NOVEL NEXT 97 - Dead Forest
After the ominous red light that illuminated the eastern sky and frightened the targ had faded, Div took the time to channel Echoes of the Rot Heart and heal his wounds.
He knew it wasn't what Medunir had prescribed, but the situation called for it.
It would leave more scars, but he didn't have time to rest and recover. He didn't want to stay here longer than he had to, and the others agreed.
"On the bright side," Lugsellos said, trying to defuse the tension. "I gained a level to my archery skill and another to Sense Emotion. You guys being scared is benefiting me."
"I wasn't scared," Ambisena humphed. "But I did reach level 10 with Spear. Not sure if I deserve it, I wasn't very useful in the fight."
"I also got a level to my Sword skill," Segorix said. "We're catching up to Div and En. Soon, they won't be the only Evolved Rank of our year."
"I wish evolving was that easy…" Lug said. "Took them nearly three years after reaching level 10. And that's considered fast."
As soon as Div was done with his recovery and the sun peeked above the eastern range, they were ready to resume their journey.
Of course, the thought of giving up on the mission crossed their minds. They were only a day's travel away from Camboaci, and they almost lost their lives.
"With what we saw, our mission is even more important than we thought," Lugesellos argued. "Let's just be careful, but we need to scout ahead."
"Shouldn't we report what we saw?" Segorix asked. "I want to keep going, but it seems important."
"Theaphilia has Ascended Rank sky magic," Div said, shaking his head. "There's no way she didn't notice. As for the targ, it's not worth reporting."
"I agree," Ambisena said. "Stop stalling. Let's go."
She started walking north, and the others followed.
They kept to their plan to follow the Lien River north. They were still two days away from the place where the river veered eastward, toward the eastern range.
In the calm forest, the agitation of the night felt almost surreal. The only sounds reaching their ears were the wind riffling the foliage and the river water flowing through rocks and crevices.
"You know," Segorix said. "I'm just going to say what we're all thinking: that crimson light is not simple magic. The last time we saw a phenomenon so intense was when Elenvind came."
"Let's hope there isn't a Transcendent Rank behind it…" Lug sighed.
If there was, nobody would be able to do anything. There were some humans above the Ascended Rank. But contacting one was nearly unthinkable. Reaching this rank was almost impossible, and with their long lifespan, it was hard for them to care about regular people and their problems.
A Transcendent Rank was closer to a natural disaster than a person. They did things beyond comprehension, and those affected could only react. They could not stop them.
"Don't worry," Ambisena said, a confident smile on her lips. "There isn't a Transcendent Rank behind every tree. It seems very unlikely. In my opinion, it's either an Ascended Rank rift or the mountaineers who are up to something."
"That's possible," Lug shrugged. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."
"It's literally what we're here for," Ambisena said with a smirk. "I'm sure we will."
The party kept moving. They had increased their pace since the last day. They wanted to distance themselves from the targ before it reconsidered and came after them again. But they were also getting used to traveling and improved their efficiency.
Still, no matter how much he searched, Div couldn't find a single fish.
"It's not just the fish," Ambisena said. "The entire forest feels empty!"
"That's right," Lugsellos added. "But I noticed some tracks. All the animals are migrating west."
Even as they started to grow worried about what they might find, they kept going. The second night passed without an issue. Three days after they left Camboaci, they finally arrived at the spot where the river turned east.
Like every river, the Lien River twisted and turned for most of its length. The fact that the general direction of the river changed wasn't very noticeable. However, previous scouts from Camboaci had left carvings on the stones surrounding the river to mark the location.
Around their campfire, the party of four discussed the next steps of their mission.
"In about four days, we should reach the foothills of the eastern range," Lugesellos explained. He was using a stick to draw a map in the dirt. "There, we will observe the situation and decide what we do."
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"What if there's nothing?" Segorix asked.
"Then we return," Lugsellos said. "Brigaseta and Theaphilia were clear: we shouldn't enter the mountains."
"I'm more worried about what we'll do if we do find something," Div said, chewing on a piece of dry meat.
"It all depends on what it is," Lugsellos shrugged.
"Aah, this is frustrating," Ambi complained. "There's obviously something going on in the mountains. I really hope we can find out what it is. If we have to return empty-handed, I'm going to lose it."
Div looked at Ambisena for a moment. It wasn't that he disagreed with her sentiment, but he was a little concerned about her. She could be reckless at times.
"Anyway," he said. "We have another issue. I haven't been able to fish in the past three days. We were counting on it to complete our food stocks."
"We can't hunt," Segorix added. "Same issue: no game."
