Popping back onto the trail, Mors found himself feeling strange in his head. Like a fog had been exorcised from his mind, he also felt like he was getting farther from something important. It practically stunned him for a moment. Why was he so attached to the dead, he wondered.
But before he could further question, Genn appeared before him again, and he remembered that he needed to hide. So looking into the forest, he quickly found a large tree to hide behind while he questioned Genn about whatever this awakening was.
Slowly sprinting there, he found it to be the same green sap tree that the hill troll had run into. Originally the moonlight didn't illuminate the tree enough to see it clearly, but since he was closer to the path, he could see it. The tree itself looked strangely dead, but standing in front of it, Mors felt it brimming with life.
It was an oxymoron, a contradiction to what made sense in this world. Then Mors started thinking, 'How could this exist. It pretends to be dead, but it's alive like a zombie. Wait… I never was like this. Why are my thoughts so fast? What's going on? Is this awakening? Wait! I think I remember Heros needing to prove that they have gone through the process at the Adventures Association.'
Quickly looking around, trying to find Genn again, All Mors found were thick gravestone-gray trees and thin birch-like trees. Looking closer around, Mors notices some traces of his ghost friends zipping around seemingly randomly. They all seemed scared of the monster and were trying their best to help Mors out of the situation.
Thinking for a moment, he remembered that these heroes probably died to these monsters. The trauma of seeing an unsightly one this early must have them scared too. Mors had to help them too here. He promised to help them get revenge, but they would never get there without the ghosts calming down.
Listening to see if the troll was awake and finding it still passed out, Mors quickly shouted out, "Ghosts! Come here. We need to talk for a minute…."
The forest's silence returned after Mors's announcement before a great breeze swiftly came toward Mors. Twirling winds spun worryingly around Mors as he reached out to the practically visible blob of winds. Touching it, the winds seemed to stop for a moment before the ghost finally showed their blobby selves.
Sighing, Mors tried to soothe them, "Listen here, I am sorry for not noticing your worries, but you need to calm down for a minute. I am guessing you all have faced some horrible moments before your deaths. Maybe scary, but relax. No matter what, you don't have to face that again. Hell, you can even pass through anything you like, can't you…. So breathe, or whatever you can to calm down."
Gradually Mors noticed that the blobs seemed to become less transparent as they glowed in a crimson hue. Seeing that they probably were responding well and were calming down, Mors felt better. He had forgotten his role as their caretaker. He was the gravedigger for the dead heroes, and it was his responsibility to watch over the dead of his graveyard.
Sighing, Mors heard some noise in the distance that sounded like a pained groan. Quickly matching that to the troll being annoyed with its new bump on its head, Mors quieted down.
Then looking at the ghosts, he asked, "Seeing as all of you seem calm, can I ask you to look around? It doesn't have to be important what you find. Just look around for something that might be useful later."
Slowly all but one of the blobs disappeared as they started to calmly look around. The remaining blob waited for the others to leave before transforming into Genn again, as an ashamed face appeared on his face. Looking at Mors, he spoke, "I am sorry for that. I got caught up in the heat of the moment. But good job at calming them down. Now I am going to look for something useful now."
But as Genn was about to disappear, Mors decided to quietly stop him, "Don't go now. There is another tree over there I can hide in later, but I got some questions for you. Firstly, what the hell is the awakening?"
Pausing, Genn sighed as he looked at Mors, looking like he wished he kept his big mouth shut. He then explained, "To awaken, you need to take an awakening potion by an alchemist and then exert your body until it absorbs into your being… I don't know how you did it, but I felt you awaken. Usually, when you awaken, you become stronger as the potion reinforces your being, which allows you to fight more. Yours seems to be strange, though…."
Taking a moment to soak in what Genn said, mores decided to listen to hear if the troll was close. But the troll seemed to still be a bit further, taking out its frustration on the tree. So Mors decided to ask, "How strange?"
Looking at Mors, Genn sighed before explaining, "For one, you are so old… no one can usually awaken after the age of 50. And you seem passed it… Secondly, the boost you got was a lot larger than usual. You are only slightly weaker than the starter candidates of the guild." As Genn finished that statement, he chucked for a moment before the death stare from Mors stopped him.
As he was going to continue the statement, everyone heard the iconic sound of a tree starting to fall as an angry troll roared triumphantly. Looking at each other, Mors and Genn quickly moved back further away from the path as Mors hid behind a fallen tree that coincidentally fell between two trees. Breathing deeply, Mors quickly and quietly announced, "We will continue this after the troll is dealt with…."
Genn nodded in agreement before stating, "It seems the awakening has changed you mentally too. Such a change. It's like you adopted a survivor's heart…."
Realizing Genn was right, Mors felt slightly shocked by this new change. He realized it before, but his mind seemed to just accept the fact that this happened and move on naturally. Curious about it, Mors decided to learn more about the change after he got out of this damned forest.
Peeking out of a larger hole underneath the fallen log, Mors tried to find the troll again. He could now weirdly smell the troll as the wind seemed to have changed. Now he had the wonderful mix of corpses, garbage, and, weirdly, an extremely sweet evergreen smell.
Mors felt terror peak its head towards him as it started to fill his mind. He had to be fast at this to not get caught since the troll seemed to be mad now. With about 25 minutes to kill, Mors decided to start looking for the next place to hide. Venturing his eyes around the place, he found that he was near the edge of the safer portion of the forest.
Even though he wasn't a hero, he knew not to venture into areas with thicker black fog as it bordered the edge of the human lands. If you weren't strong enough, the black fog would harm you. Mors could see the start of the fog in close range to him, which was worrying since it limited his space. He didn't think he was strong enough to pass the fog at all.
Calming his breath, Mors shook his head as he looked back toward the monster in waiting, as it slowly appeared up on the trail. With the glimmering moonlight, Mors could see all the wooden splinters and gray-green sap on the troll, as well as the burning fire of rage in its eyes. Breathing in, Mors prepared to move as the troll slowly moved forward, smelling the ground. It was practically crawling as it took in any smells that Mors accidentally left behind in his escape attempt.
Then out of nowhere, Genn appeared in front of Mors with an excited face that glimmered with the sparkles of hope. Like a sailor finally seeing land after being stranded, Genn vibrated as he tried to calmly say, "We have figured out a way to slow it down. But you would first have to get to the other side of the path. Also, I found the perfect place to be before you move across. But you are going to have to trust me."
Smiling as he faced Genn, Mors responded, "Great, now tell me when to move so this troll can't see me. Also, I want to ask, what is that green stuff that is covering the monster? Can we use it at all?"
Looking excited, Genn replied, "You can, but you need to grab something first before it can be useful. So for right now, don't worry about it and wait for the monster to look at that tree."
Then pointing toward the spot he last hid at, Genn continued, "When the monster reaches there, you will be free to begin the plan!"