Chapter 275: Happy Trails

On their walk back towards the group, Maria held tightly on to her spear. It was still brimming with raw power in her grasp, as if welcoming her old self. Jacob stared at its shaft, envious of the time he got to use the weapon himself. With that thing in his hand, it felt like he could bring Zalo himself to his knees. A few monsters tried ambushing them, but Jacob was able to swiftly cut their head off with nothing but his arm before they could get close.

"So many small creatures around here. It’s like they can smell you from a mile away and come in herds to get a chance to eat you."

Maria sighed.

"It’s what comes with the mark, I guess. I wonder if we can find a way to rid ourselves of its influence with this Great Serpent."

"I’ve been wondering that myself. I want a rose mark just like everyone else! That would be much cooler than this stupid skull."

Maria chuckled.

"A rose mark is cooler than a skull?"

Jacob nodded his head.

"Uh, yeah? A rose mark doesn’t invade your brain and spew philosophy that doesn’t make sense all the time. Speaking of which, it has been quite some time since that has happened. I wonder if they can’t reach us through our marks anymore."

Maria looked at her spear and gripped it firmly in her hands.

"I hope so too."

After coming back to the group, Jacob saw Slimo helping Lidia on to Sheeby, even though it was clear that she did not need any help at all. Maria ran over to Sheeby and hugged her snout tightly.

"Good girl! Were you protecting mom while we were away?! Oh yes, you were!"

Sheeby’s tail wagged vibrantly getting to see Maria again, even though she had only been away for a few moments. Jacob tried to do the same as Maria and walked up to Sheeby.

"Who’s a good Sheeby?! You are!"

However, instead of a tail wag or any sort of excitement whatsoever, all he was given was an expression of ’seriously? You’re a grown ass man.’ written all over her face. Jacob seriously couldn’t believe a dragon was capable of such faces.

"Aw, come on! I literally did the same thing!"

Jacob climbed on to Sheeby’s back and prepared for takeoff. With one massive flap of her wings, everyone was lifted off the ground and sent flying into the sky. Jacob slightly missed flying in the air on Sheeby’s back. The view itself was unreal. They were all able to see for dozens of miles around them in each direction. A cold wind pressed against their face constantly, but it was sightly relaxing and soothed their minds of any thought.

Eighteen hours of flying had passed before their next rest time. Everyone was hungry, thirsty, and more importantly tired. Sheeby had appeared to be getting stronger and was able to fly much further and faster than she did before. There was no doubt they would be able to reach the jungle on their next flight. However, that meant they would have to take tonight to prepare as much as they possibly could.

The area they landed in was right next to a small lake. Sheeby drank greedily from its contents while everyone else took the time to fill up their bottles with fresh water. Sarah and Squabee were put in charge of making the food while Maria, Jacob, and Slimo were surrounding the camp to prepare for any possible attacks. Jacob talked with Slimo as he looked around the empty field of grass.

"Hey, Slimo. Is there any advice you could give us before we enter a territory we aren’t familiar with? What kinds of things can we even prepare for?"

Slimo crossed his arms and looked to the sky, lost in thought.

"The most important thing is adapting to the surrounding environment. Imagine we were dropped in the middle of a desert. You have to get used to there not being a lot of water around you very quickly, whether that means you ration much harsher than you normally would or slow your movements, so you don’t sweat as much. It’s going to be the same thing here. The thing we have to figure out right away is what our disadvantages are. After that, we can figure out what out priorities should be."

"Based on what you see so far, what do you think our disadvantages might be?"

Slimo squinted his eyes.

"It’s hard to say since we haven’t entered it yet, but from what I see, the plant life is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. In fact, I don’t think there is a single clear opening where we can fly or walk. I think our greatest difficulty will be movement, and to be honest, that frightens me greatly."

Jacob turned his head.

"Why does that frighten you?"

"Because if there’s something hiding in that greenery, something that knows how to move well through it, we could all easily be killed. Even to something as weak as an Infant Beast."

Jacob shook his head in disbelief.

"I know those things aren’t exactly weak, but we have gotten much stronger! We can handle one of those things!"

"I’m sure the monsters that I’ve killed had all thought the same when facing me before. I’m sure they all viewed me as nothing but an ant compared to them. However, because they underestimated me, I was able to scrape out every advantage I could find and still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."

Jacob’s heart dropped. Slimo made a good point. He was nothing but a normal human without any kind of power, yet he was still capable of taking things down that he should never have been able to.

