Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 139 - 4 Karatomir_1

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Forests in the Yarran World from the Fourth Epoch are unique. According to the perception of the organisms living in the Fourth Epoch of the Yarran World, forests never disappear, even some believe that the forests are alive due to such a unique characteristic.

The forests in Yarran World have their fixed boundaries. Within this range, if trees in a certain area become sparse, most of the nutrients in the nearby soil are automatically concentrated in this region. At the same time, the seedlings would start to grow rapidly, often transforming land that has been burnt to waste, back into a forest within one or two months. While the forest regrows, besides the trees themselves, all other structures would be destroyed by the plants, with no exceptions for any race. Over the past few thousand years, various attempts have been made by creatures to encroach on the territory of forests, all of them unsuccessful. The area of forests hasn’t decreased even by a square meter, instead, sometimes it expands. However, the expanding sections of the forest don’t possess the regeneration feature, otherwise, the entire continent would have been covered by forests.

In Yarran Continent, there are three regions can be called forest and possess such characteristics, namely, the Magical Beast Forest, the Shining Forest, and the Forest of Death.

The Magical Beast Forest is located at the southernmost tip of the continent, adjoining the Neville Federation. Its weather is cold and dry, and over two-thirds of the year, the forest is engulfed in snow and ice. Dragon Mountain Range, the home to the Guardians, is situated right in the middle of this forest. It is inhabited by a plethora of legendary magical beasts, and among them, a few have reached the demigod rank. This forest is regarded as one of the forbidden areas on the Yarran Continent.

The Forest of Death is located at the northern end of the continent. It’s separated from the Mountain Country Kulan on the west by Feather Mountain Range. It’s coastline in the east and north, and borders the Beastmen Prairie to the south. Actually, the Forest of Death can be divided into two parts; the Okain Mountain Range bisects it, with the northern part commonly referred to as the Forest of Death, while the southern part is known as the Lost Forest, home to the elves. The Lost Forest with abundant resources, a hot and moist climate is a better fit for elves. The Forest of Death, on the other hand, experiences high temperatures, plentiful rainfall, and is inhabited by upper-rank magical beasts, including a large number of demigod magical beasts. Due to its high-risk profile, two-thirds of the abnormal deaths of demigods over the past few thousand years have occurred here, hence professionals refer to it as the graveyard for demigods.

The final forest, the Shining Forest, is located in the central part of the continent, at the convergence of the Neville Federation, Beastmen Prairie, and the Sea Kingdom of Casa, with an area close to one hundred thousand square kilometers. Although the Shining Forest is home to countless magical beasts, none of them are particularly powerful, hence it is known among professionals as the safest among the three forests. However, it is only safe in relative terms; as one ventures further into the forest, the power of the magical beasts increases. Creatures of Legendary Rank are occasionally spotted near the centre, hence professionals with inadequate strength don’t dare to venture too far.

Theoretically, the Shining Forest is divided into thirds by the Neville Federation, the Beastmen Country, and the Sea Country. Each stakeholder holds a third of the area but due to the nature of the forest and the sheer number of magical beasts, no country could establish a footing in the forest. The legitimacy of the territories is nominal only, leaving this territory in limbo, becoming a paradise for magical beasts. To make matters worse, the beasts from the forest often attack the surrounding villages and cities in groups. Unable to prevent these attacks, the three countries have each placed many defensive troops at the forest’s perimeter. The city of Karatomir of Neville is an exemplar of such frontier cities.

"So, this is Karatomir?" Outside the small city, covering fewer than twenty square kilometers, Catherine stood up from the driver’s side seat of the carriage to look at the tall, sturdy wall ahead: "It’s hard to believe that such a fortress-like city would be found in Neville Federation."

"Well, don’t be fooled by the focus on commerce in other cities of Neville. The cities neighboring the Shining Forest are actually strong fortresses," replied Pannis, who was driving the carriage without turning his head. "The Nevilles are afraid of death. They know that no amount of money can buy back their lives when facing magical beasts, so they are considerate when setting up lines of defense against magical beasts, investing every penny in defenses."

Lina, who was sitting in the open carriage, leaned against the back of the driver’s seat and looked at the sky. She then leaned over the back of the seat and said, "We’re in good time. We should enter the town, find an inn and rest, we’ll still have plenty of time to set off for Spindle Town first thing tomorrow morning."

"Actually, we could still go a bit further." Catherine hesitated, "It’s a bit early to rest now."

"Come on, sis," Lina reached over the back of the seat to pat Catherine’s head, "You and Pannis have been driving the carriage for the past 20 days. Even we, who are riding, feel our bones are soft, let alone you. You need rest."

Catherine swatted Lina’s hand away irritably, thought a bit, and finally nodded: "Okay, let’s take a rest tonight then. Where’s Vivian?" novelbuddy.cσ๓

"What else could she be doing, but daydreaming?" Lina shrugged helplessly. "It’s pretty much her daily routine – once she’s in the carriage, she starts daydreaming until she falls asleep."

