FLIA 61

“The start of the Reed Sea….”

Even though it was called a sea, all Yohan could see was a vast plain of reeds stretching out in every direction. As the wind blew, the uniformly tall reeds swayed gently. Even though he’d already heard an explanation of the Reed Sea, Yohan tilted his head in confusion until Lee Hyunmook grabbed his arm to stop him.

“One wrong step and you could fall, so be careful.”

“Ah, okay!”

Yohan obediently stuck close to him. Lee Hyunmook stirred the ground here and there with his spear, then gestured to Yohan as if to show him something.

“Watch closely.”

Lee Hyunmook grabbed one of the swaying crimson reeds. As he slowly pulled it, the stalk grew taut before giving way and beginning to come free, longer, and longer, and longer. Yohan’s eyes widened. Only after pulling it for what had to be several more meters did the root finally emerge.

“Reeds can grow this long?!”

“Yeah. It’s that deep. If you fall, it’s going to hurt a lot. And this one’s on the shorter side. The farther in you go, the deeper it gets.”

Would you really just get hurt from falling from that kind of height? Yohan scanned his surroundings with a pale face. What had looked like nothing more than thigh-high crimson reeds now felt completely different. If all the reeds in front of him were this long, just how deep was it beneath them?

Just like how you couldn’t easily measure the depth of a real ocean, Yohan couldn’t begin to guess how deep the Reed Sea was either. All he could do was imagine the ominous darkness stretching out beneath the swaying stalks. If Seo Yakrin hadn’t been hiding here, he never would’ve set foot in this place.

“Let’s head down now, carefully.”

Following Lee Hyunmook’s words, they moved in the direction the herd of deer had disappeared, and Yohan gently scattered glowing motes of light. The area had already been dim, but now that they were inside the reeds, an oppressive darkness fell over them. Fortunately, Yohan’s light made it possible to see their surroundings.

At the front of the group was Yoon Seungryong. He lazily swung his spear from side to side like a scythe, slicing through the reed stalks, hard as bamboo, with sharp shhk sounds. Reeds continually crashed down from above. Looking up through the cleared stalks revealed slivers of a dark crimson sky. From this point on, they would be wandering this vast, sprawling, shadowy place in search of Seo Yakrin.

Shhhh… ssshhh…

The constant rustling of reeds swaying on every side sounded eerily like waves. Other than that, it was eerily silent. Yohan already missed the world outside the Reed Sea. Clutching his stone-age eternal stone weapon tightly to his chest, he huddled and scanned the area. Then Lee Hyunmook spoke.

“Yohan-ah, remember the last time in the swamp?”

“Huh? Yeah!”

“How about we do some training like we did back then?”

If it was like that time… he meant defending against sudden monster attacks from all directions. Only this time, the difficulty was even higher. With reeds hemming them in from every side, visibility was limited and they had far less time to react to ambushes. Yohan swallowed dryly but bravely nodded.

“…Alright. I’ll give it a try!”

No sooner had he shown courage than pshhshshk!–a sharp noise came. Something was flying straight toward them at high speed. The moment Yohan sensed it, he swung his weapon, and with a sharp thwack, the incoming object collided with it.

A screech rang out as the creature crashed to the ground, flailing, it was a corpse-like skeletal bird, the kind they’d recently grilled and eaten. It seemed to be made entirely of skin and bone. Before it could gather its wits, Yohan struck it down again and killed it. He shuddered at the feeling of the monster’s death, then belatedly asked in shock,

“How can anything fly in these dense reeds?”

“Maybe it’s dried out like this, just bones, so it can fly between the reeds.”

Yoon Seungryong picked up the bony bird and stashed it in his pocket. There wasn’t much meat on it, but it was still valuable food. They kept advancing, swatting down flying bone birds as they went. Then the ground nearby suddenly heaved and bulged.

“Ugh!”

Even while screaming, Yohan reflexively swung his weapon just as he’d trained. Fat, meaty birds burst from the ground and lunged at him, trying to bite. His weapon knocked them away with heavy thunks. Ju Hoyoung grabbed a fleeing one and twisted its neck.

“Nice! More food. Thanks, Yohan-hyung.”

While Yohan clutched his pounding chest, Yoon Seungryong and Ju Hoyoung celebrated gleefully. As bone birds and flesh birds continued to suddenly appear, Yohan gradually adapted to the ambushes and was less startled. But deep down, he was overwhelmed. No matter how many they caught, they just kept coming.

“There’s really… so many birds.”

Yohan whispered, voice trembling with fear. His senses had become hyper-aware from catching the birds that shot out of the reeds and the earth, and he could feel it, the sheer number of life forms nearby was staggering. Just in their immediate vicinity, there were dozens, no, hundreds.

