Chapter 55: Secrets
Within few seconds, the Mystic thieves group started walking on the dirt road and soon appeared on the city's outskirts. After that, they made a turn and then went in the northern direction.
If they were going to explore other regions like Death Swamps or Red Hills, the Mystics would have rented a few carriages earlier and might have gone leisurely. Unfortunately, this time the group had planned to go to a totally different region, Unexplored Forest. So, they had no other choice but to choose the primitive method. They knew that the forest's outer area was filled with mutated creatures and plants of the Abyss and acted more carefully.
"Walk faster morons, it would only take five to six days to reach there if we didn't take too many breaks," Richard shouted as he led the group in the front and soon entered into dense woodlands. Under the shadows of tall Blood Sycamore and Corrupted Maple, they walked on the wet path and soon disappeared into the millions of trees.
While walking, Charles analyzed the Red-haired man from time to time and soon fell into deep thoughts. From his study, he found out that this Red-Haired man's name was Daniel and became puzzled. He also heard from Richard that this red-haired man was not their real employer but just a servant!
Not only that, but Charles also found out that the Red-Haired man seemed to be monitoring his movements and got shocked.
'Why is he looking at me frequently?' Charles avoided his gaze and silently followed the others. As they went past the large green swamp, he suddenly overheard the conversation between Luke Clark and the Red-haired man and got surprised inside. Not because of their conversation, but because of how Luke Clark addressed the Red-Haired man.
'Daniel Baker? Where did I hear that Baker name? Wait…' He squinted his eyes as he avoided the green vine and continued to walk on the small dirt path while thinking deeply.
'Red Hair… Addie Baker… Does that mean Daniel Baker is a family member of Addie Baker? Did he already find out about me? It seems so.' A grim expression appeared on his face as he realized the situation he was in.
'I did expect that someone from Addie's family would come after me, but.' He stopped thinking for a moment as he zeroed his gaze on Daniel and sighed.
'He seems to be a Rank-3 member. From the looks of it, he didn't come here to take revenge.' He pondered for a moment and then shifted his gaze towards Luke Clark.
'Luke is acting differently than before. Usually, he wouldn't talk much, but now he is talking to Daniel Baker like a close friend.' He thought of keeping an eye on him and then began to think of some emergency plan.
'Although that guy is a Rank-3 member, I'm not a rank-1 mystic anymore. After I constructed my Rank-2 attack spell, my trump card 'Ember Pistol' also upgraded already. With that as a backup, I won't be pushed into a life-threatening position. Moreover, Team Leader is also there to help me during an unexpected situation.'
After that, Charles didn't put much thought into his current situation and went near Jimmy. In the meantime, Jimmy stared at the different types of plants and muttered the plant names like a botanist.
"How do you know about these plants? Have you been to this Danger zone?" He asked in a suppressing female voice.
"Yes, I grew up in a village that is not far away from these dense woods." Jimmy didn't even glance at him and said motionlessly.
"Then, do you know about those Chaos Creatures? Have you met them before?" Charles thought of getting closer with Jimmy to see if the Holem's Crown had already taken over his body and started asking him questions.
"Met? I was chased by a Shadow Rat once and almost got myself killed by that creature when I was five." He said while making a wry smile on his face.
Overhearing their conversation, Richard, Nicole, and a few other mystics also became curious about the Chaos Creatures and moved closer towards them like a flock of sheep. In the unexplored area filled with dangers, information was a priceless treasure for any Mystics. There were times when Mystics died disgraceful deaths without knowing much information about the Unexplored Forest. So, they would never miss such an opportunity to get more information.
Knowing that things wouldn't go smooth if he didn't continue his explanation, Jimmy let out a chuckle and started speaking,
"The Chaos Creatures are similarly like Distorted Shadows. But they have both intelligence and extraordinary strengths. Small creatures like Shadow Rats, Devil Horn Rabbits, and Mad Cats are not a big threat for Rank-1 mystics. But if you accidentally bump into Evil Snakes, Blood Hounds, and Shade Goblins, run for your life. Those creatures have the strength of Rank-2 Mystics and would always roam in packs." He purposely paused for a moment to see the fear in his companions' eyes and then added with a chuckle,
"Don't be scared, guys. Those creatures would only appear in the deepest part of the Unexplored Forest. But we haven't even reached the outer area of the Unexplored Forest, so you don't have to think too much about it."
"But they will appear when we reach the deeper region, right?" A black-haired kid named Philip asked. If someone looks closely, they will notice that this kid's hands were not callous at all. Truthfully, he was a newly recruited Mystic and had always been favored by Nicole.
"Even if they come, those three will take care of them and protect us." Another brown-haired guy said with a wide grin on his face.
