Chapter 56: The Flower Field's Secret

"Here, take this." Handing out a piece of meat to Sarah, I quietly sat down next to her. After our long fight against the pack of Blood Wolves, we decided to rest here for the night and continue our journey tomorrow.

During the day, in addition to the Blood Wolves, we encountered other formidable monsters such as the Man-Eating Rafflesia and the Golden Star Panther. Our encounter with the Man-Eating Rafflesia was a result of a careless mistake on our part. Underestimating the rank 3 monster, we thought it would be safe to cross its habitat, but that turned out to be the wrong choice. Despite its lower rank, the Man-Eating Rafflesia had the advantage of its environment and managed to harass us for a long time. Controlling the plants around it, it entangled us for an hour until Sarah finally managed to detect its main body, allowing me to finish it off.

Later, we accidentally stumbled upon the Golden Star Panther, a rank 6 monster. Without hesitation, I grabbed Sarah and started running away. It was a truly dangerous situation, as I knew I couldn't win against a rank 6 monster with my current strength. Engaging in a fight would only leave me vulnerable and wounded, which would be unwise.

Just when we thought we had escaped danger, we encountered a pack of Blood Wolves. If my guess was correct, they might have been attracted by the blood coming from my wounds. While escaping from the Golden Star Panther, it was inevitable that I received a few injuries in exchange for a chance to escape, and that might have alerted the Blood Wolves, who were known to be sensitive to the smell of blood.

After I finished off the Blood Wolf King, I no longer had the energy to continue and just wanted to rest. After discussing it with Sarah, we decided to rest in this spot since it was filled with a bloody aura, which would deter monsters from easily approaching.

Grabbing a piece of wolf meat, I quickly took a bite to restore my strength. In this forest, other than monster meat and wild fruits, we had no other source of food. Thankfully, the survival skills my master had taught me as a child came in handy, and I set up a fire and prepared something to eat.

"Hey, don't you want to eat that? You better eat because we still need energy for our journey after this," I said, noticing Sarah not eating the wolf meat. I thought she might feel uncomfortable eating something like this since she was a noble lady. That's why I advised her to eat, as we needed to replenish our energy.

Nodding at me, she began eating the wolf meat. Unexpectedly, she ate it as if it were normal meat, denying my previous thought. Reflecting on her expression, I realized that she seemed lost in thought. There was something weighing on her mind, but I didn't want to pry until she was ready to talk about it. She had been acting out of character these past few days, but I still believed in her.

"Eat. Whatever is on your mind right now, you better put it away until we reach our target," I told her, offering support in the best way I could.

"Thank you," she replied softly, her voice barely audible.

Morning came, and we continued on our journey. We had less than two days before we would be forced out of this place. We needed to hurry before it was too late.

The distance to our destination was no longer far, and we estimated that we would arrive in the afternoon. However, considering that we had to be cautious during our journey, it might take more time than expected. Personally, I hoped we would arrive before nightfall, as more ferocious monsters tended to appear at night, which would further delay our progress.

This time, instead of walking, Sarah and I were running at a light pace. For me, this pace of running wasn't even challenging, but for Sarah, who couldn't use magic, it might have been demanding. That's why I had decided to walk instead of running yesterday.

As we ran, we occasionally encountered a few monsters, but we chose to ignore most of them unless engaging in a fight was our only option.

Just as I had predicted, a little after noon, we arrived at the border between the forest and the flower field.

The sight before me was captivating. Even though I knew this place had been artificially created, I couldn't help but wonder if it had been born naturally. The vast forest next to the beautiful flower field seemed to blend harmoniously. There was no sense of artificiality; instead, it emitted a natural and serene atmosphere.

"Just look at this," I marveled, appreciating the breathtaking view. However, Sarah's interruption brought me back to reality, and I followed her as we walked forward.

Shaking my head helplessly, I soon found myself trailing behind her. The transition from the perilous forest to the tranquil flower field was striking. In the flower field, there was an eerie absence of monsters, allowing us to traverse it smoothly until we reached the center.

At the heart of the flower field, a magnificent white gazebo came into view, and inside it, an item floated, enveloped in pulsating mana energy.

Just by looking at it, I knew we had arrived at our destination.