Chapter 213: Nests for powerful beasts.

The meat was finally shared, with some of the best portions given to Alex and the others for bringing them such good news about Oasis City.

Lily was happier than everyone else that day. Her smile never left her lips, and she even cooked them a sumptuous meal.

She invited them into her home and served each of them a bowl of stewed meat with freshly baked bread while listening to everything that had happened to them on their journey before they were teleported to the grassy plain.

She also learned a little about Eva from them and was happy to hear that Ethan was alive.

She couldn’t wait to be reunited with her family.

The meal was peaceful, filled with laughter and jokes.

"Once you’re done with your meal, I’ll show you a map of the places I’ve been. We can use it to trace our steps and travel toward the areas I haven’t explored yet."

Lily stated as she passed Daniel another loaf of bread.

Everyone loved the bread.

Perhaps because they had eaten so much meat, the bread tasted unusually fresh and delicious.

Once they finished eating, Lily stood up and went to her room to get the map.

Minutes passed.

Then the sound of her approaching footsteps caught their attention.

Everyone turned to see her holding a large sheet of paper and a huge egg.

She placed the egg on an empty chair beside her before spreading out the hand-drawn map.

Everyone looked at the markings showing mountains, rivers, rocky terrain, and strange plants and trees that differentiated one forest from another.

The map wasn’t particularly detailed, but the drawings and estimated travel times between destinations were clear enough for everyone to understand.

At that moment, they realized just how far Lily had traveled.

Their decision to go with her suddenly felt even more correct.

"How did you travel on foot to all these places? It must have been exhausting."

Zoey asked, her expression filled with curiosity and respect.

Though she had traveled with the others, their journeys had always involved resting along the way or fighting off beasts together.

But Lily had traveled through those dangerous forests alone.

Lily pointed toward a mountainous area when she heard Zoey’s question and looked up with a soft smile.

"It was difficult and eventful along the way. I also had to hitch rides on those herbivorous birds to help with my journey."

Lily explained calmly.

Her eyes stared into the distance as though she were reliving memories from those days.

"Oh, I almost forgot about the dungeon. Sometimes, I stayed inside until it eventually evicted me to a different location."

She added with a mirthless smile.

She couldn’t remember how many times she had stubbornly tried to return to the underground city, only to be met with disappointment and crushing defeat.

Clearing her throat, she regained her composure and returned to the matter at hand.

"Check if any place on the map looks familiar. I want to know which places you’ve already visited so I’ll know where we should go from here."

Lily instructed before stepping aside and giving them room around the map.

Seeing them gather around and begin discussing the map, she felt it might take some time, so she returned to her room to pack her belongings into her space ring.

Halfway through, Daniel came to call her.

"We only recognize two places on the map."

He said as soon as she walked out of the room.

Lily wasn’t surprised.

They had only been on the surface for a few months, after all.

She walked over to the spread-out map and looked down at the area Marvin was pointing toward.

It was a terrain filled with mountain peaks, with a small forest at the bottom.

"The dungeon gate on the mountaintop is very familiar to us. It’s where Adrian sent a message back to Oasis City."

Alex was certain.

He couldn’t forget that night when they encountered those monsters.

They hadn’t even been able to see their true forms.

Their shadows alone had been enough to fill them with overwhelming terror.

The others’ expressions changed as well, fear returning to their eyes as they recalled those monsters.

Lily noticed their reactions and became curious about what they had encountered to provoke such fear.

"What happened there?"

Her question snapped them out of their memories.

Zoey shuddered.

"Two enormous monsters. Ten... no, twenty times bigger than the normal beasts we see every day."

She explained in a trembling voice.

Lily’s expression suddenly changed.

"You encountered the Behemoths."

She gasped in horror.

They were among the monsters she feared the most.

There was no point trying to fight them.

The best course of action was to escape the area with everything one had and pray they hadn’t noticed your existence.

"Never—I mean, never—try to act brave when you encounter one of those monsters. Escape the area immediately."

Lily warned gravely, hoping her words would remain in their minds.

Knowing that Lily had also encountered the monsters made them feel as though they weren’t alone.

Daniel lowered his voice as though he were afraid the monsters might somehow hear him.

"What power level do you think those monsters have? And how did they appear so suddenly, as if they had materialized out of thin air?"

Silence filled the room.

They wanted to know the answers as well, but no one had them.

Something that mysterious was difficult to understand.

"All right, then. We can travel to the places I haven’t explored yet."

Lily changed the subject, bringing them back to the matter at hand.

"Where would Oasis City most likely build a city? It can’t just be anywhere. It has to be somewhere safe enough from beast attacks, like the grasslands we’re currently staying in."

Lily muttered to herself as she crossed out the places she had already visited.

The terrains were either harsh, plagued by terrible weather, or nests for powerful beasts.

The people from the underground city couldn’t possibly choose such places to build a home.

That left only the areas she hadn’t explored yet.

The others remained silent, waiting for her to finish thinking.

They couldn’t offer much advice because they knew almost nothing about the surface compared to Lily, who had lived there for years.

"We don’t necessarily need to search for them in all these places on the map. The map will be useful when we have to pass through these areas."

She explained.

"It could save us from accidentally stumbling into the nests of high-level beasts."

Lily specifically pointed toward a forest marked with drawings of maple trees and strange flowers.

A troubled expression crossed her face when she thought about the beasts lurking there.

The others listened silently to her plans, glad that they had someone experienced with them.

Lily straightened up and carefully folded the map.

"We’ll set out as soon as it hatches."

She nodded toward the egg sitting on the chair.

It had been two months since she had obtained it from that strange tower that had suddenly appeared inside the dungeon.

"Do you know anything about this egg? Did that small cheetah following you hatch from an egg?"

Lily asked randomly as her gaze fell on Zoey’s beast.

She was merely making a wild guess.

Zoey nodded in response.

"Hmm. It can grow much bigger than this."

Lily was pleasantly surprised.

She then turned toward her own beast egg.

It had grown larger over time, but it still showed no signs of hatching.

A faint expectation appeared in her eyes.

"Our beast eggs haven’t hatched either. We can wait for all of them to hatch together while we rest in the village for a while."

Alex brought out the large gray egg from his space.

The others followed his example, bringing out their own eggs and placing them on the table.

The sudden sight of five enormous eggs stunned Lily for a moment.

"All right, then. We should stock up on food and hunt in the dungeon while we wait."

Lily announced.

She returned to her room to rest, no longer rushing to pack her belongings.

...

The next day, Lily took them to the dungeon entrance deep within the grasslands.

They had to use grassland crickets, whose every jump covered a great distance.

"This is the first time I’ve ridden a surface beast. How were you able to tame it?"

Zoey asked in curiosity as she walked around the cricket, whose green body almost completely blended into the tall grass.

A long woven grass rope was strapped around its mouth to act as a bridle.

"It’s docile by nature, but be careful when you see the red ones. Their attacks are very painful."

Lily explained as she jumped onto the cricket’s long back.

"Hop on!"

She called out to the others.

They quickly mounted their respective crickets.

Following Lily’s example, they pulled on the ropes.

The crickets began walking.

Then, without warning, they suddenly leaped into the air.

Thump!

They landed fifty steps away from their previous location.

They were deeply shocked at the sudden movement.

The grassland stretched endlessly before them as Lily’s cricket continued leading the way toward the dungeon.