Indigo Elf

Ch. 18

Ch. 18

Arlen

The Forest of the Dead was exactly what the name implied, a forest filled with zombie adventurers. After my trip to the Adventurer's Hall where I filled my belly and had a cup of light alcohol, I made my way to the library. I wanted to learn all I could about the forest before I had to trek through it in order to find my sadistic guild master. I would be lying if I said I wasn't practically shitting myself, but for some reason, I wanted to prove myself to him. But wasn't he asking too much? I mean, I was a level forty Caster and he was asking me to navigate through a forest filled with ravenous zombies! I would surely die as soon as I encountered the first zombie especially if they were level 80 and over!

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. If I didn't calm down, I'd end up not going through with it. I had to come up with a strategy. The library was massive, and filled with books on just about any subject you were interested in, so finding a book on The Forest of the Dead was easy. The one I had in my possession was very thick and seemed quite old, but was kept in good condition. I was sure I wouldn't be able to extract all of its information seeing as I had to go tomorrow, but I could learn as much as I could.

According to the book, although strong, the zombies possessed very little intelligence. The older they were, the dumber, it was the fresh ones you had to worry about. Though mentally challenged, underestimating them would surely lead to your demise. They were fast and very strong, and if you were bitten, you would become one of them, that was how most unlucky adventurers became a part of the undead.

They also had incredible hearing and a very good sense of smell, their sense of smell was unparalleled and they could hear any living being's heartbeat from miles away. That was what I thought would be the most challenging. If I wanted to get through the forest unscathed, I had to do something about my scent and the sound of my heartbeat.

That was where a new spell I learned came in. Cloak. It was a spell that shielded the user from anything and everything the user didn't want to sense or see them. If I used this spell, I could get through the forest pretty easily. Luckily, the spell didn't take a lot of magic points, but I bought made some mana potions just in case I ran into any problems. After this, I would thank Casper for teaching me how to make mana potions.

I also learned how to kill the undead. It was common sense that your first plan couldn't be your only plan, so if worse came to worse and I had to kill one of them, I would know how. Every undead had a weak point located in their chests, and luckily, it was quite easy to pinpoint it. It was a pulsating red organ that gave off a soft red glow. It was guarded by bone, but a powerful enough blow would kill the zombie immediately, which is where my other spell came in. Bullet, a low costing, but powerful spell that mimicked the way a bullet would eject from a powerful gun, only more powerful and more explosive. I had a feeling a previous reincarnated Caster came up with this spell, as far as I knew; there weren't any guns in this world. If their soft spots were hit with this spell, it would be very, very effective.

There was much more information in the book that would be of use, but I'd been in here for hours and I wanted to get inside a little early. Closing the book, I stretched and returned the book to its original place. After saying goodbye to the human librarian, I made my way out of the library and back to the hall where I got more food before returning home. Helen was still very angry with me; I knew this because as soon as I entered the apartment, I heard her bedroom door slam shut. Sighing, I pulled out some sleeping clothes as well as an outfit for tomorrow.

Since the Caster robe Helen bought me enhanced my stats, I made sure to pull it out and attach the pin. I paired it with another pair of jeans and a pair of sneakers. If I was going to be traveling through a forest, boots were ideal, but if I happen to have to run, then heavy boots wouldn't do me any justice, so I was going to have to wear sneakers. I was tempted to use my floating chair, but I wanted to get through this without it. Plus if I did, I'd probably fly above the forest and it would more than likely be considered cheating.

The Forest of the Dead was quite a ways away from the city that Helen and I lived in, so that meant that I would have to leave very early in the morning. Since it was eight at night, I decided to turn in, deciding that I would wake up at four in the morning. It would still be dark out, which made me quite uneasy. Ever since I learned about the demon hour, I hated the dark.

"Damn demons," I huffed as I settled under the covers. It wasn't long before I was out like a light.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_

I was one with my bed of clouds, so when my alarm clock rang for 4 am, I just knew it became jealous of our union. I groggily slapped the snooze button and reluctantly sat up in my warm bed. I lazily crawled out of my bed and to the bath where I showered and slipped into my clothes. Since my journey would take a while and it was too early to eat anything, I stuffed some fruit and a few sandwiches in my storage. I could only hope that Helen wouldn't mind too much. As I moved towards the front door, I turned and looked down the hallway that leads to Helen's room. Helen had not come out at all; she didn't even answer me when I called. I hated leaving the house in this fashion, but Helen could be stubborn, and getting into another argument was something that I didn't want to do. I could only hope that I would make it back in one piece so I can apologize properly to her.

Summoning my chair, I floated out of the apartment and closed the door softly. As soon as I was exposed to the night air, I shivered. When I fled from Landon, I quickly learned that traveling during the night was a mad idea, especially if you weren't equipped to battle the cold. Because of that experience, I made me a blanket with sleeves. With a giggle, I slipped it on and pulled up the hood. It looked like more of a humongous hoodie than it did a blanket, but it fell past my feet and was very thick. It was incredibly ugly, but I found myself loving my handiwork. Now warm, I positioned myself comfortably in my chair and took off, making sure to follow the path I'd marked out on my world map.

- - - - - -

It was hours before I reached The Forest of the Dead. Thankfully, the sun had risen and the air had warmed up enough for me to take off my sleeved blanket. The city near The Forest of the Dead looked almost deserted, but after taking a closer look, I took notice of the ghosts and humans that populated the city. I slowly descended from the sky and checked my watch. It had taken me four hours to reach the city of Death. The city was given the name because there was always someone going missing or being found dead and mutilated. This just made me want to turn around even more. Separating the forest from the city was a large lake that seemed to wrap around the forest. I stood at the edge of the lake and faced the city, deciding that now would be a good time to get some food in me.

As I ate, I took the time to inspect the city. The city looked like it was in good condition and was honestly very beautiful, but I felt so unwelcome here. Even though I couldn't see them, I could feel the glares and hear the harsh whispers from the inhabitants. It was pretty obvious that outsiders were not welcome here, and that if I didn't want to cause any problems, I had better cross the lake and get to the forest.

With that in mind, I finished my meal, took a long drink of water and floated off towards the forest. Halfway there, I activated my spell Cloak. I shivered as a purple layer of mana covered my skin.

"Interesting," I muttered.

Taking off my ring, I had it take the form of a small staff and stepped off my chair, finally having arrived at the forest. I wasn't even inside yet, but I already felt uneasy. I swallowed nervously as I felt my stomach wanting to discard my breakfast. I stared through the thick trees and mist, trying to see if I could see anyone or anything, but there was nothing, I didn't even see any zombies, but I could hear them. The moans and growls had me trembling in fear. My heart felt as if it was beating out of my chest and my knees felt as if they would buckle. I was so frightened.

I placed a hand over my heart and muttered a calming spell. It didn't take away the fear, but it helped me think clearly. After sending a prayer to whatever omnipotent being that was there to listen, I took the first step into the forest.

"Here goes nothing."

_Gieo_