The Star Seekers rushed into the forest once again, baring their weapons and claws. Not at the roiling fog, of course. The fog was not their enemy. Yet. In any case, the weapons were there just to deal with unexpected situations. After all, they had been facing quite a few unexpected situations lately. And given that they were rushing into trap, they were bound to face a few more. Maybe even more than what the Glyph Tokens on their bodies could handle.

  Not that Alnea was afraid. At least not for himself. Even if something unexpected came, nothing would be able to get past his robe—

  Rather than being caught unprepared and suffer unnecessary injuries while hastily trying to defend himself, Alnea preferred being slowed down by carrying his sword in his hands. Though just his Golden Yearning would have been enough to defend against any unexpected attacks. But to convince the rest of his teammates, he decided to wield his sword anyway, leaving them with no excuses.

  Yet, just carrying his weapon did not feel safe enough. So, after some thought, Alnea asked his teammates to also urge their Aspects. Not completely, of course. That would be a waste of Spirit Power. Instead, he asked them to urge their Aspects out of their Wells, and keep them excited, ready to be called at a moment’s notice. An order, he expected everyone to follow. Even those who were not very proficient on the path of Warriors.

  Then again, none of the Star Seekers could truly be considered as novices in the art of fighting. And not just because of Cecilia and Norren chasing them around every so often. Counting Fran, there used to be six Warriors in their team. Seven, if he also counted Karl. Their formation, as such, along with their style of fighting, often involved closing in on their enemies. Sometimes, even their rearguard was forced to fight with their Aspects and Martial Styles.

  It was only natural then, for even the most oblivious of them to learn a thing or two about the way of Warriors. Especially with their Captain leading with example, and the girls following behind in suit. Vestia, in particular, had a unique way of combining her Arcanas with her Martial Styles, which left even Zain marvelling at her expertise with Arcanas. Yuri, on the other hand, could seamlessly transition between close quarters and support, shifting between all three paths at once, leaving even the best of them stunned, and yearning for commanding similar powers.

  Coupled with how often they were ambushed by the Lotus clan and their allies, and forced to fight in close quarters with enemies far outstripping them in numbers, that too, after losing most of the Spirit Power, the Star Seekers had no choice but to adapt and learn. Not unless they wished to be carried back to the city, unconscious, and on the brink of their death, after each of their Black Desert Trials.

  Fortunately, all their hard work finally paid off. Leaving aside those who already had walked some distance on the path of Warriors, the other three, who barely knew anything about the art of fighting other than wrapping their Aspects around their weapons and waving it around, all developed a decent level of fighting skill. Even if they were not experts, Alnea reckoned that they should not be too far behind the elites of their clan walking on the path of Warriors. And for their purpose, that was enough.

  Withdrawing his attention from the more vulnerable teammates running behind him in formation, Alnea shifted all his focus back to the forest in front of him. Or rather, to forest on his left. That was his responsibility, after all. Exploring the forest to their left. Their right flank, on the other hand, was Yuri’s responsibility, while Cecilia, as their scout, kept her senses focussed on the path ahead of them.

  In the meantime, the rest of their teammates reserved their Spirit Power, taking turns to deal with the obstacles they encountered on their path. Like raging rivers, rumbling lakes, boiling swamps…

  “…What in Cretes’ name is going in the forest?”

  “…I do not know, but it feels like we are getting closer to the Lotus clan’s traps…”

  “…Are you sure that is all part of the Lotus clan’s traps?”

  “How else can you explain what is happening? Look, even the fog has become more restless than before.”

  “…What if it is another even like the Spatial Storm we experienced?”

  “It has been less than twenty days since the last Spatial Storm. Even if the boundaries of the Final World are unstable, unless it is on the verge of collapse, we will not be experiencing another Spatial Storm anytime soon,” Yuri said, and paused for a moment, before finishing the rest of her words. “And even if the Final World truly is collapsing, there is no use worrying about it.”

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  “Why?” Ralph asked, but did not get his answer. Instead, he got admonishment from his Captain.

  “Stop asking unnecessary questions and focus on your task,” Alnea said, urging Ralph to quickly finish carving his Glyph. Moments later, a deep blue light flashed in the latter’s Glyph Disc, before flying out of it, summoning water, both from the fog around them, and the Origin Sea, to condense a wall of ice towards their right, blocking the boiling miasma over the swamp.

