The Forbidden Forest

Immediately after entering the chariot, the Sepions quickly took off. There was a separate opening in front for the driver who commandeered them. The interior of the chariot was simple; it was spacious and had windows on opposite ends, with some compartments for refreshments.

The chariot didn't seem to be moving at all to Cain, it felt strangely stationary. Yet he could tell by the blurred surroundings through the windows that it was definitely in motion. Due to the chariot's speed, the gargantuan 'Moon Bridge' was barely discernible. It was a bridge constructed entirely from water, spanning across the whole empire; and was said to glow in moonlight.

'The wonders of magic and technology,' he mused. In his fifteen years of living in this world, he realised something: magic and science were two sides of the same coin. They both birthed glorious creations. In fact, he himself was a shining proof of scientific progress.

The journey however continued, mostly in silence. There wasn't much to say between them, except for Alfred's occasional conversations with Sabina. His interest in her was evident to everyone. Also, Cain took the initiative to befriend Alfred, who didn't hesitate to accept his 'friendship'.

Cain guessed that Alfred wanted to use him as a gateway to Sabina. He didn't mind it, they were just two people using each other to get what they wanted.

Cain's target was the forbidden forest; though he knew the basics of the forest, getting the specifics from a local wouldn't hurt. Despite his deep desire for strength, he also had to exercise caution. He couldn't just jump in without planning anything in advance.

It took them approximately three hours to reach their destination. Cain already knew where they were: 'The Olive Paradise Resort'. It was located a few miles northeast of the Croye station. With a dome perched on top, it was a large hexagonal building which had a deep olive shine to it.

Once they stepped out, Cain could see the other Varmon representatives also stopping just in front of the building. Croye placed great emphasis on hospitality so they didn't shrink when it came to it. However, only the archdukes and the royal families could use the chariot as a form of transport to differentiate status.

The Olive Paradise Resort was the number one resort in the empire. As a royal owned resort, it offered the best comfort and hospitality. Once Cain was inside, the interior did not fail to meet expectations. A transparent floor from which different aqua species were visible, dark coloured walls with golden runic markings, an extremely long and massive chandelier which hung down from the top, floating clouds with doors atop, some strange deer-like creatures with large wings and so on.

There were also quite a number of people in the building, all wearing mage robes in different styles and colours; he guessed they were from the other empires. Guided by the Towbrijs, they proceeded towards a station which had a man behind the glass.

"Hello Jeremy," Glenyl stepped up and greeted, then pointed at Cain and his sisters. "I would like to have the door-entry pass for the Ashels."

Jeremey smiled at her and nodded as he brought out a grey card and handed it to her. Without wasting any time, she walked towards Cain and the rest. Upon reaching them, she handed the card to Guinevere, explaining a few things before she left with Alfred.

After they left, Guinevere just lightly tapped on the card and a cloud which had a door stationed on it descended towards them as they entered. Behind the door was a separate space which contained a large house. Just like those in the mage airship, it was self sustainable and worked to perfection.

Cain got to his room and picked up his comu; a hologram appeared with different contact lists on it as he selected Alfred's name. After some seconds, Alfred's face appeared in a holographic form as Cain began to ask him some questions about the forbidden forest.

Once he got what he wanted, he ended the call and smiled. The next day was going to be interesting for him. At least, before the meeting officially started, he would be able to let out some steam and test a few things.

…

…

The following day, using the chariot allocated to them, Cain set off for the forbidden forest. Luckily, it wasn't too far from the resort — about an hour — just a little towards the southeast. He already informed Guinevere and Sabina of his trip before he left so he wouldn't be disturbed by their worry.

The forbidden forest was named as such because of the danger it posed. It was home to a wide variety of menacing creatures ranging from the first to fifth rank. In fact, rumor had it that a creature in the sixth rank existed deep within. Furthermore, not only creatures, but also wild plants of varying ranks resided there.

The chariot reached its destination and just in front of the entrance were two large hands made of green tree-esque branches that stretched towards the sky with open palms.

There was a black and rusty looking chain connecting the hands, giving it the appearance of a bridge.

Cain's chariot stopped in front of the colossal hands as he stepped out. He could feel the cold air surrounding the forest; the gentle breeze whistled through the forest as the leaves swayed. The entrance to the forest resembled the mouth of a terrifying monster, dark with jagged leaves spread across all corners.

It stretched extremely wide on both ends to a vanishing point. There were a few people right in front of the forest as well, either about to enter or just admiring the sight.

Cain didn't waste anymore time as he slowly made his way forward, his physique and chariot attracting the attention of some of the onlookers.

