Chapter 447: Chapter 444 – The Sudden Storm

After that warm, nutritious, and filling breakfast was finished, the three sisters wasted no more time and immediately moved deftly to pack up all their camping gear. With a team cooperation pattern that they were highly accustomed to and tested in various dangerous terrains, the process of dismantling the tent and clearing the area went very quickly yet maintained a high level of meticulousness.

Sylvia folded the magical camp tent cloth with a sequence of highly efficient hand movements, ensuring each fold was symmetrical so as not to take up space inside the storage compartment. Meanwhile, Stacia opened her gray Grimoire; with a chant of a minor wind spell, she blew away the remnants of the campfire ash and leveled back the structure of the ground surface as well as the trampled grass, ensuring no overly conspicuous vertical physical tracks could be left behind for trackers. On the other hand, Alicia helped pack the cooking utensils, porcelain plates, and wooden bowls into her invisible spirit storage space through an elegant wave of her hand.

The golden cat appeared to run around nimbly around the campsite area being cleared. Occasionally, the thick-furred creature rubbed its entire warm body against Sylvia’s ankles, letting out short meowing sounds as if it were protesting for not being given a physical task to help with the packing process.

The morning air inside the wilderness still felt very fresh and pure. The distinct aroma of damp leaves covered in dew and the scent of wet earth wafted strongly, blending harmoniously with the remnants of the wood smoke smell from the campfire that had just been completely extinguished.

"Everything is clean and tidy, not a single magical or physical track is left in this area," Stacia said while closing her Grimoire with a smooth, soft tapping sound.

Sylvia gave a short, firm nod of her head. "Good. We continue our journey right now before the sun rises too high."

The three of them immediately stepped up onto the merchant carriage structure. Stacia and Alicia chose to go inside and sit comfortably within the plush passenger carriage compartment, while Sylvia stepped back into her primary position atop the outer driver’s seat with a pair of reins already ready in her grasp. With one precise vertical leap, the golden cat immediately climbed onto the driver’s seat, taking a comfortable sitting position right beside Sylvia’s right thigh.

The two pitch-black zombie horses in front began stepping forward simultaneously with a highly stable and constant stride rhythm, bringing the merchant carriage structure moving dynamically along the forest path, which was counted as quite wide for a border region area.

The first half of that morning journey initially felt so calm, peaceful, and pleasant. The warm morning sunlight seeped through the gaps of the lush foliage of the row of ancient trees that towered high along the edges of the main path, creating streaks of golden light patterns and aesthetic shadows dancing over the ground surface. A cool breeze blew with a slow and regular rhythm, bringing along the fragrant aroma of the expanse of forest wild flowers and the soothing scent of pine sap that calmed the nervous system.

Sylvia sat in a highly relaxed posture on the driver’s seat, her left hand occasionally moving slowly to stroke the golden fur of the cat, which felt very warm under the exposure of the dawn light. Meanwhile, from behind the passenger carriage curtain, the faint sounds of light conversation between Stacia and Alicia could be heard as they discussed various economic and exploration targets they would execute once they arrived at the gates of the Earth Human Empire’s capital.

However, that natural harmony suddenly shattered into pieces when the weather conditions around the forest area changed in an odd, extreme, and unnatural way within a matter of minutes. The sky dome, which had been clean and clear with its beautiful light blue color, was directly covered with a highly unreasonable speed by masses of pitch-black clouds (cumulonimbus) rolling in from the northern horizon.

The atmosphere around them suddenly felt very heavy and pressing. The cool wind that initially blew softly instantly mutated into a highly gusty and destructive storm wind, brutally shaking the sturdy branches of large, hundreds-of-years-old trees all around them. Millions of dry leaves detached and flew wildly in the air, and the howling sound of the storm wind roared very loudly and noisily inside the eardrums: WOOOOOSH... WOOOOOSH....

KRAAAKKK... BOOM!

A high-voltage, bluish-white lightning bolt struck highly fiercely in the valley area not far from their position, which was then immediately followed by a thunderous roll of guntur that was so deafening, producing low-level seismic vibrations capable of shaking the ground surface crossed by the carriage.

A split second later, heavy rain with a highly extreme intensity fell suddenly without any initial drizzling phase as if the sky dome up there had split and poured billions of gallons of water in infinite amounts directly. The rainwater fell creating a very thick vertical white curtain, battering the surface of the merchant carriage’s wooden roof with a very noisy and deafening pounding sound: BRRRRRRR... BRRRRRRR....

