Chapter 32: CH. 32 | Lotus Valley

Theo glanced back and saw Thalia and the others had already walked a good distance away, leaving him alone with the sheep sized wild boar.

The boar’s squealing filled the air around them. Theo had run into one of these before, back when he’d helped Sister Anna gather fruit in the forest.

One thing Theo understood about how they behaved was their charging pattern. They couldn’t change direction mid charge, which meant Theo could dodge their attacks with relative ease.

The only way they knew how to fight was charging and biting. That was exactly what Theo needed to watch out for.

The wild boar started charging forward. Theo ran, weaving between several trees to throw it off. At the very least, this way the boar wouldn’t end up chasing after Thalia and the others.

I need to find a way to dodge its charge and drive my sword into its body.

While Theo ran, he spotted a large boulder up ahead. A wild idea struck him. He’d use the boulder against the boar.

From behind, the boar’s tusks came dangerously close to Theo’s body. He watched the boulder draw closer, and with a high leap, Theo managed to dodge the boar’s charge entirely.

The boar slammed its head straight into the boulder, hard enough to leave it dazed and reeling in pain. Theo seized the moment, drawing his sword and leaping right onto the boar’s back.

STAB!

With one powerful thrust, Theo’s blade drove straight through the boar’s body. The boar thrashed a few times, trying to fight back, but luckily Theo managed to keep his grip steady.

Before long, the boar stopped struggling and collapsed lifelessly to the ground. Theo pulled his sword free and confirmed the boar was dead.

Even though he’d killed it, no system notification panel appeared in front of him.

Guess that boar was just a wild animal, not classified as a monster.

He swung his sword to shake off the boar’s blood, then sheathed it again. Theo pointed his torch forward and spotted the glow of Thalia’s torch on the other side of the hill, some distance from him.

Time to catch up with them.

Theo followed the forest trail up the hill to catch up with the others, watching his footing carefully so he wouldn’t slip on the wet rocks.

The farther he walked, the closer he got to them. Once Theo finally reached the group, Thalia turned and smiled at him.

"Theo? Are you okay?" Thalia asked.

"I’m fine," Theo answered, "Just a wild boar, nothing to worry about."

"Thank goodness."

Theo turned and walked toward Tuvei, who stood at the edge of a fairly gentle cliff. When Theo reached him, his attention was immediately drawn to the valley below.

His eyes went wide. He clearly saw a valley blanketed in lotus flowers. Tuvei turned and told Theo that was exactly the lotus he’d been searching for.

"All right," Theo said, "Looks like the place is safe."

"Not really," Thalia said, having overheard Theo and Tuvei’s conversation.

Thalia pointed her wand downward, the crystal on it lighting up as a red magic rune activated. In an instant, a fireball shot forward, targeting a cave near the valley.

An explosion erupted, accompanied by a blazing red glow and a booming echo. Theo flinched, but his eyes snapped back forward to see a swarm of monsters pouring out of the cave.

Theo crouched down, narrowing his eyes. He got a clear look at the creatures, shaped like lizards, but with Maysha Lotus flowers growing right out of their heads.

From the lotus flowers on their heads, a burst of pollen sprayed out, filling the air around the area instantly.

The sweet smell of the lotus pollen felt suspicious enough that Theo told everyone to step back away from the valley.

They walked a good distance until they were far enough from the cliff. Theo covered his nose, and the others did the same.

After a few minutes, the pollen began fading on its own, until it disappeared completely and was no longer noticeable.

"How are we supposed to get it, then?" Tuvei asked.

Once the pollen cleared, Theo went back toward the cliff. His eyes watched the monsters retreat back into their cave, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Those flowers are growing right in their territory. I’m worried that if we act carelessly, we could end up seriously hurt."

"Attacking them isn’t effective either, especially since we don’t even know exactly how many of them there are," Theo said.

Theo turned to the side, looking at Tuvei, who was now walking closer to him, "How many flowers do you actually need?"

"Just three. That’s more than enough."

He nodded at what Tuvei said. They clearly couldn’t get close to that spot, but Theo had an idea, maybe the only real way to deal with the lotus lizards’ pollen attack.

