Chapter 94: The Forest That Moved
The Imperial Expedition was supposed to reach the capital by the following evening.
That was the plan.
But plans rarely survived the road.
By sunrise, the expedition had already encountered its first problem.
A landslide had completely buried the western road.
Hundreds of tons of earth and stone covered the path.
Colonel Gareth dismounted and stared at the destruction.
"How long?"
One of the engineers examined the slope.
"At least two days."
Gareth’s expression darkened.
"We don’t have two days."
"We can take the northern route."
A scout stepped forward.
"That road passes through the Elderwood."
Several soldiers exchanged looks.
Gareth noticed.
"What?"
The scout swallowed.
"People disappear there."
Walter raised an eyebrow.
"People disappear everywhere."
The scout shook his head.
"Not like this."
The expedition entered the forest before noon.
The trees were enormous.
Their trunks were wider than houses, and their branches created a canopy so thick that sunlight barely reached the ground.
Kael rode near the front.
Darius was beside him.
Grom traveled through the trees.
The fifty soldiers of the Black Dragons were spread throughout the column.
At first...
Nothing happened.
No monsters.
No bandits.
No strange noises.
Just trees.
Then the road split.
The map showed one road.
The forest showed three.
Colonel Gareth called for the scouts.
"Which one?"
The lead scout looked confused.
"The middle."
"You’re certain?"
"Yes."
They continued.
Twenty minutes later...
The road split again.
Then again.
Then again.
Darius frowned.
"We’ve passed that tree already."
Kael looked over.
A massive tree stood beside the road.
Three deep scratches marked its bark.
Kael remembered them.
"We have."
Walter approached.
"How?"
Nobody answered.
Kael dismounted.
He walked toward the tree.
The system appeared.
Environmental Anomaly Detected
Terrain distortion:
Confirmed
Cause:
Unknown
Spatial stability:
Irregular
Kael looked around.
"The forest isn’t changing."
Darius frowned.
"What?"
Kael touched the tree.
"I don’t know yet."
Kael pulled a small knife from his belt and carved an X into the tree.
"We’ll use this as a marker."
The expedition continued.
Ten minutes later...
They encountered the same tree.
But Kael’s mark was gone.
He stared at it.
"That’s impossible."
Grom dropped from a branch.
"It wasn’t there before."
Kael looked at him.
"You saw the mark?"
Grom nodded.
"It disappeared."
The soldiers began whispering.
Gareth ordered everyone to remain calm.
"Nobody leaves the road."
Kael looked deeper into the forest.
Something was wrong.
Not with the trees.
With the ground.
Kael knelt.
He placed his palm against the earth.
Ice spread outward.
A thin layer covered the ground.
Then—
CRACK.
The ice revealed something underneath.
A massive tunnel.
Not natural.
Stone.
Ancient stone.
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
"There’s something beneath us."
Darius crouched beside him.
"A ruin?"
"Maybe."
The system appeared.
Underground Structure Detected
Depth:
23 meters
Age:
Unknown
Energy:
Low
Classification:
Artificial
Kael stood.
"Don’t enter it."
Gareth looked at him.
"You think it caused the distortion?"
"Maybe."
"Then we should investigate."
Kael looked toward the enormous forest.
"We need to understand why this place is trapping travelers."
Gareth nodded.
"Take a small team."
Kael immediately looked at Darius.
"Ten soldiers."
Darius smiled.
"Understood."
A narrow opening was created in the ground.
Kael, Darius, Grom, Walter, and several soldiers descended.
The tunnel was cold.
Too cold.
The walls were covered with strange carvings.
Not Imperial.
Not demonic.
Not anything Kael recognized.
One carving showed a group of people entering the forest.
Another showed them walking in circles.
Another showed them disappearing.
Kael stopped.
"These people were trapped too."
Darius looked at the carvings.
"How old?"
Kael touched one.
"Very."
A soldier pointed ahead.
"Commander."
A faint light came from the darkness.
They moved toward it.
The Heart of the Forest
They entered a massive underground chamber.
At the center was a circular stone structure.
It looked like a giant wheel.
Strange symbols covered its surface.
The wheel slowly turned.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Every time it moved...
The forest above shifted.
Kael stared.
"So that’s what’s doing it."
Walter looked around.
"Can we destroy it?"
Kael shook his head.
"We don’t know what happens if we do."
Grom approached the structure.
"There’s something inside."
Kael looked.
A small creature was trapped beneath the wheel.
It was barely larger than a dog.
Its body was covered in moss-like fur.
Its eyes were glowing blue.
It looked terrified.
Walter raised his weapon.
"Monster."
Kael stopped him.
"Wait."
The creature backed away.
It wasn’t attacking.
It was trapped.
Kael crouched.
"Easy."
The creature growled softly.
Kael placed his sword on the ground.
Then he held out his empty hand.
The creature watched him.
Slowly...
It approached.
Kael noticed a metal collar around its neck.
Ancient.
Broken.
The system appeared.
