Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 99 - 23 Anti-hunting_1

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"Hey, top-tier adventurer over there, I want to ask you something." Sitting on the ground with her arms crossed, Lina held a book as thick as a finger but hadn’t bothered to open it, instead glancing around aimlessly, "Have you seen an Earth Walker before?"

"Sure, I have." Pannis replied while tuning the short bow Lydia had brought, "The longest one I’ve seen was about the length of an arm."

"Actually, I’ve seen one myself," Lina said.

"In the Magical Beast Handbook again?" Pannis joked.

"Of course not, it was the real thing." Lina’s tone was a bit downcast, "I saw it when I was young."

"That’s really rare." Pannis didn’t pick up on Lina’s dejection, "Earth Walkers, these magical beasts, mostly live underground and are very afraid of humans. They never go to crowded places. So even if occasionally one wanders to the surface, it’s seldom discovered by humans. You’ve seen one is quite a feat, would you say you were lucky or unlucky?"

"Pretty normal. That place was originally an abandoned library basement." Resting her head on her hands and half-leaning against a rock wall, Lina looked abstractedly at the stark contrast between light and darkness before her.

At this moment, three of them were sitting in a circle under an invisible dome set up by Pannis using the Concealment Array. This array was a very interesting and practical adventurer’s magic, which could one-way block sound, light, and smell. This means that sounds and smells from the outside could enter, but unless the volume or smell inside exceeded a certain threshold, it wouldn’t leak outside. As for the light blockage, in broad daylight, the Concealment Array could refract light rays to create an effect of invisibility. Only highly experienced people could detect a space shielded by the array. In cases where there was no external light but light within, like now, the inside would be brightly lit but the outside would be plunged into complete darkness. Neither side could see the other.

"You don’t seem too happy." Pannis finally caught on to Lina’s dejection, "What happened?"

"It’s nothing really. This environment just reminds me of times past." Lina collected herself, and gently nudged Pannis’s leg with her own, "Hey, you don’t see it fit to please two beautiful ladies sitting beside you?"

"Huh? How should I please you?" Pannis was absolutely baffled by the thoughts of a distressed lady.

"Like telling a story or something. It’s just too boring here." Lina aimlessly flipped through the Magical Beast Handbook in her hand, "I mean, right now, it’s like we’re playing a waiting game with the beast."

"I think we should let Miss Lydia tell a bit about herself." Pannis proposed, "We’re about to fight side by side. We should get to know each other a bit."

"Sir, I..." Lydia was at a loss for words.

"Call me sir one more time, and you can head back." Lina feigned anger, "I call you Lydia, you should call me Lina, and him Pannis. No more ’sir’. That’s an order."

"Yes, si-" "Eh?"

"Yes." Lydia replied meekly for the first time.

"Hehe, that’s more like it. Now go on, tell us a bit about yourself." Lina grinned triumphantly.

"I...I...I really don’t have much to say." Lydia stumbled over her words, "My family is just a regular farming family living in the suburbs of Olan City. I was picked by the City Guard during a recruitment drive when I was a child because I was physically stronger than average. After joining the City Guard, my daily routine consisted of patrolling, training, resting. The security near Olan city is rather good, with no robbery groups and very few criminal activities. Life was pretty monotonous. Every year around this time, all of us go to villages for the Harvest Festival to maintain order which is considered a major operation."

"Then why are you so keen to follow us down here?" Lina asked curiously, "From what I can tell, you didn’t have to come. Plus, you seem inexperienced in combat. So why come?"

Lydia’s face flushed, she said in a slightly embarrassed whisper, "Even though I’ve never been in a fight, and I’m not yet a professional, I am a warrior. I long for the glory that comes with it. I want to contribute in the defense of city and the protection of its people."

"Well said." Pannis nodded approvingly, "But have you considered this? This could be a dangerous operation. Facing an unknown environment and unknown enemies, you could very well die down here."

"I don’t know." Lydia said somewhat bewildered, "But I don’t want to regret my choice today in the future. I think, even if I do die here, at least I had my moment of glory and that’s enough for me."

"Naive." Pannis sneered unpleasantly. He was about to say something, but abruptly stood up and hushed them, "Shh, they’re coming."

"Finally." Lina sighed with relief, "After waiting for five hours, we’ve finally exhausted their patience."

"They’re close, indeed three of them." Although Pannis couldn’t see through the darkness beyond the barrier and only relied on hearing, "After they all come out, I’ll disable the Concealment Array. Lina, rush to the entrance and block their retreat. The three of us will pincer attack them. Lydia, watch yourself. Remember, the allure of a glorious moment is tempting, but it’s based on the foundation that you’ll live to reminisce about this moment, so be careful and survive."

