His training plan was already too dense, and more importantly, he soon had a rare opportunity to research with Rowan. This was a golden opportunity to learn the basic foundations of this world's magic system—something Theo had had suffered from for so long.

  Therefore, the idea of increasing Mana absorption efficiency, though attractive, could be shelved for later. Currently, his mental force still hadn't developed to the most optimal level to match his body's capability. He didn't want momentary haste. If he too greedy and pushing himself, stress risk would be very high, and Theo absolutely didn't want to risk that.

  Since that night, time passed swiftly under the Night Hawk's disciplined routine. Amid the dense training schedule, Theo prioritized spending each evening with Rowan to begin the research project and fill in his knowledge gaps about magic. Rowan became his reluctant magical advisor—indeed, she was a treasure trove of precious knowledge for Theo's nomadic Mage life. Rowan's extremely timely discoveries not only helped Theo gain deeper understanding about Al but also about the little Pidgey's Beast Transformation capability.

  It was another quiet evening, with only the distant sound of Liam and Torvin conversing in the background. Theo and Rowan were concentrating on mental probing of Al. Thanks to Rowan's guidance, Theo had gained sufficient knowledge to use mental force to observe the little Pidgey's body.

  Theo's concentration reached its peak. Under Rowan's direction, he could now gently penetrate Al's interior with mental force. Theo saw Al's internal organs functioning vigorously, blood circulating extremely fast, bone joints growing increasingly solid—just as Rowan had predicted.

  At this point, Rowan withdrew her mental force. Her glasses reflected firelight as she whispered almost to herself, voice tense: "Mana truly exists... though very little. It's not natural Mana, but a special form—more active and easier to absorb."

  Theo only remained silent. He understood clearly his Mana perception ability was far inferior to a true Mage like Rowan. He paused, then asked softly, going straight to the core: "Does this affect Al in any way?"

  Rowan raised her index finger, lightly twirling a loose bright red curl—an unconscious action displaying intense concentration. Behind her glasses, her eyes were profoundly deep, her face dotted with small freckles across nose and cheeks radiating the austere contemplation of a scientist standing before an incorrect formula.

  She spoke slowly, each word carefully weighed: "It's not like the Beast Transformation process I've known. Remember, traditional Beast Transformation is when entities mutate, relying on an innate ability to attract and force Mana to adapt to the body while simultaneously forcing the body to transform to receive Mana—this bidirectional process creates a completely new individual, a Magic Beast. But this case..."

  After hesitating a moment, she looked at Theo with uncertain eyes: "But Al... is more like a Warrior. That's right, Al's body is consuming Mana, not being forced to transform by Mana. Though I haven't researched long, clearly Al's body is using Mana for secondary development—truly a strange phenomenon. Perhaps give me a bit more time."

  A glimmer hidden deep in Theo's eyes, he replied calmly: "No rush. We have time."

  So it continued—research and study. Before long, the twentieth day since beginning the journey had arrived.

  The merchant convoy had traveled deep into a completely new region, a land where old maps had almost no value: The Colossal Oak Forest Zone.

  Magnificent oak trees stretched upward, massive trunks like fossilized wooden skyscrapers, their canopies so dense that they completely blocked out the sunlight. The ground sank into a ghostly gray-green light, eternally cold.

  Instead of fog, the air at the forest floor hung heavy with a bitterly cold fine mist, formed from condensed water vapor mixed with millions of tiny dispersing fungal spores. Colossal mushroom colonies grew at the oaks' feet, caps spreading up to two meters wide—the forest's only light source, emitting weak bioluminescent jade green or pale purple light. In that ghostly illumination, enormous Night Moths with hand-span wingspans flew about, their jade green perfectly blending with the mushroom colors for camouflage.

  The ecosystem here was equally bizarre. Fungal Vipers coiled beneath or around the giant mushroom stems—the points retaining the highest local heat in the cold forest. This not only helped them maintain necessary body temperature but transformed those warm spots into traps attracting prey species. Meanwhile, massive Oak Scalers, with scales hard as oak bark, hid in trunk crevices, their skin constantly changing color with mushroom light to hunt. Sable greatly favored them—sometimes a lizard would suddenly shoot its tongue to catch a night moth right near her face, making her eyes flash with delight. She was so entranced that Rowan had to hold her hand and lead her like a child, otherwise the Night Hawk's cold assassin would have gotten lost long ago from staring at lizards.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  This environment placed heavy pressure on all senses. The air carried a distinctive scent, a thick mixture of damp earth, rotting wood and fungi, creating an unpleasant sensation. For the unaccustomed, continuous breathing in this spore-rich environment could quickly lead to drowsiness or even hallucinations. Theo clearly heard Torvin's small curse: "Damn it, my boots are completely soaked."