Unknown Creature
Classification:
Forest Spirit Beast
Intelligence:
High
Threat Level:
Low
Current Condition:
Injured
Kael’s expression changed.
"You’ve been controlling the forest."
The creature lowered its head.
Not in aggression.
In pain.
Kael understood.
The machine wasn’t controlling the forest by itself.
The creature was connected to it.
Someone had trapped the beast here long ago.
Its power was being used to manipulate the forest.
Darius looked at Kael.
"If we remove it, the forest might stop moving."
"Or collapse."
"Exactly."
Kael studied the mechanism.
Then the creature.
He finally drew his sword.
The soldiers tensed.
Kael didn’t attack the beast.
He struck the chain connecting the collar to the machine.
CLANG!
The chain cracked.
Again.
CLANG!
The collar broke.
The creature screamed.
The underground chamber shook.
BOOOOOOM!
The wheel stopped.
Above them...
The forest became still.
The Creature Runs
The small beast looked at Kael.
For a moment...
Nobody moved.
Then it ran.
It disappeared into the darkness.
Walter lowered his weapon.
"You just freed a monster."
Kael picked up his sword.
"No."
"I freed a prisoner."
Darius smiled.
"That’s becoming a habit."
Kael looked at him.
"Maybe."
The expedition emerged from the underground chamber.
The trees were no longer shifting.
The three roads had become one.
The scouts checked the map.
For the first time since entering the forest...
Everything matched.
Colonel Gareth stared at Kael.
"What exactly happened?"
Kael looked toward the trees.
"Something ancient was controlling the forest."
"Monster?"
"Technically."
Gareth waited.
"But it wasn’t attacking anyone."
Gareth nodded slowly.
"Interesting."
One officer stepped forward.
"Then what happens if another village encounters something like this?"
Nobody answered.
Kael looked toward the soldiers.
"That’s the problem."
The expedition set up camp.
For the first time, Kael sat with Colonel Gareth, Darius, several officers, and representatives from the different military units.
A map was placed across the table.
Gareth pointed toward the surrounding territories.
"The Crimson Highlands had monsters fleeing."
"The Elderwood had an ancient mechanism controlling a creature."
"Other provinces have reported monster attacks."
An officer spoke.
"We increase military patrols."
Another disagreed.
"That won’t be enough."
"We don’t have enough soldiers."
A third officer said,
"Then establish permanent monster-hunting units."
Kael listened.
Nobody noticed how closely he was paying attention.
Another officer spoke.
"Villages should be required to report monster sightings."
"How?"
"Messenger stations."
"Too slow."
"Signal towers."
"Too expensive."
"Then hire local hunters."
Gareth looked toward Kael.
"What do you think?"
Everyone turned.
Kael leaned forward.
"I think we’re looking at the problem incorrectly."
Silence.
"Every time a monster appears, we send soldiers."
"We’re treating every problem like a war."
Kael pointed toward the map.
"But sometimes..."
"A village doesn’t need a hundred soldiers."
"It needs five people who know how to track."
Another officer nodded.
Kael continued.
"Sometimes people need escorts."
"Sometimes they need someone to explore ruins."
"Sometimes they need someone to rescue travelers."
"Sometimes they need someone to gather materials from monsters."
"And sometimes..."
Kael paused.
"They need someone strong enough to kill the monster."
Gareth stared at the map.
"So you’re suggesting specialized civilian teams."
"Eventually."
Kael leaned back.
"But we shouldn’t rush into creating anything."
"First, we need information."
"Monster classifications."
"Territory maps."
"Known species."
"Threat levels."
"Experienced hunters."
"Explorers."
"People who understand magic."
"People who can investigate ruins."
"Then..."
Kael looked around the table.
"We can build something that actually works."
Nobody gave the idea a name.
Nobody mentioned an Adventure Guild.
It was simply a conversation.
But an idea had been planted.
And ideas had a way of becoming institutions.
The meeting ended near midnight.
Kael returned to his tent.
He reached for the mysterious egg.
Before he could touch it—
Thump.
Kael froze.
The egg pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Thump.
Kael looked toward the forest.
The system appeared.
Unknown Egg
Ancient energy detected.
External presence:
Approaching
Distance:
1.8 kilometers
Direction:
North
Kael’s eyes narrowed.
He immediately grabbed his sword.
The creature they had freed earlier had run north.
Kael stepped outside his tent.
The forest was silent.
Then...
Two blue eyes appeared between the trees.
The small Forest Spirit Beast stood there.
But it wasn’t alone.
Behind it...
Something much larger moved.
Trees began bending.
Branches snapped.
CRACK.
The creature Kael had rescued stared directly at him.
Then it turned toward the darkness behind itself.
It was afraid.
Kael slowly drew his sword.
"So..."
He looked toward the trees.
"You brought something with you."
A deep growl answered from the darkness.
The soldiers began waking.
Darius grabbed his weapon.
Grom climbed onto a nearby tree.
Kael’s Night Aura gathered around his legs.
The expedition had survived the mountain.
They had escaped the shifting forest.
They were almost home.
But the road wasn’t finished with them yet.