Chapter 264: Relief
"T-That’s everything, I guess..." Hal took a deep breath, slightly shaking at the amount of loot he obtained inside the Midnight Pixie’s lair.
He could probably sell them for more than a hundred gold coins upfront just from the sheer number of raw materials alone.
The most common among everything he got were the rare-tier Shadowblight Crystals growing all over the cave, harvesting more than a hundred clusters just from the left path alone.
He also acquired a few rare and unique-tier herbs, along with some unexpected B-ranked Secteed cores and Shadow Frog tongues from the harrowing experiments he found in what could be called the Midnight Pixie’s resting quarters.
The damned creature was truly quite the twisted and sinister hag.
Naturally, Hal wouldn’t want to return to such a lair, so he quickly headed towards the entrance after he was satisfied with his harvests.
He then switched to the [Spirit Sparrow]’s vision at the cave fork to scout ahead just in case.
To his surprise, he noticed two silhouettes in the distance, both warily looking around as they slowly advanced.
Hal felt as though a huge thorn was removed from his heart at the sight of Liora and Loki, his exhaustion finally taking over.
He hadn’t realized he was still on edge the whole time.
Taking a few deep breaths and casting [Serene] and [Mental Refresh] on himself, Hal moved towards the wary duo.
[Breathing Room] was still active due to the rotten stench permeating the entire den-cave.
So, Hal overlooked the struggles of his companions. He was initially confused that Loki still hadn’t detected his scent.
But when he finally realized, a rather excited smile appeared on his face.
Hal then vanished in the next moment.
Meanwhile, Liora stayed right behind Loki, watching the rear just in case something attacked.
Hal was suddenly gone when they woke up.
The white-haired maiden didn’t worry too much in the beginning, thinking that her comrade simply headed out to obtain something and would be back in two or three hours at most.
But when noon came and Hal still wasn’t back, her heart suddenly felt uneasy.
She had a quick meal with Loki before courageously entering the marsh to look for her missing comrade.
Liora tried to tell the huge pup that it would be too dangerous to go with her, but she couldn’t stop Loki, plus a part of her wanted the wolf companion to help.
It would be easier to locate Hal with Loki’s nose, after all.
To her delight, it turned out that the wolf companion didn’t need her protection at all, as Loki could easily detect and kill Shadow Frogs.
He could also hold his own against a Secteed.
With the two of them working together, Shadow Marsh didn’t turn out as dangerous as they expected.
It was only the thought of encountering the Midnight Pixie that made Liora’s very soul shudder.
She knew that both she and Loki were done for if they encountered the S-ranked monster.
After wandering the marsh for six hours, fighting off Secteeds and Shadow Frogs the entire time, the two finally found the strange entrance where no water could enter.
Liora was a well-informed and studious young woman.
Unlike Hal, who had to rely on the arcanist tomes and his intuition, she immediately knew they were entering the Midnight Pixie’s lair.
Yet she still pressed on.
Liora trembled with every step inside the cave, and it was a struggle to breathe due to the nauseating, rotten smell.
However, she and Loki marched on, relying on nothing but their senses to navigate their way forward.
She knew very well that she might draw her final breath today, and in a cold, unsettling manner.
Still, the thought of Hal perishing made it impossible for her to stop.
She resolved herself to at least die trying. Loki didn’t seem to want to turn back, either.
And so, the courageous duo marched forth with wildly beating hearts, trembling bodies, and struggling noses.
They soon arrived at the cave fork, facing the same dilemma Hal did on which way to go, when suddenly, a rather gentle but playful "Boo!" sounded behind her.
"Hiih!"
Liora almost jumped up in fright, immediately using [Licht Step] to reposition behind the pup who had already turned around, snarling with a wild look Hal had never seen before.
Loki meant business, making Hal stagger back slightly.
"H-Hey, bud, no need to be so fierce, no?"
Hearing his voice, the two froze, dumbfounded momentarily, before the huge pup unhesitatingly rushed into his arms, pouncing on him and knocking him down.
"Hahahaha! Get off me, you’re heavy!"
"H-Hal!!"
To his surprise, Liora also pounced at him like Loki, hugging him far tighter than he expected.
Hal’s heart naturally raced as he could smell the maiden’s scent.
He felt more moved than anything else, though, deeply touched by Liora’s genuine concern for him.
Perhaps they were closer than he imagined?
Hal soon found it hard to breathe, and not even [Breathing Room] could save him if he couldn’t inhale and exhale.
He had to do something or he would die.
"H-Hey, I can’t breathe..."
"A-Ahh! Sorry..."
***
Beneath the night skies, a manatech engine snarled, traveling at a well-trodden path towards the nearest human city.
Hal didn’t dare sleep near the damned marsh again.
He was supposed to hunt more Secteeds after confirming the safety of his comrades, but to his surprise, Liora and Loki seemed to have fought and killed a lot of the humanoid-mantis monsters already, harvesting their antennas for him.
None of the cores made it to him, though.
Loki had already consumed all of them.
The trio traveled through the dimly illuminated rough road, arriving at Barbury City around five hours later.
They arrived late in the night, but they were far safer here, free from the eerie clutches of any winged, monstrous hags.
They left mid-morning the next day, arriving at Aeloria in the afternoon.
Korvus and Isolde were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief at the duo’s return.
Liora was, after all, another important youngster, and losing two of them would be an utter tragedy for the empire, especially after what happened in the eastern battlefield.
Talented youngsters were needed more than ever.
Hal didn’t report his arrival, though, fully knowing that his master and Deputy Headmaster Korvus likely already knew he was back.
Instead, he immediately headed to his workshop after parting ways with Liora.
The sooner he could craft the Aethersight artifact, the better.