Chapter 23: The Pure White Woodland and Bright Falls Town

Hamlet Town is situated to the west, with the towns of Brightfall and Arkham lying nearest to it in the central region. The vast woodland stretching between these three towns is known as the Pure White Forest.

At first glance, it appears to be a lush forest filled with towering ancient trees, their thick, interconnected branches draped in dense foliage. In reality, however, it is a vast and complex ecosystem. Every night, the massive amount of magical essence stored beneath the surface rises with the heat, staining the leaves with a faint, fluorescent glow—hence its name, the Pure White Forest. At the same time, the magical essence from the towering trees converges into streams, flowing downward and coating the earth in a layer that resembles soil blanketed in snowflakes.

...

Near the outskirts of the Pure White Forest, close to Hamlet, a peculiar party of four was on the move: one man and three women. The sturdy man walked and talked, constantly gathering items as he went.

"This place produces an abundance of mushrooms and high-quality timber. I’ve heard that what we sell here for 30 silver lei can fetch 3 gold lei in the capital—that’s ten times the price! Bah, no wonder they don't want us to add a shipping route here!"

Charles Liersde Benom, acting as a guide, explained to the three ladies behind him. Melina carried a small umbrella while several firearms floated and circled slowly around her. As long as she was not in combat, these guns were not considered "drawn," so they did not subject her to the magical static field. When Sonia had asked if they knew a guide to help them scout the forest, Melina had immediately thought of Charles. He was hospitable and one of the few men in Hamlet who was truly well-versed in the prices of the capital, having made the trip to sell goods several times. With him as a guide, not only would it be interesting, but her senior would also learn more about the local information.

*This is Charles. Say thank you, Charles.*

Melina glanced sideways at her senior. Sonia was indeed deep in thought.

"That is true, Mr. Charles. Are there any other places nearby that are rich in medicinal herbs?" Sonia asked with a brilliant, sunny smile. "If I am to develop the pharmaceutical raw material processing industry in Hamlet, I want to see if there is potential. If there are only a few herb fields, it might be hard to make a decision."

In this world, the growth rate of crops is exaggerated; in top-tier fields covered by magical essence, wheat can be harvested three times a week. Because of this, the gatherer profession is thriving, and humans don't need to farm basic staples to have enough food. Only rare plants are selectively cultivated. Finding a spot with existing herb fields to build a pharmaceutical factory is, therefore, quite common.

Charles wore a look of intense, almost sycophantic enthusiasm. "Of course! There is a field nearby rich in Eager-Grass and Thunder-Grass! And plenty of Delay-Grass..."

Eager-Grass is the main ingredient for alchemy potions that help the body sense its own magical essence to increase speed. Thunder-Grass is similar but more advanced, used in mysterious rituals and higher-level alchemy. Delay-Grass is the main ingredient for the so-called "Great Red Potion," a vitality elixir that allows humans to withstand greater injuries by injecting beast-patterned magical essence. Delaying death—that is how it got its name.

These were the three best-selling pharmaceutical raw materials. Charles was indeed a man of great experience; it was clear he was pulling out all the stops to keep a big spender like Sonia in Hamlet.

Sonia looked satisfied. "That’s wonderful. I’ve been hesitating about whether to settle here and make a major investment, but it seems this place is quite valuable after all! There are so many herb fields."

Charles, now brimming with energy, took the lead to clear the path. Maria tucked her notebook away and followed silently.

...

Sonia lingered a step behind and caught Melina’s eye.

*She's looking for me?*

Melina slowed down, and the two fell to the back of the group.

"What do you think of this setup? Those three main herbs? Could that Radiant-species Swamp Dragon be living nearby?"

Locating the dragon's nest was crucial. If you couldn't kill a dragon instantly, it would use all its might to escape. In other words, unless they were fighting in a nest the creature couldn't abandon, the chance of a dragon escaping after being injured was one hundred percent. There were even reports of giant red dragon-kin flying back to their nests to hide after merely scratching a scale. Dragons all had their own personalities, but to complete a hunt, one had to fight them in their lair.

Swamp Dragons typically require a territory in the wilderness, but their range isn't limited to just that. Sometimes, they even possess "exclaves." For example, if a stronger dragon cuts off the connection between their territory and their herb source, they will treat the herb field as an exclave.

It seemed unlikely for the one in the Weeping Peninsula. The Radiant species was a powerful evolutionary form; even an Crimson-Feathered Dragon would likely be roared at if it appeared before it. Whether it could win was another matter, but the Radiant species was always high-spirited and blindly confident.

