Menerva grabbed the front end of her longbow as the mana chains vanished and the bottom part removed itself from the ground. Then, in a flash, the longbow disappeared before rematerializing on Menerva’s back.
“The foundation has been set,” Menerva confirmed as she stepped away from the river’s edge.
“You’re up.” Niflheim said to Bellum.
Bellum moved closer to the river’s edge and held her palm above the water.
At first, the water flowing around the metallic ropes began to boil as though something hot had been abruptly dropped into it. But, a couple of seconds later, the water underwent a complete transformation as it rapidly solidified before morphing into a stone-like material.
The change only applied to the water directly in between and around the outer edges of the ropes, but it stretched all the way to the other side of the river. And, just like that, a new stone bridge appeared in the middle of the Ferae Jungle.
Bellum released a faint sigh when she was done as she removed a mana potion from her inventory and consumed it. It was increasingly more difficult to modify something with a fluid structure in constant motion like water; therefore, it consumed a larger quantity of mana than she initially anticipated.
“Here,” Izroth voice sounded as he arrived next to Bellum and tossed a small bag toward her.
Bellum caught the bag and checked its contents. Inside were twenty High-Grade Mana Potions.
“Thank you,” Bellum said as she placed the potions into her inventory.
Izroth nodded in response before shifting his gaze to the stone bridge.
“Then, I’ll be crossing first,” Izroth stated.
“Wait, wouldn’t it be better if I went across first? As long as it can hold a heavy-plated user like myself, then everyone else should have no problem crossing.” Niflheim chimed in.
“It’s fine. If it can hold me, then there’s no need for concern.” Izroth said as he stepped onto the stone bridge.
Due to the Earthly Golden Bones passive from his Heavenly Golden Body, Izroth’s body mass was currently five times that of his original!
A full set of heavy-plated equipment typically weighed around 25kg, while those on the upper end could weigh up to a staggering 100kg. However, even if Izroth were somewhere around 70kg, that would still put his body mass at an incredible 350kg—more than three times that of an upper-end heavy-plated armor set!
After setting foot on the stone bridge, Izroth walked forward a few meters. It did not take him long to reach the center of the stone bridge.
‘It’s holding up well.’
The stone bridge showed no signs of breaking even at its middle point, which would be the weakest part of the structure.
Izroth, “The structural integrity is sound. You can begin sending people across. I’ll start cleaning up things on the other side.”
Menerva, “Understood.”
Izroth dashed the rest of the way and quickly reached the other side of the river.
The moment he arrived, Izroth immediately unsheathed his Sword of the Storm.
‘Oh? Their numbers have increased since the last time I checked with my Energy Vision Sense.’
The instant he set foot off the stone bridge, numerous pairs of red eyes locked their gazes onto Izroth from trees within the depths of the dark jungle. Soon after, the sound of chuckling laughter filled the surroundings.
Hehehehe! Hehehehe!
Woosh! Ding!
Out of nowhere, a small flying object shot out at Izroth from one of the trees; however, just before it could reach him, he was able to deflect it.
Izroth glanced over to where the object landed and saw the fragments of a stone half the size of one’s fist.
Zeeeeut!
All of a sudden, Izroth’s figure disappeared, causing the strange laughter to fall silent.
The next moment, Izroth appeared on top of one of the nearby tree branches where there were three sets of red eyes using a charge of his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement.
Oouah! Oouah!
One of the creatures released a warning cry to alert its fellow companions as Izroth got a good look at them.
Each of the creatures was around one meter tall and resembled a chimpanzee. But, unlike normal chimpanzees, they possessed red eyes, a full mouth of razor-sharp fangs, and dark purple fur.
Name: Ferae Tricky Primate(Elite)
Level: 49
The Ferae Tricky Primate closest to Izroth unleashed an ear-ringing cry as it jumped out at him, revealing its razor-sharp teeth!
Swoosh!
Izroth swept out with his Sword of the Storm as a sharp wave of sword intent shot out from the tip of its blade. The sword intent struck the Ferae Tricky Primate and sent it flying back into its companions, who were also caught in the range of the attack.
Oouah! Oouah!
Seeing their companions attacked, the other Ferae Tricky Primate cried out. Some of them began to throw rocks at Izroth, while others rushed him in an attempt to overwhelm him with their numbers.
However, there was not the slightest bit of panic in Izroth’s eyes as he adjusted his sword stance.
‘Now, I suppose I should finish cleaning up here before the others arrive.’
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the river…
Menerva prepared to send the first group across the stone bridge.
The group consisted of Niflheim, Bellum, and the other players from the 9th Division.
Even though the stone bridge seemed sturdy, to be on the safe side, Menerva decided it was best to send everyone in groups of five at a time.
In addition, when one group reached the halfway point, the next group would start making their way over.
As long as everyone moved with a sense of urgency, Menerva estimated that it should not take more than a minute for everyone to reach the other side.
“Then, we’ll see you on the other side,” Niflheim said to Menerva as he started to make his way across the stone bridge with his group.
At the same time, near the middle of the groups who were in the queue to cross, one of the players of the 9th Division called Revel waited patiently for their turn.
Revel was a young fit man with black hair fashioned in a buzzcut and a sharp pair of gray eyes. He wore a set of combat gear designed for his class, which was one of the only three fighter-type classes in the 9th Division.
Revel was one of the few players in the 9th Division who never relaxed their guard since crossing into Tempest territory.
But, unbeknownst to Revel, a small insect not even half the size of one’s finger was crawling up the side of his leg.
The small insect was black and red in color, with three legs on each side.
It traveled up Revel’s body until it reached the opening near the neck portion of his combat gear and crawled in through it.
Revel lightly scratched the lower half of his neck where the insect had just passed by, narrowly missing the creature.
Though Revel was not the only one in the 9th Division who came into contact with this insect. Without knowing it, almost half of the group experienced underwent a similar occurrence.
“Next group, it is your turn. Do not slow your steps.” Menerva stated as it was Revel’s group’s turn to cross the stone bridge.
…
Roughly one minute later…
The last group had just stepped off the stone bridge and reached the other side of the river.
Menerva herself was a part of this group as she wanted to ensure that things proceeded without a hiccup.
“Hm?” Without warning, Menerva was overcome by a sudden wave of dizziness as her vision became momentarily blurry.
However, after closing her eyes and lightly shaking her head, the feeling disappeared as her vision returned to normal and the dizziness vanished without a trace.
“Hey, are you alright?” Sanctity asked with a look of concern as she stepped directly next to Menerva.
Sanctity was one of the last players off the bridge along with Menerva and noticed that something seemed to be wrong with her.
“I am fine. Your concern, however, is greatly appreciated.” Menerva responded calmly.
“How odd. I admit that I have not gotten much sleep over these past few days, but… No, there is no excuse. I will have to find the time to rest properly.” Menerva thought to herself.
Menerva had gone through a lot over the past few days in matters regarding the orphanage; therefore, she brushed it off as simple fatigue.
But, what happened to her had nothing to do with fatigue. Rather, she, along with several other members of the 9th Division, was experiencing one of the greatest hidden terrors of the Ferae Jungle!
