"I feel a common grade Gyurna up front, two hundred meters."
Eve needed only a moment to locate the enemies after we crossed the boundary between the areas. From what I heard, some strange force was present in the forest, keeping the demonic beasts in their respective habitats. Some even speculated that way back in the past, some ancient power established such a place to easily train their young.
With the ancient civilisation vanishing at some point, the forest initially grew, before the human civilisation recolonised this area. As soon as the discovery was made, boundaries of the forest became a hot spot of various sects and clans wishing to make use of it. In less than a year, it turned into an immense sea of settlements, fortresses and cities.
Like in most cases, common strive to conquer and make use of the woodlands prompted people to work together. While a fair number of tricks and other troubles appeared, all in all, the subjugation of the forest was rather successful.
A few NO-GO zones were marked on the maps, surrounded by patches of varying colours. Every faction did their best effort to create this piece of paper and when it got published, the entire area busted out with energy!
With the ropes of the proper training grounds settled again, the average realm of cultivation of random person surged up! As the people got stronger, they instantly filled the market with formerly rare resources. With this kind of success, the next generations of this area inhabitants worked even harder, and produced a guide to the beasts in the forest, with the intention to boost the chances of aspiring cultivators!
With yet another sudden rise of the rare resources deliveries, the entire area almost got crushed. Common coin and economy established between the cities, fallen apart when the prices of the popular commodities dropped even more. Where only a shared effort could stabilize the situation, strife and conflict took a turn.
With the common financial system falling, what once was a great and rather unified populace, divided into countless sects, tribes and nations, just like when their ancestors arrived here in the first place.
The years of conflicts lead to the drop in the average cultivation level, forcing humans to desert a vast amount of formerly peaceful land. The moment that the possibility arose, demonic beasts rushed in to feel the gaps. What once was a garden, turned into wolf's lair. What used to be a public bathhouse, was home to three different species of snakes.
The one thing that remained in the same way in all of the divided city, was the forest map and the guide book. No matter how difrent the two cities or sects were, they still used the same meaning for all the beasts, knew about their weaknesses and tricks.
One day, when all of the NO-GO zones will get cleared up, the populace will be able to win this land over and take control of its riches.
And all of this was possible because of a single, powerful spell, that kept the beasts of difrent realms of power in difrent areas of the forest.
With all the resentment, joy, hate and anger that were caused by this simple barrier, whenever a cultivator would cross the boundary, one would be able to feel the distant echo of all those emotions from the ages long gone.
After stumbling for a moment, Eve was able to sense the demonic beast from a far greater distance. This impeccably showed that they already crossed to the soul hazard worth of danger in the area. While that would prove that Eve's power was limited in the lower rank locations, I didn't feel burdened there at all, neither were my stats lowered!
Noticing how the girl straightened a bit, as if some burden was lifted from her shoulders, I seriously begin to worry. No weakness before, no sudden powerup later. If I dominated my previous enemies with sheer power, I might be unable to duke it out with someone on a similar power level!
While this thought suddenly starts worrying me, I notice an uneasiness on Eve's face.
"What's wrong dear? Something happened?"
I promise if this damn Bonger dares to…
"Blop! :D"
"Charm ability raised!"
WHAT?
Did this damn Bonger get his strength released here as well? Already turning from sounding the communicates in my ears to appearing in a flash before my eyes? And what was this smiley face for?!
While I thought that I started to understand Donger's 'blopping', I realised how mistaken I could be! What if all those times when I took him seriously, were actually an act of irony? I would be devastated to learn that this damn Bonger made fun of me for this entire time!
"I don't know, it's like…."
Unconcerned with my sudden internal strife, Eve covers her face while trying to explain herself.
"We first met on this level!"
"What?"
That answer leaves me stunned. While it doesn't sound like anything much, it actually explains a lot!
If she grew to a soul hazard realm only after being fed my father's drink, that would mean she tried her abilities even before reaching the required level! That would also imply that the monsters here wouldn't be able to really hurt me! If that fury of the forest was a local boss, the other beasts are bound to be weaker!
"You just greatly improved my morale! Let's get this Gyurna done with so we can repeat the pleasant moment that we shared here yesterday!"
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