Promise in the Eternal Night

As we entered the Forest of Eternal Night, a sensation of being swallowed up enveloped me. The light gradually dimmed, and it was impossible not to be impressed. The trees were colossal, some with immense trunks. The surrounding vegetation, despite the lack of sunlight, grew vigorously, making me wonder how that was even possible.

The group was organized as follows: Darian and Richard led at the front, being the guides and the most experienced in battle. Elias and Lucas rode on horseback at the rear, while the cart, loaded with supplies and pulled by a donkey, followed in the center with the rest. We took turns riding in the cart. Almost everyone was armed with swords and light armor, only Clarice, Diana, and I had neither armor nor swords.

Clarice clung to Talia and Marco, bombarding them with questions. I felt sorry for them, as what that girl talked about was beyond imagination. A little further ahead, Edrian approached me.

"Is this your first time in this forest?"

"Yes."

"It's impressive, no matter how many times I've been here."

"Wouldn't it be better to have more people?"

"To be honest, I've been organizing this for about two months. After no one else came back, everyone got scared and refused to go."

"Then why do you want to go?"

"My wife and I were responsible for organizing the distribution of supplies to the needy villages. After everyone gave up on expeditions into the forest, we couldn't just sit back — we had to help somehow."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Of course, I am! But worse than that is watching all those people starve to death."

I could see the fear in his expression. It wasn't just him, Diana, his wife, also showed signs of apprehension. She seemed to be the oldest in the group; her black hair had a few gray strands, but her dark brown eyes reflected determination. Still, this whole talk about wanting to help others didn't convince me; it was obvious that everyone here was in it for the money.

"How will the payment be made, since this is only a one-way trip?"

He walked to the cart, opened a backpack, and carefully took out a folded parchment.

"With this. It's a note signed by the king. When we arrive in Graldrak, I'll hand this to the lord, and he'll make the payment."

Smart thinking on his part; that way, all those who attempted the crossing weren't carrying money.

"You don't need to worry. I don't think there are monsters or anything like that in this forest."

"Why do you think that?"

"I believe there's some scheme involving bandits. They're taking the rewards and preventing others from returning to report. So, you can relax."

He placed his hand on my shoulder, gave a slight smile, and walked over to Diana.

Bandits, huh? Is that really all there is to it?

We walked for a few more minutes, and I couldn't stop looking around. It was truly a different place, with plants I had never seen before in Bartton. Maybe they were local species. Shortly after, Marco approached me.

"Haha! Those two are quite alike. Where are you headed?"

"I have no destination."

"Hmm… That's actually kind of romantic, traveling without a destination with your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend!"

I didn't understand why everyone kept insisting that she was my girlfriend. It was irritating…

Suddenly, something caught my attention near some nearby trees. I stopped and quickly turned my gaze, narrowing my eyes in an attempt to identify what it was, but… there was nothing.

"What is it? Did you see something?" Marco followed my gaze in the same direction.

"No, it was nothing." I moved on.

Actually, that was a bit strange. For a moment, I had the sensation that someone was watching us, and I even heard a metallic sound, similar to a coin being tossed. Maybe it was just my imagination, since this place was rather dark.

We continued until nightfall without encountering anything suspicious, which bothered me greatly. We found a suitable spot and decided to stop to eat and rest. I went to Otto and asked him to tighten the reins of the horses and the donkey.

We built a campfire, and Diana prepared a vegetable soup for everyone. The taste wasn't the best, but it was nutritious and invigorating. After that, we organized the watch shifts. The night in the forest was incredibly dark, making travel practically impossible, not to mention the intense cold. Fortunately, they had brought extra sleeping bags, so Clarice didn't have to take mine.

✧༺⚔༻✧

With the first rays of sunlight, we got up. The night had passed without anything unusual. During my watch, I noticed that in this forest, you could hear many animals, some whose sounds I had never heard before. Diana was already awake and had prepared hot tea for everyone. She acted like a mother, always asking if we were okay or needed anything.

We reorganized our formation and moved on. We needed to be careful not to stray from the northbound path, as it would be easy to get lost in this forest, especially without being able to see the position of the sun.

Our journey started to slow down because Clarice kept stopping to look at things she had never seen before. I suggested tying her up, but they decided she should ride in the cart instead.

Just like on the first day, the second day passed uneventfully, with nothing suspicious along the way. The idea of bandits started to make sense, and they were probably waiting at the forest's exit. The best course of action would be to carefully observe the surroundings as we approached the edge.

As night fell, we began setting up camp. That's when I noticed that Otto hadn't tied the horses and the donkey properly, so I went over to him.

"Hey, I told you to tie them up tight!"

"This is good enough."

"Just do as I said."

"No!"

"Then get out of the way, and I'll do it myself."