Sylvia and the golden cat, who at that time were in the open outer driver’s seat area, had absolutely no sufficient pause time to respond or activate personal defense magic. Within a very brief matter of seconds, both of their bodies were already drenched by the massive downpour of rainwater. The rainwater, which had a very cold temperature, instantly soaked the gray hoodie fabric material worn by Sylvia, making it cling tightly to the contours of her body and causing the strands of her long black hair tied in a ponytail to become wet and sticky around her cheeks and face.

The golden cat let out a small yelp fraught with surprise and discomfort ; its golden fur, which was originally very thick, smooth, and fluffed up beautifully, was now completely soaked, clinging tightly to its skin and making its body size appear to shrink to become much smaller.

"Quick, get inside!" Sylvia shouted with a raised tone of voice to be able to pierce through the noisy sound of the rain.

With one very fast and nimble movement, Sylvia directly leaped down from the high driver’s seat while tightly cradling the wet body of the golden cat in her embrace. She pushed the passenger carriage door roughly and immediately rushed inside the warm interior of the carriage compartment.

Seeing the condition of Sylvia and the sacred beast, who were drenched and shivering due to the extreme cold temperature, Stacia, who was inside the carriage, instantly took immediate responsive action. Without needing a verbal command, she immediately opened her Grimoire quickly ; with one wave of her hand, she launched a combination spell between mid-tier fire element and controlled wind element simultaneously.

A glow of golden-gray light that radiated a very dense aura of magical warmth instantly enveloped Sylvia’s entire body as well as the golden cat. The magic worked incredibly wonderfully, evaporating every molecule of water clinging to Sylvia’s clothes and the cat’s fur in a matter of seconds. Puffs of thin white steam appeared to rise turbulently from their body surfaces as the rainwater was forcibly evaporated into gas.

"Thank you, Stacia," Sylvia said while exhaling a long breath and taking a sitting position on the plush carriage sofa seat, her breath still slightly panting from the sudden temperature change.

At the same time, Alicia did not stay idle. She immediately raised her magic wand, chanting lines of defense mantras in a very calm and rhythmic tone of voice. A ripple of transparent magic energy in the form of a high-density protective dome (Mana Barrier) instantly appeared, enveloping the entire outer structure of the merchant carriage along with the two zombie horses in front of it.

The invisible shield worked perfectly, completely deflecting every high-velocity hit of rainwater and the strong blast of the storm wind. The heavy rainwater that earlier almost seeped inside through the small gaps in the carriage windows was now completely held back outside the magical boundary, leaving only a constant and noisy clinking sound of water as it hit the shield surface over the carriage roof: BRRRRR... BRRRRR....

Outside there, behind Alicia’s magical protection, the two black zombie horses continued to force their legs to step forward, cleaving through the storm. Their undead body structures, which did not possess a biological nervous system, were certainly completely undisturbed by the cold rainwater or lightning strikes, but the condition of the forest path ground surface, which quickly turned muddy, deep in mire, and very slippery, began to provide great mechanical resistance, forcing their stepping speed rhythm to slow down significantly. The strong gust of wind coming from the side continued to hit the lateral side of the carriage, making the passenger carriage compartment sway a little to the right and left even though its structure had been stabilized by Alicia’s magic.

Alicia slightly shifted the window cloth curtain, peeking outside to analyze the terrain situation with her pair of sharp silver eyes. The visual condition out there was truly horrifying. The rainwater fell resembling a solid, thick white curtain, limiting their vertical and horizontal visibility to only range between a few meters ahead. Massive ancient trees appeared to sway with extreme angles of tilt due to the wind pressure, while hundreds of twigs and leaves flew wildly like projectiles in the air.

"This storm and heavy rain have a very unusual energy manifestation structure," Alicia analyzed while releasing her grip on the window curtain and staring toward Sylvia. "The intensity of its wind pressure is too strong and is not aligned with the seasonal cycle in this border region, and its transformation process occurred too suddenly for the size of a purely natural phenomenon."

Sylvia, who at that time was leaning back comfortably enjoying the warmth of the remnants of Stacia’s magic, gave a nod of her head in agreement. "I also feel the same anomaly in the mana fluctuations in the air. Order our horses to immediately look for a safe stopping and sheltering place. It is not efficient to continue forcing the journey in this kind of terrain condition."

Through the remaining necromancy soul bond embedded inside the core consciousness of the two undead creatures, Sylvia sent a mental instruction that was absolute in nature. Receiving the instruction, the two zombie horses immediately changed their stepping angle direction slightly toward the right, trying to use their undead creature survival instincts to detect the presence of a cave structure, a cliff gap, or other natural shelters around the forest area.

