CHAPTER 59: The tomato guy

Even with the forest giving us proper shade, the heat was comparable to the summertime at Earth. We took little breaks here and there trying to cover as much land as we can. During the nighttime, I’d have Mamoru activate his portal to check if he’s still able to make it connect from our location and back to our camp. We surprised them a couple of times and used the portal to talk to each other for a few minutes.

"Ok, guys, we'll go rest now," I tell them across the portal and Mamoru closed it the minute we said our goodbyes.

"It's surprising I can make it this far," Mamoru whispered as sat down at a log I set up near the campfire. "Are we getting any closer?"

"Let me check," I tell him while taking out the keystone crystal out of my bag. “Show the way.”

The crystal glowed a cyan blue color and I can see it being pulled towards one way. The light is a lot brighter compared before which probably indicates that we're slowly getting closer to the destination.

"It's a lot brighter now," Mamoru says and spending a few days with him in the forest, he's started becoming comfortable. Before he hardly talked or made conversation but I guess he started getting comfortable at my presence.

"Probably we need a couple more days to reach it," I tell him putting the keystone back inside my bag. "Get some rest, I'll keep watch."

He nods to me as he lies down on the other side of the fire. The night quickly ended as the sun started rising to change the forest. During the night, the leaves would turn purple giving it an eerie feeling while during daytime; it would turn bright pink like a Sakura tree. The rustle of the leaves along with the birds chirping made it a relaxing morning every time. We quickly ate breakfast and started walking through the forest following the keystone ball as our GPS. I tested it out and whatever we're following seems to be stationary since the light never moved as it kept pointing towards one direction.

We traveled through a never-ending forest up until we got to a clearing. It looked like a ruin. Houses made out of wood have long since decayed while nature ate it away slowly. We looked around to see if anyone is here but it seems like it was abandoned centuries ago.

"Mamoru, activate the portal," I tell him and he nods stepped away from me. He chanted something under his breath and both his hands glowed as he pointing at one section. The portal appeared outside the camp where he always made it appear. "Guys!"

The door suddenly opened and I can see Daikichi run towards us along with everyone tagging behind.

“Did you guys find it?” He asked and I shook my head.

"Tell everyone to pack up, you guys are moving here. It's a lot better than in the middle of the forest." I tell him and he quickly peeked in looking around us.

"Did you guys find a ruin?" He whispered and I nod to him. "Guys get ready! We're moving!"

It didn't take long for them to get through the portal and it seemed like they were always ready to move at any given moment. Mamoru kept the portal open while they jumped in one by one.

“Everyone through?” Mamoru asked as the portal started blinking on and off.

"Yeah," Takumi says and he closed the portal leaving our old camp behind. "This place is better, it's easier to see around us since there's a flat land around the ruins."

"Ok guys, let's start setting up," Dorang ordered everyone around and in no time, they managed to fix a few of the cabins for people to sleep in. Takumi got busy building a few types of furniture here and there while everyone else helped reinforce security by creating towers to station a few people.

"Mamoru, let's rest for today here and then we continue tomorrow," I tell him and he nods walking towards one of the chairs Takumi created. I walked towards the fire since it started getting cold and I see Suyeon started following me around. She didn’t say anything but read her book as she sat right beside me. I didn’t say anything as I fed the fire with sticks and for some reason, it was a relaxing night.

At dawn, we headed out while everyone is asleep. Only a few people greeted us who was in charge of the overnight watch. Everyone is starting to become fluid with their task, and I can leave them at peace as I know they'll be able to protect one another.

"Show the way," I whispered holding the keystone crystal and it lit up a lot brighter than usual as it pointed towards one direction. We kept following where the light leads us and soon it became dark as the forest around us turned into purple death. Fog covered the ground making it impossible to see where we're stepping.

"Let's make camp and push forwards during the daytime," I tell Mamoru and he nods quickly getting his bag out to take out the sticks he collected earlier. We ate dinner quickly and I told him to rest as I stay up watching the fire. Even when he hasn’t done anything, I still don’t feel comfortable with him around.

He didn't really show any animosity towards me as he slept soundly beside the fire. We could create a portal back to camp to sleep but I told him it's better to just keep going. But to be honest, I just want to clear my mind and not hear anyone millions of question or Ms. Sam keeping a check on me non-stop. I've been used to traveling alone or with Suyeon that, being surrounded by people is starting to suffocate me. Yet, in my mind, I kept telling myself that need to learn how to fend for themselves to mask the uncertainty in my heart.