While they were chatting, the carriage gradually approached Karatomir. As a fortress-type city, Karatomir is completely surrounded by city walls, with only four gates for vehicles and pedestrians to pass through. The city wall surrounding Karatomir, is eight meters high and more than five meters thick, built with a combination of bricks and soil, it’s absolutely solid. Even a magical beast of Legendary Rank could not breach it for a long time.

Inside Karatomir, only a small number of soldiers were stationed. In fact, defense against magical beast attacks was the responsibility of a large mercenary group hired by the city enterprises. Hiring mercenaries to guard against attacks has its benefits - not having to afford equipment for soldiers, nor the initial training, and not even having to bear the cost of injuries, deaths, and resettling families. These advantages have attracted the three countries surrounding the Shining Forest to employ large mercenary groups for defending against the beasts.

As for large mercenary groups, while they can earn a hefty commission, they also utilize the opportunity to train their newcomers, making it a satisfactory deal for them as well. As such, over the recent decades, each member of the ten large mercenary groups - each boasting a strength of ten thousand, affiliated to the guild, has taken turns in defending against the forests. Typically, one mercenary group takes care of the defenses of a single country, three groups at a time, and they rotate every three years.

Of course, a force of ten thousand still wasn’t adequate for each country’s extended forest lines. Therefore, various mercenary groups were always ready to accept smaller groups to temporarily assist in defense and patrolling. Consequently, these fortress cities of the forest borders became one of the most common locations for mercenaries.

As the sound of hoofbeats echoed, Pannis drove the carriage slowly past the city gates guarded by professional soldiers. He traversed the stout walls and entered the city of Karatomir. The city originally had less than two hundred households, with a total population not exceeding two thousand. Nevertheless, as more and more mercenaries surged in, both the population and the number of buildings expanded. The city had now become one of the bustling areas among the forest border cities.

The types of shops lining both sides of the city’s main street were obviously focused on combat, with armor, weapon, and potion ingredient stores being the most numerous. There were also many magic goods stores, and inns and taverns were even more common. The streets were mostly filled with mercenaries; among them, many adventurers were also mixed in. These adventurers often came to complete tasks or gather supplies in the Shining Forest.

"The city of mercenaries." The carriage stopped at an inn’s entrance without a "No Vacancy" sign. Catherine jumped down from the coach, quickly moved her body, and carried five or six packages from the coach’s back into the inn. Shortly after, a servant from the inn who now had empty hands walked out with Catherine. He courteously guided the carriage to the inn’s stables.

"Did you book a room?" Pannis handed Catherine’s backpack to her and asked, "Where are we heading now?"

"Let’s check out some taverns nearby first," Catherine replied. "We should start looking for a guide now. We can ask around."

"I have a question." Pannis frowned, looked at Lina, then at Catherine. "Did we leave something behind?"

"I don’t think so." Catherine quickly computed the number of packages. "It doesn’t seem like we’re missing anything."

"Ah~~~~" Lina abruptly shouted and chased after the carriage. "Vivian is still in the coach. I left her."

"See, I did say that we left something behind." Pannis shrugged at Catherine. "Poor Vivian."

The Blood Drinking Blade was the biggest tavern in Karatomir city. It was a common gathering spot for idle mercenaries and passing adventurers, not only for drinking and bragging but also for gathering information. After all, for these two types of people, a piece of accurate information could sometimes save their lives.

It was now early evening; a peak time for the Blood Drinking Blade, which also offered meals. Over eighty percent of its seats were taken, and new customers still stepped in to join the crowd.

The tavern’s door was pushed open once again. A tall, black-haired female knight wearing full chain mail casually held the hilt of her sword and walked in. Behind her was a silver-haired female priest in a high-rank robe, followed by a blue-haired female mage who, unusually, was not in a trance. As for the person at the very end, the myriad tavern customers no longer bothered to take notice. All their attention was focused on the three young ladies. Nobody cared about the man trailing behind.

In such a small border town, with limited rural women around, the men were only exposed to female mercenaries. The female mercenaries, because of their profession, often appeared a bit unkempt. When three exceptional beauties came into sight, it was hard for many male customers not to get lost in admiration.

Even though the girls’ outfits instinctively suggested they were not to be underestimated, the inflamed mercenaries did not take any drastic actions. But for some men already under the sway of alcohol, it was hard to control themselves anymore. Before the girls had walked half the distance to the bar, a stout young mercenary, around eighteen or nineteen and flushed from drinking, blocked the female knight.

"Mi, mi, mi-miss." The young mercenary was so drunk that he couldn’t even form a coherent sentence. Judging by the smirk on his companions’ faces, it was clear he’d been egged on to approach her. "Miss, could I please, pl, please ask you to... to... have a drink with me?"

Catherine’s expression remained indifferent. Her calm eyes, as placid as a pool of stagnant water, stared at the young mercenary. "Are you talking to me?" she asked in a neutral tone devoid of any emotion.