CHAPTER 41: Don’t take what's mine

YASU'S POV

We follow the stream as we walked back towards the horizontal mountain. I kept climbing the trees to prevent us from running back into the boar town. We moved around during the night but then I thought about it, it would be much safer to do travel while the whole world is sleeping. Not because of the monsters around the area but because of anyone that might be looking for us. If they walked in on us while we’re sleeping, we’re good as dead.

“Let make camp here, by tomorrow we should reach the wall of the mountain," I say as I get down from the tree. Suyeon nods and she started collecting sticks without me giving her an order. She’s becoming more useful as time moves along and it’s making it easier for me. She also kills any wolves we come across but I told her not to use her skills since its impact is too powerful and might give our position away if anyone’s near us.

Once darkness hits the forest, I put out the campfire to prevent people from seeing it from a distance. We ate in the dark using the moon as our only source of light. After eating, she fell asleep in an instant at the base of the tree while I climb it. Right when I got atop a branch, I noticed lights coming from a far off distance.

“What the hell is th-” I squint my eyes and I see yellow orbs slowly separating in all direction and a few of them are approaching us.

That's not a campfire, ah shit.I quickly got down and woke up Suyeon. She tried to speak and I quickly muffled her mouth. “Shhh. Someone is coming. Hurry up and get on my back.”

She quickly nods and hops on my back hugging me tightly as I started climbing a tree. Right, when I got on top a large branch I told her to get off and crouch to try and blend in with the shape of the tree.

“A search party…” I whisper as I see them walk towards the campfire I put out which was quite a distance from us. They’re wearing knight’s armor that doesn’t seem too fancy but it’s similar to the design the soldiers from the gold’s group. One soldier waves his hands and the other people surrounding him spread out in all direction in pairs. One group walks directly under our tree and I hug the branch pressing my chest tightly as I lay flat trying to blend in the darkness. The tree was high enough that their light barely reached us and has so many leaves to block off the moonlight on our location. I controlled my breathing as I try to listen to their faint conversation.

"Man, they said he’s a dangerous individual. To be careful if we spot him.” One of the soldiers says as he looked around with a wary look.

“Did you hear? Sir Balo and the rest of the Lords are here. I want to see them so badly~” The other guard replied with a different topic.

They’re still here? I asked in my mind, it’s been a while since I left them and it’s surprising they’re still sticking around. Don’t tell me they’re looking for us?

“Right? But I would never think I get the chance of seeing all of them in one place. My god, imagine Princess Stella and princess Hiroko? They are by far the gorgeous people I have seen on this planet." One of the guards says almost making me laugh as I heard the word princess.

Princess Hiroko? I asked in my mind confused at their titles.

“Right? I wonder if it's the same where Princess Hiroko comes from. Imagine a land full of girls that look that good. Jee-“

“Hey! You two stop talking and keep searching!!” One of the guards that looked like the leader shouts from a distance as he approached them.

One guard that gave an order to everyone walked under us following the two guards and I can hear him muttering. "Damn, someone reported a smoke here earlier. The campfire is still hot. We should have checked faster it might have been him.”

“But sir, what are we looking for exactly?” One of the soldiers asked.

"A fucking psychopath. The one who killed the Governor." The leader replied and I can hear him taking deep breaths.

“I hear he’s really dangerous and can paralyze people.” Another soldier reply with a worried tone.

The captain looked around as he talked to the guards. " I feel he's still in the area. The smell of bloodthirst is strong here." He suddenly looks up I duck more into the branch trying to blend in.

“Sir, somehow, this area is giving me an ominous feeling." One soldier says as he rubs his arms.

“Me too, I’m getting Goosebumps.” The other soldier says as he ducks looking side to side.

"Huh, so it's not only me. Let's hurry up and search, I don't want to be attacked by demons in the middle of the night. Keep a lookout also on the other possibility.” The captain voice rang out before walking away from our tree. Their footsteps slowly fade away and as I slowly peek to the side, I see them walking towards one direction.

