Looking at the notebook already half-turned, the Hero was suddenly taken aback.
Realizing she couldn't afford to waste any more time, she forced herself to tear her gaze away from the notebook's contents, quickly packed her bag, and stood up abruptly, turning her eyes once more toward the dense fog before her.
This thick fog exuded a mysterious air of refusal toward outsiders, yet it also carried an inclusive openness, merely devouring everything in its depth.
But the young woman took a deep breath slowly, then set off resolutely.
The Gleaming Scale Serpent followed closely behind. As they stepped into the stone forest, the fog immediately swallowed their figures, as if they had never been there.
Outstretched hands couldn't see their fingers.
Such a description was not exaggerated in the slightest. If the Hero wasn't small in stature, unlike those tall and robust adventurers more in tune with the ground, she might have struggled to see beneath her feet.
Walking in this dense fog, the surroundings were not empty. With every pace, a massive stone pillar appeared abruptly beside her.
The misty sea of giant stone pillars...
And behind her, if it weren't for the Gleaming Scale Serpent being a Familiar, its Magic Power still linked to the Hero, she might have believed she was treading alone in this sea of mist.
Even so, as it followed the Queen, the hiss of the Gleaming Scale Serpent couldn't conceal its unease.
All perceptions seemed to be shielded by this thick fog, even sounds grew vague, rendering concern that each step could lead to a collision with a colossal stone pillar.
"It's all right, as long as we keep moving forward..." the Hero murmured softly, as if encouraging herself and the Gleaming Scale Serpent.
The Fog Stone Forest didn't occupy a large area on the map. As long as they kept moving forward, it wouldn't take long to walk out of this stone forest.
Though that was said, nobody could guarantee whether the scale was accurate. Even if it was, how could one be certain not to deviate from the direction?
The Hero stopped worrying and began to stride forward.
Yet, it was no surprise that neither the previous military department nor the Sand Lizardfolk of the Desolate Mountain noticed the abnormality of the Central Volcano.
The dense fog became a natural curtain. With such thick fog as a barrier, even if a volcanic eruption occurred, it would be quite difficult to see any activity over there.
[Thick Fog (Minimum visibility value 1=2d100+ Map Level 68)]
2d100+68=d100(70)+d100(63)+68=201
[Hero's Pathfinding (Transform on failure and use Extrasensory Sensation, another failure may lead to assault)]
D100+41=d100(87)+41=128
The Hero's steps gradually slowed, finally coming to a halt.
Unwittingly, she had lost her sense of direction.
Should she move forward, or to the left, to the right?
Had the current route deviated from its intended direction?
Although she could see her feet and her body, she felt as though she was advancing in boundless darkness.
Wherever her eyes looked, up, down, left, or right, everything was filled with dense white fog.
Between heaven and earth, only dense white fog remained, as if the difference between open and closed eyes was only between white and black. The senses seemed ornamental, causing deep doubt about her sense of direction.
The Hero exhaled lightly, calmly adjusting her breathing.
The clothes haphazardly worn on her body not long ago fell softly to the ground, and the girl's figure disappeared, while the jade-green giant python slithered out from the gleaming silver chainmail.
In the next moment, the python's form twisted and began transforming into a graceful humanoid shape.
[Serpent Queen of the Woodlands LV30]
Constitution: 114 (+34)
Intelligence: 72 (+22)
[Hero activated skill: Extrasensory Sensation (Pathfinding 128, Perception +55, Intelligence D72)]
128+50+d66=128+55+d72(54)=237
The Serpent Queen of the Woodlands gently closed her eyes, yet her perception extended like invisible threads, quietly probing into the thick fog, spreading in all directions, delicately touching each unknown entity.
In this silent darkness, the notebook's content surged like white mist in her mind, gently sweeping through.
"The legend left only a brief phrase, yet it lost its entity and content... This phenomenon is certainly intriguing."
"Folk legends passed down through generations usually have some tangible support."
"Either it is a specific object, like a Dreamcatcher, Amulet, Ancestor Mask; or a particular activity, like a Sacrifice, Ritual of Cleansing, Harvest Festival; or a symbolic marker, such as a family Emblem, ancient stone tablet, Shrine's Statue; or it's simply detailed records, like Chronicle, Genealogy, Poetry, or Fable stories...
"However, legends reduced only to verbally transmitted cores are exceedingly rare."
"Could it be that this phenomenon wasn't naturally formed, but rather intentional?"
"The alteration of the past is almost a necessary step for all historical records. This legend may harbor hidden, unknown, and unshareable secrets..."
"Hence, I decided to come to this Highland for an on-site survey."
"Did the legendary Ancient Hero truly exist? Was her life and origin as I conjectured from the fragments—"
[Ancient Hero's origin Critical Failure]
9. Rootless people (?)
10. Critical Success/Critical Failure ♛
Note: Critical Success: Unfortunate in special sense (e.g., having then losing, Lone Star); Critical Failure: Life as miserable as mud (e.g., a broken Elf slave, orphan predestined to be a living sacrifice from childhood)
[Ancient Hero's origin double Critical Failure.]