21 Brewing Storm(2)

I stood paralyzed.

I finally got a whiff of my father's scent. However, the trail led me along to different areas. I found myself going through different parts of the forest. Soon, the trial ended, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

"Papa….why...were you here.." I stared at the two giant purple trees, beyond was pitch-black, I could barely make out any of the trees and bushes. Papa's scent led me to the entrance of the End Zone.

My heart was pounding, I could feel myself tremble a bit. I've felt fear before, I mean the first time was when I first came to this world. The second was dealing with many monsters. Out of all my experiences so far, this takes the cake.

Beyond this point, you couldn't feel anything there. Normally, a trained individual has the ability to sense the presence of life, it was one of my early training periods with my mom. No matter how much I focused, I couldn't sense a single thing alive there.

[Mono 1]: Go in there, and you might die...

[Mono 5:] Papa's scent leads there. He could be hurt. Why is he there? What if I'm too late!

[Mono 4]: He could be all alone in there, with no one to help him….

I took a step forward, my feet crossing the line of which the purple trees marked.

*Step* I breathed in slowly, and let out a breath. 'Ok Yuiji, you got this, you've survived many things before. Let's go save papa!'

I was officially in the Endzone.

The smell was weird...it was like various smells clumped together. The bitter nauseating smell of decay, the iron-like smell of blood, and much more. My stomach felt queasy. Looking at the scenery didn't do me any good either.

It felt like I was in a thin veil. As if something was draped over me. I hoped it was just my imagination.

Everything was dead. The trees were a lush purple, yet bore no leaves. The grass was unusually hard, it was like stepping on spikes. Some trees oozed a yellow and red liquid, like blood and puss. I guess it was poisonous, it was probably dangerous if you touched it.

I saw no monsters or not even the sound of crickets, it was completely quiet. Only the occasional wind blew, but even that did not ease the tension I was feeling. I walked for what seemed like hours until I finally was able to stop.

'Fantasy worlds...really belong in fantasy' I thought incredulously. I was at a cliffside ravine. At the distance was another cliff but what caught my attention wasn't the distance. It was the sight of the river that ran below it. Normally, you'd welcome the sound of water as it swirls its way through the forest, connecting like veins.

Yet, there was no sound, it was like the water was turned on mute. Pitch black and still. White foam peeked from the surface every once and a while before eventually fading like the wind. Purple branches floated slowly across the surface before gradually sinking like it was in a sinking pit.

I could see bones sticking out from the surface, some were quite long. It was literally a black river. 'Where does this even go...I don't think it connects to any of the freshwaters in the forest' I thought. Even with my clear eyesight, the river stretched far and wide.

'Papa couldn't have jumped, so maybe he's not here' I thought. Yet a waft of his scent was filtering through my nose, it was literally on the other side of the ravine.

'Oh, marbles….' I thought.

I stepped back and put strength into my leg. 'One annnnnd two annnnnnd THREE!' I jumped, my body soaring in the sky until I finally landed with a loud thud.

'Infiltration Successful~'

I didn't really walk all that far on the other side. This time I was met with a super-wide hole. It looked super-duper deep, like deeper than the ocean type deep. I couldn't see anything.

"HELLOOOOOOO~" I called out in the hole, my voice echoed, it gradually went down farther and farther.

'`Hee hee, that's kinda fun...ooh let's do another one!' I continued to listen to my voice echo in the gaping hole. I was primarily trying to distract myself from the alarm bells constantly ringing in my head.

[Mono 1]: FOCUS YUIJI!!

'Oh right Papa'

I circled the wide hole, everything that surrounded the hole, from the trees and the grass, all of it was pitch black and looked withered. Trees looked slumped as if melted. 'Whoa, did death make a trip down here and have a party or what.'

If the other side of the ravine was a vibrant purple, this was pitch-black like tar.

"Ah" I caught sight of something. It was a brown robe that was slowly disintegrating. I Rushed to pick it up. "Papa's robe!" However, just as I stood where his robe was. I froze.

*CRRRRRRRRAAAAACK*

The thunderous sounds of the ground cracking made my heart pound. I slowly looked down. A large crack had surrounded where my feet stood.

"EH!?'

*BOOOOOOOOOM* The ground caved in, and I found myself falling down, my eyes staring at the moonless night sky. My surroundings quickly dissolved into a pitch-black hue, like a large blanket was draped over me, as I fell deeper in the cave.

"BLLLLAAAAAAAARGH" I screeched.

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(Back in the Hollow Grove)

The mist slowly slithered around the blue trees. Silent footsteps trecked forward, grey and black cloaks dragging on the soil. The mysterious duo stopped directly in front of the burned remains of the twin wolf. Most of it had blown in the night's wind, only bits of ashes lay there.

A gloved hand picked up the red jewel that peaked out from the black ashes.

*WOOONG* blood-red light glowed ominously as the fingers clutched it tighter.

"It would seem...it was a failure…" a raspy voice said. The robed individual was hidden in a black cloak, its features faceless. Their companion nodded, they too had no features, as their face was blank. Lacking eyes, nose, ears, and other human features.

They observed the area, taking note of the damage that was done.

" It would seem the other jewel was taken...What should be done?…" The robbed individual asked in the grey cloaked. The black-cloaked individual said nothing for a while, seemingly in deep thought. After a while, they spoke.

"We will continue with the plan. After all, He... expects the awakening to be right on schedule. We will eliminate any and every nuisance to achieve this"

The two robbed individuals then walked away, their figures slowly fading in the deep misty forest.

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Authors Note:

Hello All. SM here. I hope you enjoyed volume 1 of IAJTHP!!. I really enjoyed writing this, as it was fun to explore Yuiji's character. I had many challenges along the way, but I think the struggle paid off in the end.

I will be taking a 1-week break as I sort my life out due to upcoming work. Do not worry to those who read this. Volume 2 will immediately start after the short break. You'll get to see more of Yuiji and her cute antiques and possibly other people ;)

Lastly, I hope you humor me a little and comment on what I can improve on for the next Vol storywise. Also, what did you like about the volume as well. With that see you in 1 week unless proven otherwise.

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