CHAPTER 408: CHAPTER 212: SURPRISE, EXIT_2

A thought flashed through his mind briefly. Time was pressing, and there was no time to think too much. He picked up the broken magic wand and stuffed it into his backpack.

Xia Nan’s body, enveloped by the wolf head’s phantom shadow amidst the increasingly wild and fierce howls, vanished into the forest.

...

Xia Nan was very fast.

But compared to the previously long, high-pitched sound used in open plains environments, the howling of [Teeth Hunting] was now intermittent, often pausing briefly, like the fluctuating volume of a television signal.

It wasn’t that he was injured, affecting the use of his Battle Skill.

It was just that the forest environment had too many trees, and most of them were too thick to be knocked down with his current physical strength.

Thus, the direct use of [Teeth Hunting] was affected.

Every time Xia Nan encountered a tree too thick to break, he had to stop his forward charge temporarily, twist his steps around it, and then re-execute [Teeth Hunting].

Even so, his speed in the forest was much faster than that of the average adventurer.

In the past, when facing that Petrified Lizard, he couldn’t open a distance no matter how he ran and eventually had to rely on the assistance of Hai’an and Wood to survive.

Now, whether in terms of physical strength, explosive power, speed, or its hatred towards them after the flames of the Kerosene Bomb were extinguished, the Bear far surpassed the Petrified Lizard.

Yet Xia Nan still managed to leave it behind at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After all, he was no longer that rookie adventurer who had to spend half his fortune to buy a bottle of Healing Potion and barely mastered a Battle Skill.

With 8 points in agility, 7 points in strength, and 8 points in Constitution, he could maintain a sprinting speed for over a hundred meters and deftly avoid the obstruction of trees while dashing through the forest.

And with the balance ability bonus provided by [Tidal Shaping] on unstable surfaces, Xia Nan could still keep a significant speed, navigating the forest’s pits, branches, and soft soil as if walking on flat ground.

Meanwhile, with [Gravity Control] temporarily reducing his body’s gravitational weight, his steps became lighter, akin to moonwalking. Often, a single step on the ground would propel his body a great distance forward.

The speed of executing [Teeth Hunting] also increased by several degrees.

In just a few seconds, the roar of the Bear behind him had completely disappeared.

Of course, it could also be that the Bear’s main hatred was directed at Cash, who threw the Kerosene Bomb, thus not pursuing Xia Nan as fiercely.

Feeling uneasy, he continued running deeper for a while before slowly coming to a stop.

"Hoo..."

His chest heaved as he panted, with a faint metallic smell lingering in his nose—originating from the blood and flesh on the surface of his armor.

His eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the waist-high dense grass, the thorny bushes tangled like balls of yarn, and the gradually dimming sunlight of approaching dusk filtering through the canopy, scattering through the increasingly dense mist to illuminate countless floating dust particles.

In his ears, was the gentle ’Sasha’ sound, a mix of unknown insect chirps and the rustle of leaves.

It was secluded and tranquil.

Just like the world’s perception of the Mist Forest.

The vicious and rampant beasts, and the blood that almost dyed the ground red, seemed to be mere illusions of the forest.

Xia Nan glanced up at the swiftly darkening sky, his brow furrowing slightly.

Even though he had already escaped danger, there was no trace of relaxation in his heart.

He remained vigilant of the shadows under the tree canopy around him.

His thoughts floated in his mind.

Strange, very strange.

Evidently, everything had been normal for the past one and a half months—accepting tasks, entering the forest, hunting targets, submitting tasks—even if there were more wild beasts recently due to the unrest, it was still within understandable limits.

But it was precisely during this last task before leaving the team, when the Sea Thorn Squad came to help him complete his commission, that everything changed.

First, Mint was actively attacked by a Beastman in a human village, then in the forest, they were besieged madly by a beast horde, and finally, even magic beasts like the Bear appeared.

Xia Nan was forced to wonder if there was some intrigue at play here.

Was that Beastman secretly watching them, sabotaging them from behind, or perhaps they had been chosen as the target for another adventurer’s robbery—

or was there a problem within the team?

Could it be Mint?

The scene of the young girl being knocked away by the Bear involuntarily floated before Xia Nan’s eyes. Her chest sunken to such an extent was a severe injury that should render anyone unconscious.

Yet, when he rushed over before leaving, he found no trace of Mint’s body.

He only picked up her broken magic wand from the ground.

Was she indeed seriously injured, dragged away by other wild beasts hiding around, too afraid to approach, or...

He was deeply puzzled.

But with a keen Perception, he had sensed some abnormalities in Mint since joining the team.

Something that made him think it wouldn’t end so simply.

This girl, who claimed to have a Druid subclass of some unconventional profession, might not have bowed out so easily.

As for Cash and Vireis.

Although their decisive withdrawal while facing the Bear was surprising to Xia Nan,

in retrospect, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

After all, dealing with the Bear was beyond the capability of an adventurer team of their level.

Especially with the Spellcasters suffering severe injuries and losing their Combat Ability.

The two old hands, naturally, wouldn’t risk their lives for just anybody’s task or for a newcomer who had just joined the team, against powerful magic beasts beyond their capabilities.

Avoiding casualties, minimizing risks, and retreating... indeed was the most sensible decision.

Thinking this, there was not much change in Xia Nan’s expression.

If viewed from Cash and Vireis’s perspective, their actions made sense, but for Xia Nan...

Only he knew what he truly thought in his heart.

Then, there was the Bear.

This level of magic beast shouldn’t normally appear on the outskirts of the Mist Forest.

Of course, it could have been attracted by the smell of blood on the field as it happened to be nearby.

But if there was even a ten-thousandth possibility that the reason it attacked the Sea Thorn Squad, like the frenzied wild animals, was because...

Then the situation would become troublesome.

After all, if you could drive a Bear, who knows if more Petrified Lizards, Scorpion-tailed Lions, or others might come?

The team had been scattered by now, and the investigation mission couldn’t possibly continue.

Xia Nan planned to first leave the Mist Forest, rest for two days in a nearby village, and wait to see if any teammates emerged.

Whether he would head back to River Valley Town to submit the task or continue the investigation afterwards would depend on the specific situation at that time.

Contemplating inwardly, he checked his physical condition again.

He wasn’t injured; the Bear’s surprise attack wasn’t fully charged, and it was a strike with its limb, not claws, which he managed to block with an Arm Shield.

Upon landing and recovering, he wasn’t even lightly injured.

The only damage was to his Plate Chain Composite Armor—the solid iron plate on the chest was slightly dented and deformed, and there were surface cracks on the metal rings on the left side connection.

It was still within repairable scope.

Providing Xia Nan with the opportunity for further maintenance in the future.

His fingers brushed over the uneven surface of the chest plate, feeling the tactile bumps.

For some reason, he suddenly sighed.

Twisting his steps, he walked into the sideways forest.

Returning the way he came was certainly not an option to leave the forest; who knows if he would encounter the enraged Bear again.

He thought about taking a big detour, going around the direction of the team’s battle with the beast horde, and leaving from the other side.

Just hoping not to run into more trouble along the way.