Chapter Twenty-Four: The Swamp Snake Group

  Three days later, Francis and his two companions finally arrived at their destination.

  "Is this the place? It's actually a day later than planned! The road through the dark forest is really tough!" Francis stood on a tree, looking at the swamp in front of him. After several days of rushing, Francis was a bit overwhelmed. Although he had no problem with his physical strength, nearly half a month of continuous travel made his nerves start to feel fatigued.

  The swamp in front of them was gloomy and terrifying, with no signs of life. The chirping of insects and birds that were originally present in the forest could not be heard here either. In the shallow waters of the swamp grew some peculiar shade-loving plants, and a grayish-white mist permeated everywhere. Looking at the dark swamp, Francis and his two companions knew that this was no ordinary fog, but rather marsh gas, which was very easy to poison people if inhaled.

  "It's here, but the situation is worse than I thought!" Di said with a frown. The situation in front of him was quite tricky! "The swamp gas is too thick here, and although I can hold my breath for a long time, the visibility is too short, I have no idea how far ahead it is! So rushing forward like this doesn't seem to be an option!"

  "Troublesome, my Light System level is too low, and I still can't use the Magic Shield spell. This is quite a bit of trouble! Am I going to return empty-handed?" Francis was feeling frustrated, even though the Light System could cast life-saving spells like Healing and Recovery from the beginning. However, the attack power of low-level Light System mages couldn't compare to that of other systems (the first three levels were considered low-level, the next three were mid-level, and the last two were high-level; above that was the Saint level). The only attacking spell available to low-level Light System mages was a single Holy Light Bullet. The Light System's attack magic required a lot of magical power and mental strength from the caster, so generally, low-level Light System mages had almost no attack power, little magical power, and couldn't even cast many Recovery spells; they were usually the focus of protection in their teams. It wasn't until they reached level 5 that Light System mages could acquire two attacking spells: Light Arrow and Arrow Rain. Only at level 6 could they learn Holy Light Shield. At this point, Light System mages started to become powerful, able to both attack and defend, with strong healing abilities; in contrast, high-level Light System mages were very popular, unlike the awkward low-level ones. With Francis's strong mental strength, he might have been able to cast Holy Light Shield ahead of schedule, but for now, this spell was beyond his reach, and it was impossible for him to research it on his own; after all, casting magic was a rigorous course of study, and if done incorrectly, the magical backlash could be fatal!

  "Young master, I have a way to deal with the swamp gas in front of us?" Saber said calmly from the side. "If my Wind King's barrier is released slowly, it can last for a very long time!"

  Francis's eyes lit up, "That's right! Lila's Wind King barrier can release a large amount of wind, enough to blow away these miasma! However, maintaining such a slow release is also very difficult for you, isn't it?"

  "It's all right, with this level of injury, I'm still fine, and with Master Francis' magic as a backup, I can hold on for quite some time, enough for us to get out of this swamp." Feeling Francis' concern, Saber's heart felt a little sweet, but her face remained calm as usual.

  "Alright! I won't hold back, I'll use my magical power. My spiritual power is high, maintaining 4th-tier magic is still very easy!" Francis nodded at Saber and looked at Dis "Bring out the thing now, it can be used."

  Diess pulled out a few pairs of long leather boots from the space ring, made from the fur of magical beasts, with excellent waterproof performance, and the soles were made very large to prevent sinking into the mud. "Put these on your feet, we've killed several thick-skinned magical beasts in recent days, these are made from their fur, just in case there are any poisonous insects in the water that might bite you!"

  The three of them put on their boots, which were made very long and reached far above the knee.

  "On the knee up here, tie the opening tight with a rope so that no insects can get in!" Dais gave a demonstration to Francis on one side.

  "Dees' craftsmanship is pretty good! It's just that the soles are a bit too big and it affects movement a bit!" Francis tried taking two steps.

  "It's not that bad, it's just stuck together with tree resin!" Dice also tried to walk a couple of steps, "It's fine, this way we won't have any problems when we get to the mud pit! Now it's up to you, Saber!" Only Francis calls her Lila, Dice always calls her Saber.

  "Give it to me!" Saber nodded at the two of them.

  "I'll lead the way, you guys follow my footsteps. Saber will be in the middle, just blow away any fog that comes up! Young Master will bring up the rear!" Dais said briefly after making a quick arrangement.

  "Alright!" Francis wasn't being arrogant either, Dais had his own arrangements and naturally he had his reasons.

  Dys chose a shallow place and walked forward, Saber followed behind him, and Francis was at the back. When they approached the swamp gas, Saber finally released his domain "Whoosh~~~" Visible winds were emitted from Saber's hands, blowing away the swamp gas surrounding the three of them.

