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77.95% Learning To Live As A Cultivator / Chapter 251: Chapter Fifty One - We begin exploring the Isle

Chapter 251: Chapter Fifty One - We begin exploring the Isle

From a top the canopy, Troy could attempt to judge the distance to the clearing, but how far it seemed to be and how far it was in reality was quite different. The trees were a mix of thick and thin, tall and somewhat less so. Their trunks varied mostly in shades of rich and ash browns with the occasional oddity thrown in, such as the tree with lurid green bark. Saplings of many varieties attempted to climb to reach the canopy, but it was likely only a few could manage to do so. Due to the mostly green ceiling, the sky could not be seen, just that it was bright enough to be considered day. Troy claimed that the suns were quite high in the sky, so a night period was still somewhat distant.

That was right, plural. There was more than one sun. Troy had only quickly glanced, for the two stars were extremely bright, but he mentioned that the smallest of the two seemed more orange than white and currently, they shared a similar space above them.

Pike planned for them to reach the clearing, scope out the area and consider its potential as a temporary camp. There were currently no other islands to explore, so it wouldn't be in error to camp in the same spot for the next few nights if the place chosen was the right one. He also would like for them to camp sooner rather than later on this first day to discuss strategy, however, he did not hurry forward.

For one thing, although they were somewhat shielded from the view of most of the flying menaces this realm was known to breed, there were still plenty of dangerous beasts and even some plants to be found at ground level.  In fact, less than five minutes into their journey as they traipsed through the foliage, a crowned serpent that was as thick as Leon's thigh and five times in length against Pike's height dropped from an overhead branch, looking for a quick takeaway.  Unfortunately, all it gained was a quick death; Pike smashed it's jaw with his hammer, nearly removing the bone from its attachment to the creature's skull completely and Troy leapt forward with a long knife and cut off its head.

Leon's heart beat like thunder within his chest and his fists curled until they turned bone white.  He took several deep breaths as the two martial artists claimed their trophy.  This type of serpent, while it looked frightening, was the opportunist type and a scavenger, also quite lazy, slow and without poison, so it wouldn't gain them a great deal of points as a kill, but its skin was iridescent, popular amongst the nobles in the form of belts or decorative boots so worth money.  It would be a waste to leave it behind, but the whole ambush had still scared him. He also struggled to look at the bloody mess the two martial artists left behind and could only aside his eyes in the end.

Continuing on, they came across a swarm of dire-hornets, but as they left the nest alone, the insects which were the size of Leon's palm with stingers the length of his thumb, also let them be.  Later, they came across two large felines fighting for territories.  This time, Troy gestured in question, his face excited and hungry to test his abilities, but Pike shook his head; not worth the effort.  The beasts were left to battle without interference. 

"Oh," Leon voiced in sudden surprise, causing the others to pause to glance at him.  His face reddened as he raised a finger to point out a thick patch of herbs nestled beneath the exposed root crop of a tree.  The branches seemed to lean over the herbs protectively and even their leaves somewhat hid them from sight.  If not for fuchsia pink blossoms adorning them currently, Leon would never have noticed them.

Caelus frowned, looking at the variegated, moon shaped leaves before recognising it; "Just some common Twice Crescent Elderwort.  What's their to be excited about?"

"Ah, well," Leon mentioned as he cautiously crept closer, overly wary of danger that could be lurking. It was well known that beasts would seek out or even claim the herbs in their territory to use as medicines or aids to enhance their cultivation.  Just because this herb was common, did not mean it had no uses.  So it could be said that it was no surprise that an ordinary centipede crawling over one of the thick roots of the tree gave him a start, his tension drawn so tight.  He took a deep breath to calm himself once more before explaining; "You see, this pl-plant only flowers when Celestial T-Tear herb b-begins t-to g-grow and flower amongst it."  Leon gently swept the vine like foliage of the tree to one side and pointed towards a vine like plant with small, lilac coloured spots upon its leaves, which wound itself around the stems of the larger herb.  Its flower had no petals, just a sticky teardrop shaped bud upon the tips of its off-shoot stem, which were coated in a silvery powder.  "The Twice Crescent Elderwort seeds attach t-to the Celestial T-Tear's seeds, which f-float to other pl-places to g-germinate."  Leon recalled this herb as he'd found this symbiotic relationship interesting. 

