Lev and his team hovered a bit further away from The Grand Forest. His body was almost completely healed, still infused with a small trickle of healing mana to deal with all the remaining aches.

"See something?" Sherron asked, curious about why Lev had brought them here.

"Where did the fire go?" he asked, eyes roaming the trail of destruction left behind by the gecko. It was all on fire before, yet there was no trace of the flames a few hours later, only blackened ground and ash.

"Fires usually don't last long inside the forest," she casually answered. "The moment combat ends, the resulting fires start dimming by themselves. Nobody knows why."

"You do realize that makes no sense. A forest is supposed to be very flammable."

Sherron shrugged a shoulder. "We have learned to accept it. You should, as well. It is far from the only inexplicable thing around here. Besides, we have skills that reduce environmental damage."

"Oh? How do I get that?"

"In time," she gave him a meaningful glance, under the confused gazes of Lev's team. "You need to learn the skill on your own."

****

The next day, Lev woke up an hour before noon. Getting out of bed, he stretched his body in all directions, finding it fully healed and functional. His Constitution was very high compared to the average mage, which let him deal with the wounds more easily and heal all remaining discomforts during a good night's rest.

It is time, he thought with a small sigh, leaving the room and the city in his bubble. The Harvesters, these ones decked in dark green clothes, were already present and waiting for all the bodyguards. Lev momentarily ignored them and flew high up in his bubble.

Invisibility formation on bubbles? Check.

Mana Concealment formation on bubbles? Check.

Both of them on the back of my armor, with the latter constantly running? Check.

Fifty fully enchanted walls stacked in the bubbles? Check.

Over a hundred ropes coiled around the secondary bubbles? Check.

Twenty healing potions in my ring? Check.

Galecannons? Check.

Lightning cannons? Check.

Hundreds of enchanted arrows and lances each? Check.

Enhancement formation fully functional? Check.

Mana pool… still only a bit below half. Damned slow regeneration.

Lev was as ready as he could be. After learning that he couldn't accidentally start a forest fire, there was no point in holding back. Now that he thought about it, Harun had no obvious reason to douse the fires back then either.

Curious.

He supposed being careful was going to be of paramount importance. All of his constructs were stored in the secondary bubbles to avoid creating openings in the main bubble and risking detection.

In the same vein, to test using barriers as batteries, Lev had another stack of two dozen orbs stored amidst the bubbles. They had been rinsed with high-quality sap to improve their conductivity as much as possible, though the infusion capacity remained the same. That was fine. He only needed to keep mana infused in them and quickly take it out as required.

An hour later, all twelve people participating in the quest had gathered just outside the gates. Lev slowly lowered himself at that point and stopped powering the invisibility formation.

Stepping out of an opening, he almost paused when the harvesters bowed lightly, their heads and gazes lowered.

Lev decided to ignore that. "Is everyone ready?"

He took a good look at everyone present. Since they weren't going more than a few dozen kilometers deep, only two platinum teams were accompanying the harvesters and him.

"Yes, sir," Kim, the slim harvester, answered. He wore a monocle on one eye, something Lev knew was related to Mana Perception. Jay, the second harvester of a tall and thin stature, also nodded. Both of them looked like scholars, but they were still far from weak.

[Herbalist - Level 190]

[Identifier - Level 211]

"Alright," Lev summoned the communication crystals he had bought from Dennis. "Take these."

Kim and Jay both grabbed one, and Lev looked at the platinum hunters. "Which one of you has the best Perception and scouting abilities?"

A woman in black metal armor raised her hand.

[Rogue - Level 222]

Handing her the third crystal, Lev gave her a stern glance. "Contact me immediately if something feels off, no matter how small. Is that clear?"

She gulped. "Yes, sir."

Letting his impassive gaze roam over everyone else one last time, he returned to the bubble and let out a sigh. The tension in the muscles of the hunters was palpable, but Lev wasn't going to take any chances. The Grand Forest was known as unconquerable for a reason, and they were going to scour its edges. Precautions were necessary.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

A part of his crystal suddenly lit up in his Mana Perception, signifying an incoming message. There were four inputs, one for securing and sending and message, and the rest for hearing messages from the other crystals in the set.

Giving a bit of mana to the third input, Kim's voice suddenly reached his mind.

"Hello? Is this working?"

This is so cool, grinning to himself, he channeled a bit of mana into the message 'recording' button.

"I can hear you."

When he cut off the mana after that slightly ominous message, another set of options presented itself. He had to choose which crystal he wanted to send the message to, and he chose the one connected to the third input— Kim's crystal.

"Message received," Kim's message reached him, both amused and somewhat scared.

Chuckling to himself, Lev tested it with all the other crystals as well. There were no problems.

"Let us start moving," he sent to Kim, now flying a hundred or so meters above everyone else. "How do you plan to enter the forest?"

"Walk?" a confused Kim answered.

Lev sighed and sent a message to all crystals. "Step onto the platform."

A large bubble took form in front of them and was quickly enchanted with concealment and invisibility. Now that there were strangers in his bubble, Lev added two enchantment concealments to both formations to hide the runes. They were his property.

Less than a minute later, they were all standing inside his fully formed and enchanted bubbles. Small holes for air were present on its top. For their convenience, he formed a pole for every hunter and the harvesters to grab onto before sending them a message.

"Hold tight."

The scout relayed his orders to all the hunters, who immediately caught on to what was about to happen. Keeping an eye on the non-combatants, Lev slowly accelerated his bubbles.

