A Dreamlike Encounter

Due to this conclusion - The Rose Mountain - ended up in the section of exotic methods to break through while being stuck in a bottleneck.

The epilogue: "This is the first time I am writing a book. Why did I decide to do it? Because I don't want to let my discovery go to waste. Since the healing properties of that land weren't worth the risk of transporting its earth from the Land of Monsters to the Continent of Civilized Races, it wasn't done. Besides, the fact that there might be a legendary plant monster is only a speculation. I didn't find any concrete proof of it after all. But you, my dear reader, if you think that you have the necessary strength and ability to solve the mystery of The Rose Mountain, try it! And if you do solve it, and we live in the same era, please find me so we can sit together, drink something, and chat about it."

Rose, after reluctantly closing the book, with so many stirred emotions, took a deep breath and exclaimed within her head: (The first work of Lin the Lonely Adventurer! It seems that from here comes her unique and beautiful style of writing incredible but real events and sceneries. This is too much of a coincidence: my name, my favorite author, the miraculous object I desperately need, and the fact that it's in a place so close to where I am. No matter how rational I try to be, it still feels like fate.)

It was with a hint of madness flashing through her eyes that she decided to take the risk of exploring this mountain.

After Rose left the library, she went back to her inn to pick up her exploration equipment: her backpack. Then she left Lurep Village, dashing northwestward.

When the sky began to turn cyan, Rose was already within the Land of Monsters. And several hundreds of kilometers later, she finally stepped onto reddish earth.

Rose stopped there, pulled out a dagger and used it to cut the skin of her left hand's index finger. After putting her dagger back in her backpack, she bent down and buried her left hand into the reddish earth. A minute later, she took her hand out from the ground and looked at her now unharmed index finger.

(There's no doubt about it, its healing capability is the same as the capability of low-level medicine.) She smiled.

Hope growing inside of her, she continued heading forward.

Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, she climbed it zigzagging through the thick fog and soon found a cave surrounded by densely packed boulders.

The entrance to this cave had the shape of the open maw of a giant beast, and it seemed as though the threshold between the realm of the living and an endless abyss of darkness.

But it did not scare Rose at all. The unknown could scare her, but this cave had been mentioned in Lin's book. There was nothing to be afraid of apart from its appearance.

Just as Rose was about to enter such a cave, she suddenly stopped in her tracks. There were particular sounds coming from within the cave.

(Gorilla monsters! It was supposed to be an empty cave… Well, the book was written two hundred years ago… Anyway, it should be fine as long as I stay alert. Let's get in.) She told to herself, and crept into the cave.

The reason she decided to directly search this specific place was because if the legendary plant monster really existed, it would have to be inside the mountain. A plant monster can grow in a cave but not underneath the earth without air. Besides, if the plant monster were on the exterior surface of the mountain then the mountain itself would also have turned reddish, but this was not the case. So it could only be somewhere inside this cave.

Just as the outside light was no longer enough to illuminate Rose's path, she took out of her backpack a transparent sphere. It had a glass filament that divided its interior into two halves, and in each half, there was a different liquid. Rose squeezed the small sphere, shattering the thin glass within. When the two liquids merged together, a reaction occurred that made the small sphere emit a faint sky-blue light.

Luminous Sphere in hand, Rose continued creeping toward the depths of the cave as she became increasingly wary of her surroundings.

The cave was very large, it had tens of thousands of forks, and it was extremely dim, there were also gorilla monsters roaming about, so Rose would need a long time to fully explore it.

Four days later. On the outskirts of the Land of Monsters.

Rose lay on the grass with her hands behind her head, her expression gloomy.

During these past few days, she had explored the entire cave twice, and although she had done it thoroughly, she still had not found any trace of the legendary plant monster.

Rose looked up at the immense starry sky and muttered with resolve: "I'm not giving up."

It was with both stubbornness and hope that she stood up and returned to The Rose Mountain Cave.

The search continued uneventfully, as the previous days, until Rose made a big mistake. Perhaps because she had had some degree of uncertainty in her heart or perhaps because her sense of danger had lessened with the passing of the days. Whatever the reason might be, she had entered a dead end even though a gorilla monster was near.

