Chapter 191: Into The Wild

The first region was disappointing.

Tera stepped through the portal to the edge of where her scan range had stopped. The landscape that greeted them was almost identical to the wolf pack’s territory. Dense, damp forest, soft earth, and the same boring type of trees.

Calis had shifted into his wolf form the moment they crossed through, and the change in him was immediate.

Back at the pack, even when he was alert, there was a measured quality to his movements.

Out here, he was constantly on even higher alert.

His ears rotated constantly, independent of each other, scanning for sounds that Tera’s ears would never catch. His body was lower to the ground, his muscles coiled beneath his dark fur with a readiness that said he could explode into motion at any second.

His crimson eyes swept the terrain in sharp, methodical passes, and every few steps, his nose dipped to the ground to read something in the soil that was invisible to her.

He moved like a predator in unfamiliar hunting grounds, and the primal intensity of it surprised Tera.

’He really is on edge.’

Calis’ behaviour had rubbed off on Tera, and she also became on edge, even though the system was there.

They moved through the first region quickly. The system scanned, found nothing of value, and Tera opened a portal to the next location at the edge of the scan’s range.

The second region was more of the same.

So was the third.

By the fourth hop, Tera was starting to feel the monotony. It was the same damned damp forest with only slightly different configurations, and she was beginning to wonder how the wolves had remained sane while moving through such an environment. It was like flipping through pages of the same book with the font changed.

But what unnerved her more than the repetitive scenery was something else entirely.

’System. We have hopped through four regions now.’

[Yes, Host]

’And you have not detected a single corrupted beast.’

[Correct!]

’Not one?’

[Not one!]

[This system had informed Host that the corrupted beast population in this part of the world was likely very low]

[The wolves appear to have eliminated a few during their time here]

[And these lands are vast]

[The remaining beasts are almost certainly concentrated in other regions far from here]

’You said "likely" and "almost certainly." That is not the same as definitely!’

[This system stands by its assessment!]

[(ᵕ—ᴗ—)]

Tera wasn’t fully convinced, but four regions with no sign of any threat were hard to argue against.

The fifth region was where things changed.

Tera stepped through the portal and immediately noticed the difference. The canopy was somewhat thicker here, letting less light reach the forest floor. The undergrowth was lusher, and strange flowering plants she hadn’t seen before dotted the spaces between the trees.

And there, half-hidden beneath broad, waxy leaves, was a cluster of trees bearing heavy, round fruit.

[Scanning...]

[Fruit identified!]

[Taste profile: Intensely bitter when raw]

[However... when boiled in water, the compounds break down and the fruit becomes sweet]

’How is that still a fruit when I need to freaking boil it for it to be edible?!’

Tera plucked one from the branch and turned it over in her hands. It was firm, about the size of her fist, with a deep purple skin that was almost black.

And it was hard.

[It has seeds Host can plant in the wolves’ territory]

[This system recommends extracting seeds before boiling for planting!]

Tera didn’t need to be told twice. She started picking, filling her system space with as many as she could reach while Calis watched from below, disturbed at how effortlessly she had climbed up the tree.

The massive wolf’s head was tilted as he observed the shiftless female yanking fruit off the trees as if she had just discovered treasure. His ears had swivelled forward with curiosity, but his body remained in its alert stance, eyes periodically scanning the tree line.

They moved on.

The sixth region yielded nothing. The seventh was rocky and sparse.

But the eighth made Tera drop to her knees.

She had noticed the leaves first. They were different from anything she had seen in this world, broad and pink-tinted, growing in a low, spreading cluster across a patch of damp earth.

[Root vegetables detected!]

[Unlike the tubers in Host’s clan territory, this variety cannot be roasted]

[When boiled, the flesh breaks down into a gelatinous, soft texture]

Tera frowned. ’So it turns to jelly when you cook it?’

She was stunned when the system confirmed it, not understanding how boiling tubers would give her jelly like consistency.

But without further question, she dug her fingers into the soil and pulled. The tuber came free with a wet pop, trailing roots and damp earth. It was pale, almost white, and heavier than it looked.

’This looks like a potato that gave up on being a potato.’

[(ᵕ ó ᴗ ò)]

[This system reminds Host that while some things may seem familiar from her origin world, this is a different world]

[There are far more differences than similarities]

[Host has only seen one small part of it]

Tera paused.

She was so used to applying her old world’s logic to everything she encountered here that she sometimes forgot the rules were different depending on where she went.

Though she still did not believe it. Earth had a lot of varieties when it came to tons of plant and animal life.

She was no expert.

’Fine. Can these be farmed on their land?’

[Yes! The soil conditions in the wolf pack territory would support cultivation]

[These tubers prefer high moisture content, which is ideal for that region]

She ripped out tubers and their attached root systems, carefully separating the ones with the healthiest growth for replanting. The pink leaves were vivid against the dark earth, and she piled them beside her as she worked.

Behind her, Calis had shifted back just enough to watch what she was doing.

His crimson eyes tracked her hands as she plunged them into the dirt, pulled something out, and then dropped it into thin air where it vanished.

He had seen her do this with the fruits earlier, but watching her dig food out of the ground and make it disappear was still deeply unsettling.