It was actually easier than before to cut a path through the corruption energy.
Even though we were heading towards the center of where the corruption energy came from, which should have made it even stronger, it didnât seem like that was happening. It seemed like we had caused quite a bit of damage to the corruption energy that it wasnât able to gather its power again.
Or at least, it didnât seem like it was even trying to gather.
It seemed like there was something else that was drawing the attention of the corruption energy, something that was much further up.
If that was the case, then that could be a good sign...or it could be a bad sign.
Something that could affect the corruption energy definitely wouldnât be a normal thing.
So whatever it was...I really hoped that it was something good for us.
After a while of clearing a path, I asked the eldest gnome, "Which way should we go?"
The eldest gnome didnât say anything as he looked around the area, but it didnât seem like he was finding anything.
So in the end, he said, "If we keep going forward, weâll reach the capital where the corruption energy first appeared. But even if it is the place that the corruption energy appeared first in, that doesnât mean that there would be anything worth searching there. Unless I can find a trail, we wonât be certain of anything."
"A trail, huh?" I couldnât help saying to myself before turning to Ariel.
She was surprised that I was looking at her like this, but she did understand why I was giving her this look.
That was why she raised the scarf and released the mist.
As soon as the mist spread, it started scattering the thinned out corruption energy that was around us. With the mist spreading, it didnât take long before an area was completely purified of this corruption energy.
"Can you find the Call of Home now?" I asked the eldest gnome.
The eldest gnome suddenly trembled before he stopped looking around. He turned back to look at me with narrowed eyes before asking, "How do you know about that?"
I calmly looked at him as I said, "It was how we found your group in the first place."
The eldest gnome couldnât help narrowing his eyes even more when he heard this.
He didnât say anything as he continued looking at me like this.
Once again, there was doubt that appeared in his eyes as he looked at me like this.
But I didnât say anything as I looked back at him with a calm look on my face.
The Dwarven King was the one that broke the silence by saying, "We donât have time to do this."
The eldest gnome looked at me one last time before he said, "Weâll have to look around, but I can smell the scent of it in the air. Itâs just that itâs being covered up by the corruption energy."
Once he said this, he turned around to the other gnomes and said something to them in private.
All of them looked at me with a strange look that seemed to be filled with mistrust, but they split up to do what the eldest gnome told them to do in the end.
All of them started looking around for something before one of them suddenly said, "Over here!"
The other gnomes immediately reacted to this and came over to take a look at what he was pointing to.
I also went over to take a look.
The moment that I came over, I could see the same thing as before.
It was a flow of mana leading in a certain direction.
But with the way that the gnomes were acting, it was clear that they were seeing more than just the flow of mana. Or it was better to say that they had a different sensation of the effect that was left here.
The Call of Home potion that I mentioned was a special potion that gnomes used.
Basically, this was a special potion that was made for the gnomes to track each other down if they were lost.
It had a special reaction that only gnomes would be able to pick up, which was why it was called Call of Home. It was the way home for the gnomes.
But since it had this function, that meant that it had a special importance to the gnomes.
This was something that they didnât want the other races to know since this was an item that was used to secure the safety of the gnomes. If the other races knew about this, then it would no longer be safe to use it.
Which was why they had reacted so strongly when I asked about it.
Once they found the trace of the Call of Home, the gnomes didnât waste any time in following it.
With the gnomes leading the way, I was able to take a more passive role in the group. I still had to take care of the corruption energy and the strange creatures around us, but I didnât have to lead the way anymore.
The gnomes were in charge of that.
"Did you have to provoke them like that?" The Dwarven King suddenly asked when he moved back to my side.
I looked at him with an innocent smile as I said, "I have no idea what youâre talking about."
The Dwarven King slightly knitted his brows before saying, "You know exactly what Iâm saying, thereâs no point in acting like you donât know."
With him looking at me like this, I finally said, "It had to be said sooner or later. Or else once they learned how we were able to find them, what do you think their reaction would have been?"
The Dwarven King didnât say anything in response, but it was clear that he didnât approve based on the look on his face.
In the end, he just said with a sigh, "Try to play nice with them."
I just looked back with a faint smile on my face.