166 Hera's forest

"Are you going to the market today too?" Atlas asked as he watched Faun prepare to leave.

"Yep"

"I see"

Like any other day, Faun got ready in the morning and went to the market to do... Atlas didn't even know what Faun did all day and although he had asked her to accompany him somewhere, she refused saying that she couldn't go.

"Good luck"

Faun smiled at Atlas.

"Thanks, see you"

Atlas nodded, then suddenly, as Faun was about to walk through the door, he called out to her.

"Wait!"

Faun turned and looked at him confused.

"Yeah?"

Atlas looked for something in the leather bag where he kept some things and took out a light blue potion.

"Take this, it's a stamina potion so you don't get tired so quickly"

Faun opened her eyes slightly surprised and took the potion.

"Just what I needed"

Atlas simply smiled and watched as Faun opened the glass bottle and drank the potion thoroughly.

"Hmmm, it tastes kind of sweet…"

The bottle fell to the ground breaking as soon as Faun let it go, then her eyes became blurry and her body lost strength like a rag doll falling to the ground. Atlas moved quickly and caught her to prevent her from hitting herself, and the next moment he put his hand inside Faun's cloak, catching Adoh who was confused by what happened.

"What are you doing?!" Adoh shouted seeing that Atlas was holding her tightly.

"I'm sorry, but you have to come with me"

Adoh began to hit Atlas's hand gently trying to break free, but the difference in strength was simply so much that Atlas only felt Adoh's blows as light touches.

Lifting Adoh by her hip, Atlas walked down from the inn where Mika and Irelia were waiting for him with two beast horses.

"Is she fine?"

Mika looked at Faun and then at Adoh, surprised by the fairy's presence.

"She was just tired"

"…I see"

"Do not lie! What did you do to---"

Atlas covered Adoh's mouth with his finger, preventing her from speaking. And although Mika looked at them confused, she pretended that nothing had happened and simply got on the horse and then helped Irelia get on by putting her in front of her.

Atlas instead put Faun on the horse, then he got on and taking her in front of him to hold her so she wouldn't fall, Atlas took the reins of the horse but not before putting Adoh inside his cloak.

"Okay, let's go"

Mika nodded as did Irelia who was visibly nervous. It was the girl's first time leaving the capital, so she couldn't help but be nervous.

Then, without further delay, they led the horses out of the city and passed in front of the camp, leaving it behind shortly after.

When they were several hundred meters away from the city walls, Atlas took out the map he had copied and looked at it and then looked around.

'We must go north... that way'

Atlas followed the path that left the city heading north. He wasn't entirely sure how to get to Hera's forest, but it was so big that even if he got lost, as long as they kept going north he would eventually get there.

Atlas swallowed, looking at the capital behind him. They had arrived a little over a month ago, but Atlas felt strangely relieved to be leaving.

He still didn't fully understand what was happening or why he or Irelia were more immune to the curse than the others.

But leaving all that behind, Atlas advanced towards the north.

***

For a week and a half, they continued north, passing through several cities and towns completely empty compared to his memories where all the cities were fully booming full of joy.

It was strange to travel seeing such abandoned places, plus it was dangerous because of the beasts that had invaded the towns. But they did not pose any problem since together with Mika they managed to kill all the beasts that approached them.

Plus, there weren't many of them or that powerful, so overall it was a pretty calm trip. Although there were also several problems.

Although Atlas had promised Mika food that she had never tasted, he would only be able to fulfill that as soon as they reached the forest, but almost two weeks later Mika had begun to get impatient.

On the other hand, Faun had been asleep for most of the trip, with Atlas supplying her with the potion regularly to avoid trouble. Although he was hard on her, it was the only thing Atlas could do if he wanted to get her to safety.

Meanwhile, Irelia was the least problematic, plus she took an interest in Adoh and was the one who usually calmed the fairy down by talking to her.

Atlas could also put Adoh to sleep, but considering her past traumas he decided it was best to avoid such drastic measures.

Atlas was tired, but not physically but mentally.

Dealing with the four women was more difficult than he had thought. But fortunately for him, they had arrived at the city closest to Hera's forest.

It was a large city that once belonged to an Earl, but now it was no different than any other abandoned city. They walked through the streets in silence looking at both sides of the street, with shop buildings and completely empty houses.

Ten years was a short time or a long time depending on different points of view, but ten years since the people left the city was enough for nature to take back what once belonged to it.

Atlas had decided to stop thinking about the people who had once lived happily in the city. That would only eat him up inside, so he simply focused on moving forward.

Then, 5 days later, a great green wall appeared before them, stretching for miles and miles on either side.

"It's here?" Mika asked.

Atlas nodded feeling dazed by the sight before him.

"…It is a dangerous place"

Atlas nodded again at Mika's words.

There weren't many ways to get information about Hera's Forest, especially when all the people in the capital seemed to be soulless shells.

Atlas thought that the forest would be like any other forest, only much bigger.

But Atlas was wrong.

Each tree was around 30 meters high, being quite leafy which prevented the sun from passing through. They were still far away, but from where they were they could already feel the immensity of the forest, and when they were several dozen meters from the entrance of the forest, Atlas felt somewhat nervous seeing the giant trees in front of him.

Not only him, but Mika was also slightly nervous while Irelia was trembling.

'I made a mistake?'

Atlas had the opportunity to leave the empire, but it was too late. Now his only option was to go into the forest and look for the Dryad, then he could find the answers he needed.