Eli soon entered the forest, storing away his sandals as the soft soil nearly tripped him with every other step. Once barefoot, he started walking directly east through the trees. While a bit nervous about leaving the path, he also figured there was no way to take the road with so many hostile eyes watching it. On the one hand, he had a nebulous danger that might not even exist now that Boruta was dead. On the other hand, at least fifty people with unknown abilities had effectively blocked the only road through the area. With that in mind, he figured that a short trip through the forest was the lesser of two evils.

Thinking about the number of people he’d seen, he couldn’t help wondering what they were doing out here. He was admittedly not familiar with the local region, only knowing that Bishal was to the south. Still, it seemed like quite a lot of people for protecting a road. Maybe some local warlord was carving out a little kingdom of their own? The way that gravelly voiced guy had carried on about looking for trespassers, Eli was leaning towards some secret government facility or criminals of some sort. Either way, they didn’t seem friendly.

Also, what was up with that last guy? According to what he said, he’d apparently had some gift that let him sense auras. But then, why didn’t he find Eli? He might have thought him a fraud, but the man had obviously detected the herd hidden deep inside the forest. It didn’t make sense, especially when adding in that six-legged creature’s words about him not having any power. Not too long ago, everyone was freaked out by his aura; now, no one could sense it. Did his evolution cause this? If not, then what…

He slowed, his eyes almost drawn to his right hand, yet even looking for what he knew was there, he couldn’t see the invisible band circling his index finger. He hadn’t thought about the reward much since he’d met with Fluxi, which was a bit embarrassing. It had completely slipped his mind after his evolution, meeting Madwen and training in the simulacrum, plus everything else – it had been a busy couple of days. It was also like that old saying, “out of sight, out of mind,” and with how hard it was to see, he’d forgotten he was wearing it. Even running a fingertip around the edge, he only felt a slight ridge that could have been some old scar beside his knuckle.

Out here in the middle of a crazy forest wasn’t a good place for testing, but he was hoping to reach some sort of inn tonight. Even if he was forced to camp again, he figured there were a couple of things he could try. With that thought, he started walking south again, but with a little extra pep in his step as he speculated about what else the ring could do.

As he continued through the woods, he kept a close watch using Manasight. Much of the illumination was the multicolored energy from birds, small creatures, and of course, all the trees. A few of the larger animals he’d detected before were in the distance, but they continued to do their own thing and ignored him. There were also patches of pink glowing soil, mainly around the base of the older trees. Further into the forest revealed more of the same, the shadowy darkness lit by patches growing together until vast swathes of the undergrowth were covered with a darker reddish light.

He had to detour slightly to walk around a bit of the luminous soil, careful to stay well away from the stuff. Still curious, he switched on Lifesight and was surprised when the ground shifted to a more muted baby pink color. Whatever was creating the glow was apparently alive. Given the dark environment, he was guessing some sort of fungi, or whatever the local equivalent was, but he wasn’t going to get close enough to confirm his theory. Maybe it was like some plants back home that covered acres of land yet were technically a single organism?

Ahnrefin mavul spores detected

He read the notification and quickly backed further away from the glowing soil in case it was the source of the spores. Trying to get more information, he checked his status.

What the hell are those spores? Could I heal… The ground seemed to abruptly jump up at him. He barely managed to turn his head away before he slammed down hard, the air in his lungs forced out.

Almost without thought, Hypermind activated, but it did little to help. Confused and with his head swimming, he tried to get his hands up to push away the attack, but they felt unnaturally heavy and unwieldy, only pawing ineffectually at the soft earth. Twisting his body around, he shifted to get a leg up to shove the dirt wall away, anything to escape from the assault while his chest burned with fire. Yet much like his arms, his legs wouldn’t follow his direction, his knees repeatedly slamming into the ground and only kicking dirt into the air.

Another message appeared in his HUD, and then another, but he couldn’t get his eyes to focus on them. The world abruptly tilted sharply, the earth wall now his sky, and then the ground again, his mind unable to make sense of anything. He closed his eyes to try and block out the contradictory sight of the environment flipping, though his inner ear still insisted that the world was bending and flexing around him.

A glimmer of sanity told him that he must be hallucinating, but the burning in his lungs suddenly intensified like he’d inhaled molten metal. Overriding his other worries, he sent a wave of healing energy to fight back against the excruciating pain. Once he’d done it, he latched onto the act like someone drowning thrown a life-preserver. Another wave of healing power followed, and then another pulsing out with little thought. He didn’t try to guide his healing but simply flooded his body with energy, desperate to fight off whatever was happening.

