Chapter 1507: To The South

The island they had landed on looked ordinary compared to the corrupted territories they had recently walked on. The surface of the island was covered by wide stretches of green vegetation, rocky hills, and forests that swayed gently beneath the open sky.

There were no strange mists or living trees trying to attack them, and the air carried only the natural flow of Magic that existed throughout Elyndor.

Far across the horizon, several floating islands drifted peacefully through the sky, connected only by the invisible routes they had to navigate.

Erend placed his travel pack on the ground and pulled out one of the maps Caelion had given them. The others gathered around him as he unfolded the large sheet across a relatively flat rock.

"Alright. Let’s see where we are," Erend said.

The map displayed a large portion of Elyndor, including numerous floating islands, known settlements, dangerous territories, and several marked routes.

Erend traced their current position with his finger before following the route toward the south.

"We need to keep going this way," Sylven said, pointing farther south. "The colder regions are beyond these islands. That’s where the last report of the Sky Tyrant was located."

Aesa leaned closer to the map and sighed. "That’s quite far."

"Very far," Sylven replied. "And there are several dangerous regions between here and the southern territories."

Eccar examined the marked routes.

"We could take the safer route and go around them," Eccar said with a shrug.

He moved his finger along a long curved line that passed around several dangerous areas before eventually reconnecting with the southern route.

"But it would take much longer," Erend said.

"There’s another route here." Sylven pointed toward a much straighter path. "We can go through these regions instead."

Aesa studied the markings for several seconds. "The danger level is considerably higher."

Eccar grinned. "Or we can take that one."

Erend nodded almost immediately. "There’s no reason to waste time going around."

None of them showed hesitation. They had already fought through corrupted forests and faced creatures capable of threatening the entire world. A few dangerous territories were hardly enough to discourage them.

They folded the map and stored it away.

"Then let’s go south," Erend said.

The four Dragonborn spread their wings and began moving toward the southern horizon, choosing the dangerous route simply because it was faster.

They had just entered the first dangerous territory when the peaceful atmosphere around them suddenly changed. A series of enormous shadows swept across the ground, followed by a chorus of shrill roars that echoed between the floating islands.

Eccar looked upward and saw several monstrous creatures emerging from behind the clouds and descended toward them at terrifying speed.

They resembled massive wyverns, but instead of leathery wings, their bodies carried big feathered wings that spread nearly as wide as their bodies.

Their muscular bodies were covered in dark feathers, while their hooked beaks and elongated claws gave them the appearance of gigantic predatory birds. The creature was nearly as large as a wyvern and possessed enough strength to tear apart ordinary adventurers in seconds.

More of them appeared from the surrounding clouds.

"Looks like they noticed us," Eccar said calmly.

Erend glanced upward. "Don’t use Magic unless we need it."

The others immediately understood.

They had entered unknown territory, and there was no reason to reveal their true strength too much. Powerful Magic could attract the attention of creatures far more dangerous than these, or even humans, and that would be bothersome to deal with.

The first feathered beast dove toward Erend. He simply stepped forward.

Boom!

His fist struck the creature’s skull with a terrifying force, enough to stop its entire body in the air. The monster then spun away and crashed into the ground before it could even spread its wings again.

Another monster descended toward Eccar. Eccar caught its talon with one hand.

The creature struggled violently, but Eccar just moved a little bit. He pulled it downward and slammed its massive body against the ground.

Aesa moved through another attack with effortless precision. She caught the creature’s wing as it passed and twisted with enough physical strength to send the enormous beast crashing into a nearby cliff.

Sylven dealt with the remaining monsters just as easily. He leaped into the air and struck one directly in the chest, sending it tumbling through the clouds.

Within minutes, the entire flock lay scattered across the island.

The four Dragonborn stood among the fallen creatures without a single injury.

"That was easier than I expected," Eccar said while looking around.

Erend nodded. "Let’s keep moving."

They continued south.

The four Dragonborn continued south without deviating from the route they had decided. They crossed one dangerous territory after another and maintained a nearly straight course toward the colder regions of Elyndor.

Whenever monsters appeared along their path, they dealt with them quickly and continued without slowing down for long.

Hours passed before they finally stopped on a relatively quiet floating island to check their progress.

Erend unfolded Caelion’s map while the others gathered around him.

Sylven studied their current position and compared it with the route that Caelion had originally planned.

"We’ve already crossed this far," he said.

Eccar leaned closer to the map. His brows raised when he realized how much distance they had covered.

"This map said this was supposed to take us five to seven days," Eccar said.

"It was," Sylven replied. "If we followed the safer route."

Aesa glanced toward the southern horizon. "So we’ve cut several days from the journey."

Erend folded the map again. "Then the dangerous route was worth it."

None of them needed to discuss the matter further. Their decision had already proven effective, so they continued south once again.

Along the way, they start to see different kinds of floating islands. There were also a cluster of them far away. They looked like another country just like Skyhold Bastion, but this country was made of brown structures like bronze or maybe bricks.

The four of them didn’t have time to check those countries, they kept moving south.

—