chapter 15: Mysterious fog

I looked up at the tree branch where Jen stood, He sensed danger moments ago.

It had been several hours since we started delving into the forest, and we were still somewhat far from reaching the center of the island.

"Did you find anything?"

I looked at him irritably, and he returned the look.

My headache was increasing more and more; my sword hadn't stopped stabbing the seal-space , and I needed to constantly stabilize it.

"There's a wave of monsters ahead; we need to take another detour."

As an expert in scouting, Jen was the perfect companion to bring on such a journey.

I was sure things would be much harder without him, and I might even die; waves of monsters aren't a small matter and could topple entire cities.

Although there were no monsters of the S rank, dozens of B rank and a few A rank monsters are not something we can currently handle.

We took a sharp turn to the side. I must admit the immense size of this island.

It was large enough to contain many monsters, and it's noteworthy that monster waves often attack other waves if they compete for the same land.

This means the island is large enough to meet the needs of the three monster waves we've encountered so far without any of them needing additional land.

And I still feel there's more ahead.

"Be careful."

Jen grabbed the edge of my clothes from behind to stop me immediately, I looked down and my heart stopped for a second.

There was a human-sized pit under me, in which a huge frog opened its mouth very wide.

I would've been swallowed immediately if I had fallen.

I couldn't determine the frog's level immediately, but it was probably around the E rank, a bit above my level.

Although my legendary Martial art gives me the ability to surpass a few ranks once i master it, it wouldn't mean anything if I couldn't even pull it out.

And I still haven't mastered the first step yet...

I heard Jen's voice behind me amid my thoughts.

"The Mirage Frog; it messes with the minds of those around it to make them overlook its trap, most below D rank typically fall into it."

Jen explained things slowly, it was in his interest to keep me alive for now, perhaps anything from him would be considered a contribution to my killing, and it wouldn't end well for him if that happened. this is my guess at least.

He lets me travel with him for some reason, it's weird but I won't complain, it's in my best interest to travel with him anyway.

I looked at him as he quickly finished off the frog, then we continued walking for several more hours.

The leaves began to change as the sun set, and the quiet place became eerier and eerier.

It became difficult to see more than ten steps ahead, another Mirage Frog wouldn't need an illusion to make me overlook its trap...

Just when I felt anxious about being attacked, I heard Jen's voice ahead.

"Let's stop for the day, we'll continue at dawn."

I sighed as I pulled out some essentials to start a fire, I didn't want to stay here without light.

I paused, is it safe to light a fire here?

It seems Gene noticed my hesitation and immediately spoke up.

"Don't worry about lighting the fire, I'll stay awake all night..."

I looked at him with a bit of astonishment; with a wounded and tired body, doesn't he want to sleep at least?

Does he think I'll kill him in his sleep? But he knows I'm not that strong..

Perhaps he thinks I'm a sleep addict? And that he can't be sure I'll stay awake?

If that's the truth, he couldn't be more wrong.

I had stayed awake for more than two months the last time, and although it was with the help of Jor's constant beating, I gained some resistance to sleepiness.

If I hadn't, I fear I would be brain-dead, which I seriously doubt, how could I be after all?

Although I tend to sleep for a long time, I can also stay awake for several days without fatigue.

After some thought, realizing that Jen wouldn't be able to do anything to me in my sleep, I decided to accept his goodwill and lit the fire.

Maybe he just wants to abandon me and leave me in the dark forest.. No, he would've done it from the beginning if he wanted to abandon me, or has he changed his mind now?

hmm, i prefer to not think about it anymore.. let things go naturally i guess.

For now, I'm sleeping under the supervision of someone at the peak of the A+ rank, which is safer than staying in StarHold Palace in my opinion.

At least Jen wouldn't try to kill me or make my life miserable around the clock every day.

I wanted to return there soon anyway, to inherit...

Wait... what was I supposed to inherit?

The fog in my mind was getting denser and denser, I began to have difficulty remembering some things.

'Strange...'

When I doubted the matter a little, I realized how foolish I was.

Why do I need to remember anyway? Staying on top of the tree would be better than anything else...

I closed my eyes to sleep, but the sword in my mind wouldn't let me get a moment of rest.

A little while passed, and I found myself unable to bear the pain at all.

'There's no solution...'

I sighed as I got up, and with Jen's puzzled looks, I moved a little away from the spot.

I still needed the light of the fire after all.

I took out two flowers from my inventory, planted them on the ground next to me slowly and carefully, then sat down.

Feeling that usual sedative effect, I became more at ease, reached into the sky, and pulled out the Sword of Sloth, which didn't resist me this time.

It probably sensed my intentions, I still can't understand how this rusty sword could move on its own?

I took a deep breath and swung the sword very slowly, releasing a deep breath completely when the strike connected with the ground.

Similarly slowly, the ground began to split about 3 cm deep for several meters, and I felt a slight numbness from my wrist to my shoulder.

Practicing this Art isn't easy at all, it can't be applied just by hitting slowly.

The way of breathing, moving muscles, and most importantly, experiencing a very intense drowsiness.

I felt sleep overcoming my mind, a drowsiness similar to what I felt in the black temple...

That was the drawback of this Art ... The same drowsiness would return with each use of this art...

The deeper the drowsiness, the more effective the strike.

I returned the sword to the inventory, went back to Jen after storing the flowers again.

I saw the puzzled look in his eyes, but I wasn't in the mood to explain shit now.

"I might not wake up easily tomorrow..."

Those were my last words before falling into a deep sleep.

Due to the unknown effect on me at that time, I wasn't aware of how foolish what I had done was... to show my martial art randomly.

***

Jen looked at Cassian's sleeping body; if it weren't for his chest rising and falling continuously, he might have thought he was indeed dead.

His snoring was particularly annoying, as if he had been deprived of sleep for weeks, feeling especially annoyed when he thought of his last words.

He remembered what happened recently... trying to wake him up for three consecutive hours to no avail; the boy's ability to sleep was indeed astonishing.

If he was going to do that again to wake him up… Jen felt fear for the first time in a long while. He know that just abandoning this kid will be the best decision, but he simply didn't want to.

With a deep breath, he drew a pair of small swords and kept them in his hand, 'I must stay alert in an unfamiliar environment...' he slowly remembered the lessons he had learned since childhood.

Some of them were the hard way... Surely, Jen had a truly unique background.

Looking at the half-visible moon, he thought about the headache that hadn't go away since stepping foot in this island.. What makes him want to go to that tree?

 These thoughts only increased his headache to no avail, so he stopped thinking about it, preferring to invest all his attention on the surrounding environment.

He could stay awake for days without a problem, not like that boy...

Jen found himself losing control of his emotions continuously since this morning and wanted to resolve the issue soon.

He felt his energy slowly but steadily decrease.

'Just what is behind this island in the name of god?..'