As Li and Bulwark traveled through the Chattering Forests, he began to realize why nobody ever went through it. The forest was overgrown in a wild manner, with the treetops growing in thick, choking clusters that almost seemed to grow into each other, their branches curling across each other and vying for space.

The trees themselves were healthy with thick trunks and solid, armor-like bark, and grew far taller than those in Riviera, but there was something about them that was just off. Their bark was black like the night, and their leaves a shade of muddy green that seemed to absorb light.

The result was that with how closely and thickly the treetops clustered together, the sun was entirely blotted out, making the forest pitch black even during day.

In this darkness, countless entangling and thorned vines, black and purple poisonous bladed grasses, and noxious spore filled mushrooms grew. Faye led the way, a flame dancing at her open palm as a guiding light.

Launcelot stood right behind her, shield upraised. Celeste and Ava stood behind Launcelot as they seemed to be a ranger and mage respectively, their gear made of light leather unsuited for withstanding strong blows.

Li followed behind all of them, capable of seeing through the darkness but not knowing the way. His forest spirit senses were hampered here. In the Winterwoods, he had an idea of where everything was with just a bit of focus, letting his divine hearing pick up the sounds of life.

Here, there was a sort of static interference that made it difficult for him to navigate. It also did not help that this was not his forest, so he was not as closely linked to it as he was with the Winterwoods.

Faye stood still, and everyone froze. Launcelot raised his shield. An insectoid chattering sound echoed in the darkness, and to normal human ears, it would have been extremely difficult to place where it was.

The enclosed nature of the tree trunks and branches caused a sort of echo chamber to form, and when the chatter cracked through the forest, it traveled and reverberated far.

But Li knew it came from a distance away, and he said, "It's fine. No nearby threat."

Faye looked at Li, and then at Launcelot, evidently not too convinced of Li's capabilities, and the nobleman nodded to reassure her that Li did indeed knew what he was doing.

She resumed leading.

Li could sense great trepidation in each member of Bulwark, evident in how they carried themselves, how tense they were, how at any given moment, they were ready to turn and fight. And he could not blame them.

Launcelot was mid forties in terms of level and judging by the life signatures that Li could sense, the creatures here ranged from the thirties all the way to the mid-fifties. This sensing also did not include Darkbeasts, which Li could not get any real measure of in terms of level, likely because they had no level.

But he could get an idea of their overall strength, and he understood it to be in the fifties if the specimen that had walked into the Winterwoods was any general indicator.

Though that was no threat to Li, it was a grave one to Launcelot, and, coupled with the eerie nature of this forest, would be more than enough to keep these people on edge.

"The next tree, the one with the cut marks in the trunk, has a few brain spiders lying in wait in the branches," cautioned Li as he picked up the life beat of the spiders.

Faye immediately narrowed her eyes, her pupils alight like flames as she intensified her stare to the tree in question. The deep cuts in the bark had not healed and looked as if they were made by an axe or some other heavy sharp weapon.

Likely the death throes of an adventurer who had tried to hack his way through the spider ambush and perished from their neurotoxin.

She clasped her hands together, and when she withdrew them, a line of fire began stretched out between them, glowing bright red.

"Wait," said Li. "Fire is volatile. It can damage the forest. Let me."

Faye looked to Launcelot again, and the shieldman nodded. "Trust in Li. He is well experienced in combat and life within the forest."

Li walked past Faye and came under the tree. He could sense the spiders skittering above. There were ten of them hidden in the thicket of their leaves. They were unpleasant creatures by human standards, their abdomens fat and gorged like those of a tick's. They extended proboscis from their jaws, eagerly awaiting for someone to walk beneath the tree so they could leap downwards and instantly decapitate them to sip on their brains. 

Li loosed some power from himself. Green energy flickered from all around his body in a faint aura, and a wind danced around him, picking up loose foliage. The pressure of that divine power reached the spiders, and instinctively, they ran, crawling deeper into the treetop, even going so far as escaping to the neighboring tree. 

This was not the only effect of Li unleashing his presence. Nearby creatures that were dormant also picked up pace and began to ran. The bushes, treetops, and undergrowth rustled as insectoid monsters of all kinds - Bloodsucking Moths, Sleep Striders, Gut Worms, and even an underground Helmeted Tarantula all moved away. 

"They're gone," said Li.

"You can do that?" asked Faye.

Li nodded.

Faye exhaled and crossed her arms. "Then hells, you should be leading. I'm tired sick of feeling like an overgrown bug is going to drop down on my head and pop it wide open."

"If you have faith that I'm capable of leading," said Li. "Then I'm all for it." 

"Then how about you and I position ourselves as front vanguard?" said Launcelot. "I can lead you, and you may warn us of what threats you can sense."

"Sounds good to me," said Li.