Shit. If I kill them all here, they would probably send more troops. That guy just called me a rapist. Me? Rapist? Fucking hell, I’m still a damn virgin.I say in my mind as I watch them disappear from a distance.

“Wait, here and don’t move, don’t make a sound," I tell Suyeon who kept her eyes closed and hugged the tree tight. She nods and I slowly stood up. I can see them walk off until the lights on their torches are barely visible and they kept walking towards the direction where we came from and kept going until they completely disappeared and the forest was replaced with darkness again.

If they keep walking, they’ll reach the area where Suyeon fought the giant Boar-wolf. That place is a mess; it should keep them busy for a while. I say to myself as I look down.

“Fuck, I think we should move. Being this close is uncomfortable.” I whisper to myself and I turn towards Suyeon. “Climb my back, we’re going down. We need to move and get far away as possible.”

She quickly hugged me from behind and I proceeded to climb down with her. As soon as we reached the ground, we started walking towards the direction of the horizontal mountain. We walked in the dark but the light from the moon helped me see my way through the forest. I guided this time since I know where the direction of the horizontal mountain lies and Suyeon just silently followed me. I look back and Suyeon has her eyes closed as she walks following me like a zombie.

“What the- Hey!” I shouted and she abruptly opens her eyes crouching thinking there's an enemy around her. "Stop sleepwalking and pay attention."

She quickly nods and rubs her eyes as she followed me in the dark. We walked non-stop until daylight hits. We ate breakfast but I can see it’s affecting her as she slowly nods off with food in her mouth. I’m used to staying up back to back but it seems like she isn’t.

“Suyeon, hurry up and eat. After that, go sleep for a bit. I’ll wake you up when we need to go.” I tell her. She weakly nods as she chews her food. After eating she quickly fell asleep as soon as she lies down and I climbed a tree to see how close we are from the horizontal mountain.

“A couple more hours tops and we should reach it.” I look up and still unable to see the top of the mountain as it disappears in the clouds. I took out my map as I drew a route I think we’ve taken. “Ok, we explored this side, but the other side we haven’t.”

On the other side of the horizontal mountain is probably where I can find clues where Daikichi and Kana have gone. If I’m lucky, I might find them there. I say in my mind.

A couple of hours have passed and I kept my eyes peeled looking around us to see if any guard shows up, but nothing. The forest is as silent as it can be with only the noise of the wind rustling the leaves lingering around.

I shake Suyeon to wake her up and her eyes slowly opened. "Hey, wake up. Let's go."

She removes the crust of her eyes while she squints at me trying to get a clear vision. She quickly took out a water container and washed her face and taking a sip right after. We both walked towards the horizontal mountain until we’re face to face with it.

“Stay close to the wall of the mountain and let me know if you spot something," I whisper as I walk towards my left.

“A-aren’t we going to climb it?” She asked me.

“No. We can only go so far and I don’t know how far it is beyond the clouds.” I tell her as I trace the wall towards the left.

“Oh ok~” She replies happily. I guess she’s happy we’re not climbing since she’s afraid of heights. We walked near the walls and it feels like it’s never ending. We walked quite a distance until the mountain blocks the sun that was behind us.

“Hold up, let me climb a tree to see where we are," I tell her and she nods leaning on the wall. I climb one tree that looks a bit taller and as soon as I got on top, a smile formed on my face. I quickly climb down and Suyeon approached me as I touch the ground.

“Did you see anything?” She asked me.

"Yeah, didn't you tell me a few days ago that the trees we came across with are different than the trees you saw on the other side of the portal? Well, the trees towards that area are getting smaller and also looks a bit different from a distance. Let's head that way.” I tell her as I started walking away from the wall. We both walked through the forest towards the direction of the trees. But somehow, every time I climb to see if we have gotten close, it never did.

