Chapter 470: Sprites of the Desert Oasis
Chapter 470 -468: Sprites of the Desert Oasis
Since she wasn’t planning on straying too far from the border area for the time being, Faye Yardley let her raft drift in the nearby waters.
It was only 8 a.m., so after a round of stretches, she found herself feeling a bit bored.
Just then, Master Veridian called. “Yardley, have you been busy lately?”
“Master, just tell me if you need something. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“What could I possibly need your help with? No, I just unboxed an Ordinary Island Entry Order and was wondering if you’d be interested in exploring the island.”
“I’m in! Thanks for thinking of me, Master.”
“Alright. We’ll be reaching the island in about twenty minutes. Get your things ready, and I’ll send you the invitation.”
Faye Yardley was thrilled. Just when she was feeling bored, an adventure came knocking.
“MEOW!”
The moment she stepped onto the balcony, she heard Blackwood’s disgruntled meow. A little yellow-and-black puppy was whimpering in its bed, refusing to budge.
Faye Yardley strode over, lifted the puppy, and examined it. “Alright, you can’t just take someone else’s territory. I’ll buy you a little bed of your own.”
No sooner said than done. The trading market was full of such items. She casually picked out a High Level bed, bought it, and placed it next to Blackwood’s bed.
Then she dropped the puppy into it. The little dog just stared at her with its big, wet eyes, whimpering softly. She had no idea what it was trying to say.
‘After spending so much time with Magic Plants and intelligent animals I can actually communicate with, this normal little animal just seems so dumb.’
She had absolutely no patience to try and communicate with it.
As she sat on the sofa packing her backpack, Blackwood leaped onto her shoulder and meowed. Faye Yardley glanced at him. “You want to come with me?”
Blackwood nodded. He could offer protection; his defense stat had increased substantially.
“Alright, but if the Invitation Card doesn’t work on you, then you can’t come. And if it does, you have to stay with me. No running off.”
‘If he got lost, she’d have no idea how to find him.’
CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP~
A chubby, yellow-green ball of fluff zipped in from the balcony. It wanted to go too!
Taking Jade wasn’t an issue. Since it was officially her pet, she could store it in her pet space.
That being the case, Faye Yardley put Bella into her pet space as well to keep Jade company.
‘I’ll just let them out when we get there.’
As for Blackwood, she would just have to carry him.
After accepting the invitation, Faye Yardley found herself on Zephyr Sterling’s raft. She glanced down at her arms. ‘Good, Blackwood made it.’
“We’ll be on the island soon,” Master Veridian said. “It’s an Ordinary Island Entry Order, which means we only have eight hours. Why don’t you explore with us, Yardley?”
Faye Yardley thanked Master Veridian. The island before them was unlike any she had seen before. It looked more like a desert; yellow sand stretched out in every direction, and the wind kicked up fine granules as it blew past.
Surprisingly, a place like this had a pier. Zephyr Sterling docked the raft, and the three of them stepped onto the island.
Faye Yardley let Jade and Bella out. With a chirp, Jade shot straight up into the sky.
“Oh, Yardley, you’ve gotten another bird! How nice,” Master Veridian remarked with a glance, feeling a pang of envy. ‘How come I haven’t managed to get a single pet?’
He looked back at the yellow sand, however, and couldn’t help but frown. This place was a real nuisance. They had just set foot on the island, and one gust of wind had already coated his hair and beard with sand.
Bella, meanwhile, nudged Faye Yardley’s hand, gesturing for her to climb on its back. The sand was scorchingly hot to the touch.
Zephyr Sterling surveyed the sandy expanse. “Master, Yardley,” he said, “let’s follow the trail of cacti.”
Here and there, cacti grew stubbornly from the yellow sand.
Faye Yardley had no objections. The only way to find out what lay ahead was to press on.
She patted Bella’s head, motioning for it to follow them.
But as soon as they reached a cactus, Bella lowered its head and started munching on it.
Zephyr Sterling even caught a horned viper that was hiding behind the cactus. Though venomous, after being processed by the system, it surprisingly yielded a good amount of edible Snake Meat, along with a poison sac and a Snake Gallbladder.
When he announced his find, Master Veridian’s interest was immediately piqued.
When Jade returned, it was carrying a small white fox several times its own size in its beak. It dropped the creature in front of Faye Yardley. The fennec fox tried to bolt, but Faye grabbed it and handed it to Master Veridian. “It’s a gift, Master.”
‘Cute animals really know how to tug at your heartstrings.’
‘There was no way she could bring herself to harm it. It was so much cuter than the puppy back home.’
Jade didn’t seem to mind that its catch had been given away; it just flapped its wings and took off again.
Blackwood remained perched motionlessly on Faye Yardley’s shoulder, while Bella continued to devour every cactus they passed. If a cactus had a flower, Bella would have Faye pick it before eating the rest of the plant.
Meanwhile, the master-disciple duo, Master Veridian and Zephyr Sterling, caught a surprising number of small desert creatures along the path. With the exception of the fennec fox from Faye, they processed everything they caught and stored the materials in their backpacks.
The tiny fennec fox didn’t dare to move a muscle, clinging obediently to the Master’s back, too scared to even think of escaping.
They ventured deeper into the desert, but the scenery remained unchanged. Every sand dune looked identical to the last.
The trio fell silent, no longer in the mood for conversation.
CHIRP CHIRP~
When Jade returned this time, it chirped for Faye Yardley and the others to follow. It had found a good spot.
With Jade leading, they moved much faster, no longer stopping and starting.
To speed things up, she had Bella take the Master and his disciple ahead before returning to fetch her.
When the three of them were standing on a sand dune not far from an oasis, they were all taken aback. The oasis below was quite large, the scenery was stunning, and it even featured a sizable, emerald-green lake.
“Master, Mr. Zephyr Sterling, should we head down and check it out now?” Faye Yardley asked, surprised that they had waited for her despite arriving first.
“Let’s go,” Master Veridian said. “We were waiting for you.”
The Oasis was a completely different world from the dunes outside. While the sun had been scorching, the breeze that greeted them upon entering The Oasis was cool and refreshing.
Moreover, the place was lush with green trees and red flowers, filled with the singing of birds and the fragrance of blossoms. Small animals scurried about, and they even spotted tiny, winged Sprites.
Upon seeing the newcomers, the little Sprites all scurried into hiding, trembling with fear.
Faye Yardley, after all, had once eaten a *Chitter-Chatter Lollipop*, which allowed her to communicate with any intelligent species.
“Hello there,” she said. “We stumbled upon this place by accident. There’s no need to be afraid. If it’s alright with you, we’d like to trade with you—exchange some things we have for things we might need.”
After she spoke, Faye Yardley could hear a flurry of whispers as they seemed to push the responsibility onto one another. Finally, just as her patience was wearing thin, a pair of Sprites flew down to a branch about two meters in front of them.
“H-hello there. You’re really not here to capture us? You just want to trade?”
Faye Yardley nodded firmly. Master Veridian and Zephyr Sterling clearly couldn’t understand the Sprite’s words, but they radiated a calm and friendly aura that was uncommon among people.