The Mist

Leroy tilted his head in confusion as the others continued to stare at him as if they were dead fish.

"Yeah, I made the mana crash with the seal and exploded it causing a mana explosion which released my other mana" Leroy replied to Harry as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"I'm talking to a zombie, yall hearing shit too?" Harry turned his head to the others and asked.

"No captain, seems like we are all being influenced, we hearing the same sounds" Jakob replied.

Leroy decided that he had no time to deal with them when his stomach was still growling and he had a meat skewer in his hands.

"Leroy, what you did, it should be impossible. You being alive that is, no it's not impossible but the chances are so low that I'm unsure if you can even calculate them" Harry said, his voice grave.

"Huh? What did I do wrong, Gorkuis said to cause a mana explosion and break the seal?" Leroy asked Harry with his mouth full.

*Cough*

And then he started coughing immediately, Jakins offered him a water satchel, and after a few gulps, he calmed down again and then started eating again...

A sigh was heard, it was Harry as he held his head in his hands, his expression looked as if he was done with this crap.

"Honestly, I'm not sure if I should be glad that I got you in the Jackals or if this is the biggest mistake of my life," Harry said as he shook his head slowly.

"What you did is extremely dangerous Leroy, the reason is that a full-blow mana explosion could and will most likely rupture all of your mana circuits, which are just like the veins which your blood runs through but for mana"

Ordio said to Leroy, trying to explain to him just what had happened.

"But that's how Gorkuis said to do it? Grab your mana and then try and grab the other mana in the seal but I couldn't do that with the seal in place which just turns his explanation on how to do it, completely nonsensical and so I thought what if I just destroy the seal."

"It's not nonsensical, you were supposed to grab a small amount of your mana and try to pierce a hole through the seal and grab the mana inside, I'm not even sure how you managed to control all that mana and make it crash in the first place" Harry replied as he stared at Leroy

"So, how'd you do it?" Jakins asked.

Lowering the now clean skewer, Leroy replied

"I couldn't grab it at all, it was like grabbing water so I just redirected it with my will, at first I could only make small adjustments but as the mana was constantly flowing, I could make small changes along its whole path which would then allow me for a complete redirection by the time it came back to its starting position," Leroy said, as he explained his whole thought process on how to unlock his mana.

"I see, that's certainly a way to do it," Ordio said as he grabbed a meat skewer that had just finished cooking.

They talked for a while until the food was entirely gone, three whole deer had been killed and eaten in one night.

Waking up the next morning, Leroy woke up before all the others besides the ones that had taken charge of staying on patrol around the camp.

Getting up, he wore his leather armor, which had been given to him last minute after his battle with Gorkuis had destroyed him almost completely, leaving only his shoulder pads intact.

He strapped his belt and sword on his waist and went outside the tent.

It was morning, it was still winter but thankfully this part of the continent didn't get that cold with only a few snowflakes raining down once or twice during the entire winter.

The area around them was a forest filled with huge trees, that almost covered the entire sky, a bluish-white mist had started to fall upon the forest.

On their left side a few meters back was the road which they had traveled on yesterday and would be on today as well.

"Looks quite majestic doesn't it," Someone said from beside Leroy.

"It does, your up early today captain" Leroy answered unstartled.

"You noticed me eh?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, ever since I unlocked my mana, it almost feels like iv got another set of eyes and ears, i can see the world much more clearly and I can hear everything around me as if they were whispering in my ears" Leroy replied as he continued to watch as the bluish mist almost completely surrounded their camp.

Harry hummed as he turned his attention back towards the forest.

"It might look beautiful but it's the farthest thing from it. This forest's name is the Forest of Harrowing Mist." Harry said as he started to concentrate on the surroundings of the camp.

"The Forest of Harrowing Mist? Does that mean that the mist surrounding us right now is dangerous?" Leroy asked, the fog of sleep completely gone from his eyes and his body tensed, ready to counterattack at any second.

"It is if we go inside it, the mist only shows up early in the morning and as long as you don't go inside it then you're safe" Harry replied.

Leroy nodded soundlessly, calmer but still tense about the situation at hand.

Patting Leroy's shoulders, Harry grinned.

"Did I scare ya?" He said

"Huh?" Leroy said confused as he looked at him.

"I was just joking with you, the forest is indeed called the Forest of the Harrowing Mist but nothing has ever happened around here, it's just a legend that the villages around here tell," Harry said as he turned around and started heading towards his tent.

"I'm going to my tent to rest for a bit longer until the others wake up." He said as he disappeared from view, inside the tent.

"That damned bastard," Leroy said as he gritted his teeth.

Until suddenly he heard a whisper.

Leroy stopped completely in his tracks as he was going back to his tent.

The Wisper sounded as if someone was screaming at the top of their lungs from pain, unimaginable pain.

Slowly Leroy turned around, very carefully as he put his hands on his sword handle.

The Whisper

It had come from inside the Mist.