Man-Eating Forest

Elias was shocked after hearing the mention of Man-Eating Forest. Everyone in this kingdom know how dangerous and menacing that forest is, and now this old guy asking him with low cultivation to go to that place. 'how laughable' he thought.

"relax kid. You won't be alone, this guy, Bor, will accompany you to go there". Old Lig said while pointing to the man beside him.

The guy Bor, a bit surprised by the decision of his boss, but he not showing it in his face. He thought that his boss has a plan and he will believe in him.

"I need you to get me a stalk of green rhine flower. By the way, do you have a cultivation?". Old Lig not someone that has been awakened, so he doesn't know if Elias has been awakened or not.

Elias answered him, still a bit suspicious, "I'm in the third level of beginner warrior."

Once he heard that, Old Lig became delighted.

"perfect.. do you know why I ask you to do this errand?"

Elias answered by shaking his head.

"the green rhine flower is a peculiar flower, it is a very rare plant that only growing in the outermost of Man-Eating Forest, in the area where only low beasts live, so someone with in the level of 7 of beginner warrior or mage can go there savely. But the problem is the peculiarity of this flower, it is very sensitive against the energy emitted by a cultivator. [AN: a cultivator is someone who have been awakened, wether a mage or warrior called as cultivator] once a cultivator with level higher than the fifth level of the beginner realm, the flower will wither. But for someone with level lower than 7th beginner realm, it was simply too dangerous. So that why I ask you to go with Bor. How about it?". Old Lig hoped Elias will accept this errand because he has asked many people before, but the are simply too scared when hearing the mention of the forest. He need this flower to curry favor with the town lord who asked him to get this flower to help his son in his training.

Elias thinking very hard of the pros and cons about this mission. He know that Old Lig is not an honest person, but when he remembered the field that needed to be plowed, the cow, and the gold coin, he was filled with more hesitation.

After pondering for a little more than ten minutes, he came to a decision to take the risk.

"okay I'll do that, but I can't guarantee that I won't retreat when everything became dangerous". Said Elias.

"of course, of course. And Bor will protect you until you get back to this town. Isn't that right Bor?" Old Lig said while looking at Bor. He is very happy and started to imagine what kind of reward the lord will give him.

"that's right boss." Answered the big guy.

"okay then, when are you ready to depart?". Old Lig asked Elias.

"tomorrow morning". Elias said.

"fine, I'll wait for you. And this is the 20 silver coins I promised". Old Lig said.

"okay,thank's. I'm leaving now". Elias said while taking the cloth pouch. He stood and left the tavern.

On the way he keep thinking is this the right thing to do, he heard many story about the forest from his deceased father when he was still a small kid. He understand how dangerous that forest is. But thinking about the field, the cow and the gold coin assured that this is the right choice.

'anyway I'm going to retreat if the situation became dangerous. And I will return the silver coins to him'. Elias is an honest person, he won't take an advantage of anyone even a bit. That was something taught to him by his parents, and he will hold to this principle even when he is in the lowest condition, even if he stay poor beacuse of that.

Once he arrived in his hut, he fed the chickens before preparing for tomorrow's journey. After everyhing has been prepared he went to his mother's grave behind his hut. He cleaned the area around the grave and wiped the tombstone. Then he sat beside the grave for a while remembering his time with his mother. Drops of tear fell from his eyes, he wiped it then stood before left to his hut. In his hut he waited for the night to come. When night came he go to sleep to keep his stamina for tomorrow.

--___--

He woke up in the dawn before the sunrise, this is his habit since he was little. His parents never spoiled him and always teaching him about discipline and all of their efforts come to fruition, Elias grew as a disciplined person and never slack off.

After coming out of the hut, he fed the chickens, he felt slightly worried about these chickens since he don't know how long he will go. Then he took a cloth that functioned as a bag since he don't have money to buy a proper bag.

He walks for 15 minutes until he reached the main gate of the town where Old Lig and his two bodyguards already waiting for him.

"good boy, are you pepared to go?" asked Old Lig.

Elias just nodded.

"okay then, I won't take too much of your time. Go, the sooner you go the sooner you can come back."

"okay boss. We are going." Said Bor, turning his body to leave. But before he walks away, Old Lig holds his shoulder, and whispering to him;

"do you know what to do?"

"yes boss, you can rest assured, I will execute the plan meticulously". Answered Bor.

"alright, you can't make him suspicious of you. Go".

"okay, we are leaving".