Pike smiled.  Unlike the Twice Crescent Elderwort herb which grew quickly and abundantly, spreading over its chosen bed like a weed, the Celestial Tear herb was slow to germinate and even slower to grow.  Certain conditions need to be met or it would not grow at all.  Therefore, it could be considered quite rare.  Leon was clever to understand that the former was flowering only because of its presence, otherwise they would have walked straight passed this small treasure.  On Leon's request, not only did they harvested several whole Celestial Tear herbs including the intact roots, despite the difficulty of unwinding the vines, but also both herbs' seed heads.  Leon hoped to be able to grow both together in the future.

Not long after a quick skirmish with a flock of red sparrows, the bold, powerless creatures attempting to channel the pride of their Phoenix ancestors and causing nothing more than an inconvenience before they fled, the six humans and one fox arrived at the clearing that had only been seen from a far. The trees parted to reveal both a pale, aquamarine sky and a large, still lake. Naturally, where there was water, there were beasts of all shapes and sizes, thus despite arriving, the team still had to remain beneath the shelter of the tree landscape bordering the clearing.

From the shadow of one tree, Leon's eyes gazed curiously over the diving flocks, the lounging packs and herds that gathered about the lake. There seemed to be what could only be described as a tentative ceasefire between the multitudes of herbivores and the carnivores close by, the former with nervous posture and eyes as they approached the waters' edge, while the latter were as vigilant, seeking an opportunity but not being so bold as to try their luck as scavengers and other opportunists might steal away their prey if they moved too soon or too late. Of course the situation also was not ideal for the team; they could not hunt for the same reasons as the predators, worse, they could easily become the prey.

Pike indicated for them to retreat slowly and carefully, before pointing upwards indicating the generous thick and level branches of one nearby tree. Leon felt arms reach about his waist, just as the shadows surrounding the tree seemed to lengthen, darken and solidify. His body was lifted off of the ground and he grabbed Pike's strong forearm in surprise before landing in the tree. In the other arm, the martial artist held Roman who looked equally taken aback. Velana leapt up without aid, the fox scampering up easily along side her.

The shadows then moved abnormally until they formed the shape of a doorway. Caelus was unceremoniously spat out of this space, followed by Troy, who complained as he strode out of the shadows. "How are you so heavy?"

Caelus sat upright and crossed his arms about his chest. "I could have made my own way up," he muttered. Troy raised an eyebrow but added nothing to refute him and the shadows returned to normal with a silent twang. He then glanced at Pike before asking;

"What should we do now?"


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Ebonsolaris Ebonsolaris

For those who also read CiaZA, I am very late getting this week’s chapter out due to a bit of writer’s block and other reasons, but I will try to release it as soon as I can.

Chapter 252: Chapter Fifty Two - We make camp beside the lake

The tree's branches flared out like a large platform, almost perfectly horizontal in most directions before winding slightly down then rising upward towards the sky or simply reaching that way in the first place, thus forming a near perfect shelter. It was not surprising that this would attract a beast to nest in it at some point, but from the loose twigs and scraps of thin fur, it appeared to have been abandoned some time ago.

Leon glanced down as he wrapped his arms around one of the thick branches in order to brace himself. This area was above ground about two stories of an average house and would not be an easy climb for most ground bound beasts and above them was still quite a healthy, green canopy of leaves each twice a palm size, hiding them from flying eyes. It was a good shelter and naturally Pike decided to make the most of it.

They'd been walking for several hours and while Velana and the martial artists were not at all out of weary, same could not be said of Leon and Roman, though neither one complained about the lengthy journey and their aching limbs. Pike thought Caelus might be different, not due to his sizeable girth (there were martial artists that carried much similar bulk around and only a fool would underestimate them) but more because of a mage's reputation as a physically weak, overly spoilt powerhouse. Couldn't upset them, could only indulge them. However, Caelus had actually only broken a sweat in the past half an hour and still trudged on silently, impressing Pike to the point he reviewed his original first impressions.

The sky was still very light, as one of the two suns still shone although it was lower in the heavens than before. Troy had leapt higher into the branches to watch over the lake and those surrounding it, but had found that many of the herds had retreated into the shelter of the trees. Currently a flock of Skull Armoured Herons were fighting with a pack of Dire Wolves over the carcass of a unidentifiable herd beast; Troy could only guess that the latter had found an opportunity to bring down prey only to need then fend off the Heron who tried to scavenge the corpse away.

He watched as one Heron used the horned skull dressing its long featherless head to butt away a wolf leaping towards itself. These long, wading birds were a strange species with the long elegant bodies of their less intelligent cousins, yet with the plumage and habits of vultures. They wore the skulls of other birds upon their heads as both armour and status, one with natural weapons such as this would have a higher status than one wearing a smooth skull. But status did not equate common sense and as the bird met the leaping dire wolf mid air, the recoil from the collision forced both backwards. While the wolf regained its footing upon the ground, the Heron fell into the deepest part of the lake.

