A bright morning greeted them, with sunlight coming from the outside. Brook scratched his eyes and stood up to stretch his body. There were marks seen on his face; he got it from a good night sleep after being reassured that last night was peaceful. Brook, on the other hand, went back to sleep.
I wonder how's my sister there in the Bonum cities, he thought.
Brook and his sister, Amelia, lived quite tragically. Their parents died right after the split of the world, where the two equal parts of land were divided for the gods. Those who were sponsors of the Malums that resided in Bonum cities were all teleported right after the split.
She had pretty blue eyes, just like him, and her face was round. Her beauty could encapture almost every man, but despite all the suitors that she have, they all got rejected at the end. Their life was totally opposite: Brook remained low and Amelia basked in fame.
Although he could visit Amelia on the Bonum land, he didn't want to risk his identity getting exposed even if he had the concealment skill. They would certainly find clues regarding his identity and how peculiar the situation is. Amelia might also be a subject to interrogation, being that somebody suddenly appeared on her side.
Before Amelia and Brook were teleported, they saw how their parents obliterated into nothing, like an object fading into pixels.
Up till now, his question to his god wasn't answered. Brook wanted to know why his parents disintegrated into nothingness. To his dismay, the god would always change topics and immediately shut off the conversation.
"Man," he kicked David's feet. "Wake up, it'll be a long journey. We wouldn't want to miss them."
David grunted so loudly that it echoed in the cave. He sat up straight and tried his best to open his eyes, even though he's squinting constantly. After two minutes, he was finally awake, energized at most.
"Looks like you're jumpy," Brooke said to David. "Let's depart."
The went outside the cave, fully prepared. Brook's sword was still in his scabbard while David had his halberd on his hand. They sprinted for an hour before losing energy and taking a break.
"Why is the Marsh Pits so far?"
"I don't know, ask the gods."
The gods comepletely changed the landscape, some of the mountains became rivers and some of the plains became canyons. The most bizzare things was the dessert on the south became a part of the sea.
"Do you have any water?"
"I do, wait."
Brook took two water bottles in his inventory and threw the other one to David, who was panting heavily. After an hour of running, of course they would get tired. On the brighter side, they're somewhere near to the Marsh Pits.
They fought some wild monsters, but no creature gave them trouble. David leveled up to 26, and in his delight, he actually found the item drop he was looking for. Unknown if it was lady fortune that blessed them, but they found a lucky rabbit and got its carcass for enchantments.
Enchantments are something done by blacksmiths through refining and forging. The methods are mysterious and strange to the outsiders; however, it's an easy process to those who bear such knowledge.
"Are we there yet?" Asked David, who grew impatient.
"No, but something's wrong. We've been here, I know it. It's like we've been walking in cirles."
"You sure? I barely remember this rock?"
David pointed at some random rock, proving his point. Brook showed the slash on the tree that he had marked as guide on their way back. For thirty seconds, David lifelessly looked at the tree before everything was processed in his brain.
"There's gotta be no way," he said dully.
"Wait, I'm sure this is an illusion or barrier," Brook consoled David, who was just as confused as he was.
"Do you know anything about breaking illusions?"
"I do," he answered. "One thing is that you have to completely be honest with yourself and your thoughts or have a skill that breaks it."
Henry sat down and closed his eyes. From Brook's sight, he disappeared without a trace. Now, he was alone and trapped in some vortex of unknown illusion. He had no time to reflect on himself as illusions are dangerous once you're in it for a long time.
"Fuck," he muttered.
Unyielding Spirit!
The illusion was now gone as he saw David, who was still sitting contemplating about his own life and thoughts. He walked to his direction and slapped his right arm, waking him up from the deep state he went in.
"We're already out of it, you don't have to do it anymore."
"Oh," David murmured.
"What were you thinking of?"
David's face became agitated, most probably from what Brook had triggered. He took a step back and shook his head, denying the thoughts he just had.
"Come on, tell me."
"I-I…" He paused. "I let my son be killed by his own mother. I couldn't do anything. I was trying to save him, but I was unable to."
This seemingly large and tough man had a soft spot and a dark past that tormented him almost everyday. Every night, he would often think about what would happen if he had saved him from that time. Unfortunately, to his dismay, nothing could be change as it was already in the past.
Even if they were in the Malum Dynasty's side, compassion and regret were still evident in humans. Nothing is truly evil nor good, everything is in balance, he thought.
"I'm sorry," Brook said. "I didn't mean to –"
"Don't mind it," he replied. "On your side!"
The hamadryad standing on one of the tree's branches controlled the trees arms, attacking him. It had the ability to control trees and had the dryad's innate nature of shapeshifting. On David's back, a splash of water had hit his back, making him fall onto the ground.