The morning quickly came and we kept pushing forwards towards were the keystone crystal was showing. Days pass by quickly and no matter how far we got, Mamoru was still able to make the portal but the duration on how long he can keep it open is getting shorter and shorter.

"Whoa, look at that," Mamoru whispers as we see another clearing. "Damn those are big."

Giant snakes were roaming around near the puddle in the middle which reminded me of the clearing me and Suyeon first encountered.

"Let's skip around them. We'll come back for them later on." I tell him and he nods as we kept walking through the forest. We encountered another clearing but this time, it looks like humanoid rats walking around making me remember the MMORPG games I used to play. Without wanting to waste any more time, we kept walking ignoring the urge I had to send the rats into hell and collect all their weapons.

We never saw another clearing again but as we push on further, the surrounding area gots darker and darker. The ground, the trees, everything around us slowly turned black as the trees blocked most of the light from the sun letting only a few faint dots shine at certain areas.

"Keep close to me," I whisper to Mamoru as he walked in front of me. I noticed a faint purple fog slowly covering the ground and the silence of the forest makes it easier to hear my heartbeat.

The trees started becoming less and less yet the sky slowly turned black. It wasn’t until Mamoru stopped that I noticed what’s ahead of us.

“Is that…” Mamoru whispers as his voice trails off looking at a distance.

“Don’t tell me...” I whisper back as I stare at a metal gate and on the other side was riddled with gravestones. “A cemetery?”

"There's something on the middle," Mamoru whispered and as I squint my eyes to get a further look, I noticed what's he's looking at. "I hope that's not our castle."

"I hope not also," I whisper taking out the keystone crystal. “Show the way.”

The crystal shone brightly as it pointed towards the castle making me smile.

“Should I activate the portal so we can tell everyone?” Mamoru asked.

“Let’s figure out what we’re up against then we can tell them to prepare for it.” Getting ready to jump to the other side. Thanks to my skill, I was able to do it on one leap as Mamoru started climbing the fence as quickly as he can. Once he got to the other side, we carefully walked through the cemetery passing all of the gravestones. I was thinking skeletons would pop out of the graves and attack us but nothing. The silence of the cemetery made it easier to hear our footsteps. His footsteps were so loud that I can hear the twigs snapping as it echoes through the forest.

“Watch where you step. We don’t want to startle what’s ever inside that place.” I whisper to him as we both stop but the snapping never did.

"I don't think that was me," Mamoru whispered and as we look back, we see nothing behind us but the fog and gravestones. I looked at the ground and I notice the twig snapping as if someone was stepping on it.

"Get ready to run," I whisper to him. I can fight most enemies but if it's something I can't see; it would be difficult with him here. I can’t have Mamoru dying since he’s the only one who can make portals. “Inspect.”

I looked at the space where the twigs are snapping on their own and a notification appeared.

Invisible Zombies

Type

Uses

Family

Area mob

none

Undead

The undead walks, but what’s worse, are invisible rotting maggot infested marching band. Ew! They don't like the light though.

“Pound!” I shouted out loud as I swung to the ground and in a brief moment, it showed itself as it flew away from us. Its whole body was decomposing and maggots were coming out of its eyes. It gave out an eerie sound as it flew across the graveyard and one by one, they all started appearing out of thin air. "Run!"

We ran for the castle as they surrounded the area from all sides. The zombies started disappearing one by one and I hoped none of them know how to run. Without care, I punched the door open exposing a staircase with red carpet covering it. We both ran up the stairs that led to a bigger door. Hearing the footsteps inside the castle, I punched a hole on the door sending debris flying across the other side. We quickly ran in and it wasn’t far till we found the where the keystone was leading us to.

“Mamoru! Activate the portal now! Jump on the other side and keep it open!” I shout to him before taking out my bag and placing the keystone inside. He quickly created a portal following my instructions as I ran towards the giant skeleton sitting on a throne. In his chest is a crystal ball as his bones hold it in place. His eyes glowed purple and the minute I got close, he stood up from his throne.

“Hurry up! I can’t keep the portal open for long!” Mamoru shouted out.

“Inspect!” As the notification came up, I saw its name along with other information I needed.

The minute it brought its sword up, I activated my tenderize skill and sent an attack towards its face. It exploded upon impact, but it never moved from the spot. Thinking that my attack would at least do a bit of damage, I was surprised I only took out one point off its tremendous health. The smoke slowly faded away that was around its face and I can see it looking right at me. I jumped back as it swung its sword downwards towards me and the impact of its attack wasn't strong but black smoke emerged out of the ground as a tiny version of him started coming out of it. I quickly turn around and ran for the portal jumping right through.

