By following the directions given by Sapphire Tree village’s inhabitants, they made their way to the level 30 area. They were heading towards the border with the corrupted area.

After a couple of days, they found themselves surrounding a swamp area, of which they had been warned. Getting into those swamps would have been annoying to say the least, probably dangerous. Although that area still didn’t reach level 30, it was close, and the inhabitants of these swamps could hide in the murky waters. Those waters were traps in themselves, so they carried a high risk.

They hadn’t had much trouble after leaving the village, as none of the forest dwellers had dared to attack them, but as they went near areas close to their level, more and more of them had lost their fear.

It had been relatively easy to dodge their potential enemies thanks to Life Detection, although they couldn’t always avoid them, either because there were too many, because they were moving fast, or because they were following their trail.

The latter had been the case of eight huge centipedes, or perhaps millipedes, level 27 insects. They were two and a half meters long and poisonous, and had pounced on them from three different directions. It would have been a highly dangerous situation if they had taken them by surprise.

But not only were they alert because Goldmi had detected their presence, but the lynx could hear the movement of the huge insects when they were heading towards them.

Tangle had accomplished the purpose of restraining five of them, but the other three had managed to escape the archer’s field of vision. They were approaching while she was firing her arrows against those that had been entangled.

The first to arrive had fallen prey to the powerful feline’s claws and jaws. The second had entered into a Wind Abyss, which had been placed in the Goldmi’s blind spot that wasn’t covered by her sister.

The last one had been met by the elf with a Serpent’s Attack, so attacking and blocking the centipede as she thrust her sword into it. She had left the weapon nailed in the insect’s body so as not to waste time. Then, she had used Fallback, thus gaining distance and wielding the bow she had taken out a few moments before.

With several Three better than one, Ethereal and physical arrows, she riddled her attacker and the one which had fallen into the trap, though she couldn’t stop some poison from being Spat out at her. However, it didn’t overcome Cyclonic Barrier, which she always wore.

If she hadn’t been forced to remove it to protect the elf girl, and hadn’t made the mistake of not immediately renewing it during her fight against the snakes, she might not have been poisoned. So, her lesson was well learned.

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The lynx had split the other centipede in two, yet it was still moving. However, the largest part lacked eyes or antennae, while the smallest had lost all ability to defend itself. So, it was soon shattered, though she was careful with its jaws and its venom. It is true that she had also worn Cyclonic Barrier, but the hand-to-hand combat had resulted in the protection disappearance, so she was now without it.

“I have a recipe for centipede stew. Should we try it?” the elf asked her sister, after they had killed them all.

“Tasting costs nothing,” she answered, without any reluctance.

Unlike the elf, she had no problem eating the insect. Not raw though, as she had gotten used to her sister’s delicious cooking.

Goldmi shrugged. She wasn’t entirely convinced that she would eat it too, while her assistants were collecting the remains and weapons.

The sporadic attacks were dangerous, although they were more than prepared, and their levels were a bit higher than the place. In addition, they had a wide range of spells and skills, and good quality equipment by the standards of that world.

However, those attacks were by no means the worst. Thousands of mosquitoes of different sizes were harassing them. There were those less than one centimeter, and those more than twenty. And even some that reached half a meter, although the larger ones weren’t a great deal, since they were an easy target and few. The little ones were the problem.

Wind Push could blow them away for a few moments, and Twister could take out hundreds of them, but not all of them. Although Cyclonic Barrier was protecting them, it was unsettling to have them loitering around the barrier. The spell could finish the smallest ones, but it only pushed back the others.

She was forced to renew it continuously, and both she and her sister didn’t stop attacking the mosquitoes, whether it was with claws, arrows, spells, sword or dagger. Void was efficient in attracting several of them, but it was totally insufficient. Fortunately, the assistants weren’t affected by the insects, so they could retrieve her arrows.

She ended up using Vegetable Home to rest and eat. Not only were the mosquitoes unable to get through the barrier, they were no longer even detecting the presence of their victims. Of course, they had to clean the interior space of those which had been trapped with them, something that was irritating. The elf would have done anything to have Eldi with her and his fire spells, or Gjaki and her familiars, or her own high-level spells.

In the end, with Tramontane, she managed to group them against the plant wall, so making it easier for them to kill the insects. She couldn’t cook there, since there wasn’t enough space. Thus, they had to settle for what she had in the inventory, which nonetheless tasted as just cooked. The centipede stew would have to wait.

When they finished eating and resting, had recovered their energies, and been protected with Cyclonic Barrier, they decided to continue on their journey. They wanted to get away from there before dark.

“Shall we?” asked the elf. She was trying to cheer herself up or be encouraged.

“There is no choice,” sighed her sister.

The lynx was also stressed out by being surrounded by thousands of tiny insects that seemed to have no end, so she wasn’t particularly excited to be there. Her fur might protect her to a great extent, but without the barrier, she knew they would attack her most sensitive spots, such as her ears, nose, eyes, or mouth.

However, when she broke their shelter, they were met with a great silence. The insects had disappeared. Not even Life Detection found anything near their position.

“This’s very strange,” the elf wondered, uneasy.

“We’d better get out of here as soon as possible,” suggested the feline.