Strange Forest

Where am I?

Why do I feel so dizzy?

Zaeir's head slowly became filled with drowsiness and a sudden urge to vomit rose up within him. With his right hand, he blocked his mouth and waited till the effects of the weird liquid dissipated. 

Then, he tried to make sense of his surroundings but everything was a mixture of silver, blue, then black. Each one of the colors became more vibrant and then dimmed. His pupils' were continuously dilating.

There were murmurs in his head, some were silent whispers while others felt like an entity was screeching at him in a foreign language. 

The guard had not panicked once or had a change in expression. The man clad in tight armor only observed him quietly indicating that he'd seen this many times already.

I should be fine then… Zaeir thought to himself and remained calm. 

After a few minutes, he could feel the liquid passing through his gullet and a sudden warmth mixed with coldness began spreading across his body–followed by a sense of clarity. Zaeir stayed down for a bit longer and finally got back up after he was done resting. 

Wait, were we always that close to it? Without him realizing it, the gate that was at least fifty steps away was now right before him. 

Something was wrong. Taking a closer look at the gate, its previous appearance was just like any others except for its size. Now, a black void replaced the air in the center of the gate. 

As Zaeir was staring at the murky void, he suddenly felt a strong force on his back. 

"How about I give you a little help?" 

He turned to the source of the void, but, it was too late. Half of his head has already sunken into the darkness. 

The last thing he saw was the cold grin on the guard's face before his entire body fully disappeared.

"Good luck."

…

Hiss~

An unnerving sound rang out and woke Zaeir up. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by tall grass and a strange type of tree.

The tree barks has the color of blood and it is extremely tall–perhaps even many times more than the gate. Its branches stretched out and layered over one another creating a dense and thick barrier allowing only a small hole of light to enter.

As Zaeir's eyes adjusted to the dim light, a sense of deep unease settled over him. The air was thick, and heavy with a scent that was both sweet and metallic—like blood. it was as if the trees themselves were alive, watching him with pairs of invisible eyes. 

"So tired…" Zaeir complained and lay still on the soil. 

Drinking that disgusting liquid was already bad enough, now I have to wake up to this damn place with that strange hissing noise too? Maybe I shouldn't have come here...

Although he would rather be lazy, Zaeir still got up and took out his bag. Inside, there were various sorts of supplies including the rations he'd bought from Lars.

With this much, I could probably survive at most a week without doing anything… He then took out the dagger he'd gotten for free and lightly set it on the ground. 

Maybe, I should've sold this dagger and bought something else. Even in a dangerous situation, I wouldn't be able to utilize my nonexistent combat experience. 

Zaier took his weakness into account and thought about the next course of action. 

If the information is correct, there should be various types of dangerous monsters present in every part of this world. I would have no hope to stand against any of them with my limiting experience. It's best if I just avoid them.

Zaeir lightly tapped on his temple as he started to remember what had happened before he went into the gate.

The Seed of Corruption has sprouted… What exactly is it? Why have I never heard of it? 

At the same time, a holographic panel appeared in front of him. 

***

Name: Zaeir

Authority: —

Uniqueness: —

***

Zaeir read the short panel with a clenched fist. The panel had appeared with just a single thought of his. However, the information listed on it matches perfectly with his knowledge of it.

Does this mean that the intel I gathered was correct? There's a chance that the system only listed the extent of my knowledge. This wasn't impossible since the Seed of Corruption wasn't mentioned when I clearly remembered hearing it earlier. Or, it might be both. Zaeir thought over it and narrowed it down to some possibilities. 

He was slightly disappointed with this fact but it wasn't exactly the worst. For example, if he's ever in a trade for information, he wouldn't need to be afraid of the opposition lying since he would just need to check the panels.

Of course, Zaeir's speculation might not be correct and some flaws will undoubtedly be present. However, he felt that he was at least half correct about the theory.

Soon, it became night, he was still in the bed of tall grasses with no intention of leaving so early. He was still waiting for a signal. 

Suddenly, Zaeir heard the same hissing noise creeping up behind him.