However, the wilderness vegetation in this part of the border counted as very dense and close-knit, not offering many natural safe place options that had a dimensional size large enough to accommodate the entire structure of the merchant carriage along with its wagon. The heavy rain outside sounded increasingly severe, and the howling of the wind roared even wilder: WOOOOOOOSH... CRACK!

A branch of a giant oak tree snapped due to not being strong enough to withstand the wind load, falling to hit the ground with a very loud crashing sound only a few meters away from the carriage’s path of transit, producing a localized seismic vibration that made the wagon sway violently for a few moments.

The golden cat, which since earlier had been sitting curled up quietly on Sylvia’s lap, suddenly rose to stand upright with all its body muscles tensing. Its pair of large, round amber eyes gleamed with a mystical light inside the darkness of the carriage. The ancient sacred beast tilted its head upward toward the ceiling, then let out a meowing sound that was very loud, deep, authoritative, and laden with an absolute tone of command that did not match its small body size: MEOOOWWW...!

Strangely, as if they received a command from a highest authority that transcended Sylvia’s necromancy orders, the two zombie horses in front instantly changed their rushing direction with a very sharp turning angle toward a rocky hillside that was hidden tightly behind the lushness of thick trees.

Only within a few moments after following the navigation of the golden cat’s instinct, a very large and sturdy stone cave mouth structure suddenly appeared before their path of transit. The dimensional size of the cave mouth counted as very spacious, more than enough to fit the entire merchant carriage structure along with its wagon inside without the risk of being scratched by the stone walls, with a highly adequate interior depth level to provide absolute protection from the lashing of the storm outside.

Sylvia curled a thin smile fraught with a sense of satisfaction while gently patting the head of the golden cat on her lap. "Very good work, your navigation can always be relied upon."

The merchant carriage structure finally moved completely inside the interior area of the stone cave. Once the carriage wheels ran over the hard and dry stone floor surface of the cave, the rumbling sound of the heavy rain and the deafening howl of the storm wind from out there instantly turned much fainter, dimmer, and very well-muffled.

Alicia immediately stepped close to the carriage door area, pointing her magic wand toward the outer cave mouth to strengthen and expand the perimeter of her protective mantra (Mana Barrier), ensuring no splatters of rainwater or gusts of cold wind could sneak inside the cave. Meanwhile, Stacia flicked her fingers, launching several pieces of golden-yellow magical light balls (Light Balls) floating in the air, illuminating the stone cave interior, which was originally pitch black, to become bright with a soft and warm glow of light.

The interior condition of the stone cave turned out to be very ideal; the inside part was very dry with a relatively level natural stone floor contour and clean from toxic moss. The three girls immediately stepped down from the carriage, re-arranging the remnants of their clothes that still felt slightly damp due to the cold air.

The golden cat directly leaped down from Sylvia’s embrace with a very light foot movement. It began moving to explore every corner of the inner perimeter of the cave with regular steps full of high alertness, its small nose moving actively sniffing the air and rocks to ensure there was no presence of territorial monsters, venomous snakes, or other hidden dangers nesting inside the cave.

"The manifestation of the storm out there truly feels very strange and unnatural," Stacia said while choosing a flat stone that was clean enough to be used as a seat, then leaning her back against the sturdy cave wall. "Its formation process was too instant and has a mana density that is too thick for the size of a normal atmospheric phenomenon."

Sylvia walked near Stacia’s position, then took a sitting position leaning against the opposite cave wall, letting the golden cat, which had finished conducting its security patrol, to leap back and curl up comfortably on her lap.

"Most likely there indeed is a point of dimensional disturbance or a minor dimensional rift leakage that has just opened around this forest coordinate area," Sylvia analyzed with a cold and analytical tone of voice, her pair of dark-red eyes staring straight toward the ripples of rainwater at the cave mouth. "We do not need to force ourselves to investigate it because it has nothing to do with our mission. We only need to wait inside this protective cave quietly until the intensity of this strange storm subsides completely."

The three of them finally decided to spend their free time inside the cave while maximizing the recovery of their physical and mental energy. Alicia took out a silver teapot containing water from her spirit storage space, then used a minor fire magic to brew warm herbal tea that spread a calming fragrant aroma to all corners of the cave. Stacia appeared to reopen her thick fantasy novel book, reading it with full concentration under the glow of the magical light ball floating above her head. Meanwhile, Sylvia sat silently in peaceful stillness, her right hand continuing to move stroking the thick golden fur belonging to the cat, which had now returned to purring very soundly.

Even though the rumbling sound of heavy rain and terrifying flashes of lightning still continued to echo and answer each other out there hitting the hill walls, the atmosphere created inside the interior of the stone cave felt so safe, warm, isolated, and filled by an absolute peace for the three sisters.