Vol 2 Chapter 46 Memories by the Fire

Cool spring water poured down over his head, chilling the gradually awakening Bad Apple to the bone. He didn’t have time to think about who was doing such a thing;
he just wanted to escape and flee this dangerous place as quickly as possible.

But before he could run more than a few steps, the changes in the surrounding environment and the various strange questions flooding his mind forced him to turn back to see what was happening. Only then did he discover Sylutia standing not far away.

The young girl was holding a ladle, drenching each of the motionless human figures one by one. The remaining two, of course, were Yan and Karl.

“What is going on?” He couldn’t react for a moment.

However, he wasn’t a fool. It didn’t take long for him to figure things out. Then, looking around, he discovered the giant lizard corpse lying by the pool not far away.

“Is this a Petrification Lizard?” Instantly, he understood everything.

So he had been petrified? After that, his other companions had also fallen victim, probably because they came to rescue him. He felt somewhat ashamed at this thought and rubbed his head.

But, this Petrification Lizard… it should be Third Tier, right? Who killed it? Could it be Tia?

He looked at the young girl with disbelief.

Soon, the other two also gradually woke up and recovered, adapting to their somewhat stiffened bodies.

“Cough, cough, run!” As soon as Karl woke up, he was ready to shout for everyone to escape. He could already tell that was a Third Tier Petrification Lizard, something their current group simply couldn’t handle.

Seeing the others not moving, he grew a little angry and was about to lose his temper, but then he sensed something was off. After a quick look around, he finally saw the lizard’s corpse by the pool.

“It’s dead?” His voice was full of astonishment, but he quickly jogged over.

A dead high-tier creature was a treasure for a wizard of the ‘Dead Embers’ Aspect.

After a thorough inspection, Karl confirmed the lizard was truly dead before slightly relaxing. Many monsters would play dead;
sometimes, a single moment of carelessness could lead to disaster.

By now, Yan had also slowly come to, moving his body around. He looked at the others who seemed fine, then asked for an explanation.

Everyone’s gazes converged on the young girl standing on the stone steps, their eyes filled with curiosity and surprise. The girl being stared at by everyone also felt a bit embarrassed.

“It’s a bit hard to explain. You can understand it as me being pretty strong and beating this guy.” Answering in any other way would probably just make her seem insincere or evasive.

“Really? I mean, without paying any price?”

“There are many secret arts that can unleash power, but the side effects afterward are often not small either.” The others were very concerned.

“It’s fine, I’m just a bit tired.” She glanced at the motionless lizard nearby, recalling the fierce battle not long ago. She had probably killed it seventeen times, and the accumulated injuries on her side were also severe. She had just been recovering while fighting, not letting it overwhelm her.

The three men looked at each other, their eyes communicating silently, and stopped pressing further.

No matter what, this young girl was their lifesaver. There was really no need to pry relentlessly. Besides, who didn’t have their own secrets? Persistently digging would be rather impolite.

“It’s good that you’re okay. This is all my fault;
I almost got us all wiped out.” Bad Apple was the first to step forward and take responsibility. This trip to the Distant Mountain Gate was mainly for the ‘Stone Mist Water’ he needed.

Seeing him say this, the others walked over to comfort him, telling Bad Apple not to take it to heart. It was a choice they had all voted for.

At this point, they couldn’t continue blaming Bad Apple. After all, no one wanted an accident to happen. Moreover, continuing to blame him wouldn’t change the past or lead to any positive development.

“Everyone has moments where things go wrong. It just means our strength still needs improvement.”

“No one can predict every possible encounter in advance.” Karl shook his head.

“Furthermore, this is the Hidden Grove. Every year, so many apprentices set out on expeditions. They all make various preparations, yet all sorts of situations still occur. It’s just the inevitable probability.”

“We were clear about this before we came, right?”

The sacrifice rate of the Hidden Grove was something all surface-world Transcendents had heard of, yet countless people were still willing to come here, all for the opportunities it offered.

“Let’s go. Let’s take a look at that lizard corpse and then ask Tia how to proceed from here.”

…

Night fell, and the four of them spent the night in the clearing behind the stone archway. This was probably also the safest and most relaxed night of this entire adventure.

The campfire crackled and burned. Everyone roasted meat skewers together, sprinkling spices as they talked about their experiences over the years, feeling a strong desire to confide after surviving such a great disaster.

“The last time I felt I was about to die was back when I was First Tier, going with a few green partners to the grasslands to find a Ragehorn Beast.” Bad Apple propped his head with one hand, gently swirling a wine bottle with the other before taking a small sip.

“The mission at the time only required us to find traces and report back. But one teammate’s perfume attracted wolverines along the way, nearly wiping out the whole team.”

“Luckily, some high-tier apprentices passing by noticed and saved my little squad.”

“Ever since then, I’ve developed a deep loathing for wearing perfume and even specially bought scent-eliminating potions.”

After hearing this, the others around the campfire chuckled. Then Yan also spoke up, recounting his own past experience.

“My last brush with death… that was a long time ago. It was during that assessment to compete for a spot in the Hidden Grove.”

“Back then, I went deep into the wasteland with three other classmates to hunt lions. The four of us cooperated flawlessly. In the early stage, we easily defeated a female lion of the same tier relying on shields and heavy armor.”

“Afterward, we pressed on and were successively ambushed by five other female lions. We fought extremely hard at the time. In the end, we barely managed to win by each sustaining injuries, killing two of them and driving away the remaining three.”

“Sensing the situation was turning bad, we prepared to retreat. But we were still chased down by a male lion. It was a Second Tier male lion;
one swipe of its paw could shatter my shield. It completely scattered our team on the spot.”

“Seeing my companion get crushed by the lion’s jaws, I was terrified to the extreme, wildly swinging my sword and hacking away.”

“But going crazy was useless. My actions back then, besides further enraging it, couldn’t inflict any real damage.”

“So what happened next? How did you defeat that lion?” Karl couldn’t help but be curious.

“Defeat it? I don’t think we defeated it. It was just that the commotion from our fight attracted another enemy on the grasslands—a pack of striped hyenas. They were all First Tier, exceptionally ferocious when gathered together.”

“Faced with a pack of hyenas, even the male lion became very cautious. The two sides confronted each other for a long time. I just lay under a tree in the middle, watching them roar at each other.”

“Finally, the assessment time limit ended. The supervising knights arrived, drove away all the beasts on the scene, and saved me.”

“I survived, but my three companions did not. So I became the sole winner of the spot.” Yan said, his voice full of sighs.

“What about you, Karl? Didn’t you say earlier you’d tell us about your past?”

“My story…” Karl gazed into the firelight, his voice distant.

“I’ll tell it, then. It was probably about ten years ago. I had just begun to come into contact with the knowledge of Transcendents. I was studying under an elderly wizard at the time. There were a few other apprentices learning alongside me, and she… she was my senior apprentice sister…”

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