CH135 - CH136

CH135

[Mission: Guard Moonlight Forest Station for one month.]

The mission seemed simple enough—just guarding the station.

Though the Moonlight Forest Station bordered Green Cottage, it was still within Moonlight Forest's territory.

Unless there was an enemy attack, it was relatively safe.

The station was conveniently close to the northern forest area.

***

"Helag, are you alright?"

As Helag stepped off the carriage, he saw the chubby wizard Fred.

They had been assigned the same mission again, indicating Moonlight Forest was short on personnel.

"I'm fully recovered," Helag nodded.

Fred approached with a smile. "That's good. This mission is much safer. Including us, there are four third-level apprentices and one formal wizard guarding the station."

He added, "Honestly, with the barrier in place, we don't even need to be here. Anything that can break the barrier is beyond our ability to handle."

Helag looked around and saw the barrier dome covering half of Moonlight Forest.

The Moonlight Forest Station was much smaller than the Western Mountain Range station, with no tall walls—just a three-story building.

The formal wizard on duty wasn't present, having left an eye on the roof to monitor the area. He would come if needed, a privilege of formal wizards.

Helag and the others were to stay at the station, needing permission from the formal wizard to leave temporarily.

The second and third floors of the building were for lodging, and they could choose their rooms freely.

Helag chose a room on the second floor, with Fred next door.

After settling in, Helag walked to the entrance of Moonlight Forest, feeling nostalgic.

He wandered through the forest, using Deep Blue to see the sleeping mushrooms underground, which he no longer needed to harvest.

Helag saw traces of past battles but didn't venture far, staying near the entrance.

Beyond lay the place where Luen and his companions were killed by Shivara.

Helag had been pondering this event. Creatures like Shivara from the Abyss Plane shouldn't appear here naturally.

The only explanation was that Luen and his companions had summoned Shivara, leading to their pursuit.

"But why did we end up in that strange space…" Helag still couldn't understand how he and Luen's group entered that odd space.

***

Late at night, Helag lay in bed meditating.

Fred's loud snores from next door didn't bother him, as he didn't need sleep.

"Hmm?"

Helag noticed some activity in his space ring. The wooden disk was glowing faintly yellow and floating.

He remembered the disk glowing when he encountered Shivara, leading to the space breaking and their escape.

"Why is it glowing again?" Helag's expression turned serious. Another encounter with Shivara would be dangerous, as even formal wizards struggled against it.

Last time, a mysterious toad saved him. Without it, he would have died.

Helag suddenly realized something was wrong: "The snoring stopped."

Fred snored all night, but now it was silent.

He looked around the room and noticed everything was covered in a thick layer of dust as if abandoned for years.

"Necromantic Perception."

Helag cast the spell but detected no malevolent spirits.

He checked the Soul-Eating Crystal, which showed no signs of spirits.

Helag got out of bed carefully, but even his light movements stirred up dust.

He quickly cast a shield to block the dust.

The room's layout was unchanged, but everything was decayed.

At the desk, he found the quill completely rotted, crumbling at his touch.

Looking out the window, he saw it was daytime, though the sky was dim.

"It was night just a moment ago."

Helag used the Starry Sky Meditation Technique to locate the stars.

As expected, the constellations were different.

"Deep Blue, compare this sky with the one from the Shivara encounter."

Deep Blue quickly responded, [The stars have shifted slightly but are overall consistent.]

"It seems we're in that space again," Helag sighed, unsure how to escape this time.

He walked carefully, the floorboards creaking under his weight, threatening to collapse.

Outside, he saw a giant blood moon in the sky.

The area was desolate, with gray-white ground.

The wooden disk in his hand grew brighter, becoming a ball of light before disappearing.

"Huh? Where did it go?"

Helag looked around but saw no trace of the disk.

[Unknown mark detected on the body!] Deep Blue suddenly warned.

Following Deep Blue's guidance, Helag raised his left hand, finding a faint mark on his palm, identical to the six-ringed tower carved on the disk.

He touched it but felt nothing. 

"Deep Blue, analyze this mark. What is it? What's its function? Is it harmful?"

[Lacking relevant data. Specific information unknown.]

Helag decided to ignore the mark for now, focusing on escaping this place.

He knew nothing about this space and its dangers.

Helag walked a few steps, hoping to find clues, rather than staying idle.

"Damn it! You stepped on me!" a voice shouted from below.

Helag looked down to see a stone with eyes and a mouth, glaring at him angrily.

"Sorry, I didn't notice. Can you tell me where this is?" Helag asked, hoping the talking stone could provide information.

