As darkness fell, Mistwood began to "exhale." The mist from all directions grew thicker, making the already eerie and dim forest even harder to see through, as a heavy black curtain draped over everything.
Even with the glow of magic night lamps enhanced for brightness, anything beyond five steps remained invisible. EeDechi had planned to hunt some small magical creatures to spruce up dinner but had no choice but to retreat back to the campsite.
In a forest where the light was already gloomy and faint, figuring out when night arrived could be tricky, but the nocturnal creatures of the woods had their own steady internal clocks.
Flickering yellow dots floated up and down in the distance—those were the glowing feather bugs starting their mating dance.
The crisp calls of birds and the flapping of wings no longer filled the air above. Instead, only the occasional shadow of blood-sucking bats, with their massive wings spread wide, cut through the hazy glow of the night lamps.
By now, Barrett had lit a bright and warm campfire, tossing in dry branches split from dead trees.
The fire crackled and popped. A shiny new iron soup pot hung over it, its bottom blackened by the flames, bubbling away noisily. Inside simmered a stew of salted beef jerky, potato slices, pumpkin chunks, and a pinch of onion.
Barrett even splurged by cutting a chunk of fancy cheese into small pieces and tossing it into the pot. Thanks to EeDechi's spatial ring providing plenty of storage, food wasn't a worry for now.
Two sharpened pine branches were stuck into the ground near the campfire, each skewering a wild pheasant stripped of its feathers. The roast chickens had turned golden under the licking flames and a brush of oyster sauce, giving off a mouthwatering aroma. Tonight's stew and roast were both handled by Barrett alone.
EeDechi strolled over. Though her stomach was growling, she kept a cool, composed look on her face.
Hands behind her back, she bent over and took a whiff of the steam rising from the soup pot, giving a slight nod of approval. "Not bad. The stew's pretty good. Didn't expect you to have a knack for cooking. Sure, it's not up to the fancy dinner the Montell lord treated me to, but for you, it's decent. Keep it up."
Barrett grumbled to himself. Out here adventuring, a hot meal was already a win—comparing it to a lord's feast was ridiculous. How the hell did she even get tangled up with a lord? And why did her tone have that weird, stuck-up official vibe?
The veteran adventurer shook his head, too lazy to dwell on it. His stew-making skills were legit top-notch, a rare talent among adventurers who all fended for themselves. If this whole adventuring gig didn't pan out, he figured he could always become a chef.
The two dug in, polishing off the food and filling their bellies before settling into the damp, makeshift treehouse to sleep.
Barrett doused the campfire with the leftover broth, set up some magic trinkets around the camp to sound an alarm if needed, and rigged a few simple traps under the trees. Inside the treehouse, he sprinkled a thin layer of powder to keep bugs and ants away.
Before hitting the sack, Barrett and EeDechi made a deal: she'd take the first half of the night watch, and he'd cover the second half, trading off sleep shifts.
After setting everything up, the seasoned adventurer didn't forget to warn EeDechi: "Don't wander around at night; don't get lured by weird sounds; if you need light, skip the night lamp or a torch—use a cold glow fluorite instead; there might be small magical critters up in the treetops, so don't climb up there…"
Sure, most of this was basic adventurer know-how, but Barrett wasn't entirely convinced this orichalcum-level adventurer had the experience to back it up.
EeDechi nodded in agreement, then sat upright in her treehouse. Barrett didn't say more, just wrapped himself in a blanket, rolled over, and drifted off into dreamland. Every elite adventurer could crash out fast—it was a must-have skill to stay sharp during tense expeditions and battles.
As the night deepened, endless darkness slowly swallowed the whole world. EeDechi sat in the treehouse, eyes unblinking, ears tuned to the faint breaths of the sleeping forest at night.
Bats flapped their wings, darting between branches. The ground rustled with the crawl of tiny bugs. Underneath, earthworms burrowed through rotting soil. Some random bird woke up out of nowhere, cooed twice, then zonked out again.
In the distance, two nocturnal magical beasts tore into each other, their savage roars shattering the silence—like the sleeping forest tossing in its sleep. One beast came out on top, and the sound of it crunching the loser's bones echoed through before the forest dozed off again…
Meanwhile, Barrett slipped into a soft, gentle dream.
In the dream, a hazy pink glow surrounded him. A girl with wine-red hair walked toward him, her light blue off-shoulder dress swaying with every step.
Who was this girl? Barrett couldn't recall her name, only that this wine-haired beauty had once been smitten with him. Back then, he figured he couldn't give her the stable life she craved, so they parted ways.
She drew closer to Barrett, her slender fingers brushing aside a strand of wine-red hair from her forehead. With a gentle tug, she slipped the straps off her shoulders, and the dress slid down, revealing her graceful figure. Her full, pale breasts trembled slightly—flawless and stunning.
