After defeating the hippo and spending the night in the region nearby, the party headed even deeper inside the forest.
According to the old man, they were still two people short to be a proper party. But despite that, they were functioning reasonably well.
This was because Lucifer possessed superior physical capabilities like a warrior and could stay vigilant at night like an assassin.
Although the extent to which he could handle those roles was limited, he was fairly efficient in those roles till this point.
The middle layer was filled with all sorts of monsters and animals, but they were slowly able to pass through it by working together.
There was no coordination between the monsters of this region, and the difference in the habitat they lived in made it easy for the three to get past this region.
After fighting the Fang wolves, who could use wind attacks, they had to cross a small river to get to the forest's inner layer.
It took them six days to reach that far inside, but even that was fast. It usually took an experienced adventurer party a week to get this deep in this forest. This was all thanks to the magical weapons and potions they possessed.
The three took a break in the bank of the river. Few bears were hunting on the other side, but they were far enough to possess no immediate threat.
It was winter, so the river had narrowed down to the point where it could be easily crossed on foot. And since there were plenty of fishes on the riverbank, it was a perfect spot to have lunch before heading further inside.
It was cold, so they had created a bonfire to warm themselves up. They were sitting around the fire and cooking fish when the old man started sniffing the rocks around.
The old man was weird, but Lucifer still considered him sane. However, the way he was acting right now made him doubt that fact.
"What's up, old man? What are you sniffing around?"
"Don't you know this smell?"
The old man stood up and started following the smell. The way he was heading to had a few bears, so Lucifer followed him just to be on the safe side.
After going a little further, the smell became more and more distinct, and it didn't take long for Lucifer to realize what the old man had discovered.
It was the pungent smell of rock salt.
A little further ahead in the riverbank, they discovered several small deposits of rock salt.
"Oh damn! You've got some nose, old man, sniffing something this far."
"Well, I am the guide, after all. My senses are way above yours."
The two then used stones to break the salt and collected as much as they could. It was not much, but this amount would be more than enough for them to live for over a year without having to look for more.
The salt found in rivers like this needed to be purified, so the old man used a cloth to filter out the waste in the salt after melting it using the river water.
They used pots made up of wood and covered them with clay from underneath. That way, the fire wouldn't burn the wood, and they could still cook without worrying about the leaks.
Contrary to his looks, the old man possessed a vast knowledge about these things. If given proper equipment and resources, it was even possible that he could produce miracles out of it.
Once filtered, they evaporated out the water, and only the salt remained. They then used the empty bottles to store the salt.
Once they were done with it, they applied salt to the fishes they were cooking and started eating.
It was already mid-day, so all of them were hungry. And since they hadn't tasted salt in about a week, the food tested like heavens.
Once they were done eating, the party crossed the river and headed towards the inner region of the forest.
Even though it was mid-day, the trees here were so tall and dense that the light wasn't even reaching the ground.
There were tall bushes everywhere, which made it even dangerous to move forward. It was wise to move ahead, believing that anything could jump out of those bushes and attack them.
However, while Lucifer and Luna were vigilantly keeping an eye on everything, the old man took out a bottle of rum and started drinking.
"Tch! Are you trying to get us killed, old man? Stay on your guard."
"What are you talking about? Aren't we trying to call out the monsters so that we can hunt and level up?"
"Well, it's not this way, though. Like this, we will catch the attention of way too many."
"Nah, it will be fine. We are here to level up; if they all come at once, it's better, no?"
""No!""
This time both Luna and Lucifer said that at the same time. It was apparent that the old man was completely drunk.
The smell of alcohol was threatening to the monsters of this region. And since the monsters here were high-level, they would naturally try to attack in defense instead of running away.
That fear they had soon became a reality when they started hearing the noises of monkeys chattering.
By no means that sounded like ordinary monkeys; the cries they were emitting felt like something was dying.
Lucifer sighed. He knew where the noise was coming from.
"Well, I guess they would have sensed us sooner or later."
Lucifer took the Flaming sphere out of his arsenal and shot a flame burst towards the sky. As he did that, three chimpanzees like beings came into sight.
All three of them were level 10 and had less MP and HP than most at that level. However, from their movement, it was apparent that they were crazy fast.
"No choice! Luna, look after the old man. I will try to get their attention."
"B-but there are three of them. Won't it be better if we fight them together?"
"Ordinarily, it would. But these creatures are fast, and it seems they will attack us from above. We will never be able to defeat them by staying on the ground."
"Alright, just be safe."
Lucifer smiled in response as he jumped to the branch of one of the trees and climbed up. It was his time to see how much he had progressed on his own.