The Earth After Rebirth

Chapter 18: Forest of the Damned

They made haste toward the forest, just at the mouth of the forest, they saw slimes. The weakest monsters known to fantasy worlds. Kiro strolled towards them casually, bored out of his mind that he had to kill slimes again, Hiro was right behind him.

Peeew—

That made him stop dead. Hiro collided with him and staggered backwards.

"Ouch. What's the big idea man?"

"Ha. This slime's acid actually does damage to me. Although it's just one."

[Warning, you've been affected by slime acid, you'll lose 1 HP per 10 seconds for the next 10 seconds]

Sneaky son of a gun. Kiro just nonchalantly walked over to it, and beat it senseless with his staff.

Ding!

[You've killed an acid slime, you're awarded 10 EXP each]

10 EXP was nothing at all to them. It was akin to a drop in the ocean. But they figured this was also part of the quest, the appetiser before a big banquet.

[You've killed more than a thousand slimes, you've gained the slime race's enmity. Wherever you meet them, they'll be extremely hostile towards you]

By the look on Hiro's face, he also got the same notification. His face was full of despair as if someone took his candy away. Then he could be heard mumbling—

"But I wanted one as a pet."

Kiro couldn't help but laugh. His friend indeed had strange tastes.

They continued killing slimes, and the slimes continued to come at them like they were their number one enemy. Like they were on a mission that they couldn't fail.

The slime massacre was a complete waste of time, as they didn't drop anything. Not even herbs.

The moment they entered the forest, it became dark as night. The only source of light was the full-moon weirdly positioned in the sky. It was eerily bright, as it bathed the tree lines.

They both took a step back at the same time, the change in environment and atmosphere was too abrupt. But as soon as they stepped out it was day again.

"The forest of the damned alright," Kiro mumbled.

"I don't really like the dark," Hiro remarked.

"What do you do at night?"

"Uh, keep the light on?" He said, confused, as if that was the most obvious and normal thing to do.

Kiro was becoming unsure of the quest now, but failure was not an option. So he checked his character sheet, to psych himself up.

Name: Kiro

Level 19

Race: Dreki

Class: Sagehood

Subclass: -

HP: 800/800

MP: 510/510

Attack: 150(+100)

PDEF: 150(+100)

Strength: 25

Vitality: 19 (+5)

Dexterity: 25(+2)

Stamina: 25

Intelligence: 25

Equipment: rare basilisk cloth armour, uncommon boots and uncommon staff.

Skills

Staff Wielder (Rank A, can't evolve) 20% damage

Vibrations (AOE Rank S, can't evolve)

Consumes 5MP per second, no cooldown.

Blink Step (Rank S, can evolve)

Consumes 10MP per second.

Hurricane Punch (Rank B, can evolve)

Consumes 10MP per second.

Martial Arts (Ranked S, can't evolve)

Chi (Ranked A, can't evolve)

Bending Kick (Ranked A, can evolve)

Crashing Palm (Ranked A, can evolve)

18 AP

7 SP

"That didn't help at all!" He screeched in frustration, "let's go then." He egged Hiro on.

They walked on, they still had a rescue mission to complete. As soon as they stepped in, they were yet again enveloped in darkness that was slightly more moonlit than a typical night. There wasn't a single star in the sky, just darkness and the moon, dancing together.

This forest gave them a bad feeling, it felt like, everything here wasn't anything good, even the trees. Which Kiro thought was strange, what could a tree do?

Likewise the weather became a bit chilly, not cold enough to make them shiver but they could see mist as they breathed.

They hadn't walked far when they heard chains being dragged. They couldn't pinpoint where the sound came from exactly, it felt like it was coming from all directions.

Then four silhouettes appeared, surrounding them, dragging chains. About the human height, but they'd occasionally walk on all fours. As the monsters got closer, they could clearly make out what they looked like. They had a sickly greenish hue for fur, the moonlight seemed to make them the more sinister.

