Unsealing Emptiness

Surrounding them were a bunch of Silver Knight guards, all rank-5 with the exception of two who were rank-6 mages. Sir Hanry always stayed at such a distance from Clara, where he would be able to act instantly if something were to happen.

Then mercenaries were placed at the front of the group. Leading them was Clive together with Barry, who was also a rank-7 mage.

While most mercenaries were placed at the front, roughly a quarter took the convoy’s back.

An eerie silence ensued in the surroundings as they approached the other forest in front of them, and only the sound of twigs and dry leaves cracking under their feet was heard.

The silence was getting on their nerves, but no one dared to make any sound.

Clive was in the lead. Despite when he himself had also not entered this forest before, he was relatively a lot calmer than the mercenaries only because he knew that they had hidden support.

.....

He swept his gaze in the surroundings. Not being able to sense the hidden group either, he lifted the giant tree vine to create a path inside the Old Whispering Woods.

As he got inside, the entire convoy followed behind him. The people who followed behind were creeping out again when others seemed to disappear in the darkness.

However, they were mercenaries and not some pampered kids. They had dealt with many life-threatening situations, so they just readied themselves and took the steps forward.

Raven and Blaze were the last in the group, together with Ozul. Clive had no problem with this since he knew Ozul was capable enough, and they needed somebody strong at the back of the group too.

After entering the woods, everybody started to disappear. Clara looked back when it was her turn to see if Ozul was following behind or not. She then entered inside while holding Venessa’s hands.

When everyone had disappeared, it was the trio’s turn. Raven and Blaze both turned to look at Ozul, who nodded his head in confirmation.

“There is nothing to worry about... for now,” Ozul assured them before the trio also stepped inside the jungle.

The thick branches that covered the trees and the ground were a hindrance. They pushed aside the bushes and moved forward.

As they moved further in the darkness, they had to deal with a lot of bushes and vines, all tangled together, creating a confusing mess. Raven even had to summon her blades to create a path even when the others had gone through here just a moment ago.

Despite that, making their path wasn’t difficult for them, as no matter how thick they were, in the end they were just plants. The further they proceeded, the darker it turned.

A few more steps and suddenly, they could see again as if their eyes had adapted to the darkness, or there was a whole different source of light.

The sudden light subconsciously caused the trio to close their eyes. When they opened their eyes, a whole new scene awaited them.

The group of men that had entered before them were also there, looking at the surroundings in awe.

When they looked around them, all they saw were lush dark green plants covering the forest floor. As if decorated, thick vines entangled with the branches drooped from every tree with a variety of flowers blooming everywhere.

The forest was modest, dark, and looked archaic. It was as if no human had ever reached these parts of nature, and it preserved its beauty for ages.

The towering trees eclipsed its canopy with their crown decorated with leaves and only allowed enough sunlight for the plants to grow under them.

A variety of beastly noises, predominantly those of bird songs, added life to the forest but were out of sync with the sounds of fights over dominance between other beasts.

“Beautiful,” muttered Raven as she took a deep breath to feel the surrounding nature.

Blaze looked stupefied at his surroundings. In his entire life, he had never traveled, and now on his first long journey, he got to see this amazing sight.

“Is it supposed to be this majestic?” Blaze seemingly asked himself.

It was not only them, but the beauty of this scenery amazed everyone in the group. It felt as if they had suddenly entered a new world.

Now it appeared as if the jumbled mess made by bushes, plants, and trees behind them was a wall created by this forest to protect this sight.

That wall, as if to protect it from prying eyes, did not allow any of this beauty to be seen from the opposite side.

“I couldn’t even hear or feel any of this life from the other side,” Ozul muttered under his breath as he swept his eyes past the trees.

He found it strange that some tangled branches of vines and trees, mixed with thick bushes, could block his senses. There had to be another reason for him not to feel anything on this side.

However, there were no answers in front of him, just a lush green forest.

‘If not now, I will come back for answers.’ Ozul thought in his mind.

He wanted answers since after he had got his leg back, his ability to sense emotions and other things had also evolved. So it was surprising to find out that there were things that could still stop his sensing ability.

“I was right. This journey could prove somewhat exciting,” Ozul said to himself in an almost inaudible voice.

One thing that everyone noticed was the quality of mana. It had improved at least two-fold! Even Clive was a little surprised at this discovery.

He had been inside the Royal Palace so many times he was used to the improved quality and quantity of mana. The mana in the Royal Palace was nonetheless lackluster compared to here.

“Everyone! Be on your guard. This place is dangerous for a reason!” Clive’s sudden shout caused everyone to wake up from their thoughts.

Despite being enamored in the magnificence of this forest, they quickly pulled themselves together since they were all veteran mercenaries.

As everyone remembered that they were in the forest famous for not letting anyone out alive, they rearranged themselves into the earlier formation. The mercenaries readied themselves for any kind of danger that might be coming their way.

‘Higher mana quality means that the creatures who have lived here since birth would be a lot stronger than the average ones.’ Ozul concluded in his mind.

“And that would also explain why this place is so dangerous. However, the cause of the rumors should be something else. Also, why would this place have such an old name such as Old Whispering Woods?” Ozul contemplated.

As far as he had spread his consciousness, there was no large beast that could be any threat to them. But if that were the case, then why was this place considered to be so dangerous?!

Moreover, from the looks of it, there was nothing so spooky about this forest that it could be named as Old Whispering Woods. The name sounded as if the trees in this forest would be able to talk and the atmosphere would be all gloomy as well.

However, there was nothing of this sort in here.

“Sigh... Only time would tell.” Ozul sighed as he said to himself. There were no clues that could even lead to this forest being rumored to be dangerous as of now.

Just as he said this, he noticed something that changed his mind.

“Nevermind...” Ozul muttered, a little excited about what they would be encountering next.