'I wonder how Drusilla would react once she learned that these people aren't even Vampires anymore. She said that her kind had grown weaker over time, but they're not really even the same anymore.' Lukas thought as they traveled down the Dark Forest.
"You know, you should be the one to carry him. You've got nothing." Anthony scowled at Philip.
"I need enough time to run away and Matthew will slow me down. You're a lot stronger than me so you should do it." Philip said.
"And they say that it's me who's a merchant that's supposed to be more self-centered. The award really goes to you, Philip. High-five, except my hands are heavy."
"Fine, let's swap every now and then. Just don't make any too much noise."
Lukas eyed the two who walked in front of him silently. 'Anthony is a lesser Vampire, so it means that his blood is purer than Philip's or Matthew's… and so it must mean that maybe someone like Lily and Chaerin are pure Vampires, hence why they didn't have any problems—'
A sudden chill went down Lukas' spine and he clutched the dagger in hand. Out of nowhere, a giant spider swung towards Philip and Lukas shadow-stepped forward and struck it in one blow.
"That's—fuck!" Lukas's guard dropped down too quickly as one of the fungi-monsters exploded out of the spider's body and went out to attack him in his face.
"Drop dead!" Philip shouted and a crossbolt shot the creature in the face.
It fell down, wriggling and squirming, still alive and Lukas stomped it down with his foot and made sure that it was dead.
[Corrupted Parasitic Fungi]
One of the nastier creatures existing in the Dark Forest that preys on creatures greater than its size to live. Attaching itself to the nervous system of other creatures, it begins to slowly kill the host and then uses its body for its own.
Corruption: 58%(Inactive)
"Good job." Lukas said and eyed the fungi before turning to the body of the giant dead spider.
"You… you haven't attacked or broken its legs, did you?" Anthony slowly said.
"No." Lukas replied and stared at the two others before silently cursing and glancing at their surroundings. "Matthew's not going to like to hear that all his hard work went down the drain—but this way."
—Corruption: 49% (Inactive)
"Right."
—Corruption: 35% (Inactive)
"Not this way, the other one!"
—Corruption: 67% (Active)
"Left, left. Okay, deeper—this area is safer, safer." Lukas took over at the front and took advantage of the System's ability to read the statuses of various things.
"How do you know which way to go?" Philip panted.
"Less questions, more running." Lukas said.
"Couldn't you have dealt with those giant spiders by yourself?" Anthony asked, pacing himself after Lukas, if only a little slower than him.
"I could, yes I could—but then the next thing you'll know is that the entire Dark Forest's corrupted creatures are going after me and us."
"Corrupted?"
"Not the time—this is…" Lukas finally placed a hand unsteadily on the tree branch, waiting for danger but nothing occurring.
[Corrupted Everdark Tree]
The Dark Forest is home to its native host of varying flora and fauna, the most common of all is the Everdark species that are able to absorb a great amount of sunlight to be stored for future purposes which also provides great shades of darkness.
As the power of ******** spread itself across the entire scope of the Dark Forest, this tree has become affected by its powers.
Corruption: 6% (Inactive)
"This is the lowest I've ever seen." Lukas muttered to himself and looked hopefully around the area. The Dark Forest was still dark over here thanks to its natural flora, but there was a less ominous residual energy in the air that Lukas could feel about.
It was a good thing.
It meant that they were perhaps in a—
"Wait, I think I'm seeing something else besides trees at last." Philip squinted his gaze and pointed.
Lukas followed the guy's line of sight and saw the first drop of sunlight he'd ever seen since they stepped inside of the Dark Forest.
"Where exactly are we now?" Anthony asked, still carrying Matthew in his arms.
"He still hasn't woken up has he?" Lukas quietly said, but then cleared his throat. "Let's go ahead and find out for ourselves, shall we?"
The three of them ventured slowly forwards and started to head towards the direction of glorious sunlight while Lukas double-checked the remaining Everdark Trees around of them.
The corruption rate was steadily declining and before Lukas knew it—they finally reached outside.
Lukas pulled back his cloak over his head to shield his skin from the sun again, but relief washed over his body. He'd rather take solar damage than whatever was happening in the forest.
"Is this really… outside. Nothing's going to drag us back in to the forest, right?" Philip glanced back at the Dark Forest with obvious trepidation.
"Don't say anything that would result into that happening." Anthony said as he took careful steps outside of the forest.
Lukas shook his head and simply glanced at where they were standing in now.
[Dark Forest - Exit ]
[Ilstad Mountain - Base]
"We're at the foot of the mountain, let's go climb up now, shall we?" Lukas said.
"What? We've just reached outside and now you want us to go up that death trap area? We should circle around and head back to Nyx. Isn't that what we planned so far in the first place?" Philip pointed out.
"Yeah, that is right… but it's so far." Anthony said. "I'm getting a little exhausted. Maybe it'd make some sense to catch our breaths first. Actually, time has passed a bit—don't you think that people from Nyx would start looking for us if we don't return after a certain amount of time? Wouldn't it be better to stay here and just wait for rescue?"
Lukas was almost impressed that was how the conversation went. It didn't cross his mind until now.
'Wait, if these people go to the Dark Forest, their lives will just get endangered… they don't know what they'll be facing.'
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