First chapter of the week! My Calculus teacher isn't here today...mwahaha! I can write however much I want! Yes, I'm posting this in math class. Two more chapters and I'll have hit my second milestone. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

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Kyte stared at the tall treeline in-front of him. The train track went straight through which made a clear path through the forest. Kyte sifted through his memories for information pertaining to this forest, but he couldn’t find anything. He took out his phone and tried to use the internet, however, he discovered that there was no connection.

Usually, everyone with a phone can connect to the 'interwebs' because of the technology available during the current times. Areas where people couldn’t connect were the abnormal areas that naturally interrupted the connection. To think that this forest naturally interrupted the almost perfect connection made Kyte think that this forest was not normal. Even more so now because of what’s been happening.

The trees reached up far above a hundred feet each. Their branches naturally spread out and sometimes connected to other trees, forming a ceiling of branches that blocked sunlight. The trees themselves were a deep brown with various spots of red throughout their trunks. They gave off a creepy feeling that didn’t necessarily harm anyone or thing. Maybe it was because there wasn’t a lot of sunlight or just the eerie silence which was prevalent throughout the area.

Kyte looked at the broken train and saw that about the front fourth was entirely inside the forest while the rest was outside. The train itself had sustained too much damage to be repaired. Plus, if Kyte even had the expertise to repair it, he wouldn’t be able to. The train had been moving at full speed during the previous battle. The two S rank Guardians inside the train had destroyed more than just the Gifted. It was a miracle that the train wasn’t forcefully derailed.

Kyte destroyed the wall within the train cabin and said:

“Everyone get out. I’ll explain our situation once everyone’s outside.”

Kyte unequipped the Bloodcursed armor and landed on soft ground. It seemed like the vegetation growth was slowly creeping up on the tracks. Mostly from the forest, but since the train was used a few times every year, the vegetation wouldn’t grow all the way onto the track. Kyte’s clothes underneath the armor weren’t damaged at all, fortunately.

He watched the Gifted file out the side of the train and gather around him. There were exactly thirteen left. There were originally about one hundred and forty total. Seeing only thirteen survivors made Kyte feel quite defeated. Although he doesn’t care about their lives, just knowing that he didn’t have the power to save them made him feel a bit angry. When S rank Guardians are ordered to kill, they kill. Efficiently. They killed over one hundred Gifted in under thirty seconds. Some of which were several A rank Gifted that had a little bit of power to resist.

Kyte saw the fear and despair covering their faces. There were three A rankers, eight B rankers, and three C rankers. None of them were Special Gifted, either. Kyte wanted to kill the B and C rankers so they wouldn’t slow him and the A rankers down, but he decided against it. First of all, that would only add even more bad reputation to his name once he reaches the Core. His reputation would already be bad as it is and making it worse is something he doesn’t want to do. Secondly, he can’t guarantee that the A rankers would stay silent. Even if the A rankers agreed with Kyte, he wouldn’t want anyone to know that he killed them.

Kyte thought about what their situation would be like at the Core. A rankers were plentiful there; even S rankers weren’t rare at all. What would happen to C and B rankers? In one situation, they would be relentlessly bullied their entire lives. In the other, they would be protected and helped. However, which situation was more realistic? Forcing C and B rankers with S rankers? It’s like making a kitten play with lions. Plus, there’s always those people that take advantage of others. They couldn’t care less about the shit people live through, just as long as they don’t.

“Everyone, I’m pretty sure you vaguely know of the...situation we’ve been forced into. I can’t remember there ever being a forest located here. Considering that we’re still several hours away from the Core, it will likely take us several days to travel through. Depending on what happens in the forest, we could possibly be delayed even longer. Furthermore, the forest itself disrupts any signals. So, that means that our phones don’t work.”

Kyte paused to see their reactions. Unfortunately, they followed his expectations. Two of the A rankers were still calm, but Kyte could tell that they others were slowly coming to the realization that they would never come out alive.

“No need to be frightened. I know you’ve seen what’s happened with the normal humans and other animals. It is very possible that there could be real monsters in the forest. However, the strongest monster we’ve run into so far has been at most A rank. I highly doubt there could be any monster as strong as I am, so rest assured. I will not let any of you die while I’m here.”

Kyte’s words seemed to some-what help them calm down. However, the real threat of monsters in the forest kept the feeling of fear within them. After seeing their friends slaughtered before their eyes by the S rank Guardians, they were still in shock. Hopefully after a few hours their minds would calm down. Probably after a night’s sleep would they finally be calm enough for Kyte to explain their best course of action.

“For now, I want all of you to follow me. We need to make some headway into the forest and create our campsite before the sun goes down. We have at most four hours of light left, so we need to hurry.”

Kyte began to walk into the forest with the Gifted following behind him. The temperature noticeably changed. It was an abnormal change, to say the least. It grew humid, however, instead of being warm, it was almost freezing cold. The water in the air, on the plants, and the ground, wasn't frozen. The cold was a piercing cold, though Kyte was fine walking through it.

