Chapter 8: Through the Undead Forest

The two warriors are now on an adventure heading east to find this Mysterious Sender. The two are both excited to meet this mysterious sender, but; they are also a bit skeptical because they are still confused as to how this person knows who they are. Even though they've never heard or met this person, but they kept the skepticism low and focused on the journey ahead of them. While walking, Linda, out of the blue; asks Axel while he is drinking from his flask,

"Axel...what will happen to me if I transform again...?" asked Linda, looking down at the ground.

Axel stops in his tracks as he spits his water, shocked to hear that question from her out the blue, he recollects himself and tells her calmly,

"Linda, I'm sure that's only temporary; there's nothing you need to worry about," said Axel, reassuring.

"But...what if I lost control when I transformed again...you see what it does to that kitten, don't you?" asked Linda, still uncertain.

Axel doesn't have an answer to that one and just stared at her for an uncomfortable 10 seconds, then; he tells her again, calmly,

"There's no need for you to worry too much; come on, cheer up. We still have a long journey ahead of us," said Axel, looking at her with a smile.

"Yeah...you're right, I shouldn't be worrying too much," said Linda, now calmed down.

After that, the two resumed their walk. As the wind breezes through, Axel has a bad feeling in his gut; he can't really put his finger on it but, he just felt that something; bad might've happened. What if Linda does lose control; that question keeps on clouding his mind making him worried for her safety. In his mind, he said to himself,

"What if she was right...what if she does lose control when she transforms? Will she be able to control that curse's power?" asked Axel, looking down worriedly. "Or will the curse took over her..."

Axel continues to think of these scenarios in his mind, making himself even more worried. When he suddenly heard a familiar cooing, snapping him out of his worried-trance state, he and Linda looked up and saw; the same pigeon flying toward their direction. Axel extended his arms, and the pigeon safely lands on his arms; Linda looks at the pigeon and sees another letter attached to the Pigeon's right leg; as soon as she sees the letter, she immediately tells him,

"Axel, look there, it seems we got another letter," said Linda, pointing at the letter attached to the Pigeon's right leg.

Axel carefully takes the letter off the Pigeon's leg, and the Pigeon once again flew away. Curiously, Axel said,

"Hmm, I wonder what's written in it this time," said Axel, filled with curiosity.

Axel opened the letter, and the two read what's written in the letter, and it reads as follows,

Dear Axel and his friend;

I see that you and your friend are heading towards my location. I forgot to mention something to you two; in order for you two to find my whereabouts. You two have to traverse a forest along your way, known as 'The Undead Forest.' Be careful when you two arrived at that forest; they say that the forest is dwelling with many undead creatures and those creatures are very hostile.

So the only way is for you two to get out is to fight your way through the many undead creatures within the forest; I wish you two the best of luck.

Sincerely, One that shall not be named.

Axel and Linda looked at each other as questions filled their mind once more; they once again ask themselves some questions,

"The Undead Forest? Just by the sound of it, it sounds creepy," said Linda.

"Well, it seems we have no other choice...we must get through that forest in order to find that Mysterious Sender's location," said Axel, looking at Linda with a serious face, "Now, let's get going."

Axel stands up and ready to resume their journey; he then felt a hand on his shoulder; he turns around and sees Linda with her hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his track. He asks her,

"What are you doing, Linda?" asked Axel.

She then tells him with a disappointed and worried look on her face,

"B-But...I can't fight; I'm not a skilled warrior like you, Axel..." said Linda.

Axel almost blushed as soon as she said it, he recollects himself, and he tells her calmy while looking at her proudly,

"It doesn't matter if you're skilled or not. As long as you can fight, I'm determined that we can get through that forest safely. I also believed in you that you could do this; no, we can do this; together," said Axel, looking at her with a determined smile.

That one motivational sentence from her friend is enough for her to regain her spirit; she smiled back, and the two stand up, and they resumed their journey.

Hours later in the afternoon

After a long journey heading east. Axel and Linda finally arrived at their first destination, 'The Undead Forest.' Axel unsheaths his sword, The Piercing Whirlwind, and Linda took out her spear, The Stardust Spear. With determination, the two slowly walked towards the forest. And as soon they step foot inside, a sudden feeling of terror comes over them, but they keep pressing on, still determined. The two heard many disturbing sounds coming from within the darkness of the forest. But the two keep moving forward despite the 'disturbing' atmosphere around them.

Sounds of anguish grunt and moans echoed around the forest as the two warriors continued to traverse this dark forest. While holding her spear, Linda's hands started to shake in fear as she is scared of the dark and disturbing atmosphere of the forest; she quietly whispers to Axel,

"I don't have a good feeling about this..." whispered Linda, looking at him with a scared expression on her face.

"Shh, quiet, we don't want any of those undead creatures to hear us, so keep your voice down," whispered Axel quietly.

She silently nodded as they continued walking along the grass of the forest. Suddenly, the two hears the sounds of groaning; they immediately stopped in their tracks and prepared themselves for the incoming attack. But then, the groaning sound becomes more echoed, almost seeming like there are many of them. And sure enough, as Axel illuminates the forest with his lightning magic, they are surrounded by many of the undead creatures.

Axel and Linda prepared themselves to attack and, a battle commences;

The two warriors immediately charge against the army of undead as they one by one cut and killed many of the undead creatures. Axel uses his Lightning speed to slice through many of the undead creatures, and Linda uses her Stardust Spears's Magic to destroyed many of the undead creatures as well. They continued to fight, but the undead creatures kept on coming back whenever they killed one and the other. More of them would appear, and it feels like there's no end to this army of undead.