What the hell…don’t tell me that’s a damn illusion?I say in my mind. We both walked through the forest non-stop. Daytime quickly turned to night and we both camped to rest for the night. Suyeon slept under the tree while I climbed up top to be a lookout just in case more guard comes in. I would have brought her up with me but she refused and slept at the base of the tree.

“Fucking hell, all I’ve been doing since I got out the dungeon is climbing," I whisper as I lean on a tree while sitting at a branch big enough to carry my weight. I felt the tiredness creep into me as I stare into the moon making my eyes feel heavy. "Maybe I should close my eyes for a bit,"

I slowly closed my eyes to listen to the wind as it rustles the leaves around me.

Where are you guys…I say in my mind as my consciousness slowly fades away and I accidentally fell asleep.

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Pick

Pick

Pick

I felt something picking at my neck and when I opened my eyes, I thought I woke up at a different location. But as I get my bearings, I notice I'm still in the same spot except the moon moved way over my head changing the lighting inside the forest.

"Ah shit I fell asleep," I whisper as I rub my eyes. I look to my left and I see the damn bluebird sitting on my shoulder looking at me. "The fuck, why did you pick on my neck? I'm not food you fucking bird!"

I tried to grab it but it flew away. I stretched my arms out yawning in place. I felt energized getting only a few moments of rest. I look up the moon and it was as bright as ever illumination the leaves above me. I look down to see if Suyeon is all right but I wasn’t worried since if something happened, she would have screamed waking me up.

“Oh shit. What the fuck.” I whisper as I see no one at the base of the tree.

W-what the fuck, where is she?! I shout in my mind frantically looking around.

“Wait, ah fuck, don’t tell me its one of those stupid fucking dream. Damn, Unum.” I relaxed since I remembered the dream I had before. It was too realistic and this time, I won’t be caught off guard if I see her twisting the wrong way again. “She vomited black shit in my mouth last time. Not this time Unum you bastard. I'll piss in your mouth when I see you."

I start to climb down and on my way down the tree, I started hearing rustling noise making me climb back up.

"Hey, you found her here?" A scruffy looking man says as he inspects the bottom of the tree. Then another guy came close and I can see a cloth covering his mouth.

An assassin?I whisper in my mind as I study them.

“How is she?” the scruffy man asked.

“Sleeping, we hit her with the sleeping spell so she’s knocked out.” Another voice answered and I couldn’t see who it was.

“She might sell well. Her face is quite a high quality. Make sure the men don’t touch her.” The scruffy man said and his voice sound's like he smoked too many cigarettes.

"Yes, sir." The assassin disappeared into one direction and I see the scruffy man looking around.

“I can feel you out here. Come on out you demon.” He says looking around and I tried to blend in as much as I can with the tree. “Hm, well if you don’t want to come out, you probably know I can eliminate you in one go. That girl is mine, I found her first."

This seems too realistic…I whisper in my mind. As I was about to come out of hiding, the scruffy man started walking away towards the direction where the assassin went.

"Hahaha, fucking Unum testing me I see. Last time he made me follow Suyeon to only have her vomit in my mouth, now he doing the damsel in distress. Ha, let's play along shall we Yasu.” I tell myself as I get down from the tree.

I crouched hiding in the bushes as I walk towards the direction where the scruffy man went. Once I got close, I see a couple of people with facemask around a carriage with torches in their hand. I see the scruffy looking man climb inside the carriage while everyone started putting out the fire from the torches and jumped in.

“Men! Let's go!” I hear him shout and the carriage started moving through the forest slowly as the driver guides the horse dodging the trees.

This is why this is a dream. To bring a carriage in the middle of the forest is stupid and near impossible.I say in my mind as I following from a distance. It was a weird spectacle as I see the horses turn left and right non-stop trying to dodge trees as it slowly pulled the carriage.