At first, the speed rose over a few seconds. Seeing that they were tightly holding on, he ramped it up.

Within seconds, the bubbles were moving faster than the average horse-drawn cart. In another few, they were far past that pace, flying forward amidst a blur of colors. The Harvesters were crouching next to the pole, not exactly uncomfortable but holding onto it as best as they could.

Barely a fifth of my normal speed, he noted, and slowed down a little, letting the non-combatants rise and actually enjoy the traveling. The hunters too, stared slack-jawed as they ate the distance between WhiteFall and the outer wall.

Without pause, the bubble rose above the massive wall and continued onwards, now flying a few hundred meters in the air.

"How far do we need to go before the first useful plants show up?" Lev sent to Kim, who blinked as if woken from a trance.

"At this speed? Probably an hour."

Huh, Lev sent an affirmative and considered the implications. An hour at this speed, which is dozens of kilometers, if not hundreds… that's barely the start of the edges? Just how fucking huge is the forest?

It was nothing short of mind-boggling. Lev knew the plains were comparable to the largest continent on Earth, yet the forest went far beyond that. He was doubly impressed by Hakim knowing what lay on the other side.

Time passed in a surprisingly peaceful flight. Monsters slowly streamed out of the forest, none of them strong enough for them to stop and deal with. Lev simply fired mundane barrier arrows at them, something he hadn't done in a long while

[

You have slain [Goblin - Level 63]

…

You have slain [Rabid Squirrel - Level 90]

]

Squirrels, huh?

That was a first for him. Monarch knew what else was going to be waiting for him in the forest.

Five minutes later, they slowed down when the treeline was a few seconds away. Kim immediately noticed and sent a message.

"Turn slightly towards the east," his voice sounded contemplative. "It's safer and has fewer resources to harvest."

"Are you certain?" Lev sent back.

"Yes. This way, with your bubbles, we can scour a much larger area in relative peace."

"What are we looking for?" he changed the subject.

"White roses, flamepetals, and blueroots. Flamepetals are useful in creating a treatment for metals and other durable surfaces to increase their resistance to fire, as well as create similar potions. The other two have healing properties."

"Is there anything that increases mana conductivity?" Lev asked, not expecting much.

"Not in this region, unfortunately. Compared to the things that can be found deeper inside, the resources at the edge are negligible. You will have to try your luck there."

"I see." No, thank you.

Ten minutes later, the first 'dangerous' monster showed up. Lev spotted it long before the scout, though he still waited to see her range of Perception.

"Gray monkeys ahead," she sent once they were within a few kilometers, still hidden from the monsters.

"I see them. There are about twenty, none above level 300. Deal with them."

Lev mentally approved of her when she immediately relayed his words to everyone else, approving even further when no one complained. It seemed they were also there to get some levels.

Sneakily, thirty invisible shields left the bubble as well, enchanted with invisibility, mana concealment, and stone enhancement. Lev was trying out that rune to get a feel for it and eventually make equipment for Jack.

He lowered the bubble with the platinum teams, letting them step onto the ground. Screeches announced that they were detected, and the hunters quickly came up with a strategy.

In his slowed Perception, one of the mages opened with a gale that targeted the monkeys, disrupting their movements and slowing them down. Another wind mage took advantage, combining the attack with the first mage to send wind blades that rode on the gale, homing onto the monsters.

Warriors from both teams slowly led them forward instead of retreating, planning to overwhelm the monsters. The strategy worked quite well as the wind changed several times, serving as an excellent support skill.

Meanwhile, Lev kept his eyes on an oblivious green python, nearly ten kilometers away. It had detected the humans battling on the ground, yet ignored them in favor of hunting a group of orcs.

A massive lance started taking shape above the main bubble, immediately attracting the attention of both the hunters and the monkeys, the former quickly capitalizing on the distraction.

Half-ignoring them, Lev started filling the lance with lightning. The distant snake immediately whirled towards the large mana usage, only for the lance to embed itself in its head with a large shockwave, making the trees in the vicinity almost break from the impact.

Five minutes later, when the hunters were done with the monkeys, Lev brought the snake corpse, the massive creature hanging from his threads. He unceremoniously dumped it in front of the hunters currently taking the cores out of the monkeys.

"Do you think they can harvest the core from it?" he asked the harvesters.

"Easily."

"Should be able to."

Alright then, he returned all his focus to scouting the area. Nothing had noticed them so far, and it didn't look like there were any big auras close by. The edges were famous for having a high number of low second-threshold monsters, and it seemed the rumors were true.

"Where to, now?" Lev sent to Kim, who took a few seconds to reply.

"I'm not exactly a Diviner, so the direction is up to you. My skills will inform me if there's anything worthwhile nearby."

Lev sent a message to the scout, who told all the hunters to return to the bubble. Once everyone was inside again, he rose high up in the air, for nearly five hundred meters.

"Does your skill work at this height?" he sent to Kim.

"It… does. Go there," Kim pointed in a direction, knowing Lev could see them. Half a minute later, they landed a few dozen meters away from a plant monster. It was fixed in place, looking like an ordinary thick vine, but he could feel the concealed aura now. It was rather fascinating. He told everyone to stay put so he could observe it for longer.

So… it is related to willpower, he eventually deduced, unsurprised. The aura is also always moving, imbued with intent and meaning. I'm gonna have to start looking into stronger stealth enchantments and mana types before even thinking of trying this.

Such was the nature of willpower. If you didn't understand something, how was your subconscious supposed to?

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