Chapter 238 - Trigression Falls (1/2)
Oblivious to Mitchnew's worries, Zero was having the time of his life. He'd been to the forest many times and had a very good map of the place. However, there were still many unmapped areas and Zero wanted to tackle everything. He had an hour to be back for lunch and that was plenty of time for the teen to do what he wanted.
The first place Zero found himself going to was the swamp in the forest. The last time he came here, it wasn't fully explored. Zero got sidetracked by the fireflies. This time, he wanted to map the entire forest accurately.
Apart from marking the entire forest of Endow Hill past the limits of what Hua Tuo normally allowed for hunting, Zero wanted to try to find out the source of the water coming from the three waterfalls. Hua Tuo said that it was a mystery because nobody succeeded in tracking down the origin of the mysterious water and that only made Zero more determined. As an adventurous soul, how could he not try to solve a mystery when it presented itself?
Mitchnew didn't know what Zero was thinking as she watched the app stall for a bit before recalculating Zero's position. The sudden jump in position a few hundred metres at a time could only mean one thing. Zero was teleporting again.
The dark elf tried to analyse Zero's movement pattern to understand what the brunet was doing to no avail. Her knowledge of the terrain on Endow Hill was extremely limited. They didn't explore more than what was needed. Hua Tuo was the only person residing so deep in the dangerous mountain despite the threat of a dragon looming above his head.
Zero hooted in exhilaration as he zipped past another vine, free-falling as he teleported upwards and targeting a new area to teleport to. This would be the closest he got to flying.
”You're not being mana-efficient,” Bob reminded the teenager who giggled.
”Yes, sorry about that. I got too excited. What am I missing now?”
Mii studied the map that was slowly updating as Zero covered ground. ”The forest is mostly covered apart from the underground caverns but I doubt you can do all of those today. Why don't we start heading to the Trigression Falls now? It's about twenty kilometres east of your current position.”
Zero nodded and cast buff magic on himself. The young doctor readied himself for the launch and knelt down. The multi-layered buff magic worked well and Zero sent himself flying high above the clouds with a good jump.
Mii helped Zero quickly equip his squirrel onesie and the teenager glided over to the Falls gracefully, enjoying the wind in his face.
Even from the top, Zero still could not trace the source of water that was supplied to the Trigression Falls. Each waterfall also had its unique effects and Zero wondered if there was more than met the eye for things pertaining to Endow Hill. There weren't any streams or rapids leading to the waterfalls. If anything, Zero only saw barren cliffs above the deep spring where water was pouring into it. The spring had a unique shade of green, blue and white. There was also a permanent double rainbow above the spring making it look magical.
The young doctor didn't know if Hua Tuo was testing him when he told him to find the Trigression Falls. There was absolutely no road in and if Zero hadn't taken to the skies, he would never find it despite hearing the roaring of water.
”Where is the river? All I see is water pouring into the spring. Shouldn't it lead to some kind of river? Where does the water from the river behind shifu's house come from?”
Mii studied the Trigression Falls and also found that to be strange. It looked like an isolated valley in the middle of three huge cliffs with waterfalls pouring into it and unless someone climbs to the very top of the cliff to dive into it, nobody would find the secret spring.
”The water beneath that spring leads to another river and lake,” Bob explained. ”I've been here a few times in my past lives to recuperate from time to time. It's a hidden gem of Endow Hill, I'm surprised that your teacher even knows about it.”
Zero hummed and prepared for his descend. This time, He changed into his swimming costume and felt very exposed.
”I think I should get a better swimming costume. It's freezing on the top and my butt is hanging out,” the young doctor commented, making Bob laugh.
Zero was not ready for the bone-chilling coldness that almost made him incapable of moving when he plunged into the spring. The waterfalls were roaring so loudly that Zerto couldn't even hear himself think, much less concentrate on Mii and Bob's conversation.
Hua Tuo certainly wasn't joking when he told Zero not to start his training without supervision. It was dangerous and Zero almost forgot his purpose of coming over.
The teenager swam upwards and climbed up a slippery rock with the help of a friction buff. The rock had some algae and moss growing on it but it was surprisingly smooth. Now that Zero was out of the icy water, he was able to have a better look at the spring.
The spring wasn't very large. However, with three waterfalls, it had a lot going on at any one point of time.
Zero easily identified the Regression Falls because it was the only one with water clouds at the top and bubbles at the bottom. The edge of the spring was littered with some huge smooth-surfaced rocks like the one he was on. It didn't occur to Zero how strange it was as he hopped from one rock to another trying to find a good spot for his portal until the 'rock' he jumped on moved.
The boy slipped and slid to the side, digging his nails into the 'rock' but lost the battle and plunged into the icy water once more.
A shadow passed over Zero'shead and the teenager looked up. His eyes widened when something big was coming his way. With an emergency teleport, Zero put a good fifty metres of distance between him and the attacker. However, the sight from afar made Zero'sjaw drop.
”Turtle?”