BXBX NOVEL Chapter 371 370: The Silence Of A Forest
Kat PoV
Looking into the vine covered tree line of the forest, I had to frown as I noted the lack of noise coming from such a large place.
Something that, on the maps, looked to be a thousand miles long, was seemingly silent and uninhabited, which... was impossible.
Taking a deep breath, I followed the road down towards the edge of the forest, the trees looming so far above my head that they blocked out the bleary rays of the sun, shrouding the area in darkness.
Snow sparkled on the ground, completely untouched, while the frost covered bark of the trees shimmered with the little light that somehow managed to weave through the canopy.
My nose twitched as I smelt the air, only for my frown to deepen as the scents of crisp cold air and earth permeated my nostrils, while my ears picked up nothing inside.
Activating a few of my spells, I made sure my feet left behind no imprints as I walked, as well as guaranteeing that I made no noise as I ventured forwards.
Setting a slower pace than normal, I delved into the roots of the forest and stalked through the snow, my senses constantly on edge as I tried to pick up anything wrong with the area, but no matter how I tried, the silence and basic scents were all I could gather.
My eyes scanned around the dim forest, lit up by sparkling gemstone like frost and coated in the cold.
The forests entire hue was blue and white; the bark was the main outlier, being a dark brown, but even the bark was laced with white veins.
Leaves were deep, royal blues with sky blue veins, the frost was pale, ghastly blue, the snow pure white...
If there was a word to describe this forest, it would be cold.
So damn cold, both visually and in actuality.
And yet, despite the bone chilling cold that permeated the air, I found the dim forest to be just as serene as the mountains I had woken up in not too long ago.
The amount of Water, Wind, and Ice Mana that clung to the trees, rolled off the leaves, crept under the roots and wafted through the air made me feel like I was home.
Like this forest was my place, where I was supposed to be.
My Core swelled with the influx of mana, and I could feel my body\'s joy at this almost natural environment for me.
However, that joy was undermined by the complete, eery silence that cloaked the forest, while the lack of real visual stimulus and sense of deja vu as I walked only added to my unease.
All the trees seemed the same.
All the bushes and shrubs that grew between the roots felt similar.
The frost reflected everything, and I could confidently say that a House of Mirrors held nothing to this forest.
Left completely alone with nothing but your thoughts, I could easily tell how the tribes that ruled this land must have continued to secure their rights to it.
Who would willing embark into such a creepy, frozen place?
It simply wasn\'t worth it.
From what I had seen in an hour of walking - which I made sure to face a single direction and never turn - there wasn\'t much of value inside the forest.
No herbs, no animals, no ores or geodes sprouting from the soil...
Nothing.
Maybe the trees themselves are valuable, but these trees are gigantic - similar in size to Sequoia trees, if not larger.
Easily scraping against the sky, these thick trees would be near impossible to take down with ease, and then you need to question the worth of the materials versus the worth of the labor.
To efficiently harvest a tree this size, you need so many people...
Of course, I was still barely inside the edges of the forest, so who knows what lay in wait for me deeper inside.
What I did know was that staying on the right track would be a pain, but I had a few ideas for that...
I continued deeper into the forest, slowly picking up speed as I grew accustomed to the different terrain, all while I focused on leaving behind fewer and fewer tracks, hoping to reach the ability to leave behind none.
The longer I spent traveling through the frost laden forest, the dimmer the dazzling frost and snow became, and the temperature continued to plummet.
I could feel ice forming on my skin, though a thin layer of my own ice kept me cool, but not cold.
My breath crystalized almost instantly in the air, leaving behind white clouds that slowly evaporated away, while the thickness of the frost on the bark seemed to grow thicker.
The air became dryer over time, the sheer cold sapping the moisture from the air and leaving behind a dry cold that hurt to breath.
My surroundings went from slightly dim to dark in mere moments, and I paused my movements as I reached for one of the potion vials, thanking the Gods that whatever was used to make them prevented them from freezing.
Maybe it was the Mana Water?
Uncorking a dark vision potion, I downed the entire potion and grimaced at the sharp earthy taste, before I grabbed one of the scent diffusers pills and swallowed that whole.
The world around me slowly grew brighter, though it lacked the vibrancy before.
Taking a deep breath of the dry air, I continued forwards, keeping track of the time as I traveled over the roots and past the undergrowth, wanting to go as far as I possibly could before stepping for tonight.
The potion lasted for a long time, though I eventually found my mind slipping as boredom settled in, so I have no idea how long it actually lasted.
I did know that the effect gradually diminished, and as the forest around me began to darken once more, I settled under a root and carved a deep gouge into the frost - multiple actually, just in case the frost grew back further overnight.
On top of that, I laid down some of my gear in arrows pointing towards the direction I needed to go, so that I wouldn\'t remain lost inside this silent forest.