Eldrin's eyes locked onto Liam's as he gestured at the map. "The forest itself is a living, breathing labyrinth of sorts. It changes its layout to confound intruders. Many have ventured into this forest, only to get lost."
"And there are places... places that even we dare not tread."
Liam looked at the elf, taking in his sincerity and newfound openness. "So, what you're saying is, even if we overcome the beasts, the forest itself may still devour us?"
"Exactly," Eldrin nodded gravely. "The guardian isn't just some powerful creature sitting at the center. It's entwined with the forest itself."
"It might have allowed you inside but everything now is a test set forth by the very guardian. So I doubt even you would get any special treatment."
"The shifting terrains, the malevolent creatures—everything is part of a larger system designed to test and only allow the true inheritor to arrive at the heart of this forest."
Liam took a deep breath, absorbing the information. He glanced at the map, now even more intrigued by the sections that seemed to be in constant flux.
"And you can navigate us through this chaos?"
Eldrin shrugged. "I can try."
"The forest even defies the understanding of my people, but we have some clues, some paths that are less likely to shift. We've got as good a chance as anyone ever has."
After explaining the tricky terrain of the forbidden territory, Eldrin decided to give a brief description of their companions on this journey.
"We will probably be meeting them soon so I will talk a bit about them." He started. "Our world has eight great empires."
He looked at Elira and nodded, "She can also probably attest to this part."
"There is our Stormshroud Empire, the home of the lightning element affinity elves, popularly referred to as the descendants of the sky or sky elves, whatever pleases you."
Eldrin continued, "Then there are the Ice elves of the Frozen Empire, the dark elves of the Shadow Empire, earth elves from the Stonewall Empire, fire elves from the Emberclaw Empire, wind elves from the Galewind Empire, nature affinity high elves from the Verdant Empire and lastly, the solarae elves from the Sun Empire."
"Each and every single one of these elven clans is powerful and they would all be competing with us for clutching the blessing from the guardian."
Liam nodded, digesting all the information.
"Oh wait. Before I forget. Other than these major clans, there are also other elven clans who could be equally dangerous. The ones that we should be most wary of are the blood elves and another group of unique elves."
"Well, why am I mincing my words? You are a human being, I don't need to be careful around you. Listen, this last elven clan that I am going to tell you about might actually be the most powerful one of all in a way."
"Hmmm?" Liam raised a brow.
"And they are not unique. They are just insane weirdos. Yup. That would be more accurate! They are insane weirdo cultists!"
"Huh?" Liam was confused.
"They are a bunch of zealots who believe that a celestial divine being would one day come knocking at their doorstep to save them from the impending doom and apocalypse."
"Every now and then they somehow infiltrate into other empires and gather people for their cause. They are very strong and slippery."
"They have ransacked several treasuries of both small kingdoms and sometimes even the empires. They are very notorious. They answer to no one but their own deranged ideology. They may not have an empire, but they have amassed considerable resources and power"
"Just pray that no matter whom we run into, we should never run into these bastards." Eldrin shook his head.
After discussing the various nuances for a while, the group continued to head further inside. The good news was it looked like the spiders occupied this territory and there was nothing else popping out of the woodwork.
At the same time, the dense forest became richer in energy and the air tingled with a vibrant life force.
The dryad Lunaria let out a big breath of relief. "It's good that our journey is peaceful. We can finally breathe. This is how a forest should be, calm and nourishing."
She couldn't help but comment because she was really enjoying herself at the moment in the presence of the abundant natural element. However, Eldrin's face drastically changed.
"NOOOOO! Why would you say that? Don't you know it is a jinx to say things like that?" Eldrin almost shouted, his eyes widening with a mix of disbelief and concern.
Lunaria looked puzzled, her leafy eyebrows arching upward. "A jinx?" The dryad did not understand what the elf was talking about.
Liam understood but he did not want to get involved in this.
The next second, almost as if on cue, the trio heard a distant, eerie howl reverberate through the forest, sending a shiver down each of their spines. The previously calm air seemed to thicken, the energy within it becoming taut like a bowstring.
"Fuck! I told you this was going to happen!" Eldrin took a deep, steadying breath, his hand instinctively moving to the hilt of his sword. "Prepare yourselves. Whatever it is, it's powerful and it's close."
Lunaria looked genuinely apologetic now. All of them became alert.
The forest around them seemed to come alive, its energy pulsating like the heartbeat of some gigantic creature. Shadows deepened, and the natural sounds of the forest fell eerily silent, making way for the rustle of unseen feet and the whisper of unspoken threats.
Then they saw it, emerging from between the twisted trees— a huge burst of mana appeared all of a sudden, a mana storm.
It was a tornado of mana shooting from the ground up towards the heavens and it was moving at a speed that seemed almost impossible. The air around them vibrated, shaking leaves off trees and making the very ground tremble.
More importantly, everything in its path disappeared, including three of the four in the group.