Post-Apocalyptic Dispatch Society

The scorpion poison didn't cause any changes to her Mutated Beast once the Klock grew its fifth head. But, it still mildly strengthened her body.

A few days later, Xuna realised that this poison and the leaves worked like a drug that allowed her to skip months of training in a day, thanks to them working synergically with her Nacre.

This allowed her to truly tap into the physique of a Horned Human, capable of jumping to a height of two metres easily. And this was just the growth of a few days.

Even though there was no body tempering effect in their power System, that was only true until Stage 4. Once they reached Stage 5, they could transform into their Mutated Beast, able to rely on its tough body to tank attacks better.

So, by reaching the peak of her physique now, Xuna would be able to tap into her physical strength at Stage 5 better.

A week after arriving in this forest, Xuna was currently slinging from one tree to another, carrying a backpack made out of the banyan tree's secondary roots. Stored in it were a variety of seeds, stems, etc. of various precious plants that she came across, each giving her a benefit of their own.

In order to plant them at home, she scooped enough. It wasn't just the plant products that she scooped, Xuna also brought the grotesque-looking scorpion with her, not to mention a bunch of scorpion eggs that she chanced upon.

There were also eggs of a variety of insects that all seemed to affect her Mutated Beast's evolution. Unfortunately, her Klock didn't seem to be budding the sixth head anytime soon.

Xuna continued to swing for a couple of hours until her hands hurt. She stopped atop a branch to eat the rations that she had procured, resting for an hour before resuming her journey.

Thankfully, the trees here were tall, each at least twenty metres high, allowing her to have wide swings and travel at a pretty quick pace, faster than if she were to walk the distance.

Xuna travelled for four days in such a fashion before coming across a river, surprised to see such a large stream, arriving at a stop along its banks as she muttered in surprise, "The water here is so…fresh!"

There was a layer of pebbles covering the river bed, ensuring the water wasn't polluted with mud or anything of the like, keeping it crystalline.

She scooped some water and drank, smacking her lips in wonder at its taste, couldn't help but exclaim, "How come news regarding such a river wasn't known to the Empire?"

Rivers were usually long, spanning a massive stretch as they kept large landmasses fertile. And since humans were always in search of fresh water to live with, they would have chanced upon a river of such a scale, especially considering the water's pure taste.

Just the sheer breadth of the river seemed to surpass two kilometres, so it was massive while the depth was at least thirty to forty metres.

A river of such a scale was enough to support multiple kingdoms, especially considering its high rate of flow.

It meant that a lot of fresh water was flowing nonstop, enough to feed a large population, at least in the millions.

"Hmm, I'm curious now." She muttered, feeling a strange itch in her senses as she was aware that there was something here that would benefit her. And of course, since that was the cause for her being dropped here in the first place, she didn't wish to miss it.

Xuna retraced her steps, finding a tree with a wide enough trunk in the forest as she switched to the canon state of her weapon and blasted it down. Following that, she used its assault form to blast dozens of bullets, cutting out a concave section in the trunk where she could take a comfortable seat within.

She then used the strong thrust from her rocket to smoothen out the cut surface before smearing soft topsoil through it, ensuring the place was cushioning enough.

The boat spanned a length of five metres and was almost three metres wide. Her work on it was rough at best, but it was enough to row it on the river.

She grabbed a few branches to use as rows but didn't have any plans to do so, for she had a better alternative.

She didn't row the boat immediately as Xuna was aware that the journey might take time. Hence, she made preparations, collecting as much food as possible, including herbs, fruits, nuts, meat, etc.

There was also a set of rope that she had created out of the banyan tree's secondary roots, tying everything into a neat bundle as she placed them in the seating area of the boat, taking a seat as she used her grappling hook to latch onto a tree closer to the banks of the river.

As the grappling hook tugged, Xuna held onto the boat tightly, causing it to move towards the shone before it gained some momentum, allowing it to slide into the river.

Xuna immediately switched her weapon to its rocket form, facing it back as the thrust it unleashed allowed the boat to move upstream. After gaining some initial momentum, she switched over to the grappling hook, using her ability to control its ropes to make them act like an extension of her hands.

The rope coiled around the rows and paddled the boat forward. This demanded less effort than moving the rows by human effort. After all, while controlling the boat, Xuna could casually eat some food to replenish her expended Nacre.

Moreover, she was surrounded with fresh water to drink and hence wasn't worried about being blown downstream eventually once she tired herself.

The reason she was rowing upstream was to head to the source of the river first. And from there, she would map out its route until its end, hoping to chance upon some civilisation at least at one stretch of the river or another.

Even now, she couldn't find any end to the forest; Xuna felt that it was faster to travel on the water than through the forest. At least, travelling downstream took no effort. All she had to do was sit on her boat and act cute.

The river currents would do all the work.

The boat continued to move upstream as Xuna focused all her attention on Coincidental Luck, alert on her senses, feeling that from time to time, she was able to sense something mystical.

Rhizen was constantly supplying her with Coincidental Luck after all. And since she was constantly expending it to chance upon various beneficial encounters throughout her journey, Xuna was gradually getting accustomed to sensing it better and better.

From day to night, following with another day and so on, the boat continued to move upstream as even though Xuna was getting tired by now, she was also getting a lot of expertise in using her abilities.

When she was too tired, she rowed her boat to the banks and stopped there for some rest. During this time, she used her gun to aim at her targets for shooting practice. After tying her boat to a tree, Xuna used her rocket to fly into the air, surveying the surroundings to see the same expansive forest as usual.

But on the morning of the fifth day, while surveying from the air, as usual, she noticed the river thinning out in the front, watching a waterfall farther back that fed into the start of the river, "I'm close to the source!"

Xuna stared at the massive mountain that seemed to pierce the sky, with more than half of its top covered with snow.

The melting of the snow was what resulted in the waterfall which fed into the river that flowed downstream.

Now that she was able to see it, Xuna was excited, unwilling to waste any more time resting as she rowed her boat faster. The closer she approached the source, the weaker the water currents became, allowing her to sail faster as soon after, thundering sounds of the waterfall were all that she was able to hear.

The air was somewhat chill due to the moisture resulting from the cold waterfall, causing her body to tremble a bit soon after. Xuna wrapped a makeshift rug made from the banyan tree's secondary roots, feeling a tad better as she parked her boat nearby, moving it up on the land to ensure it wouldn't be swept away.

After that, Xuna blasted forth using her rocket, heading straight for the waterfall as she moved to the side after a while, landing on a protruding rock to stare from the height, observing the massive land beneath her.

She was already at a height of a kilometre within a minute of travel, staring at the vast forest stretch as she roared, "Wooo! Hooo!"

The sights of the place refreshed her, for this was the first time since childhood that Xuna could truly appreciate the wonders of nature, having lived only to gather intel on her enemies until now.

She then stared up, smiling as once she recovered, she used her rocket to take flight once again, heading toward the snow-capped region.