Because the armor quality in the arena was poor with terrible flexibility, Regina had been forced to wrap herself before.
"Light F, heavy G."
"What did you say?"
"I said I don't want F or G grade beasts."
"The lowest beast grade is F grade, right? There's a G grade?" Regina asked, completely confused.
"Oh, I remembered wrong." Leon responded without batting an eye.
After all the supplies were prepared, Leon spent money to rent a private plane, then flew all the way east.
Crossing through the Wind Abyss Ridge mountains, they arrived at the edge of the Lost Swamp.
Lost Swamp, year-round covered by mysterious fog, surrounded by treacherous environment, with powerful dark-type beasts occupying this land. It could be called forbidden territory for humans.
If not for Leon adding more money, people wouldn't even want to fly this way. Even so, they only agreed to approach the edge area.
Just like that, ten miles from the Lost Swamp, Leon and Regina jumped out and parachuted to land.
"In these deep mountains and forests, it's just the two of us now."
Hearing the plane engine's roar disappear into the horizon, Leon joked to the Black Dragon Valkyrie beside him, who was still half a head taller than him.
Glancing at her young boss, Regina was too lazy to talk.
She didn't quite understand why Leon came here. Wind Abyss Ridge also had many beasts, including some powerful high-level ones.
Though Wind Abyss Ridge was also considered dangerous, compared to the Lost Swamp, it really paled in comparison.
But no matter what, Leon was her boss. Whatever he said, she'd just do it.
"Alright, let's keep heading that way." Leon took the lead toward the Lost Swamp direction.
Over the next few days, the two began wandering around the edge of the Lost Swamp.
Harassment from poisonous insects and snakes became routine. Every now and then some low-level E-grade beasts came to throw their lives away.
Beast levels were divided into seven grades: S, A, B, C, D, E, F.
F-grade were all juvenile or pet-level beasts. This grade was basically more cute than combat. E-grade could only be said to have a tiny bit of killing power.
E and F grades were generally products for rookie beast tamers to practice with initially. Only juveniles with evolution charts had any possibility of being kept.
Leon's beast space had close to fifty magic energy. Obviously he wasn't here to practice.
He'd already planned it out. This time out, his first contracted beast had to be at least C-grade.
After wandering for several days, the two hadn't seen a single human.
You could tell how dangerous this place was. Regular adventurers didn't dare set foot here.
Regina had also relaxed. If they just stayed in the edge areas of the Lost Swamp, as a four-star warrior, she was confident in guaranteeing their safety.
That unknown area ahead covered by white mist made her feel uneasy just looking at it.
Supposedly, quite a few human experts were buried in there.
"We're going in tomorrow."
"Huh?"
By the campfire, Regina, who was holding a roasted chicken and chewing with bulging cheeks, was startled by his words and didn't react for a moment.
That look was actually somewhat cute.
Getting along with Regina these past days, Leon discovered this girl wasn't just well-endowed, her appetite was huge too.
A rice-eating champion with an appetite rivaling Luffy.
But her absorption was obviously good. After all, some girls don't gain weight no matter how much they eat, while this dragon-blooded warrior woman not only gained weight, it all went to the right places.
At this moment, Regina also seemed to realize what he meant. Her eyes widened, and she pointed her finger toward the distance, at that expanse of white fog still visible in the night.
"There?"
Leon nodded, confirming Regina's guess.
Getting the answer, Regina buried her head in eating and said no more.
"Your food intake tonight seems to have increased quite a bit."
"At least I'll have energy to run from whatever kills us."
"What's all this talk about death? Say something auspicious. I'm not done living yet."
Faced with Regina's helpless, annoyed look, Leon felt both amused and relieved.
Though this girl had some temper in her heart, she didn't stop or question his decision, but chose to accept it.
Regina herself probably hadn't realized that toward Leon, she was beginning to develop an emotion called trust.
"You're really a lunatic."
After finishing dinner and leaving that comment, Regina stood up and walked into her tent.
No objections were no objections, but complaints still had to be made...
Leon smiled slightly, then turned his gaze toward that eerie, sinister white fog.
Entering the Lost Swamp wasn't a reckless decision made on a whim.
During these days circling the fog's edge, he'd done quite a bit of preparation work.
In a certain direction on the outer edge, he'd buried a pearl. This pearl and a compass were a matching set.
The compass needle would always point toward the pearl's location.
Together, they ensured he wouldn't lose direction in the Lost Swamp.
This little trinket was also something he'd scavenged from the Mystic Ruins palace.
As long as they didn't get lost, everything would be fine.
After preparing the next day, the two advanced toward the Lost Swamp.
"I'll clear the path ahead."
Regina directly pushed Leon behind her, volunteering to take the lead in her armor, wielding her massive halberd to clear the way.
This woman...
Looking at that reassuring tall figure, Leon rubbed his nose, grinned, and went along with it.
A rope that could be released and retracted at any time connected their waists. After all, nobody knew what would happen after going in. What if some mysterious force separated them?
Entering the white fog, Leon pulled out the compass. After confirming the directional indicator wasn't affected by the fog, he signaled Regina to continue forward.
At first, visibility was less than ten feet, but as they gradually went deeper, the surrounding white fog gradually thinned, and visibility increased to nearly thirty feet.
"Don't walk straight. Go left."
Following Leon's plan, the two made a turn and began exploring horizontally in the shallow areas, rather than blindly heading deeper.
But a day passed with still no gains. Apart from unevenly distributed swamp land and some dead black trees, forget beasts, they hadn't even found a rat.
But it had to be said, this Lost Swamp was genuinely terrifying.
Low visibility, desolate, loss of directional sense, plus the high similarity of the eerie scenery. In this claustrophobic environment, normal people would probably have a mental breakdown sooner or later.
Good thing they traveled together. If it were just one person, they probably would've already run back.
That night, the two were forced to camp again.
"Give me the other tent."
After setting up one tent, Regina held out her hand to Leon.
But unexpectedly, Leon waved his hand and said seriously:
"Tonight we're sleeping in one tent."