"Hard to say," Melina recalled the books. The biggest changes for a Radiant Swamp Dragon involved, first, a leap in strength from Challenge Level 2 to Level 5, putting it on par with a high-level Swamp Wolf. Second, its temper became explosive. While a normal Swamp Dragon was a well-behaved student, the Radiant species was perpetually "irritable" and prone to tantrums. Finally, its taste became incredibly picky.

How picky? Think of a completionist player in a *Civilization*-style game re-rolling their start. If there wasn't a natural wonder nearby, they wouldn't settle. By the same token, if there weren't more than five herb fields near a Radiant Swamp Dragon's nest, it would feel slighted and might even starve itself to death. This was a true, documented case in the *Compendium of Dragon Species*.

"Currently, there are... one, two, three, four... four herb fields nearby. Without a fifth, it's hard to be sure if it's settled here."

The vast range of dragon activity made ecological surveying difficult.

"Okay. Should we eat in Brightfall at noon, or hurry home?" Melina listened to the cicadas, feeling the breath of nature, and a sense of freedom stirred within her. "Let's go to Brightfall. I want to see it."

"Okay, I'll arrange it. You don't mind Charles eating with us, do you?"

"No... wait, why do you say that?" Melina asked, curious.

Her senior wore a wicked grin. "Because I can't be sure if you're the type who forbids men at the dining table! After all, this is the 'Pure' White Forest!"

Sonia’s personality was so complex that Melina didn't even dare to guess who she was poking fun at.

...

Only when you walk along the paths of the Pure White Forest do you truly understand why the Weeping Peninsula is so poor and remote. If the road leading up to the peninsula could be described as "barely a road," then this path could only be called "pretending to be a road."

One had to bypass complex, root-choked terrain that only dragon-turtles could traverse, navigate the swampy woodlands where gas bubbles rose, and deal with packs of wolves and small-sized feathered dragons. This world seemed to have few snakes or insects, replaced by ferocious beasts and dinosaurs—which was, if anything, more lethal.

Oh, and the clockwork cat-balls. These cat-balls had their own civilization, and one could see them dining in the trees, meowing and chattering away.

After a journey that could only be described as torture, they finally arrived at a mountain lake. The mountain slopes beside it formed a waterfall. Beside the falls, Brightfall Town was constructed from a series of wooden pipes, half in the water and half on the bank.

It was even more desolate here. The houses were sparse, yet dense—dense in the sense that the open-air platforms used to store goods looked just like houses, but sparse in that there were very few actual living structures. There weren't many gatherers, either; most seemed to be just passing through. Defenses were minimal, and Ratmen and Kobolds made up eighty percent of the population. The rare Minotaur or ordinary human accounted for nineteen percent, with the remainder consisting of a few Elves and Banshees.

At the town gate, a logging and clearing project was underway. It looked like a major construction effort—perhaps a commission issued by her senior, finally bringing the town into a state of processing?

A girl stood on a wooden crate at the gate. She appeared to be of the Fae race; despite the heat, she was dressed as if for winter—a large white mink cloak, a white fur hat resembling a Cossack cap, thick fur-lined boots, and heavy white tights, with her dress completely hidden by the cloak. She had a delicate, porcelain-like face and stood only 1.2 meters tall. Her long, magnificent golden hair and matching large golden eyes were quite striking.

She pouted, looking somewhat childish, and held a very large megaphone in her gloved hands.

She shouted: "Improving our living environment starts with me!"

"Improving our living environment..."

This was the mayor of Brightfall, Miss Georgia. She was a senior, Melina's senior—Sonia's network of seniors was endless. However, they didn't know each other. In fact, if Melina didn't have the ability to memorize the name and face of everyone in her graduation photo at a glance, she wouldn't even know this Fae girl was her senior.

As they passed the girl and entered Brightfall, a gatherer shouted loudly: "That’s easy for you to say, but aren't you just standing there watching us work?"

Miss Georgia froze, then flew into a rage. She jumped off the stacked wooden crates and, without a word, began moving two logs herself.

While moving them, she shouted: "You! Take my megaphone and keep shouting what I just said! You!"

The burly gatherer was stunned. Red-faced, he picked up the megaphone and stammered, "Im... improving our living enviro..."

Sonia whispered, "She is worth befriending."

"Because she was powerful in the first playthrough?" Melina asked.

Sonia replied, "No, because she died in the retreat from the Weeping Peninsula during the first playthrough, refusing to board the boat meant for women, children, and the elderly."