NOVPUB
Chapter 112: 020: Interesting soul
When Lynch first met Avery, how to put it... his impression of this girl was that she was beautiful, calm, graceful, poised, and full of heroic spirit. She was clearly far superior to average women and even to most men. If there was one word to sum her up, it would be...
Goddess! 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
Not the type of goddess who only has looks but no substance and is impossible to communicate with—in her mind, the rational part always seemed to dominate. No matter the topic of conversation, she could get straight to the heart of the matter with clarity, concise logic, and efficiency.
But after spending more time with her, Lynch discovered that beneath the goddess-like exterior was actually a... mad goddess.
She would sweet-talk Lynch into standing under a tree full of snow, then give the trunk a hefty kick before running off, laughing uncontrollably as Lynch was buried in snow and turned into a human snowman.
She would squeeze his water skin while he was drinking, just to see him choke.
She would even randomly bump him with her hip while walking, trying to knock him into the snowbanks nearby.
She always acted like a Disney princess on the run, pulling exaggerated faces and hopping around ahead of him while spouting juvenile lines.
"Forward! Let’s conquer that mountain!"
"Victory is within reach!"
"Hehehe, no seriously—did you see that squirrel? It darted past like this..."
Honestly, watching her twirl and flip her hair in front of him was kind of entertaining—like watching a live stage performance.
Lynch couldn’t help but ask if she was having an epileptic episode.
She rolled her eyes dramatically at him. "So, what, do we have to just stare blankly into the void while crossing this thousand kilometers of frozen wasteland? Can’t we have a bit of fun?"
In simpler terms, it was all for amusement.
In Lynch’s opinion, her pursuits as a girl were... rather unique.
By his stereotypical understanding, most girls chased after beauty, elegance, well-off families, pretty dresses, makeup—everything centered on creating a positive image. They wouldn’t act as foolishly or as unreservedly as she did.
Perhaps she didn’t need to. After all, the things other girls yearned for all their lives seemed to already be her default setting.
Besides having fun, Lynch suspected it was also a form of release.
He noticed that she consciously tried a lot of things—like walking barefoot or sliding down snow-covered slopes—things she probably couldn’t or wouldn’t do in her daily life because of her identity and background.
At the end of the day, no matter how noble her status was, she was just a 17-year-old girl in the prime of youth. These were her carefree years, and in a way, she was just returning to her natural self.
In any case, once the mask came off, the two of them had a lot more to talk about.
Every day as they traveled, they’d chat about all sorts of random topics—some more formal, like the various pieces of magic knowledge on the Wizard’s Road, but also gossip from Netta, and even insider rumors about the Judges.
The previously monotonous and dull journey became much more lively and entertaining.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, over three months had passed. Finally, the two of them made it through this life-threatening zone, emerging from the Ice Sealed Mountain Range.
The Whispering Forest, a forest nestled at the foot of the Ice Sealed Mountain Range.
This place was home to a peculiar flower called the Echo Flower. It stored the sounds it heard within its pollen. When the pollen dispersed on the wind, you could hear those whispers in the air, thus giving the forest its name.
It was 600 kilometers away from the Dark Forest.
Morning.
The morning mist swirled among the treetops, cloaking the ancient forest in a veil of mystery and softness. Sunlight streamed through the fog, creating intricate patterns of light and shadow across the ground, like nature’s most refined canvas.
Lynch and Avery trudged through the forest, their feet crunching the unmelted snow, with Frankenstein following close behind.
Ordinary space equipment could only store non-living materials, and the current Frankenstein was equipped with a complete life system, making it impossible to store inside.
Space equipment capable of storing living beings was extraordinarily expensive. Lynch did have two such items: one was Parker’s Cloak, and the other was the bean pod. However, both had extremely limited storage space—not nearly enough for the large Frankenstein, so it simply trailed along behind them.
