Edward was woken up by the noise of the members of the expedition who were already awake. They were eating breakfast and packing their blankets. What time is it? He thought while opening his eyes and trying to glimpse at the sky through the branches. It was still early in the morning, and faint traces of mist could be seen close to the ground here and there.

I can’t believe I slept like a log when I’m in the middle of the forest with wild beasts roaming inside. I didn’t even have dreams this time. Well, at least it seems we weren’t attacked during the night, that’s a plus. Let’s get ready for a new day of adventure.

Edward quickly ate his breakfast and packed his blanket, he then went to Adrien who was also awake.

-“How was your night? Anything I missed?” he asked him

-“I wasn’t on guard duty either, so I had a restful night. I actually asked Arnold one of my friends from Agripin who was on watch duty, he didn’t notice anything amiss. Only some howls in the distance. As long as the beasts stay in the forest and don’t come near it’s fine by me.” he answered.

A few moments later Marc made an announcement.

-“Everybody listen, I want all of you ready in five minutes. We don’t have time to waste as we are only able to travel during the day. If we continue at this pace we shouldn’t be far from the ruins by the end of the day. Tonight we will make another camp on the road and tomorrow we are leaving the path to find the ruins. We will then have the whole day to secure the ruins and make a camp inside. If you are too slow today we won’t wait for you, I don’t want to make a camp in the middle of the forest.”

Marc then picked up his bag and gathered his guards to have another more detailed briefing with them.

Adrien and Edward looked at each other. They didn’t say it this time, but they didn’t need words to express their thoughts. How can this dude be such a bastard? Would it kill him to make a speech without making everyone who is listening to him want to punch him in the face?

The day went quickly, the members of the expedition weren’t talking much to each other and the walking pace was faster than yesterday. Edward was fine but he could see that some people were starting to feel tired. It was exhausting to walk at a fast pace for a whole day without much of a break while carrying a full backpack.

However none of the guards seem tired, only the carriers were having trouble following the pace. I wonder if that’s one of the effects of the blood. All the guards should be at the quiescent stage like me. Normally after a whole day walking at this pace, I should feel tired too yet I feel perfectly fine. You can start to notice the differences between the folks at the quiescent stage and the guys who weren’t exposed to blood.

This society must be even more unequal than on earth. All you have to do is consume blood and get stronger and then you can behave like a prick without anybody telling anything.

When the time came to make the night camp Marc once again assigned the tasks. He shifted the functions so that it wasn’t the same person as yesterday doing the same task. However, he still didn’t make the effort to learn the name of the villagers and just designed them by “you” to give them guard duty. Once again it was a pair of one of his guards and one villager to keep the lookout for the night. This time Marc didn’t take the guard duty and Adrien was assigned as a lookout for the first part of the night.

The expedition was more nervous than yesterday, it was the second day in the forest so they were starting to get used to it, but it was also the last night before quitting the path and treading in the forest to find the ruins.

As if to echo their fear, the night was more agitated this time. They was no attack but there were noises of paws trampling leaves nearby and sometimes the guards could even see yellow eyes glowing briefly through the dark. On top of that, the mist was getting thicker compared to the last night. Luckily the beasts still stayed inside the forest and didn’t attack the camp.

Most of the company wasn’t able to sleep this time, too nervous with both the beasts roaming nearby and the thoughts that they will be in the forest the next night. Who knew what would happen then? The beasts would be unrestricted and would probably attack them. Some were starting to doubt their choice, what was the point of money if you were dead and couldn’t spend it?

Edward didn’t sleep much either this time, he was alternating between waking up and periods of agitated dreams. He was dreaming that he was walking in a park back on earth, when without noticing how he realized he was in the middle of the forest in this world. This dream was turning into a nightmare when suddenly a huge pair of bright yellow eyes opened in the sky and Edward woke up short of breath.

What a way to wake up. I probably won’t be able to sleep again after a dream like that.

He looked around him, it was the end of the night when the night is still there but you can feel the day coming. Most of the people seemed awake. Edward saw that Adrien was also awake and he went to him.

-“How was the guard duty?” Edward asked.

-“Don’t tell me about it, it’s getting on my nerves. You know the beasts are nearby, you can hear them, see them furtively from time to time, but they won’t attack. I swear they should make up their mind, just attack or leave us alone. But no, they are just turning around us, playing with us. I wasn’t even able to sleep once my guard duty was over. Each time I closed my eyes, I could hear them running nearby.”

-“Yeah, it’s tough” Edward answered with a frown. “Hey, are those beasts intelligent, do you think they do it on purpose to exhaust us?"

-“After what happened tonight, I wouldn’t put that beyond them. But I think it’s more likely they are trying to probe us to see how we react, to see if we are dangerous or simply a prey.”

Seeing that the day was coming and that the majority of people were awake, Marc announced the departure to search for the ruins. He ordered his guards to wake up the few lucky ones who hadn't had any trouble falling asleep and who were still sleeping right now.

Once the path was left the ambiance felt different, the ambient light was decreased and the trees were bigger and taller. Moreover, the ground was uneven with entangling roots everywhere and bumps here and there. You had to be careful where you walk so as not to stumble, it wasn’t that important for a short walk but it would be vital if a fight broke out.

At one point Edward couldn’t see the path from where they came from, every direction looked the same. Everywhere you looked it was massive trees and leaves covering the whole ground. Edward hoped that Marc knew where he was going, even if he had a map, it was of no use if you didn’t know how to orientate it. If the group got lost they would have to spend the night in the forest, and Edward wasn’t sure if they would be able to survive that.

Speaking of him, Marc didn’t seem very please, it was already in the afternoon and the ruins were nowhere to be seen. The expedition was tired after having to accelerate yesterday and then not getting a proper night of sleep. Edward himself was starting to feel the first signs of fatigue, it was a lot worst for the people who had never gotten in contact with the beast's blood. You could hear them pant to keep up with the group, they didn’t want to lag behind. If you lost the group and ended up isolated in the forest at nightfall it was a certain death sentence.

By evening the villagers were complaining between themselves.

-“Do you think those ruins really exist? We were supposed to reach them before nightfall and it’s already started to get dark.”

-“Shit they better exist, we are too far from the path to go back to it now. I don’t want to spend the night here. “

-“I’m sure that asshole will flee giving us up if that happens. Umpf as an awaken he can run faster than us, he will probably leave us getting eaten while he is going back to the path.”

As the night was falling, howls could be heard from behind the group.

It was at this moment that Marc’s face abruptly illuminated.

-“I can see the ruins, everyone follow me!” He shouted.

The villagers looked at each other not seeing anything, but left without a choice they had to follow Marc.

After running for thirty meters they finally saw the first glimpse of the ruins. They weren’t that tall, with only a level visible above the ground. The roof was made of several layers of stones, each one lying on top of the other, forming something akin to stairs. The walls were still mostly intact, green moss was growing on them, but there were no breaches nor collapsed parts. Some glowing lines could be seen on it. Edward was shocked when he saw that, the lines were glowing from inside the walls, and if there was light, it meant that there had to be some kind of energy powering it.

What is this? This world is not technologically advanced, I don’t think some advanced civilization discovered electricity and put LEDs into their walls before disappearing. And those ruins don’t seem particularly high-tech. Is it working with magic? There is already this beast's blood, it wouldn’t surprise me at all that there is also magic in this world.

They soon manage to find an entrance, a dark rectangle of shadow waiting for them to enter. Marc was the first to enter with his guards accompanying him. Having to choose between staying in the forest and entering those ruins the group didn’t hesitate much and followed Marc inside.