A Magic to Melt A Heart (TinCan)

Chapter 38 - Flora: The Man-Eating Plant

(unedited)

After a few hours of traveling, the members of team Thailand was able to arrive at the foot of the mountain thanks to their contracted beasts that flew them. 

At the mountain that is found in the eastern part of the map, there is a river. The people who went there before said that there was an abundance of resources that could be found on the surrounding of that river. Since team Thailand has ten members, it would be beneficial if they go there first since all of them would like to get some type of materials that would help them for leveling, contracting a beast, or creating precious equipment. Even though this was the case, the journey was not considered an easy task. They have to be careful about the dangers lurking around the river since apparently there is a beast that guards the river. Aside from this beast, there are also other teams that might ambush them. Since this is the case, Ae decided that they should not fly directly to the river and instead start at the foot of the mountain. This way, they would not attract unnecessary attention from other teams and powerful beasts. Also, they would not be too vulnerable to surprise enemy attacks.

"We should be able to get there in three hours by foot," Ae said as he looked at his incomplete map.

Everyone nodded. The members of the team have confidence in Ae's capabilities as a leader since he is the most powerful in the team. Besides, he will be the one leading B.S.G in Thailand! Who does not want to be on his good side? Also, he is very capable, charismatic, intelligent, and courageous! Everyone felt safe and confident that the entire team will succeed at surviving this event for a month. They felt like they could do everything!

Meanwhile, Can was waiting for an opportunity to separate from the team. But he realized that since it is just the first day, it would be better if he sticks with them for now as he tries to adapt to his environment. Traveling to the South will take a few days and Can has around four weeks to execute his plan. He also wanted to grab some resources while he was here anyway since a lot of rare materials could only be found in this dimension. Can would not miss this opportunity.

While they were walking, some of the members found some rare plants along the way which they happily took. Thankfully none of them fought over these rare plants. They had an agreement that the first one to find and collect a material will be his or hers.

Unbeknownst to the members of team Thailand, when they collected these rare plants, they did not think that there was a beast guarding them.

As they continued to walk up the mountain and kept collecting rare plants, there were thick black vines full of thorns that were slowly following them. Since the forests of the mountain are currently being covered in white mist, no one has noticed that the vines on the ground were actually moving.

When they stopped for a moment to allow other members to collect materials, Ae heard rustling sounds around the grasses. Thanks to Ae's sharp senses, he made everyone stop what they were doing.

"Everyone! Form a circular defensive formation! NOW!" Ae commanded as he took a defensive talisman from his infinite storage bag. He unsealed the talisman with a drop of his blood from his thumb that he bit. Unfortunately, he was a step too late. The vines noticed the sudden changes in the team's movements and immediately grabbed one of the members of the team.

"AHHH! Help me!" Trump shouted. A vine wrapped itself around Trump and immediately retreated far away from the team deeper in the forest. The rest of team Thailand could only look pitifully at Trump who was taken away. Some sighed in relief. They were thankful that it was not them who were taken away.

"Tsk!" Pannin clicked her tongue. It is always the weakest one who gets in trouble.

After Trump was taken, a defensive barrier was quickly formed and surrounded the entire team.  This barrier would only last for 3 minutes but it was enough time for Ae and his teammates to summon their offensive and defensive type beasts. After they deal with the vines, they would rescue Trump.