"Is this really a dream?" I whisper as I hide behind trees and crawl through bushes following them. Everything felt real but remembering the dream I had of Unum, everything also felt real up until Suyeon twisted her head and vomited black stuff into my mouth. After a while, the horses in front stopped as the driver pulled the reins.

"Whoa!" I see him pull the reins on the horse to stop them and for a brief moment, everything went silent.

Don’t tell me they noticed me following...I whisper in my mind as I tried my best to hide in the dark. Within a split second, the space in front of the horses ripped like the atmosphere was torn apart revealing another dimension with trees differs than the one in the forest.

“Holy shit. What the hell.” I whisper and all of a sudden, the driver snapped the reins whipping the horses and the carriage bolted down towards the ripple entering it and in an instant, the ripple disappeared reverting the forest back to normal. “H-hey! Fuck!”

I ran out of the dark towards where the carriage used to be but I just kept walking through the forest. I was hoping I would enter some sort of invisible dome but nothing.

"Shit," I whisper to myself. "Dammit, I should have just beaten the shit out of all of them before I was woken up. Fuck, now how do I wake up?"

I walked around trying to come across someone, but nothing. I decided to lie on the ground and close my eyes.

"Ok, if this is a dream, if I sleep, I should wake up in the real world. Yawn~ I am sleepy anyways..." I lay on the ground where it’s most comfortable and slowly dozed off to sleep.

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I felt my skin warm as the sun shines down on my location.

“Ugh.." I whisper as my eyes slowly open. "Ugh finally-“

I suddenly stopped talking as I noticed I’m in the same spot I slept in. I quickly stood up and looked around but nothing. Nothing changed.

No. Don’t tell me…my heart started racing as I frantically looked around me.

“That wasn’t a dream?!” I suddenly felt my heart rate beat faster than normal. “Fuck. Fuck. Dammit! You’ve got to be kidding me!!! Ok, ok Yasu relax. First, we need to find a way. Shit.”

I started walking through the forest to test a theory I have. If there’s an illusion here, it might be the same as the hidden dungeon of the sky king. If I reach the illusion, it should bring me to the other side. I walked for a minute after passing the area where they created the ripple. Then I climbed a tree to see my current location.

“Bingo~ Fucking bitches. Think you’re smarter than me? Ha!” I say as I noticed my location jumped far ahead as if I walked for miles within the forest.

"Ok, if that's the case, there's an illusion here that's preventing me from entering that section of the forest. " I climbed down and walked back towards where I was. I made marks on the trees as I walked around to keep track of where I initially began. I started looking for anything out of the ordinary but I couldn't find anything and it's making me more frustrated.

“Shit!” I shout as I clench my fist due to anger. After spending time training her, I feel like someone took a puppy away from me that I was taking care of. “Dammit!”

I used a tree to elevate my anger and my fist went through it destroying the tree from its base. It started tipping sideways landing on another tree, destroying its branches.

Zing!

Suddenly the other tree it landed on was covered with a yellow hue that deflected the falling tree as I watched it bounce off the force field.

“What the…” I whisper as I slowly approach it. I place my hand on the tree and I didn’t see the yellow hue and the tree felt normal under my palm. I tried slapping the tree around but nothing, “Ok, maybe strong force might make it appear. Pound.”

I brought my fist towards the tree and the yellow hue suddenly appeared trying to block my punch. The yellow hue shattered like it’s made of glass and disappeared floating in the sky while my fist went towards the tree, destroying it in the process. I look back where I was and I notice the atmosphere distorted a little bit before reverting back to normal.

"Don't tell me…" I whisper as I punch another tree but nothing. I kept punching one tree after another destroying them until I came across another one with the yellow hue. After destroying it, the same thing happened. The yellow hue that covered the tree shattered like glass and the atmosphere in the area distort for a little bit.

“Well shit! Haha, this is fucking cool.” I started going crazy destroying trees everywhere but I never found another with the yellow hue. “It must mean there’s more than one. Shit, this is a forest, it’ll take months to deforest this shit.”

