Unlike the rest of the crowd, Audrey and her cat did not back out of the oasis.
The group watched in bafflement as their friend along with his cat walked up to the heap of sand remaining of the fallen warlocks just a while ago and pinched a handful of it up.
Audrey leaned to it and examined the sand closely before placing it in front of her cat.
Nero sniffed the sand in Audrey's hand.
After they had finished examining the sand grains, Audrey began walking around the perimeter of the oasis with a tight-knit between her brows.
The cold air was emanating from the oasis before her. Standing beside it, Audrey could not feel the slightest hint of heat despite being in the midst of a sweltering desert.
At the same time, the lake was also extraordinarily clear. It looked so innocent that it did not seem to have anything to do with the flames that had killed the three warlocks earlier.
Following their friend's lead, Allan and the
"That's a relief. It was really a horrifying sight to see a living person being reduced to yellow sand. If not for the fact that I have traveled here together with them, I would have thought that they were sandmen in disguise!"When the group of warlocks finally felt their full strength returning to them, Marco Polo remarked fearfully after some time."Sandman in disguise? Being reduced into yellow sand…"A flash sparked through Steve's mind as a thought surfaced in his head.He quickly turned to Marco Polo and asked,"You said earlier that your group only found a sandman after traveling for four hours. In other words, you didn't encounter any sandmen in the first four hours at all, did you?""Hmm? Yeah, that's right!"Marco Polo was slightly taken aback by Steve's abrupt question, but he still swiftly nodded affirmatively in response.From the moment they were teleported by the portal out from the Plufwart
Just as he was about to give up, a slight breeze suddenly blew through the oasis.The towering Sakura Tree beside the oasis swayed along with the breeze, its leaves rustling noisily.The pink flowers blooming all over the towering Sakura Tree fell into the oasis with a light tug of the breeze, and they floated quietly on the surface of the water.A moment later, they dissolved apart and vanished in the water.[Could that the culprit?]Solving the puzzle in this mystery also caught Nero's interest. As such, he too was curious as to how the warlocks were turned into a pile of yellow and after consuming the water.That is why he went out to test it for himself. Only to find out that there is nothing wrong with the water in the oasis. In fact, it was even effective in quenching one's thirst compared to ordinary water.[Litte lass, can you try picking some flowers over that tree and obse
Nevertheless, that alone was still not enough to faze the cat and he was able to dodge the attack easily with a side step.PSHH!!!! PSSH!!!! PSSSHH!!!!However, it did not seem like the tree was willing to let him and the others get away scot-free now that it was discovered.Dozens of other tree branches suddenly shot forward and pierced not only in Nero' but also towards the direction of other warlocks in the group.The force behind each of the tree's attacks left a lingering black streaks aftermath in the air.Audrey already heard Nero speaking to the tree before the incident. While the group also saw how the black cat suddenly transformed into its panther form.They knew that this black cat of their friend only uses this panther form whenever there is a danger, as such they were already on their guards.Thus, when the tree launched an attack towards them, they were not totally caught off guard.They had their
Meanwhile, the two warlocks from the Plufwarts School of Spells also took their leave and departed as soon as they reached the Rhapsody Swamp. With that, the two groups went on separate ways as they both proceeded on accomplishing each of their own mission. Walking closer to the trees where the mistletoe hung, Audrey and the others tried to pick as many flowers as they could. They placed the collected flowers inside a specialized jade box to keep it fresh. After filling three boxes in total, the group stopped picking mistletoe. "So now that we are done with our school's mission, shall we head now to our true destination???" Jace asked after stowing the three boxes of Mistletoe in his storage ring. The group decided that it would be best if only one of them will keep the flower and they unanimously decided that the one who should keep it is Jace. After attending to Audrey's burned hand, Jace went back to ignoring her. This left
Looking inside, the cabin was full of dense fog. The thick fog started to move at the side as Audrey's cut through them and walk at the center of the room.The wooden floor creaked in protest under their weight as they made their way inside.When all the fog divided, it revealed a tall cactus plant at the very center of the room. It was about the size of a normal man.A conspicuous yellow flower sat at the top of its head. Or so the top part of the plant. The yellow flower above it makes it look like the cactus plant was wearing a floral headdress instead.Tiny but sharp thorns were sticking out all over its body. Nothing can be seen inside the cabin house aside from the human-sized cactus."Have we come the wrong way? Are you sure that the portal is here??? I can't see anything that looks like a portal here, though"Niccoli asked as he looked at Allan. Since Allan was the one who was holding the Nexus Portal, they believed that he knew wher
Walking closer to the waving cactus plant, the group bow their heads simultaneously to greet the guardian.When they finally got a closer look at the guardian stationed at the portal leading to the exit of Rhapsody Swamp, they saw that it was carrying something on its back.Ohh, rather than saying that the cactus plant was carrying something on its back. It was more accurate to say that the thing was slung on its body.It was a bow with a complete set of arrows. Whether it was for decoration or props purposes, it was unknown."Errr... Hi Ms. Cactus."Unsure how to greet the other party, the group decided to play safe and used formalities to address her."Actually I'm not a cactus yet.""There she is..."The group thought to themselves all at the same time.They know that every guardian chosen to be stationed at each of the portals had their own odd quirks so they were not surprised if the guardian will say something weir
However, as soon as they lifted their feet to take one step forward, they all halted their steps. This left their legs hanging in mid-air as they opened their eyes once more."No! No! No! This won't do. I really I can't. I hate injections since childhood. Much more being pricked by a thousand needles all over my body. I really can't do it."Audrey said as she hugged herself.[So do I. I don't want to be a porcupine nor a pincushion!][Little lass, I suddenly missed Charmy. That baby dragon must be feeling lonely being left alone inside the storage ring right now. Let me accompany her instead.]"Nope. You stay here. Let's be a porcupine or a pincushion together."Knowing that her cat was trying to ditch her on crucial time like this, Audrey did not allow Nero t get back inside the storage ring.Let's brave the hardship together.. BWAHAHAHAH"What are you waiting for??? I thought
Meanwhile, inhaling deeply, the rest of the group tried their best to gather up their courage. It was as if they were trying to inflate their courage with as much oxygen that they could get to store inside their diaphragm.With their eyes closed as if they were about to take a leap of faith before they run towards the cactus plant ready to embrace her.Since they had their eyes close, they didn't see anything. All they felt was as if they were plunged in a cold jelly-like substance for a split second.When they open their eyes next, they saw Niccoli looking at them with a bright smile."I thought I would have to wait for a couple of minutes before you would come after me... HAHAHAHA""It doesn't hurt at all. It was just a trial of will and courage. We won't really get pricked by her thorn!""That Cactniss Evergreen is really something. She should have just told us beforehand."Niccoli complained as he gives his whole bod