Chapter 122 - Mid-Class Exploration ( 2 )

The platform where the twelve were transported was made of dark stones. However, their surrounding was completely different.

'What a barren land…' This is Cyril's first impression and pretty much everyone here when they first came to this Arcane World.

Unfortunately, there were no rivers or lakes nearby or even a forest!

'Ugh… A desert? And you guys said that Centaurs are living here? How absurd…'

Cyril muttered after seeing the mountains of sand blocking their paths in all directions. He knows that Centaurs wouldn't live in such barren land at all. Unless there is a certain type of Centaurs that he didn't know about.

"Everyone… Make sure that you hold your communication crystals at all times. Don't lose them…" Sylvian then started explaining a bit about the geography of this Arcane World.

Cyril soon learned from him that beyond this barren land was a dark forest where the Centaurs lives.

"Alright, let's separate our teams from here… Look at the traces of the three other teams and make your choice whether to follow them or not…" Sylvian said as he pointed at the footprint left by the other teams.

There shouldn't be any problems following them but the only concern was whether they could find the Beads in the areas they already searched! It may not be impossible but the percentage of finding Bead Artifacts would be lesser.

It might be safer to follow them but they are here to explore in the first place!

"We will tread on a different path!" Andre, the leader of the second team, said with a resolute voice.

He's determined to find more Bead Artifacts than the other teams including Sylvian's team!

"Very well… Good luck on your journey… We will be going to the Black Forest…"

"Alright, Leader Sylvian, I'll bring my team to the Gorge of Death… There might be more Beads there… Keke!"

During their meeting in the Ascension Tower before, Cyril learned that once a single Bead Artifacts was found inside an Arcane World, there is a high chance that there are 20 to 30 Bead Artifacts hidden within that particular world as well.

This is why when a single Bead Artifact was found here, the Association immediately contacted the two Exploration Teams to work together in this Arcane World.

"Follow me!"

Sylvian said as Cyril, Myrtle, and Luna followed behind him… As for the two others, they remained a few steps behind to guard their backs.

'Sylvian is a B-Rank, the two others are C-Rank… Myrtle is an E-Rank while Luna is D-Rank Awakened… I guess our team composition isn't that bad. We also practiced for a bit…'

Cyril mused as he followed Sylvian.

'However… The problem here is how am I going to speak with the Centaurs alone… Ugh…'

This is the reason why Cyril agreed to all of this.

During the past few days, he has been trying to find other Entrance Crystals but it is just too difficult to find them. He's already really lucky to find four of them since there are cases that people would never find Entrance Crystals in their lifetime.

'Since I can't find more Crystals as I thought, I'll be focusing on joining various explorations instead.' This is what he thought when Myrtle invited him here…

As his thoughts are wandering, they arrived on top of a dune. He soon found the Black Forest that Sylvian was talking about.

The sky is already dark and the Black Forest just makes the place really eerie at the moment.

"Stay in formation… You already know where the Bead Artifacts can naturally be found. Centaurs may also be interested in them because they are quite shiny so make sure to notify me if you notice a Centaur around."

"Yes…"

Luna replied softly as she held her black sword tightly. She's wearing light combat armor and a backpack for her other things.

'Luna… Now that I take a closer look at her, she seemed quite familiar… Where did I meet her?' Cyril thought as he kept glancing at her.

She has fair skin and red hair. She appears to be a tough woman as well similar to Myrtle but Luna shows more skin than her who seemed to wear whatever equipment she could to protect her body.

'Ugh… I can't remember… Whatever~' Cyril decided to give up.

Sss—Sss—

As they have gotten near the forest, they heard some rustling leaves and it keeps getting louder and louder as if something huge is getting close to them…

Shing~

Everyone immediately pulled out their weapons including Cyril.

Currently, he's still equipped with Rank-C Set Artifacts since the Association is still preparing his Rank-B Set… As for having a Rank-A Set… It is close to impossible getting them. Finding one in an Arcane World is already tough so acquiring a Set of them is several more times difficult... Even the Old Crafter isn't good enough yet to create a set of Rank-A.

Twang!

As soon as they heard this, they quickly recognized what weapons were used to attack them…

Thud!

An arrow was stuck on the ground about five meters in front of Sylvian.

It is a warning!

'I thought these Centaurs are unreasonable… Why are they warning us first instead of just attacking us directly?' Cyril thought but Sylvian appears to be deep in thought as well. He must've realized what Cyril was thinking as well.

After a while, Sylvian laughed! Instead of ordering to retreat, he even started rushing towards the forest!

"Haha! You don't want us to enter?! Then that's making me curious even more! I'll see what's going on!"

Sylvian appears like a madman now as he used his dual swords to defend against the incoming arrows…

Soon, the battle ensued as their team fought against five Centaur Guards…

"We will only leave one alive!"

Sylvian said as he made sure to only kill two Centaurs with his fiery swords! Cyril only saw the shadows of the muscular Centaurs before they wailed and dropped to the ground.

As expected of a veteran explorer, the darkness was unable to hinder his movements at all!

"Myrtle, Luna, let's attack that one!" Cyril commanded them. The Centaurs are actually pretty strong and he's afraid that just a single kick from them would kill Myrtle…