“Close it!” I shout as Mamoru quickly deactivate his portal preventing any of its minions from entering as it towards us.

“Yasu!” I hear someone shout my name and I noticed we were quite a distance from the camp as they all ran to us.

“Holy shit, what the fuck was that?” Mamoru pants as he sat on the ground probably losing the feeling on his knees from fear.

"Skeleton King," I say slowly standing up and dusting off my pants.

"Guys, what happened? You alright?" Takumi asked and I nod towards him.

"We found the crystal," I tell him as I walked to Mamoru holding out a hand to help him up. “It’s a damn skeleton boss.”

“Did you see anything after inspecting it?” Mamoru asked as he grabs my hand and I pull him up.

“Yeah, its health is not as much as the earth god but, it's strong against everything except holy light," I tell him trying to remember what I saw on the notification. "Even my attack didn't do any damage at all. I was only managed to shave off one point of its health.”

“Damn, what do we do?” Daikichi asked and I didn’t know what to do.

"Ah, wait," Takumi says as he turns towards Kana and Ms. Sam. "I remember one of our healers, Kumiko-sensei managed to get a skill that deals with the undead. I forgot the name of it but I do know it was like a flashbang. You guys need to level up."

"But how? I haven't seen any monster around here except for boars and wolves that don't even have a level." Kana replies to him.

“Ah! Yasu how about those two places we passed by?" Mamoru turns to me making me remember the two clearings teeming with monsters.

"Yeah, we can use those. One of them had large snakes and the other one has humanoid rats, what were they called again? Kobolds? We can collect armor and weapons from them.” I tell everyone and their expression got a bit better. I guess they’re still a bit shaken up dealing with the earth god but at least this time, we have information that could help us defeat the giant skeleton.

“So what’s the plan?” Takumi asked me.

"Takumi, take everyone and fight the kobolds. Make sure they get the last hit so they can level up and maybe get new skills. Kana, Ms. Sam, and Miki-sensei come with Suyeon and me. We’ll deal with the large snakes. I’ll help you all level up.” I explained to them the plan and they all seem to agree.

Since it was getting late, we called it a day and everyone went to bed early to rest for tomorrow. Mamoru will use his portal to get us to our destination before going with everyone else towards the kobold. Night-time quickly came and I sat in front of the fire leaning my back against a log. Suyeon sat right beside me as she decided to stay up as she read the footwork book without blinking.

“What else does that book say?” I asked her and she looked up to me smiling. I don't know what but, I feel like something changed as she got more beautiful making my face feel hot as she stares into my eyes.

"It has about all of the skills footwork has. Well, the ones that were recorded in the book. I think there's more since the book suddenly ends without any conclusion." She says and she took me by surprise. I remember her struggling to talk and even not understanding big words. She used to stutter a lot and have managed to control it but now, her speech has gotten a lot more fluid.

I guess reading the book over and over again helped her. I say in my mind as I stare at her and she stares back at me. Catching myself for staring too long, I fake cough my way out of the situation as I turn towards the fire. I guess she noticed she was also staring and she started a fake cough while turning towards her book. Even the silence after our staring contest didn't feel comfortable as we sat around the campfire enjoying the night’s company.

Suyeon fell asleep as I felt her head lean onto my shoulder. My body suddenly felt rigid, I didn't want to move and wake her up. Her breathing was calming me bit by bit and I lean in a bit closer affixing her head onto my shoulder to make her more comfortable. I called out my bag and carefully took out Mole's fur. Using one hand, I place the fur over her as the night breeze started getting cold. I turn my gaze towards the fire as I slowly fed it more sticks. I look up the night sky to watch earth’s night lights scattered across its surface. I hoped that everything would end the way I want, to bring everyone home without any more casualties. I daydreamed about what I'll go back at earth if I ever get home. Visit movies, eat fast food, go to places I once took for granted since they were always at arms reach. I closed my eyes to rest my mind and I ended up sleeping the night away.

I was slowly shaken awake by Daikichi who had a smug look on his face. It seems like I got myself comfortable next to Suyeon as we both lean at each other. She’ still asleep next to me and I see Daikichi trying to hold back his laugh.

I really want to punch him in the face. I whisper in my mind as I gently shake Suyeon waking her up. She slowly got up rubbing her eyes and I stood up stretching my arms. I felt well rested as I walked towards the water source they created. Daikichi kept close to me and I can feel he wants to say something.

"Don't even say anything," I tell him and he started laughing.

"I won't but, man, I wish I had my phone. I could have blackmailed you so good." He says as we both walked towards the water source, which is similar to the table Takumi created to collect water. This time, there was proper plumbing using carved wood that directs the dirty water towards the outside of the camp.

