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The light of the morning sun penetrated the mist, covering the forest with a hazy golden veil. The air was filled with the smell of moist soil, mixed with the fragrance of unknown wild flowers. Mark took a deep breath and quickened his pace. Albert followed closely behind, with a faint light flashing on the top of the staff, illuminating the road ahead.

The two of them moved forward in the direction shown in the picture in their memory, and the surrounding scenery became more and more unfamiliar. The towering trees blocked the sky, and the thick vines were wrapped around the trunks, like a twisted python. The ground was covered with thick fallen leaves, which made a rustling sound when stepped on.

"This place..." Albert looked around, frowned slightly, and the light of the staff swayed with it, "It's completely different from the place we walked before." He raised his hand to push away a low-hanging branch in front of him, revealing a moss-covered tree face with a strange shape, as if it was watching them.

Mark also noticed something strange. He looked around vigilantly. "Indeed, the energy fluctuations here are very strange." He paused and his eyes fell on a twisted old tree. The trunk was full of strange symbols, which were very similar to the runes on the black stone. "Look at those symbols," Mark pointed at the old tree, his tone solemn, "They are exactly the same as those on the stone." Albert looked in the direction Mark pointed, his pupils slightly contracted. He reached out and touched the runes on the trunk, and a cold touch came from his fingertips, as if there was a flow of energy. "This... everything here is related to that stone." Albert retracted his hand. At this moment, Mark felt the ground under his feet begin to tremble, and the surrounding trees groaned, and the branches waved like arms. His face changed, "Be careful!" Before he finished speaking, a thick vine whipped towards Mark like a long whip. Mark swung his palm and cut the vine neatly. The broken vine twisted on the ground for a few times, and dark green juice slowly flowed out from the broken end, emitting a pungent smell.

Almost at the same time, a sharp branch stabbed Albert. Albert's staff shot out a beam of energy, splitting the attacking branch in half. Dark green liquid also flowed out from the broken end, emitting a disgusting smell. Albert frowned in disgust, used his staff to pick up the broken branch, carefully observed the broken end, and whispered: "This tree... seems to have life."

Mark found that the originally solid ground under his feet became as soft as a swamp. He jumped suddenly and jumped onto a harder rock. Albert also felt his feet soften, and his body sank down involuntarily. Mark was quick-witted and grabbed Albert's arm and pulled him up. "Be careful!" Mark shouted.

Albert staggered a few steps, stood firm, and his face was a little pale. The two stood back to back, looking around vigilantly. They found that the surrounding trees were slowly surrounding them, with branches intertwined to form an impenetrable wall. The forest seemed to come alive and turned into a huge cage, trapping them in it.

Mark waved several light thorns, trying to cut a way out, but found that the trees were like living things, and the broken branches quickly regenerated and attacked them more frantically. He cut off one branch, and immediately two more branches entangled around, as if consciously blocking their way. Sweat slid down Mark's cheeks, and he felt a sense of powerlessness.

"This won't work!" Albert waved his staff to block the branches that kept attacking, with a hint of anxiety in his tone, "We will be trapped here to death!" His breathing also began to become rapid. Obviously, such a high-intensity battle was also a big burden for him.

The dense branches woven into a huge net covered the sky, and only sporadic points of light fell through the gaps. The surrounding trees made a creepy rustling sound, like countless whispers echoing in the ears, making people feel terrified.

"Mark, use fire!" Albert shouted at Mark while resisting the attack.

Mark's eyes lit up when he heard it, and he immediately raised his hands above his head, and a stream of bright red energy gathered in his palms.

Mark pressed his hands down, "Firestorm!"

The flames gushed out from the top of Mark's hands, forming a column of fire, rushing towards the interlaced branches in front. The moment the flames touched the branches, there was a "crackling" sound, and the dark green liquid was evaporated by the high temperature, and a pungent white smoke rose. The branches burned by the flames quickly withered and curled up into ashes. The column of fire lasted for several seconds, and it burned a passage in the encirclement of trees.

"Go!" Mark rushed into the burning passage first, followed by Albert.

The two ran out of the encirclement and looked back. The flames were still burning. The burnt trees groaned in pain, but they dared not get close. Mark wiped the sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Albert with a hint of fear in his eyes, "Fortunately you reacted quickly, otherwise we would have been trapped there." He noticed that Albert's sleeve was burnt, and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Albert looked down at the burnt mark on his sleeve and shook his head, "It's okay, a small problem." He looked around and found that they had come to a relatively open area, but the surrounding trees were still in a strange twisted state. There was a faint smell of sulfur in the air, mixed with the burnt smell of burning trees, which was disgusting.

"Do you think it's strange here?" Albert pointed to the twisted trees around him, "These trees look like they are contaminated by some kind of power."

Mark nodded, "Yes, and I feel like we have been going in circles." He frowned.

Albert looked around, a gleam in his eyes, "Look there, the crown of that big tree is more luxuriant than the others, maybe we can climb up and see the surrounding environment from a high place."

Mark nodded, and they approached the big tree carefully, and found that the trunk was also engraved with strange runes. "These runes..." Mark muttered to himself, his fingers gently touched the runes, and felt a weak energy fluctuation.

"Be careful, these trees may be dangerous." Albert reminded.

Mark nodded, he took a deep breath, and began to climb the big tree. His arm and leg muscles were tense, and every grip and kick seemed particularly powerful. Albert followed closely behind, his staff tied to his back, and his hands also tightly grasped the trunk.

As they gradually rose, the full picture of the forest gradually appeared before their eyes. They found that the trees in the forest were arranged in a strange pattern, like some kind of ancient magic circle. In the center of the forest, there was a huge open space, and in the center of the open space stood a huge black stone, exactly the same as the stone they had found before.

"That's where the altar is." Mark pointed to the black stone in the middle of the clearing, with a hint of determination in his tone.

They began to slide down the tree trunk, preparing to go to the altar. However, just as they were about to land, a low roar suddenly came from the forest. Mark and Albert immediately became alert. They drew their weapons and stood back to back, ready to deal with possible threats.

From the shadows of the forest, a huge black bear slowly walked out. The bear's eyes flashed red, and its body was also engraved with strange runes, exactly the same as the runes on the trees and black stones in the forest.

The black bear let out a deafening roar and rushed towards them. Mark and Albert immediately dispersed and tried to attack the black bear from both sides. The black bear's movements were extremely agile, and its claws were waving, and each swing was powerful.

Mark flexibly dodged the black bear's attacks, and he kept leaving wounds on the black bear's body. However, the black bear did not seem to care about these wounds, and it continued to attack frantically. Albert used a long sword and a staff to attack from a distance. The tip of his staff flashed from time to time, releasing energy.

After a fierce battle, the black bear finally fell. Mark and Albert stood beside the black bear's body, panting. Their clothes were soaked with sweat and their bodies were covered with scars.

"Let's go. The altar is in front." Mark picked up the dagger that fell on the ground and pointed it to the open space in the middle of the forest.