Chapter 5

Jacob's Point of View

Unknown Location

As I examined the body, I tried to remove the mask to see if she was a human or elf as well. Perhaps even an actual demon of sorts. Maybe that was the point of the mask. However, I didn't get a chance to actually figure it out. After removing the mask, a spell was launched from it. Melting the woman's face, along with the entirety of her skull, it was graphic. Far more than I was expecting from a dead body.

"Who traps a mask that they're wearing?" I asked myself.

Eyeing the body more carefully now, I decided to leave it be. Whatever info it had likely meant nothing to me, and there was still a lot I needed to know about myself. My speed and strength had increased to an insane degree. Along with that, my eye could recognize an individual's energy signature, aura, magic, or whatever it might be.

"What else can I do?"

Of course, my questioning meant nothing with no one to answer me. Although, the Star Creature did say my sword would help me. Picking up the black and blue blade forged from the heart of a dying star, I studied it. Expecting another answer to the mystery I was thrown into, left me wanting.

"North."

Ignoring the collection of dead bodies in this forest, I started to make my way North. If anyone found them, there would be little chance of having them trace it back to me, and that was a risk I was willing to take. This forest had to be massive if no one heard our little rumble and the shouts. Not to mention that I was chasing the masked woman for quite some time. If someone can run through a forest at the speed we were, and not come to an exit of sorts, I figured the world I was in may not be as advanced as I had hoped.

While I walked, I decided to check on my arm. However, when I looked and expected to see blood and a gaping wound, I was surprised to see the skin was completely healed. Which meant I had regenerative powers. Another surprise that I wouldn't have guessed, but I guess that's why it was a surprise. This interested me greatly and would be something I would investigate once I had a place to lie low. One without mythical creatures roaming around that can likely smell blood.

Moving on from my healing abilities, I began to focus on other issues. Food didn't seem to be an issue at the moment. I wasn't hungry, and I wasn't sure this new body could even get hungry. So many unknowns, and they just kept growing. While traveling, practicing was all I did. Trying to figure out my new powers and more.

It could've been going better. It had been at least two days now, and I was still walking. Food was an issue, and I did need to eat. So at least one of my questions was answered. Finding it was also simple. In a forest with prey and predators, never far gave me plenty to eat. I also passed a river and made sure to boil it for clean drinking water. Wasn't sure how tough my body was against bacteria and whatnot. It was odd using one of my pauldron, but I was nothing if not resourceful.

A sigh escaped my lips as I continued to walk. "Am I ever going to get out of this forest?"

While I considered running, too many risks were involved if I just barreled my way through the forest. Large wolves roamed the area. They were unlike anything I had ever seen. Easily the size of the manticores I faced, and quite possibly, even bigger. Creatures I'd never seen or heard before were also present.

At one point, I looked up and saw a creature looking down at me. It was simply flying in the air with no wings or any magic from what I could tell. It had a wolf's body with antlers growing out of its head and hooves instead of paws. A long flowing tail was embedded with vines and more. For a time, it seemed to be following me. Studying me. But when I drew my sword and turned towards it, it quickly flew away.

The entire encounter was odd. Not to mention the sheer density of the forest was off. It was almost impossible to walk at some points or see past the tree in front of you. Thus, I decided to remain at a steady pace through the unknown forest. Unknown people, races, creatures, and lands made me overly cautious. I may have been able to kill a manticore and enemy combatants, but it didn't mean I was invincible. Not that I knew of anyway.

Eventually, a mountain came into view. Unfortunately, it wasn't the mountain in question as it was literally inside the forest, surrounded by more forest. It was difficult to spot despite its size because of how thick the forest's canopy was. However, as I got closer, I could smell something burning.

Narrowing my eyes as I got closer to see if there was a fire or smoke was pointless. As I got closer to the mountain's base, I saw a cave entrance, and the entire area surrounding it was charred. Soot covered the ground as did the skeletons of several animals and burnt trees. Looking up, I saw that it was a range instead of a lone mountain. Probably separating this forest from another zone of sorts.

Heavy and deep breathing could be heard from the entrance. While my right eye could see energy through underbrush and leaves, stone seemed to be a no go. Frowning at that, I backed away from the mountain. If this world was a mystical and fantasy driven as I suspected, only one creature could be inside, a dragon. Not wanting to test my abilities in this circumstance, I moved away from the clearing in front of the cave's entrance, and the mountain. As powerful as I might've been, fighting a dragon at this point didn't seem wise.

"Nope." Was all I said as I walked away and back into the forest.

Hearing a roar from behind me, and not wanting to stick around, I started running. Darting between trees to get away from the cave and whatever might've been inside, I made a quick getaway. Maybe it wasn't a dragon… Whatever it might've been, it didn't follow. Regardless, I put some distance between myself and the creature lurking inside.

"Where is this goddamn mountain I'm looking for!?" I shouted in frustration.

Looking up at the canopy, I decided to jump up and try to see where my destination was. Finding a tall enough tree was simple enough. Even had a nice branch that I could stand on as I looked out across the horizon. A sea of trees greeted my sight. Not too surprising. However, to my right was the mountain range I just came from and on the left was a mountain that seemed to be all by its lonesome in the distance.

"Jackpot." I said with a grin and hopped down.

Even though it was miles away, somehow, my eyes could see structures decorating the mountainside. Exactly as the dead masked woman described. Now I just needed to get to the base. Since I was looking across the treetops, I decided to use the treetops. Jumping from branch to branch was easy. So easy, that I was able to run at a decent speed for my new body. My balance was superb.

