Because the distance was too great, the dice could not be used to conduct detection. However, dragons each had distinctive features, and it was generally difficult to mistake one for another.
For example, a green dragon had a long, slender tail that accounted for more than half of its body length, resembling a giant flying lizard.
'It looks like an adult dragon—one we can't afford to provoke.' Anser silently flew back to the ship.
An adult green dragon had a Challenge Rating of 15. Its flying speed was extremely fast, and aside from poor Dexterity, it essentially had no weaknesses.
Even poor Dexterity could not really be considered a weakness. Large creatures all shared similar drawbacks, and all dragons were like this.
"What's wrong?" Salian noticed that Anser's expression was off and hurried over, looking tense.
"It's nothing." Anser took a deep breath. "I saw an adult green dragon."
"Ah…" Several people exclaimed in shock.
There were dragons in Faerûn as well, but as human powers had grown increasingly strong, scenes of dragons ravaging cities had become rare. Many ordinary people would go their entire lives without ever seeing a dragon.
"It headed east. Maybe they also want to figure out what's going on." Anser stroked his chin, lost in thought.
On Abeir, dragon factions were divided by dragon type. Metallic dragons and chromatic dragons were irreconcilable enemies; when they met, they fought on sight, and alliance was impossible.
In other words, the surrounding area belonged to chromatic dragon territory.
This was not good news. Chromatic dragons belonged to the evil alignment. Green dragons and blue dragons tended toward lawful behavior, while the rest were all chaotic evil—you could never guess what they were thinking.
"Up ahead… can we get through? Would turning back work?" Salian voiced his doubts. "If worst comes to worst, we abandon the ship."
Let alone an adult dragon—even a young dragon was beyond their ability to handle. A few blasts of poisonous breath, and everyone on board would be left collapsing and foaming at the mouth.
"There's a plain ahead, roughly fifteen to twenty kilometers away."
"Then let's try moving forward." Salian knew that heading north was unrealistic. "I wonder what Silver Scale Bay is like now?"
"I suspect the Underdark was the first place where planar fusion occurred. Those subterranean creatures may have formed an alliance—Baldur's Gate is probably unable to hold…" Anser could only infer based on the information they had, but the likelihood was high.
Moreover, he suspected that these disasters were only the tip of the iceberg. Across Toril, there might be even greater upheavals unfolding, ones that simply had not yet spread.
"Everything's in chaos…" Salian turned to look at the jungle and fell silent for a long time.
Anser, on the other hand, had grown accustomed to it. When he transmigrated here, disaster had followed like a shadow. Now that he had avoided the calamity at Silver Scale Bay, he was finally one step ahead of catastrophe—something worth celebrating.
...
The Quesser continued sailing. Its speed topped out at only two or three knots. Trees were everywhere, making it impossible to go any faster.
As they traveled on, the waterway gradually began to veer toward the southwest.
The waterway's left side was a sea cliff. Atop the cliff was the relatively low Cloakwood, while on the right was the primeval jungle. Every moment, many dinosaurs tried to find ways to run from the primeval jungle into Cloakwood, afraid that if they were even a step slow, they would miss the buffet.
It wasn't that Abeir was stronger than Toril. Cloakwood was close to human civilization, with fewer ferocious giant beasts and monsters. Abeir had no human civilization, and most places were extremely primitive, with countless monsters and wild beasts.
Anser didn't start roaming around recklessly just because his strength had increased. He sat on the ship honestly. Among the dinosaurs, besides the Challenge Rating 8 tyrannosaurus, there were also several kinds of colossal dinosaurs, such as giant pterosaurs, horned dinosaurs, and massive apex dinosaurs—creatures whose strength was not even inferior to many dragons.
However, even staying on the ship, he didn't get any peace and quiet. The various dinosaurs in the forest were far too rampant. They didn't take "frail" humanoids seriously at all, and scattered attacks never stopped.
Anser refused no one who came. Even a Deinonychus could be dealt with using two casts of Ray of Frost. Over the course of most of the day, he harvested several hundred more experience points.
Most Deinonychus had fewer than 30 Hit Points—true glass-cannon assassins. Their speed was fast, but not faster than a ray.
During that time, he also captured two live four-winged Microraptor. This kind of creature was about the size of a chicken, good at hunting in the woods, and extremely agile.
But when facing two tiny dinosaurs with neither high Intelligence nor strong attributes, his Friends failed repeatedly.
It wasn't an issue of strength. The Microraptor had just been captured and was still in a combat state, with strong hostility, and it wouldn't accept his "charm."
Anser wasn't in a hurry. He would lock them up first and let them go hungry for two meals. This thing was like training a hawk—it needed a bit of time, little by little.
...
At dusk, the Quesser docked against a towering giant tree.
The jungle at night was extremely dangerous. Salian gave the order early to stop the ship and found a relatively wide stretch of waterway to rest.
