Fathomless forest (Ch11)
ANGELS AMONG US : BOUND BY FATE
Chapter 11
"Fathomless forest"
[Western regions]
(Fathomless forest)
"I'm sorry, but I can't take you any further," the rider said to Oliver, his expression grave.
"The road ahead leads to the Fathomless Forest, and it's far too dangerous for anyone to travel through." He looked at Oliver with concern, but Oliver's eyes were filled with determination.
"Thank you for bringing me this far," he said, his voice firm.
"But I must continue on my own. I have to find the Luminescent Seraphica flower." The rider sighed, but he knew that he couldn't change Oliver's mind.
"Be safe, and may the gods protect you," he said
Upon his arrival at the forest, Oliver entered the Fathomless forest, he felt a chill settle over him. The trees were tall and twisted, their branches reaching out like skeletal fingers. The leaves were a deep, ominous green, and the light was dim and dappled, giving the forest a dreamlike, surreal quality. It was like stepping into a nightmare. As he walked deeper into the forest, the trees seemed to loom over him, growing taller and closer together.
Oliver stood at the threshold of the Fathomless Forest, his eyes fixed on the mysterious realm ahead. The quest for the Luminescent Seraphica had brought him to this dark enclave.
As he ventured deeper into the forest, the shadows embraced him, and the air grew thick and damp. The scent of decay lingered, mingling with the subtle footsteps of harmless creatures meandering along the trees. The chilling touch of the forest's breath wrapped around him.
Moving forward, Oliver found himself immersed in a world of quietude, broken only by the occasional sounds of unseen creatures. The vastness of the Fathomless Forest left him in awe, and a touch of confusion crept in.
"I wonder where can I find the Luminescent Seraphica," Oliver pondered aloud, his voice barely a whisper amid the immense silence. Memories of the women's words echoed in his mind, but the lack of specific directions left him grappling with uncertainty.
The forest, expansive and veiled in mystery, seemed to offer no clear guidance. Oliver pressed on, navigating the labyrinth of towering trees and shifting shadows, each step bringing him deeper into the heart of the Fathomless Forest.
In the heart of the Fathomless Forest, Oliver's thoughts echoed in the stillness as he sought the elusive Luminescent Seraphica.
"According to that woman, the Luminescent Seraphica is somewhere in this forest. Where might it be?" Oliver mused, his gaze scanning the dense shadows that surrounded him.
As his pondering continued, a subtle disturbance in the underbrush caught his attention. The bushes trembled, and a sense of impending danger sent a shiver down his spine. Reacting swiftly, Oliver drew his long sword, a prized possession acquired at the marketplace.
"Thank goodness I decided to buy this long sword, though it's super expensive. Glad I bought it anyways," he acknowledged, a hint of relief in his voice.
Amidst the dim light filtering through the dense canopy, a horde of GloomSpiders emerged, their menacing presence palpable. Oliver, recognizing the threat, closed his eyes, centering himself. Focusing on controlled breathing, he sought to maintain harmony between mind and body, dispelling the encroaching fear.
"If I start becoming fearful, my breathing flow will be off, and the flow of my energy will shift and be in disorder. I need to stay calm," Oliver reminded himself.
With renewed composure, he opened his eyes, both hands firmly gripping the sword. As the GloomSpiders closed in, Oliver slashed with precision, the blade cutting through the air. More spiders advanced, attempting to ensnare him in their dark silk. Undeterred, Oliver maneuvered skillfully, slashing simultaneously, a dance of steel amid the shadows.
The forest echoed with the clash of sword against silk, a silent battle fought beneath the ancient canopy. Oliver, his every move deliberate, faced the GloomSpiders, determined to overcome this unexpected challenge on his quest for the Luminescent Seraphica.
As Oliver faced the relentless onslaught of GloomSpiders, each calculated slash of his long sword became a laborious effort. The forest echoed with the rhythmic clash, and Oliver's panting breaths reverberated through the silent grove. The sweat on his brow mirrored the intensity of the struggle.
A seasoned hunter in skill but an F-rank in rank, Oliver grappled with the physical toll of the ongoing battle. The weight of his mission to find the Luminescent Seraphica pressed upon him, and the realization of the penalties for failure lingered in his thoughts. Yet, his determination remained unyielding, a flame that refused to be extinguished.