"I already said it's fine!" He grabbed my arm, but I moved quickly. I grabbed him by the collar with my left arm, irritated.

"Hey, guys, calm down! What's going on?" Edrian asked as he approached.

I let go of Otto, who stepped back, panting.

"This guy keeps pestering me to tie the ropes tighter. I did that yesterday and messed up my fingers trying to undo the knots because the cold made the ropes stiff."

"Otto, just do as he says. We need to work as a team."

"Fine, but you'll be the one untying them tomorrow."

"Alright. Now shake hands."

"Sorry for grabbing your arm." He extended his hand, waiting for a handshake.

"I overreacted a bit too." I lightly tapped his hand and started to walk away.

I sat a little apart from the group. Diana was preparing the food while the others chatted around the fire. The surroundings were pitch dark. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. The air in this place was incredibly fresh, but there was something more, something I couldn't quite comprehend. It was as if my body felt lighter. When I woke up, I had the sensation of having rested for days.

"Well, guys, if we keep up this pace, we'll cross the forest in about three more days," Edrian said.

"Haha! That's great, so let's have a drink to celebrate." Otto went to his bag and pulled out a bottle.

"Otto, this isn't the time to drink. Save it for after the trip."

"Come on, Edrian? There's nothing in this forest. Look around, the ones before us just took the money and ran."

"Even so, no. We have to stay alert."

"Stop being so uptight. Can't you see? It's completely silent." Otto spread his arms and began spinning around.

Indeed, after two days of traveling without encountering any danger, the forest seemed harmless. However, a bad feeling gripped me. I closed my eyes and focused on the sounds around us. That's when I realized the real problem: absolute silence.

"Quick, everyone, grab your swords!" I stood up, alerting everyone.

"What is it, Saito? Did you see something?" Edrian asked.

"One of them is close."

"One of them?"

"Yes… a monster!"

Everyone started laughing mockingly. For a moment, I felt an intense urge to leave them behind and let them face what was coming.

"Saito, have you ever seen one of these monsters before?"

"No."

"Then how do you know they exist?"

"A trustworthy person told me."

Suddenly, the horses and the donkey began to panic violently, making everyone jump in fright.

"It's close…" I looked around, trying to spot it.

"Oh, come on, Saito! Stop with this nonsense, monsters don't exist!" Clarice grumbled as she stood up.

My eyes scanned the environment, but the darkness was overwhelming. That's when the monster stealthily emerged behind Clarice, exhaling against her hair as it prepared to strike with its claws. In an instant, I leaped to protect her, pulling her away.

The monster darted swiftly through the group and lunged at Talia. Everyone remained frozen, unable to react. It sank its teeth into her leg, holding onto her with its mouth.

"AAAAHHHH!" Talia screamed in pain.

Marco, trying to help her, rushed to attack but was brutally flung aside when the creature's tail struck him.

I quickly got to my feet, preparing to use my threads, but with Talia still trapped in the monster's jaws, a direct attack could injure her. My eyes darted around, spotting Marco's sword on the ground. Without hesitation, I grabbed it, attached one of my threads to the hilt, and sprinted forward. The monster lunged at me, and just as it was about to strike, I slid beneath it and drove the sword into its neck, forcing it to release Talia.

I tried to reposition myself but ended up slipping on Talia's blood. Because of that, the monster was about to slash me with its claws. I raised my left arm to block the blow, knowing I would be hit but needing to minimize the impact. Before the attack could land, Clarice threw a stone, hitting the creature's eye.

Taking advantage of the opening, I placed my hands on the ground and spun, delivering a kick with my left leg to the monster's face. It was sent tumbling to the side, giving me the chance to loop my thread around its neck. As the monster recovered and lunged at me again, I made a simple motion with my hand and decapitated it. Its body collapsed lifelessly to the ground, while its head rolled to a stop near me.

Everyone was still in shock, trembling and panting — even those who hadn't fought. But their attention quickly shifted to Talia, who lay unconscious on the ground, her leg gravely wounded. Diana immediately rushed to her, kneeling to examine the injury.

"Diana, will she be okay?" Marco asked, his face filled with worry.

"Quick! Bring my medical bag! Someone help me, we need to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding and clean the wound."

Marco ran to the cart and grabbed the bag. Diana tore a strip of cloth and, with Edrian's help, tightly tied it around Talia's thigh to slow the bleeding. She then took scissors and cut open the young woman's pants, exposing the wound. Grabbing some clean cloths, she poured alcohol over them and began carefully cleaning the injury. Talia's face contorted in pain as the blood continued to soak the fabric at an alarming rate.

The wound was horrific, her bone was shattered, and her leg was completely mangled. I had no idea how it hadn't been torn off entirely. Diana's expression of concern was evident as she worked on the injury. She also knew that leg would never heal. The bleeding wouldn't stop, and the tension among the group only increased.