As the army of undead begin to grow more and more, Axel immediately used one of his elemental magic, he stands still, and he stretched two of his arms to the side and exclaimed,

"Elemental Magic: Lightning Burst!" Axel exclaimed.

Lightning burst around him, as many of the undead creatures are burn from being electrocuted. Linda continues to attack with her spear when many of the undead creatures started to gang up on her; she then threw her spear towards the sky, and as it hits the sky; with determination, she exclaims,

"Elemental Magic: Raining Stardust Spears!" exclaimed Linda.

A giant magical void immediately opened in the sky, and as soon as the void; appeared, rains down hundreds of Sparkling Stardust Spears falling towards the ground. Axel looks up and is surprised to see hundreds of spears raining down faster every second; he quickly dodges many of the spears. And many of the undead creatures are stabbed by the hundreds of Stardust Spears raining down on them. The fight continues with many of the undead creatures keep on coming more and more, and now the two are backed into a corner as the undead creatures slowly move closer.

The situation becomes dire, and it seems they're going to meet their demise, but then, Axel felt time slowing down around him.

Within the darkness around him, he took a breath, and then he slowly exhaled; he then; closes his eyes and took another breath. Axel inhaled, then exhale. Inhaled, exhaled, suddenly; a sparkling blue aura slowly emanated around his body, and he felt his body and mind to be calm and relaxed. He then felt his right hand moving seemingly on its own; with his eyes still closed and right hand stretched forward; he mutters a single sentence,

"Elemental Magic: Wind Burst..." muttered Axel.

A sudden powerful force of wind burst around him as Linda is almost blown away by the powerful pressure of the wind. And hundreds of the undead creatures are blown back miles away, and as soon as the mighty wind stopped, Axel slowly lowers his hand back down. Linda quickly regains her composure, and she immediately looks at Axel and is, left speechless on what she sees in front of her. Axel; is immersed in a sparkling blue aura, and when he opens his eyes, its eyes color changes to crystal blue, and he looked seemingly calm.

Linda looks on in disbelieve as she looks on in awe at Axel's new-found power; with both confusion and excitement, she asks Axel,

"Axel, what happened to you?!" asked Linda, shocked to see his new appearance." You look different."

Axel notices her shocked and confused reaction, and he looks down at both of his hands, both confused and amazed at the same time by the outstanding power he felt within him; he honestly said to her in a calm tone,

"I don't know what just happened, but I feel strangely calm..." said Axel calmly. "Is this it...The Art of Instantaneous Movement, Calm Instinct, I've finally done it..."

But the moment was immediately cut short as more undead creatures appeared around them. Linda prepares herself for the attack, but Axel, in an instant, dashed towards the army of undead and demolished many of the undead creatures one by one. Linda is amazed by the sheer speed and power of this Calm Instinct form; she said to herself in her mind,

"I can't believe my eyes just by how fast Axel's movement is. His movement is; sharper, and he effortlessly dodges all of the attacks like it was nothing; I can't even see him move."

"So that's why he meditated earlier, it was to reach this state of mind which you move on instinct, now I see what he strives. One day, I too will achieve that power, wait and see, Axel!" said Linda, now with a goal in mind.

The two warriors continue to demolished many of the undead creatures along their way; Linda with her Stardust Spear and Axel with his Piercing Whirlwind Blade, along with his new-found power of Calm Instinct; is able to destroy the army of undead. With the undead creatures dying down, Axel tells Linda,

"We should get out of here now while the coast is clear," said Axel.

Linda nodded, and quickly, Axel grabs onto Linda's hand, and the two dashes out of the forest as fast as the eye can see. Now out of the Undead Forest. The two breathe a sigh of relief, finally able to defeat the army of undead. Linda, still holding onto Axel's hand, is surprised to see this, and she blushed, a little embarrassed. Then Axel also sees this and immediately lets go of her hand, and he too blushed, a little embarrassed as well.

Linda then looks on at her friend, Axel, still in his Calm Instinct form, amazed. Suddenly, Axel drops onto the ground clutching his chest, and Linda quickly rushes to his aid. Then she sees the sparkling aura around Axel started to disappear, and his crystal blue eyes revert to light blue. Worriedly, she asks him,

"Axel, are you all right?" asked Linda, worried.

Axel, shortwinded, tells her,

*pant* *pant* "Yeah, I'm fine...it seems the power of Calm Instinct puts a lot of strain on my body, it because this is the first time I unlock that power," said Axel, panting. "Come on, let's...*pant*...get going."

As Axel is about to stand up, Linda stops him by putting her hand on his shoulder; she tells him with a worried expression on her face,

"Axel...don't push yourself too much. We've been through a long battle, and look, we still have a long way to go," said Linda, looking at her friend worriedly. "I know you're excited as I am to go on an adventure, but we should also know to take a break after a long journey; come now, let's go find a place to rest."

After she said that to him; it gets him to think for a while about his decision; she was right; if he keeps this up, he'll end up hurting himself even more; which makes his friend more worried about him; he then said to himself in his mind,

"Linda was right," Axel thought to himself. "If I keep this up, I'm just gonna make Linda more worried about me, and I don't want her to be worried."

Axel lets out a sigh, turns around to look at his friend, and said to her,

"You're right, Linda...I should watch myself. I'm just too excited; I forgot to think about my safety; thank you for warning me about it," said Axel.

"Of course," said Linda with a cheery smile. "That's what true friends do, always help each other whenever they need help."

Axel smiled back, and Linda helped him to stand up as the two walked away from the forest, happy that the stressful situation is finally over. And they now can have some peace for a while.