I quickly wash my face and we all sat around the table to eat breakfast. I felt a lot more comfortable now since the bad air has managed to disappear. I guess they don't worry about me attacking Mamoru since he's Junpei’s brother. Everyone talked about what they planned to do and I talked to Kana, Miki-sensei, and Ms. Sam about what we’ll do to get them to level up.

"So, the plan is, I'll knock out the snakes and you all will attack it till it dies. It's better to kill your won snake so that way, you'll get more experience rather than attacking one and the orbs separate between the three of you. Suyeon will be on standby following close to you all. She'll watch your back just in case any snake or anything tries to creep up behind you."

"So all we have to do is level up to get the skill Takumi was talking about," Kana asked and I nod to her.

"I would let you fight the kobolds but, I think it's safer to fight the giant snakes since they don't have any weapons or armor," I tell her. "Takumi told me that the healer from his old team got the skill at an early stage so I don't think we need to spend months trying to level you up."

“Once we got it, what do we do?” Miki-sensei asked me.

“I’ll take one of you along with me and we’ll visit the giant skeleton king. Use your skill to attack it to see how much damage it inflicts. This way, we know how many time we need to hit it to kill it.” I tell her.

"I'll go," Kana says and I nod towards her.

"Miki-sensei and Ms. Sam, once you get the skill, you two will stay here and level it up while I take Kana with me," I tell them and they nod looking at Kana with a worried expression. "Don't worry, I'll have Takumi, Suyeon, and Mamoru with us just in case."

“How do we get to the snakes?” Miki-sensei asked and I point towards Mamoru.

"He'll use his portal to get us there but it's a one-way trip till he comes to pick us up or we walk back to camp in which, would probably take a few days," I tell her and she gave me a nod. "Ah, I almost forgot, there's a chance that a boss appears after we kill all the snakes. So be prepared. If it does, I and Suyeon will weaken it while the three of you deal the final blow.”

"Ugh, I hate snakes and a super large snake is going to be so creepy," Kana says and I chuckle a bit as I watch her hug Suyeon arm. “Please protect me.”

“I will,” Suyeon says with confidence and it's a refreshing sight that her mentality isn't as weak as it was before. I guess something happened to her after killing the Earth God. They did tell me the insane skill she used that broke all her bones and it felt like I was staring at a female version of myself. Taking all the risk just to kill an enemy.

“Yasu. Yasu!” Kana’s voice brought me back to reality and I suddenly noticed I was staring at Suyeon for far too long as Kana waves her hand in front of me. “Hellooo earth to Yasu.”

“W-what?” I asked averting my gaze away from Suyeon who started turning red probably getting caught off guard at me staring.

“When are we leaving?” Kana asked as I look up the sky.

"Now, we should go while we still have daylight," I tell her as I stand up and walked towards Mamoru's table. "Get ready, we need to get started. Once you guys get armor and weapon for three people, Mamoru, use the portal to bring it to us. They will need it.”

I point towards Kana and our table. He nods and everyone quickly washed their plates and got ready to travel. Once everyone is ready, I told Dorang to keep watch while we’re gone and he already started setting up people to do a watch rotation. Mamoru activated the portal for us first and I jumped in with Kana, Ms. Sam and Miki-sensei behind me while Suyeon jumped in last watching our backs. The portal disappeared behind us cutting off the only connection we have with the other group.

"Ok, I think the Snake field is around these areas. Mamoru's portal isn't really accurate as it shows up near the area but not to an exact position he wants." I tell them as we started going through the forest. It was difficult for them except Suyeon who was used to traversing the forest without any beaten path. It didn't take long till we found a clearing that leads to the group of giant snakes.

“Oh my god, are those Anacondas?” Kana whispers as she looked terrified at the large snakes slithering around. “They’re green. Like lime green. They look kind of cute.”

“Don’t drop your guard. We never got near them so I don't know what type of attacks they have. Everyone stay here and Suyeon, watch their backs. I’ll go check out how they attack their enemies.” I say as I walked towards the large snakes. Everyone stayed near the trees hiding behind it peeking out.

As I walked, one of the snakes noticed my presence and started slithering towards me. To my luck, none of the other snakes was alerted. Like a normal snake, it pounced towards my head trying to bite it. With its sheer size, it won’t just leave a mark but would probably bite my head off if I were not careful. I dodge to the side and it was already coming for me. Using my knockout skill, I punched it right on its nose and the snake dropped to the ground as it slept soundly. I see its name above the head making me a bit wary.