"I understand, thank you." Lydia nodded gratefully.

"Get ready, the counter-hunt begins." Pannis slowly drew his short bow and, closing his eyes, used sounds to locate the Earth Walker. After taking a few deep breaths, he kicked the Mithril disc that controlled the Concealment Array, "Now!"

At the moment the Concealment Array disappeared, the light that had been masked by the array filled the entire underground fissure. Lina chased the light, reaching the intersection of the horizontal and vertical fissures first, blocking the magical beasts. However, she suddenly froze. The light illuminated the entire fissure, but apart from the three of them, it was empty with no sight of the Earth Walker whatsoever.

"Watch out, they can change colours." Pannis, who stood rooted to the spot with his bow drawn, also flinched when he didn’t see the Earth Walker, but immediately twigged why. He shot an arrow relying on his intuition. Mid-flight, the arrow seemed to disappear before a spray of blood and a pained hiss appeared from thin air. A pure white lizard surfaced, with an arrow stuck in its mouth. It collapsed weakly, its eyes stared at Pannis with hatred. The lizard, pure white and as long as an adult, had a triangular head that bears a sharp horn. Its robust legs clawed at the ground ceaselessly, but the wound piercing its mouth rendered it unable to stand again.

"Divine Spell, Heavenly Armor. Divine Spell, Holy Power." A translucent full-body armor materialized over Lina’s head and slowly descended, enveloping her entirely. Lina flexed her arms, asking in a deep voice, "What’s going on? I’ve never heard of any Earth Walker changing colors or growing horns."

"I don’t know either, haven’t heard of such a thing, but this is indeed an Earth Walker." Pannis, instead of acknowledging the hateful stares, searched for his enemies’ shadows, "If we can’t see them, we’ll have to rely on sound. Lydia, go to Lina, move there slowly, be alert."

"Understood." Lydia, holding her shield close to the rocky wall of the fissure, managed to move to Lina’s side uneventfully.

"Good, wait there. Prepare your shields." Pannis said in a low voice, "Don’t worry about the half-dead beast. There’s still two more: one big, one small. Both are of Upper Silver Rank strength. The ability to turn invisible is a real headache. Be careful, prepare yourselves... Shields! Left side!"

Lydia instinctively lifted her shield to the left. A THUD echoed as the tongue of the beast collided with the steel shield. Lydia forcefully pulled away, separating the two, warding off the pull of the tongue. While Lydia was engaged with the beast, Lina swept past her like a gust of wind. She swung her hammer with full force over the ground. It seemed as if she was attacking into thin air, but midway, her hammer collided with a claw that appeared out of nowhere. Under the Holy Power boost, her hammer hit with such force that you could hear the sound of bones cracking. After the impact, a lizard, nearly as long as an adult, rolled several meters away from the impact.

"Lina, Magic Shield. Now!" Seeing Lina step back from the recoil, Pannis, who had a normal complexion while waiting for his shot, suddenly became very anxious and yelled out.

Having developed great trust in Pannis’ judgement after their cooperation in the Crying Cave, Lina didn’t hesitate at all. A pale yellow Magic Shield immediately enveloped her from all sides. No sooner had the shield appeared, a splash was heard as a ball of liquid appeared from thin air and splattered against the shield near Lina’s face. After a beat, the liquid then slowly slid down the shield, giving off a strong acidic smell.

Lina’s face changed color immediately, quickly shutting off the Magic Shield, letting the acidic liquid splash onto the ground where it left behind corroded pits, "Such strong acid, its power to destroy the magic shield is absurd. What is this stuff? How does it spit acid?"

"Seems like it sprayed it from the horn. What in the world, what kind of Earth Walker is this?" Pannis was also confused.

Lina took a breath, saying slightly nervously, "One is dead, one crippled, and the other, can you find it? Surely it hasn’t got away."

"No, it’s nearby." Pannis subtly rolled his eyes upwards, gesturing to Lina.

Understanding, Lina blinked, retreating back to Lydia’s side and checking her shield, "How are you holding up, Lydia? Thanks for diverting the beast’s attention earlier. Are you able to continue the fight?"

"No problem, Ma’am." Lydia stood up straight and answered loudly.

"Raise your shield, look up!" Pannis suddenly shouted.

There was a ferocious gust of wind descending from above, a gigantic creature nearly three meters long dropped down onto Lydia and Lina using its momentum, its two sharp front claws shimmering ominously.