Chapter 2149: Heavy Lifting

Night arrived, Althea took out some of the prismatic moss from her space for oxygen and dim lighting. Since finding out plants could thrive in her space, she made sure to have a lot of these in there.

They had flashlights and stuff, but the plant was the most practical to use whenever they weren’t in fights or just needed dim lighting.

As for why normal plants seemed fine inside this zone while the two monster plants couldn’t enter, it felt a bit like ’two tigers cannot live in the same mountain’ situation.

This also meant that there was a strong existence in this direction.

Hopefully, they would not join in the skeletons underneath these shrubs.

Garan released his sharp ice dome, taking down the branches that barraged them as soon as they moved. Althea was also swinging her katana a lot, trying to avoid getting hit by the reflex stabs.

It was definitely not easy considering they were surrounded by them from all sides and from different angles and heights.

Them being exhausted was an understatement. At some point, they struggled to lift their arms.

In the end, just a few hours after entering the place, they had to take a full break. Althea took out the house from her space, and the two entered and prepared everything they needed for a proper rest.

They took out a pot and their portable stove, with Garan cooking instant noodles. Garan also took out sausages; sharpening a finger, he cut it as he touched it, and the slices smoothly dropped into the noodles being cooked.

Plants did not get attracted by these things. For the aggressive and bloodthirsty plants, the live and fresh humans were far more attractive. So, considering they were already agitated by their presence, adding some meat in the mix wouldn’t suddenly make them even more stimulated.

"I hope we’re in the right place and heading in the right direction. I’m exhausted," Althea said before taking a slurp of her food. "Let’s take a short break from adventuring after this. I really miss the children."

Anyway, they needed time to gather data for the other item.

After saying this, she took out the memory stone and played the video of the children there. It wasn’t enough, so she also took out her phone. She had thousands of photos and videos of them there.

The members of the family also had their own phones to capture many moments that they might’ve missed. They were very meticulous in backing up this data, using external drives to make copies.

The couple watched the video of their children running around with fruits in hand. It was one of the recent videos they took before leaving. Knowing that they would be away for a while, the couple had collected more videos and photos about them, even if they were from other phones.

It was an apple and wasn’t sliced yet (the babies took them before the adults could do so). The babies were just starting to grow their little baby teeth at this point.

So, at the time, they were literally just chewing on the skin, and little bite marks formed on the apple’s red surface. The apple itself doubled as a ball as well, which was probably how Meatball got the habit of biting his rubber balls.

Of course, they only allowed this when they were playing on a clean table or something. It’s good to train a child’s stomach and not be too overtly particular about cleanliness, but when blatant hygiene problems could be avoided, it should be avoided.

Then at some point, after rolling the apple Baby Meatball bit a little harder so that it looked like he hurt himself.

Hnggggg

He looked pitifully at the nearest adult, who happened to be the one holding up the camera. His rounded, teary eyes were heartbreaking.

Unexpectedly, the baby boy gathered himself and vented on ’the enemy’. Using his ability, he slapped it down. The heaviness of his hand squashed as if a dumbbell fell on it.

That was the first time they saw him use his ability in a localized area, his palm. He also got a fever right after that. Fortunately, he recovered, but it was such a scare neither of the couple could do anything productive for days after that.

Sigh.

"I really hope we succeed."

After a couple of hours of napping, they finally headed out with renewed energy. Their weapons were out to save up on energy. Althea with her Katana, and Garan with his broadsword.

The path was too narrow, so their area of movement was limited. In cases like this, cold weapons were most reliable, at least until they figured out the place.

Eventually, dealing with the thorny plants became a bit easier. They could now target its weaknesses more effectively and defend against their attacks with increasing efficiency.

They thought that they had finally caught the momentum, but they were still too naive.

They realized that the deeper they went, the heavier their bodies were—as if they were being pulled down by the ground itself.

...

It wasn’t too abrupt, but the difference wasn’t light either. For example, one minute, they were walking with labor, then a few steps later they would almost trip, losing balance immediately at the first step due to the sudden unexpected change.

"What’s going on?" Althea asked, confused.

At first, they thought that they were just exhausted. It was common knowledge that the body would feel heavy once one was tired, right?

However, when Garan looked back and saw his footprints becoming more and more pronounced and deeper within a few meters from where they stood now, he realized that it wasn’t that simple.

"I think gravity is increasing the more we go forward."

"What? How is that...." She was about to ask how that was possible, since as a scientist, she knew that a tangible difference in gravity would require a massive difference in mass.

However, to achieve this effect, it had to be at the level of, say, a large mountain compressed into a small area.

Then again, she remembered the appearance of elements being absorbed by the ground. Didn’t it feel like those particles were also pulled down by extra gravity? Perhaps the principle was the same.

But understanding was one thing; actually liking it was quite another.

Just thinking that they still had at least tens of kilometers of this to go, especially—considering it was unknown when or how they would be able to get out—made her feel extremely tired just thinking about it.

At the same time, it increased the chances that this was their target location. It was too abnormal, after all, and how could there be more than one legendary item in a region? This one had to be it. It was just that it was a major challenge.

They continued their walk, albeit with much slower pacing this time. They had to exert extra strength just by walking a few steps.

It was incredibly tiring and they were drenched in sweat even at night, let alone when the sun was up.

They travelled for a few more days in this situation, resting in the house for only an accumulated total of a few hours every day.

Gravity also increased every few hundred meters, making it more and more difficult to handle. Even when they had gotten a hang of dealing with the pesky thorned forest, the challenge kept getting raised.

They often had to use their elements to help them clear out the path. For example, Garan would use metal spears not just to clear the way but also as a cane.

Althea would use earth skills to bolster her steps, saving some physical energy in exchange for a bit of mana.

Further, one had to remember it was more difficult to ’lift’ the elements in this zone, too, so this was all extremely taxing.

But if there was any positive in all of this, a few steps were equivalent to at least half an hour of intense exercise. Their elemental control was also being honed, so—unless they died because they were so tired—there were advantages to this.

"I feel like absorbing a few more crystals wouldn’t do any damage to me now," Althea joked while panting pitifully. Garan wanted to wipe her sweat, but he was too tired as well.

Absorbing crystals too often and too quickly without tempering the body was harmful. Now...they felt like their bodies were very tired, but also more and more tempered.

At this rate, it wouldn’t matter if they took on a handful at once. They didn’t have enough crystals to absorb wantonly, of course, but they’d definitely absorb a few as soon as they got the chance.

On the 6th day since they entered the thorny sea, inside the concrete dome, the two spent another three days absorbing a few aether crystals in one go.

By the end of it, Garan rose to level 37 and Althea jumped to the peak of level 29, finally reaching higher-level individuals in towns.