As Druak and Isaac entered mount du shan they began to see their surroundings more clearly until eventually, they could see the giant forest which was said to surround the entire mountain.
Unlike normal trees which typically had a brow bark the trees within the fog were almost all green in colour. The reason for the tree's colour was due to monsters using them as ways to test or dispose of their poison, this eventually led to the trees which survived evolving into poisonous trees.
As they walked around they noticed plants of all different types on the edge of the forest. Isaac wondering what the flower they were looking for looked like, decided to ask Druak. "So you have any idea what the plant we're looking for looks like."
"The Ghost poison flower is a flower that is next to invisible till it blooms, which is why its called the ghost poison flower."
"So how the hell are we gonna find it then. Aren't we just on a wild goose chase."
Druak looked towards the giant mountain that was barely visible and pointed. "Even if we can't see it, we know where it'll bloom. It will always bloom near the top of mount du shan which is the very place we will be going."
After Druak explained where they would be going both him and Isaac cautiously entered the forest attempting to avoid anything that could be poisonous. After walking around for a few hours they eventually came by a water source, which they had been trying to avoid.
"We need to get away from here before we encounter any monsters which are coming here for water."
Isaac agreed with Druak, nodding towards him. Both of them left as quickly as possibly. However, luck wasn't on their side as just as they were leaving the small lake a giant black horned leopard leapt out towards Isaac.
Noticing it in time Druak launched a barrage of ice blades toward it.
"Huff. Thanks, Druak. That was a bit close."
Druak ignored Isaac as he knew that strike wasn't nearly enough to take out the black horned leopard. "Isaac, don't relax too soon, it's still alive so you need to be careful."
Isaac, realising he was being too relaxed, quickly shifted to a battle stance along side Druak. Neither of them relaxed for a moment, waiting for the fog to clear and reveal the location of the black horned leopard.
As they waited both Druak and Isaac chugged down a potion, not wanting to take any chances of being poisoned.
Gradually the fog cleared and revealed a barely injured black horned leopard. "Guess that's what I should expect from a peak stage 1 creature." Druak muttered as he charged towards the beast.
As he charged towards the black horned leopard Druak shouted. "Isaac I'll hold it off you prepare a fire spell to launch at it."
Druak launched Ice blade after ice blade, managing to get the leopard's attention. Once he had its attention Druak finally drew his new blade which he had bought. Both Druak and the leopard began rapidly launching attacks at each other. Druak had managed to land a few blows to the leopard's legs but thanks to its strong hid not much damage had been sustained.
Druak was in a much worse condition as each time he managed to land a blow the leopard also managed to, leaving gashes all over Druaks body. Luck for Druak he had bought some armour that had lessened the damage he had taken but the wounds were still significant enough for Druak to be in great pain.
Isaac didn't waste a single breath before beginning to cast the best fire spell he knew as a giant red magic circle began to form before him. The only downside to this spell was it's incredibly long cast time, luckily Druak had managed to hold the creature off just long enough for Isaac to cast his spell.
"DRUAK MOVEEE!!!"
Druak leapt to the side barely avoiding the tsunami of flames that flew past him. The Leopard which had been much faster than Druak tried to do the same. However, as the leopard tried to leapt it instead dropped to the floor, unable to move. Druak had scrapped his blade against the trees while fighting and thanks to the poison which had been cotted on his sword the leopard was unable to move in time.
*Bang*
The wave of fire enveloped the leopard, causing it to screech in pain. Druak not wanting to take any risks instantly charged towards the leopard once the fire dispersed and slid his blade straight into the chard leopard's throat.
Once Druak was certain that the leopard was dead he began butchering the monster as a lot of its body parts would be quite valuable if used in the correct way.
'It's a shame it wasn't mature, then we would be able to have a full sized black horn. Then again I'm not sure we are at the stage to beat a fully mature black horned leopard.'
The most valuable materials that Druak found were the black horn and the fangs of the leopard. Sadly this leopard didn't have a core inside it so Druak wouldn't be able to make a weapon with the leopard horn but at least he could still sell the horn for a decent sum.
They had also collected the meat and bones from the black horned leopard, to use as food. The only things they ended up leaving were the skin and some organs as those were either too damaged or basically useless.
They quickly left the area they had been fighting in as they knew their fight had probably attracted unwanted attention from monsters and possibly humans. Not long after leaving, they noticed that it was beginning to get dark so they began to set up camp, this time after arguing for a little bit Druak was able to get the first night's sleep, leaving Isaac to keep watch over the camp while Druak slept.
Once Druak entered his tent Isaac ended up lying against a tree as he played with the fire in his hands. Isaac couldn't help but think about the events that had happened earlier that day, when he was beaten half to death.
Isaac couldn't forget the names of the main two that had gathered all those people to beat him within an inch of his life Edward Adder and Krane Adder, the same two whom Druak had a conflict with in the past.
Their names constantly rang in his head as he recalled each cut and punch that he received and the constant names that they kept reminding him of. "Tell Druak who did this to you." That was all they said as they continued to beat him down again and again, but Isaac could never tell Druak about this as he knew if Druak was told there would be no stopping him.
Minutes passed which soon turned into hours and Isaac continued to mess with the flames in his hand as he thought about the beating that he received.
Suddenly the forest which till now had constant rustling and howling suddenly went silent as if some kind of ominous beast had scared off all beings that were within the forest.
*Swoosh*
The sound of a humongous winged beast flying above the forest echoed around Isaac. This was soon followed by hundreds of other monsters which followed closely behind.
"What the hell was that thing."
The largest of the monsters which flew past seemed almost human like, although its head was in the shape of an eagle and it was covered in fur. The other big difference between this monster and a human was the fact that it looked to be over 8 feet tall and seemed to have razor sharp wings.
Isaac stopped playing with his fire from that point on, not wanting to risk the flying monsters seeing where he and Druak were.
Once 4 hours had passed it was time for Druak turn to keep watch so Isaac went into Druaks tent to wake him up, this was until he saw the state that Druak was in.
Due to the damage, he had sustained Druak was covered in a cold sweat and was constantly moving around in his sleep. Seeing this Isaac quickly grabbed a small rag and started whipping the sweat from Druak brow, and once he had done that he decided it would probably be best if Druak had a bit more sleep.
Leaving the tent again Isaac went back to keeping watch until eventually Druak woke up on his own, and thanks to a large amount of sleep he felt completely refreshed.
Druak slowly left his tent to see the sun slowly rising and Isaac still kept watch, despite the black circles which were now around his eyes.
Furious with him Druak yelled at Isaac for 10 minutes straight and after finishing eventually managed to persuade Isaac to go into the tent for a few hours extra of sleep. Despite Druak yelling at Isaac he couldn't help but smile at the back of Isaac as he went into his tent to get a bit more sleep.