"I’ll use my extraction skill and try to pull the lotus flowers from a distance. Hopefully it works, so we don’t have to go down there and fight them," Theo said.

"I’ll come with you," Thalia said. Theo glanced at her and shook his head.

"No," Theo said, "I’ll go down there alone. You don’t need to."

"Stay here and keep watch."

Thalia paused for a moment, then cleared her throat in agreement. She asked Theo to be careful and avoid getting caught in another pollen attack.

Theo took Thalia’s advice to heart. He started climbing down the cliff following Tuvei’s directions. His hands gripped onto thick tree roots, while his feet found sturdy footholds on the rocks.

Before long, he reached the valley floor. The ground felt soft and loose, and one wrong step could spell disaster for him.

He pointed his torch forward, lighting up the area near the cave in the valley.

"Theo?" Thalia called out.

"I’m okay!"

Once he got close enough to the lotus valley, he stretched his hand out and activated his extraction skill. All he could do was hope it worked.

[Skill Extraction Activated]

[You performed a Deep Extraction and successfully obtained an item]

[Reward: 1x Maysha Lotus Flower]

Theo opened his palm, the blue light fading away on its own, revealing the Maysha Lotus Flower item he’d successfully gotten, clutched right there in his hand.

"It worked."

He looked up and let Tuvei know he’d succeeded. His extraction skill could pull the flower, though only from a fairly close range.

"Thank goodness," Tuvei answered, "Try the ones over there. That spot’s a bit farther from the monster’s cave."

Theo followed Tuvei’s directions, nodding and walking toward that spot. With careful, deliberate steps, checking for solid footing along the way, Theo managed to make it around the side of the valley and looked ahead.

The distance between him and the lotus flowers there was about five to seven meters, the same as before. Without hesitating, Theo activated his extraction skill again.

[Skill Extraction Activated]

[You performed a Deep Extraction and successfully obtained an item]

[Reward: 3x Maysha Lotus Flower]

The blue glow around Theo’s hand faded, three more Maysha Lotus Flowers secured. In total, he’d gathered four flowers, more than enough to cover what Tuvei needed.

"You did it, Sir Theo."

"Time for you to come back up," Tuvei said.

Theo turned and agreed, starting to make his way back along the side of the valley again. But right as his hand gripped onto a rock, it suddenly gave way and started rolling.

The rock tumbled down into the flower valley, the noise loud and the tremor rattling through the ground. Theo froze for a moment, his eyes darting toward the monster cave.

Faintly, he could make out dozens of glowing red eyes staring out from inside the cave. Thalia shouted from above.

"Just focus on climbing up. Aya and I will hold them off," Thalia said.

Theo listened and started moving quickly, realizing the lotus lizards had already sensed his presence. If he didn’t get out of there fast, they’d hurt him for sure.

A fireball rained down from above, exploding on impact with the ground. Even though the blast tore apart part of the flower valley, the attack was more than enough to hold them back for now.

Aya lost a volley of arrows too, though none of them managed to hit the lizard monsters.

Theo managed to grab hold of a tree root on the cliff face, climbing upward, using the rocky cliffside as footholds.

Tuvei reached his hand out as Theo got close. Theo saw him and stretched to grab hold of the man’s hand. But then something happened.

An attack from the lizards struck Theo’s back, burning hot enough to make him wince, enough to break his focus.

They didn’t hesitate to bite down on Theo’s leg either, dragging him back toward the valley. Theo cried out in pain.

"Theo?!"

"I’ll help you!"

Thalia aimed her spell downward, a fireball shooting fast from her magic rune and slamming into the ground, triggering an explosion that started causing the cliff to crumble and collapse.

"Grab my hand, Theo!" Tuvei shouted.

Theo realized he wasn’t going to make it in time. He tore off his inventory bag and hurled it upward. Tuvei caught it quickly, snatching it out of the air.

"Get out of here, now!" Theo shouted.

"Tuvei!"

"Get them out of here!"

"Hurry!"

The root Theo had been clinging to began to give way, along with the earthen wall of the cliff itself.

The tremors grew stronger, and Theo lost his footing, falling from the cliff, swept along by the collapsing earth all the way past the lotus valley.

"THEO?!"