Upon realizing this, Rose reacted immediately: she dashed toward the exit of the blind alley. But after a couple of seconds, she stopped. It was too late. The gorilla monster was already heading to the entrance of the blind alley. Rose knew she could not make it out in time anymore.

The gorilla monster was a furry humanoid creature, two meters tall, and had the muscles of its arms more developed than those of its legs. All creatures that can cultivate either Mystical Energy or Complex Energy normally had a Racial Skill, the gorilla monster was no exception; it had a Racial Skill and it was called Luminous Crimson Eyes, a skill that enabled its eyes to glow with a red light. Thanks to this, those of its kind could live in dark environments.

This gorilla monster's eyes were especially intimidating. When it reached the entrance of the blind alley, it thoughtlessly sauntered into the dead end.

*Pom* *pom* *pom* *pom*…

Rose could hear with extreme clarity the sounds of heavy footsteps getting closer and closer.

In the blink of an eye, the gorilla monster was just ten meters away from her; yet it continued advancing at the same speed.

Head stuck to the ground, she closed her eyes and cursed at herself: (What a perfect time to lose your caution, Rose! It's a gorilla monster! That race of monsters are usually at the Fifth Level Advanced Awaken stage! Damn Rose, why are you so reckless?!)

In the next moment, the gorilla monster's distance from Rose narrowed to just a step, but, without its red gleaming eyes showing any surprise, it kept walking calmly and relaxed.

Meanwhile, Rose, who did not dare to move in the slightest, had already finished with her curses; she was now praying: (Please cute little gorilla, don't kill me. I'm still too young. There are a lot of things I want to see and do. I swear that if you don't kill me, I will not treat the gorillas badly for the rest of my life... No! If you don't kill me, I'll build you a sanctuary full of bananas and hot springs. So please don't kill me, cute gorilla!)

After circling around a rock for a while, for some strange reason, the gorilla monster felt like going somewhere else; thus it did so.

Actually, that 'rock' was Rose blanketed by her Earth Cloak which she had bought on the first day she arrived at Lurep Village. Since she could nullify sounds, her body heat and her smell, she had thought she could disguise herself as a rock!

When Rose realized that she would not be able to leave in time, she had thrown herself onto the floor in the fetal position, and then she had grabbed her Earth Cloak from her backpack and covered herself with it. After that, it was a matter of luck whether or not she would survive.

Only when the gorilla monster left did Rose manage to calm herself down. At that moment, a deep blush appeared on her face; it was the product of the shame on herself for the absurd thoughts that had ran through her mind a moment ago. In the end, with a soft sigh, she forgave herself for that behavior, after all, it was the first time she had been so close to death.

The instant there was nothing else disturbing Rose's concentration, while her ear was still glued to the ground, she perceived a faint sound coming out from within it, in truth an almost undetectable sound. Upon hearing this, Rose's eyes opened wide.

(There's something underground!) She exclaimed.

Overwhelmed by emotions, she began to track down the sound like a sniffer dog but instead of using her nose, she used her ear. Then there she was on all fours trying to find the exact spot where the sound was louder.

A while later, after hitting her head against the rock walls a couple of times, Rose finally found the place where the sound was clearer. She could even understand some words: "... Solo... morrow..."

Rose, having her breathing accelerated and her hands slightly trembling with excitement, slowly separated her head from the hard rocky ground. She really had found something! Without further delay, she began to dig the ground with her fingers and fingernails.

As Rose went deeper, the mysterious voice became clearer and louder.

Soon, the depth of the hole increased to three meters… four meters… five meters.

When it reached twelve meters, the ground ended and Rose fell. Her body then hit, with a silent thud, the sticky floor of an unknown room.

And as if that sound were a signal, the mysterious voice stopped ringing.

Rose got up while looking with exciting curiosity at her surroundings. She noticed in an instant the mysterious naked young man whose body was pierced by swords that emitted a mystical white light.

The first thing that caught Rose's gaze was neither the mystical swords nor his ghastly wounds but his awfully deep violet eyes.

And then time stopped, the world disappeared, and all that was left was his eyes.

Both, Rose and the mysterious young man, looking into each other's eyes, remained silent and lost for a long, long time...

And then there was a second thing that caught Rose's gaze, it was something that couldn't be overlooked, not this mysterious young man's and that was…

"… So… big…" Rose couldn't help whisper.