Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 230: Redwoods

Chapter 230: Redwoods

Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Dasha’s gaze remained steadfast. Finally, he took his first step. The crunchiness of the soil, the taste of the air and the slight acidity. Fog was supposed to be pure and tasteless. This was not. This was magical in nature and seemed to absorb everything but sound waves.

With each step, he matched his heartbeat and listened to his surroundings. The difficulty couldn’t be overstated. The slightest delay in rhythm could ruin his concentration. His range grew further and further, detecting trees and tiny rocks in the ground. He approached a specific tree. Coming closer, at three metres away, he was able to see it.

"Coastal Redwoods," Dasha muttered. "They grow in places with high precipitation like mountains. Could this based on a real place? Or an aberration like the Shadow Hall?"

He needed a hint. He needed something. He read up on the legends of the monsters that roamed the Silent Forest and conjured up several theories. Theories, however, did not matter if he did not get to encounter monsters or players. His mutterings garnered deeper insight into his surroundings. He continued walking.

He visited the Redwood National and State Parks to help a professor once. As the distance between trees became apparent, so did the inaccuracies. The spacing of redwood trees, generally speaking, wasn’t this vast. His journey through the mist of white was intensely dull. Nothing but trees lay in his wake.

A whole hour passed until his ears caught another crunch. Ten metres ahead, someone was there. ’No, not one. Three? Four?’ The footsteps had momentarily stopped. Dasha stopped with them. Seven metres lay between them. Vaguely, he could make out an outline of them.

He heard barks, deep and harrowing. Its bass was like the Doberman Pinschers except twice as loud. Dasha’s ear drums rattled as the barks kept going.

"Get your hellhound in control!"

"I-I just got him so..."

"I know! And I don’t care!"

"S-sorry."

Two voices, one confident and the other meek.

"Now, now," a new voice tutted, "we should save our energy for the enemies. The hellhound is just leading us to where we need to."

Ha. What a coincidence. To think they would reunite here of all places.

The group ahead consisted of eight players total and were led by a certain proud woman. Long blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a personality that flickered between generosity and ambition. She paired her purple underbust corset with a black blouse wide on her neck and her knee-length black skirt with four inch heels. She was accompanied by five players and took charge as guild leader.

’Samantha,’ Dasha thought. As Samantha and her group walked, so did he. He came closer and closer until he saw her and everyone else. He activated his cloak’s invisibility. They didn’t notice a thing. He hovered over their shoulders and checked out the barking creature. Large and ferocious, the supersized dog snarled and jerked away from the chain connected to its collar. The young dark-skinned male responsible was meek and weak: Level 17 in a white gambeson with the Animal Tamer Class. His name was Caleb.

’The Animal Tamer Class. The ability to tame monsters and animals and place them into a slot. It’s like playing Pokémon: you find a creature of your choosing and attempt to tame it any way you can until you can keep it in your slot. A potential avenue if one wanted to solve the great mystery of the Silent Forest—or so an amateur would think.’ The issue, as they would find out soon, was that it was impossible to keep a tamed animal here. The dog kept barking louder and louder. Its eyes were beady red and its black fur would suddenly be enveloped in flames.

’A hellhound from European legend...I hear the Asuras sell them.’

The hellhound didn’t notice him, growling at nothing and everything. He was practically dragging his owner off.

"Dude, I said to get him under control!" said Liam, one of two mages with a staff. The other was a woman that was just as tall and just as angry looking as Liam. Her name was Wilma and she was clearly his twin sibling. Both wore brown robes and had brown hair of slightly altered length. Wilma was shoulder-length while Liam had a manbun.

"He’s not listening!" Caleb replied. "I don’t know!"

Lesser minded creatures become disobedient. Just one of the many features to this fog. Suddenly, the hellhound stopped and howled. The group of six froze up.

"A warning," Caleb said. "An enemy is here!"

’Oh? Does it possess a supernatural sense?’

Dasha waited patiently. The hellhound either knew he was here or was detecting something else. There was no point acting rash. His speed and equilibrium was honed to the point that he could slip in and out without notice. The group of six found each other and had their backs to each other. A giant yellow light broke the mist apart. The air became wet and cold. Golden and bright, a shriek echoed through the air and Dasha’s ears were rattled again. The first of the Will-o’-wisp had arrived.

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