Chapter 4: Situation in the Forest

A bearded man kept his gaze at the top of the pine tree, arms crossed, and a grave expression. He was massive—standing over 7 feet with a muscular build, and a face with uncountable scars. The hunters around him felt intimidated by his presence despite most of them standing at least 6 feet and with muscular physique. However, they remained silent, except for Galleon.

He approached the man sheepishly and looked up to meet the man's eyes. "Uh… sir Khennet. Did you find anything?"

The man nodded once, and pointed at the top of the pine tree. Galleon and the other hunters followed his finger. "He mainly uses archery, so it's natural for him to seek distance. So he climbed up there. That's where the fight ended. "

They noticed the claw marks of the bark and the yellow pollen on the tree leaves. But this only confused many, including Galleon. Glancing around the tree, they found no corpse of either the panther, or Valier. The same on the branches.

"So… where's Valier? Is he alive?" Galleon asked desperately.

The man shook his head downcastedly side to side and patted Galleon on the shoulder. "Most likely not. He's facing a panther, not to mention with a bow. The likely scenario was that the panthers won, and brought him into its lair."

Galleon's face drained colors as he repeatedly shook his head sternly. "No, no! That can't be! I know Valier can hold out for five minutes by himself, and we arrived before that… so, so… he—"

Grip.

The man's grip tightened on Galleon's small shoulder, petrifying him in place. He could not move, except for his eyes, which swept the other hunters. He could see them donning a similar hopeless expression with their head down, making him frustrated inwardly.

Sigh.

The man sighed dejectedly, and loosened his hold. "I know losing a brother is saddening, but don't let that cloud your judgment. You know it yourself— there's only a close to none chance of him surviving."

Galleon did not respond with his head hung low, trembling fist, and reddening eyes.

The man glanced at him with pity for a moment, before looking at one of the hunters around them. "He needs some time to recollect himself. Please, Hunter Granden, guide him back to the camp."

"What!? No! I will stay and look for—" Galleon was cut off as the hunter held his arm forcefully. He glared at the man, but received an indifferent look that made him instantly realize there was no room for resistance. Some hunters were not gentle to those non-hunters, and that was common knowledge. If he resisted even more, he would likely be dragged back to the camp with a few broken bones.

"Please comply, Gatherer Galleon. It's for your own safety. Also, we'll continue to look around. Hopefully this eases your mind as much as it eases ours." The man stated in a serious voice.

Galleon bit his lips strongly while nodding reluctantly, having no choice but to obey the words of this man. Turning to the hunter holding him, he huffed out loud and swatted the hand holding him, and walked away in stomps, blatantly expressing his dissatisfaction. The hunter responsible for his safety followed after him.

As they vanished into the shrubs, one of the hunters looked perplexed looking at the man. "Sir Grand Hunter Khennet, why're we still searching? It's a pity we lost a comrade, but no doubt he's dead."

The other hunters peeked his way and shook their heads gently. One of the hunters explained the reason. "There's no doubt about that. What we're here for is traces of the beast towards its lair. If we find it, we can kill it for vengeance, or capture it to sell. Of course, we're also going to look for some remains of Hunter Valier to have a proper funeral."

"Oh, I get it now." The hunter nodded understandingly.

"Good," Grand Hunter Khennet voiced suddenly, attracting their attention. "All of you, climb the trees in the surroundings. If you find something, quickly inform me."

"The trees?" They mumbled in confusion.

"Yes, above the trees. It could be flesh, blood, feathers, or the yellow pollen from the Sunrise Flower." Khennet glanced at the longest claw mark on the pine tree. "I have some suspicion in need of validation."

*** ฅ⁠^⁠◕⁠ᴥ⁠◕⁠⁠^⁠ฅ ***

Valier slowly opened his eyes after some time of slumbering peacefully. He did not know when he lost consciousness, but he was certainly not feeling any better than before— he still felt absolutely crappy with pain all over his body. His already contorted face turned even uglier when he saw the scenery in front of his eyes.

"Shit… where the fudge am I?" He asked slowly and hushedly while forcing his body to sit up. The pain almost made him yelp, but he held it in fear of attracting unwanted attention with sounds.

Glancing at his vicinity, he was even more bewildered than before. The last thing he remembered was him inside the forest, and he was swallowed by the green glow helplessly. Now, he was in a large circular room made of stones with large pillars all around the metallic disc he was on. Not to mention the strange glowing pebbles embedded on the pillars and ceiling, like green stars casting a green cold light.

Normally, people would be in awe of such a beautiful sight, but Galleon felt extremely uneasy instead. Being a hunter, he knew the capabilities of powerful Beasts. If this place was not man-made, this place could be Beast's lair.

'Fudge be damned, please, tell me those are not eggs.' He pleaded in his mind while carefully standing up. He had heard stories of Beast laying strange-looking eggs before, so glowing eggs were not that impossible. And if there were eggs, there was bound to be a parent.

"Which way is the exit?" He looked right and left frantically, and saw a tunnel leading to who-knows-where on each side. He contemplated which one to choose, but he eventually made the choice to follow the left tunnel.