"Listen, Jacob. What I’m trying to say is that every conceivable advantage matters. There is almost no such thing as a guaranteed victory, even against something weaker than you. Trust me."

Jacob nodded his head.

"So, what kinds of advantages do we have going into this?"

"We have two. One, anything that lives and thrives there does not know we are coming. And two, we have a dragon."

Jacob smirked and looked at Sheeby who was already completely passed out with its tongue laying out of its mouth.

"That second one is a really nice advantage."

He looked down at his missing sword, reminiscing about the days he would practice his swordsmanship for hours on end, refining his technique to its absolute limits.

"Slimo, I think we can increase those advantages of yours if you help me with something. However, we’d be risking a lot to try and accomplish it. Are you willing to hear me out?"

Slimo looked at Jacob.

"That depends on what you are about to ask me."

"I know your sword shattered against Sheeby’s scales and my weapon has long been missing, why don’t we go hunting for something to make some new ones?"

"Why don’t we just use Sheeby’s scales?"

"We have nothing that can possibly shape them the way we want. In all honestly, maybe we should hunt for something that has a material strong enough to shape the scales. That means we don’t have to fight something as strong as Sheeby but still reap the benefits of something just as powerful!"

Slimo paced around thinking to himself.

"We would also be leaving Lidia, Sarah, Sqaubee and Maria to themselves. I’m not sure if I can go with you, Jacob."

"That’s okay. Maria and I can go. We both have our special eye that can see how powerful something is anyway, so the searching won’t take as long. Will you all be okay with us gone?"

Slimo nodded his head.

"We can manage somehow. Just don’t get yourself too injured. This risk you’re taking would mean nothing if you can’t swing a sword."

Jacob nodded his head and waved over to Maria.

"We’ll try not to be too long. This will also strengthen Maria if she can manage to land the final blow!"

"Don’t worry too much about that if you are in danger. Just focus on returning back here."

Without wasting anymore time, Maria and Jacob walked away from the group in search of a beast powerful enough to sculpt Sheeby’s scales. However, this adventure they were going on was going to be a massive risk. Slimo’s old sword was made out of incredibly reinforced iron, and it didn’t so much as scratch the scales surface. They would have to somehow kill something that was as strong as a spirit at least, and if there was one thing Jacob remembered about Spirits, it was that they commonly messed with your bodily senses. He briefly considered shoving something in their ears so they wouldn’t have a repeat of what happened in the desert all those days ago.

Jacob recalled the spirit he had met there and the conversation they had. It told him to come find him when the timer on his arm reached zero and that it may be worth his while. However, Jacob had no plans on returning to that desert any time soon, especially with a Providence Deity roaming the land. Maria noticed his distant gaze and questioned him.

"What is it?"

"There was this desert spirit I had encountered a while back. I was just thinking about the offer it made me."

"Offer? What offer?"

"It told me to come and find him once the timer on my arm reached zero. It also said that it may be worth my while, but it also may be my end. However, by the time we see that thing again, we may be so powerful we won’t need its help anymore."

A clicking sound screeched through the air. Jacob and Maria threw themselves to the ground and turned their heads in its direction. There was nothing there. Jacob whispered to Maria.

"You heard that too, right?"

Maria gripped her spear tightly instead of saying anything back. The ground below them shook every second, as if something giant was walking towards them. Suddenly, out across the field, Jacob spotted it. It was a massive mechanical beast made out of a strange alloy. It had a square head with two round eyes and no mouth; each part of its body appeared to be stuck in one direction as it swung itself forward using its rectangular arms. Sparks flew off each of its joints as it moved forward and small critters scattered out of its path.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"It’s like a doll made of metal was possessed by something."

Just then, time slowed down as Jacob felt a cold exhale flow on the back of his neck. He turned his head slowly to see a deformed human face opening its mouth, almost shaping itself into a smile. As its mouth opened, dark blood fell on to his back, revealing its rotted green teeth along with its description right next to its body.

Name: Pareidolia

Class: Infant Spirit

Description: These creatures are capable of becoming completely immune to one of its preys five senses: sight, smell, sound, touch, or taste. It can change which one it is immune to at will. These creatures are frightening assassins and never take fights head-on if they can help it. They take the shape of a something that is vaguely familiar to their target if spotted.

[Corrupter]: This is a creature of corruption.

[Call of the Void]: Upon this creature’s death, the Dreadnaught will be summoned.