The group tirelessly ran. They could not take the slightest break, lest they want to put the entire group in danger. Thankfully, there were no beasts that ran extremely fast, like tigers or wolves. Also, there weren't any beasts in front of them, so it was smooth sailing. After some time, the grouped saw the river and the falls.
Although their safety was still not guaranteed even after crossing the river, they thought that it might help in reducing the stampede's size. After all, not all of the beasts could cross it, and the current was quite strong, even for the large magical beasts.
Just like what they did yesterday, Korona made a path above the surface of the water using her magic and the group crossed the river safely. Immediately after, she broke the spell and the Ice Path crumbled. Bits and pieces of ice fell into the water.
They sighed with relief. After almost an hour of running, they could finally take some rest.
Reality surprised them, though. From the front, dozens of magical beasts rammed through several trees and were heading straight towards them. Instead of heading straight back to camp, they were forced to go left. They were currently running at the exact path they used the previous day when they were being chased by the baboons.
Aeon looked at the other side of the river and saw that the stampede was still following them even after running for a few kilometers already. Some of them even attempted to jump over the river, but the gap between the two riverbanks was just too wide for them.
They were really persistent, Aeon thought. "Yo, this isn't right!"
"Maybe, they want to have a bite of you," Suri said. Even at that moment, he was still in the mood to joke.
"I think you meant you! I heard magical beasts like Fire Serans!" Aeon scoffed.
The group chuckled.
Suddenly, Levi spoke, "Aeon, grope Dan."
…
"You're telling me to what?!"
"Check his pack for some items on the list."
"Oh! You could've said that sooner. Choose your words properly, will ya?"
"..."
Immediately, Aeon fumbled through Dan's fanny pack with his other hand. He had quite some difficulty because they were running. Sometimes the pack would bounce towards the top of Dan, making it unreachable to Aeon. Ultimately, he succeeded in pulling out an item. To be exact, it was the only item in Dan's fanny pack.
Aeon brought the leafy stuff he pulled out from the pack and brought it in front of his face. It was some sort of grass, but its defining feature was that it was all blue, looking completely like something entirely made out of sapphire. "Woah, isn't this—"
"Sapphiric Witch Grass," Levi finished Aeon's sentence and grabbed a glass jar, "it exudes a smell that attracts magical beasts when it's shaken, the defense mechanism it developed over time."
The plant basically evolved to cause chaos before it was eaten.
Aeon sniffed at the grass but smelled nothing. He eyed the grass one more time, but Levi suddenly took it and stuffed it into a glass jar.
"I know how to escape," Levi said as he closed the jar tightly with its lid, "everybody, jump on the river."
"Are you sure about this?" Suri said as he eyed the jar.
Levi lifted his glasses that slid down from his nose. "The grass' scent is already stuck on our bodies. These beasts won't stop chasing us until we get rid of it. Don't worry, we have Korona to help us."
Korona nodded then asked, "How long do we need to drift in the river?"
"Probably until we're out of sight. The current is quite fast so it'll help us and we don't need to spend any more energy," Levi explained.
"But I don't smell anything," Aeon said after sniffing his own hand.
"You can't smell it, but they can," Levi said while pointing a thumb at the beasts who were chasing them.
Aeon looked at the back. Then across the lake. There were beasts everywhere. He eyed the hand he used to get the plant. After a few moments, he sighed.
"Alright then. I'll go in first," Aeon volunteered and jumped into the water after dropping his sentence. He was still carrying the unconscious Dan in his shoulders. Immediately, the rest of them followed.
Seeing them diving into the river on their own accord, several beasts from both riverbanks also jumped in as well. However, after a few moments, the water upstream started to freeze, and the beasts who followed suit got stuck inside the ice.
From time to time, the members of the group would bob their heads up from the water and breath in some air. The entire time, Aeon made sure that Dan's body was floating on the surface. With Korona's assistance, no wave ever swallowed Aeon and Dan, and the two sailed quite peacefully.
It took quite some time before they lost the final magical beast that persisted in following them.
It was hard for them to imagine that a handful of grass could cause them so much trouble. When they read about its description on the list, they did not think that the scent it released was quite potent. They even got a chance to witness world peace in the magical beast community. They did not attack each other, instead, they just pursued the scent.
After drifting for a few more kilometers, just to make sure that no beasts were following them anymore, Korona casted a spell and created an Ice Wall in front of them to halt their drifting. One by one, they went out of the water. Surprisingly, Dan was still unconscious. He did not wake up despite all the commotion.
The first thing that Levi did after he surfaced from the water was to check the book he brought with him on their journey inside his fanny pack. Unfortunately, a few pages had been torn and the ink already blotted. He sighed with emotion and threw it aside.
Levi dried himself up with wind magic and took out the map from his pocket. The map was made from excellent materials so it was still in good shape. He tried to identify where they were at.
It turns out, they were already extremely deep into the forest. The river actually curved into a wide, C-shaped arc. The spot they were currently at was even farther than the swamp they previously visited. Thankfully, even though they were very far from the camp, the spot they were currently at was near the outskirts of the southern part of the forest. Levi did his best to find a spot where they could be safe from both the oversized birds and beasts.
After Suri dried Aeon's clothes, Aeon placed Dan comfortably on a patch of grass. He checked over his wounds to see if they were fatal.
Thankfully, they were not.
The deepest wound that Dan had was on his right shoulder, and it slid down to his right hip. Most likely, it was caused by a small-sized magical beast. If it came from an average-sized one, his entire arm would've already been cleaved off. His other shoulder was also wounded, but it wasn't as deep. His leg had a bite mark, too, confirming their theory about the size of the beast that attacked him.
Aeon took a few bandages and patched Dan up. Surprisingly, he was quite skilled at it and he got a couple of praises from the other members of the group, even from Selena.
Suri slapped Dan a few times, but the latter did not wake up. They wouldn't be able to get any information from him, in the meantime.
"Let's go south. We'll need to walk for a couple of kilometers, but our safety will be ensured." Levi said as he rolled the map and shoved it into his pocket. Obviously, he was still upset about his book.
The group nodded and moved south.
The trip was a quiet one. There were too many questions inside their heads and they all know that the only person who can answer those questions was Dan.
A few hours later, when it was already noon, the group stumbled upon a cave. It was quite deep and a few average-sized magical beasts lived inside it, but they immediately took care of them. They set camp and did their usual routine.
Suri set up the fire.
Korona blocked the entrance with an Ice Wall.
Aeon surveyed the area for any potential threats.
Levi and Selena cooked.
They started getting used to the environment within the forest.
Before entering the forest, most of them had probably never killed a magical beast before. But in a brief span of three days, they couldn't even count how many they slew anymore. It was a good, but bloody, experience.
After they ate their lunch, in the light of the bonfire, Levi examined the Sapphiric Witch Grass, the second plant type item on the list.
Of course, everyone was also curious and scooted over. It was still as pretty as it was earlier. Any women would gawk in awe at its beauty, Korona and Selena were no exceptions. They realized that the grass was carefully plucked from its roots, and there were no folds or tears on the grass which meant that the item was handled carefully.
For it to exude a scent that could attract magical beasts, it had to be shaken. Since it was obviously handled with care, the said behavior should not have been triggered. Moreover, Dan knew the abilities of the grass so he surely had ways to go around it. So how in the world did he rake up such a huge stampede?
It was yet another mystery only Dan can answer.
Levi did not dare take out the plant from the jar.
…..