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Chapter 9 - The Forest

"Let me get this right. Your super tomb filled with really cool gadgets and money Is in the middle of this huge forest?"

Early in the morning Cain and Abel hitched a ride and made their way to the site of Cain's tomb. The tomb turns out was deep in the middle of a very large and quiet Forrest.

("Hey! I never said it was "full of money" I just said that we could sell some of the stuff in there.")

"Whatever. So, could you give me some directions? I have no idea where I'm going."

Cain turned dead silent.

"You do know where I'm supposed to go right?"

("he...he...")

"You've got to be shitting me."

Abel clutched his head. He proceeded to wipe his face with his hands a couple of times. As if trying to wipe away his frustration. After doing that a couple of times, he seemed to calm down.

"Please at least tell me you know what direction I'm supposed to go."

Cain was a little embarrassed.

("T-The tomb should be in the center of the forest, So you go straight you should be fine ")

"Very helpful."

Abel let out another deep sigh, picked his bag off the ground, and walked into the open maw of the giant Forrest

...

Throughout the entire hike, Abel made sure to survey and take in his surroundings as much as possible. He'd spent so much time stuck in the wasteland breathing in hot garbage that he forgot what real nature actually looked like.

Looking around he was reminded of how beautiful the planet really was.

He watched as the trees swayed alongside the cool morning breeze. He took notice of the curious animals that would watch him from afar and would skitter off when he got too close. He savored the crunch of the brush under his hiking boots and made sure to take as many deep breaths as he could.

'C'mon tree hugger stop getting distracted were short on time as it is.'

Abel was a little embarrassed that he got called out but shook it off.

"Sorry, This just reminds me of the Forrest we had behind the orphanage."

A rare smile bloomed on Abel's face as he reminisced about a simpler time.

("Well pick it up, we have to find this place before it gets dark.")

"What kind of tomb is this anyway? Not the super dangerous kind I hope."

Abel's question made Cain let out a regretful sigh.

("I would have loved it if our first tomb raid was full of fun traps and hard puzzles, but since you're incredibly weak and we're short on time. We can only attempt to raid the poorer and less dangerous ones.")

Abel got annoyed by Cain's condescending and snarky attitude but also grew curious.

"How many tombs are there?"

Cain started getting excited. Abel was finally coming to him for answers about this world's lore and he was happy to oblige.

("Way too many to count. You see, Hundreds of thousands of years ago Akyrous was filled to the brim with mana. It became one of the main battlefields of the gods. So, because of all the wars, everywhere on this planet could be a tomb or if you're lucky an inheritance.")

"Why even bother setting up tombs and inheritances in the first place?"

("When a powerful being dies they try their best to set up an inheritance ground. So they can pass on their legacy and sometimes their specific doctrine.")

Suddenly Cain grew very serious.

'Be careful though, A good chunk of those "inheritances" are just traps set by the dead who is trying to take over your body and get their revenge. Those guys suck. They were the worst and most boring villains in the entire novel.'

Abel suddenly stopped and asked Cain with a straight face,

"Are you saying we're going to raid a tomb of an ancient god?"

Seeing how serious Abel was Cain burst into laughter.

("HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...…Of course not, you're waaaaay too weak to even think of going near one of those. The place we're going to is just to help us get started. We're going there for starting money and a little something extra.")

When he heard Cain's line of reasoning Abel blushed in embarrassment, but he overcame it quickly. Cain's obsessive tone reminded Abel of someone who was sharing his favorite facts about a novel he read.

'Wait doesn't he actually think that this is a novel though?'

Cain read Abel's thoughts and got a little ticked off.

("I don't "think" that this is a novel. I know it is, and once we get to the tomb I'll prove it!")

"Yeah, whatever."

After walking in a straight line toward the center of the forest for a couple of hours they finally arrived at the tomb.

("Stop! We're here!")

Cain and Abel stopped right in front of an oak tree.

It wasn't just a normal oak tree though. This one was huge. It was over 275 ft tall (83 m) and over 36 ft (11m) In diameter. The tree was the biggest in the entire forest by a lot. The tree looked at least a thousand years old. It had dark brown wood and withered branches. Every time the wind blew by It creaked as if it was in pain.

It was also covered head to toe in vines, weeds, and other miscellaneous shrubbery.

"This is a tomb? An old tree?"

("Correct.")

Confused at what he was supposed to do next Abel asked Cain.

"Uhh, so what do you want me to do now? Cut it down?"

When Cain heard what Abel said he almost flipped out

("NO! You Idiot!?! Are you trying to throw away free money Muscle brain!?!")

Cain took a second to catch his "breath"? then continued

("Haaaaaaaaah, In order to open the tomb you need to do your best to care for and tend to the tree.")

"What?"

("You know, clean up the weeds, remove the vines, hydrate it, trim the branches. What you normally do when tending to a tree.")

Abel just grew more confused

"Why?"

Cain used his 'are you stupid' voice again and explained

("Duh, it's a test moron. If we don't care for the tree the door will never open and we'd have come out here for nothing. Is that what you want")

Abel took a deep breath and did his best to not let Cain's bullshit get to him. Abel agreed to clean the tree but not before laying out his terms.

"If I do all this crap and nothing happens, you have to promise to stay quiet and leave me alone?"

Cain took a second to think about it and countered

("I promise, but If I'm right than you have to take the HYDE entrance exam")

Abel who was confident that he would win took the deal immediately.

"No takebacks."

Abel turned his attention away from Cain and toward the tree.

"This is going to take a while."

Abel started early in the morning and finished late in the evening. It would have finished sooner if he didn't have to clean the top of the tree as well. But, since he had the body of an awakener now it wasn't that big of a problem.

"This should be the last vine."

Saying so Abel pulled the final vine off the top of the tree. He threw it down then and scaled his way to the bottom and waited for something to happen.

And something did.

*RUMBLE*RUMBLE*RUMBLE*RUMBLE*

A mini earthquake shook the tree and everything in a five mile radius, Abel included.

When the shaking stopped, Abel was left baffled while Cain laughed triumphantly. Right in the center of the tree, A door-sized hole opened up. In the doorway was an endless staircase that led somewhere deeper underground.

Coming to terms that what he was seeing was an actual tomb. Abel's mind started racing a million miles a minute.

'There's no way right? How could this old tree be a tomb? And how could some voice in my head know about it? Unless, he's telling the truth and it's not a voice in my head, but an actual person.'

Suddenly putting the pieces together, cold sweat started dripping down Abel's back. His final shred of doubt was put to rest and he was forced to come to terms with reality.

'If and I mean if, the voice is a real person then does that mean that what he's saying is true and that this world is a novel?

No…no...no...no, all this proves is that the voice is real and knows about this tomb. It doesn't mean that I live in a novel.'

Snapping him out of his thoughts was the voice in question.

("You done?")

Hearing the voice again Abel was terrified. The only thing he could say was the question he asked when they first met.

"What did you say your name was again?"

Snickering to himself, Cain responded

("My name is Cain. Cain Ayers.")