Poisonous Giant Snakes (Elite)

37,938/40,000

"Inspect," I whisper looking at the sleeping snake and another notification appeared showing me its weakness. “Weak against all elements except poison. This elite symbol is worrying me.”

I drag the sleeping Snake toward everyone and I can see Kana already against the idea. She stayed behind Suyeon while they all walked forward to meet me halfway. I looked around but luckily; the other snakes are far away, making it easier for them to move around without alerting them.

“Ok, let's wait for them to bring you all weapons and armor," I say as I drop the large snake in front of them.

"I'm terrified but its face is so cute," Kana says as she slowly approaches the large snake. She suddenly punched it and I can see a negative number appear on top the snake’s head while it slept. “Ugh, I really hate snakes.”

She punched it again and this time, Miki-sensei and Ms. Sam joined in slowly shaving the snake's life as it slept soundly. It would have been faster to kill it if we had weapons but we all came empty-handed. If we didn't come across the kobold, it would have been more difficult to level up everyone. It dawned to me that, without weapons or any gear, surviving in this world could be very hard if you don't have any strong assistance or skills.

"Ugh, my arms are tired," Kana says as she backs away from the snake. I see they managed to bring down its health but it still has more than half left over. I notice it’s tail twitch a bit and I walked towards its head.

“Knockout.” My fist lightly tapping onto the nose of the snake. A small rune appeared as I made sure it remained unconscious or at least, immobilized.

"You know, without your skills, this would be impossible," Kana says as I walked towards her. She took out a water container and drank from it while we both watch Miki-sensei and Ms. Sam still punching the snake while talking to each other. "If an animal activist sees us now, they would explode out of anger and laugh at the same time."

The scene of two adults talking to each other and laughing at certain points while beating an unconscious giant snake looked odd and humorous. “This does look funny.” I tried to hold my laugh.

Suddenly a portal appeared a few feet away from us and Daikichi came through the portal carrying his bag.“Yo,” He called out as he walked towards us as Kana waved at him smiling happily.

“What took you guys so long?” I asked him.

"Sorry, those damn rats are actually a pain to kill. They have one hell of teamwork. We have to stay close since they keep trying to separate us.” Daikichi explained as he kneeled down in front of us. He set his bag down he’s been carrying on his back and started taking out a bunch of swords, dagger, and even armor. “we also had to wait till some of them dropped these,” Daikichi says as he takes out three staves. Look like a miniature staff with a giant crystal ball at the end of it.

“Whoa, what are these?” Kana asked grabbing one and the crystal ball turned bright green. “Whoa, so cool.”

“That is staves. Takumi said these are more suited for healers compared to the mage. There are bigger ones you can buy in any city but he said these are good for beginners. It's supposed to amplify your healing magic and multiply its radius by two." Daikichi explained as he hands one to Ms. Sam and Miki-sensei who stepped away from the snake to have a look at the loot he came with.

He looked wary of the giant sleeping snake right next to us making me suddenly shout to scare him. Daikichi jerked as he clenched his chest and gave me a glare.

“Don’t be scared, it’s sleeping peacefully.” I joked around as he started breathing a bit heavily.

"You fucking ass. Well, I'm off, good luck to you all," He waved at us and approached Kana giving her a quick kiss before running off to the portal.

Since Kana, Miki-sensei, and Ms. Sam are able to use any weapon and armor, I told them to take a dagger and wear the leather armors. They quickly got ready while I and Suyeon stood near the giant snake.

"This brings back memories when I first trained you," I say as we both waited for them to finish wearing the armor.

"Yeah, that was fun," Suyeon replied with the brightest smile on her face.

I started at her for far too long and not noticing I blurted out what I was thinking on my mind, “Pretty.”

I see her face froze as she started turning red making my mind fly back into reality. I felt hot and didn't want her to see me turn into a tomato so I decided to walk towards Ms. Sam who was struggling to wear her armor.

“Yasu, can you help-What wrong? Do you have a fever? Your face is all red.” Ms. Sam says touching my forehead.

“N-nothing. It’s just hot in this forest.” I mutter as I help her attach the armor pulling on a belt through a buckle that's on the back. I kept cursing in my mind feeling embarrassed as I kept pulling on the belt.

“Yasu that's too tight." Said Ms. Sam and I didn't notice as my mind was still trying to forget the embarrassing situation. "Yasu. Yasu. Ow. Ow ow Yasu! I feel like a sausage!” Ms. Sam kept shouting but the only thing in my mind is Suyeon’s smile and it’s making me feel like my face is on fire.