The tunnel was made of gray rocks, dimly illuminated in green light from the green stones in the tunnel's ceiling. He walked for a couple of minutes, before unease began creeping in. He could not see the end of the tunnel!

'How big is this place?' He questioned himself as he kept on moving forward. His eyes darted everywhere in caution, eventually catching something new to the tunnel. Instead of the typical green stones, there were weakly glowing red stones attached to the wall forming a large arched entrance to a branching tunnel.

In all honesty, he did not want to explore, but he had to find a way out. Taking a deep breath, he braced himself. He then trailed the tunnel that was illuminated in red. In just a minute, he found himself in a sizable square room with nothing in it.

He was confused, but he did not think of it further and retraced his steps. He got out of the red tunnel and continued forward, before stopping once again as he found a similar arch like before. After hesitating for a moment, he went inside, only to come out with a perplexed expression.

"It's empty too… why is that?" He mumbled, and glanced forward before resuming his venture in the green tunnel. After some time, he found another arch and explored it as well. He came out with a suspicion.

"Is this place… abandoned?" It was just a suspicion with no confirmation. Perhaps the right tunnel was not empty like this one, and he just so happened to choose the unfinished part of the place. As he was about to turn back, the hair all over his body simultaneously stood up.

"You're partially correct, young explorer." A sweetly feminine voice resonated from behind him.

He felt a chill crawl up his spine as the temperature dropped abruptly.

"Are you gonna kill me?" This was Valier's first question since he could barely move, and the entity was so close to him that it could take his life before he could blink.

"No."

To his bewilderment, the same voice came from in front of him, prompting him to look. And he regretted it in a heartbeat. Unlike her sweet and enchanting voice, her naked figure made no effort to match. He could see her bones poking out from her decaying frozen flesh, which horrified him out of his mind.

"Who… who a-are y-you?" He trembled as he asked, gripping his daggers tighter. But he highly doubted he could even put up a proper fight against this thing.

Her face remained frozen as she stood unmoving, but her voice still resounded like before. "I am Vivi, tasked to protect this place and guide explorers such as yourself to the gift my master left behind."

"What…? Gift?"

"Yes. My master left behind something that would be beneficial to those who obtain it."

"So… you're saying that you won't harm me, but guide me to this gift instead. What is this thing, if I may ask." Valier calmed down to a certain extent that he could talk properly.

"I cannot say, nor do I know." She remained motionless as her voice echoed sweetly.

He nodded in understanding. "What are the things I have to do to obtain it?"

"Pass the test my master had prepared."

"And the test is?"

"I do not know."

Valier sighed helplessly. "Alright, guide me to the gift your master had prepared."

"Then I will." She suddenly vanished and reappeared at his side with her palm lightly resting on his shoulder.

Valier had the urge to slap her hand away, but luckily held it in. Outwardly, he looked calm, but he was inwardly terrified from everything happening, especially to this woman. 'Just play along… don't resist or you're dead. She's the protector… she'll surely silence me if I resisted to protect the secret of this place.'

"Ready?" She asked.

Valier nodded.

Chill.

Valier felt like his whole body had turned into ice as the cold encased him completely for a second. When the frigid chill vanished, he fell on his knees gasping for air and shivering with both his arms wrapped around himself. "S-sh…it… c-cold….hahhhh…. hah…."

The frozen woman glanced at him without a change of expression before turning towards the circular podium at the center of the large room. "That is where the test takes place. All you have to do is pass it, and the gift will be yours."

Still breathing heavily, Valier looked up and saw the podium. He stood up, staggering for a moment, and stepped on the stairs leading up. When he arrived on the final step, he looked below and saw the woman gazing at him indifferently in silence.

"May I ask, how many others had taken their chances?"

"None. You're the first."

"Oh."

'Fudge, that's not helpful at all.' He was frustrated inside. He was about to partake in an unknown challenge by a strange entity, and he knew nothing about it at all. 'Backing out isn't an option. If she could appear like that everywhere, I can't even dream of escaping her. But… what the fuck is this test? Will I die? Most probably yes.'

"Shit. I'm dead either way." He cursed while breathing in quick succession.

Step. Step. Step.

He stepped on the podium and traveled to its center nervously. It was not as large as the disc he found himself a while ago, so he reached the center in a short time. But nothing noteworthy happened.

"Do I just wait?" He mumbled to himself.

"Yes." Despite being far away, her voice was heard clearly.

Valier understood and waited patiently.

WOOSH!

Out of nowhere, black smoke appeared and circled the edge of the podium at high speed until it had completely isolated him inside it. Valier was still in a state of disbelief of what he saw, but he threw the questions to the back of his mind and prepared himself for a fight despite facing a fatal disadvantage.

Everything was black; there was not a speck of light at all.

He could see nothing!

PLURT!

To his shock and horror, something sharp and long pierced his back. He could not believe it, but as he touched his chest, a cold blade had unmistakably stabbed through his heart. He had no time to process the pain, as he fell on his knees.

Thud!

Behind him, two luminance green eyes appeared from the darkness, gazing coldly at his kneeling figure. Then one after another, uncountable pairs of eyes unveiled that chased away the shadows— revealing the armored bodies of skeletons. They were all looking at him.