent:

Prompt Wake-Up LV2
Clear Eyesight LV2
Danger Prediction LV2
Skill:
Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique LV5
Basic Wind Wolf Swordsmanship MAX
Dazzling Light LV1
Life Energy Points: 227
Mental Energy Points: 110

Because of the rain, beast attacks over the past few days had not been as frequent as during the first two days, but they had still provided Parr with 59 Life Energy Points and 3 Mental Energy Points. Together with the 21 Life Energy Points he gained from catching Stupid Rabbits while resting, Parr had obtained a total of 80 Life Energy Points and 3 Mental Energy Points over the past few days.

Parr now had enough Life Energy Points to upgrade the Talent Prompt Wake-Up.

"It's time to upgrade it. Once I reach Azure Stone City, I'll still need to kill cultists!" Taking advantage of the moment, Parr chose to upgrade the Talent Prompt Wake-Up.

Ding, consume 100 Life Energy Points and 100 Mental Energy Points to upgrade Talent Prompt Wake-Up LV2 to LV3?

"Yes!"

Ding, 100 Life Energy Points and 100 Mental Energy Points have been consumed. Talent upgraded successfully.

Prompt Wake-Up LV3 (Wake up promptly at dawn. Stamina, Mental Power, and HP will be fully restored!)

"Just as expected."

After seeing the result he had anticipated, Parr's large eyes narrowed happily. With this Talent, as long as he did not die within a day, he could revive at full health the next day. He could become an unkillable cockroach.

"I wonder what effect it'll have if this Talent keeps upgrading?"

After his excitement faded, Parr continued staring at the now-dim Talent Prompt Wake-Up.

Ding, upgrading Talent Prompt Wake-Up LV3 to LV4 requires 1,000 Life Energy Points and 1,000 Mental Energy Points.

"Just as expected. Upgrading Talents costs ten times more each time!"

Parr wailed inwardly and temporarily gave up on upgrading Prompt Wake-Up. Then he turned his attention to the other attributes that could be upgraded. After calculating for a while, he decided to upgrade the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique.

"I have 127 Life Energy Points left. Even after subtracting 50 points, I'll still have enough Life Energy Points to raise my realm once. The best way to maximize my gains right now is to raise the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique to max level and gain a new special effect."

Having made up his mind, Parr immediately acted. He fixed his gaze on the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique in the Skill section, and the upgrade prompt appeared.

Ding, consume 50 Life Energy Points to upgrade Skill Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique LV5 to MAX?

"Yes."

Ding, 50 Life Energy Points have been consumed. Skill upgraded successfully.

Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique MAX (The most basic Breathing Technique in the Wind Wolf Kingdom. Can consume Mental Power to restore Stamina at a ratio of 1:10. Max-level effect: Breathe during battle!)

"The recovery ratio has doubled. Combined with being able to use the Breathing Technique during battle, does that mean as long as I don't run out of Mental Energy Points, I won't be exhausted?"

Maxing out the Wind Wolf Basic Breathing Technique greatly enhanced Parr's overall capabilities. Although his strength had not changed much, in other aspects, he was definitely among the best of his level.

"Wait!"

Just as Parr was immersed in the joy of upgrading his Talent and Skill, John suddenly stopped. Parr's reaction speed had increased greatly by now, so he did not crash into John unprepared. Instead, he snapped out of it, shifted his gaze away from the Status Panel, and looked at John in confusion.

"Uncle John, what's wrong?"

"..."

John did not answer immediately. Instead, he extinguished the torch, stroked his chin, narrowed his eyes, and stared thoughtfully into the distance.

After the torch went out, Parr also noticed the anomaly ahead. Far away in the distance, flames soared into the sky, glaringly conspicuous.

"What happened?"