136 Going in the forest

Palpul Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary was a large forest covering an area of about 1000 sq kilometers, which was about twice the size of Delhi.

At least it did cover that much area once.

Since the start of the apocalypse, the large forest has gone through drastic changes as many dangerous Mutant Trees took over the forest and found a silent battle underground with their roots, trying to gain dominance over one another.

The ones who won gained larger areas with fertile lands while those that lost grew weak and died or sought to search other places for more food to sustain themselves.

In this case, the other places meant lands that were outside the forest.

Lands that were filled with civilization and brimming with life, something that was highly tempting to the mutant trees.

So by the time we arrived in Angai, a town that was supposed to 60 kilometers away from the forest, we found the whole town devoid of any form of life and covered in a green carpet made up of leaves and grass.

A very dead carpet underneath which thousands of roots wriggled and twisted around each other, searching for some form of food.

I looked at the scene and wondered once again if this was not some sort secret plot to get me killed. But then I looked at Netra standing beside me and all such thoughts melted away, left only with a warm feeling in my heart.

Netra would never betray me. And I was not saying that just because I was blinded by love but also because if she truly wanted to kill me, she could have just done so with her sword.

Still as I looked at the numerous large mummified mutant beasts trapped under the green carpet, I could not help but ask.

"Do you really, really want me to go in there?"

She looked at me with a serious expression and nodded "If you really want to become strong. Then you must take some risks."

"Right now you're very close to your 4th evolution. Every evolution is a battle of will and anyone who loses this battle ends up dying."

"You've survived 3 battle of wills so far but those battles will only be harder from now on. And just because you've survived so far doesn't mean that you'll survive the next one." She said in all seriousness and I nodded at her words.

After all, I had experienced the pain in each evolution and I myself knew better than anyone about how close I came to giving up.

About how close I came to dying.

In fact, I would have died the first time the black fog appeared in the world if Rahul had not held my hand, reminding me of the reason to live.

"Mutant trees use some kind of pheromones to control their prey, giving them hallucinations and whatnot. But a person with enough will power can overcome these hallucinations by himself and once he does so, he gain a bit of increase in his willpower."

"I've heard of many stories where past Shepherds went inside deep and dense amazon forest on their own violation, posing a huge risk on their life just so that they could get enough will power to go through their last few evolutions."

"This forest might be big and it might seem dangerous but it pales in comparison to the amazon forest and I've known people who've gone through that forest and survived so I know for a fact that going inside such a forest and coming out alive is not impossible."

"In the end, it's your choice to go through this trail. You're not a child and know the consequences of your actions. I won't force you or anything. If you don't want to go to the forest, then you can just turn around and leave. But if you do go through the forest and survive then the chances of surviving in the future evolutions will increase drastically." She finished, looking at me with eyes that left me with no other choice but to do as I'm told.

"I get it. Jesus woman. I understood you when you told me about your plan the first time. You don't need to repeat yourself you know." I said with a bitter smile as Netra flushed at my remark.

"I'm worried about you, you idiot." She cried out in embarrassment and frustration and punched my on my shoulder without any restraint which sent me flying until I broke through three trees and stopped at the fourth one.

I stood up and massaged my shoulder as she ran to me with a worried expression while murmuring apologies.

I waved her away while reminding myself to never make her angry.

"Very well then." I said and looked at the dense forest giving me an intense feeling of danger before I looked at her again and gave her one last kiss after which I started walking forward.

"I'll see you in a week." She said and I wondered if this is her way of telling me to stay alive.

"In a week then." I replied back before I entered the forest.