Chapter 358

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Chapter 358: Wetland Natives

Early in the morning, thin mist enveloped the air as Jesse reluctantly opened his eyes.

Sleeping here was difficult, even though it wasn’t as hot as during the day, all kinds of insects buzzing around made it hard to relax.

Strangely, not many mosquitoes went after Greed, they all seemed to be biting him instead. Was it because his blood was sweeter, or because dwarves had tough skin?

Perhaps that’s why only dwarves were willing to settle in this area.

Moreover, strange noises could be heard at night, gurgling sounds from the water in the distance, and sudden screams that sounded like a mix of human and ghostly voices, making one shiver in the middle of the night.

Or there were random frogs popping up somewhere, croaking like they were crying.

It would be better to face a threat straightforwardly like the ghost of Teron Gorefiend charging at you, instead of these sudden surprises, which always kept everyone on edge and became unbearable over time.

When it was light outside, Jesse packed up his things and followed the dwarf, scratching his neck and arms. As they passed a simple wooden bridge, Greed lifted his head and sniffed.

"What’s wrong?" Jesse asked ahead.

"I sense something strange in the air," Greed said. "We should leave this place soon and walk a bit further to reach the stone path."

Jesse nodded and quickened his pace towards the other side of the bridge, hearing some gurgling water sounds nearby.

He instinctively glanced over and saw the clear water suddenly burst into a muddy mess, with a dark green monstrous hand reaching towards his face!

"What!"

Muttering to himself, Jesse drew his Azuresong Mageblade and sliced the monstrous hand, which was engulfed in arcane fire, causing it to howl and retreat back into the water. He quickly ran towards under the bridge, feeling a wet and slimy thing grabbing his back from the other side, which instantly wrapped around his chest and neck with a mix of grass and mud.

Trying to turn around and strike again, his arm was swiftly entangled by spreading vines!

"Jesse!" Greed grabbed his war hammer, the lightning on it illuminating the dim path brightly. He threw it directly at the dark green arm holding Jesse, shattering it into branches and leaves, but the resilient vines quickly regrew.

Jesse pulled hard on the vine, trying to break free from the shattered arm that was holding him back. But with a sudden jerk, the bridge beneath his feet gave way, and he was dragged into the water.

He held his breath instinctively, hearing splashes and gurgling sounds.

The icy pool water engulfed his view, weighing down his clothes, cloak, and belongings. His movements were hindered by the intertwined algae and water plants.

The Azuresong Mageblade in his hand emitted a burst of Arcane light, illuminating the dark water. Jesse saw a strange green creature covered in various water plants and debris, with two faint red eyes glaring at him.

Jesse tried to unleash Fear, but water rushed into his mouth before he could.

Vines sprouted from the monster’s body tightly entwined around his feet, making it hard for him to move. His arms were also restrained, restricting his movements.

Suddenly, Jesse blinked as a dark, chubby figure wielding a war hammer descended from the sunlit water’s surface, delivering a powerful blow to the creature’s head.

The creature shuddered, its eyes turning even redder as it emitted a low growl, attempting to grab the dwarf with its other hand. The dwarf swiftly struck back with his hammer, shattering the creature’s fist.

Yet, as the creature’s wrist burst open, masses of greenery and algae sprouted and reformed into a new hand.

While the monster was weak and recovering, Jesse broke free from its arm, pointed a red string at the green monster’s eye, and stabbed it near the eye, pulling out a big chunk of the monster’s body tissue into the water.

The pull seemed to break the support of the monster’s body directly, causing it to start falling apart. The vines holding Jesse’s feet and the various monster hands attacking Greed all began to shake and loosen.

Jesse felt like he was running out of breath, struggling to swim upstream until reaching the surface, where he took a deep breath.

He knew he couldn’t hold his breath for long even if he stayed quiet. After fighting and feeling tense, without taking a deep breath before going underwater, he could probably last only a few seconds.

It felt like he had been down there for ages…

Soon after, Greed also burst out from the side, struggling to swim to the shore, collapsing on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Are you… hurt, Jesse?"

"I think I’m okay." Jesse spat out some dark green saliva and said, "But, a few more seconds down there and I would have been done for. How about you, have you eaten?"

"I dropped the food bag on the ground, no problem." Greed walked to the bridge, picked up the bag he had left there, took a breath, touched his back, and muttered, "Damn, I still have some on me."

He opened his bag and looked inside. He took out some dried food like mushrooms and said, "The bag is still sealed well, but these biscuits got wet."

"Then let’s not eat them. Who knows what kind of poison is in this swamp water," Jesse said as he opened his own bag. His clothes were a bit wet, but the elf’s bag was waterproof. The papers inside were just a little damp, and the scroll with magical runes that Vereesa gave him was not affected at all.

Ursula’s bottles in her potion bag were all fine. This stuff is reliable.

Jesse picked out the somewhat dry items and said, "We really shouldn’t have provoked the Mire Beast, it’s quite powerful."

"I think it shouldn’t have provoked you instead, ha!" Greed chuckled, "Your magic grasped it as if it broke its spine in an instant. I watched it fall apart right before my eyes."

Looking down at the water pond below the bridge, what was once a clear black pond was now covered in dark green algae and strange muddy formations floating on the surface. The air carried a weird smell of decaying plants.

Greed asked, "Are you still planning to find that organ you mentioned before?"

"What else can we find here?" Jesse looked at the messy pool, scratched his head and said, "Do we need to go in the water to search? I can’t see anything different about this mess…"

"We might need an anatomy master to figure out the body structure of this thing," Greed said.

"Maybe a master of herbal medicine," Jesse added while wringing out his shirt.