"Someone put a sword in the fire," Diana said.

"For what?" Marco asked.

"We'll have to amputate the leg."

"What? No! There has to be another way."

"It's either that, or she dies from blood loss."

Marco's eyes filled with tears. He walked over to Edrian, took his sword, and placed it in the fire. At that moment, I noticed Clarice lowering her head, clutching her clothes tightly. Then, she began walking toward Talia. I grabbed her shoulder, and when she turned to me, I shook my head. She looked back at Talia, hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward.

"Diana, let me do it. I can save her leg."

"There's no way, Clarice. I'm sorry."

"Just let me try."

Diana looked at her and stepped aside. Clarice slowly knelt and placed her hands over Talia's wounded leg. A moment later, an intense golden light emanated from her hands, and Talia's leg began regenerating. Watching up close, it was truly incredible. Everyone's eyes widened in astonishment. Within seconds, the leg was completely healed.

"H-how? What did you just do, Clarice?" Diana asked.

"It's a power I have."

"Power? That's real?"

Marco pushed past Diana and Clarice, kneeling as he ran his hand over Talia's leg, disbelief written all over his face. He turned to Clarice, grabbed her hands, and lowered his head to the ground, tears falling.

"Clarice, thank you so much! I'll do anything to repay you…"

"It's fine, you don't need to." She placed her hand on his head.

When I glanced at the others, I noticed them whispering among themselves. Shortly after, Edrian approached me.

"Saito, I'm sorry for not believing you. Do you think there are more?"

"Not right now. Normally, when there's more than one, they stay together."

"That's a relief…"

"Saito, you're amazing! You took that thing down. I couldn't even move. Sorry for doubting you too," Otto said, scratching his head.

The others also apologized. After that, the tension settled, and everyone sat around the campfire. Marco remained by Talia's side, she was still unconscious, but thanks to Clarice, she was no longer in danger. As usual, I sat a little apart from the group. I lifted my head, taking a deep breath.

That was the first monster I had killed, but I knew it was only the beginning.

I pulled my journal from my vest pocket and recorded the encounter with the monster in the Forest of Eternal Night. Any information about the corrupted ones was valuable and needed to be documented. A short while later, Clarice approached and sat beside me.

"What are you doing?"

"Just writing a few things down."

"Thanks for helping me earlier."

"Agh!" Looking at my right arm, I noticed a cut on my wrist. The monster's claw must have grazed me when I passed beneath it.

"You're hurt, let me see."

"It's nothing."

"Stop being stubborn. Let me see."

Reluctantly, I extended my arm toward her. Gently, Clarice pulled up my sleeve, placed her hand over the wound, and began healing it with her power.

"There, all better."

"Thanks."

"Tell me, how did you know about that monster?"

"My master told me."

"Who is your master?"

"Someone very important. He's the one who saved my life."

"I never imagined something like that could exist. It was really terrifying."

She said that, but aside from Marco, who acted on instinct to save Talia, she was the only one who had actually done something. People who see those creatures for the first time usually freeze up, not knowing what to do.

"Now you understand what I meant, so you should go back to your village."

"And you? What will you do?"

"I have to keep going and find some people. Because of that, I'll end up crossing paths with many more of these monsters."

"I don't get it. Where do these monsters come from?"

At that moment, I decided it was best to tell her everything, hoping she would give up on following me and return home. I revealed the great war against Hirano, how humans committed genocide against the four great races and had been hunting them ever since. I also warned her that someone was trying to reopen the portal.

"Wow… is all of that true?"

"Yes."

"That's a lot to take in, my head is spinning now."

"Now you know how dangerous this will be. So give up."

She let out a soft laugh, looking down at the ground.

"I'm going with you."

"Again with this?"

"This time, it's different… I want to help, not just stop these evil people, but also change this world."

"Change? It's been this way for over a thousand years. There's nothing we can do."

"Someone has to start, so why not us?"

"Just the two of us? Alright, now you've completely lost it."

"Oh, come on." She playfully raised her hand as if to hit me.

"Are you really sure? You can still back out."

"I am." She extended her closed hand toward me, showing her pinky finger.

"What's this?"

"From now on, we're not just travel companions, we're friends. Come on, give me your pinky too."

"For what?"

She grabbed my hand and forced me to intertwine my pinky with hers.

"There. Now the promise is sealed. We're friends, and one can't abandon the other."

She flashed a radiant smile, and my eyes widened. A familiar feeling tightened my chest, and I suddenly remembered the day Yuri asked to be my friend. I lowered my gaze, uneasy. This worried me.

If Clarice comes with me, will she share Yuri's fate? Or something even worse? That thought began to eat away at me from the inside.