Chapter 12 - Arrival

Few days after, Alex and John can be seen flying cautiously as they proceeded towards their destination. If one looked closely, one can see their worn out expressions and tell-tales of battle signs. A mini explosion went of as John yelped in fright as he quickly swerved to the right crashing into Alex.

Both quickly got on their feet as they scanned their surroundings, but unfortunately they found nothing. Alex turned to look at John giving him the look of

What was all that drama for?

John shook his head as he scratched the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile

He then made hand signs

I swear I felt something!

Alex rolled his eyes at him then hissed when he felt a tingling pain on his left arm. Looking at the wound that failed to heal even with his high regeneration, he was surprised to what caused this. He got this injuries the day before, two days after surviving the ambush.

They were pursued by a giant insect which gave them a run for their life. The insect appeared to have gone mad as it destroyed every obstacle along its path in a bid to devor the duo

Just remembering the experience gave Alex headache. How the hell was the road to the Resistance Base this dangerous?! It's like this was a suicide mission for whoever was fed up of life. No wonder not many offered to go to battle against the monsters. Another thing he noticed was the the mist of poison contained within the air but he was surprised when he noticed John doing just fine.

He must admit, the guy was rich and well equipped. During pursuit from the insect John detonated explosives one after the other as they ran. And he was sure those must cost lots of gold. Patience Alex, patience.

Checking the map before him he noticed they were just a few days journey to their destination. The chase had really made them go off-track, besides they also had to make detours when they felt anything threatening. Alex then checked his stats.

STATUS

NAME - ALEX MERCER

AGE - 22

RACE - HUMAN

STATS/ MISSIONS/ BALANCE/ INVENTORY/ UPGRADE

MISSION: Kill

Ten low level beasts [ 0 / 10 ]

Two mid level beasts [ 0 / 2 ]

One high level beast [ 0 / 1 ]

Mission not yet completed.

They needed to exit this forest fast before they find themselves in another dangerous situation. He gritted his teeth as he took out a knife and tore off the part of his skin that failed to heal. He then noticed his regeneration kick in as new flesh grew in few minutes.

He saw John looking at him like he was a kind of treasure but he paid him no heed as he took out the motorcycle John gave him. He activated stealth as he zoomed off. John smiled then brought out a similar one like Alex and chased after him. A few minutes after they left, a screech could be heard as trees fell due to the charge of a giant insect. The insect looked in the direction Alex and John went and seem to be contemplating if it should go after them or not. It's giant head bobbed up and down as it retreated into the dark.

Alex and John speeding off in the distance broke out in cold sweat. Was the insect attracted to them or what could probably cause it's craziness. Alex was certain that damned insect should be stronger than a low level beast and maybe on par with the mid levels, but he couldn't be certain since he's yet to know how they are ranked and encounter many of them.

Three days passed in a flash as Alex and John honed their instincts of survival as they clearly avoided dangerous area as they proceeded forward. They would settle when tired to replenish their energies before continuing the journey. It seemed the insect gave up on pursuing them as they finally breathed sighs of relief.

Two days later, they finally found the exit as they quickly moved over.

"Exit at last! Here I come!" John cried out in pure bliss like a child that has finally been offered breast milk after being denied earlier.

Alex widened his eyes as he quickly moved to clamp John's mouth shut, but it was too late. John also noticed the blunder he committed as he held his palm to his mouth and flew faster towards the exit

The odd thing was that no matter how fast they flew, the exit seemed to be getting farther like the distance between them was elongated.

"You shouldn't have talked!" Alex yelled at John.

"What do you expect me to do? The exit was right there—"

Not good!

"Watch out!" Alex called but it was too late as he saw a blade pierce through John's suit from the back. John coughed up blood ad he turned to look at the assailant and discovered it was the masked man that managed to escape.

"How?!" He said as he quickly pushed himself over to Alex's side for support.

"You thought I'd just let you leave this forest unscathed? That's funny. But I have no time to play." He said as he turned to leave.

It seems to have accomplished whatever purpose he had.

"Who are you?" Alex asked, his voice dripping with coldness.

"Oh, me? Someone who will kill you later."

The man replied as he didn't turn his head to them. An incorporeal door manifested before him as he gently walked in.

"You talk big for someone who may end up dying by my hands." Alex replied calmly.

The man didn't reply, but paused a bit as he seemed to be in contemplation, "Not everything you see is actually the truth." With that the man and the door faded from existence.

Alex quickly checked John's condition and was surprised to notice that he wasn't hurt in the slightest. He smacked him on his head as he pushed him off him. John gave an embarrassing smile as he turned his face and whistled.

"Let's get out of here." Alex said as he quickly sped out of the forest and was immediately bathed by rays of sunlight.

John arrived next to him as he appeared to be in tears. Alex clicked his tongue in annoyance when he thought of how this guy intended to use him as meat shield.

He looked back and noticed the forest was still dark and he was shocked when he noticed the forest becoming a blur till it faded out of existence.

John who also noticed this screamed out,

"What was my offense to go through all those sufferings for?" He noticed the terrain around them had changed and he noticed the location of the camp not far from their location.

"Enough with all these nonsense. Let's endeavor to get to the base quickly." Alex said as he smacked John on his head lightly.

Alex brought out the motorcycle given to him by John.

Guess now's the best time to use this...

He sped off into the distance as he left John to catch up to him.

Two hours after flying, they saw many people also going in the same direction as them, but compared to the two of them these people looked refreshed.

Alex noticed John rubbing his eyes as if he was trying to wake up from sleep. Alex's eyes narrowed as he appeared to be in deep thought.

Don't tell me it's only the two of us that entered that forest?

He turned his head to John, and John understanding his intent flew over to a lady who appeared to be annoyed.

The lady on seeing John approach her gave him a cold stare, but John pretended not to notice.

"Excuse me. Did you happen to pass another route to arrive here?"

The lady stopped and looked at John like he was an idiot.

"So you didn't happen to pass through any forest?" John continued, but seeing he got no reply he proceeded to fly off but was stopped by the lady's voice.

"We are passed through the normal path, and I don't have any idea of what forest you are talking about." She replied then resumed her journey.

Thanks. John muttered as he returned to Alex's side. He then told Alex what he found out which Alex nodded to.

They continued their journey as no one spoke for a while.

"I'm certain you understood what happened to us." Alex said without turning,

John coughed lightly as he shivered,

"What I don't understand is what kind of power could make forest appear without alerting even the city?"

"Besides even the map displayed the forest, but when I checked a while ago, it's like it wasn't there in the first place." John turned his head to Alex slightly expecting to hear what he'd say about it, but he was surprised when he noticed that Alex didn't have any intention of answering.

Alex naturally had some speculation, but he out them at the back of his mind. The important thing now was to arrive at the Resistance Base.

A few kilometers ahead of them was a large hologram that displayed a monster's mouth widely opened as a thin long iron pierced both of it's eyes. It's expression looked pained and very lifelike that some who tried to enter through it shivered slightly.

Alex and company breathed a sigh of relief as they came upon the entrance.

"Looks like we finally made it." He smiled at John.

John laughed lightly as he stepped into the entrance after Alex.

A system prompt greeted them both as they felt space warp around them.

[ WELCOME TO THE FOURTH RESISTANCE BASE! ]