Ephurium

Chapter 9

Ace's Point of View

The impenetrable thick oak groves only allow enough sunlight to see five metres of range, although there were a few patches where trees were knocked down, allowing light rays to blast through the forest. Wildberry bushes could be seen scattered everywhere under the sunlight, probably because there were the only places for nutrients to exist. As I madly harvested the berries, a thick thorn pricked my finger, creating a surprisingly disturbing pain. I immediately stopped and shorn my hand within the sunlight patch, acknowledging that my finger was infected by some critical poisoning. I quickly searched through my backpack and scrutinized my first-aid kit, finally discovering an antidote. Unsure of its usage, I jabbed the injection into my knuckle and pressed the tip down until no substance was left in the small tube. Plugging it outwards, my finger lit up in sparks of mana, making the infection vanish.

Disposing the suspended needle and pointing back the syringe into my first-aid kit as well as carefully gathering a long poisonous thorn branch, I packed up my equipment and went deeper into the dark forest, without any direction of where I was navigating.

A while through my blind journey, I encountered another equipment box beside the trunk of an oak tree, barely exposed by the faint sunlight. Looting the internal resources, I gathered a few more cans of food as well as bottled water. There was a flashlight with a pack of eight batteries. At the bottom, there was a scrolled-up map, titled the "Map of Deathmatch" with a brief outline of the entire region and names of the large biomes. A dot of aura was present in the middle of 'Malpo Forest', near the centre of the map, which was obviously indicating where I was currently standing

Examining my area on the map, I located a river up ahead, which also is close to 'Helgrat Ruins' across the waters. I sprinted through the woods, excited to find fresh water supplies. Suddenly, a rustle of leaves ricocheted off the oak trees. Instinctively, I paused my movement before remaining completely still, back to back onto a tree trunk. Focusing on my hearing, I sensed two different voices in the distance, not too far away.

"Hey, did you hear someone running?" Voice one whispered.

"Sure I did, someone is trying to ambush us." Voice two whispered.

I slowly lowered my head deeper into the shadows and crawled closer and closer to the voices. It didn't take long before seeing two faces in the shadows, their eyes filled with a faint light.

"Should we check out the footsteps or should we run?" Voice one asked.

"We should stay still otherwise our enemy will see us." Voice two responded.

They lowered themselves until they are crouching on the ground. I was fully focused on their backpack, curious of what resources they might be carrying around. As I planned to dash out to them, a faint sunlight ray reflected into my eyes, exposing their sharp steel daggers in their hands.

I had worse fights before, especially when a group led by Farren attacked me with bats and blades. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, a wild boar manoeuvred itself out of the bushes and towards my two targets. Immediately, it distracted them, causing them to lower their guard.

"Aww, this thing is so cute." Voice one stated as her figure began rubbing the boar who didn't seem to mind too much.

"Ah, maybe the footsteps were caused by this wild animal." Voice two reassured before his figure sat down on the dry mud ground. "Should we cook it? It surely would be a nice meal."

"I think it's best to leave it as our comrade!" Voice one replied.

The boar began to purr, signalling them to follow it as it trotted through the trees. I stalked my two targets as they made their way to the edge of the forest where a flowing river intersected with the other side. The water was gushing across like a blade - it was so fast that maybe it's velocity could sharpen a stick into a piercing spear.