(VOL.2) Forest of Vegetables and Fruits

This was a tranquil and deep forest; sunlight, filtering through layers of lush leaves like a maiden's billowing skirt, cast mottled patches of light on moss-covered rocks and damp soil, as if injecting life into this ancient land, even the air becoming vibrant.

A snow-white rabbit cautiously poked its head out from the bushes, the edges of its two long ears tinged with a faint, moon-like, ethereal blue fluorescence.

It vigilantly turned its head, surveying its surroundings, seemingly also enjoying this morning tranquility, greedily breathing the crisp forest air.

"Swish—." A faint sound of something cutting through the air was heard.

An arrow, condensed from pure shadow, accurately pierced the air, instantly shooting through the strange white rabbit's head, pinning it to the spot.

"Alright, today's breakfast is roasted rabbit meat, plus two wild fruits," said Lux.

She wore a strangely styled outfit sewn from coarse grass threads and some unknown animal hide.

As she appeared, the [Shadow Cloak] condensed from shadow magic on her body also quietly dissipated.

Lux quickly ran forward, picked up the still faintly twitching rabbit, and weighed it.

"Hey, this fellow is quite heavy, not bad."

For someone who had been lost in this boundless forest for a full three months, this undoubtedly counted as a pretty good meal.

Yes, Lux had been lost for a full three months.

Ever since that day outside the ruins of Purple City, when that voice suspected to be Mitty's and that guiding hand had appeared, there had been no further news.

And Lux, too, had thoroughly lived the life of a "savage" for three months.

Of course, these three months were not entirely spent in a monotonous cycle of hunting and (directionless) travel.

To improve her strength, Lux had also expended enormous effort to successfully hunt an adult male lion capable of controlling fire, devouring it to obtain a new pair of gauntlets—the [Lion's Paw Gauntlets] (this accessory replaced her original [Black Bear Paw Glove]).

These [Lion's Paw Gauntlets] were shaped like ferocious lion claws, the knuckles covered with five incomparably sharp short blades like daggers, and could also release powerful shockwaves upon hitting an enemy, sending them flying far away.

Another important gain came from hunting a giant black eagle.

Lux had originally hoped to gain a pair of wings that would allow her to fly out of this damned forest by devouring a bird.

For this, she had spent a full day before finally seizing the opportunity to devour a ferocious black eagle with a wingspan of nearly three meters.

However, the final result was somewhat disappointing to her—she only obtained a pair of [Falcon's Leggings], leggings with an interwoven pattern like falcon feathers, each legging also imprinted with an eagle-eye-like pattern.

These leggings greatly increased her agility and granted her a short burst of explosive sprinting speed, but could not make her fly.

At this moment, Lux's heart was filled with confusion and frustration.

She seriously suspected that this forest might have been enchanted with some powerful magic, trapping her inside.

After all, she had climbed the highest nearby mountain peak more than once, carefully observed the terrain, and confirmed her direction before continuing forward.

Surely… surely she couldn't be so hopelessly bad with directions, could she?

Surely not…

She felt somewhat disheartened.

The urgent desire to immediately find a way to resurrect Mitty, which she had when leaving Purple City, had now been gradually worn away by this monotonous daily life of hunting and getting lost.

She was even starting to get somewhat… accustomed to this life of rushing back and forth in the jungle, living among wild beasts.

"Wait…" Lux suddenly stopped, pricked up her ears, a wary look on her face.

It seemed… there was some sound.

Although the jungle was never short of various sounds—the rustling of wind through leaves, the chirping of insects and birds, the low growls of wild beasts… but this sound was different.

It sounded more like… voices speaking.

"Could it be… people?!" Lux's heart suddenly leaped, a gleam of joyful surprise instantly erupting in her eyes.

She hadn't seen a living person for a full three months.

She was now so excited she wished she could immediately rush over and give that person (or those people) a warm hug.

Of course, that was on the premise that they were clean, and didn't mind her current dirty and messy "savage" appearance (this thought was somewhat of a double standard).

But after the initial surprise, Lux immediately became vigilant again.

She quickly crouched down, concealed her presence, and like a true cheetah, silently and slowly approached the direction from which the sound came.

This was a stealth technique she had learned through painful experience after failing in her first few hunts and starving for several days.

After all, the prey she could directly rush up to and capture were mostly large, relatively clumsy beasts like deer, bears, and wild boars.

Those slightly smaller, more alert prey, once startled, would immediately dart into tree holes or bushes and flee.

Lux carefully moved through the dense grass, constantly using thick tree trunks to cover her figure.

Her ears, like radar, carefully captured every sound carried on the air, while her eyes vigilantly scanned the surrounding environment, simultaneously trying to lock onto the specific location of the target.

The voices were becoming clearer.

It really was people speaking.

And it sounded like more than one person.

The language they spoke seemed to be the common tongue of the God's Grace Continent.

Lux forcibly suppressed the surging excitement and agitation in her heart, continuing to crawl, parting the grass before her bit by bit, slowly advancing towards the source of the sound.

She felt herself getting closer and closer to the target, as if she would be able to see the speaking figures at any moment.

Those people… seemed to be discussing something intensely.

From their noisy voices, one could hear tension, anger, and even… a hint of inexplicable excitement?

Lux finally got close.

She parted the last bush obstructing her view and finally saw the scene ahead clearly.

