While sprinting through an area of the jungle thick with the smell of mud and heat, Roy and Delilah caught sight of a grove.
It appeared at the edge of their vision and gave off an indistinguishable vibe.
Roy felt something when he saw it, and from the looks of it, Delilah did too.
"You can feel it, right?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"There's something about it that's attracting me," she replied to him after nodding.
The body of an awakened instinctively knows what it needs, similar to how we know how to breathe from birth. No one teaches it to us. It's something innate to us. It's because oxygen is so essential to us that we instinctively make an effort to breathe it in.
An awakened develops a similar instinct. They know that they need something when they come across it. It meant that whatever was inside the grove was beneficial to a weapon master.
"I can feel it too. There's something inside it that's calling out to me."
What Roy felt was more intense than what Delilah felt. His sixth sense was tingling as if to inform him that both treasure and danger lay ahead.
"Hmm?"
His scrutinizing gaze landed on the grove as he suddenly picked up an intense energy fluctuation.
It was barely noticeable and disappeared just as soon as it appeared.
However, he sensed it, and it was no illusion.
"There is something of value inside the grove, but efforts are being made to hide it," he concluded.
"Let's check it out," Delilah said, "Maybe you will find what you are looking for there."
Roy seemed to already have the intention to explore the grove.
"Checking it out will be worth it, so why not?"
The canopies of the trees at the entrance blanketed the silky smooth rays of moonlight and were intertwined with each other, creating an arch. It was illuminated by the reddish light bursting out of the cracks in the ground, which showed lava flowing underneath.
Thus, it looked like an entrance to another world.
They stepped into the entrance, keeping an eye out for anything strange.
After covering about 25 kilometers in a few minutes, they encountered something bizarre.
The road ahead was divided into three paths.
There were gigantic mushrooms at the left entrance. They were comparable to a pineapple tree in size, and they were red in color.
Ash-grey trees covered the entrance of the right path. There was nothing strange about them except for the fact nothing was growing on them, not even leaves. They were utterly lifeless, exuding a sense of dread. This was the type of place one would prefer to avoid than explore.
There was a tree with a trunk as wide as an elephant standing in front of them. It wasn't only ridiculously thick but also tall. Its peak seems to pierce the clouds and thrust into the sky.
Taking in the view left Delilah speechless. "What a weird sight."
After Roy looked around, his gaze of scrutiny stilled on the tree at the middle entrance.
The tree was perfect in the sense that it was ancient, left untouched since time ancient. Its branches were like small bridges connecting to other trees of similar shape and size.
If one were to look at these trees, one would think there was no danger ahead, as how else would trees, inanimate objects, grow to such size?
They could only grow so tall in a peaceful environment.
Roy, however, thought it was strange.
Civilians needed to follow the law established by the Empire. They couldn't kill indiscriminately. Even having a good reason couldn't justify murder.
Beasts, on the other hand, followed the law of the jungle, taking everything that caught their eye by force. They typically resolve their grudges on the spot, fight over treasure, and kill to survive.
The aftershock of their battle would leave countless signs of devastation, but the area in front of Roy seemed untouched, as if no fights had taken place there.
"It seems too good to be true."
He just couldn't believe that there could be a peaceful place in the wilderness.
"You are overthinking things." Delilah spoke her mind, "It's probably an uninhabitable place."
Roy clasped his hands behind his back and, without looking at her, asked, "Oh, then what do you think makes it uninhabitable?"
"Didn't you say the summer land is governed by a lord? He must have forbidden the beasts from entering this place. Since they are his subjects, how would they dare defy him? Anyway, the middle path looks the safest of the three. And if it had really been left untouched, there might be plenty of magic herbs growing inside it."
Delilah only took a few steps forward when Roy grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.
"Wait here! Let me confirm if it's safe."
She looked at him like she was looking at a fool.
'You're being delusional.' She mouthed, but he didn't see it.
Roy's gaze was fixed on the giant tree.
He put his sixth sense to use.
Immediately, he noticed something off!
'Such a huge and vibrant tree should have a lot of energy coursing through it, but I can tell it's like a dry lake, completely empty, not to mention, it's not giving off energy fluctuations that everything considered as living should give. It has to be an illusion.'
Roy activated the sixth eye by pouring mana into his eyes. His immunity against illusions up to the intermediate surfaced, and he also gained some resistance against high-level illusions.
The effect of his skill kicked in, and every falsehood disappeared from his sight.
The knowledge Tevenlor passes on to him in the ancestral land helped him again!
The tree at the middle entrance blurred out of existence. Left behind was steam. The line of trees behind it also vanished into thin air. A small pool of bubbling hot lava was revealed.
Roy saw the truth and was shocked.
'If I hadn't stopped her in time, she would have died without knowing how!'
