Forbidden land (part-2)

"System can you exchange the tree monster for a pair of magic eyes that can see past illusions?" Leo asked the system expectantly.

[Affirmative, the host can exchange the tree monster for a pair of magic eyes, but this monster's value could only give level 1 magic eyes. To survive in the forbidden land, the system strongly suggests increasing the level to at least level 10. Please, exchange more monsters to increase the level of the eyes.

Note: As the level of magic eyes increases, the number of monsters required to increase the level of eyes also increases ]

Suddenly, a massive tree monster that lay on the ground vanished into thin air and Leo's eyes started to itch. Leo involuntarily closed his eyes for a few seconds and opened them slowly. When he looked at the rock monster, he could now see a faint red glow surrounding it.

'Finally! My chances of survival increased a little bit. But as the system said it was far from enough in this place. Looks like I can't avoid the fight against monsters.'

Suddenly a cheeky grin appeared on his face "System can I exchange the rock monster over there for an upgrade on my magic eyes?"

[Negative, living things without absolute control from the host can't be exchanged] System replied in a harsh tone.

Leo expected the answer on a similar line, so he was not too disappointed. But he caught the keyword, absolute control. It was ten times more difficult to put a monster in absolute control than simply killing it. Leo thought of something and asked.

"So system, how much was tree monster in terms of crystals? How much it would have fetched if it was alive and under my absolute control?"

[1000 crystals in case dead. If it was alive, it would be 5000 crystals] system replied mechanically.

"Shit! Five times the value! Well, even for me it would be difficult to keep that tree monster under my absolute control. More the difficulty more the value I guess." Leo slowly started to understand the importance of going on an adventure once in a while. If not for this adventure Leo would be still in the dark regarding the monsters and their values.

"Now it's time to deal with this rock monster."

Just as he was about to confront the rock monster, he noticed a small piece of paper on the ground nearby.

"Looks like that girl dropped something while she was fighting with that tree monster."

Leo noticed the paper was surprisingly ancient, made with unknown material. Unable to withhold his curiosity, Leo opened it to take a look.

"Map! It looks like it's the map of the forbidden land. Even in the underworld market, it costs a fortune. A map like this was born after countless sacrifices. After all, there was no such thing as satellites in the underworld. Many areas are marked with a red mark which means they are dangerous. Looking at the green tree symbols, it may be where I am currently staying. Further ahead is a symbol of a golden coin. What does that mean? A treasure?"

Leo suddenly realized why that girl was in a hurry.

"I need to quickly go too. Probably this was that opportunity suggested by the Divine soul."

Without bothering about the rock monster, Leo quickly darted towards the location of the unknown treasure.

*****

Although forbidden land is soaked in blood, there was no shortage of beautiful things around its landscape. One such breathtakingly beautiful natural phenomenon was a waterfall. It was named Old Face Waterfall due to its peculiar look as the rocks surrounding it resembled an old man's face if looked at a certain angle. No one knows the origin of the waterfall.

Inside the waterfall, there was a hidden cave which was a secret hideout of adventure alliance. The entrance of the cave was covered in the waterfall curtain but strangely due to some formation, people inside it could see what was happening outside the cave but not the other way round. In short, the water curtain was acting like a one-way glass. Inside the cave, there was a beautiful girl accompanied by two of her followers secretly observing the entrance of the misty forest in front of the waterfall.

If Leo was here he would have easily recognized the girl as she was the same girl who tried to save two guys earlier. But the concern she showed earlier was nowhere present now. It was as if she was completely a new girl. One of her followers said with concern,

"Madam, it's been 10 years, and still the monster inside is not ready for harvest! Do you think something must have happened?"

The girl casually replied "Very unlikely, according to our latest intelligence, monster soul is almost ready for harvest. It needs a few more rounds of sacrifice and we are ready to go."

Another follower chimed in, "Madam I still don't understand, what kind of monster requires 10 years of nurturance!"

The girl didn't answer this time, there was a puzzling look in her eyes, clearly, she also had no idea about the nature or origin of that monster.

"Whatever it is, we will know soon enough."

Just as the girl replied, Leo appeared at the entrance of the forest. He could see the waterfall in front of the forest but couldn't see three people hiding behind the water screen observing him. He had no idea that the girl had intentionally left the map to lure him into the forest for a sacrifice.

Looking at Leo, followers of the girl showed a sympathetic look. On the other hand, the girl who actually lured him didn't even blink. She was looking at him as some livestock about to be sacrificed.

"When I last saw him, I thought he was a cautious person and wouldn't take the bait but looks like I have overestimated him. No one is immune to wealth and greed."

The girl casually remarked and her followers shook their heads, they were aware of the eccentric personality of their madam but it was not their place to comment on that. Moreover, in a cruel place like the underworld, one had to be either a hunter or become prey for some other hunter.

*****

Unaware that he had walked into the trap set by the adventure alliance, Leo was busy studying the map.

"Yes there was no doubt, this is the place mentioned on the map. Looks like I need to enter the forest to claim the treasure. But everything is going so smoothly, I feel like something is wrong but I can't put a finger on it."

Leo thought for a while but decided to trust his Divine soul and entered the forest gritting his teeth. He was aware that his strength was not at the level where he could go anywhere in the forbidden land but he had the system's help. Without it even if he had ten lives, he would not dare to enter an unknown area in the forbidden land. Although treasure was important, his life was even more important.

The forest was covered in mist and it was difficult to find the right direction. Fortunately, Leo's Divine soul started giving him signals in a particular direction. Following the direction pointed by his Divine soul, Leo came across many rotten skeletons.

"Looking at the state of the skeleton, it was at least a decade older." Leo had a deep understanding of anthropology thanks to his previous life interest as it was one of his favorite elective subjects. Using the logic and clues on the skeleton, Leo could approximate the age of the skeleton.

He was well aware that skeletons were like common grass in the forbidden land. But as he traveled step by step, the number of skeletons he encountered increased and the age of skeletons decreased. He already lost count of the number of skeletons he encountered on his way. Suddenly he had a bad premonition.

"Could this treasure guarded be a monster?" Leo was frightened by his own thought. He had traveled for more than four to five hours and there was no turning back now. Even an idiot could guess that the countless people died trying to get the treasure. There was no way of telling how strong these guys were when they were alive.

"Should I exchange everything I have for a teleportation potion from the system?" Leo pondered.

Leo verified the feasibility of the teleportation potion with the system before entering the misty forest and the system replied affirmatively. It was his strength all along. Even if he encountered any life-threatening danger he could save his life using the potion. Although it would cost him everything he had, Leo decided it was worth the gamble based on his intuition. He was determined to see what kind of treasure could even entice a Divine soul. But now he started to have second thoughts.

"Did I make a mistake? Will this monster would even give me chance to teleport?" All the negative thoughts started to cloud his judgment. Suddenly he heard a strange sound in front of him.