Chapter 5
Waking up in the dead of night, Smith was sleeping in the bed quietly. Quietly I moved down the stairs of the inn and found Lopdow at one of the tables. Moving over to the table that Lopdow was at, I sat down and asked him about any information that he had recovered.
Pulling a cigar out of nowhere and lights it with the lamp at the table, he answered quietly, "The guards of the forbidden zone have apparently already died to someone who was venturing there three years ago. The forbidden zone is open but the dangers of what is inside apparently keep people at bay. Also, the stories of hundreds of tomb robbers entering there and not even one coming back alive."
"Even if the tales of the tomb robbers dying, there should be at least some of the strong willing to go into the forbidden zone. Based on how good Smith makes it out to be, there really should be something of value in there to the powerful." I reply.
Lopdow sends up a puff of smoke, "That's also what I thought when I heard this but during my time in the Capital, I realized that if you were powerful, you were rich. Because of this, you would be unwilling to risk your life to get something that you do not know exists. Only those with the prospect of making it big try and go into the forbidden zones."
Thinking it over quietly, the prospect of the guardian being dead and no one trying to enter the forbidden zone at that point is still confusing. I begin to wonder what kind of prey would be inside of the forbidden zone and how exactly I could fight them. I had no information about the kinds of monsters that would be inside of the forbidden zone but, if I wanted to bring Lopdow over to my side completely, I needed to help Smith complete this forbidden zone. Remembering something that I leaned when I was with the Akrikash, I started to absorb the areas surrounding power. Even though the climate of the area should not affect the power I absorb, it was like I was absorbing salt water from the air.
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When light shone through the door of the inn, I was completely parched, and my lips were
cracked. Upset as to how absorbing power made me dehydrated, I toughed through it until Smith came down the stairs of the inn. Sitting down with Lopdow, he asked pretty much the same questions with me. When he finished asking questions, he stood up, came to me, and said we were leaving for the border of the forbidden zone. Following behind, I had Lopdow following behind me, and we made our way through the city by blending in with the crowd. Once we exited the city, we traveled across the baren soil of the Kraken's City and made our way to a greener land. Lopdow and me were stopped by the raising arm of Smith.
"This is the border of the forbidden lands. They are considered the most abundant in magical power and mystical beasts. That is why the land can retain life and not be destroyed by the salt concentration from Kraken's City. If the guardian truly is dead, then when we step across the border, nothing will happen. If the guardian is not dead, fight until it is." Smith said seriously while looking forward.
I stepped across the border without much care as Smith was still looking forward. Nothing felt off at all except that the air as soon as I crossed the border was cleaner.
"I think the guardian is dead, I passed over the border and nothing happened." I said to Smith.
Lopdow upon hearing my statement quickly crossed the border. Smith on the other hand took his time and carefully crossed over the border before he truly though it was safe. Suddenly, the whole world turned black. I could only see Smith and Lopdow when the darkness embraced us. A loud, booming voice started to speak to us.
"SO, YOU HAVE COME FOR MY TREASURE MAGE, YOU WILL NOT HAVE IT." The loud voice stated but suddenly, his tone died down and became interested.
"These Other Two Though Are Quite Strange, The Main Reason Why They Follow You Is Because They Have To In Order To Get the Revenge That They Are Looking For. Since The Men That You Have Brought With You Can Help Me, Mage, I Will Allow You To Pass Through My Forest And Speak To Me. BE AWARE THAT WILD BEASTS WILL ATTACK YOU. This Is To See If Those Two Are Worthy."
All the sudden the darkness that had once consumed us disappeared. Both Lopdow and me turned towards Smith with a questioning look in our eyes.
"Seems that the guardian is still alive." Smith muttered to himself, noticing that we were looking at him, he spoke louder.
"The guardian specifically hates mages and has a burning hate towards the Capital's mages. Since I am the son of mage who works for the Capital, it is only natural for him to hate."
"Are you a mage for the Capital then?" Lopdow asks with a heated tone.
"No, I hate the Capital and all it does. Because of the Capital, I have been unable to travel to these socalled forbidden zones to increase the amount of magical knowledge in this world. Well, since he grants the two of you passage, we might as well move along."
Lopdow and me look at each other and decide to move with Smith since that is all that there is to do. When the guardian decided that we might be able to help him and his passion to hurt the capital, he might be able to help along my quest of get rid of the entirety of the Capital. Instead of it being us who would help him, it would be the other way around if I could get my way. We made our way to the overhanging canopy of trees. When we stepped inside of this area of, the probability of getting attacked shot to almost one hundred percent. I smiled to myself at the ability to finally be able to fight something again. This time, it would be something that was much stronger than just a mortal man. I could let the entirety of the beast out to get enjoyment. Stepping into the canopy of plants, I walked forward releasing a intimidating aura of bloodlust. This aura would ward of the weaker beasts while also attracting the stronger ones. The true hunt was just about to begin with the mystical beasts of this land