However, after seeing it clearly, she was completely stunned, even beginning to suspect if the world had gone completely mad—of course, it was also possible her own understanding of this world was still too shallow.

Because, what she saw… was actually a group… a group of mushrooms and fruits with arms and legs… talking.

That's right. Mushrooms and fruits.

And various kinds of radishes, potatoes, cabbages… all with limbs.

Of course, the most numerous were the mushrooms.

As for those "fruit people," they were even more bizarre: one had a big red apple for a head, with clear human facial features on it, its body seemingly wrapped in rough fruit peel, also with four limbs; another had a pile of crystal-clear purple grapes on its head, like some fashionable hairstyle, a "grape person"; and there was also a round, "obese" looking "bok choy person"…

Those "vegetable people" were largely similar, waving limbs made of plant fibers that looked somewhat clumsy, arguing emotionally about something.

And those "mushroom people" felt as if their entire bodies were giant mushrooms—a huge mushroom cap on their heads, serving as a hat or hair; their bodies were cylindrical, thick mushroom stalks, with facial features directly on this "mushroom pillar."

Oh, right, these peculiar "fruit and vegetable people" were all wearing simple, crudely made clothes.

As for what exactly they were discussing… apologies.

Because they were arguing so fiercely at the time, their voices noisy and chaotic, and plus, when Lux saw this group of "people," the shock to her heart was so great that she didn't hear the specific content of their argument at all.

[Maybe… I should go up and say hello? For example… Hi! I'm… uh… a fleshy human! Hello there! Please rest assured, I absolutely won't eat you! I have no ill intentions towards you! Really! For a long time, I've only eaten meat… Okay, I've eaten some fruits too, but they were wild ones, you guys probably wouldn't consider those wild fruits as your own kind, right? Haha… By the way, could you tell me… how to get out of here? To a place where humans live.]

Hmm, such a well-intentioned greeting would surely establish a precious friendship with these lovely vegetable and fruit people upon first meeting, right?

"Over there! There's an elf eavesdropping!!" Just as Lux was still formulating this "friendly" opening speech in her mind, a short little mushroom boy had, at some unknown point, appeared behind her.

He had discovered Lux and immediately pointed his finger in her hiding direction, shouting with all his might in a sharp, alert voice.

"Uh… Hi? I'm… a fleshy human…" Lux somewhat awkwardly stood up from the bushes and subconsciously began to speak, following the template she had just prepared in her mind.

However, before she could even finish her sentence, what responded to her were dense volleys of arrows and spears shooting from all directions.

"Alright, it seems our 'friendly meeting'… has completely failed," Lux sighed helplessly.

With a thought, the [Dire Beast Anklet] instantly appeared on her ankle.

In an instant, a hideous and terrifying white bone armor covered her entire body, blocking all incoming attacks.

Those arrows and spears, made of plant fibers or sharpened hardwood, all made crisp "crackling" sounds upon hitting her incredibly hard bone armor, then powerlessly broke and bounced off.

"However… I think I can still try to communicate." Lux attempted to explain, "Can you calm down? I really didn't mean to eavesdrop! Also! I'm not an elf! I'm human!"

However, her explanation seemed to have no effect.

The little mushroom boy's shout just now had clearly alerted all the plant people.

Although most of the mushrooms, vegetables, and fruit people had immediately chosen to flee backward after their initial panic, soon, a group of plant people armed with crude weapons—such as sharpened wooden sticks, rough stone axes, shields woven from vines, and so on—(for convenience, these peculiar fruit and vegetable people will be collectively referred to as "Plant People"), charged towards Lux, fearless of death.

"Alright, alright, then can you at least point me in a direction? I'll leave immediately after you show me the way! Do you know if there are any towns nearby?" Lux tried to communicate again.

But these charging Plant People completely ignored her words, still waving their weapons and launching futile attacks at her.

"Sigh… Okay, then… goodbye." Lux completely gave up on the idea of communicating.

Besides, these Plant People's attacks posed no threat to her now—whether it was the shadow magic defense provided by the [Shadow Cloak], the bone armor summoned by the [Dire Beast Anklet], or the speed boost from the [Falcon's Leggings], all were enough for her to easily avoid or block these attacks.

So, Lux didn't want to get entangled with these incommunicable Plant People any longer.

Her figure flickered, and like a phantom, she once again slipped into the jungle behind her.

Relying on the astonishing speed provided by the [Falcon's Leggings], she ran quickly for a while, and the noisy sounds of the Plant People chasing behind her soon completely disappeared.

"It seems… I'll have to continue being lost," Lux stopped, leaned against a large tree, and sighed somewhat helplessly.

Meanwhile, in the clearing where the Plant People had gathered, the little mushroom boy who had discovered Lux earlier was scratching his mushroom cap in confusion, muttering to himself, "Speaking of which… that elf just now, why did she have round ears? And… the clothes she was wearing, why did they feel… even uglier than mine?"

Before he could figure it out, his head (or rather, his mushroom dome) was slapped hard by an adult tomato person. "That was so dangerous just now! You silly child! Why didn't you know to run?!"

The little mushroom person felt very wronged; he still wanted to argue that he was the first one to discover that "elf".

But before he could open his mouth, his mushroom mother ran over crying, hugged him tightly, and sobbed uncontrollably.