Their eyes were blank, pearly white. The moon had nothing to reflect on. Which made a chill run down their spine.

Ding!

[You've encountered NightWalkers. Though it's always night in the damned forest, they're the only creatures who have been damned to walk all corners of this forest. They know every inch of this forest, they may be weaker but don't underestimate them.

NightWalkers

Level 15

HP 1000]

Kiro took out his staff, Hiro took out his shield and axe. The NightWalkers were a few meters away when they attacked first, throwing the chains at the same time with no emotion as if to say 'it's just business.'

Kiro used his staff and palm crashing to stop two of the chains. While Hiro used his shield and axe. One chain intergrated itself with his staff, the monster tried to pull but it wasn't quite strong enough. So Kiro did that job for it, it flew at a great height toward him.

He activated bending kick, and crash the monster's skull where it flew.

"They're too weak. It can't be this easy."

As if he had jinxed them, another NightWalker took the place of the dead one.

'Crap, there's more than 4.'

Another one ran on all fours and lunged at Hiro, thinking he was the weak link, which wasn't very smart as he simply swung his axe and split it in half. Albeit, another one replaced it.

"Is it just me, or they're not decreasing in numbers?" Hiro asked, in a panicked voice.

"It's a tactic."

It truly was a tactical strategy. When you wear down your enemy not just physically but also mentally, you're guaranteed a win. That's if they can be worn out that is. They hid their numbers to make the fights seem like an endless loop.

The darkness didn't help either. As it would make anyone more paranoid that there was something in the corner, lurking, lying in await to pounce and kill.

Kiro quickly explained this to Hiro, so he didn't panic more than he already was. He tried his best to calm his nerves, but to say he wasn't wavering would be a lie.

The young dwarf stood his ground nonetheless, he was unmoving and simply blocked and decapitated all the NightWalkers that dared to attack him.

Kiro initially tried vibrations, but it didn't seem to work. Some monsters were clearly gifted the ability to repel stuns.

He was spamming hurricane punch, uprooting trees from a distance, not knowing whether or not they hit their enemies.

"Hiro, hold on a bit longer, I think we're almost done," He said breathing unevenly.

"Easier said than done." Hiro wasn't fairing any better.

A drum resounded menacingly throughout the forest, but looking closer it was just the NightWalkers hitting their chests. The ground was littered with their comrades, Kiro and Hiro were standing on those corpses bleeding with yellow pus. As emotionless as they seemed, this felt like it was their way of crying for their fallen soldiers.

After the drumming, they came running in faster, which killed off the tempo they were fighting at. The two boys couldn't react fast enough, as gashes with a glint of red appeared on their faces.

"Dammit Kiro, you said it was almost over!"

"It was an estimate, we must've killed hundreds of them already!"

They forcibly picked up their tempo. They had no choice but to fight until they couldn't anymore, even if it meant running out of mana in this danger infested forest.

Luckily, when Hiro killed one, none replaced it this time. After the final one was killed, they fell where they stood. They didn't care if it was disgusting lying on corpses that bled yellow pus, that's how drained they were.

They downed potions for both magic and health.

"We almost failed! Wilace is a menace," Kiro bellowed.

"Is this really a B rank quest?"

"I'm not sure anymore," he said getting up and cleaning himself, "but we accepted, nothing else is more important than completing this quest."

After their 5 minute break, they trudged forward. The moonlight was bright enough that they could see just a couple of meters. That was a great feat considering how dense the trees were in there.

Just as they were minding their business, they encountered yet another monster at a closer distance than they thought was possible.

It must had stealth on its skill set. Kiro hushed Hiro who was singing, apparently war songs. As if he'd ever been to one.

The monster didn't add anything flowery to the forest, it was deathly pale, sullen skin, hair that looked like some parts were ripped out. It had dark lines under its eyes like it was cursed to never know sleep in its entire life.

Ghoul

Level 20

HP: 2000