Chapter 7:A New Journey Begins[2]

The gentle breeze caressed him as he sauntered forward.

The air felt fresh and refreshing.

The ground was filled with lush green and Lucas was greeted by the panoramic view of the rising sun, filling his heart with vigour and excitement about what this world had for him in store.

He could sense liveliness and richness all around him.

He did not know whether this was due to the mana or the absence of pollution.

Everything in the world was made of mana and unlike on earth where living creatures remain turned into fossils and then into the compounds of carbon, the dead remains are mainly turned into a source of mana which is mixed with the environment.

There might be great differences in the process of decaying and other processes.

Lucas observed around looking for the path.

The internet doesn't seem to work outside the city. The phone battery was in single digits and except for emergency calls, his phone is practically useless here.

Instead of the search engine Google, this world had Eagle but it was useless due to no network.

At least there is a smartphone in this world.

According to the direction from the map, the original owner was required to follow the northeastern direction and he would find a narrow path there that would converge into the wide path leading to the Capital.

Once he gets closer to the wide pathway, he would find all sorts of people and could take an air of relief.

"I hope I can get there safely and find someone to accompany me on the journey."

Luckily his prayers were answered quickly however only his later part seemed to have been heard.

After walking for a few hours, he reached the end of the meadow.

The topography had changed quickly.

Grasses were replaced with shrubs and shrubs were soon replaced with short trees whose heights seemed to extend more as he walked.

Lucas struggled to match the description of the place to the knowledge from the book if there was any.

Horizon was said to be located towards the outer edge of the Ivane City on the borders of Blood Peach forest.

It also serves as a defence line between the dangerous beast and the capital.

The Blood Peach forest was quite vast so the terrain might be like this for a while until humans extricated the trees to create open meadows.

He might encounter mini forests like this on the way.

"I did not think much while reading but why do you need to build a Capital near the forest."

"You are unnecessarily putting normal people's lives at risk."

Shaking his head, he entered the forest following the narrow trail hoping that he would find the wide pathway and some people to accompany him on his way to the Ivane.

.....

The forest was engulfed in silence. The dark road was covered with leaves, flowers, shrubs and mushrooms which were growing everywhere.

The forest niche was filled with rich vegetation which alarmed him.

All these would attract small beasts which would then attract larger beasts to prey on them.

It seems to be an unsullied place and even if it was not the forest that was not often visited by people, it had a natural feel to it.

The more humans visit the place, the more roads are divided and the more friendly the place becomes to people.

No matter how remote it was, if there was a village nearby, there would always be at least one road as forests are treasure troves for resources as places like these have a high density of mana.

Seeds of all kinds were covering his clothes. From seeds that looked fluffy, to spikes that might pierce and want to sting you.

Rugged pathways coupled with all types of annoying factors made him feel quite dreadful.

Lucas who transverse through the place steadily, suddenly froze as his senses tingled.

Sniff...Sniff...

On the way, a putrid rotten odour suddenly assaulted me.

It was such a disgusting smell that made him feel as if he was near a garbage dump left in the open for days.

"What is this?"

Lucas felt a strange foreboding and scouted his surroundings looking for the source of the smell.

After walking around a bit, Lucas found a trail of blood colour leading from the fallen bark of a tree.

The blood had frozen turning dark red but he was not able to discern how old this was.

Hesitating for a second, he rotated his gaze and his eyes caught sight of a blood trail leading to the bush.

GULP!

He swallowed his saliva and his heart skipped a beat.

His mind became blank as if it had been shot.

He wiped away the beads of sweat from his forehead cursing his luck.

He had the urge to vomit however there was nothing in his gullet.

"I should turn around. I may die if I went further from here. I am not accustomed to fighting or knew any martial arts so even if I encounter a 1-Star beast, without any prior experience I may die."

Lucas suppressed his curiosity to venture and ignored the scene, he walked back trying to take turns and walk in a roundabout way.

He took some dirt and applied it over himself hoping that this might hide his smell.

However...

"Shit!!"

Lucas almost cursed aloud when he saw mutilated corpses lying here and there.

Parts of the body were scattered all around and Lucas's steps were just an inch away from stepping on a thing that looked like an ear, hard to determine due to parched leaves around it.

His heart started to beat frantically seeing all this.

"It must be the work of some beast."

"Damn it..."

Lucas stepped back slowly and as faintly as possible.

He pulled out the short dagger and loosen the shoulder straps of his backpack pulling it over to one arm so that he can use it as a shield in time of need.

Meanwhile, he took out his cell phone.

In this era, the danger of monsters, beasts and dungeons are always around the corner.

For the safety of citizens, emergency centres have been established in every city where Public Safety Guards act as rescuers.

On activating the signal, your current location will be sent to the nearest Emergency Centre which will come to the rescue.

However, if you are too far away or the signal is not sent or there are not sufficient people to deal with the problem, you should prepare for your eternal rest.

And he who had read the novel knew how useless they are in most cases.

Lucas prayed in his heart as he took his smartphone and saw the signal appearing and disappearing rapidly.

"Expectations led to dissatisfaction."

He frowned and just pressed the button leaving everything to his luck.

He put it back and tried to escape this place as quickly as possible.

After going through many twists and turns while avoiding the blood smell, Lucas noticed the terrain changing.

His eyes glowed gleefully as the forest became less dense.

The path was becoming wider and he could see the end of the forest.

Happiness flashed in his eyes as if he had just regained his freedom after being imprisoned for so long.

He could see vast plains and feel fresh winds caressing him back.

He finally saw the well-craved path and as he stepped near the outer edge of the forest, he finally sighed in relief.

"I am out of that damned forest."

"Hahahah!"

"Thank God…. I am.."

A scent that he was familiar with, carried by winds assaulted his nose again.

It was thicker and more putrid than before.

A terrible strong stench surrounded him and as he turned his head towards the right, his neck froze like a statue.

His steps came to halt as he found a giant wolf standing in the forest glade.

Beside it three corpses were present and many things were scattered around the place.

The size of the wolf was nearly 2 metres and as he noticed Lucas's presence, it bore his sharp bangs.

Seeing the sunlight reflecting from those fangs, Lucas felt his soul leaving his body and booking a ticket for another reincarnation.