If I went and look for trees with a yellow hue, I might be here forever to find it.I whisper in my mind as I look at the forest around me. I destroyed a good amount of trees but so far, I have only found two with the yellow hue.

“Fuck. This will take forever.” I whisper as I stand at the center of the destruction I created. I felt the sun hitting me as the shade disappeared due to the trees tipping over as I destroyed them from the base.

"Fuck, It's hot," I say fanning my chest with my shirt. I ran towards a shade as I feel the burn of the sun on my skin.

Wait….that’s it! I shout in my mind as a smile crept on my face.

“I found the solution~” I sang to myself as I skip around underneath the shade. “The best way to destroy everything is, to burn it~”

“Burn it? You mean create a forest fire?” I asked myself. “Yea Yasu, Let’s do this quickly~ Yeah, this sound fun. Let us burn this fucking forest~”

“Mkaaay~ Item bag~" I took out a two-handed hammer out my bag.

"Scorch~" I whispered my skill and my hammer was encased with a pulsating flame. “One forest fire, coming right up!”

Using all my strength, I brought the hammer down the ground and the flames from my hammer spread out in four directions creating an X. I jumped out of the way and ran as far as I can while the flames slowly burned the ground. I felt the air started getting sucked in the center of the X along with the flames forming a bright ball. The bright ball let out a vibrating sound as it quickly expands in all direction engulfing everything with it. Inside of the ball is a mix of flame and plasma. Anything weak it touches is covered with fire in all directions and if there were enemies like the giant boar-wolf, it would have slowly burned it alive leading to a very painful death.

“Bwahahahahaha! Burn baby burn~!" I sang as I see the whole forest covered with fire and it started spreading to the neighboring trees. The sky was filled with smoke and the heat from the forest fire made me sweat. I noticed something within the fire that made me squint my eyes to get a clearer vision. The tree that has the yellow hue is still standing being protected by it.

“You got to be kidding me." I put away the two-handed hammer and took out the black sword. "Sky king's wind~"

I positioned myself right next to the blazing inferno and the heat is making me sweat even inside my clothes. I gripped the handle of my sword and swung it towards the flames as if I was trying to hit a baseball. A strong gust of wind blew off the flames in front of me like a tornado formed in the center of the forest fire.

“Ah shit.” I was thinking the tornado would wipe the fire but it actually made it worse. Now in the center is a spiraling flame tornado that’s erupting from the top sending embers due to the wood of the trees being heated. The embers itself are covered with fire and as it lands on the ground, the flames spread on the dried leaves creating more fire that now spread across everywhere. “I don’t have time for this! Chefs Coat!”

I ran through the fire. My skill protected my whole body from burning including my hair. The last thing I want is to go bald again. My sky king's flames skill doesn't burn me but this skill does and if I don't have the chef's coat activated, I suffer from burn marks if touch it. "Sharpen!"

I quickly cut one tree that’s being protected by the yellow hue. The minute I sliced it, the yellow hue shatters and the tree quickly engulfed in the flame. I ran and sliced one tree after another. Right, when I was about to break the last one, the atmosphere near the tornado distorted and a ripple appeared. I see a bandit that I noticed from last night jumped out.

It’s the carriage driver.I whisper in my mind. As soon as he got out, he quickly started screaming as he was engulfed in flames from head to toe. Soon after, he stopped screaming as his body flopped to the ground motionless as the flames tore through his skin slowly eating him away.

“Seismic step!” I screamed as I sprint towards the ripple that’s about to disappear. Within a split second, I jumped right in landing on a brick road. The same road the carriage went through last night. As soon as I got through, the ripple behind me disappeared cutting off the flame that’s leaking from the other side.

I smile as I slowly stood up. “Well then, these fuckers better be prepared. Suyeon, I’m coming for you~”