Chapter: 626
“While the perrton wolves were easy to kill, that didn’t mean that the grey beast would be easy…”
“It seems like the mountain range and the desert mushrooms act like natural barriers against whatever beasts are in these forests, and must have been what made Losla safe for so long…”
Jay gloomily stared into the dark forest.
“So basically, there’s no telling what lies on the other side…” he continued to gaze into the dark forest.
It seemed relatively calm, even peaceful, but in Jay’s mind it felt like he was standing on the edge of an abyss and was about to jump in; anything could be waiting on the other side.
Although it was quiet, he now felt like he stood out like a beacon and was probably even being watched by things in the forest at this very moment.
There was no telling what level the beasts beyond the desert could be… or even if they were simple beasts at all.
There were other stronger nations which could have wiped Astrata out and made humans extinct, but they had to spend most of their military resources dedicated to holding back wild beasts, among other creatures imbued with dark magic or mana.
Still, Astrata was not free from the endless assault of unknown creatures, ever wandering out of the wilds. There were even areas within Astrata called dead zones, where creatures claimed land, and were either too powerful to remove or simply not worth their time.
As Jay looked across the desert, he believed that he had until nightfall to make a choice, as it seemed that the mushroom retracted at night time.
Sure, crossing the desert would be easy but he wanted to test out the strength of the beasts on the other side before making the journey.
He was stepping into the unknown after all.
As Jay looked around and thought about what to do, he noticed something under the mushrooms, moving in the sand.
They were hard to see at first, but it seemed that there were some creatures lurking beneath the surface of the sand.
Small bumps of sand rolled backwards and forwards between a crack in some rocks near the edge of the desert and the mushrooms.
Looking closely, Jay saw that a small red fruit would be periodically plucked off and pulled under the sand before whatever it was picking them would slip back under the sand and enter the small crack between some rocks, leaving behind only a slight impression in the sand.
“Hmm… they can pick the fruit?” Jay’s lips curled as he watched these underground creatures, smelling an opportunity.
Jay watched the small creatures scutter under the sand and pluck the sticky fruit off the mushrooms.
For whatever reason, they could safely detach the dangerous red fruits from the giant mushrooms, undoubtedly stashing them away somewhere for their future food source.
With all of this in mind, Jay began to plan his next steps.
“Weird little creatures… Ok, I’ll walk along the edge of the desert and then cross, sending the skeletons first. Hopefully I can avoid whatever that grey beast was…” he nodded,
“I'll leave one skeleton here so it can alert me if the grey beast actually walks around the desert.”
The skeleton which Jay chose to stay behind? The choice was obvious.
“Sweeper,” Jay pointed to a large rock, “wait there and keep watch.”