He opened his eyes to focus on the pinkish earth glowing in the distance, finally recognizing that it might be the source of whatever was happening. Feeling like his arm weighed half a ton, he managed to get a hand under him enough to push him first up onto one hip. With his quivering arm protesting, he finally gave the earth another shove that propelled him onto his back. Leaning over, he repeated the action, rolling himself further away before ending up on his stomach only a handful of meters from where he’d started. Feeling utterly exhausted, he simply lay there, relieved that he hadn’t gotten any closer to the glowing soil. He definitely didn’t want to imagine what would have happened otherwise.

An eternity seemed to pass while he did little more than breathe, trying to ignore the bits of dirt, sharp twigs, and debris scratching against the side of his face. With his thumping heartbeat keeping a frenetic beat, he focused on his lungs and how harsh his breathing sounded. Realizing he wasn’t out of danger, he pushed all other thoughts away to concentrate on healing himself.

The reality of his world snapped back like a thrown switch. He returned to consciousness, finding himself curled in the fetal position, the earth almost soft under him. His attention latched onto the clock within his interface, noting how he’d lost the better part of an hour. Watching the slow progression of seconds ticking away helped settle his thoughts, confirming that he wasn’t losing his mind anymore.

He rolled onto his back almost easily, his limbs following his commands again. Around him, birds called out, and bugs buzzed around, their droning sounds almost comforting in their normalcy. Above him, hints of blue sky peeked through breaks in the heavy canopy overhead while the tiny lights of birds and small animals flitted about, living their own lives without a thought for the human who’d almost lost himself far below.

“Fuck,” he croaked, his voice somehow rough and sore. Yet the weak curse word gave him a strange hope that the worst was behind him.

Holding both hands up with the palms against his neck, he pushed some healing energy into the tissues. More minutes passed with repeated healings, the tension he’d barely noticed around his chest and shoulders relaxing while the pain in his lungs dissipated. Only when he could breathe without discomfort did he finally check his status.

He had no idea what it was, but anything with “sickness” in its name hardly sounded good. Unwilling to get up for the moment, he simply lay there and watched the timer tick down until it reached zero. It was almost anti-climactic, though, with nothing changing other than that his modifier line was now blank.

“Can’t lay here forever,” he said in a more normal voice. He shifted, getting both hands under him. Almost gingerly at first, he pushed himself onto his knees, testing his balance. There was no swirling world anymore, and he plopped down on his rear end, his mind and body responding as if the last hour were only a dream. The dirt and twigs still stuck against his skin told a different story, and he brushed them away before summoning a couple thin blankets to sit on.

Settling into a more comfortable position with the extra cushioning under him, he summoned his little black mirror for a checkup. He then spent some time with Lifesight, looking over his body for any lasting injuries. Surprisingly, there weren’t too many problems, the worse being inflamed tissues in and around his lungs and throat. He probably could have fixed it in a few minutes, but he went slow, using the time to try and recover from the confusion and terror he’d just gone through.

When he felt a bit better, he turned to the glowing earth, animosity simmering in his gut. He briefly imagined torching this whole part of the forest, his fury only growing at yet another thing screwing with his mind. But after a few moments of picturing an inferno blanketing the ground, he shook the errant thought away. In reality, much of the anger was self-directed at his own stupidity and getting too close to some unknown glowing object. It almost felt like being suckered by something as simple and idiotic as an angler fish, only a bit of luminescence enough to lure in unwitting prey.

Frowning, he looked over to a larger patch of luminous earth further inside the forest. It was far more extensive than the nearby bit, surrounding more than a dozen trees. However, it wasn’t glowing any brighter under Manasight. Beyond it, large swathes covered the ground. At least to the south, there was almost none of the pink lighting, which was nice considering he was heading in that direction.

He turned on Lifesight, the color fading to a baby pink again, but this time he noticed something different in the larger patch. There were little bits where no lights were visible, and he stared at it for a few seconds, looking at other patches and seeing more of the same. One huge void was a bit different, where a tiny flickering light slowly faded. He puzzled at it for a moment, finally realizing that something the size of a horse was lying on its side, barely alive, surrounded by the luminous soil. As he watched, the light inside the animal continued to fade, as if the glowing earth was feeding on the creature.

“Fucking hell, what a nightmare,” he said, slowly shaking his head.

He wasn’t sure what was in the soil, whether tiny plants or something magical, but he definitely didn’t want to screw around with it. He’d heard of carnivorous plants, luring in bugs and small animals, only to trap them and slowly digest the nutrients as their bodies decompose.

Switching to Aurasight, he almost flinched at the crimson color, oddly reminiscent of Boruta’s aura. One terrifying moment from their battle flitted across his mind when the air was filled with much the same color. It had somehow held him, Wolf, and Tanca trapped, defenseless before that giant red monster. Eli wasn’t sure if there was a connection since he knew far too little about how auras and magic worked, but he contemplated burning down this part of the forest again.