"Dream on, they won't come to the interior area. I heard from Boss Night-Eye that they only came here to escort Lord Daniel to the outer region." Richard said in a cold tone.
"It looks like we will be on our own then. Well, nothing's going to change even if they accompany us anyway." The same brown-haired guy muttered in a disdained tone.
"Yes, we do have seven Rank-2 Mystics and our boss is already a Rank-3 Mystic, so we don't need to rely on their strength anyway." Nicole suddenly opened her mouth and muttered, causing others to nod their heads subconsciously.
They then moved while discussing for hours and soon reached a grassland area. At that time, the sun also went to the west and started painting the sky with orange-red color.
It was already 5 P.M.
Without waiting for orders from Richard and the other four gang leaders, the thugs took out the tent fabrics and started building tents using the tree branches as poles. Although it was just a white cloudy sky, they knew that the atmosphere would change at any time in the dense woodland regions. So, they even picked up few dry blocks of wood from the nearby areas and started to light the fire earlier. They then added some powder into the campfire and let the smoke spread in all directions.
It was mosquito repellent power!
In the woods, humans' common enemy was the mutated mosquitoes and Insects. Although they wouldn't cause any causality, they would spread disease and even make the Mystics sick!
The dusk came as the sun hid from the orange sky and soon leaves the world to engulf in darkness. The campfire raged in the dark forest and illuminated the whole grassy surroundings. The thugs cooked different kinds of foods using the fire and ate while singing and dancing like foolish adventurers. Charles also built his tent, ate a few dry loaves of bread silently, and watched the dancing in amusement.
Emilia Wilson, Luke Clark, and Andrew Harris also built their tents a few meters away from his tent and started doing their jobs. Charles glanced at them from time to time and soon noticed Luke suddenly stood up and went deep into the dark grassland.
'Is he going to take a leak?' Charles raised his brows and soon shifted his gaze towards Jimmy's tent. Unlike him, he and his friend Henry were staying together in the same tent.
After some time, the thieves got tired of dancing, went to their tents, and started resting. Only the escort team members stood on guard the whole night while changing shifts and then woke up the thieves around 6 A.M.
Once again, they resumed the journey and continued to move closer towards the Unexplored Forest. They met a few nearby villagers when they on their way and silently walked past them like strangers. The mystics knew that would only alert the other party, so they altogether avoided making contact with the villagers and moved on.
On the 4th day of their journey, their group finally saw the Unexplored Forest's outer area beside the large M-shaped Mountain and became stunned by the scenario. Unlike the typical forest, the Unexplored Forest area appeared darker in color and gave off the feeling of anxiety and fear to everyone.
Although the forest region appeared very far away, the Mystics still felt uncomfortable when seeing the shady dark area.
Moreover, Charles noticed that Luke was acting very suspiciously during the nighttime in the past few days and became more curious about his secrets. Furthermore, he also got closer to Jimmy and finally confirmed that the person resides in Jimmy's body was not the real Jimmy but the dangerous artifact!
If he were a real Jimmy, he would have shown some instinctual reactions upon seeing a woman.
But the current Jimmy was not a good actor. Although he often acted like a real Jimmy by staring at women's chests, glancing at their buttocks, he still didn't do his job correctly. When Nicole tried to seduce him from afar a few times and when she invited him openly to have sex, he just completely turned her off by saying some random excuses.
If not for them linking him with Charles's fake identity, the other Mystics would have already assumed him as Eunuch!
'My [Inspect] skill also confirmed his real identity by showing question marks all over the status area.' He mumbled inwardly.
After confirming that Jimmy's current was the Holem's Crown, Charles began to think of a plan to make the other party sign a contract.
As usual, the group stopped near a lake as the sky darkens and started building their tents. After building the tent, Charles sat inside it and patiently waited for everyone to go to sleep. An hour later, a human shadow walked out from the nearby tent and soon entered the dark woods. Charles also stood up from the mat and cast [Conceal] skill on himself. A second later, his figure turned darker and darker and soon disappeared.
Charles, in Edith's appearance, walked out of his tent and then stalked the human shadow while maintaining considerable distance. He soon noticed that Luke was moving deeper into the forest while checking around cautiously from time to time and even erased his tracks like a skilled hunter!
If not for the 'Pupil-Less Eye' artifact, Charles would have completely lost his trail.
After 15 minutes of walking into the woods, Luke arrived near a gloomy bush and then took out a metal box from his void pouch. He then placed his bow and the box on the ground and drew a circle around it. After that, he recited a short chant and tapped the red symbol on the metal box twice.
A few seconds later, a monotonous cold voice came from the other side.
"I've been waiting for your call, Devil."
