The boys had stored the cart in the building and were on their way to the lava bath. Just as Valdor had suggested the cart had been stored at the outpost.
The springs was the name for a bunch of pools and hot springs gathered at one area of the forest. Each pool and spring had a different composition and function, some harmful, others helpful but different stones and crystal could be gathered in the vicinity of the pools, some even inside them.
The outpost was a building built during the time of expansion, it served as a relaxation spot and a forward base to continue the ruin exploration.
It had lost it role as an outpost but the townsfolk still used it during hunting and gathering trips. And in the summer when they came to enjoy the beauty of the pools and the springs, it served as a guesthouse. So the building was in excellent condition.
From here onwards caution had to be employed as more dangerous animals and even traps ranging from the days of exploration to ones set by the hunters could be encountered.
Valdor's tension was at an all time high and he kept up his guard, he hadn't summoned his soul weapon yet as he didn't want to overtask his energy channels before anything even happened but he was in a stance that would allow him strike without wasting any energy.
Noah was glad once again to see that his brother and friend was taking this way seriously, his previous carefree attitude out the window. He couldn't be the one to let them down could he?
Noah put more attention into his senses and begun monitoring the surroundings. It wasn't his first time in the forest and Ryan had made sure he had enough skills to navigate avoid trouble, track and survive any encounter in the place.
In his graduation test as Ryan would call it, he got tossed into the forest with only a bag of essentials and a dagger and was asked to survive for a week.
Everytime he tried to escape Ryan appear out of nowhere and beat the shut out of him before tossing him to a wild animal or a particular dangerous area. Other than that he never interfered not even when he was about to be mauled by a bear.
Thanks to that, Noah discovered in the forest his perception and reaction speed where vastly increased. Not much could be said about his strength or endurance though but since he could alway perceive and avoid the danger, it didn't matter.
Using those skills he was able to safely guide them forwards sometimes they had to a deteor to avoid a foe, other times they ambushed it and took it out before it could even sense them and even cases where the beasts found them first thanks to his great reaction speed it didn't really become a problem
"Surely we are making progress and making a way to our destination, but Val, what do you think about the amount of beasts we have encountered isn't it a bit too much?"
Noah asked worried, he had never been to the bath before as it had beasts and not wild animals. Beast where the animal equivalent of mortal stage they keep accumulating energy and strengthening their bodies until the reached ascendancy and are no longer called beasts. Noah hadn't even awakened yet and he had to go against many of these beasts , while yes he might had help from Val, he still thought the amount and strength of beasts they had encountered was a lot
"Now that you mention it, we have encountered more than we ought to have, but maybe it has something to do with the season, who knows, they might also be preparing for the winter" Val just shrugged.
'No that's not it'
Noah thought to himself,
'They should be finding spots to spend the winter but they all are on edge as if they are fleeing from something I hope I'm overthinking it'
They had finally arrived at the Lava bath, both where drained but they decided to rest and recover enough before exploring the area for the objective. Even while resting Noah was looking around to get as much information as possible, There wasn't a thing as too careful.
"Ahhhh, this place still stinks, no it's even worse than the usual" remarked Val.
"it's like someone decided this place wasn't smelly enough then decided to add shit, lots of shit to make it even worse"
You wouldn't believe it but Var senses were very sensitive so when he said he was right.
A closer look at the surroundings by Nah and he discovered marks all over the immediate area, from claw marks on the trees that somehow thrived in such as perverse location, to broken rocks, wet spots and multiple dark mounds.
"Shit, we're in trouble Valdor"
Noah whispered to his companion.
" keep quiet, don't raise your voice and don't make any movement, recover as much as you can and be prepared to make a move when I call for it, I'll explain later."
Noah understood why they had met a lot of beasts now, some beast had made this place his lair and had affected the ecosystem sending the weaker beast out from their usual hiding spots and habitats, and since the beast wasn't here now it was probably out hunting which also explained the state every beast they had met with was in, they were trying to escape the predator.
Valdor didn't bother to ask any questions and just did as he was instructed, he calmed his nerves and allowed aether to flow through his energy channels nourishing them and bringing them back to their peak state.
It was a bummer that he was very close to his goal yet he had to abandon it but he had to listen to his brother, he knew best in such situations, plus even a muscle head like him could now tell something was wrong
Noah was doing just fine recovering by staying in the same position but his mind was working at full force, do they go back as they came or did he have to find a new route, he couldn't be sure of which beast it was that made the bath its lair, the information he had was very limited and it was affecting his decision. After taking a short time to go after the clues in his head he tapped Val on the shoulders
"Let's go. We will return the way we came, from what I can see here, this a pack at least 10 members strong. It's not worth it".
Valdor just nodded took and followed after Noah, from the moment of their arrival at bath till their departure barely 10 minutes had passed, the sun was now at its peak and they had recovered enough to gain some ground hopefully before the beast pack made their return.
They started moving as fast as as possible to escape from the den but heard a loud wolf cry behind them. The first cry was responded to by others coming from all around Valdor and Noah's location. They were trapped.
While running towards the only direction they didn't hear a wolf howl from Valdor asked
" Any Idea what we're facing"
Noah took his weapon from their sack which he had at his back, a pair of Kak sticks, swinging them as he ran to clear the branches where could not avoid with Val following behind him with his soul weapon a giant hammer raised against his shoulder ready to strike
Yes and it's bad news, wolves that made their den at a lava bath just before winter, fire wolves, I counted six howls but I estimate them to be atleast ten so no idea when... "
Noah's words where cut short as the four wolves he was thinking about where just right ahead of him, they really were trapped now.