Pushing the incendiary fantasies away for the moment, he climbed to his feet, storing the blankets in his DS. Still not feeling any dizziness or other symptoms, he decided to push on. After all, there was only so much daylight, and he had no plans to spend his night in this creepy forest.

It wasn’t quite so easy to shake off the last hour, yet he made his way south, careful to stay well away from any glowing patches. He kept the road on his right, using the few glimpses he got between bits of vegetation as a guide. The people hiding beside the roadway were now well behind him, and even juicing Manasight with extra power, they were barely smudges to the north.

While he walked, he reviewed the troubling incident while rereading Guide’s messages. The warning about the spores was still there but not too informative. There were further messages he’d missed while incoherent, and he kept returning to them, puzzling over their meaning.

Psychoactive substance detected

Countermeasures enacted

Countermeasures partially ineffective

Suggested solution: User-induced healing

“Psychoactive, huh? What a trip,” he said, snorting at his stupid joke.

He quickly sobered, though, thinking about it more. He knew that Guide could detect changes in his system, whether poison, spores, or other substances, but it had never had countermeasures before. There was no way they’d put that into the Beta without telling him, right? He considered that for a moment before quickly discarding it; Sahara was an uncaring corporate monstrosity of a company, and he’d heard some stories about how ruthless they could be, but it didn’t add up. After all, he was supposed to try out all of Guide’s features, which was the point of Beta testing. He couldn’t imagine why they’d fail to disclose that kind of ability, especially when it was so beneficial.

“Heck, they’d more likely ask us to test it with various drugs. Damn, and what a selling point it would be,” he mused. No, it was likely another new variable thrown his way.

Could Guide evolve too?

He stopped at the thought, thinking it might explain the new information in his status window and the additional details for his abilities. It might also account for Guide’s new capacity and its initiative with countermeasures. The fact that Guide could take such actions without Eli’s orders was troubling, even if those actions were helpful.

But thinking about his evolution reminded him of the patch that Guide had installed around the same time. He highlighted a little gear icon in his HUD and pulled up Guide’s system information. Just below the “Basic Protocols 2.0.1,” there was “Greater System Auxiliary – Patch 5.106…” like he remembered. It could be the cause of the new features, but he wasn’t sure how to test it while within this arboreal nightmare. He’d have to think about that a little more and figure out some way to confirm if one of his theories was correct.

Continuing his hike through the shadowy woods, he noticed how the area started to change as he journeyed south. The sounds of birds and other creatures began to intrude on what had otherwise been an eerily quiet trek through the forest. On his right, more plants were growing under the forest’s heavy canopy. Like some kind of slow-motion invasion, the vegetation grew thicker the further he went. First, it was leafy ferns and moss, but eventually larger bushes and saplings. He’d already had to detour when a massive bush with wickedly sharp leaves blocked his way. He wasn’t even sure how far he’d traveled inside the forest, but he’d guess at least a couple of kilometers. Since he hadn’t seen any human lights on his right for a while, he started angling back toward the road again.

A few minutes later, he caught a flash of pale stone through the foliage. Trying not to rush while the ground firmed up nicely under his feet, he stopped within the trees where the shaded branches helped hide him from the road. There was a bit of relief at seeing it again – he was more than ready to put Eld Forest behind him. However, he was also surprised by how well-maintained the stone roadway looked compared with its crumbling ruin, only a short journey north.

Off to his right, the road continued to curve around a few hills. He tried to find the watchtower and guards, but there were no human glows to the north. Unsure if it was due to the distance or the hillsides blocking his sight, he figured it didn’t matter as long as they weren’t coming after him. Still, given how far the hills were, he must have traveled further inside the forest than he’d thought.

Toggling through his vision abilities didn’t reveal any dangers to the north, and he couldn’t help smiling at dodging that particular threat. Still feeling like they were up to no good, he’d be sure to tell Wolf about the group.

Eli took a cleansing breath, trying to push away the stress and anxiety that had been with him since first stumbling upon the people hiding beside the road. Looking at the world around him, he could only smile at all the illumination from the creatures going about their lives. The sheer multitude of tiny lights made the woods and hillside look like a giant globular cluster of stars, all the colors of the rainbow merging into a chaotic and wonderful sight. Glancing south, he saw even more colors, with some distant sources aglow with their brilliance.

He was about to step out onto the road when he caught some movement. Far to the south, somewhat blurry with distance, four people walked up the road in his direction. “Ah shit, what now,” he muttered, his smile evaporating, wondering if he’d just run into more bandits.