5 Chapter 5 : Fog Forest

On an asphalt road in the harsh desert, a young man stood in front of a cactus that he sprinkled with a liquid of unknown order.

In short, he was peeing on a cactus.

Raigo returned to his vehicle with an expression that could not hide his tiredness.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a bottle of water from the back of the vehicle, he drank a few sips of water before starting the car.

He got on the road and hit the gas pedal while looking at the map.

"According to this map, I should be a few kilometers away from the fog forest but I don't understand, the landscape should normally change."

He changed direction and headed southwest, left the road and crossed the desert for about half an hour before stopping the car.

He saw in the distance a completely foggy landscape, one could even vaguely see gigantic trees in the fog, Raigo seeing this could not hide his surprise.

"How can such a place exist in the desert?"

He looked at the foggy horizon and drove slowly towards it, shortly afterwards he arrived in front of a large fence separating the desert and the forest.

"It's a place forbidden to the public, so it's no wonder it's protected."

Raigo looked for a moment at the signs that warned of various dangers and that clearly said not to enter and then he drive along the fence at full speed.

A few dozen minutes later he arrived in front of a large metal gate guarded by several armed men.

There were several small buildings on the sides of the gate and footbridges where the guards stood, three of them came down from the footbridges and advanced towards Raigo.

"It is forbidden to enter this area, please go back."

He looked at the middle-aged man with a shaggy beard and a bald skull, according to his outfit and the expression of the men next to him, he must have been the chief.

Raigo took his hunter license and showed it to the man.

The man looked at Raigo's license, took it and checked it meticulously for several seconds before respectfully handing it over to Raigo.

"Sir sorry for my disrespect, you have permission to enter but you must leave your vehicle here, don't worry we'll keep it for you until you return."

"Open the doors."

Raigo retrieved his license, he took his backpack which contained all his stuff before leaving the vehicle.

The door opened slowly in front of him, one of the guards got into the Joop and led him to a building further on.

Raigo looked at the forest in front of him, surrounded by mist, and took a breath of fresh air.

But as he was about to enter, the chief of guards stopped him and told him so.

"The Hunter association advises hunters who have not reached a star not to enter deep into the forest, the association recommends stopping on the outskirts".

Raigo nodded his head and walked forward, he heard the door closing slowly behind him but he did not turn around, he walked slowly through the forest looking around him.

The air of the forest was fresh and pure with a rather peculiar smell coming from the sap of the surrounding trees, roaring and sounds of wild animals could be heard from time to time pushing Raigo to be on his guard.

The fog forest is a natural environment where many rare animal and vegetal species cohabit, but its environment is very dangerous, some hunters have even died there.

After a few minutes of walking, he stopped under a tree and took out of his bag a compass and a map of the area he had been observing for some time before sighing with disappointment.

"This forest is not detailed enough on the map, I'm going to have to trust my instincts."

He put the map and compass back in his backpack before looking at the sun whose light could only slightly penetrate the fog of the forest.

"I should have thought to bring a watch, now the most important thing is to set up camp."

He continued walking for a few more minutes before he stopped jumping back, narrowly avoiding a purple liquid that hit the ground.

Raigo looked at the liquid that was corroding the grass at an incredible speed like acid, then turned his gaze towards a tree in the distance, about ten meters away from him, but he couldn't see anything at that distance because of the fog.

He quickly removed the turban that was hiding his sharigan and saw in the distance a white lizard about a meter long with scales on a branch of the tree.

The lizard suddenly jumped into the air and quickly fell back on another branch, swelled its cheeks and then spat out the purple liquid towards Raigo who hid behind a tree, narrowly dodging the liquid which then hit the trunk of the tree which it began to gnaw at an incredible speed.

"My adventure begins well."

He smiled and took out a serrated black military combat knife from his backpack, dropped his bag and ran towards the lizard.

The lizard tried to jump on the branch of another tree, but while jumping, Raigo threw his knife in its direction, stabbing it in an instant.

*Ssss*

The lizard whistled painfully like a snake before falling to the ground.

It tried to get up and flee, but suddenly a powerful kick crushed its skull.

*Bam*

Raigo crushed with his boot the head of the lizard, this one struggled for a few seconds, whistling like a snake before dying.

"Fuck, my boot!" Raigo quickly removed his boot covered in blood and corrosive liquid that was gnawing away at the shoe.

He walked to his backpack in which he took a pair of shoes.

He put on his shoes, took his backpack off the ground before continuing his way through the fog.