SWNOVELXO Chapter 1691: Climbing The Cliffs
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Aquarina nodded while listening to Khepri, but after a little while, she got a bit bored, it seemed that Khepri couldn't quite describe things well, which made for a rather frustrating explanation because she herself was trying to figure out what the hell did she see.
"Okay, okay, that's enough for now, we get it," Aquarina said. "Better keep going guys, Khepri already told us everything she knows anyway, it's not like asking her constantly is going to help us figure out something. And not like it matters right now either, right?"
Maybe Sylphy would have tried going after the topic for hours, that girl loved yapping and yapping all the time, and Aquarina would happily listen to her talking, but right now there wasn't any Sylphy to charm her into being a good listener.
"She's not wrong, we have been talking for a good half an hour now," Justicio laughed. "Let's get going."
"I suppose you're right, sorry guys, I might've been delaying it for no reason," sighed Silvia. "Khepri, it's fine for now."
"Thank god, I was getting tired of explaining the same things over and over again… I wish I could remember everything but as Aquarina said, it doesn't matter much right now," Khepri said. "I'm glad the Oasis Spirit found a new life here; she might not remember me right now but… I guess that's for the better anyway. She doesn't really need to remember anything, honestly."
"Oh, alright! I kind of got lost in the narrative, imagining how the world outside was in the past is fascinating," said Agua. "But everyone's right, let's get going. Through here… Follow me! I know the way."
Agua quickly led the group through the wild jungles, the party walked past large forests and even small gardens of wild, giant flowers that blossomed beneath the scorching sun's light. The forest canopy created a tempered environment as it covered them from a lot of the heat, and because the crater was very deep, the surrounding "cliffs" of the crater also created a lot of shade, creating a much colder environment, that's also while taking into consideration the water in the giant oasis, which was also quite cold and refreshing.
"Wow, such huge flowers! They're all so pretty!"
Silvia looked around as they went past the second "Wildflower Garden" area as Agua's tribe called these places, they were mildly dangerous though, so not many people walked through them, although Agua knew it was a nice shortcut.
The flower had all kinds of shapes and came into all kind of colors. Some resembled giant red roses with long spiky vines, others looked more like rafflesias with large stalks that looked down on them with their petals wide open, some other flowers resembled large bells with pink, purple, or yellow colors. Other plants weren't even flowers themselves, but their leaves were shaped like them too.
Giant vines covered most of the soil as well, making walking through this area quite the ordeal by itself, but everyone came well prepared to get through anything, so as they jumped, ran, and avoided spiky vines, they got through most of it.
"So why's this place dangerous anyway? It seems pretty peaceful to me." Aquarina wondered, looking around. "Aside from all the pollen… Sniff."
Her nose had gotten a bit runny from all the pollen in the enviorenment, Aquarina thought she was pretty good against these things, btu it seemed her body wasn't quite adapted to everything, especially of pollen from giant flowers from the desert.
"Ah that's because all of these flowers are actually monsters!" Agua said. "But it looks like none have attacked us though? I really imagined we would be fighting right now."
"M-Monsters?! This entire place?!" Silvia wondered, looking around. "But they're so quiet, why?"
"Hmmm…" Justicio looked around, swinging his axe at the nearest flower.
And with his axe, he cleaved the flower into two halves.
CLAAASH!
"Gryyeegh!"
The flower let out a shrill cry before it collapsed and bleed out a sweet-smelling nectar from inside its sliced body, dying on the spot.
"Oh it was really a monster?!"
Justicio was rather shocked by what he saw, and then glared back at his friends.
"Seems to be the case…" Aquarina nodded. "Hmm, ah! Are they scared of us?"
"Perhaps…" Silvia said, looking around. "I saw one of the flowers just now, it was trembling…"
"Ahahah… Yeah, that's why I told you to not keep your auras inside your bodies for now," Agua said. "This place became safe to walk through once our Auras are out, we are a big group of powerful people. So the plants don't even dare touch us, they're too scared. Unlike other monsters, they can't run away either… Justicio please don't kill more though, they're a precious part of the Crater Oasis' ecosystem, even if they're monsters. They help regulate the large population of small monsters from overeating all the plants."
"Oh so that's what they usually do, huh? Alright, sorry about that," said Justicio. "Aquarina, can you bring this plant with you? the nectar it has is… Hmm, so sweet! It tastes like fruit juice and sugar."
"Ooh, okay!" Aquarina nodded, tasting it a bit. "Hmm!" she liked it so much she ended taking a bit more and licked her lips afterwards. "Might be good syrup for desserts~!"
After that, the group resumed their travels, finally arriving at the area of question, the large, tall cliffs where the technically fourth Giant Fire Ant nest was located.
"Woah, this place's huge?!" Aquarina said, looking up into the skies. "Look how tall it is! I guess we've been mostly talking to the deepest part of the crater then?"
"Yes, though the crater isn't quite even either, this area is big and tall even if you were out in the Dry Stepps sands," explained Agua. "You could say it is among the largest cliffs of this land… And the winds are…"
FLUOOOSH!
"A bit strong here… So please be careful while climbing! Flying wouldn't be recommended either, as the winds might sweep you away quite easily." Agua said.
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