Chapter 292

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Chapter 292: Difficult Journey

Even though they studied many maps and planned their route in advance, the terrain to the east of Redridge turned out to be more complex than expected.

After walking along the ridge for three days and nights, by evening Jesse arrived at a cliff. From afar, he could only see a vast forest below, divided by several rivers, stretching as far as the eye could see.

What forest is this… Is it the swampy forest of The Black Morass?

No, this isn’t a swamp. Is it the forest near Stonewatch Keep?

That’s not it either. Stonewatch Keep, which is located at the high point of Lake Everstill Valley, was completely out of sight yesterday, and today there isn’t a single shadow to be seen.

After checking the markings on several maps, Jesse realized that this was a vast primitive forest where many Gnolls had fled after being defeated by the Kingdom of Stormwind, a place not featured in the game.

According to the map, if they entered this forest and continued to the southeast, it would take about two weeks to reach The Black Morass.

After determining their direction, Jesse confirmed that they were currently at the narrowest point of Burning Steppes, a place called Ashen Valley by the dwarfs.

He looked at the still hazy volcanic clouds and land to the northwest, and said to the elf beside him, "Next, we should head north."

Vereesa hadn’t slept for two whole nights. When she looked in the direction Jesse pointed, Jesse could tell she wasn’t as alert as when they had just left Lakeshire.

"You go ahead and sleep, I’ll keep watch. We might not get a chance to rest properly until we reach Blackrock Mountain."

"Thank you for that, Jesse."

Vereesa walked to a sheltered spot, sat down, wrapped herself in a cloak, leaned against a rock, closed her eyes, and almost immediately fell asleep while Jesse watched her.

Seeing this elf who could easily live for another two thousand years, Jesse sat on a nearby rock feeling a bit overwhelmed.

The people in Stormwind discriminated against half-elves not only because they often stole and caused trouble due to lack of discipline, but also because half-elves, although rare, could easily live to almost two hundred years, far surpassing the average human lifespan. It was said that the oldest half-elf could live to three hundred years.

In short, it was difficult for people to accept these annoying creatures who, although not much different in appearance, were extremely old.

The elves of Quel’Thalas were so far away and had limited contact, they didn’t feel as envious, and thus, there was less animosity.

However, getting close to a living elf with a lifespan of thousands of years did put pressure on Jesse, the human.

He waved away his daydreams, took out a map, and compared the northern terrain with the light left by the setting sun.

Luckily, from Burning Steppes to Badlands, there’s no need to go through the Dark Iron Dwarves city inside Blackrock Mountain and then enter the Searing Gorge. You can simply cross the mountains, which are not as difficult to climb as those on the Redridge side.

If he doesn’t take this route, he would have to go through Menethil Harbor, circle around the wetlands to Dun Morogh, which is almost like crossing the entire Khaz Modan.

Once he crosses the lower part of Blackrock Mountain to the north, he will reach Badlands. The next step is to find the Shattered Hand Legion. With Vereesa’s skills in hunting orcs and his own understanding of the general location of Kargath Outpost, he doesn’t think it should be that difficult.

Despite the ridiculous size of the "Badlands" on the map compared to the game, it is unlikely that the Shattered Hand Orc camp will be right in the middle of the desert. They should be close to a water source or the mountains at least.

Jesse searched for rivers near Badlands on several maps. There are many rivers near Loch Modan, close to the Bronzebeard Dwarves’ territory in the north, but the Shattered Hand forces shouldn’t go that far to provoke the Bronzebeard Dwarves.

There are two rivers near the mountains in Dun Morogh to the west of the map. This seems very likely, but there is also a Dark Iron Dwarves castle there, as indicated on a map drawn by a dwarf. The dwarf did not specify the name of this castle, but Jesse guessed that it should be the Anguish Fortress in the game.

Based on his memory of the game map, since the Anguish Fortress is there, then a short distance to the west should be the location of Kargath Outpost. Although the scale of the game map is vastly different from reality, the relative locations of important landmarks are still similar.

So the next route is to head north from here, cross Ashen Valley to Blackrock Mountain, then follow Blackrock Mountain northwest, sticking to the edge of Badlands towards Dun Morogh.

Counting, it might take another week to reach the location of Kargath Outpost.

Jesse scratched his neck, feeling like this trip might last for three weeks or even a month.

Will going back get hit by Malin’s Arcane Missile?

But besides this route, there really isn’t a faster option, except crossing the battlefield, which is basically suicide.

Originally, according to his plan, he should go further east, passing through the forests and valleys on the edge of the forest and ash plains. The environment is better there, food is easier to find, and there’s less need to worry about Dark Iron Dwarves, Blackrock Orcs, or Wyrmkin.

The only threat would be the Gnolls in the forest, but Gnolls probably wouldn’t be interested in leaving the forest and coming over the river to cause trouble.

But looking from here, taking that route would delay them for another two days, which might even make them miss the Apprentice Mage Exam in the end.

By the late night, around two or three o’clock, Jesse was getting sleepy and starting to doze off, while counting the remaining food supplies and yawning.

Vereesa has been eating very little these days, perhaps because she ate too much in Lakeshire. She’s been slowly consuming food, so if they keep going like this, they should have enough food to reach Kargath Outpost.

But if we can’t find any villages or dwarf settlements on the way back, we’ll have to rely on hunting.

He took out a bottle of Healing Potion, a strange idea popped into his mind.

Can drinking this when I’m almost starving help a little?

"Jesse, why don’t you take a nap?" Vereesa’s voice suddenly came from behind.

Jesse had already completely adapted to the quiet mountain top, so he was taken aback by this sudden statement.

"Are you awake? How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good." Vereesa stood up, stretched lazily and said, "I’ll take the later watch, you rest well."

Jesse nodded, but upon hearing Vereesa’s words, he couldn’t even keep his eyes open.

He curled up where the elves had slept before and fell asleep right away.