"Damn it! You stepped on me!"

"Damn it! You stepped on me!"

"Damn it! You stepped on me!"

…

The stone kept repeating the same phrase, making Helag uneasy.

CH136

Helag immediately cast Absolute Defense on himself and kicked the stone away.

The stone was heavier than it looked, but Helag's strength sent it flying.

The cursing stopped once the stone was gone, and Helag felt oddly relieved.

He noticed he was drenched in sweat, something he hadn't realized earlier.

Looking where the stone landed, he returned to the dilapidated station.

"This place is too dangerous. Even a random stone can be a threat," he thought.

Helag debated whether to stay put or explore further. Without knowing the situation, both choices seemed equally risky, depending on luck.

As he pondered by the station, he heard a faint noise to his right.

He looked up to see a palm-sized black humanoid creature.

The creature had limbs and a tail, its body gleaming with a metallic sheen.

Helag felt a significant threat from it and immediately cast various enhancement spells on himself.

The black creature noticed Helag and locked its gaze on him.

A spark of electricity flashed on the creature, and it vanished.

In the next moment, it appeared before Helag's shield, punching it with a tiny fist.

The force sent Helag flying, though the shield held. However, it wouldn't last long under such attacks.

Helag barely got to his feet before the creature charged again.

Taking a deep breath, Helag punched back.

Both were pushed back, but Helag retreated further.

In terms of strength and speed, the black creature was superior.

"I can't win in a direct fight. I'll die if I keep this up."

Helag observed that his punch did not affect the creature, whose defense seemed formidable.

He took another deep breath, set his stance, and then turned to run.

The black creature hesitated, thinking Helag would fight back, but then chased after him.

It followed closely, electricity flickering around it.

On the barren, gray-white ground, the chase continued. The creature was faster, but Helag used teleportation to maintain distance.

"Why won't it give up?"

Helag couldn't understand why the creature was so fixated on him. He hadn't provoked it.

He turned and fired a Corrosion Arrow at the creature, which ignored it and charged through.

The arrow left no mark on the creature, not even slowing it down.

"Why is mana flow so sluggish here?"

Helag had noticed something odd but hadn't had time to think about it.

After casting the Corrosion Arrow, he realized his mana flow was sluggish, weakening his spells.

"Deep Blue, what's the strength of that Corrosion Arrow?"

[Based on calculations, 0.14 units.]

The original strength was 0.2 units, now reduced by 30%.

"Is it because of this space?" Helag's condition was fine, so the weakening had to be due to the environment.

He concluded that the space suppressed spells, reducing their effectiveness.

Boom!

The creature's electricity surged, boosting its speed and strength. It shattered Helag's shield and sent him flying.

Helag crashed into a large rock, struggling to get up, feeling like his back was broken.

The creature closed in, ready to strike Helag's face when a sudden "Ribbit!" echoed.

The creature froze and turned.

A basketball-sized toad watched from a distance.

The creature erupted in electricity, covering itself, then turned and fled, not even glancing at Helag.

The toad stood still, opened its mouth, and shot out its tongue at lightning speed.

The creature, now a distant black dot, was caught and pulled back.

The toad swallowed the creature whole, burping afterward.

Helag watched in shock, not daring to move.

The toad slowly approached Helag.

He didn't even think of running. The toad had devoured Shivara and the black creature, far beyond his power.

If the creature couldn't escape, neither could he.

The toad croaked at Helag as if speaking.

Helag smiled bitterly. "I don't understand you."

The toad seemed to comprehend, looking thoughtful.

It croaked again, and Helag felt information flooding his mind.

The sensation was similar to learning necromancy, almost identical.

"Can you understand now?" the toad croaked.

Though it still croaked, Helag understood its meaning.

"Yes, I can. Where am I?" Helag asked.

"This is the Abyss Plane," the toad replied.

"So it really is the Abyss Plane. How did I end up here?" Helag had suspected but found it hard to believe.

Traveling between planes was difficult. How could he end up in the Abyss Plane so easily?

Realizing he was in the Abyss Plane, Helag felt even more hopeless.

The wizarding world knew of other planes, with many records in Moonlight Forest.

Powerful wizard organizations often explored and conquered new planes.

These planes were rich in resources, offering endless wealth if conquered.

Each new plane represented immense benefits, attracting countless wizards.

Wizards were powerful, rarely meeting equals in other planes.

Helag had read about wizards conquering numerous planes.

Moonlight Forest had once been such a powerful organization before its decline.