  The miasma itself was not on their path, and neither was the swamp. But it did look dangerous. And the Star Seekers did not have any intention of taking chances. The river that cut across their path though, was another matter. Not only was it raging unusually, being about twenty metres wide, and at least twice as deep, made it the perfect lurking spot for any Wanderers trying to ambush them. Especially since the river’s rowdiness made it impossible for False Wanderers to truly measure its depth with just their Spirits.

  In the end, the Star Seekers could only assume the worst, and prepare accordingly, before crossing the river. As if just crossing the river was not taxing enough already. Thankfully, there were no Wanderers hiding within the river. Or around its banks, for that matter. Though Alnea did not know if he should be thankful for wasting yet another chunk of Spirit Power, both of his own, and that of his teammates. But wasting Spirit Power was indeed better than being ambushed in their state…

  Just half an hour after leaving the raging river behind, Alnea called for his teammates to stop once again. Not because of another obstacle on their path, or a clue to the Lotus clan’s traps. No, he stopped them just because they were too tired to continue exploring. It did not matter if they were about an hour from their usual rest time. Or if they had covered only a third of the area they usually explored in between their rests. Given their state, if they dared to continue their exploration, he could not guarantee their safety in case of falling into the Lotus clan’s trap.

  Fortunately, they did not have to clear the area. The Lotus clan had already done it for them. And since they still had roughly half of their Spirit Power left, their rest time was also only half as long. So, just a little over an hour later, the Star Seekers resumed their exploration, braving the dangers of the Final World once again. Literally.

  Just a few kilometres back, they had to deal with only the raging rivers, rumbling lakes, and boiling swamps. A few kilometres later, they also had to add the roiling ground to the list. With every step that they took, the ground moved along with them, either pushing back against their feet, or caving in with their weight. More importantly, there was no pattern to its movements.

  Would it rise up and cut their steps short, or would it bend down and devour their feet like a delicacy that it met only once in a decade? No one could tell. At least none of the Star Seekers could. Not even if they were stepping on the ground that had already moved. In the end, they could only slow down their pace, as they probed their way through the forest, further slowing down their exploration. Coupled with the fog, that was beginning to move even more violently, trying to interfere with their judgement, it almost felt as if the entire forest was trying to hinder their movements…

  “…The Lotus clan?” Norren mumbled, as Alnea disclosed his guess, after they chose to rest once again.

  “…That, or the entire forest has come alive…”

  “Not necessarily,” Zain said, pointing to the ground under their feet. “What if it is the thing sealed under the forest?”

  “…No, the time is not right,” Aren said, and was met with Vestia’s nod.

  “Aren is right. Although the damage to the forest is higher than we expected, it is still not enough to completely disrupt its balance. Naturally, it is also not enough to release whatever is sealed under its lands.”

  Vestia paused, and glanced around the forest, before adding, “If it sealed under the land, that is.”

  “…Are you—

  “Forget about the forest,” Ralph said. “I am telling you, it is the Lotus clan. Only those bastards will use such disgusting methods.”

  “…Disgusting?” Karl mumbled, glancing at coiled up ground under his feet. “I guess you can say that. But it works, does it not?”

  “…Cretes’ might! Whose side are you on?”

  “…I am just saying…”

  “And he is not wrong,” Aren said, glancing into the depths of the forest. “So what if we know that it is the Lotus clan behind the strange movements in the forest? It is not as if we can do anything about it.”

  “Are we just going to sit and watch, as they continue to disrupt our exploration and slow us down?”

  “…Then what do you suggest we do?”

  “Anything. Just something…”

  “…I understand your concern,” Aren said, clenching his fist to hide his emotions. “If we slow down any further, we really might not be able to complete our exploration in time. And that is still considering that we do not encounter those bastards. If we take the time it will take to defeat them into account, if we even defeat them at all, then we will surely cross the limit…”

  “…Leaving part of our goal unfinished…”

  “It would not matter how close we got…”

  “Or even how many of those bastards we defeated…”

  “…According to the instructions, we would still be considered to have failed our Final Trial.”

  “We would be considered unqualified to enter the inner city…”

  “…No, we cannot give up now,” Norren said, before glancing towards their Captain. “There must be a way.”

  “…Indeed,” Alnea said after a few moments of silence. “There is a way… But I do not think anyone here will like it.”