Chapter 98: Chapter 98
The Village Chief took out a map from a bag beside him. He rolled the map open, looking at it for a moment before opening his mouth, “Now, let us continue our discussion”, he said as he spread the map on the table before him. The Village Chief pointed his finger on somewhere on the map, “This here is our village”, he said. “The monster came from here and left from there”, The Village Chief explained, “Now, a few days ago, the patrol team that was sent by the central government was found dead. The cause of death was the same as what the monster had done to our villagers.”
The Village Chief then slammed his fist on the table in anger, “And that’s not all. The entire time that Lan Di had gone to Tailwind City, which is not pretty long at all, the monster showed his presence again by killing the animals from Old Zhang’s farm.” Long rubbed his chin, “Killing animals, eh” Long mumbled. The Village Chief continued, “But, because of that, the creature left a trail. Here”, he pointed at the painting of a waterfall. “The trail led to here”, the Village Chief emphasized, “The damn bastard must be hiding there. That explains why after all this time, we haven’t been able to find the damn thing.”
Eru raised his eyebrow, “And, why is that? Why not look there? From what I understand after looking at this picture, it’s quite nearby, is it not?” he asked. The Village Chief looked at Eru, “It’s not that we don’t want to. It’s because we could not”, the Village Chief said helplessly. “Explain”, Ling said, curious. The Village Chief cleared his throat before explaining, “It’s because if we want to go there, we have to pass this first”, he pointed at the forest separating the village and the waterfall basin.
“Don’t tell me….” Lan Di gasped. He suddenly realized something after the Village Chief pointed at that specific point in the forest. “Is it through that forest?” Lan Di asked, concerned. The Village Chief nodded, “You realized, Lan Di”, the Village Chief stroked his beard, “That forest is one of the forbidden places of our village. The Forest of Death, we call it.” Lan Di nodded; he added, “Yes, The Forest of Death. We call it that because nobody that entered it never came back alive.” Eru frowned, “That dangerous, huh?”
Both the Village Chief and Lan Di nodded simultaneously, “Yes. A few years ago, some adventurers party tried to challenge The Forest of Death. That adventurer’s party were quite powerful. One of them being an Aura Master. Yet, even they perish at the might of The Forest of Death”, the Village Chief explained. “Even so, with us working together, I’m confident in our chances of pursuing the despicable creature”, Long said with a confident wide smile. “Don’t decide that on your own”, Ling quipped, “So, Village Chief, can you tell us more about the Forest of Death?”
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The discussion lasted for almost half a day and time passed very quickly as the three of them, Eru, Ling and Long, prepared themselves for what looked like an arduous adventure. The next day, early in the morning precisely, Eru, Ling and Long grouped up right near the entrance of the village. “You guys have everything?” Ling asked as she strapped her backpack. “Yup”, Eru and Long nodded at the same time. “Good, we’ll depart now”, Ling said as she led the group at the front.
After going out of the village, the party went north, following an animal trail that Lan Di told them about yesterday. “Urgh, what rough terrain”, Eru complained as he shoved a leave from his face. Ling, too, was having a hard time. However, Long walked through the path like he took a stroll in the park. Eru looked annoyed at how Long easily traversed the path, “How come you’re alright?” Long only flashed a smile at Eru before continuing on his walk. Eru clicked his tongue, “Cheeky kid”, he grumbled.
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“Whew, finally, we’re here”, Eru wiped the sweat from his forehead. After hours of walking, the party finally arrived at the entrance of the Forest of Death. “This is it, huh? The famed Forest of Death?” Eru remarked. ‘Huh, it actually reminded me of a certain forest from back in my previous life with the same name,’ Eru thought in his head. “Let us check our equipment one more time before we head into the Forest of Death”, reminded Ling as she put down her backpack and opened it.
They all double-checked their opponent, “Right, let’s go”, Ling said as the group proceeded to enter the Forest of Death. “So this is inside the famed Forest of Death, huh? Doesn’t look so special to me”, Eru quipped. Ling clicked her tongue, “Don’t let your guard down. The fact that many people entered this place and they did not come out alive meant that the danger inside this place was real.” Eru nodded, “I know”, he said while remaining vigilant. Long frowned when he entered the Forest of Death. He felt some disturbance in nature as the hair at the back of his head stood erected.
“Something is not right within this place”, Long said while squinting his eyes, “Be careful”, he warned. Eru and Ling’s eyes turned serious as the three of them traversed the forest more carefully from now own. After traversing the Forest of Death for a while, they arrived at a pond inside the forest. “My intuition was right. There was something wrong inside this place”, Long worriedly said as he readied himself for battle. “What? I don’t sense….” Just as Ling was about to finish her sentence, she was interrupted by the sound of a very loud creature.
“Roar!”
A giant wolf appeared right on top of a massive boulder, looking down on the three of them. Then, the giant wolf howl, calling out his pack. Not long after, a bunch of wolves surrounded Eru, Ling and Long, each of them had mana inside of them. What’s worse, the giant wolf’s mana density was amazingly strong, to the point that the pressure Ling, Eru and Long felt was crushing to them. “No time to waste, quick, prepare yourself!” Ling barked. “On it!” Eru and Long replied at the same time as they let down their backpacks to the ground.
Eru unsheathed Buddy from its scabbard while Long pulled up his umbrella from out of nowhere. The latter stomped the ground with his umbrella, turning said umbrella into a staff. “You’re a mage?” Eru turned to look at Long. The latter smiled, “I am. Let us focus on our task at hand, brother Eru.” Eru clicked his tongue, “When am I not focused?” he said as he flared up his aura. The three of them faced the wolves pack and its alpha back to back, covering three angles.
Ling used her talisman to create a temporary barrier between the group and the wolves pack. She turned her attention towards Eru and Long, “My barrier won’t last long, but since time was short, we needed something to halt them so we can hatch up some plan.” Long nodded in agreement, “Right, thanks for the barrier. She is right; we need a plan of attack.” Eru clicked his tongue, “I have a plan, attack!” Eru said as he flared up his aura even more. Then, Eru left the barrier, wielding his sword by his side; Eru killed the wolves if they got in his way.
Eru pointed his sword at the giant wolf, “Come here, you big mutt”, Eru taunted as he jumped towards the giant wolf. “That bastard!” Ling cursed, her expression ugly. Long chuckled, “It’s fine. Let him have his fun”, he said as he smacked one of the wolves that managed to break through Ling’s barrier. While Ling and Long were busy fightings against the many wolves inside of the wolf pack, Eru was facing its alpha, the giant wolf.
Actually, Eru did not want to face the giant wolf alone and was planning to do this cooperating with Ling and Long. Eru felt that it was the best course of action considering the situation that he was in. However, suddenly inside of Eru’s mind, something that did not show itself for a while buzzed in.
*DING*
QUEST AVAILABLE
Kill the Death Wolves all by yourself
QUEST REWARD: 150 Fate Points
QUEST PENALTY: Become paralysed for a six months
*DING*
“Fucking system, giving me something hard to do in exchange for my body”, Eru mumbled, “With you being silent for a long time, I even forgot that I have a system in the first place.” Eru glanced at the system interface and found that his fate point was in over one hundred. Eru alternatingly looked at the system interface and the giant wolf in front of him. “I’m sorry giant wolf, but you’re just prey for me to get stronger”, Eru said as he brandished his sword towards the roaring giant wolf.
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