CHAPTER 1248: FOREST TEAM (PART 1)

Unfortunately for Adam, he was unable to break through the barrier. He made a good attempt, but he underestimated what the Red Bloom was capable of.

Sure, Adam could have used his trump cards, such as the Imaginary Cut or his new abilities, but what if he had failed?

In that case, what Garrah had warned him about would have happened—he would have expended too much energy and weakened himself. That would have allowed the Red Bloom to kill him, and she would have definitely succeeded given her level of power.

However, all of this was expected for Adam, to some extent. He knew he would have to fight if the barrier plan failed.

But... What he couldn’t have expected was this:

"How the fuck did I get here?" Adam raised an eyebrow as he sat by a massive bonfire.

To his right was Garrah, in his human form. He was still quite large, being a big man three meters tall, with gray skin, amber eyes, and bark covering his skin. Despite his intimidating appearance, he sat calmly by the fire, and they were not alone here.

Opposite Adam was a man in dark, spiked armor with calm red eyes. Darkness wandered around him like his faithful follower and assistant. It was the Thorn Hunter.

Finally, to Adam’s left was an unusual creature—the Dark Blobs. They looked more like land-based piranhas than some kind of dangerous monster. There were twelve of them, and they were incredibly annoying.

"How much longer do we have to wait?!"

"Hurry up! I want to eat!"

"Yes! Me too!"

"It smells too good!"

"Brhhhh! My mouth is watering!"

Adam frowned as he yelled at them:

"SHUT UP! It’ll be ready soon! Fuck, have a little patience!"

For a moment, the Dark Blobs fell silent, staring at Adam with wide eyes like offended children.

But...

"Hurry up!"

"I want to eat!"

"I’m hungry! Man, get cooking!"

It all started again.

When Adam and Garrah moved away from the barrier and headed deeper into the forest, Adam expected that they would soon attack the Red Bloom. That was their plan, just him and Garrah.

However, Adam soon realized how wrong he was.

Garrah was serious about his intentions to liberate the dark forest, so he gathered allies. There were several other monsters with them, but they were weaker than Garrah, the Thorn Hunter, and the Dark Blobs.

They were the three strongest monsters in the dark forest, and now they had a fourth. Sure, Adam wasn’t a monster, but what did that matter in this situation?

At such a high level, the Phantoms were often scarier than even the most dangerous monsters. Everyone knew that.

In the end, Adam encountered the Thorn Hunter and the Dark Blobs. He would have preferred not to know the latter, but it wasn’t as if he had a choice.

Instead of discussing a plan, they built a fire, and...

"Tsk. Here!" Adam exclaimed, removing a stick from the fire and directing it toward the Dark Blobs.

There were six white, soft balls on the stick, with a toasted crust around them.

As Garrah explained, it was a popular delicacy in their forest, growing on certain trees. These fruits did not contain as much energy as other resources, but the most important thing was how delicious and desirable they were.

Adam had already tried a few, and they were 90% similar to regular marshmallows, only round, very large, and slightly sweeter.

"Food! Food! Food!" The Dark Blobs exclaimed and pounced on the stick.

Before Adam could blink, the six fruits were gone.

"More! We want more!"

Adam clenched his fists.

"Garrah! Where the hell did you bring me?! I want to kill them, and if they don’t shut up, I will!"

Strangely enough, Garrah and the Thorn Hunter remained calm. During their long rest, the Thorn Hunter said only a few words.

"Hahaha... Don’t be nervous... We’re all different... Some are quiet, some are energetic... You just have to find the right approach for everyone..." Garrah replied and picked up five sticks from the fire before handing them to the Dark Blobs.

Silvana, who was watching from a distance, giggled.

’Hehehe, this is the first time I’ve seen you find yourself such company. It seems that as the strength of the monsters increases, so does the quality of your allies, right?’

Adam scratched the back of his head.

’Tsk. I had no idea this would happen. And this damn barrier... All my problems are just because one monster decided to rob the others! Fuck, even the Phantoms from the Lower Ring don’t do that!’

Silvana touched her chin thoughtfully.

’Hmm, actually... I can do it just like that.’

Before Adam could react, a bright light appeared to his left, made up of thickening, shimmering fragments.

For the first time in a long time, the Dark Blobs fell silent, watching as a girl in her spectral form appeared next to Adam.

"W-What...?" Adam gasped.

Silvana tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Mind if I join you?"

The Thorn Hunter looked up from the fire.

"That’s your Operator, right?" he asked, his voice calm, without threat, just slight curiosity. Phantoms rarely appeared here, let alone an Operator.

Adam nodded.

"Yes, it’s her... It’s as surprising to me as it is to you."

The Dark Blobs exchanged glances as they turned to Garrah.

"Garrah! Can we eat her?!"

"Yes! I want to try her!"

"Please, can we have just one bite?!"

Garrah laughed deeply. "Hahaha, you can’t. Unfortunately... this beautiful lady is actually very far away... right?"

Silvana nodded weakly as her gaze fell on the fruit.

"Yeah... and I won’t be able to try them. I’m sure they’re very tasty."

The Thorn Hunter nodded in agreement.

"They are, though, even for many monsters, they are too sweet."

Silvana grinned. "Too sweet? That’s not possible. Those monsters just weren’t ready for such sweetness, that’s all."

In response, the Thorn Hunter simply shrugged and continued with his business.

"So, Garrah, is this our team?" Adam asked, his expression turning serious.

Garrah nodded.

"Yes, and when the fire dies down, we’ll set off. We must free the forest, and you must continue on your way. We each have our own goals, but right now we have a common problem."