Chapter 5 - The Forest (1)

The next morning, when the sun was already shining, a warm feeling pervaded the area, a cool breeze blew slowly, the sound of water splashing could be clearly heard, and the chirping of birds added to the already peaceful atmosphere to make it even more tranquil.

Two people stood in front of the lush forest, a beautiful woman and a handsome man.

The man stood straight, carrying a large bag, and kept his gaze fixed on the depths of the forest, waiting for some sort of beast to appear. The woman stood next to the man, occasionally looking back in the direction of the lake and the tree.

The husband and wife have already awoken before the sun has even risen. They immediately pluck all the fruit they can bring, regardless of color, and gather it in one place for the man to carry.

The husband and wife went outside, set aside their belongings, and tried to immediately see what advantages they would get after the intense pain they had to endure yesterday. Sadly, despite trying for two hours, nothing changed.

With a dejected look, they packed up and immediately walked toward the forest across the lake.

"Do you think we can come back here?" the woman held her husband's hand, with a reluctant face asking her husband.

"I'm not sure, but perhaps we can return here. You will never know what fate will bring us right?" the man said while not turning his attention away from the Fenghou forest.

"You say this lake is a boundary between the four emissaries, right? Do you know what it's called?"

The man turned and looked at the lake. He looks at how orderly the tree that lives inshore of the lake is. Then he recalls how the leaves resembled a little fairy dancing and playing on top of the lake yesterday.

Then the man shook his head to force that memory to go out of his head.

"my father didn't say anything about this place, he says this place is just a boundary." The man shakes his head. "but if I want to name it…"

The man then remembers again the little fairy that was dancing and playing on the top lake.

"I will name it…

Xiannu lake. Xiannu as a fairy."

The man repeatedly nodded to himself while feeling that this is a fitting name.

"What a good name," the woman says, her gaze fixed on the lake.

The women were then dragged into the forest by the man, but before they set foot inside, they took one last look at the home they had been living in for the past two days. A place that changes everything, a place that brings hope, a place that they didn't know if fate will be kind enough to make them come again.

With one last glance, they enter the Fenghou forest, the safest territory of the four emissaries.

"This is it, Fenghou forests, the most fertile land in the world. Whatever you plant here will always grow. This place is a haven for every beast out there. But, strangely, when a beast enters here, it becomes docile. Even if a lion comes in, it won't eat any meat, it will only consume plants. Even a human entering this area won't be attacked by a beast, provided they didn't bother or attack the other beast in here.

According to legend, there is a very large hole in the center of the forest, whose depth is unknown.

One day, a seed fell from the sky and made its way into the hole. It is unknown what kind of tree it came from. For years, the seed has struggled to grow, in the autumn rain, the seed struggles to avoid drowning, in the summer, the seed struggles to avoid drying, and in the winter, the seed struggles to keep itself from freezing.

As a result of the struggle, the seed keeps growing and becoming so tenacious that it develops into a bud, a bud into a young tree, and from a young tree, it develops into a towering big tree.

For decades the tree continues to suck nutrients from its surroundings, and make it a barren land.

But then something strange happens, cracks appear in the middle of the tree. At first, it was not obvious, but as the day passed the cracks started to get bigger.

An egg. A big green egg in the middle of the tree.

The tree appears to be nothing more than an incubator, assisting the egg in absorbing nutrients in preparation for its birth.

So it does!

The number of cracks in the tree grows in proportion to the number of cracks in the egg.

And not so long, the egg hatched following the explosion of the tree.

A big green creature, with a wing that spans hundreds of meters, a claw that is tens of meters long, has an eye that is meters in size.

And that was how the green dragon was born. And as a result of the tree's explosion, the energy spreads to all corners of the forest here, which is why this forest has so much energy to birth all kinds of plants and treasure." The man explains with a passionate expression on his face.

When the wife hears it, she is just silent with awe at how majestic it sounds. "But if that tiger is real, then isn't the green dragon real too?" The wife can't help but ask her husband when she thinks about the tiger.

"Of course! The truth is my father already met him and said that the green dragon is so big! Almost as big as half of Mount Kunan!" the man nodded with enthusiasm.

"Father in law already met the green dragon?" the wife asks curiously.

"Yes, when he roams around the world, the first place he goes is this forest because of how curious he was if the green dragon is real or not." The man smiles when he remembers his father's story.

***

Seconds turn to minutes, minutes turn to hours, and hours turn to days.

