Chapter 357 - Landing on the Island

Chapter 357 Landing on the Island

At this moment, Jackman walked over. “Hey, you two, can we talk on the shore? I think we still have plenty of time.”
While the two of them were chatting, the ship had already reached the shore.
At this moment, a Knight also walked over quickly and asked Alza, “Sir, we have already reached the shallows. Do you think we should disembark here?”
Alza nodded. “Yes.”
“As you command!”
The Knight replied and quickly ran back to instruct the sailors to anchor and then put down the small boat. After everything was ready, Heath and the others followed the ladder on one side of the ship and descended to the small boat. Then, the Knights rowed slowly toward the shore.
Ka-da! A soft sound was heard.
The small boat steadily landed on the beach by the shore.
“Sir, we’re here.”
“Baruch, bring some people into the island to have a look first. Spread out in pairs. Everyone, put a mark on.”
“Yes.”
After the small boat docked, Alza first let the Knights build a simple camp on the shore. Then, he did not rashly enter the forest. Instead, he let the Knights put a mark on them and enter the forest to explore first. Then… he took out a crystal ball from his dimensional pocket.
This crystal ball was slightly bigger than the crystal ball that Heath usually used. The image on it clearly reflected the images of each knight.
Looking at this crystal, Heath could not help but ask curiously, “Is this a Mark Crystal?”
A Mark Crystal was a crystal that was specially used for surveillance. It was divided into two parts. One part was the crystal ball that was the main body, and the remaining part was the mark.
The crystal ball was connected to the marking. It would display the image of the marked area. Placing the marking on someone else’s body would allow one to check the situation around them. It was a very good exploration tool.
Alza nodded. “Yes, it’s a small device. If Wizard Heath likes it, I can give it to you.”
Heath shook his head. “There’s no need for that. Alright, let’s look at the crystal first.”
The few of them focused their attention on the crystal.
From the picture, the few Knights were following Alza’s instructions strictly. They split up into groups and scattered into the forest on the island.
The Knights were all very professional. One of them was in charge of taking the high ground on the trees to check the surrounding movements, while the other was in charge of clearing the way with his crossguard sword. The trees on the island were not dense, so they were soon cleared out.
After exploring for about half an hour, they had a rough idea of the surrounding area of a few kilometers. They did not encounter any particularly powerful monsters, only some small demonized creatures, the Knights could easily deal with them.
Alza smiled. “It seems that we are very lucky. We should be in the hibernation period of the island’s high-level demonized creatures.”
Heath was puzzled. “Are there any high-level demonized creatures here? What level are they?”
From what the Knights had just explored, there were no high-level demonized creatures. Moreover, Heath had not felt any particularly powerful demonized creatures since they had landed on the island.
Alza nodded. “There are, and there are many. The most powerful ones have already reached the level of advanced-level Wizards, and there are more than one of them.”
“But these demonized creatures will enter hibernation every once in a while. Only when they are in hibernation can we move freely on the island. If it is a normal time, this place is full of dangers.”
Heath said, “I see…”
Alza looked around and then added, “But the hibernation period should be coming to an end soon. It is about to enter the boiling period. We have to hurry.”
Heath looked at a rock that was standing by the river not far away. Strangely, the rock was oozing traces of red liquid, as if it was bleeding.
No…
It was not just like. It smelled like blood, with a pungent smell of blood.
Even a rock could bleed?
While Heath was surprised, Alza explained, “That’s Prester’s waste blood.”
“Prester’s body is still active, and it metabolizes regularly, just like this stone. Every once in a while, it oozes blood.”
“That blood is a rare tonic for many demonized creatures on the island. They become stronger by consuming the blood and other substances that Prester metabolizes, which is why the island becomes very active every time Prester metabolizes.”
Heath suddenly understood.
But then, he could not help but frown. He observed the surroundings and found that the bleeding was not only from the reef just now. There seemed to be some unusual changes in the surrounding areas. For example, the bleeding and something similar to leather.
He asked, “It seems that the metabolism of this island has begun? Is it okay for us to go in now? Should we wait a little longer?”
Even Heath was not confident in dealing with high-level Wizard-level demonized creatures. If he could avoid them, it would be better not to face them head-on.
Alza shook his head. He said with a slightly bitter tone, “The metabolism of Prester Island is at least a few months at a time, and at the longest, it can be several years or even decades. Moreover, even if the metabolism is completed, the island will remain active for a long period of time. The island will completely calm down and the high-level demonized creatures will enter hibernation only for a short period of time before the metabolism, which is the time we are currently in. This is the best time to explore the island.”
In fact, there was one thing Alza did not mention — he was worried that his life would not last much longer and would not be able to wait for the island’s next metabolism.
“If that’s the case,” Heath said. “Alright then.”
Having figured out the situation around him, Alza then took out a bell and shook it gently at the crystal ball.
As the bell rang, ripples could be clearly seen rippling within the crystal ball, as if the sound of the bell had passed through the crystal ball.
The Knights who were still exploring the forest seemed to have heard the sound as well, and stopped in their tracks to return. Soon, they were all back on the beach.
“Sir Wizard, we didn’t find anything strange in the south.”
“Sir Wizard, everything is fine in the east.”
“Sir Wizard, everything is fine in the West…”
After listening to the Knights’ report, Alza nodded. Then, he took out a large scroll from his interspatial ring. After opening the scroll, it depicted a strange island that was winding like a long snake. It was Prester Island that they were on.
Heath glanced at the map. Obviously, this was the complete map of Prester Island. On the upper right corner of the map, there was a cross mark on the snake’s head…