Christian opened his eyes from his meditation, feeling refreshed. Everybody had already awakened, and it was time to move on. He did not say much except to order everybody to get into proper formation as they headed toward the forest.
Everything was still dark, and the fog made everything creepier, but that was not enough to deter the team. They soon reached the forest, and Christian cast [Revelio] to detect signs of life or the unseens. His spell revealed they were alone, but he had this odd feeling that something was watching them.
"Did you detect anything?" Lucretia asked.
"No, but I have an odd feeling about this place," Christian said.
"So, what's the plan?"
"We're making a straight path by cutting all the trees," Christian said. "First, Xin'er, check if those are just ordinary trees." Xin'er checked before giving the okay, so everyone acted. Christian used Sectumsempra instead of the Cutting Charm to ensure he cut as many trees as possible. Xin'er used the enchanted dagger, and Lucretia's metal weapons became sharper than ever. The only one not taking action was Menes, but no one said anything since he was now on the lookout.
"Something is wrong," Menes suddenly said after the team had walked a few dozen meters.
"What?" Christian asked immediately.
"I can't explain it."
"Do your best." Christian also felt something was wrong with this forest, but he could not determine how. So, he figured the others might know something he did not.
"I'm very sensitive to plants and trees; many of them feel off in this forest."
"How can I explain it? The life energy of plants is usually vibrant, but some of these trees feel dead," Menes explained. "I tried to check, but I can't feel the difference every time I focus."
"Life Energy?" Christian was knowledgeable on this subject, thanks to the Dark Lord, so he pointed his wand at the trees before them. The first and second trees he checked looked normal, but he paused on the third.
"Did you find something?" Lucretia asked as she approached.
"This tree has no life energy whatsoever," Christian replied.
"No life energy? But it looked so vibrant."
"Revelio!" Christian said, and under everyone's watch, the tree morphed into this charred version of itself with no leaves and a few branches.
"Are we in some kind of forest of death?" Lucretia asked, raising everyone's alarm bells. Christian wanted to reprimand this teammate, who tends to demoralize the group. He pondered briefly before coming up with an idea. He focused intently before pointing his wand:
Maxima was often an accompanying incantation that increased the potency of a spell, but it was not common to use it on the Revelio Charm. With Christian's level of magical theory, he deduced it might work, so he tried. As expected, his deduction was correct. His wand released a magical wave, and the group soon saw a brand-new forest.
Most of the trees were dead, with only a few genuine ones. There seems to be a fog around these trees, and the spell dispersed it. Everyone looked in shock at this sight, but before they could process what was happening, Christian spoke: "We need to leave."
Christian did not even bother to cut down these trees. They moved forward quickly, trying to leave the forest as soon as possible. Everything proceeded normally until they spotted what appeared to be an exit not far from their line of sight.
"What a beautiful tree," Xin'er said.
"Where? By the Gods — is this a divine tree?" Lucretia exclaimed.
"Wait, I think I've seen a similar tree in mythology books," the taciturn Menes added. Christian looked at these people before looking at the tree. "An odd question," he said. "How would you describe this tree?"
"Why are you asking something so strange?" Lucretia asked.
"My Greek is not good enough, and I wanted to hear your guys' description."
"What else to say? Such golden bushes embody all that is sacred," Lucretia praised.
"That's right," Xin'er added. "And do you see those purple roots? There is no color more beautiful and majestic than it."
Xin'er hadn't finished her words when Christian cast more than three Bombarda Charms on the tree.
"What are you doing?" Menes yelled, veins popping on his forehead as he summoned plant roots, ready to destroy Christian for his blasphemous act.
"Don't be riled up and look at the tree again," Christian reminded. Menes was not about to hear his explanation before hearing the loud gasp of the other two. He turned in their direction and saw a terrible sight: a black tree with countless eyes growing on its leaves was protected by a golden shield.
"What…is this?" he stuttered.
"It's the Thousand Eye Enchanting Tree," Xin'er said, not hiding her shock and horror.
"Are you talking about that infamous tree capable of casting layers of illusions to ensnare the mind and soul?" Lucretia asked.
"By Themis' balance, how can the test be so unfair? These people know this is just the Third Class Apprentice Test, right?" Lucretia yelled.
"Maybe it's not so bad," Xin'er said as she remembered what she knew about this tree. "Its power seemed severely restricted." Based on the descriptions in the books, none of them should have even detected they were under an illusion until they became a slave to this terrible thing.
"Let's go," Christian said, not wanting to come any closer to that thing.
"It's a shame," Xin'er said as the group walked away.
"What is?" Lucretia asked.
"The Thousand-Eye Heart is the key material for rare potions like Soulsnare, Wicked Soul, and the Heracles Potion."
Christian stopped: "You said this was the main material for the Heracles Potion?"
"What? Are you interested?" Lucretia asked as she turned around. "You must want it to improve your divine bloodline." She was still convinced he was a demigod, further proven by how he was the only one immune to the tree's influence. The Heracles Potion has another name — the Bloodline Optimization Potion, so it's sought after by many families or clans with noble bloodlines.
"How can I get the heart?" Christian asked, already tempted. He knew the Heracles Potion was the best option to deal with his disease, as relying on the Elder Wand was not ideal — especially if he had to wait years until he reached puberty.
While the Elder Wand is powerful, the Cognitive Aequilibrium has affected Christian's magical capabilities since he can no longer use [Double Cast]. Of course, he's not talking about the ability to cast two spells simultaneously, but the ability to cast nonverbal spells with his left hand. Christian could not draw his magic power from his spark without the wand, thus rendering that ability useless.
'My future will be full of struggle, and being at my best will increase my chances of survival,' Christian thought.
"No, it's too dangerous," Xin'er replied.
"Tell me the information, and I'll assess the danger level." Xin'er was quiet.
"Please, it's important to me." Xin'er had an entangled look after hearing these words.
"You should trust his judgment," Lucretia suddenly said, and Christian looked at her in surprise. He nodded as thanks, and she smiled sheepishly.
"Fine," Xin'er relented. "Its magical protection is weak, but the closer you get to it, the more potent its illusion. If you want the heart, you must get close enough and burn everything. The orb at the center that fluctuates like a heart is what you want."
Christian pondered: 'My Occlumency should be enough to protect myself, so it may be worth the risk.' He had a few other reasons why he felt it was worth taking action. Firstly, he was the only one in the group who was not influenced. Secondly, this tree was not here by accident.
'The Curator knew I needed this material, so he probably placed it here as a test, and if I pass, I can get one of the main materials for the potion.'
Christian weighed the pros and cons again before deciding to take the risk. He knew that the primary materials for the Heracles potion were likely extinct in his timeline, so this might be his only chance.
'Alright, let's do it.'