W1.A2-8: Entering the Fiery Forest

Up close, I could clearly see the chaotic mana circulating wildly across the blade as the black-robed cultist attacked with all his might.

Just as his blade hacked at my neck, a sudden pressure assaulted him from below.

Bam!

I lowered my bent leg while overlooking the fallen enemy, who seemed a bit out of sorts because of the sudden blow.

Raising his head with difficulty, he began stammering, "Y-you-"

Bang!

Moving forward with light steps, I once again directed a kick at his face, sending him sliding backward while groaning in pain.

As I moved, the chains that were fixed moved along, but because of their rigidity, instead of stretching themselves, they forced the masked men to move from their spots.

"Hold him back!" The black-robed cultist screamed while trying to climb back to his feet.

Unfortunately for him, my kicks unceasingly landed on his body, mostly on his face, rendering his sinister-looking appearance seem rather unsightly and comical.

As for the command he gave earlier,

I could feel the mana the chains were formed out of undulate unsteadily. But before it could rampage around to gain back control, a bit of my dark mana swooped past it, making it vanish as if it had never appeared in the first place.

The black-robed cultist looked incredulous, his eyes wide with incomprehension.

"Well, you people do have some means."

Twisting my shoulders a bit, I exerted some force while also channeling my mana towards the surface of my body. When the mana came into contact with the chains, they acted like a glass panel meeting a hammer—shattering without abandon.

"But while you people do know, I have something that may harm you guys." Squatting down, I gazed at his disbelieving face as I smirked. "You all have clearly no idea of the extent of it."

"You basta-"

Swish!

As my blade flashed past, as if simply cutting through the air, the voice of the black-robed man ceased. What followed were a few gurgling noises as blood unceasingly poured down the cut on his neck.

Watching his body twitch a bit before going limp for good, I shook my head.

"We all could have gone our own ways; you guys just had to come and mess with me. Uh... wait. Maybe it was me who did something first?"

With a confused expression on my face, I rose from the ground before looking around at the six masked men, who didn't show signs of any movement after I had broken the chains earlier.

In fact, if one felt carefully, they would find that there were not even any signs of life present in them.

Walking closer to one of them, I stuck down their mask with the swipe of my weapon.

What was revealed beneath was an ordinary face without any expression. The eyes of the "dead" guy were totally black, with no distinction between the sclera and the pupil. What's more, a hideous black pattern covered the whole face, even falling down below the neck, seemingly covering more of the body.

"A puppet, maybe?" I questioned myself, but not being an expert in the field, I could only shrug my shoulders before deciding to keep some "materials" for later "research."

Waving my sword back, a black flame shot outward, enveloping the corpses as well as the masked men, except the one in front of me.

Within a few seconds, all that was left was some ash, which too soon followed the light breeze of the open plains and scattered along.

Of course, the trio that had fainted earlier were left behind, as they were not corpses yet.

Even while being burned "alive" earlier, the puppets showed no signs of resistance. Hence, leaving it behind along with the unconscious trio, I retraced my steps and walked in the direction I had come from.

Soon, I saw Bert in the distance, with Lena and Mom riding in my direction.

"What happened?" Lena asked with a serious expression on her face. "Was it something troublesome?" Mom also looked at me worriedly in askance.

I nodded. "It is indeed a little troublesome." Seeing their pensive looks, I smiled, pointing at Bert and saying, "I would have to trouble you ladies for a bit because I need to borrow my mount for a while."

The two froze before Lena chuckled. "It seems everything's under control since you can talk like that."

The two didn't ask any more questions as they climbed down.

"Keep following me at your pace," I said to the ladies before mounting Bert and heading back to the ambush site.

The ashes had already been scattered, leaving no trace of the cultists. Only the trio of mercenaries hired by them were left on the ground, unconscious.

Getting down, I used a rope to tie the three of them to Bert's back. It snorted in displeasure but calmed down after I placated it a bit.

"Alright." Seeing that the goons were secured in place, I nodded before commanding Bert to depart, as I had already instructed earlier.

Giving me a resentful look, my mount raised its hooves before striding forward with its amazing speed. But the direction it was headed was not the fiery forest.

Soon, Lena and her mother also caught up.

"What happened?" Lena asked. "Where is Bert?"

Curling my lips, I faintly explained about the ambush, keeping the knowledge of the cult to myself since my master had not decided to divulge it yet.

"Are you alright, dear?" Mom stood forward, gazing at me worriedly, when she heard about what happened. "I didn't know you had to face such things, Daniel. It's too dangerous." Her worry was as natural as being a mother.