The husband and wife have already been in Fenghou forest for five days. In those five days, they still try to find out what power they got from the black and yellow Miracle Fruit. They already do everything, but nothing yields results. Resigned, in the end they decided to test the limit of the fruit that they already know the effect of.

The test starts with the man.

The man tried to run as fast and as hard as he could, but in less than a minute, he collapsed exhausted on the ground. Every inch of his body felt heavy, and a tingling sensation spread slowly from his toe to his entire body, followed by intense pain as if a thousand needles pricked his upper body.

He holds that excruciating pain for five minutes before it gradually subsides.

The man struggled to stand up, clinging to the tree next to him with a pale face and trembling body.

"Are you okay?" the woman asked while running in the man's direction.

She grabs her husband by the hand and forces him to lie back down when she reaches him. Looking for any damages or adverse effects. And, after double-checking, the woman is relieved that nothing happened to the man.

After ten minutes, the man's face had already returned to normal, his trembling had subsided, and his previous weakness seemed like a lie.

"Perhaps what I was feeling earlier is a side effect of the fruit." The man said this while lying down, staring at the sky, thinking about what had just happened to him.

"What did you feel, husband? Do I need to try the limit of the fruit too?" the woman asked in a worried tone.

"I just feel tired, from my toe to my waist, I feel some tingling, but in my upper body, it feels so hurt, it feels so painful that I think I will die. But that was only for a moment, and it vanished on its own. I believe the side effect is not dangerous and is proportional to the power we gain. Even I believe that we benefit more from this. See it for yourself, I'm already fine, right?" The man looks at his wife with a smile.

"Besides, isn't it better that we try our limit in this place rather than in the dangerous place or when we fight with an enemy? This is a safe place, we won't have to worry about anything bad happening to us, after all, we weren't interfering with the inhabitants of this forest."

The man pulls the woman in and explains why they must push their limits in this place.

After hearing what his husband says, the woman begins to prepare her heart to receive the agonizing pain that her husband previously felt.

The husband pointed at the tree that was not too big. "We already tried to destroy a tree with your bare hand, now we'll try to destroy it with your leg."

The woman takes a few steps back to prepare herself, then takes a kick stance, her eyes forward, focusing solely on the tree.

Hiaaaa…!!

She screamed loudly as she ran toward the tree, running and running until she reached the tree zone, where she jumped and did a back kick.

Crack! Aaaah!!!

It is not the sound of the destroyed tree that is heard, but the sound of the woman's cracking bones.

She is screaming due to the pain in her leg.

The husband immediately ran and approached his wife to check her injuries. After looking at it, he is relieved to discover that his wife only has a few minor wounds, and with a few days of rest, she will be back to normal.

"Thankfully, your legs are fine. Perhaps the Red fruit has this effect on your leg, making it more durable." The man said while lifting his wife.

He made a simple tent out of some sticks and dry leaves for their resting places until his wife's leg is healed.

"We now understand what our strengths and weaknesses are. A normal person's leg would be broken if they kicked that tree as hard as you did, but your leg was only slightly injured. We can infer from this that the Silver Miracle Fruit effect strengthens and fortifies your upper body while the Red Miracle Fruit effect makes your body more resilent."

"On the other hand, my green fruit adds more stamina and makes my regeneration stronger, while the blue fruit makes my lower body stronger and makes me faster. We can conclude from this that your weakness is a lack of stamina and regeneration, just as your lower body is weak in comparison to your upper body. If you eat one of the green or blue fruits, your weakness will be removed. In contrast, it is obvious to me. My upper body is so weak that it is really obvious to anyone who can see it. My upper body can't handle the strain of the power, preventing me from using my power freely. Maybe if I eat the red fruit, my weakness can be removed. But, thankfully, the Green Miracle Fruit can at least alleviate my weakness." The man said while helping his wife clean her body.

The man then takes the bag containing the Miracle Fruit, opens it, and pulls out four different fruit colors. Green, red, blue, and silver.

"If we want to overcome our weaknesses and harness the full potential of this fruit, we must consume this."

He sat in front of his wife and took the red and silver fruits, while giving the green and blue ones to her.

He was about to eat the silver fruit when he remembered the excruciating pain he felt the last time they ate it. His face immediately turned pale, and his hand began to tremble.

He looked at his wife, who was also looking at him.

He makes up his mind to proceed with eating the silver fruit as soon as he notices his wife's restless expression.

Without further ado, he immediately ate the fruit.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, awaiting the effects of the fruit.