117 A Savage Map

Moving within this high gravity was difficult. I could tell battling here would take a great toll on my stamina.

"Let the troll speak," I said, attempting to calm down the battle-ready human.

Shi Da was a hothead, I didn't want to get killed over his reckless actions. There had to be a good reason Seji hadn't been here before. He wasn't shameless to that extent! At least, I hoped not.

I was also starting to get furious. How are we supposed to have a guide that's never been to a place before?

"Mon, the Savage Land is an enormous Lower World. The portal sends us to a random location to try our luck. After you are done collecting materials, you can use your Aphalla to portal back to Satyr Castle," said Seji as he looked wronged.

"The most important thing in the Savage Land is to stay low key, mon. There are many powerful savage beasts, but they won't go hunting weaklings like us without cause. Like the Pterodactyl flying above, we are too low level to even enter its eyes."

"We just have to be sure not to intrude into a territorial Savage Beast's area, mon. One moment," said Seji as he cast some kind of mystical spell.

Seji faded into the shadows as Shi Da and I sat there waiting.

"The surrounding area is clear, mon. There's only that Tier-5 Pterodactyl soaring above, this surrounding area should be his territory," said Seji as he came back from the shadows a few minutes later.

"The earth is a manuscript, mon, being written and unwritten every day. The canyon to our left is a geological track. The river to our right is a track. So are the enormous mountains in the distance, mon. The geology is made and then slowly worn down by the forces of natural gravity."

"Gravity ultimately wants everything to be at the same level, mon. A track is the earth's' reaction to your passing over it. From each passing there are a series of concentric rings that ripple out. The track itself is one such ring, so is the call of the Pterodactyl that scolds you as you walk beneath its vaulted skies."

"What are you even talking about?" I said.

"Mon, the reason I guide people in the Savage Land has nothing to do with my combat skills. It is because I understand tracking. It's a skill that makes navigating such a dangerous world like a walk in the park," said Seji.

"Tracking is like learning to read, mon. First, you start with the ABC's then you work up to simple sentences, then to paragraphs, and finally books. With practice, you can read very difficult books with a great deal of hidden meaning."

"A track is a window to the past of an animal, mon. Looking at the ground as if it were a manuscript of an animal's life. Every valley, hill, trail, or stream is the track of something. A dent in the forest floor may be the track of a fallen branch."

Seji walked around the local area performing his mystical art from time to time. While he was walking around performing his calculations, I acclimated myself to the gravity in this world. It was hard to deal with. Luckily, we weren't suffering from any Realm Suppression. I believe our cultivations were too low to be affected by the realm suppression of a lower world.

The gravity was another story. I knew in this type of environment I could not gather even 40% of my normal fighting strength. A world like this would be a splendid place to train the body. Anyone that could train under these conditions would have much more deft movements.

Unfortunately, I was here for a trial, so I quickly put the thought of training here to the back of my head. I could not enjoy such a luxury.

After about an hour of using his mystical art, Seji sat down and begin drawing. My weariness faded a bit as I saw Seji producing maps. He created one map, then copied it with some kind of special ability.

"Here, mon. This is a list of dangers that I could discern within the local area. This map reaches out in a 100-mile radius," said Seji as he handed Shi Da and I copies of the map.

The map he produced was very detailed, even containing a legend and everything.

"With this map, you should be able to survive in the Savage Land, mon," said Seji as he pulled out his Aphalla.

"I'll expect payment upon your return for how many ever days you decided to stay here for use of my tracking skills and production of this map, mon," said Seji before he teleported away.

The damn troll had cheated us again! He was charging us 500 points a day for access to this map he haphazardly made within an hour.

"I knew something was fishy," said Shi Da, "If Seji was busy helping people all the time with the Savage Land, how could he find time to go bother new trial takers?"

"He even has to gall to charge us daily for this map, but it shouldn't be anything fishy about it," I said, looking over the map.

"For him to get his payment we would have to return safely to Satyr Castle, it'd be poor business for him if we fell here."

The troll was a scammer, but above all he was driven by greed. I knew there wouldn't be any tricks on this map.

Shi Da also inspected his map after hearing my level-headed words.

The map was actually very intricate. It had a detailed legend that showed what areas to avoid in the 100-mile radius and even listed what Savage Beasts commonly roamed the areas. With this map, we should be able to gather many Tier-3 herbs in our time here.

I began scouting the surrounding area for signs of Tier-3 herbs. Shi Da and I split up in order to cover more ground. Though we would be safer together, it wasn't economically feasible. We both needed many Tier-3 herbs to continue advancing with our alchemy, and the only place we could source it was here.