Sliding of metal was heard as Han slowly pulled out his Jackknife. Having the weapon in his hand, Han looked around at their present situation. It was like being in another world, having stepped into the forest where the sun didn't seem to shine. Trees surrounded them, their trunks getting thicker as they went further into the woods.

They had maintained the same formation, with Jade's team protecting them from the front and rear. Even though it wasn't necessary, Han appreciated how professional their actions were.

"If it weren't for the time being displayed inside my helmet, I wouldn't be able to tell whether it's night or day," Jackie grumbled, breaking the silence.

Aside from the occasional words from Jade, they had been pretty quiet inside the forest. Han grinned at Jackie's words. "At least we have some light," He remarked, chuckling.

"It's eery how these trees emit light. A part of me feels like I'm in a dream, instead of walking in a deadly forest where we could be killed at any moment." Grace said, running her fingers on the trunk of a nearby tree. As if reacting to her touch, the bluish glow dimmed for a moment.

"Is it some kind of fungus?" Amanda commented. She was behind Grace, near the rear, and noticed the reaction of the glow.

"Like mushrooms?" Ivy asked, sounding confused.

"Mushrooms sound good right now," Ruby giggled, likely to try and lighten the mood.

Ivy snorted, trying not to get caught up in Ruby's giggling. When she calmed down, she bumped her friend's shoulder in retaliation.

"Thinking about fungus makes me think about that introduction to biology class we all have to take, for our general education credits," Jennifer complained to no one in particular.

A snap of a branch made everyone stop, the mood quickly changing from a light-hearted one to one where everyone was on high-alert. Considering they hadn't seen anything after an hour of entering the forest, the sound of wood breaking was akin to an explosion of noise.

Looking around, Han observed the screen on his helmet, which was tracking for any movement. With the bio-luminescence coming off of the trees, the helmet was compensating to outline various objects it recognized.

"Julia, are your sensors picking up anything?" Han asked his suits AI, his eyes flickering from tree to tree.

"Creator, I'm not picking up anything at the moment. The noise is likely echoing through the forest, making it difficult to pinpoint." Julia said, frustration in her voice.

Han was impressed with how lifelike Julia was, having the usual vocal ticks that people have when they're talking. If he didn't know that Julia was an AI, he would have sworn that she was a person just communicating with him using the comm system.

"Let's keep moving," Jade advised after nothing came out to greet them.

Continuing to stay alert, the group slowly moved forward in the direction they have initially been heading towards. Jade had informed both Han and Jackie's group that they weren't heading in a particular direction. No one had explored too deeply into the forest, so there wasn't a direction that needed to be followed.

"I hate when this forest does that," Steve said after enough time had passed.

Not stopping, Jackie asked, "What do you mean?" None of them were ready to return to the light-hearted mood they had experienced, wanting to maintain their attention on any more sounds coming from the between the trees.

Han casually looked over at where Steve was walking, seeing him walking backward to cover their rear. The way he quickly turned himself to walk normally gave the impression that he was used to guarding the back of a group. His weapon was a collapsible spear that could be used as a whip or a spear. When it was in the spear mode, the tip was a long blade in the shape of a diamond where the lower part was widest and thinned to a point. Transforming it into a whip, Steve would remove the tip of the spear and use it as a wicked looking dagger. Throughout the spear, the joints would have blades coming out, and a needle at the tip appears. Steve handled the whip very well, wrapping it around his opponent and cutting the monsters into ribbons.

It was a useful weapon for dealing with a large number of opponents, the way it would carve through groups of monsters or players. Inside of this forest, his combat ability would be useful when they don't know the number of enemies that could chase after them.

"This forest will, sometimes, make sounds and noises that tend to distract or confuse those who enter it. We've had people that would try and chase after the sounds." Steve explained to Han and Jackie's group.

"If any of you try and chase after those noises, I'll be forced to stop you," Lexi added in. "We've been lucky with no confirmed deaths, and I'm not going to let any of you ruin that." She stroked the chains wrapped around her waist, which could unravel at a moments notice and capture a fleeing individual.

Even though the canopy blocked out the light, everyone was beginning to feel the effects of their internal clocks. The journey had been a long one, though uneventful only involving the trees around them.

Han listened to another sound coming from the forest, this one sounding like a person's voice.

"Is anyone out there?" It called out, fear filling the voice. By the sound of it, the voice came from a male though it was hard to tell where it originated from.

"You shouldn't be yelling," a hushed voice of a woman was heard.

Both voices sounded exhausted, likely being in the forest for a long time. It was impressive that people could survive on their own for so long in this landscape, just two people outsmarting the Modified Humans and people with ill intent.

"We're over here!" Jae-Hwa yelled out and began walking towards where she thought the voice came from.

Before she could take five steps, Lexi darted forward and speared her to the ground. The two of them rolled a little bit before stopping.

There weren't any noises coming from the two of them. Lexi mounted Jae-Hwa and used one hand to press against Jae-Hwa's chest, pinning her to the ground.

With Lexi forcing Jae-Hwa to the ground, there was a lot of noise that was generated. Hearing such things made the forest appear to react from them. Han looked at the group and saw Grace moving to break up Lexi and Jae-Hwa, her police training still taking over though her moral and professional compass had improved for this world.

What made Grace stop was hearing the words, "Did you hear that? I think there are people there." The woman's voice whispered though it was unusual for a whisper to be able to carry so far.

"No one move and don't make a sound," Jade said to them through private means using the comms.

Han raised an eyebrow, hearing the fear in her voice. After thinking about it for a second, Han didn't know of a time where she sounded this scared which made him wonder what the source of her concern was.

"Help us! Is there anyone out there?" The male voice called out, though the sound was slightly off from the first time he called out.

"Did you hear that?" The woman's voice called out, though the voice still sounded like it was whispering.

The voices sounded like they were coming closer as if they sensed Han's group near them. Both Kimberly and Jade were clasping their swords, getting ready to receive an attack.

"Aren't they just one person?" Lacy asked. Apparently not understanding what was going on. Even though she was confused, it didn't prevent her from getting into a fighting position with her gauntlets opening and closing.

Lulu was next to her friend, also getting ready with her gauntlets. "I get the feeling we aren't dealing with some lost people in the woods." There was clearly eagerness in her voice, but enough caution laced through her voice to let everyone know that she wasn't taking this lightly.

As the two voices began to sound more distinct, Han began to notice that they were repeating and coming from different directions. Even though the voices sounded exactly the same, he began to understand that it wasn't a case of echoing from two people.

"I want all of you to keep a clear head. If things go well, we should be able to pull out of this relatively easily." Jade commanded them. "Steve and Lexi, I want the two of you to cover the retreat in case...," Jade trailed off.

"Did you hear that?" The woman's voice was heard, as figures emerged from behind several of the trees.