"Don't worry, Mom." Rubbing her shoulder, I smiled calmly. "It's not like that normally. Someone must have leaked my whereabouts since they were able to make such arrangements. But don't worry, I can deal with them easily."

Maybe my words worked, as her frown disappeared, though she still looked worried.

"Besides," I smirked. "They were not here for Daniel."

"They came here to ambush the Storm Saint's disciple."

Lena nodded before asking in confusion, "Then what was your purpose in capturing those goons? You even sent Bert for that."

"Naturally, it was for information." I shrugged. "While I don't expect them to know much, any extra clue would help."

"Besides, it's not like they are not useful at all." A smile appeared on my face as I thought of something interesting.

"Geh, keep your creepy smile and tell us about how we should proceed." Lena pouted as she crossed her arms before her proud peaks, looking at me with annoyance.

"Don't worry. You'll know everything soon." I knew she was mad at me for not being clear about everything. But since my master had already instructed me as such, I could only keep Lena out of it for a while.

Moving forward, we soon arrived at the border of the grassy plains. My mother suddenly gasped when she saw the scene straight ahead of us.

A forest appeared in our sight. But it was not just any forest, as every tree seemed to be covered in a layer of fire. Of course, that was only a mirage due to the terrifying temperature.

From a distance, the forest appeared as a blazing sea of green and crimson. The towering trees, adapted to thrive in the scorching temperatures, painted a mesmerizing landscape that resembled flames frozen in time. The vibrant green leaves blended seamlessly with the fiery red hues, creating a surreal tapestry of colors that seemed to dance in harmony under the sun's relentless heat.

This fiery forest, untouched by actual flames, stood as a testament to nature's ability to adapt and flourish even in the harshest of environments.

"A-are we going in there?" Mom asked apprehensively, breaking free from her daze at the sight of the fiery forest.

"Daniel," Lena suddenly called out with a serious expression. "Now that I think about it, how are we going to get Mother across the forest?"

Ignoring the various mana beasts residing within, just the high temperature made it impossible for ordinary people to enter. While there were magic tools that offered protection from heat, it was clear that neither Lena nor I had anything like that with us.

"I'll cover her with mana," I replied calmly while observing the terrain.

"What? No!" Lena instantly refused my suggestion. "You do know that even with your near-limitless mana capacity, it won't help when we have to fight. It's dangerous for us to proceed like that."

She paused before saying, "How about this? One of us will stay with our mother, while the other can go and buy some equipment from the city on the other side. Alright?"

"Don't worry," I smiled assuredly before looking at my mother. "I have a plan."

Still in doubt, Lena could only agree, as she knew I would never take such risks when it came to my mother.

"Hop on, Mom," I invited as I squatted down and moved my arms backward. My mother leaned on my back and grabbed my neck. Though embarrassed to do so in front of Lena, she knew now was not the time to harp on such trivialities.

Just like that, we entered the forest.

I created a barrier of mana, enveloping me and Mom. Lena also had a thin layer of mana circulating around her. Actually, she didn't need one; she just didn't want to end up sweaty from the heat.

"Oh, how cute!"

As we moved forward, a bunch of felines with red and brown fur and a charming appearance crossed our path. My mother couldn't help herself after seeing their endearing appearance, despite their size, which was thrice that of normal house cats.

"Don't be fooled by their cuteness, Mother. They are quite ferocious hunters who play with their prey for fun before ending their lives," Lena warned, even though her eyes were also shining with eagerness to hug a bunch of these cats.

Their reactions amused me to no end, but I wasn't worried as these cats were known to be quite intelligent creatures and not like other mindless beasts that attacked on sight.

Sure enough, the group of felines only glanced at us briefly before a very human-like, wary look appeared in the leading cat's eyes. It meowed a few times before leading its kin away.

Just like that, despite the heat and the dangers, the three of us proceeded quite calmly.

"Hey, why are you turning that way? The shortest route is in this direction." Lena noticed my deviation from the path and asked, her eyes filled with curiosity as she realized I might be about to reveal the reason for my confidence in leading my mother out unscathed.

As we followed the path I had taken, it only took us a few minutes before a hilly area appeared in our sight.

There were numerous hills around us, but none of them exceeded a hundred feet in height.

The area was quite noisy, as many birds and flying creatures had made their nests above the hills or within the cracks and caves.

Our sudden appearance surely attracted some attention, but with me and Lena continuously unleashing our auras, the creatures retreated with wary expressions.

"Let's go quickly before we attract some big ones," I said, leading them forward and searching for something with my mana sense active.

"Found it!"