Chapter 62: Exploring the Dense Forest

"Before that, although the vegetation near Kora Village grew rapidly, it was just weeds and crops. That night was completely different."

"Countless saplings broke through the soil, growing over a meter tall in a single night. They even appeared inside the villagers' homes in Kora Village."

"We sensed something was wrong. As soon as we realized it, we hurriedly evacuated all the villagers from Kora Village."

"These trees kept growing taller and taller, and by the next day, they had turned into the forest you see now."

"We considered going in to investigate and even started clearing the trees around the perimeter of the forest. But no matter how many we cut down, they would return to their original state by the next day. We tried several times, to no avail."

"We didn't dare venture straight into the forest, so we could only stand guard around it, keeping unauthorized people out while waiting for reinforcements from the Kingdom."

Child, speaking without reservation, recounted everything that had happened over the past few days.

Yasen frowned and asked, "The intelligence report mentioned the appearance of undead creatures. Do you know anything about that?"

Child shivered and said nervously, "On the night we evacuated the villagers, after everyone had left the forest, we took a roll call and found that four people were missing. It was too dark, and we didn't dare turn back to look for them."

"At the time, we organized the villagers to rest outside the forest, preparing to head to the Viscount's castle early the next morning. But in the middle of the night, I heard movement inside the forest. When I went over to check, I saw several skeletons crawling around inside!"

"One of the skulls even turned its head and glared at me!"

"My companion and I were terrified. We immediately had everyone move to a safer spot further away and never dared to approach the forest again."

"However, I didn't see those things leave the forest. Over the next few days, I came to check both day and night, but I didn't find those things again. I also sent the intelligence report off to milord."

"I saw it too. I was on night watch with Captain Child back then. Those skeletal frames were clearly human bones, and there were will-o'-the-wisps hovering around them!"

A soldier standing beside Child chimed in, confirming that it wasn't just Child's hallucination.

"Skeletons?"

Yasen looked at Leeds, his gaze carrying a questioning look.

Leeds understood and nodded, saying, "If that's true, they might just be newly converted skeleton soldiers with no real threat."

Skeleton soldiers are undead creatures whose bodies consist entirely of bones. They can be said to be the lowest-tier and most common undead entities.

However, the appearance of skeleton soldiers also proved that this forest was indeed abnormal.

In other words, no truly threatening undead creatures had been discovered yet?

Yasen pondered internally, beginning to consider from which direction they should start investigating this eerie forest.

Elina suddenly asked Child, "You mentioned earlier that you cleared parts of this forest. Were the trees here any different from those elsewhere?"

Child was momentarily stunned. He recalled the events and said uncertainly, "We really didn't pay attention to that at the time, but they shouldn't be any different from normal trees. We just used the cut wood as firewood."

Elina nodded and said nothing more.

Yasen had also made up his mind. Since they had already come this far, failing to go in and explore would likely yield no valuable intelligence.

He said to Child, "We are going to enter the forest to see what's going on. We'll have to trouble you to look after the carriages."

"Certainly, certainly!"

Child readily agreed. While he didn't dare enter the forest, watching the carriages outside the perimeter was well within his capabilities.

Yasen turned around, pulling Leeds, Yaler, and the others aside to take on his responsibility as the team's reliable backbone:

"We still need to go into the forest and take a look, at least to investigate the site of Kora Village."

"For this entry into the forest, Lembos and I will take turns leading the way. Elina will be responsible for observing the surroundings, while Leeds and Yaler will stay in the middle of the formation and provide support."

Everyone nodded. Yasen's arrangements were always reassuring.

Following this, Leeds and the others double-checked their carried items and equipment before preparing to step into the bizarre forest.

Yasen walked at the very front. This time, he wore a suit of gleaming white fine-steel armor that emitted a faint holy light, likely blessed by the Church of the Dawn.

With a cold flash from the longsword in his hand, the vines entwining the forest were sliced apart, gradually carving out a path leading deep into the woods.

Leeds and the others maintained their formation, steadily pushing deeper into the forest. The further they went, the denser the timber became, until even the patches of blue sky overhead were completely obscured.

After pushing forward into the depths of the forest at a steady pace for an hour, Leeds and the group had advanced less than two kilometers.

Yasen waved his hand to signal a temporary halt for a breather. He sheathed his longsword and asked, "Has anyone made any discoveries?"

"It's too quiet," Leeds said while setting up [Magic Warning Talismans] around the perimeter.

"Right," Elina agreed with a nod, adding, "You can't hear the sounds of insects or birds at all—not a single one. I've been observing carefully all the way here."

"As expected, something is wrong."

Yasen nodded in agreement; he had noticed this anomaly as well.

"Moreover, although the vitality in this region is overflowing, but..."

Elina gently plucked a tender sprout from a nearby large tree and said, "It feels somewhat devoid of life."

The elf, who had always been close to nature, spoke with a hint of uncertainty.

Normally speaking, being devoid of life and having overflowing vitality are completely contradictory terms, but using them to describe the forest before them felt remarkably appropriate to Leeds.

Furthermore, Leeds kept feeling a sense of familiarity, though he was certain he had never been here before.

Was this place in the game from his past life?

That shouldn't be right; as a hardcore gamer, it was impossible for him to forget something like this.

Just as Leeds was tapping his head trying to figure out what he had missed, the others made a new discovery.

This time, the problem was found by Yaler. Although Yaler was usually a bit mischievous, she was extremely serious when executing commissioned tasks. It was moments like this that allowed Leeds to glimpse her future demeanor.

Yaler used her sword to brush aside the weeds beneath her feet, revealing the soil underneath.

Logically speaking, because towering clusters of trees block out the sunlight in a forest, dense weeds are rarely found growing underneath the canopy.

However, this place was different, which gave Yaler an inexplicable sense that something was wrong, prompting her to clear a patch of ground.

Beneath a dense sea of trees, the soil should ideally be fertile and moist.

Yet, the ground beneath Leeds and the others was entirely different—dry and barren. The soil, which should have been dark brown, was already turning yellowish and losing its vitality.

Yaler used her sword to dig down another meter and discovered that the deeper she went, the more barren the soil became.

"It seems the reason this forest's vitality is so abundant is that it has completely drained the life force out of this land."

Elina squatted down, scooped up a handful of somewhat sandy soil, and spoke.

Leeds also touched a handful and frowned as if he had sensed something.

Something is wrong!