For almost an hour of running, the mountain was finally getting closer. There were a few details I saw of the forest while running, and while interesting, I ignored them for the time being. A ruined and decrypt castle caught my attention, along with several guard towers stationed throughout the forest. Even a large tree towering over all others could be seen in the distance. Truly a magical forest.

Ignoring all of it, I finally saw the end of the forest in sight. Which was surprising because the mountain was also coming up rather quickly. Jumping back down to the forest's floor and beneath the canopy, I came to a stop to catch my breath. I wasn't really winded from all that running, but I wanted to be ready for anything. New world, new rules.

"Well, how about that…" I mumbled to myself from the tree line.

From the base of the mountain to the very top, a city expanded over its entirety. To the point where there didn't really appear to be any mountain at all. Almost all of it appeared to be a giant towering city as the stone seemed almost hidden with a large temple of sorts at the very top. Thousands of feet into the air, this city ascended, and there seemed to be different rungs too, a rather impressive sight.

"And then there's the base." My gaze darted to the ground.

Below the magnificent city was a series of villages, towns, and farmlands all mashed together. I guess it could be considered a town, but it was the weirdest fucking town I'd ever seen. Different types of housing, no real layout, and several different races were present. Humans and elves were both present, but to my surprise, so was another race.

"What the fuck is that?" My question went unanswered for the time being.

Apparently, there were Angels in this world as well. Flying above the town and up and down the mountain were humans with white wings. This gave me pause for sure. They didn't have halos though. Wings, looks, and sizes varied too. Of course, they weren't real Angels. Although, the fact that there were flying humans did throw me off just a little.

I already stuck out like a sore thumb. My eye was also mentioned by those ghouls, which made me nervous. If it was known by people here and recognizable, perhaps it would be best to keep it hidden for the time being. Eyeing my ripped sleeve on my arm from the injury earlier, I decided to rip it off and use it as a makeshift eye patch or bandage. Hiding my eye seemed like the right thing to do.

"Why do I get the feeling everything is going to go terribly wrong…" Was all I said as I stepped out of the forest and towards the town.

????'s Point of View

Unknown Location

"My Queen." One of my subjects said as they came into my lab and bowed.

"What?" Was my uninterested reply.

A green glow covered the area as I worked. "One of our teams has failed to check in."

Uninterested in the topic, I continued to work. "Deserters?" I questioned back.

"I don't believe so. Last we heard; they were going to investigate something strange occurring in Hollow Forest.���

"Something strange happening in Hollow Forest…" I repeated and turned away from my project to look at who was interrupting me. "What is so strange that it would be considered out of the norm for that wretched place?"

He paused and looked away from me skittishly. "The last message we received was them investigating flying trees, your Majesty."

Now that gave me pause. "Flying trees… Are you wasting my time?" I inquired. "Surely, you're not interrupting me about one of our scouting parties encountering 'flying trees.'" My low tone gave my subject pause.

"I would never!" He cried out fearfully. "It's just that they haven't reported in for two days now, and it was a team made up entirely of Ghouls…"

"How did you receive this message?" I inquired.

He answered immediately. "One of the masks was present at the time." However, he paused for a moment before continuing. "However, we received a reading that the mask was removed as well…"

"Mmh." I hummed out in thought as I looked at one of the pods in the room. "I see why this would give you pause. That forest is home to all manner of creature, but no creature intelligent enough to remove one of those masks. While I have a sneaking suspicion as to who might be behind this, and could definitely remove them with no issue, we should still check to make sure. Seeing as how they failed to remove the mask without triggering the defense spell, it's safe to say the one responsible is an unknown." My attention then shifted back to him. "You were right to bring this to me. Well done."

"Thank you, my Queen."

"Keep your thanks and leave." I ordered, and he bowed once more before leaving the lab. "Odds are that they ran into something that shouldn't have been there. Tor!" I said with a frown, and shadows began to gather from around the room.

The mass of shadows turned into a wispy creature before me with four slanted red eyes and a sharkish grin.

"You called?"

"Send another team of trackers to find out what happened in the forest. Have them go to the scouting team's last known location and investigate." Sitting down at one of the tables, my eyes looked back to my project in one of the pods filled with green bioluminescent goo. "Should they find they were killed off foolishly by a dragon or some other creature, have them return, and report their findings."

Tor's grin got wider. "And if it wasn't done by a beast from the forest?"

My eyes narrowed. "Then have the ones responsible hunted down and questioned before being disposed of." Pausing, I wondered how many Ghouls were in the scouting team's party… "Not just anyone could kill a Ghoul. At least, not without injuries."

The mass of shadows shifted slightly. "Shall I send two teams then?"

"Yes," I replied with a nod. "Something about this seems familiar." My eyes darted around in thought. "Perhaps I'm just being overly cautious, but I haven't felt this feeling in two thousand years…" Grabbing the table, I clenched it tight to the point where cracks shot out across the table. "Once this is taken care of, have the hunters report back to me personally. I want to know who was behind this."

"As you command." He said before he faded into the room and disappeared.

Narrowing my eyes at nothing in particular, I began to think of who it might've been. The priestesses could've done this, but they've never journeyed so far into the forest before. Perhaps it was for a task of some manner… There was only one creature I know of in that forest that would be able to kill Ghouls without batting an eye, but she would never destroy the forest in the process…

"I'll find out soon enough."