Chapter 258: Shadow Marsh
Hal thought he would have to stay in the Savannah of Carnage for at least two weeks, but as it turned out, he didn’t even need a week to obtain what he needed and more.
He and his little group were silent as they sped out of the location and into another.
After his devious plan that would put even the fell race to shame, Hal not only obtained a total of 28,600 Chaos Points, but also one A-ranked, fifty B-ranked, forty C-ranked, and a little over twenty D-ranked monster cores.
He wanted more of the A-ranked ones, but the races in the savannah showed fierce resistance whenever he approached the fallen leaders of the Leonid Tribes, so he could only let go of those corpses.
He felt a bit guilty, so he decided to heed Korvus’ advice.
’Don’t exhaust the resources.’
He shall give the tribes in the Savannah a path to recovery.
While he certainly didn’t expect his plan to blow up like that, it remained a fact that he was the one responsible for everything, and there was a pang of guilt in his heart that remained, unable to be chased away despite his desperate attempts in the past few hours.
Still, Hal didn’t regret what he did too much.
He would even do it again if the situation called for it.
While he respected life and nature, there would be no life and nature left for his race if the Fellkin razed the empire to the ground, and there was no way those dear to him would be spared.
He needed resources now so he could grow stronger and protect them.
This far outweighed his respect for life and nature, as he would rather see others perish and bear the guilt for it than grieve for his beloved.
The truth of the world was, unfortunately, the survival of the fittest, and Hal realized this after returning from the Eastern Battlefield.
The east falling into the hands of the enemy gave him a sense of urgency and impending doom.
There was no place for naivety.
With a few Pantheran eyeballs and optic nerves in his inventory, he secured himself a few attempts in creating an arcane artifact that would grant him Basic Aethersight.
But he still needed a few more materials, which could only be found in the next location: the Shadow Marsh, where the Secteeds lived.
He had to obtain their antennas. The more he could secure, the better.
Around five hours of traveling later, they arrived before a vast Marsh covered by thick white mist.
It wouldn’t be wise to navigate the place at night, and the sun was already starting to retreat, so they could only attempt entering it tomorrow.
This also worked to the trio’s favor.
They needed rest, and both Liora and Loki needed a bit of time to process the overwhelming supply of mana they absorbed—consumed, in the latter’s case—from a good portion of the monster cores.
The white-haired maiden felt both happy and a bit guilty for obtaining such high-quality training resources, which she usually wouldn’t be able to acquire on her own, for free.
She would have to invest a lot of time, effort, and money to be able to secure a single B-ranked core for herself.
But with Hal, she obtained five in one day and would’ve been given more had her body not reached its limit.
One couldn’t have too huge an influx of mana, as it could go berserk and ruin one’s mana veins and arteries, preventing one from utilizing the mysterious force ever again.
In fact, they’d discussed not entering the Shadow Marsh tomorrow, either.
Hal wanted to make sure that his comrades were combat-ready and fully rested before they attempted to secure the last crafting material he needed for his Basic Aethersight Goggles.
And so, the three relaxed for a whole day, resting their exhausted bodies and minds.
They were far ahead of their schedule, anyway...
Hal and Liora laughed occasionally as they chatted in a casual manner, growing closer to each other and learning more of each other’s personalities while Loki dozed beside them, preparing for his night shift.
The two did a bit of physical workout and consumed two cores each.
Aside from that, they relaxed in their tiny yet cozy camp with the eerie marsh watching them from afar.
Night finally came.
Before Hal drifted, he gazed at the dangerous area, frowning as he recalled the information he read about the Shadow Marsh.
An S-ranked monster apparently lurked there: the Midnight Pixie.
There were very few of them, and they usually lived far from each other to avoid competition among themselves.
Strangely, there wasn’t much information about the winged monsters, except that those who wandered near their territory never returned.
It was quite the horror story for sure.
But Hal wasn’t fazed, as such articles were aplenty even for other monsters and beasts.
Zephyron wouldn’t be able to return if he wandered close to that Midnight Pixie’s domain?
’Heh, impossible...’
The thought that the pixie simply hadn’t encountered a human that could deal with it yet calmed him down.
There was no way that monster was that strong.
After all, it would’ve been declared a Deora long ago if it were.
Hal fell asleep with this as his final thought.
Come morning, he stretched with a smile on his face, glancing at Liora’s sleeping face, then at Loki, appreciating a small black and purple butterfly that passed him by in the next moment.
"Ahh, I’ll make sure to rest up well today..." he muttered, inhaling the fresh morning air while gazing at the eerie marsh just across him.
Tomorrow, they would risk their lives once more.
Hal hoped he wouldn’t meet the Midnight Pixie, despite believing that it shouldn’t be as mighty as the Jadescale Wyrm he saw on the Hazan Windswept Mountain.
A few moments later, Liora finally woke up, and the trio had a nice breakfast before Hal allowed Loki to drift off to dreamland.
The pup did a fantastic job as their night watch, as per usual.
He chatted with Liora, did a bit of physical workout, then absorbed two cores to increase his Chaos Karma pool, if only by a bit.
And then he had dinner before falling asleep...
Come morning, he stretched with a smile on his face, glancing at Liora’s sleeping face, then at Loki, appreciating a small black and purple butterfly that passed him by in the next moment.
"Ahh, I’ll make sure to rest up well today..."