749: Chapter 14 thods of Material Selection_1 749: Chapter 14 thods of Material Selection_1 “There are a few key points in choosing branches,” Pannis said, hopping nimbly amongst the Tree Network with Catherine and Ava.
He suddenly stopped on a limb, squatted down and pointed at a twig by his feet.
“Firstly, we should choose those about to be discarded by suguwoods.
Suguwoods are unique in the way that they live long lives and have vibrant vitality, which makes them grow quickly and shed many old branches annually.
Selecting these branches will not only avoid causing damage to the suguwoods but also help them get rid of the excess burden, only bringing them benefits.
Moreover, those branches nearing discarding have one notable feature.
Perhaps because they’re about to die, the wood inside turns very compact in a short ti, becoming the most resilient part of the suguwood.
If you weave the branches into the base of the campsite, even an armored bull running on top won’t cause it to break.
However, of course, armored bulls can’t possibly run on this Tree Network.
As for how to determine which branches will be discarded, it’s mainly by color.
Look, the normal skin of suguwoods is a yellow-brown color with a hint of green.
The branches about to die lose their green and turn closer to black instead.
If you can’t tell just from the color, try snapping it with your fingers.
Feel that?
That unusual bounce signals it’s about to die.
Wait a mont, look at this part where the bark is peeled back.
Hear the sound?
The bark is elastic, but the core inside feels like highly ductile tal.
With these three thods, it’s easy to tell if a branch is about to be discarded.”
“The second point, try not to choose twigs that are too long or too short.
As I said earlier, the branches about to be discarded have the hardest wood, which will increase their own weight and make them difficult to transport.
Furthermore, after you take them back, they won’t be convenient to weave if they’re too long, so we generally choose branches about four ters in length.
Of course, you’re welco to cut just four ters from a branch tens of ters long, but that’s more troubleso than just finding one of the right length.” Pannis raised his one-handed sword, and a branch as thick as an adult man’s wrist was severed from the tree.
Because the branch was still entwined with others even though it was broken, it didn’t fall to the ground but stayed in its original place.
He cut off so small branches on it and gave it a strong yank along its growth direction, obtaining a complete branch.
The branch seed unable to bear its weight and sagged a bit at the front, but it refused to break no matter how much it bent.
Pannis shook the branch and said, “You see, if you choose a longer one, the biggest problem is that you can’t pull it out.
Longer branches have more offshoots and are harder to extract from the intertwined Tree Network.”
“As for the third point, rember, the swamp is not as quiet as it appears.
True, the Tree Network divides it into two near-separate worlds.
The bottom one frequently hides lurking magical beasts and other dangers that the environnt brings.
There are fewer magical beasts on the upper level, but don’t let your guard down.” Pannis broke off a twig and threw it not far away.
In response to being disturbed by the twig, several unknown small creatures that resembled rabbits but had sharp claws for climbing trees let out a series of squeaking noises and scurried away.
After disrupting the small creatures’ peaceful atmosphere, Pannis explained, “There’s an array of organisms living in the Tree Network.
Most of them are small, but occasionally, mid-sized carnivorous beasts like swamp panthers, mud lizards, and tree wolverines that can climb trees can be found wandering the upper levels.
Swamp panthers use wind magic to slow their preys, mud lizards have petrifying beams, and if you don’t discover them before you get ambushed, being petrified could be life-threatening.
As for tree wolverines, they’re the worst.
They have the talent to tear down shields.
There are only four species in the Yarran World with this capability, and they are one of those.
Catherine, you have a Legendary Rank Shield, but if you co across a tree wolverine of the sa rank, their claws and teeth can easily tear your Aggression Shield.
So be careful when you encounter them.
Don’t try to resist them head-on with your Shield, or you’ll get hurt.
However, the most annoying ones in the upper level are not these carnivorous magical beasts.”
“The most annoying?” Catherine, who was attentively choosing branches, suddenly caught the different connotation in Pannis’s words and asked in surprise, “You an not the most dangerous?
So, they don’t pose a risk to one’s life?”
“That’s right, not the most dangerous, but the most annoying,” Pannis seriously nodded and said, “They are a group of creatures called sugu squirrels.
These small animals look similar to squirrels, but their tails are not as large and they are slightly smaller in size.
They have low attack power and usually eat the tender leaves of suguwoods.
Since the swamp is in sumr all year round, sugu squirrels are active all the ti.
Sugu squirrels, although weak magical beasts, are generally considered harmless to humans and livestock.