“The birds we saw on the plains were just a tiny fraction.”

If you listened closely, you could hear strange cries like elderly groans–krrrk, kreeeek–the calls of bone birds. You could hear the dry rustling of their hard wings brushing past the reeds. And from underground, the chirps of flesh birds wriggling like infants giggling.

“Yeah. It really does feel like a sea, doesn’t it? Especially since these things are like sardines or anchovies, they’re the most numerous.”

Lee Hyunmook spoke in the calm tone of a seasoned explorer who’d been wandering this place for decades. That was when it happened, bone birds suddenly burst out from Yohan’s right side. Not yet used to being attacked by several at once, Yohan instinctively scattered light first. And the result was surprising.

Kiieeeek!

The bone birds, or rather, the withered, nameless creatures that returned to bird-like forms upon purification, shrieked and scattered in a panic the moment they touched the light. Yohan stared in awe at the light fanning out like an umbrella from the tip of his weapon. I can use it like this too? Last time, Yoon Seungryong had teased him by calling it an umbrella, so he hadn’t considered it–but now that he thought about it, it resembled a shield.

“Hey, that was pretty good just now.”

Yoon Seungryong praised him while scooping up one of the birds that had frozen in fear. Ju Hoyoung clapped enthusiastically and cheered.

“That was a great attack, Yohan-hyung!”

Face flushed bright red, Yohan looked to Lee Hyunmook, who was also smiling.

“Putting what you practiced to use in actual combat, you’re improving fast. You’re doing great.”

Yohan’s face turned even redder. Since it wasn’t something he had done deliberately, it had burst out of him like a sneeze or a hiccup, being praised only made him more embarrassed. Especially since these three were all top-tier combatants and probably understood that better than anyone. In a voice that barely escaped his throat, Yohan finally managed a quiet thank you.

But it was true that purification was Yohan’s strongest attack against corrupted monsters. With Lee Hyunmook covering his back, Yohan was able to safely practice using his ability. When he scattered light, the monsters’ reactions generally fell into two patterns: they either fled in shock, or froze as if paralyzed. A few still came at him on instinct, but they were few enough to handle with physical attacks.

“Always, no matter what, your safety comes first.”

Lee Hyunmook spoke while skillfully correcting Yohan’s stance to help him internalize proper evasive and defensive form. A shadow darkened the handsome slant of his eyes, making his gaze even deeper.

“Always prioritize your own safety above everything else.”

“Yeah. Healers or supports should never forget that they’re not damage dealers.”

Yoon Seungryong chimed in with advice. Supports aren’t damage dealers? Yohan reflexively glanced at Ju Hoyoung, who could fire dozens of ice arrows in a single attack. Hoyoung shrugged.

“I’m kind of an exception. I’m not on their level, but I can pull my weight as a basic damage dealer, at least.”

Honestly, from what Yohan had seen so far, Ju Hoyoung’s abilities were far from ordinary. Like he said, it only looked like he was filling a support role because Lee Hyunmook and Yoon Seungryong had such overwhelming offensive power.

Yohan nodded obediently at the three’s advice. If the combined attack and defense power of the two damage dealers was a 10, Ju Hoyoung would be around a 3 to 5–and Yohan felt like he was barely a 0.1.

‘Wait… am I even a 0.1?’

Yohan tried to push away the sneaking thought that he might actually be closer to 0.01. Or even 0.001….

Anyway, just as he had grown used to the sudden ambushes from nearby birds and perfected his ability to block or dodge them, Yohan spotted a structure through the towering reeds. Or rather, it looked like a building, an enormous structure that could rival a high-rise in height and size. It resembled a massive earthen tower.

“What is that?”

He asked in stunned disbelief. Yoon Seungryong began exuding poison from his fingertips as he replied.

“Termite mound. Probably white termites? This works out perfectly.”

“White termites?”

Yohan instinctively leaned forward, and a hand slipped under his armpit and lifted him. Lee Hyunmook picked him up and set him down farther back.

“It might get dangerous, so stay back a bit.”

At some point, Ju Hoyoung had moved close behind Yohan as well. Ever since he had been swallowed by the Black Mountain, the three had been overly protective of Yohan’s safety, almost to the point of overcompensation. And Yohan, still traumatized by the Black Mountain, clung tightly to Lee Hyunmook.

Once Yohan had moved far enough away, Yoon Seungryong began circling the termite mound slowly, releasing poison as he went. Grayish venom dripped down his spear and drew a large ring around the base of the mound.

Only after circling it several times did he finally set the poison in motion. The venom undulated like tentacles and crept toward the termite mound, eventually seeping into it.

And moments later, something began to pour out of the mound in swarms.

Yohan let out a short scream.