Chapter 994 - 994. Rotting

The ground was lowing its firmness as the group began to walk along the planned trails. There were many trails that lead in to the outer swamp lands because they were the best places to hunt certain monsters and gather certain herbs., But when it came to the deep swamp lands, there were no paths. The mud and changing water levels would wash away and change any trail carved through. That wasn't even considering the warm seasons where the plants would overgrow everything. 

The benefit of traveling in the cold was that many of the plants had temporality died off due to the temperature. There were also some thin layers of ice that would make traveling easier since some of the mud wouldn't let them sink in to it. However, there were some downsides. The water was cold and could cause more problems if someone fell in. The monsters that were aggressive would be able to spot them from further away. There was also the fact that some of the deeper water might be hidden by the snow and the ice built up on top of it. 

" Su is going to stay in the lead while Midnight takes up the rear. I know we aren't in the worst of it yet but we need to stay prepared. Gil, if you notice anything just say so." Walker trusted Gil and Su the most since they had the best eyes for details. If they saw that there was a problem they could potentially save the group from the worst. 

While they walked they were very glad for the water proof boots that they had for the colder and rainy seasons. If they did, it have them then the cold water that filled the muddy holes from their feet would have caused them to stop constantly. Where the party was used to some mud, they were not used to the swamp lands mud. Every step they took was in ti deeper mud that would latch on to their feet more than the overused merchant trails' mud. 

As they walked they did not take a single straight path. Su was changing the way they waked because she could see the areas where the mud was deeper. However, what made her stop from time to time was the movement under some of the snow and moss she could see. There were portions where she swore that she could step on them, but as soon as she got near she would realize that it was not safe. 

The swamplands had a great many species of moss that would grow year round. One type was able to grow over the top of deep water pools which was what caused people to accidentally fall in. Normally monsters and animals would fall in and get trapped. But sometimes there would be monsters that made these places their homes and would wait for something to fall in to become their food. This meant that falling in could be a death sentence. 

Since Midnight was following up the back end, she was the one that needed to be sure that the rest of the party was following Su to the exact step. Her small growls were enough to warn someone that they were moving away from the path they were supposed to follow. Yet, there was an exception here or there. 

Midnight would need to move to push someone off of a spot that could make them slip. She focused on Alice the most for this kind of thing since it was easy for her to see the inexperienced steps that Alice took. No matter what, having the experience to step on firm ground took time. When Alice would try to follow Su she would often get caught on small roots and even the odd rock or two. Thanks to Midnight none of these ended with Alice falling in to a dangerous situation. 

"It's good that it's old out. If it hadn't snowed we would have to deal with more of the venomous snakes and frogs." The idea that they were traveling during a better time of the year made Gil more comfortable. However, he knew that this small victory led way to more danger. "But the trees up ahead seem to be moving." This would be normal if there was a breeze or there were leaves on the trees. Yet, there were none of those two things. 

' Rotting treant

This is a species of trant that has been part of the swamp lands for too long. Often treants will grow in the forests and be able to become stronger over time. Unfortunately, some treants wander in to the poisonous swamps and can not return to the forests they know. Instead of growing string their wood rots and they become aggressive to anything they see. They are slower in the cold weather since their rotting soggy wood freezes but they are still able to attack with poisonous vines and heavy club like hands. It is recommended that these monsters be avoided at any cost since they can easily trap large creatures by controlling vines. They will eventually rot in to an extremely potent fertilizer that can grow a number of rare herbs and fungus.'

Walker was quick to stop the party completely. He had slowly read the all around appraisal so that everyone knew just how bad the forward path was. "We are going around them." Su bent her knees and did her best to sneak in a wide circle to avoid the treants. There were three that they could see swaying side to side while some moving vines went in to the waters around them. 

There was warmth on Walkers' back and he felt Fleur show herself on his shoulder. Her eyes were trained on the rotting treants ahead of her and she started to pull natural mana from the spirit mark and air around her. She had a focused look and Walker could feel a sense of hate towards the rotting treants growing.

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