"I don't see a choice. My radar is also out. I can't continue going blind like this," Jack replied. "You said it yourself, the longer we stay, the more dangerous it will become, right? That apparition has just attacked, I believe it won't attack again so soon… I hope. Also, you are not powerless. You can heal me. Keep my body alive till I'm back, eh, partner?"
Jack closed his eyes and focused his mana sense. Peniel opened her mouth to say something but decided against it. She also didn't have any better ideas, so she just let Jack try his method. Jack's consciousness slowly drifted out. First, he made one round in the vicinity, making sure there were no monsters or apparitions in hiding. Nothing. It was just the trees and those rats. This forest was filled with these damned rats.
After making sure no dangerous hostile in the immediate vicinity, he drifted further. As he went further, he sensed something strange.
"This…"
There was some sort of barrier. He traced alongside the edge and went in the direction he had been before. Beyond him was the path he had come from, but now he couldn't pass through. He didn't feel this kind of barrier when he passed by here before. He continued to trace along the barrier as well as fly up to check if he could go past the tree's foliage. He couldn't.
After making one big round, he was certain the barrier was encircling him. Not only that, he could sense different kinds of space beyond these barriers. Several different spaces, but they all contained similar things like the one on this side of the barrier, part of the forest.
Jack felt like he could understand the setup of this place better after this observation. But to make sure, his consciousness touched the wall barrier. The mana encapsulated this place felt special, he had a feeling that he could form a link with them. He let his consciousness resonate with the barrier's mana. He felt as if his thought had expanded. He could see them. There are a multitude of spaces within this place, all separated from each other as if different cells. That's why Peniel had been forcefully teleported to him when he was dragged by the vines, they were inside different cell spaces.
After further investigation, he surmised that to proceed, he needed to go from one cell to another. He noticed several node points that linked these cells. To pass through to the next cell, one needed to pass through these nodes. They were like invisible doorways. And unlike the cells, these nodes were static.
He now had a better understanding of this place's construct. He would never find a way to proceed or even go back if he just wandered aimlessly. He would remain in the same cell even if he walked for ten years. The sceneries were simply getting reshuffled as he walked along. Only by passing through these invisible nodes that one could move on.
They were simply not lucky enough that they didn't pass through any of these nodes. If they did, Jet or he would have been able to sense the unusual mana. The boundaries, on the other hand, moved as they moved, so they would always be at the center of the cell. That's why neither he nor jet sensed these boundaries when they walked because the boundaries were always out of reach. Until now, when his consciousness was away from his body. The cell stayed as it kept his real body as the center point.
Through the sensing just now, he also felt the cells where his two comrades were. He mapped their locations in his mind. He should be able to reach them by passing through several nodes. He also memorized the positions of these nodes. He couldn't trust the scenery, it changed randomly. So, what he memorized were the direction and distance in accordance with his body's position.
After memorizing everything, he returned to his body.
"I know how to travel through this Lost Forest," Jack uttered once he opened his eyes.
"How?" Peniel asked puzzlingly.
"Follow me!" Jack said and led the way.
When he reached the location of the node, he noticed something else that he didn't pay attention to during his corporeal state. The rats. They were passing through the nodes.
'I see…' Jack thought in his mind. Corporeal state ability was not something Wilted knew about. Her partner might have incorporated mana sense and mana manipulation in the game with the help of a martial artist's input. But the corporeal state was something of a myth even for martial artists in the real world. His grandfather had told him this after Domon found out about his ability from Jet.
No way the game makers designed this Lost Forest with a riddle that only players with corporeal state ability could solve. They had provided a different clue, the rats. As long as one followed these rodents, one would find the nodes that brought them to the next cell.
Jack looked at the spot where the node was. If ones only relied on their eyes, ones would see nothing there. Even the rats that were the clues appeared to be simply passing through the spot. They were still visible after passing the node as if nothing had changed. But Jack felt unusual mana on that spot, which confirmed what he had sensed during his corporeal state.
When Jack was about to step through the invisible node, he felt like he was watched. He looked down and came eye to eye with one of the rats.
Huh?
The rats seemed to watch him with fascination, before turning its head away and creeping away.
Jack watched the rat scurry away. 'Was it just my imagination?' He thought.
He banished the thought. It's not important. It was also creepy, he preferred not to think about it. What's important now was to find his teammates before they accidentally went through a node. He would then have to search for them again if that happened, to find out which cell they had ended up in.
When Jack went through the node, he didn't see any difference. He was beside a large tree trunk when he walked past the node. After he passed through, the same tree trunk was still on his left. What he saw before and after were exactly the same. Those without mana sense would feel no different from taking a normal walk. But Jack's mana sense told him a different story. He could feel the mana after walking past the node was inherently different from before he passed the node. He was sure that he was in a different space now. He was in another cell that comprised the maze of this Lost Forest.
Without further ado, he immediately headed to the next node. One cell could have more than one node. Different nodes brought them to different cells, creating multiple possibilities of travel. He had mapped the ones targeting the cells containing his friends.
He arrived in the cell where he last saw Grace was in. She was holding a torch with Oswald walking beside her. They both looked anxious.
"Grace!" Jack called out.
Grace whirled back. But before Grace could respond, Oswald came before her. "Wait, ma'am! He could be a fake conjured by this forest to fool us. Let meâ"
Oswald didn't finish his sentence because he was pushed aside by Grace who uttered, "Move aside! I can tell if he is fake or real!"
When Oswald pointed out the possibility that Jack was a fake, it also came to Jack's mind that these two could be fakes as well. But seeing Grace came running at him like this, he decided that even if she was a fake, maybe he should take advantage for a bit. He opened his arms, welcoming Grace's hug.
Grace stopped in front of him. "What are you doing?" Grace said when she saw Jack's weird posture.
"Um… Nothing," Jack said, feeling awkward.
Grace scrutinized Jack for a bit. She then said to Oswald. "He is real."
"You can tell by just a look?" Jack asked. "Which means that you have been assaulted with doppelgangers created by this forest?"
"Yes," Grace nodded. "I met a copy of you. I know it was a fake when it came near. I immediately summoned Oswald using his companion token. We took down the fake together."
No wonder Oswald was with him. When Jack did his reconnaissance, Grace was still alone then. It's a good thing to know that tools are still useable here. Meaning he could summon Arlcard here if needed.
"How can you tell that I am real or fake?" Jack asked.
"We can tell the fake if we look closely. They have some details missing," Grace answered.
"I think only you can use that method… Well, anyway, now that I have found you, we can go and find Jet."
"You know where he is?"
"Yes. If he still stays where I last saw him."
"You saw him? Why did you leave him again then?"
Jack didn't feel like wasting time explaining, so he just told them, "Follow me!"