"Seems like another bigshot is here, I wonder which family he's from," one of them muttered, almost to a whisper.

"Hmm? Looks like he's an Arcanist. Just how many are inside at present?" a random mage chimed in.

"Well it's not a surprise anymore, this forest is like a paradise to them." sighed a female who just shook her head.

"It is not 'like' a paradise to them, it 'is' a paradise to them," another fellow mage corrected.

The gossip continued but Cain just paid them no heed. He didn't bother to correct their misunderstanding about his mage branch. Although, he had to admit that their guesses weren't strange, after all he had that Arcanic physique.

The forest was officially divided into seven circles; outer circle - sixth circle. The outer circle contained mutated beasts and a few early stage rank ones; and it went on like that down to the sixth which contained peak fifth stage creatures.

As Cain got closer to the entrance of the forest, the chatters began to fizzle out, only to be replaced by an eerie silence. Right now he was in the outer circle, but inside looked just like nighttime. Silence ruled, not even the sounds of insects were audible.

But he wasn't bothered, he already spread his heightened senses around and there wasn't anything that could threaten him yet. However, he could feel the tremendous moisture in the air. It was so thick and heavy that his body and robe became a little damp. It almost felt like the forest — or something within — kept sucking the plentiful moisture in the air.

He walked for a while in silence until he saw the first creature. It had the head of a crocodile and the body of a bull. The eyes were a deep purple and its fur was light green in colour with orange spots littered around its body.

Cain however just kept on walking confidently. He already sensed the creature's energy and it was just a mere mutated beast. He could crush it with just his gaze so he didn't even bother looking twice at the creature.

The creature muttered a low growl before it backed off and ran away in the opposite direction. Its instincts were sharp and it could sense incredible danger from Cain. The forest was enormous and it seemed like just the outer circle continued to no end.

He had been walking for more than thirty minutes now, but most of the creatures just hid and dared not come out. However, just when he wanted to increase his speed and run, a huge bipedal creature appeared in front of him.

The monstrous creature had no eyes, just a nose and sharp bloodied canines. It had an ash grey fur with black stripes all over that resembled that of a tiger. A slight hunch characterized its posture; limbs touching the ground, almost as if it was an ape. Cain raised his head and estimated that the towering creature was about five meters tall, completely eclipsing his height; making him seem like a midget.

(Here's a picture of the creature)

He could sense the energy rippling out of the creature; making comparisons, it was definitely at least in the middle stage. However Cain did not underestimate the creature, this was a magical beast and its strength surely surpassed that of the common middle stages.

Seeing the blood on the creature's mouth, he guessed that either the creature consumed some animals or some very unlucky mages it encountered. After all, seeing a rank one middle stage magical beast in the outer circle was quite a rarity.

Cain steadied himself. He wasn't going to use any spells against this creature, he was going to fight this creature with just his body. He wanted to see just how powerful his [Dominion Body] was against magical beasts.

Although the creature had no eyes, it could sense Cain through heat signatures and scent. It sniffed the air like a dog and without wasting any time it sped towards him. Although not as fast as Sepions, its speed was still incredible, leaving nothing but gaping holes on the ground and dust in its wake. Its footsteps were heavy, causing vibrations to ripple on the surface of the ground as it dashed forward.

Cain also didn't waste any time as he rushed towards the beast, cleaving the wind and affecting the nearby plants and trees as they shook heavily due to air he generated. His long black hair danced in the wind. The gaze of his crimson colored eyes never departed from his opponent but his lips parted into a malevolent grin.

But then, without notice, his vision darkened and he could see a massive limb with widened claws coming down on him with immense ferocity. The loud and guttural roar of the beast shook the entire outer circle. Cain's body trembled a bit from the sound waves but that was just it, his body withstood what seemed like a sound innate ability.

He didn't plan on dodging the incoming assault, he wanted to meet it head on. So he raised his clenched fist and punched upwards with all the strength he could muster. The muscles on his arm bulged and some strange tattoo-like markings appeared on it. The force from his punch tore the air and provoked a loud booming sound.

As his fist met that of the creature's outstretched limb, there was a thunderous bang and then a bone crushing sound followed. An ear piercing screech escaped the mouth of the creature as its hulking figure was pushed back; its forearm was bent back into a ninety degrees angle.

Cain's foot was stuck inside the ground from the force of the impact and his hand throbbed a little in pain but that was nothing to him. He only had a feral grin on his face as he stared at the creature with slight madness.

Strange markings began to appear throughout his body as he stared at his prey. His muscles bulged more as his height gradually increased. Without giving the creature much breathing space he jumped and rushed at it. He was going to 'play' to his heart's content.