Pillar of Yita

Although Eteliria boasted thriving Magic Guided Engineering, the wilderness pose far greater dangers than those on Earth. The Floating Continent harbored numerous perils, such as unheralded Tides of the Undead, only one among many, including predatory giants like the Rock Shark and Mountain Ridge Beast, and active Black Cloaked Hunters, Beast of Burdens, Cultists, and some mysterious, unpredictable natural disasters, irreversible by human hands, only escapable through migration.

Most of the population clustered around the safer cities, and, thanks to the help of the Adventurers’ Guild and the Artisans Association, various mines and lumberyards were manned.

The small villages and towns among the mountains and forests were the civilized frontiers guarded by the followers of Marlan, Roman, and Ameya.

Fang Hong recalibrated the battlefield with the Clockwork Fairy, confirming that the lesser number of Undead were to the west, where the lumberyard workers he had previously saved had likely fled. After consulting with others, he finally ordered Greyrock to head west.

Along the way, they encountered several Skeletons, but these low-level Undead were merely free experience. Even if a few Skeleton Warriors broke through to their front lines, they were no match for the group.

It was the first time Fang Hong had seen Hilveld’s maid in action; Xiesta used a War Gear in the form of a War Halberd capable of firing a Hook Spear, powered by a professional model Magic Guided Reactor, though it seemed to be a custom version, unrecognizable to Fang Hong.

After several skirmishes, Fang Hong began to feel some toothache.

He found that the Fortress-style Model II Walker was a quite formidable Flexible Construct, but Combat Artisans disliked it for a reason. Using it to fight Level two or three monsters seemed to be a losing proposition, but when the level was high, its Attack Power wasn’t effective enough—a basic Skeleton, after deductions for level penalties and team shares, yielded barely more than a dozen experience points per person.

And a single Magic Guided Bullet cost several Lycels, and he estimated using half an ammunition base per encounter, meaning a single fight would cost at least over a thousand. The experience gained was only a few hundred; even if experience had to be bought, it wasn’t that expensive.

Moreover, reloading the Magic Guided Gun’s Crystal was extremely troublesome, requiring specialized tools, ones he would hardly consider loading onto a Beast of Burden. Fang Hong hadn’t thought much of it beforehand, but after the fight, found that he had used up almost half of the prepared ammunition.

This was the source of his toothache—

Fortunately, just before dawn, the frequency of Undead appearances markedly decreased and became sporadic. Fang Hong simply withdrew the Model II Walkers back to the storeroom, as fighting in the rain lead to significant wear on the Constructs, with an average erosion rate of over ten percent.

Before dawn, the forest had become utterly silent.

The Beast of Burden had been navigating through the forest for over ten minutes without encountering a single Skeleton, making everyone breathe a sigh of relief. Curious, Tianlan couldn’t help asking others where all the Undead had vanished to.

The Lion People stroked his mane and solemnly told her, ”The Undead bury themselves in the soil before dawn. You see this fertile forest, young lady? Its dark underground is nourished by stacks of white bones.”

The Lion People struck a match, casting his somewhat eerie face in the glow, protected the flame as he lit his pipe, then tossed it aside.

A spark drew an arc disappearing into the darkness.

”…So, locals call this forest the Land of White Bone. If you listen carefully, you might even hear the Vengeful Spirits wailing in the wind.”

Tianlan pictured the ground beneath her stacked with white bones, which frightened her so much that her hair stood on end. She hurried to ask Chris how they dared live in such a terrifying place.

To her surprise, Chris, completely confused, told her that locals called it the Dolphins Corner Forest, a long cape extending into the Sky Sea from Short Bay. As for the Land of the Undead, he said he had never heard of it.

Of course, out of respect for the Lion People—young people also stated that their family had lived here for only about a decade and were not aware of any history before then. Perhaps Mr. Lion People knew more about this place since Marlan’s Knights were particularly sensitive to the Undead.

But Tianlan was no fool, and quickly realized she’d been pranked, furiously going to confront the Paladin. However, Reed claimed he wasn’t lying, though he also didn’t know why there were so many Undead here, but he claimed his answers came through the mysterious voices of the Lion People’s innate wisdom.

Bewildered, Tianlan asked, ”Mysterious voices from the beyond, is it Lord Marlan’s Divine Oracle?”

Reed took a puff of smoke, then blew it out through his large nose, shrouding himself in the swirling smoke. Cradling the pipe in one hand and pointing at his forehead with a claw on the other, he gently shook his head, ”No, it’s from here.”

”Wisdom?”

”No, imagination.”

”Go to hell, Mr. Big Cat!” Tianlan screamed, kicking him.

”Hahaha.” Nearby, Parker held his belly, laughing so hard he ended up rolling on the ground. Atira, attending to an injured person, expressionlessly picked up the struggling Little Fatty by the back of his neck and threw him out.

The others were also ejected, and Fang Hong was swept up in it too. He stepped out of the house and took a deep breath; it was the darkest moment just before dawn, and the silent forest awaited the arrival of the first light of dawn.