The Gamer's POV-Chapter 182: End of the Puppeteer’s Grove

After her motivational speech, the heavy, suffocating atmosphere seemed to lift a bit, seeing as most of the crowd had successfully swapped their existential dread for a sense of heroic duty.

Aurora then pointed to the map and continued. "As we are all aware, the journey to the Home of the Hollow Ones is expected to take at least a month. My party and I have mapped out the safest possible routes, but naturally, everything here is unpredictable. So we must remain prepared for the unexpected."

Aurora’s bond narrowed the map’s focus, zooming in on the jagged territory of the Hollow Ones.

"Once we reach our destination, we will no longer be moving as a single, collective force... at least, not initially. Each party will need to spread out to locate and eliminate the Red Bridge monsters. During this final week before we depart, I strongly advise the smaller parties to meet up and coordinate with larger groups willing to take them in. It will increase your chances of survival, and more importantly, ensure we have the strength necessary to destroy every last one of those monsters."

She paused for a bit as murmurs rose again.

Of course, it would be difficult for smaller parties to partner up with the larger ones unless they were made up of exceptionally strong cadets. The bigger groups would only be looking for high-level talent to fill their ranks, and once they got enough members, they wouldn’t be accepting anyone else.

Aurora then added, "If you are unable to join one of the big parties, then I think it’s best if you merge with the other smaller groups around you. Try to have a decent number in your party. Small groups will not survive."

The space grew a bit tense after her last words, but Aurora continued even more seriously. "Now, I do not know what strategies your individual parties have prepared, but I have one more piece of advice. As some of you are already aware, we know very little about the Hollow Ones, save for the fact that they possess a ninety-five percent immunity to magic. Therefore, it is vital that those at the forefront of your parties are those with Regalias or those who excel in physical combat."

...Little was known about the Home of the Hollow Ones. In the past, people simply didn’t survive the territory long enough to document it, and almost everyone else just avoided it entirely. After all, back then, there was no reason to go there. No bridge had ever appeared in that region before.

The few who had managed to survive and escape had very little to report, but one fact remained consistent. And that was that the hollow ones were not just excellent combatants, but they also possessed a ninety-five percent immunity to magical attacks.

"I also have a bit of information that we did not know before now," Aurora muttered, before looking at Leon and nodding.

Earlier today, Cedric had Leon go and tell Aurora about the only weakness of the hollow ones. Leon also used that opportunity to tell her just how many red bridge monsters there would be this eclipse.

Aurora looked at the crowd again and continued. "The hollow ones have an excellent defense. However, they all have a single weakness. From what I have learned, they each have a small opening in their chest. If you strike it, you can hit their heart directly."

As the murmurs from the cadets returned, Leon, who was standing beside Cedric, tapped him hard on the back, causing him to wince and rub the spot.

When Cedric turned to him with killing intent, Leon just smiled and asked, "By the way, how did you know about the weakness of the hollow ones?"

Cedric exhaled. "I told you, didn’t I? I have good eyes just like yours. No, wait... I think I have better eyes."

Leon stiffened, and when Cedric saw the jealousy on Leon’s face, he smiled because he felt so, so good.

Meanwhile, Aurora continued. "Another thing I found out is that there will be about fifteen red bridge monsters for this lunar eclipse. That number is enough to ensure that everyone is able to get the red bridge energy."

The tense atmosphere somehow grew even more intense. Despite the fact that there were enough red bridge monsters for everyone, that number just made destroying the red bridge even harder.

Aurora continued on with the last of the plan and finalized the routes, including the escape paths the parties were to follow after the bridge was destroyed.

Later on, after the meeting was over, all the party leaders and those they had brought with them headed back to their respective parties.

***

The mood in the grove remained grim and tense over the course of the next few days. Even the mood at Cedric’s party was the same. Everyone spent the days in restless preparation.

Like Aurora had advised, many of the smaller parties sought out the larger ones to join. Some were lucky, and those that weren’t ended up joining other smaller groups. Many cadets also sought out the cadet merchants to purchase things, but unfortunately, by this time, there was not a lot that could be bought from them.

Things like elixirs had long been sold out, and even basic supplies were becoming hard to find. So it seemed that people would have to make do without them and manage whatever resources they had left.

Aside from that, unsurprisingly, many people around the grove spent the remaining days training in physical combat.

Luckily for a party like Cedric’s, long before now, Leon had taken it upon himself to train the other members during the day in the art of physical combat. They had trained every day even before they went for their level-up quest. When they came back to the war, they continued to train after it, and they trained even harder. Because of that, they were already getting used to fighting without relying on their skills.

As for Cedric, well, aside from the combat experience he got from the level-up quests, he too spent his time training. Both he and Aika would train every day using the combat tutorials, and by now, they had gotten quite proficient at fighting in sync. In fact, by now, Cedric was fairly confident in his combat ability even without the help of the combat tutorials.

Another thing to note was that long before now, Cedric had met up with Dion and told him to not drink, but instead to purchase and save as much alcohol as possible. Because of that, Dion had been especially sober and hadn’t used his bonded ability in a while.

The reason for this was that although everyone knew that magic did not work on the hollow ones, Cedric knew that bonded abilities did.

As for why bonded abilities worked, well, that was because they were not magic but rather authorities. They did not use external forces like mana. Instead, they were rights given to dominants to command reality itself.

That aside...

The days flew by really quickly. Before Cedric knew it, the day to finally depart the Puppeteer’s Grove forever had arrived.