Standing on a tall cliff, Jessica looked around her with hesitation. Day after day, she had been focusing solely on healing. In terms of supplies, she was fine, though if she had a choice she truly wanted to find some proper food.
Compressed biscuits and dried meat. These were enough to sustain her, they weren’t enough to give her a pleasant experience. Though she had to admit, the view was a pleasant experience.
A clear view, hundreds of feet above her was a white rapid, near the middle was pure crystal clear water. Below was a beautiful bowl of clear water. Like a knife cutting through the land, to the distance bending finally showing all it had to show.
The river continued to flow to an unknown destination. To the sides was a bank without sand, but a healthy sight of earth. On both sides was the sight of green as far as the eye could see. Due to the heat, it was likely this had become a jungle.
Straight below was covered in dense leaves, some larger than she was. From the banks, close and afar. It was possible to see that the entire place was covered in green. Only a few spots even allowed her sight to make contact with bark or the dirt below.
Taking a deep breath, she turned around before jumping down as she made contact with one of the trees. Using mana to slow her descent without causing damage to her skin.
Having vastly overestimated herself. Jessica found herself in a difficult spot. Having constantly traveled, constantly had brushes with death. She knew she couldn’t underestimate the dangers, to which she didn’t.
Her vigilance and tactics since arriving allowed her to survive to this point. Granted, the creature that pushed her entire journey sideways, seemed more interesting in playing than killing her. It didn’t change the fact she survived a surprised encounter with a Grade D creature in the middle of the night.
However, she vastly overestimated her ability to navigate in the forbidden zone. So far she found a bumpy valley, mountain, swamp, woodland, and now a jungle. Of those, none of them were the ecosystem of the minotaur.
She didn’t exactly come in blind. She knew that the savanna was close. The temperature of the east forbidden zone was consistent. That was to say, the jungle should be next to if not in close proximity to the savanna. The question was simply which direction she should go.
Regardless of what she decided. That wouldn’t be today. The sun was already starting to proceed down. With recovered mobility, it was time to move. For one reason or another, there hadn’t been any animals. Not even a bird, in terms of sound, she couldn’t hear anything over the sound of crashing water.
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While this might mean she was safe, Jessica felt uneasy about the fact that no animals had been sensed in the surroundings. It was one thing to see, since she couldn’t hear. There was some expectation to feel mana of other creatures.
Nothing. Water was not just the basic building blocks for humans. Animals also needed a source of water. Therefore, not sensing any animals in the vicinity for these days, started to make her uneasy.
The next day, she started to move out. After climbing up a tree, she once again jumped onto the rocks. Having found a route the day before, it didn’t take her long to move. Giving the area one last look, she followed a path using small cliff edges that weren’t being showered with water, making them unsuitable to jump on.
Once she made contact with the ground, she did a once over before moving out. She followed the cliff as she moved north. Moving for a period of time before returning. Doing the same, she moved west and south.
Once she was done, she returned to the waterfall with a more wry expression. There was still not a single sighting, though luckily she could start to hear distant sounds. Having moved about ten minutes in each direction.
In total, she spent about an hour and a half exploring. To the north was an increase in temperature, the air started to feel drier. After climbing a tree, she saw a contrasting yellow on the horizon. There was no real evidence as even with the shift in conditions, as far as the eye could see the jungle continued for a considerable amount of length.
West was more of the same. She didn’t dare follow the river. Moving west, she felt uneasy. Something in the air simply felt dangerous, if she had to guess, it was likely that something dangerous lived in this area, explaining the desolate nature of the jungle.
South was the most promising. The horizon showed more green that was spread out, showing gaps as the jungle continued until there was some open space. The temperature stayed much the same, while the humidity lowered slightly.
Regardless of which direction she chose, the decision left her a bit uncertain. Not only were there only distance sounds to the north and south, not a single marking of any kind could be seen in any of the three directions.
If not for the lack of a road of any kind. She would like to move east. Neither north nor south showed any way to reach the top of the cliff. From the place she had fallen, it was the highest point. A few other places might bring her closer to the peak.
Even then, there was still a considerable gap that left her feeling helpless. Without knowing how long she was unconscious or how far she had traveled. Even if she could make it up to the top, it didn’t mean she would be able to pick a different direction.
Worst part of this, she simply didn’t know her exact position. The forbidden zone was chaotic. Unlike the west, the east forbidden zone was circular in nature. Leaving gaps in boundaries. It was alright if she stayed on the edges, however, the middle boundary was dangerous if she moved deep inside.
At this time, Jessica could only sigh at the contempt Leo had for this world’s knowledge. His issue was not with the knowledge itself, only the way it was stored. How much information was hidden or lost because it was horded as a precious resource. Fear of losing out caused the knowledge of the world as a whole to degrade multiple levels.