  "It's indeed a very practical seal." Dis looked at the swamp gas being blown away "With this, there won't be any problems anymore, let's hurry and go!"...

  The three of them soon entered the depths of the swamp, where the mist was very thick. The three of them could no longer see the road ahead and could only rely on the faint light from the sun in the sky to determine their direction. "Speed up a bit!" Di suddenly said, "It seems that we've disturbed some sleeping guys!"

  "Hmm! Trouble! Dis, bring out the aura of the Seventh Sense and scare them off!" Francis frowned, unable to let his guard down here.

  "Alright!" Di immediately slowly released his seven senses' aura, and a faint golden light spread out in all directions. The magical beasts had a strong sense of danger, and the surrounding magical beasts felt Di's power, immediately stopping in their tracks, letting out a few shrill cries, and no longer advancing.

  "It seems to be effective!" Dais could feel the dispersal of the demons around him.

  "What a convenient little universe!" Francis exclaimed enviously!

  "Master, don't say that! The perception of a Taoist is very strong, and your spiritual power is the strongest I've ever seen. Even that Saint-level summoner can't compare to you! If you practice your spiritual power regularly, you can become like me!" Di Su said seriously, although he was a bit arrogant, but not yet to the point of being condescending. This world has many amazing professions, and there are countless masters. He wouldn't belittle other professions just because his own small universe is strong.

  "Whoa! The water is starting to get shallow, looks like we're almost at the end!" Dais walked ahead, using his small universe to scout out and find their bearings. "Following this direction, after walking for a bit longer, we can reach the other side! Hmm... what a hassle?" Dais's face looked a bit unsightly.

  "What's wrong?" Francis asked warily.

  "More trouble! There are many snakes ahead!" Di's expression was somewhat helpless. "Not magical beasts, just ordinary snakes. These cold-blooded animals are really troublesome! My Seven Senses' intimidation power probably won't have any effect on them. Now, there are snakes all over the road for nearly a thousand meters ahead, if we can't get rid of them, we'll have to force our way through!"

  "Snakes?" Francis asked in surprise. "Ah! Although the humid environment here is suitable for snakes to survive, the marsh gas is very harmful to living things, how can there be many snakes?"

  "Just a little further ahead and you'll see it!" Di said to himself, stopping his burning small universe. "What a hassle, snakes aren't exactly known for their brains, anything that poses a threat to themselves, they just pounce on and bite first. How much longer can this Wind King's barrier hold?"

  "It can still be maintained for a long time!" Saber took a deep breath, the prolonged output had left her somewhat fatigued.

  "If we control the wind to just blow those snakes away, wouldn't that be enough!" Diess gestured with his hand "Those snakes are probably about one meter long!"

  "About how much time will it take to get out of this snake group?" Saber thought for a moment and asked.

  "The swamp gas is almost gone, and we can walk out of the marsh after a short while. Those snakes are blocking our way at the exit!" Dis's face was a bit heavy as he looked at Saber. His special move was great for one-on-one battles, but it wasn't enough for group attacks. "The road ahead doesn't have much water accumulated, and with our speed, we can run out of here in no time."

  "I'm fine, no problem!" Saber nodded and said. Dais heard Saber's affirmation and also nodded. After half a month of contact, he had some understanding of the girl in front of him. Strong ability, straightforward personality, loyal to Francis, and adhering to the knight's code, if she says it's okay, then there shouldn't be any problem.

  "Master, now?" Dais inquired.

  "Let's keep going!"

  The three of them continued walking forward for a while, and soon they heard the rustling sound beside their ears, and they were close to the snake group.

  As I walked further forward, the mist around me gradually dissipated, and my field of vision slowly began to clear up. All I saw was countless snakes slithering on the ground, overlapping each other, densely packed, with no end in sight. The entire ground was a mass of green. The air was filled with the hissing sound of snakes spitting venom, 'hiss, hiss', and due to their sheer numbers, the noise was extremely loud, sending shivers down my spine.

  "It seems to be the season of snakes now! What bad luck, just in time for us to catch up!" Francis suddenly understood what was going on as he saw the scene before him. "Saber, we're troubling you again!" The three of them exchanged a glance and stood in a triangular formation according to their previous arrangement.

  The snakes on the opposite side felt the commotion on this side, one by one raised their snake heads, and spat out a hissing sound "hiss!" towards Francis and the three of them. One snake suddenly rushed towards the three of them, followed by another, two... finally the entire group of snakes lifted their heads and rushed towards the three of them with a hissing sound. Although there were many, they didn't feel crowded at all, but rather in an orderly manner. Francis only felt that the snakes in front of him seemed like waves, bringing a fishy smell to his face.

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