Strange Location

Traveling through the forest the only sound Akiol heard was the sound of his own footsteps. He intentionally made noise in hope of startling something away or attracting something else. Yet the forest was eerily quiet.

'What is this place?' -Stars

"I wish I knew. Although I have a few theories on why it's like this.", Akiol leapt up a tree to gain an idea of where the sun was.

While estimating the time left in the day Akiol continued, "Either everything has been hunted. Or something scary enough lives here that everything left. I'm more inclined to think the latter due to how undamaged the forest is."

'Why does the condition of the forest matter?' -Stars

"Usually when things are hunted to extinction there's signs. Damage to the forest from the hunters or chases. Yet there's nothing. That means two things. First means that the things in the forest left of their own will. Or the hunting took place so long ago that the forest had healed the damage."

'If it's the latter. . . That means something stopped other creatures from coming back' -Stars

Seeing that Stars was putting together the dots Akiol nodded, "Now truthfully it isn't always a creature. Sometimes it could be a curse, or something is just plain wrong with the forest. Such as carnivorous plants. It could even be a fake forest, a sort of grand illusion so it can't support life that lives here."

Snapping a tiny branch off a tree he inspected the twig and let it fall, "Although if it's an illusion it's a really good one."

'What about a barrier that prevents things from entering?' -Stars

"That's a good theory. It also raises the question if the barrier is keeping things out or keeping something in."

Looking upwards Akiol began to leap off of mana platforms as he rapidly gained vertical height. Once the forest became a blurry mess he stopped, "Or, it might be both an illusion and a barrier. A barrier with this height would be hard to maintain, but I can't see a single sign of anything else. . ."

Launching off a platform of mana Akiol utilized Aura to shoot himself at a great speed. Soaring far above the trees like a comet!

{Way of the Galaxy: Blazar Jet}!

The distance he covered with this one technique far outpaced his running speed. This technique was something designed for pure speed, forgoing any way to control the direction he launched. A way to cover distance and had limited uses in combat.

Using Aura he reinforced his legs and leapt while simultaneously pushing against himself. The explosive force of Aura pushing against himself was enough to launch Akiol at extreme speeds. He wasn't sure how to reduce the Aura cost for this technique. Reducing the output would directly reduce the effectiveness. His own footwork would be more efficient at traveling at high speeds. 

This currently was his issue with all his techniques. It felt like something wouldn't improve until he had a better understanding of Aura itself. Regardless he'd still utilize the numerous techniques in case they gave an insight.

As his momentum slowed Akiol eventually began to descend. Landing gently he frowned, "It's the same."

'Is it similar to Mira's forest?' -Stars

"No, I don't mean that we're at the same spot. I meant that it's still dead quiet. The territory of strong creatures aren't usually this large. . ."

'You have a strange affinity with being sent to weird forests.' -Stars

"Tell me about it. That an being attacked on the water.", Akiol ruminated.

Gauging the distance Akiol decided to expend Aura to rapidly cover distance. Shockwaves rang across the forest as he repeatedly used {Way of the Galaxy: Blazar Jet} to shoot across the forest. Soon enough the edge of the forest was coming to sight!

Slowing down Akiol landed at the edge of the forest and heavily sighed. At the edge of the forest was a spread of plain. . . and a gravel beach!

'Isn't this where we teleported?' -Stars

"Shouldn't be.", Akiol looked up towards the sun and verified this information.

Digging into the dirt Akiol drew up a basic map of his surroundings, "I'm willing to bet this is a peninsula. Considering the angle at which we traveled it's likely we're just on the opposite side."

'So we either go left or right to find the main land?'

"Basically.", Akiol stared at his map when a fear suddenly dawned on him, "Unless Kan'na messed up her spell and we are on an island."

'Uh oh.'

"Let's have a bit of faith first. Which direction do you think we should try?"

'Left!'

Akiol followed the beach left. This time he didn't expend any Aura, instead he simply used his footwork to cover the distance. If by chance left lead to more ocean then he'd use Aura to quickly recover the distance lost and return the other way.

The beach curved almost into itself. As if the peninsula was in an L shape. The sights of ocean now returned to sights of forest. There was a brief moment that Akiol believed found proper land until he saw more ocean at the end of the L shaped peninsula. 

"At this rate we're just going to keep following the beach. Let's hope the peninsula isn't too large. . ."

'What if we are on an island and we never find proper land?'

"Then I send a strongly worded prayer towards Kan'na."

Utilizing some mana to empower himself using the slime's way of fighting Akiol increased his rate of travel. Completing an entire loop around the peninsula before finally spotting the main land. As the forest came to an end Akiol approached the man land and paused.

It was a terrible sight. Everything looked blurry and incomplete. Like a series unfinished textures used to create a distance plain. Akiol stared at this in disbelief. Had he been teleported to unfinished content?

Surely not, despite there being a few flaws in A World's Legacy, there was rarely something this huge in realism breaking. Akiol crossed his arms, if he were to step on this poorly textured floor would he fall through the map?

How horrifying would that be?

Regardless he took a step onto the texture and it felt like he passed through a thin film. Suddenly the film shattered and the textures vanished and Akiol found himself at a cliff edge. 

'What?' -Stars

"Likewise Stars. I have no idea."

Turning back to the cliff edge Akiol reached out and took a step forward. The film feeling returned and Akiol returned to the peninsula. The poor textures returning. Once again he passed through the film and returned to the cliff edge.

"It is an illusion!", Akiol came to a realization.

From the cliff edge was a mountain made of pure stone. There wasn't even snow at its top despite how tall it was. A scattering of trees and plant life decorated the foot of the mountain. Strangely enough the cliff edge felt like a section of another mountain was disconnected.

'Givale, Mira. I found the exit of the peninsula, just follow the beach when you're done exploring and you'll come across it eventually.' -Akiol

'Okay! We're going to explore more though!' -Givale

Akiol sent his confirmation through the link and focused on why the illusion existed. It was designed to keep things out, that much was for sure. It utilized a series of illusions to convince others that it wasn't worth, located at an obscure cliff edge. This sort of method was harder to spot and easier to maintain than a barrier.

If Kan'na were here she'd probably be able to dissect it. Akiol touched the film to study it as he fell into thought. This was clearly meant for something! 

"I'll leave it to Givale and Mira to figure out."

'Why not do it yourself?' -Stars

"This isn't really why I came to the west. Additionally I don't think it's anything living that's inside, I certainly didn't see anything. If those two haven't found anything we can return."

Akiol committed the area to memory before turning his attention to the mountain. It was likely that past the mountain lay civilization!

Leaping off several platforms made of mana Akiol scaled the mountain. Standing on its peak he frowned. The clouds were blocking his view. It occurred to him that there was no clouds at the peninsula. More distracting was the feeling at his feet. The mountain was giving off warmth!

This explained why there wasn't any snow, but why was the mountain warm? 

Far too many questions to concern himself with right now! Leaping forward Akiol began to slide down the side of the mountain. Passing through the clouds he was capable of seeing the distance. There wasn't any civilization immediately in view, but there was a beaten dirt road!

Dodging the occasional obstacle Akiol slide down to the foot of the mountain. He then searched about until he found the previously spotted road and began to follow it. It's path should eventually lead somewhere!