“It’s..s-s-s-so c-c-c-cold…”

Kyte looked back at the other Gifted and remembered that their power wasn’t like his. The one that had spoken was one of the C rankers. Kyte could see frost starting to form on their bodies, and even the B rankers were having a hard time. Kyte mentally sighed as he spread out a thin strip of black light around the group. He then converted it into fire to keep the others warm. He was careful not to accidentally catch anything on fire as they walked through the forest. Fortunately, the vegetation on the forest floor wasn’t that thick so it was easy to travel through, even with the circle of fire. Plus, they were walking next to the train track so naturally there wasn’t much vegetation around it, aside from some grass.

After three hours had passed, the sun was hovering just around the horizon. Though Kyte couldn’t actually see it, he could tell that the remaining light was fading. Peculiarly, the natural temperature was beginning to rise instead fall. The abnormality of the forest was quite interesting to Kyte. He thought about the possible reasons as to why it was freezing during day and warmer during night. He couldn’t figure out an answer, though.

After about twenty minutes, the temperature was noticeable warmer than before. Kyte had to take away the fire ring because it was getting too hot. The humidity felt like it had increased, mostly because the temperature was warmer. The resilience of the water in the air was quite high. It didn’t freeze or evaporate in those temperatures. Maybe it wasn’t even water?

Kyte took a few more steps until he discovered movement on the far edge of his Spirit energy. The thing just suddenly appeared without warning, as if it had teleported. Kyte stopped in his tracks, signaling the others to stop. They all looked at him weirdly until they heard a sound.

The noise was like a deep clicking that echoed out throughout the forest. The clicking was quite fast and would stop after a few seconds. Then, the same noise would echo out again.

Fear gradually grew on the Gifteds’ faces as more than one clicking began to appear. Kyte picked up several different figures popping up within his Spirit energy. They traveled across the ground with irregular movements. They would sometimes disappear and then reappear in a different area. None of them came closer than thirty meters of their group, so Kyte closely observed them.

They just suddenly appear and disappear...they’re moving as if...wait...Oh no.

After several seconds, Kyte realized his blunder. It’s not that they were teleporting or anything, those creatures were just digging underground. Kyte didn’t have his Spirit energy spread in the earth below; he only had it spread throughout the forest floor and a few meters above it.

Kyte slowly breathed out before sending his Spirit energy below the ground. After seeing what was below, Kyte talked under his breath.

“...Holy shit.”

Underneath the forest floor was an entire colony of creatures. The reason why Kyte didn’t find anything above ground was because everything was below! Kyte assumed that these creatures lived below because the freezing temperatures didn’t pierce far into the ground. Therefore, the earth below was warmer than above during the day. Now that it was night and the temperature was warmer, they would be coming up to the surface to search for food and water.

There were so many creatures in that one small area that Kyte searched that he didn’t even want to count. Kyte discovered a labyrinth of tunnels that stretched further down than his Spirit energy could reach. There were large pockets of space within the tunnel system which held more than one of those creatures. They weren’t any type of insect that Kyte recognized. They probably weren’t insects at all. Kyte first thought of ants and the tunnel systems they create, however, these creatures were at least four times bigger than he was.

The system spread under the train track and reached farther than Kyte’s Spirit energy could detect. Kyte heavily sighed.

Should I tell them? They’ll probably panic if they know there’s giant monsters living underneath their feet. How would I explain a giant monster coming out of the ground if I don’t tell them?.....No. For the time being, I won’t tell them. They don’t need the extra stress. I’ll just have to deal with anything that appears.

“What’s that noise?” One of the Gifted asked.

Kyte lightly sighed before replying:

“Don’t worry about it. For now, let’s stop here. I’ll deal with anything that approaches. We don’t know what’s out there, so let’s assume they’re hostile. However, that doesn’t mean you attack them on sight. We are going on the defensive during this time. Also, I have several traps at my disposal so all of us can sleep easy tonight.”

The weaker Gifted visually looked a bit calmer than before, but a few of the B rankers and the A rankers looked a bit skeptical.

“What do you mean by ‘traps’?”

“I mean exactly what I say. I am very well versed in traps-...Haaaa, none of you will understand. This is something only I can practice. You all will be safe during this time. That’s all you need to know.”

It’s better to not tell them too much. Giving out unnecessary information could potentially bring trouble. Besides, once they see my formations for themselves, they’ll trust me a bit more.

“I’m going to go set up my traps now. Go ahead and set up something the best you can. It will take some time for me to complete my own setup, but don’t worry. I will still protect you guys if anything comes.”

“Wait, y-you’re leaving us?” A weaker Gifted said.

“What? No, I didn’t say that. I just have to set up my traps. I’ll still be in the immediate vicinity. I won’t let you guys out of my sight.”

Geeze, this is why fear is such a dangerous emotion. Especially the fear of the unknown. Though, I’ll admit that I have a small bit of fear toward these creatures. I feel..nervousness more than anything. I wonder how strong they are…