Chapter 147 - 109: Frost Mammoth
"How’s the search going, everyone? Find any other passages?"
"No other passages!"
"None!"
"Didn’t see any."
"Nothing!"
After the team arrived at the cavern, they circled its perimeter, searching a wide area. Everyone conducted a thorough search, but no one found any other entrances.
"Looks like we either took another wrong turn, or we’ve reached our destination."
"I don’t think we took a wrong turn. The Spiritual Energy here is the highest we’ve encountered on the way. It’s not as high as back in our territory, but it’s still pretty high."
"Alright, whatever the case, let’s find the spot with the highest concentration."
Yuan Xiaobo gave the order, and the team split up to enter the jungle. (Lin Kong and Mirus went together, while the others fanned out.)
"Lin Kong, Lin Kong, the plants here look so familiar!"
"They look a bit like the plants from our territory," Mirus said, perched on Lin Kong’s shoulder, carefully observing the surrounding forest.
"You must be mistaken!"
"Plants are plants. They all look pretty much the same."
"Pfft! You’re just a slacker of an intermediate Druid, Lin Kong. I, Mirus, am a Legendary Druid. I can tell that these plants share the same origin as the ones in our territory."
Lin Kong blinked. "No way..."
"Hmph! Lin Kong is a big dummy! I’m not talking to you anymore!"
Mirus turned her head away and ignored Lin Kong. But after a moment, she couldn’t help but ask, "Why do these elephants look a little different?"
Huge Mammoths would occasionally appear in the jungle, leisurely munching on the surrounding plants. Mirus had never seen animals so similar to elephants and was a bit curious.
"Those are Mammoths. They’re an ancient species, common during the primeval ice age." The well-read Lin Kong started to explain things to Mirus.
"Wow, you’re so smart, Lin Kong! How do you know that?"
"I read it in a book!"
"Then tell me about the other creatures in this world. What are all those mutated beasts?"
"But the books I read weren’t about this world," Lin Kong said, a bit baffled.
"Huh? Then how are you so sure they’re Mammoths? You lied to me! Hmph!" Mirus turned her head away in a huff.
"But they really are Mammoths! Look, they look mostly like elephants, but their tusks are really long, they have a lot of fur, and they’re bigger. Those are Mammoths!"
"Really?"
"Really!"
"But why would this world have Mammoths that you recognize?"
’Yeah, why is that?’ Lin Kong was stumped too. Other than these Mammoths, he didn’t recognize a single one of the other mutated creatures. Logically, an ecosystem is interdependent. If Mammoths were native to this place, he should have recognized at least some of the other mutated creatures.
’Could it be... that these Mammoths are also from somewhere else?’ Lin Kong guessed, though he couldn’t be sure of his theory.
Just then, the sound of a fight and a tremendous roar echoed from the distance. Lin Kong and Mirus rushed over.
"Intruder, what do you think you’re doing?!"
A giant Mammoth was roaring furiously at Niu Armor.
"BANG—"
A massive crash erupted from the site of the battle.
Lin Kong froze. A figure flew past his eyes, crashed into the jungle, and snapped several trees in a row.
"Niu Armor!!!"
The figure sent flying was none other than their team member—Niu Armor.
Just as Lin Kong was about to check on Niu Armor’s injuries, he heard the sound of gigantic footsteps behind him.
A colossal figure then charged over, and the sheer force of the wind it generated sent Lin Kong flying.
...
"Ahhh—it hurts!!"
Lin Kong opened his eyes, his entire body aching. Beside him, Mirus, with tears in her eyes, was constantly casting Healing Magic on him.
"Mirus, what happened to me?"
"Lin Kong, you’re finally awake!!!"
"That giant Mammoth knocked you flying! You were badly hurt, I thought you were going to die!!" Mirus flew excitedly to Lin Kong’s head and began circling above it.
"Thanks to you, I’m okay now."
"Cough, cough—" As he spoke, Lin Kong coughed up a mouthful of blood. Mirus hurriedly resumed spamming him with healing spells.
Lin Kong also activated the healing portion of his Starry Sky Technique, continuously absorbing Spiritual Energy to treat his own injuries.
After a while, Lin Kong’s injuries were no longer life-threatening. He used a nearby tree for support and stood up.
"By the way, how’s Niu Armor? And what about the Mammoth that hit me?"
"Niu Armor is fine! Captain Yuan and Deputy Captain Luo arrived and saved him. They’re fighting that Mammoth now!"
Lin Kong leaned against the large tree beside him and looked toward the distant roars. Sure enough, he saw Yuan Xiaobo and Rose fighting a massive Mammoth.
This Mammoth was covered in a thick layer of Ice Armor, and a frigid wind swirled around it, freezing everything it passed over with a thick coat of ice.
Its attack power was immense; a single hit would send Yuan Xiaobo flying.
The Mammoth’s colossal size meant that each of its attacks was effectively an area-of-effect strike. Combined with its considerable speed, it was difficult for Yuan Xiaobo to dodge, and he was sent flying time and time again.
After ascending to a hero via the Hero Altar, Rose hadn’t awakened any new talent abilities. It had only enhanced his attributes and increased the damage and range of all his skills, making him an enhanced version of a Death Devourer.
His abilities were highly specialized, extremely effective against undead units, and could play a major role on a battlefield. But against a single, powerful individual, he felt somewhat useless, only able to use "Soul Shock" on the Mammoth from a distance.