A shadow appeared beneath the bird and the previously waters rippled as two halves of a tooth filled mouth surfaced and snapped shut around the Heron. It was dead before the remnants of its exposed body sank beneath the waters. Due to this, the flock of surviving birds abandoned their bid for a meal and the pack almost cautiously dragged that meal into the forest shelter. All became eerily silent about the lake.

"Hmm," Pike hummed as Troy recounted the whole event a short while later. "I know which Isle we are on now. It's known for the dormant volcano at its centre and having this one large lake." He requested from Roman parchment and a piece of charcoal, which the other did indeed carry and he drew a rough sketch upon it. "I've only seen this in a book, I can't say how accurate it is."

The shape of the isle was not unlike a jagged edged gourd and the lake was shaped like an oval attached to part of a loosely spiralling crescent moon. The tip of this Crescent touched the volcano so Roman theorised that the lake might well be fed from either snow atop the dormant mountain or underground springs. They, themselves, were at the 'southern' edge of the deepest curve of the main oval body. 'Southern' as the Isles moved; could not necessarily be accurate to a true magnetic point on an ordinary world.

The water was deep enough inland that it need not worry about falling out of the edges of the Isle, but it was the main source of water for the Isle as well. Although, as Roman had already mentioned albeit in theory, there were a few small springs scattered here and there, the majority of the beasts living on the Isle would need to nest nearby, likely there were many territory disputes. As for what Troy had seen...

"It's been nicknamed a guardian of the lake," Pike recalled what was mentioned in the book, "but whatever type of water-beast it is, it appears that there is only one of it as no others have ever appeared in the lakes waters. Plus it only appears during the cooler times of the day and it appears to live in the deep waters of this main area. From the reaction of the Dire Wolves, likely it can come to the shallow edges when it wants to eat though."

"Even more reason to make camp now," Velana affirmed Pike's intentions and he also nodded to agree with her words.

Hearing this, Leon made himself comfortable and opened up his interspatial bag as did the others with their own. However, while they dug out some dried rations, he pulled out his portable stove, pot and kettle, before realising a problem.

"You aren't going to make Pills here?" Caelus said with a hint of his usual disdain, when in fact he was actually curious. Generally, alchemists would only create pills in locations that were safe. While there enchantments that could hide the herbal scent of their concoctions from interested foes and beasts, most students did not have the ability to obtain these.

Leon shook his head as that hadn't been his intention at all. "Wanted t-to b-boil water," he admitted.

This caused Caelus to choke slightly on his rations in surprise, while Pike chuckled behind a fist. "Wait, the water is for Pill making right?" The larger man urged him to make this fact as he tried to regain his composure only for this to be in vain as Leon shook his head while looking slightly confused over Caelus' reaction.

"Soup."

Pike laughed far more openly as Roman glanced about worriedly hoping his paper talisman-barrier was good enough to prevent the sound from escaping their small camp. It was a minor charm that he was within his abilities and could only do this as well as reduce their overall physical presence. It could not hide other factors, making him wish he had studied charms a little harder. However, he tended to focus on crystal research hence how he came to know Caelus, who was very reliable in recharging refined crystals for use in formations and arrays.  He'd also met Pike through this chance having joined an expedition to the Cliffs of the Saltwater Shallows, where an abundant vein of raw Mage crystals had been discovered.  As it happened the vein did not have as many pure, clear crystals as it first appeared, however part of Roman's personal research was regarding ways to refine cracked or cloudy crystals for use, so he was quite pleased regardless.

Caelus mumbled something about how unbelievable that an alchemist defile the purposes of his tools for something like soup, even as he summoned a ball of water just for Leon's pot.  However, he swallowed his words sometime later as the aroma of the lightly seasoned soup drifted about their small camp. 

Roman once more glanced about worriedly, fearing the scents of the soup would attract beasts to break his barrier.  He need not have worried.  The guardian of the lake had more than enough aura to act as a deterrent while it was awake.  The six students could eat and sleep quite peacefully so close to its territory until both suns rose into the sky the following day.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Ebonsolaris Ebonsolaris

Author's note; slight amendment to chapter 46 about the difference of Hidden Mist Pills vs Hidden Fog Pills. Originally, I said that the former was for primary Cultivators, actually this is wrong. It only hides their scent from the weakest of beasts. For slightly more dangerous beasts, they need the Hidden Fog Pills. Obviously this means there are upgraded versions of these pills to hide them from increasingly more difficult beasts x

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