As the second wave of GloomSpiders surged, Oliver's movements became more labored. Each swing of his long sword carried the weight of fatigue, but he pressed on, acknowledging that any setback would hinder his ascent through the ranks, Gloomspiders are weak creatures that even an F rank hunter could handle them but what makes it so difficult to defeat them is their numbers they move and attack in groups.
The forest bore witness to Oliver's resilience, and he continued forward, a solitary figure navigating the shadows. When the third wave of GloomSpiders descended upon him, their sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm. Oliver's stamina waned, but with a defiant spirit, he persevered.
"This is the last of them," Oliver declared through the exertion, the final slash dispersing the last GloomSpider. A moment of stillness enveloped the forest as Oliver stood amidst the remnants of the battle.
His breaths steadied, and a triumphant spark gleamed in his eyes. The struggle against the GloomSpiders became a testament to Oliver's determination.
The Fathomless Forest, once filled with the symphony of battle, now embraced a fleeting tranquility. Oliver, sword in hand, surveyed the stillness with caution. No more GloomSpiders emerged from the shadows, allowing him a moment of respite.
As he caught his breath, sitting on a moss-covered rock, the cool touch of the forest floor beneath him, Oliver indulged in a few sips of water to calm his taxed nerves. The Luminescent Seraphica quest weighed on his shoulders, a relentless pursuit that demanded both physical and mental fortitude.
Suddenly, a distant cry shattered the quietude.
"Ahh! Get away from me!"
The voice of a man echoed through the trees, carrying an urgency that struck a chord with Oliver. Instinctively, he sprang to his feet, the overwhelming energy in the vicinity sending a chill down his spine.
"Huh?" Oliver's confusion transformed into determination as he followed the direction of the distressed voice.
Jumping over bushes and evading the dense forest canopy, he pressed forward, drawn by the call for help.
With each agile leap and swift maneuver through the labyrinth of trees, Oliver's senses heightened. The unknown danger ahead fueled his adrenaline, and the Luminescent Seraphica quest took a momentary backseat as he ventured into the depths of the forest, guided by the echoes of distress.
As Oliver sprinted towards the source of distress, the distant voice grew louder, leading him to a perilous encounter. Emerging from the shadows, he witnessed a lone man, draped in researcher's attire, in a desperate struggle with a colossal spider creature.
"A researcher? What is that man doing in this dangerous place, and alone too?" Oliver wondered, a momentary pause in his pursuit of the Luminescent Seraphica quest.
The giant spider, an estimated E-rank monster and the apparent leader of the GloomSpiders, loomed over the researcher. Undeterred by the man's attempts to calm it, the creature displayed an aggressive demeanor. The researcher, crawling on the forest floor, seemed at the mercy of the arachnid monarch.
"I've got to save him!" Oliver's resolve surged, and he swiftly gathered nearby stones, hurling them at the giant spider. The creature's attention shifted, its eight terrible eyes fixating on Oliver.
As the giant spider closed in on Oliver, he gulped, tightly gripping his sword. With calculated precision, he dodged the cutting threads and evaded the sticky webs, a dance of survival beneath the ancient canopy.
Successfully drawing the spider's focus away from the researcher, Oliver assessed the situation.
"Good, that creature is now focusing on me. It will give that man time to run away," he noted, bracing himself for the impending clash.
The giant spider, relentless in its pursuit, unleashed a thrust attack. Oliver, ensnared by sticky webs, faced a moment of peril. Using his legs as a forceful anchor, he pushed against a nearby tree, narrowly avoiding the lethal strike of the arachnid monarch.
In a burst of strength and agility, Oliver freed himself from the sticky constraints just as the creature's pointy leg thrust toward him. The tree served as a makeshift shield, and Oliver, now liberated, readied his sword for the impending confrontation with the giant spider that loomed in the shadowy depths of the Fathomless Forest.
The Arachnid monarch started releasing a mist of poison gas.
Oliver, resolute in his determination to subdue the giant spider, stood firm despite the encroaching mist of toxic poison. As the mist enveloped him, he instinctively closed his nose and mouth, but traces of the venom had already found their way into his system. His vision dimmed, a disorienting effect of the lethal poison.