They are even classified as ornantal magical beasts in the Adventurer’s Guild’s handbook.
But they have a characteristic that makes them particularly annoying – they hold grudges.
If one disrupts them, they, like many of the weaker magical beasts, will flee.
However, if anyone harms a mber of their kind, they start holding a grudge.”
“But if their attack power is so low, what can they do even if they hold a grudge?” Catherine asked in bewildernt, “No matter how strong their grudge is, they can’t harm us, right?”
“You’re right, they can’t harm us directly,” Pannis responded with a bitter smile, shaking his head, “But they are a group of very smart animals.
From so perspectives, they are even smarter than humans.
They seek revenge in other ways that are incredibly aggravating yet irresistible.”
“Like what?” Catherine, intrigued by Pannis’s words, unwittingly stopped her work and asked, “Can they bring other creatures for revenge?”
“No, they don’t do that,” Pannis shook his head, “But what they do is worse.
If it were just bringing other creatures into the mix, at least the enemy would be in sight and not difficult to deal with.
But their revenge is subtle.
They gather hundreds of sugu squirrels and take advantage of the night on unsuspecting campers’ sites on the upper level.
They encircle the camps from all sides silently, and, true to their rodent nature, chew on the branches woven into the Tree Network beneath the camp, causing the whole campsite to collapse.
It doesn’t necessarily an falling straight into the bottom world, but no one will get a good rest after the camp collapses.”
“Pfft,” Catherine covered her mouth and laughed, “This thod of revenge is too much, isn’t it?
Like this, they won’t have a place to stay all night and all of them will inevitably stay on guard, which would make the next day quite tiring.”
“You thought that was the end?
You’ve underestimated their vengefulness.” Pannis sighed.
He had clearly been deeply traumatized by the sugu squirrels before.
“For the next few days, as long as you camp on the upper level, they will collapse your camping site every night.
Due to the characteristics of sugu woods, even if you hear them gnawing on the branches, it’s hard to find their exact locations.
Moreover, even if you do find them, hundreds and thousands of them exist and finding a few dozen won’t change what is about to happen.”
“Looks like you’ve suffered quite a bit.” Catherine teased.
“But aren’t you worried they might still bear a grudge and co to gnaw on our campsite foundation tonight?”
“They wouldn’t live that long.” Pannis huffed heavily, grimacing.
“Such hatred isn’t passed down from generation to generation.
Given their rate of reproduction, its impact will fade in five or six years.
So many generations have co and gone since then and there’s no danger now.
As long as we don’t provoke them again, there won’t be any issues.”
“This happened a hundred years ago?” Catherine fell silent for a mont before she asked tentatively, “During the ti with the knight?”
“Yes.” Pannis was silent even longer this ti, so long that Ava had already collected a large bundle of twigs before he responded almost imperceptibly.
“I thought you were going to play dumb.” Catherine appeared startled at receiving a response, “I didn’t expect you to actually answer.”
“What’s to co can’t be avoided.
Pretending to be stupid is aningless, it’s better to answer directly” Pannis gazed at the sunset just beginning to touch the horizon and murmured, “Rather it’s you.
I thought you would contain yourself a while longer.
I didn’t expect you to bring this up now.”
“What’s to co can’t be avoided, right?” Catherine chuckled softly and addressed Pannis’s question using his own words: “The more I co across your familiar friends, the more tired you’d feel if I didn’t bring it up, wouldn’t you?
Truths we’re all well aware of yet we have to pretend like we know nothing, I don’t think you’d like that feeling.
So I’d rather bring it up and say what needs to be said.
It’s better for you and for us.
But rest assured, I will only ask up to this point and won’t prod into what is ant to left alone.”
“Of course I’m reassured.” Pannis’s expression was complicated, his voice equally full of mixed emotions, “If I didn’t trust you guys, we wouldn’t be here together.”
“Are you guys done chatting yet?” Ava’s monotonous voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
On turning their heads, they saw the little girl already laden with a large bundle of four-ter-long branches, staring at them impassively and saying, “I feel like you guys are using chatting as a cover to shirk your duty of selecting materials.
But now the work is done, so you don’t need to continue anymore.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.” It was only then that Catherine realized she had been slacking off the whole ti, and she blushed saying, “I’m so sorry, I honestly didn’t do it on purpose.
I’ll take them back.
You rest a bit.”
“Let’s go back.” Pannis took over the large bundle of branches from the Triclops girl.
“I suppose Galantis has everything else ready by now.” (To be continued.
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