With an agility level nearing 27, Frankenstein’s movement speed was anything but slow. It could even act as a bodyguard to handle any potential dangers along the way, which wasn’t a bad deal at all.
"Leonard?"
"That guy’s just a waste of resources, alright? With all the stuff he’s been given, even a dog could achieve the same results."
"In the entire Shadow Tower, there are only two people who could truly be called geniuses. One is his teacher, the wise Erodion, a fifth-level talent and a true prodigy. That guy’s amazing—he went from apprentice to wizard in just a few years."
"The other is also a fifth-level talent. In fact, it’s said that he advanced to wizard even faster than Erodion did. But... what a shame..."
Avery was gossiping with Lynch about some tower rumors when suddenly, a piercing beastly roar echoed through the wind.
"Roar!"
Originally walking ahead, Avery instantly darted behind Lynch, clutching his arm tightly and using him as a shield.
Lynch remarked, "Really? You?"
Avery didn’t even try to act tough. "Come on, I’m a girl!"
"Isn’t it only natural for a strong knight to protect a beautiful maiden?"
Lynch let out an exasperated sigh. "You’ve got quite the talent for talking, don’t you?"
Avery grinned. "Alright, go check it out already."
The sound had come from pollen carried by the wind, so the two headed in the direction where the wind was blowing from.
On the way, they picked up on more sounds.
There were hyenas barking.
The wails and roars of a giant bear.
And even the noises of a vicious battle.
After walking another few minutes, they eventually reached a clearing where the source of all the noise became apparent.
Scattered across the clearing lay the corpses of hyenas, their bodies strewn haphazardly about. Dark red blood had congealed on the grass, while the surrounding plants and trees were shattered and scattered, creating a scene of chaos.
In the very center of the clearing lay the massive corpse of a brown bear.
It was clearly one of those brutal and all-too-common forest killings—a savage fight between a pack of hyenas and a forest brown bear. But in the end, it appeared both sides had met their demise.
Lynch went over and took a quick look. "This was a female bear. Looks like she was out foraging when this pack of hyenas targeted her. She was tenacious—despite her injuries, she managed to take down the whole pack. It’s just a pity she succumbed to her wounds in the end."
From the traces at the scene, Lynch deduced that the female bear had been ambushed by the hyenas. During the sparse food supply of winter, predators were forced to take their chances, even targeting other predators.
There were more than a dozen hyenas, giving them a substantial advantage. They quickly tore into the bear, leaving her covered in wounds. Under normal circumstances, the outcome would have been clear at this point. But the bear’s resilience was extraordinary. She managed to kill all the hyenas before finally succumbing to her grave injuries.
"Oh! She was pregnant. That explains a lot..."
Lynch swiftly realized the bear’s pregnancy, which neatly answered his earlier questions. A mother bear’s desperate ferocity to protect her unborn cubs wasn’t all that surprising.
Avery exhaled softly. "What a tragic sight."
Lynch shrugged. "That’s just how the world is. Everyone’s fighting to survive—it’s not about right or wrong."
"Yeah..."
Avery ran her fingers through her hair, then tilted her head up to look at the sun. In a half-joking tone, she said, "You know, if I ever cultivate myself to that legendary Land of Eternity, I’d like to ask the creator why they made the world this way."
Lynch replied, "Best of luck with that."
Both of them treated this as a minor episode and didn’t dwell on it. With the situation understood, they resumed their journey without further delay.
However, after taking only a few steps, Avery suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Wait!"
She quickly turned back toward the female bear’s corpse, rushing over to it and attempting to flip the body over. Yet her strength was insufficient, and she struggled unsuccessfully several times.
Lynch walked over and asked, "What’s wrong?"
Avery replied, "Help me turn her over. I can’t do it alone."
Lynch reached out and rolled the bear’s body onto its side. As its belly was revealed, Lynch immediately understood what had caught Avery’s attention.
There, clinging to the mother bear’s stomach, was something about the size of a human palm.
It was a baby bear cub...