"I picked a few berries along the way," Lugsellos said. "Keep an eye out for those."
The wood cracked under the fire, drowning out the sound of the forest.
"I don't like this," Div said, his brows furrowed. "Feels unnatural."
"It does," Lugsellos agreed. "I've never seen the forest so quiet."
"Are we sure we want to go there?" Div asked. "If even Evolved Rank beasts are fleeing the region, it just seems like a bad idea."
"I know," Lugsellos said, nodding. "But that's the mission. Our duty."
Div didn't disagree, but he couldn't help but feel nervous about what was to come.
That night, Segorix took the second watch. The fire crackled low, and his eyes kept flicking to the tree line. His hands were playing with a stick glowing with embers.
"You okay?" Div asked groggily as he woke up to take his turn.
"Yeah… just thinking," Segorix murmured. "I used to think missions were about proving yourself. That you'd have a clear goal, slay a beast, come back a hero."
He shifted uncomfortably. "But out here? There's nothing to fight. Just... something wrong. It's harder to feel brave when there's nothing to swing at."
"I'm with you. I almost preferred running from the targ. This was the Wildlands I know: dangerous, rough, untamed. This quietness…"
"It's like we're walking into a trap. We know it's there, but we keep going," Segorix said, breaking the tip of his stick.
"For Camboaci."
"Yes, for Camboaci," Segorix sighed. "We'll do it."
Div didn't answer, just watched as Segorix pulled his cover tight and drifted off. He hoped they were wrong—that when morning came the forest would spring back to life.
But he knew it wouldn't.
The next day, they started traveling east. They hadn't quite reached the foothills yet, but the terrain was already quickly changing. Elevation was slowly rising, the water flow was quietly subsiding. The main river was quieter, while the smaller streams gurgled loudly over rocks.
Every day, the animal tracks they found only got older, fewer.
Lugsellos snapped a twig underfoot. Ambisena flinched.
"Don't do that," she snapped.
"It's just a twig."
"It could've been something else."
The silence that followed said more than words. They were all tense. All tired.
On the sixth day, the amount of dead trees was starting to alarm them.
"No," Segorix said. "Look, another cluster of dead pine trees. This is not normal."
A few dead trees here and there was nothing out of the ordinary, but with how weird their trip through the forest had been so far, it felt different.
Div inspected the tree with Rotlife Sense. For the past few days, he had been running his skill non-stop. Something was becoming clear to him, the forest was dying, and it wasn't natural.
The further they walked, the less rotlife he could pick up. Now, the dead trees in front of them should have been teeming with insects. But there wasn't any.
Not a single trace of rotlife was active in the entire cluster. Even the surviving vegetation had almost none of the usual rotlife.
"Are you sure?" Lugsellos asked, but with his skill, he could already sense Div's doubt.
"No, I'm not."
Div moved closer to the dead trees, trying to figure out what was happening. He used Rotlife Sense, focusing all his attention on the base of the tree.
"Oh…"
"What?" Ambisena asked. "Found something?"
"Dead insects," Div said. He didn't need a special skill to see them, under the pine needles covering them, the ground was littered in woodlice corpses.
However, with Rotlife Sense, he could feel that those were not rotting properly.
"Actually," Div said. "The ambient rot-attuned mana is extremely low around here."
It wasn't something he usually paid a lot of attention to. He probably should, considering he was trying to master a magic dependent on this mana type. But thanks to his Rot Heart, mana had never been a concern.
Now that he noticed it, he didn't understand why that was. Dead matter was usually teeming with rot-attuned mana. Whether it was dead wood, animals or insects didn't matter. Death led to rot, it had always been a constant.
"Dead, but not decomposing…" Div whispered. "Not even scavengers to clean up the corpses."
"What do you make of it?" Lugsellos asked.
"I don't know," Div said, frowning. "But there's no way this is natural. It has to be related to what we're looking for."
Without rotlife doing its work, dead matter wouldn't turn into essence and nourish the soil. It would wither in place, wasted. What would happen to the forest without rot? Div was curious but concerned.
If it spread southwest, toward Camboaci and the rest of the Lien River basin…
"Also," Div added. "Since trees and insects are affected, we can't rule out animals suffering the same fate."
"What about us?" Segorix asked.
"Us too," Div said. "I will pay extra attention to the mana and rotlife inside of us."
"Please do," Lugsellos said. "If there's any sign that something isn't right, we're turning back immediately."
Div looked toward the snow-covered peaks rising over the treeline. Whatever that was causing that, they were going toward it. He could only hope they were equipped to deal with what they would find there.