  The fungus-scented air and toxic spores of the Colossal Oak Forest Zone required the merchant convoy to equip themselves with specialized protective gear.

  All members moved in silence, bodies wrapped tight as thick cocoons. Everyone wore dark brown thick cloth masks, internally treated with special herbal filters, helping them resist the hallucination-inducing smell and filter the fine spore mist.

  To counter the bone-penetrating damp cold of the forest floor, they donned heavy two-layer outfits: the outer layer was leather treated with oil for absolute moisture protection, repelling water vapor and spore mist, while the middle layer was thick animal fur to keep the body warm most effectively. Every movement was slow and heavy. Their heads were carefully protected by scarves or hoods, leaving no exposed skin for fungi or insects to contact.

  On their feet, they wore high-topped waterproof boots with anti-slip soles, combined with thick warming socks, ensuring stability and dryness on the ground made slippery by decaying vegetation carpet.

  Inexperience quickly became a knife cutting into the two recruits' flesh.

  After just two hours of movement, Theo realized his fatal mistake: his cloth outfit and ordinary leather jacket were operating like moisture-absorbing sponges. The cold didn't just cling to skin but penetrated bone marrow, making knee joints numb.

  "Damn it," Theo cursed silently, teeth chattering. He observed Finn walking ahead. Finn's leather coat was glossy, like water pouring over taro leaves. Oil treatment.

  Immediately, Theo rummaged through his bag, pulling out a jar of animal fat he'd accumulated.

  "Liam, stop," Theo ordered, voice trembling with cold. "Spread this on boots and clothes. It's not specialized oil, but fat will temporarily block water."

  This emergency measure helped them hold out a while longer, but ultimately they still required Rowan's rescue. The mage lady performed water-separation spells while teasing: "Clever, but next time remember to ask me before improvising—anyway, I have a bottle of specialized moisture-proof oil here."

  This reluctant dependence on Rowan's magic dealt a heavy blow to their training schedule, forcing Theo and Liam to temporarily suspend all training plans during these arduous travel days.

  But the truly worrying problem was Al couldn't fly in this environment—it was too humid, his wings quickly became waterlogged, and he couldn't breathe naturally, causing the little Pidgey constantly sneeze. He could only travel on the cart with Rowan, who would carefully care for Al—after all, they'd gradually grown accustomed to each other recently.

  In the dense darkness, the convoy's only lighting wasn't ordinary campfires but blue-flame oil lamps. These flames burned persistently, produced almost no smoke and were very difficult to extinguish by moisture. Their eerie blue-green light blended with the weak bioluminescence from giant mushrooms, creating a moving space both mystical and affirming the merchant convoy's professionalism and survival experience in the harshest lands.

  However, for Liam, this scenery produced quite an unpleasant effect. He became noticeably timid, nestling closer to Theo. The overwhelming gloom combined with the cold blue-green light from oil lamps haunted him, evoking childhood memories of late nights when Theo told horror stories to frighten him. Theo did this because sometimes Liam was too boisterous and liked seeking danger from adventures he considered exciting.

  The merchant convoy didn't navigate by sun and stars to distinguish direction; magical tools were also easily disrupted in this environment. They relied on two ancient survival secrets of the forest:

  First was using Luminus Bloom mushrooms. This mushroom type attracted a small insect called the Northern Firefly Beetle, that secreted a substance which consistently pointed northward. Therefore, these luminescent beetles always perched in dense clusters on the north-facing side of mushrooms, forming a perfect "biological compass" for the experienced.

  Second was reading native signs. Local people had left simple directional markers, carved on oak trunks or flat stone slabs, placed at prominent intersections or right beside luminescent mushroom clusters. Combining the strange guidance of Luminus mushrooms and the secret directions of native inhabitants, the merchant convoy could navigate, cutting through the matrix of ancient oaks and deadly spore mist.

  Theo overheard Finn say they were only two days away from Mycelia, and he couldn't hide his hope to quickly escape this damp hell. Not because he anticipated anything in the new city, but only because he longed to end days of continuously soaked clothing and training schedules suspended by the bone-penetrating moisture of the Oak Forest Zone.