Elemental Cats

Toz and the others had started thinking about Treblor Forest's name as they got close enough to identify specific details. They had known since the beginning that the trees would be large, but they had expected a forest to be something more like the Tumbling Thunder Forest or the forest in First Ignition.

Treblor Forest was more like a jungle as the large trees didn't grow straight to the sky and instead snaked and curved around themselves and each other. The only branches and leaves were those at the very top of the tree, and they drooped down like ears, some almost reaching the ground.

Although the trees weren't covered in their own leaves, various plants and different types of vegetation grew on and between the trees. Green-blue moss covered the underside of the trunks, and vines stretched like ropes between the crooked trees.

Toz knew from the information he had received from the guild that the forest right outside the city didn't have that much lightning attribute mana in it. And as the group crossed the line between the flatlands and the forest, they felt the difference in the air. The barely noticeable static that had constantly surrounded them turned into a soft feeling of being in the middle of a forest. The feeling was barely noticeable and disappeared as they adjusted to the different mana.

The group entered the forest. Despite the vegetation and the lack of easily traversable paths hindering their efficiency of travel, they didn't mind. Especially not Lucy, who hitched a ride on Toz's head whenever he felt like it.

Sometimes the ground was covered in such a dense layer of plants that instead of forcing their way through, the group climbed up on the trees and walked and jumped across them instead of walking on the ground.

It would be easy to get lost in such a complex maze that had paths both vertically and horizontally, but unlike in Sleepless Brights and Tumbling Thunder, they could use the sun and stars as help when navigating and trying to find their way back to Dormant Thunder.

They weren't looking for anything specific as they strolled and climbed through the forest, but a city the size of Dormant Thunder was bound to have grimoires of various attributes flowing through it. If they could harvest a bunch of materials during their expeditions in the beginner-friendly areas they would begin with, they could begin earning money to purchase another grimoire.

But there wasn't a need to rush, so the group took their time enjoying the scenery and inspecting anything that caught their attention. They also spent a lot of time hunting whatever beasts seemed interesting. Since they were performing strenuous exercise whenever they traveled the slightest distance, they quickly grew hungry.

With both Mindle and Toz in their group, they didn't have to worry about starting any forest fires, no matter how many times they lit a fire to cook their prey. And if the scent attracted any interested beasts that seemed too keen to feast for their own good, they would have a larger meal than expected.

Despite not actively looking for resources, with Toz harvesting the parts of the beasts they caught that weren't edible and the group plucking various plants that looked valuable, Toz quickly found his empty spatial rings and coat pockets running out.

Since they had noticed that, they started heading back so they could offload their harvest and maybe get a night's rest that wasn't interrupted by the howling and screeching of wild beasts fighting and dying in the forest somewhere around them.

Taking a breather in Dormant Thunder would also allow them to explore the city, which at first glance, seemed pretty boring and single-faceted. But a place called Dormant Thunder was bound to sit on some secrets.

Between their expeditions, it would be fun to switch up the forest exploration with urban exploration.

The results of the group's first expedition into Treblor Forest were slightly lackluster, but they still had fun as they went around the area they first encountered. Even if they hadn't encountered anything that stood out, it wasn't a weird or unexpected occurrence. They went into Tumbling Thunder Forest several dozens of times before something extraordinary happened.

It was just that Treblor Forest had greater potential and greater odds of something like an extremely rare beast or treasure appearing compared to most other places. And its main attraction was the second part of the forest that connected the two planes through the Void.

And with the size of Treblor and all the various regions within, there were bound to be a bunch of exciting things that the group could stumble upon while walking around aimlessly in the jungle. Even if they walked and explored the same place several times, they could find something new every time since it was common knowledge that the forest changed, grew, and moved around.

The group hadn't noticed any of that during their first trip into the forest, which wasn't weird since most people only noticed the forest's movements after it had moved and the familiar environment had changed. It had led to many people going missing because they weren't able to use the sky to navigate or didn't remember in which direction Dormant Thunder or the closest exit to the forest was located. Then before they noticed, they had wandered into the territory of some beast they couldn't afford to provoke.

Toz's group had been careful to take note of where the sun was at which point of the day and when it would be able to point them toward Dormant Thunder, but they couldn't exclude wild beasts possessing strange abilities in a place such as the Treblor Forest. If they fell into an illusion without noticing, they might be heading deeper into the forest instead of leaving it.

As the group discussed what kinds of creatures might target them and what might happen to them, they only got more and more excited at figuring out ways to deal with it in the moment.

Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, the group didn't experience any mishaps on their way back to the city and the guild.