"Poison! Dammit, I need to kill it before the poison spreads throughout my body," Oliver muttered through gritted teeth, his resolve unyielding. Holding his sword with one hand, he summoned the solar energy that infused the blade with a radiant aura.
"I'll cut its legs!" he declared, charging forward with determination. The giant spider, sensing the imminent threat, retaliated by releasing a mist of poison. Oliver, caught in the toxic haze, felt the insidious effects taking hold.
With his vision deteriorating, Oliver swung his sword in a fervent attempt to sever the arachnid monarch's leg. The solar energy flared, but to his disbelief, the giant spider's limb remained intact, unscathed by the strike of his sword even though imbued with his solar energy.
"H...how?" Oliver stammered, staring at the broken sword in his hand, its shattered pieces falling to the forest floor. The giant spider loomed, seemingly impervious to his desperate assault.
Undeterred, Oliver, now facing the dual challenges of a potent poison and a broken weapon, contemplated his next move in the shadowy dance with the arachnid monarch.
Oliver, weakened by the spreading poison, struggled to maintain his footing. Purple veins crept across his skin, a visual manifestation of the venom's relentless advance. As the Arachnid monarch prepared a devastating blow, Oliver's attempts to evade were hampered by the intensifying pain.
"Dang, the more I try to move, the more the pain increases, and so is the poison," he realized, grappling with the dual assault on his body. In a desperate bid to escape the impending strike, he faltered, succumbing to the Arachnid monarch's attack.
The giant spider's leg struck Oliver with a force that sent him tumbling across the forest floor. He rolled multiple times until he lay battered and incapacitated. The Arachnid monarch, sensing victory, approached Oliver with a menacing intent, its foreboding proclamation of imminent death hanging in the air.
Low on energy and with the poison coursing through his veins, Oliver felt the encroaching darkness. However, fate took an unexpected turn. A stone, thrown with precision, struck the Arachnid monarch's eye, triggering an aggressive and angry response from the creature. The researcher, whom Oliver had inadvertently saved by diverting the arachnid's attention, had returned to the scene.
"Damn that fool! What is he doing!? He will die!" Oliver thought helplessly, unable to move as the Arachnid monarch shifted its attention from him to the man who had thrown the stone.
The researcher, realizing the peril he faced, sprinted away from the enraged arachnid. The giant spider, consumed by anger, pursued the researcher with lethal intent, leaving Oliver lying on the forest floor, his fate uncertain in the wake of the unexpected turn of events.
Oliver, lying on the forest floor, senses a surge of desperation as the Arachnid monarch relentlessly pursues the researcher. Fueled by a mix of determination and a desire to alter the course of events, Oliver attempts to replicate the golden energy he had felt from the celestial being.
As he focuses on summoning this mysterious energy, a radiant glow envelops his body. The golden aura, reminiscent of the celestial being's presence, emanates from Oliver, casting a warm and ethereal light in the shadowy confines of the Fathomless Forest.
In this moment of desperation and the looming threat to the researcher, the golden energy takes on a tangible form. Oliver feels a surge of strength and newfound resolve coursing through him. Whether this manifestation holds the power to alter the unfolding events and intervene in the chase between the Arachnid monarch and the researcher remains uncertain.
In a moment of celestial intervention, Seraph, the benevolent celestial being, had temporarily possessed Oliver's body during the intense battle against the intermediate tier Chaoses back at the sunvale village incident. During this extraordinary encounter, a profound connection was forged, allowing Oliver's mortal form to replicate a mere fraction of Seraph's divine energy—10% to be exact.
As the celestial being's essence lingered within Oliver's being, a dormant power awakened. The divine energy, often referred to as the limitless energy with godly capabilities, became a latent force within Oliver's core. This newfound power was distinct from the two other energies that defined existence—Atado, the energy bestowed upon humans, this power is mostly used by hunters, and Alkelid, the chaotic and malevolent energy created by the lord of wrath, the leader of the 7 legion lords.
Oliver, tapping into this divine energy, discovered the ability to wield a fraction of Seraph's godly capabilities. Although confined to utilizing only 10% of its immense power, this bestowed energy would prove pivotal in the impending challenges as they approached the hill, where the otherworldly energy and the echoes of battle awaited them.
The air crackled with the otherworldly essence as Oliver stepped forward, ready to face the monstrous Arachnid Monarch.