No lights were lit on the ship. Even the windows of the first-floor dining hall were covered with black cloth, to prevent any light from leaking out.
Salian deliberately arranged for crew members with darkvision to stand watch, so at least they wouldn't be discovered by monsters climbing aboard before they noticed.
In one corner of the dining hall, the crew who had finished dinner were ordered to go down and rest. Unless necessary, they were not to go up on deck.
Anser, Salian, and Kaleno sat together, discussing tomorrow's arrangements.
The three of them were the ship's main combat strength, and their Intelligence was solid—they couldn't avoid worrying about it.
As for spellcasters like the first mate Colin and Kafka, they couldn't cast a single spell and had no choice but to handle some logistical work.
"We'll be able to leave the forest by tomorrow morning. The waterway merges into a river. The small river connects to a lake and a swamp. To the east of the lake is the edge of the Cloakwood—the terrain hasn't changed.
"There are tribes settled around the river and the swamp. I saw cooking smoke…" Anser explained what he had scouted during the day.
"Is the lake an Abeir lake, or is it still the original Sea of Swords?" Salian asked.
"Abeir," Anser replied with complete certainty.
"If necessary, we abandon the ship," Salian said through clenched teeth.
He was reluctant to part with the Quesser, but he also knew his responsibility was to bring everyone home.
"Yes, we head north along the coastal road," Kaleno proposed.
He was the one most opposed to heading south. His thoughts were entirely with his sister, whose fate was still unknown.
"We have to be responsible for all the crew. It might be better to head south to Candlekeep, get everyone settled, and then think of other options," Salian said. He understood Kaleno's feelings, but the area around Baldur's Gate was now practically a den of demons—there was no way to go there.
"It's too early to think about that now." Seeing Kaleno about to say more, Anser quickly spoke up. "I'm going to meditate. Strengthen the watch, and call me immediately if anything happens."
"Alright. Kaleno takes the first half of the night, I'll take the second," Salian nodded.
After a whole day, he had developed a deep hatred for dinosaurs as a category. If he wasn't fighting them, he was on the way to fighting them.
Anser gave a short acknowledgment, finished the tea in his cup, stood up, and went downstairs.
...
The primeval jungle wasn't home only to dinosaurs—any kind of creature could appear. For those adept at hunting at night, the little vigilance humanoids had was utterly clumsy. Being added to the menu was nothing strange.
Fortunately, the elven ship's hull was effectively a mobile fortress. It couldn't withstand artillery fire, but it was more than sufficient to fend off attacks from ordinary creatures.
At dawn, Anser felt the hull shudder as it began to slowly pick up speed, the sound of water parting against the ship echoing in his ears.
"Finally some peace and quiet." He rolled over, rested with his eyes closed for a moment, then sat up.
Last night, the deck was anything but quiet. Medium and small nocturnal predators kept following the scent and creeping aboard. Fortunately, the crew remained cautious, and with Nornoth lending a hand, there were no casualties.
The smell of blood drew in even more hunters. Those predators clustered along both sides of the waterway, only to become prey for other predators in turn. The surrounding jungle descended into chaos—slaughter, chases, and escapes lasting through the entire night. Everyone's nerves were stretched taut, and quite a few people didn't sleep at all.
The most energetic of all was actually Nornoth. After fighting for most of the night, it was still brimming with vitality and had earned more than two hundred experience points. If Anser hadn't forbidden it from leaving the ship, it might well have joined the mêlée on shore.
Salian stood at the bow, watching Nornoth climb back aboard after rinsing itself in the water, filled with emotion.
Truly, like master, like mount.
Anser ate a simple breakfast, then went to the bow to relieve Salian.
"Go eat. We'll be out of the forest in just a couple of kilometers. I'll ride ahead and take a look."
"Be careful," Salian nodded.
There were several primitive tribes up ahead. Scouting them in advance was a good idea—if Anser couldn't communicate with them, sending anyone else would be pointless.
Anser mounted Nornoth, leapt down from the deck, and rode forward along the waterway.
Near the forest's edge, animals were noticeably fewer. The waterway widened as well, and on both sides there were many footprints and traces of primitive civilization.
The sound of flowing water gradually grew louder. After rounding a massive tree, the view suddenly opened up.
A river twenty to thirty meters wide wound off into the distance. On the west bank stood a tribe, with rough wooden huts and tents made of animal hides. Many figures were busy at work. They were tall and powerfully built, roughly two meters in height, with thick body hair, large ears, and skin of a strange dark green or bronzed hue.
They don't seem to be Faerûn folk. Anser couldn't find any race in his memories that matched these physical traits.
Most surprising of all was that there were quite a number of dinosaurs within the tribe. The variety was broad, mainly medium and small carnivorous dinosaurs, and a few of the larger ones even bore simple saddles.
They can actually domesticate dinosaurs!
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