Chapter-28 Forest of Echoes [Part-1]

As time passed by, the magnificent sun in the sky also slowly set down, and with that, dusk came, covering the whole sky in twilight.

In the end, it also succumbed to the inevitable arrival of the darkness, and the long night had arrived to the Forest of Echoes.

Even after the arrival of the night, Karna was sleeping inside the pit like a child. Outside the pit, his surroundings were completely quiet except for the constant sound of Karna's breathing, which was muffled under the veil of the branches.

But suddenly a sound echoed in the silence of the night. It was the howls' of the creatures of the forest. And with that, Karna opened his eyes wide.

Lying in the pit, Karna asked the system in his head how long he had slept. And soon the system answered.

[11 Hours, Host.]

Hearing this, Karna was satisfied; it was more than he had expected. His body also felt a lot better than before. But most of all, it was his mind that felt refreshed.

The pain in his feet was also negligible. The herbs had also worked better than he had expected. Before applying the herbs he had been constantly feeling a sharp stinging pain in his feets now it was 80-90% gone.

Karna didn't immediately got up from the ground. He could feel a rumble in his stomach. He pulled an Omble from the system storage and ate it with the least amount of chewing sound possible.

"Okay now, if I am not wrong then it'll take me approximately 26 hours while ignoring the risky regions of the forest to reach the northern safe zone near the settlement where adventurers normally hunt, according to the system.' he reasoned while continuing to eat.

'Because this part of the forest is less dangerous, I should probably start walking now; that way, I'll be able to cross the deeper part of the forest while the sun is high in the sky.'

'I should also check my physical condition.' 'System.'

------------------------------------------------

<Physical condition of the host:< p>

Strength: 12 (13)

Agility: 12 (13)

Vitality: 14

Sense: 12

Intelligence: 11>

------------------------------------------------

"Good, most of my stats are back to their original state." Seeing that his physical level had improved, Karna felt happy.

'It really helps a lot when one is able to see their condition this way.'

'Hmm....Wait, what?, My sense stats have increased by 2 SP.' 'When did this happen?' Karna asked the system, feeling a mix of joy and surprise.

[Host, all your senses have been constantly in use since you escaped from the demon by me and you. Even when Host rested, I was utilizing them to gauge our surroundings. Due to this constant use, your senses have now become sharper and more superior than before.]

'Hmm. Well, I agree to that too. Inside the dark tunnel, I had to rely on my senses a lot, even with the glow from the mana crystal.'

'I should wait a little bit more before I set off.'

*****

After three hours,

In the darkness of the forest, a young man could be seen walking. Wearing only an old-looking sweat pant, leaving his upper body naked, he walked while holding a crude wooden spear in his right hand. His mind was on high alert.

'Maybe it's because of the two additional stat points in my sense stats, or maybe it's this cold night, but everything feels more vivid than before. It was this vividness that made me realize how different that forest was at night.'

Karna was not using the mana crystal to light up his surroundings; whatever visibility he had was due to a glimpse of blue light passing through the veil of the tree's crown.

'The greenery of the forest is now nowhere to be seen. The lush trees looked dark and gloomy, and darkness filled clumps of bushes that sometimes looked like maws of beasts' ready to devour me; all of this made me realize the difference between a day and night in a forest.'

'What truly is making my skin crawl in fear is the sound. Everything is so quiet that every little sound in the forest is echoing in all four directions. The sound of wind slipping through the leaves, the cracking and snapping of grass, twigs, and weeds under my steps And the unseen fluttering of the wings in the sky above the trees.'

'Heck, Once in a while, even the howls of unknown dangers would also find their way toward my ears, making me tense up.' thinking this he bit his lower lips in fear but then clenching the wooden spear he continued to walk.

But luckily nothing wrong happened on his way; keeping the same speed, Karna walked carefully, finding his way through the dark forest.

(First Person POV)

After 6 hours of walking, I had covered 10 miles of distance; of course, due to taking longer routes to avoid danger, I had actually walked 15–18 miles.

Currently, I was crouching beside a small stream and drinking water with my hands.

Before beginning to drink, I spent some time checking out the area near the stream to make sure there was no other creature drinking water from it.

After being done with drinking, I got up and continued my way toward the safe zone. Walking in the dark was not easy; the only reason I could survive in this darkness is thanks to the system's guidance, which tells me which location to ignore and which I should move toward by gathering data from the Mana Archive. Of course, it is not 100% accurate, as the data doesn't tell about the current situation of the place but only what has happened there in the past.

As time continued to pass by, with it the dark night also passed by, and soon the dawn came, announcing the arrival of the sun and bringing with it a radiant day.

Sitting on a hillside with my back against a tree trunk, I looked toward the rising sun with a half-eaten Omble in hand. This fruit had been my most desired delicacy that I found in this forest. 

Finishing it, I took another fruit out of the system storage; this one was in the shape of an orange. From the outside, it looked completely like a normal orange except for the color, which was brown, but it was the inside that was truly different. Using my teeth, I made a small hole in it and then sucked on the hole while squishing the fruit.

Drinking the warm and sweet nectar of the fruit, I felt refreshed.

"Ah, nothing is better than a warm cup of..." "Um, what was its name? Ifran­­­–Ifro"

['Ifrow', Host]

"Ifrow! Yes!"

I looked at the empty shell of the fruit called Ifrow. This thing was a gem I had luckily come upon on my night walk in the forest.

The warm liquid inside it actually had a similar effect to caffeine. It increases the circulation of chemicals such as cortisol and adrenaline in the body. Making me feel refreshed and energized.

With this, I didn't have to worry about being sleepy, which I was even after the 11 hours of sleep I had.

Getting up and patting my butt, I threw the empty husk of the Ifrow inside the system storage and then went down the slope.

With the arrival of daylight, many birds and animals also came out of hiding. I looked upward toward the clear sky.

Seeing the beautiful sky, I sighed and spoke aloud.

"Which way?"

[Straight ahead, Host] System answered in its emotionless voice.

With that, I began walking straight.

*****