Chapter 4

 I have traveled along the stream that came out of the lagoon infected with remnants of a thriving city and magic. The liquid glistens in the darkness projected by the trees. There are no more followers or humans settled so deep in the forest. If what my teachers told me is true, their last magic in these lands crammed the forbidden territories with magical objects. However, I do not expect to find thousands of things as I advance. There are two reasons that prepare me not to be disappointed.

 Since an unspecified time in the past, thousands of adventurers from all over have come to plunder the treasures of these forests. City dwellers pay a high price for any gadget that still works, even broken ones, in the vain hope that someone will be able to repair them.

Three kilometers inside, I find one of the few camps of soldiers that patrol these zones, they mostly belong to some religious order, very strong within the standards of the city, but their tattoos, their experiences, marks of ancient battles, eyes that reflect the death of the past and of their brain, they are here for a prize that for the others would be a punishment: being discharged from the army for various reasons (from excessive violence in times of peace to homicide). They come to the last battle, to the confrontation of the war with nature, to protect from invisible or improbable attacks the people who gladly pay to have them far from their "civilized" streets, where they ended up, too violent and affected by wars to live in the city or in the suburbs, too experienced to be imprisoned (not to mention the danger of a revolt), they are the real human protection against the risks of this forest for the most inexperienced adventurers, They are the real human protection from the risks of this forest for the most inexperienced adventurers, the drunkards and from time to time some people from the suburbs come here (apart from the prostitutes who receive high sums to be there one day a week), the others would consider it hell because of the attacks of wild animals and the loneliness, for them it is their world, their constant and conscious nightmare, waking hallucination, they have not returned from the battle but they are paid to continue in it.

I spent three days spying on their surveillance patterns, there are thirty soldiers stationed every 2km, each with sleeping bags, a few barrels of liquor, a little soap, a lot of dirt, but they are disciplined, they make their rounds around the outpost, they go in groups of five, a mangy dog accompanies them, they are armed, to all appearances fearsome: Men over six feet tall, armed with swords and clubs, perfect examples of a militia gorilla, they use few long range weapons except a pair of axes, made of cheap iron but as deadly as any of the things they carry, but bow, crossbow are not good tools for these killers of the past, how can they be when they live in a drunken state?

 On the fifth day I am ready, yesterday I started to work out an invisibility spell so I could move around, but a glow on their necks warned me in time, I knew that none of them use magic, but whoever uses it knows very well how to protect it, a few runes on a piece of wood, A few runes on a piece of wood, the simplest instruction of magic "glow hidden" and this when receiving a field of concealment magic is captured by this piece of wood that glows and warns everyone that someone is lying in wait, as there was no other alternative I waited another day, when I heard them singing I levitated about 3 centimeters and crossed a hundred meters from the camp following the path of decay left by that small stream.

When the lights of their campfires are a blurred shadow in the distance, I descend, not that I am tired of floating, but I still carry a coffin, this one besides being heavy contains many enchantments that suppress magic, so I have to make an extra effort if I want to move it. A few minutes later, about two hundred meters, the current has a small drop to the next circle of dark forest, but that doesn't worry me, I'm interested in a small phosphorescent path that comes out of the current, curious to know what mutation caused the animal in question to glow, or if I'm standing in front of the first walking fish. I followed it for about twenty meters, so concentrated was I that I almost didn't see that it wasn't the only one moving forward, a green substance, slightly solid, inside I could see things decomposing little by little... an intelligent creature! Made of magic and garbage! I can't believe my eyes, the creature is moving slowly, so I move forward to find out where it's going.

It seems to lead to a plain about a hundred meters ahead, there is another dump, but most of it is just garbage, on the piles I count about forty of these amorphous masses, they feed on the garbage and look happy glowing in the night, An orange light interrupts my thoughts, it is the light of burning matter polluting the forest, torch light, judging by the laughter it is some drunks from the slums, as soon as they are closer I confirm it, about four drunks armed with torches and pipes arrive laughing. When they are close to these green creatures they begin to beat them, the creatures do not even flinch, even when they are split the remaining things just scatter, behind them these imbeciles begin to pick up the half digested pieces that contained these jellies, it seems to me a good way to clean the scrap and be able to sell it, but it would not be necessary to attack them, they do not seem to be able to return the attack, They are not conscious at all, they are just feeding, even if it bothers me I think it is not so bad because they can regroup as a unit so they are not so affected by the attackers, as I prepare to return to my path I hear a scream, a scream on a mental level that makes me turn around to see them using the torches to burn the scattered pieces of jellies, they are conscious! They are suffering! And they're just laughing! It's not going to stay like this!