Revelations

The sun was shining in a beautiful twilight, if it weren't for the fact that they were inside the forest, this would be a great place to relax. Unfortunately, carelessness here could cost you your life.

A group of ten men walked carefully inside this mystical forest. Their army-camouflage clothes and cold weapons showed that this was not their first time inside.

Even though they knew, for some reason, that guns were ineffective inside the forest, they still carried one in their holsters. Perhaps that known object brought the soldiers a sense of security somehow.

It had been almost a month since the emergence of Reënbog Forest and now, every single one of them were at least at the First Stage of Body Tempering. Unfortunately, they were not part of the Pathfinder Division, which became more and more famous with each passing day. The world was not as chaotic as it was a few weeks ago, yet it became increasingly clear the difference between a cultivator and a normal man.

Because of that, as cultivators inside the Brazilian army, their status was not low either.

"Soon we will be arriving at the site of our last confrontation, stay alert!." Warned the lieutenant, who was leading the expedition. He was in front, holding a large machete in his hands.

Mainly because of him, who had huge experience in the Rainforest, that the Brazilian army was reaping huge benefits in the Reënbog Forest. With small casualties, they were successful in four of five expeditions.

The group walked another ten minutes but found nothing.

"As expected, there are no marks left…" Said the man. He knew that his senses were correct, this was the place where they fought last time. However not even a single grass was crumpled.

Even though they were used to this, they couldn't help but to be impressed by it every time. After the group inspected the place and found no threat, one soldier suggested going even deeper inside.

"Let's go! I heard rumors that the Pathfinder Division found another type of cultivation book inside. We are the army trained to fight in the Rainforest, we will not be left behind in our own field!" Lieutenant Costa spurred his comrades on.

"Yes, sir!" The soldiers were experienced and walked over carefully, aware that they could be ambushed at any time.

Suddenly, Costa raised his right hand signaling for them to stop.

"Did you guys hear it?" He murmured.

From afar, they heard some fighting sounds: Shouts and clashes but no gunshot.

"Another army?" Pondered one soldier.

"Should we investigate or lend a helping hand?" Asked another.

Costa was silent, thinking.

"Let's have a look, it should be another army. We will not act before understanding the situation, okay?." Costa decided. He had been into many missions and knew that conflicts between armies could easily escalate. Even more in a place that left no evidence.

"Yes, sir!"

The group followed the sounds silently and five minutes later, they found what originated it. People were indeed fighting, but they were not what the soldiers were expecting.

Hidden behind the trees, Costa's group watched the fight with awe! In front of them, a small group of five people were fighting with improvised weapons against the giant frogs, or what they were calling it now: the Dragon Frogs!

The people fighting wore casual clothes and most of them were ragged, but that was not the most impressive thing, every single one of them had the cultivation level of the Second Stage of Body Tempering. A woman in front even reached the Third Stage!

Facing a Dragon Frog with an improvised spear, the woman fought valiantly. Unfortunately for her, the frog she fought was a special one. Instead of the greenish skin and scales, this frog had beautiful tones of red that emitted a dangerous vibe!

*DING!*

The woman waved her spear strongly only to be blocked by the frog's scales. Suddenly, the beast retaliated, opening its mouth wide open, a small fireball quickly formed and grew in size. Immediately it spitted at her!

The soldiers held their breaths at this sight, that was the first time they saw that kind of frog. The normal ones were already dangerous, now one of them could spit fire!

However, her strength at the Third Stage of Body Tempering was not for naught. With enhanced reflexes from cultivation, she quickly sidestepped and used the moment to attack with her spear. The spear flashed and easily pierced one of the beast's eyes!

*CROOAAC!*

The frog's agonized scream woke the soldiers from their stupor.

"What are we waiting for? Let's help them!" Ordered Costa after realizing they were civilians. [How can civilians be inside the forest!?]

The soldiers soon ran to engage the frogs. At first the survivors were surprised, thinking it was some kind of ambush. But they were soon glad when they realized the soldiers were not a new threat.

With the reinforcements, the frogs held no chance and were soon killed. The soldiers were skilled and had killed many frogs before, yet they couldn't help but to be flabbergasted by the actions of those civilians. The way the group fought was so well coordinated that they could beat some experienced soldiers!

Not only that, but the group was way stronger than any they had seen so far. Perhaps on par with the famous Pathfinder Division! Especially the girl, who had already reached the Third Stage of Body Tempering and held her ground against that Red Dragon Frog!

She had brownish skin and beautiful curly hair that was not entirely brown nor red, but something in between. A thin face, with a broad nose and large yellow eyes. Yet, like the rest of her group, she wore tattered clothes: a T-shirt that once were green, gray jeans and a pair of heavy boots.

As the adrenaline from the battle subsided, the soldiers helped the group collect the bodies from the frogs for another place and made a small encampment.

********

Moments later, the group chatted and rested at an improvised firewood. The soldiers shared some of their provisions and questioned the group about what they had been through.

The mood was light as the group rested near the campfire. Fortunately, they had a few ARGP-50 remaining, the Robotics Alliance's old version of augmented reality goggles, which provided the instant translation function and so the group could talk normally to each other.

After introducing themselves, Costa was shocked by the sudden revelation: They were indeed civilians, but they did not come from outside. They had been living inside the wood since the beginning, from a city inside the forest!

"Phew! I'm glad that we finally found people, we had been walking for almost a week now!" One of the men added as he chewed a small piece of dried meat. He had long brown hair and a strong chin. At his side, laid his gears: an improvised medieval sword and a shield made from the Dragon Frog's scale!

"And we are even more so!" Said Costa. "It's been almost a month without any news from the cities. No one believed we could find people alive inside the Reënbog Forest anymore!"

"Yes, there are people… Wait, are people calling this the Reënbog Forest?" Questioned the woman, perplexed. Her name was Jamila and she was the leader of this squad. As they came to know, this was a squad of a bigger group inside the forest. "Why would someone put the name of it as Rainbow!?"

"We were told it was because of the colorful foliage, but seeing all the horror firsthand, I don't think that's appropriate either." Said Costa while secretly admiring the woman with his eyes, or so he thought. "Actually, I'm really impressed by your strength ms. Jamila, I wonder what exactly happened?"

The soldiers looked at the lieutenant strangely and stifled their laughter, never thinking that their respected leader would act like that to the first woman they found.

At least try to not show it so openly, man!

"Thank you Mr. Costa. We come from a small town with only fifty thousand inhabitants and it should be located about four days' walk east of here, if no beasts had attacked us on the way…" She sighed. "After the forest emerged, most were unprepared and died, those left alive ended up forming different groups to survive..."

"That's how we become stronger, fighting for our lives every single day!" Added another man from her group. Still, the mood turned somber around the campfire when they got into that subject.

"But how did it start? How could you guys learn Cultivation if there is no internet inside?" Costa had to know what waited for them inside this place.

"From what I remember, everything started with a voice…" Jamila sighed and closed her eyes slowly, reminiscing of the past.