As it turned out, Nijika's skill was incredibly effective at controlling the snakes.
Just by striking a tree, all the snakes on it and within a five to six-meter radius would be hard-controlled for about ten seconds.
Within a range of five to ten meters, while the snakes weren't controlled for as long—the quickest might break free in two or three seconds, and their paralysis wouldn't be as severe—they would all flee in terror, getting away from the source of the sound.
Therefore, with this ability, the two of them could safely advance about ten meters with each strike. Then they would strike again, and so on.
By repeating this cycle, they successfully ventured about two hundred meters deep into the forest…
Of course, while it sounds very simple, the process was anything but easy.
The density of snakes in this forest was just too high.
Every time Nijika struck a tree, venomous snakes would rain down from the surroundings. Although they were all immobilized, the sight alone was incredibly sanity-draining, not to mention having to dodge snakes that might fall directly from above.
Moreover, they had to find a path through the dense carpet of venomous snakes on the ground. This process was extremely stressful; even Fumiya Jin felt his scalp tingle slightly, let alone Nijika.
To prevent Nijika from falling, Fumiya Jin had taken her left hand early on. He could feel the girl's body trembling constantly. Her palm was hot and damp, and she gripped his hand very tightly… a clear sign of the immense psychological pressure she was under.
Fumiya Jin felt a bit of pity for her.
After all, asking an ordinary young girl to face such a scene was asking too much.
In fact, from a purely efficiency-based perspective, there was a way to reduce her stress—Fumiya Jin could carry her, let her close her eyes in his arms, and just have her be responsible for striking tree trunks with her right hand. He could handle everything else. That would certainly be the simplest and fastest method. With Fumiya Jin's excellent physical stamina and Nijika's light weight, carrying her for a few hundred meters would be no problem at all.
But Fumiya Jin had no intention of doing so.
Because Nijika truly needed the training.
A moment of comfort was useless. The two of them would likely have to face many more instances together in the future, and Nijika needed to go through some necessary growth. Things like venomous snakes were probably among the lowest level of threats in the Samsara Game. If not now, when would she train?
…
Thwack—
Another strike.
Fumiya Jin pulled the girl over a small hillock.
Nijika's steps were already a bit unsteady, and she needed to borrow some strength from Fumiya Jin's hand to make it up.
Fumiya Jin glanced back and saw that the girl's pale face was drenched in sweat. The exhaustion in her eyes could no longer be hidden.
This was completely normal, of course. After all, she had already activated her skill about twenty times to get this far. Even though each activation was just a single, light strike, it was still tough.
It was like doing squats. If you rested for ten-plus seconds after each one, it would certainly be much easier than doing them consecutively, and you might be able to do several times the number. But even so, it didn't mean that a short rest could completely erase the body's fatigue. Once it accumulated to a certain point, you would still be exhausted.
"Tired?" Fumiya Jin asked.
Nijika raised the hand holding the drumstick and made an OK sign. "I'm fine. Don't worry."
Of course, Fumiya Jin didn't believe her for a second. "Let's get to that small hill up ahead. If we still don't find anything, we'll temporarily retreat."
"Eh… Is it really okay if we don't find anything?" Nijika asked. "I… I'm really still okay."
"Safety first. Don't forget, we still have to make the trip back. You think the way back will be safe?"
"Er... Okay, I'll listen to you."
…
After activating the skill two more times, the pair arrived at the small hill ahead.
In this jungle of undulating terrain, this small hill was a relatively high point.
Standing here, the view ahead suddenly opened up quite a bit.
Looking out, aside from the lush greenery and those eye-catching, brightly colored strips… Fumiya Jin quickly spotted something important.
"The terrain ahead seems to slope downwards… There might be a pool or a pond," Fumiya Jin said.
"Really? Then let's go take a look," Nijika said, trying to keep her tone even after secretly taking a couple of breaths.
Fumiya Jin didn't immediately pull her forward. Instead, he let her rest on the spot for a minute before leading her on.
The two moved carefully down the slope, avoiding the paralyzed spicy strips one by one, and after a short distance… they found a small valley.
Reaching the edge of the valley, they peered down through a crevice in the rocks…
Below was a small, green ditch!
The water was extremely murky, with a thick layer of algae floating on the surface.
Near the banks of the ditch was a large thicket of bushes, and they could faintly see many snakes slithering around in the bushes and by the water's edge… Clearly, in the high temperature, the snakes also needed to hydrate frequently.
But even so, Fumiya Jin's eyes lit up—the ditch didn't seem to be connected to the sea, so it was most likely an accumulation of rainwater, which meant it had to be freshwater.
Nijika's face also brightened for a moment when she saw the ditch. But soon her expression soured, and she said, "This water is a bit too… too dirty. We'd get sick if we drank it, right?"
Fumiya Jin nodded. "Drinking it directly is definitely out of the question, but just finding freshwater is already great. We have fire. As long as we can find a container to bring the water back and boil it over the fire, it should be fine."
"I see…" Nijika nodded. "Then how are we going to carry the water back?"
Fumiya Jin was also pondering this question.
He glanced around.
He didn't see any plants with extra-large leaves, like banana leaves.
As for things like coconuts or gourds, there was no sign of them either.
Finding a reliable container under these circumstances was truly difficult.
Most importantly, the path back wasn't safe either. If they just folded a water bowl out of some large leaves… the small amount of water it held would probably be spilled before they even got back to the beach.
Fumiya Jin thought for a moment, then looked down at his and Nijika's clothes.
If the material were absorbent, perhaps they could soak their clothes in water, carry them back, and then wring them out. It would provide some emergency relief.
But they were both wearing lightweight, breathable athletic T-shirts and shorts, which couldn't absorb much water at all… They were already nearly soaked with sweat.
It seemed they would have to return empty-handed this time.
But at least they had found the location of a water source.
Now, as long as they could find a reliable container for water, the freshwater problem would be mostly solved.
"Hey, look over there. What are those bluish-gray dots in the distance?"
Fumiya Jin looked down and saw that in a patch of bushes by the ditch, a bit farther away, there were indeed specks of blue.
He took a closer look…
Blueberries?
____
Hello! Walnut here! Or... Miku Dayo in this case heheh...
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