She flashed a flirty smile, stepping forward with her long left leg, then her right, closing the gap between them.
Crunch! A sharp snap rang out as a steel trap clamped down on her right leg. The jagged teeth sank deep into her calf, blood spurting everywhere.
A TRAP? Barrett jolted awake, grabbing the sword under his pillow and scrambling out of the treehouse. He looked down to see EeDechi standing below, torch in hand, staring up at him with an awkward grimace. A closed trap was locked tight around her foot.
Barrett hadn't expected the traps he'd set for magical beasts to snag his own boss first!
"Didn't I tell you not to wander around at night?" Barrett rubbed his sleepy eyes, sounding exasperated.
Luckily, EeDechi's toughness was off the charts. The mid-sized trap, strong enough to snap a goat's leg bone, didn't even leave a mark on her foot, which put Barrett's mind at ease.
"And another thing," Barrett scolded from the treehouse, "I told you before—no lighting fires in the middle of the night. Use the magic cold glow fluorite. The heat from a torch can draw dangerous magical beasts right to us."
EeDechi shrugged, yanking the trap off her foot with one hand while pointing the torch in her other hand toward the dark depths. "I heard fighting and someone yelling for help out there, so I wanted to check it out. Plus, if a leader always follows their underling's orders, then the whole chain of command's flipped upside down."
Barrett froze at her words. The Mistwood was dead silent in the dark, like a graveyard. He hadn't picked up any sounds of fighting or cries for help. Still, he figured an orichalcum-level adventurer's senses might be sharp enough to catch stuff he couldn't.
"Whatever," Barrett waved at EeDechi, urgency in his voice. "Put that torch out now before something gets lured over here!"
EeDechi scratched her head. "Too late. Something's already heading our way."
As if on cue with her words, a rustling sound crept closer from the distance, cutting through the endless night. It was like some massive creature dragging itself over fallen leaves and tree trunks, slithering across the ground.
The sound of that slithering sent a chill down Barrett's spine.
He yanked a hand crossbow from his spatial leather bag, along with a short arrow tipped with a 1st Tier magic spell, Realm of Clarity. He cocked the crossbow and fired the arrow toward the noise.
The arrow streaked through the air, trailing sparkling crystal shards that briefly sliced through the fog in the pitch-black darkness.
A gigantic triangular snake head loomed into view, its mouth slightly open, hissing with a bright red forked tongue flicking out. Its body was a patchwork of black and white scales, as thick as a dairy cow, and it wriggled its nearly twenty-meter-long frame with eerie speed, weaving between trees, barreling straight for them.
A full-grown Titan Python! Barrett felt like crying. All this time, relying on his years of narrowly escaping death, he'd guided EeDechi through Mistwood—a place that had swallowed countless adventurers—dodging frost wolves, Dire brown bears, man-eating vines… And now EeDechi had gone and pissed off this monster!
If she weren't his boss, he'd have already jumped down from the tree and socked this reckless idiot square in the face!
Sure, even if EeDechi wasn't his boss, now wasn't the time to chew her out. The top priority was getting the hell out of there. A fully grown Titan Python would take at least five mithril-level adventurers working like a well-oiled machine to take down. Facing it with just the two of them? They'd be a late-night snack!
"Sprinkle that ice amber powder I gave you on yourself and run!" Barrett yelled at EeDechi. The girl was still gawking at the Titan Python like a curious kid, totally clueless about the nightmare beast she was up against.
Seasoned Barrett slid down the tree to grab the cooking gear from the campsite, ready to bolt in the opposite direction.
The Titan Python seemed to sense its prey trying to slip away. It stretched its neck and picked up speed, slithering through the thick trees in a flash. Its gaping maw lunged straight for EeDechi.
Barrett didn't have time to worry about EeDechi's fate. This clever giant snake was playing both ends—its thick tail snapped several tree trunks and whipped toward him.
Barrett reacted lightning-fast, pulling a steel-reinforced oak shield from his spatial leather bag and throwing it up in front of him while triggering Martial Art: Fortress of the Faith.
The snake's tail slammed into the shield like a battering ram. Even with the defensive martial art boosting him, Barrett's arms went a little numb, but he held his ground.
When the tail pulled back, Barrett peeked over the shield. The massive snake head that should've had EeDechi in its jaws was reared high, crashing through five pine trees, half its body flipped over.
Barrett stared at EeDechi on the ground, one hand gripping a wide, heavy giant sword. It hit him like a ton of bricks: this Titan Python, with a body thicker than a buffalo, had just been sent flying by one swing of EeDechi's sword.
"Holy crap," Barrett smacked his dry lips, ditching the earlier plan to beat the snot out of EeDechi.
"Is this what an orichalcum-level adventurer can do?"