Both Elias and Bor start to depart to the southeast where the forest located. The distance from the town to the forest is 15 kilometers. If someone going there by walking with easy pace, he can arrive at the outermost of the forest in three hours. Elias and Bor walking in easy pace because they want to save their stamina until they reached the forest. Along the way both of them were silent not talking too much because there is indeed nothing to be talked between them.

Elias know this guy is a cruel and ruthless one, he had done many dealings in the name of executing Old Lig's will. He had beaten many people to their death, and brought some town girls to the brothel because their family can't pay back the debt they owed. The commoners has given up to make a report about Old Lig's and his thugs' deeds to the lord, because the lord himself is the one backing them up. It is not surprising beacuse Old Lig is one of the highest taxpayers, in addition to the bribery Old Lig gifted him. Of course the lord can't totally ignore the civilians, sometimes he decided a 'punishment' to Old Lig and fined him with several silver coins. This left unsatisfaction in the hearts of the civilians, but what can they say? In the end it, the lord is this town's lord, once he decided he can punish someone to death. Moreover Viscount Lorist Rivald is the highest leveled cultivator in this city, and his current strength is level 6 advanced mage. So there is simply no one in this little town that dared ot oppose and offend him.

After three hours of walk, finally they arrived it the outskirt of the forest in 10 am.

Their expression is so bitter when remembered that countless expert have fallen in this forest and become the food for the beasts and fertilizer for the trees. And now they are in the very same place that killed many strong fighters. They are a little scared, but they reinforced their will for the reward that will come after this. They sharpen their senses to feel if there is any danger that threaten their safety.

"kid, let's not waste any time. We will begin to search for the flower. Look at this drawing, this is the portrait of that flower". Bor said while showing Elias a piece of paper with a drawing in it.

"before you pick the flower remember to warn me, because if I became too close to it, it will wither. But once you picked it, it's peculiarity will no longer exist and it will be like another normal flower. At that time you can hand it to me". Bor reminded Elias.Elias just nodded showing that he understands. Both of them started searching, but Bor more focused in sensing their surroundings to ensure their safety.

Elias became a bit nervous, he can feel the pressure emitted by the forest, and he can sense aura of death radiating from the forest. He started searching for the flower but keeping his distance from being too far away from Bor. He know if he roaming too far from him it was simply asking for death, there are so many beasts in the forest even if it just in the outermost area. He heard that the strongest beast in this area is level 5 low beast 'one-horned bull', it's not something he can face. But if he became too near with Bor, there is something that made him felt insecure, the feeling that he had felt since they departed from the town, but he was unsure what that was about.

They had searched for two hours but there is no sign of the existence of that flower. Green rhine flower is a flower that growing from rhine plant, this plant can produce colorful flowers, and the most beneficial one of them to the cultivators is the one with green color hence called green rhine flowers. They have found four rhine plants, but there is no flower with green color. Bor knew that this flower is not only benficial to humans, but it was a good food to invigorate their cultivations.

They took a rest and eat their lunch before continuing their search. It was three pm. now, and they haven't found the flower yet. Even Bor became uneasy, the forest became more dangerous in the night that even an intermediate cultivators won't dare to roam in the outermost area of the forest.

After half an hour Elias found a rhine plant and became ecstatic, he started looking for the flower, but to his disappointment there is no flower with green color on it. He prepared to look for the other locations when he noticed that there is a bud of flower in the same plant, it has a bit of green color on it. He called Bor,

"mister, I think I found it." Said Elias.

Bor became ecstatic when he heard that and said; "are you sure that is the right flower?"

"I'm pretty sure but it was still a bud and not blooming yet." Elias answered.

Bor became a bit disappointed but not for too long, it was better than nothing, and once they got that flower he can leave the forest immediately.

"just pick it boy, it is better than nothing. The sooner you pick it the sooner we can leave. It is getting darker by now." Bor said

Elias nodded and picked the flower.

"hand it to me kid, I will place it in my bag."

Elias became a bit hesitant.

"what are you hesitating for kid, I'm going to put it in my bag, it equipped with time slowing magic so that the flower won't be withered until we reached the town."

Elias handed him the flower reluctantly. After he handed it he feels more insecure. Bor placed the flower in the bag and said,

"let's go." They started walking with fast pace. When they reached around 10 meters, Elias felt pain in his stomach and the pain became more painful the farther he walk. He looked at his stomach and became shocked when seeing a tip of sword protruding from his stomach. He fall to his knees and looked at Bor who grinned when seeing him.