NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Southward, Through the Jungle
“Master, should we continue onward?”
Little Dragon Daughter Xiao Guang wrinkled her cute nose and looked around, seemingly noticing something.
“This place is quite different from the environment on the Morte Continent; the laws feel a bit strange.”
“Laws?”
Miss Vilyric snapped awake from the shock of crossing over, glanced at the little dragon daughter who was sniffing around with a furrowed brow, and suddenly realized that if the other party had become a truly living being, she couldn’t treat her the old way anymore—she should grant her enough respect and authority instead.
After all, Xiao Guang was one of the few true companions who had come with her from another world.
“Can you elaborate, Xiao Guang?”
Miss Vilyric didn’t put on any airs as a master; although her level was slightly higher than that of her pet, the little dragon daughter was specially trained by her to make up for her own shortcomings. Xiao Guang could do many things that Miss Vilyric couldn’t, such as close combat, bursts, sensing, and exploration.
“Well, I can’t explain it very clearly, but compared to the original world, the laws here aren’t very complete, and they change a lot, which might affect our abilities and equipment’s effectiveness. But you’ll have to try it out to see how.”
“I wasn’t asking about that… nevermind…”
What Miss Vilyric was really concerned about was what precisely the “laws” Xiao Guang was referring to. After all, as a life form within the game, her understanding and perspective of the world would differ greatly from that of the modern Vilyric.
There weren’t any notions of laws or the like on Blue Star; nobody could fly or shoot fire, and Miss Vilyric couldn’t just apply game world common sense to this side.
But Xiao Guang didn’t seem to understand her master’s intention—as if it was strange to be surprised by the existence of air in one’s living environment? Perhaps for Xiao Guang, the laws were simply one of the most commonplace things.
However… Miss Vilyric mused that laws could probably be roughly compared to physical laws like the speed of light, the speed of sound, and gravitational acceleration.
Speculating without experiencing it firsthand was futile; it’s better to take one step at a time and experience it.
“Got it, let’s go. We’ll head south and see if we can leave this forest.”
“Yes, Master.”
Since the map system had disappeared, Miss Vilyric couldn’t intuitively understand her location like in the game. Although there were skills in [Illusion World] that could detect ranges and positions, unfortunately, neither Miss Vilyric nor the Giant Dragon Xiao Guang had learned them.
There were originally players in the team who had similar skills, but it was apparent that no one else had been transmitted over together with her—at least, no one had been teleported alongside her.
Miss Vilyric remembered that she had asked her team members to explore first and wait until they reached the first boss’s door before bringing her in, as she was a priest, and didn’t need to engage in fights with ordinary monsters; it would be better to handle her own matters first.
And right until she received the invitation and clicked to teleport, the chat in the team channel hadn’t interrupted, meaning they hadn’t experienced the same kind of crossing phenomenon as she did when entering the [Prison of the Flame God].
…
This was an ancient-feeling forest. Besides the giant trees that clearly looked like they were very old, Miss Vilyric also found traces of wild animals living and hunting along the way.
Miss Vilyric had participated in activities similar to summer camp before, so she had a bit of knowledge about outdoor life. Although the traces in this forest seemed quite different from those in her original world, the basic outlines were still recognizable.
The creatures in this world must be quite strong, at least much stronger than those in her original world. After all, Miss Vilyric had never heard of any animal on Blue Star being able to slice a three or four-meter-diameter giant tree in half with a single slap, leaving behind clear claw marks…
However, under these circumstances, Miss Vilyric wasn’t particularly flustered. She was no longer the ordinary youth from Blue Star; she carried various advantages from the game, so self-protection shouldn’t be an issue… right?
Besides, she had her combat-savvy pet Xiao Guang by her side. Before setting off, Miss Vilyric had conducted some basic tests, which made her confident enough to dart around in the woods.
In fact, both she and the little dragon daughter could fly. However, they didn’t have much understanding of this forest yet. If she flew up and became a target, the situation could easily get out of control. Even if it was just a probability issue, Miss Vilyric didn’t intend to take that risk.
As they journeyed south, passing strange, ancient plants, Miss Vilyric felt a bit nervous. After all, she was currently in the dark, both wishing for some beasts to appear so she could test her strength while also fearing she might not be able to handle them—this is what tangled emotions look like, right?
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the two girls walked through the forest for the better part of the day. By the time night fell and the trees grew sparser, not a single wild animal had emerged to attack them; they could only hear the sparse chirping of insects and the calls of birds.
It shouldn’t be like this. In such an ancient and vibrant jungle, how could there not be a single large animal to be seen? The traces of life they had seen earlier seemed recent—where did they all go?
“Master, it seems we should be nearing the edge of the forest. It’s getting late; should we travel by night?”
The golden-haired little dragon daughter stopped in her tracks, surveying the quiet surroundings. Despite walking all day long, she seemed completely unfazed, brightly asking the petite black-haired girl behind her.
In truth, Miss Vilyric wasn’t tired either. The physical qualities of her new body were remarkably high. While it might not have felt obvious in the game, entering the real world allowed her to experience many extraordinary things more keenly.
For instance, her small, delicate-looking palm could easily crush a stone similar to granite from Blue Star into tiny debris, and the thorns along the way left no marks on her skin, let alone her equipment.
Her reflexes were astonishingly quick; it was difficult to determine the precise limits, but she should have no issue using chopsticks to catch flies, just like those flashy martial arts masters.
Although she had already begun to familiarize herself with her new body, the question of whether to press on through the night…
“…let’s not. We have no pressing reason to hurry, and the outside situation is unknown. The forest itself provides a kind of protection. Let’s rest for the night, prepare a bit more, and then head out. What do you think, Xiao Guang?”
“I’ll do whatever you say, Master.”
Hearing the little dragon daughter say this, Miss Vilyric casually found a flat rock to sit on and began to ponder their next plan.