Wearing oversized armor that clearly wasn't his size, and a cursed sword hanging beside two water bags tied to his waist, Farrel traversed The Forest of Death with one direction in mind.
"So… Why are you bringing the boar's blood again?" Joy stared at one of the water bags that Farrel grabbed from the bandits' corpses.
Farrel then tapped the hilt of his cursed sword.
"Well, if the rumor this guy heard is the truth, then my safety and loss of strength could be solved quickly if this went well."
"I never traveled to this part of the forest, so I don't know about that…"
Joy recalled the story that he and Farrel heard from the bandit leader.
All his life, he knew The Forest of Death got its name because of the bandits and beasts roaming there.
And the eerie vibes of the forest caused by the numerous wandering souls there also made the forest seem cursed for anyone who had stepped foot there.
There were numerous bandit groups, and the one that Farrel subjugated was one of the many.
And those bandit groups had brought hundreds of vengeful souls along with them.
The dozens Farrel recruited in his quest for payback for Joy was only a drop in the bucket of vengeful spirits lingering in the Forest of Death.
However, after hearing the story of the history of the place from one of those bandits themselves, he and Farrel learned that the name Forest of Death had existed far before bandits started making the place their home.
The reason these bandits chose the place was exactly because it was the Forest of Death and The Ritter Kingdom had abandoned the place, giving these bandits a place to lay low after doing their job.
From the bandit leader's story, the two of them learned the rumors and stories going on about the forest.
There were many kinds of tales, but all of them could be summarized into one paragraph.
A battle between the kingdom and a single powerful villain from the tower had taken place in this forest, and it was said that the villain had powers related to spirits and souls.
And after the kingdom had won after paying a huge price, the soul of the villain was still said to be lingering inside the forest.
Farrel brushed the detail about the soul becoming an evil spirit that kills anyone it sees as Farrel wouldn't just believe such a thing before seeing it for themselves.
He had seen his fair share of ghosts and vengeful spirits.
No matter how gruesome they had died, they had standards and would not kill just anyone their eyes laid upon. They would only do something if it was related to their grudge.
Unless the one that was doing the killing was a demon, an entity that just loved to see the world burn. Then Farrel would just accept that he would be dealing with a murder maniac.
After hearing the story for the first time, one thing instantly took Farrel's attention.
And that was the existence of a powerful ghost that was feared by a whole kingdom.
If the ghost did exist and Farrel made a contract with it, then he would be able to recover a significant amount of strength.
Like his old friend, Bahuwirya, a ghost that had existed for hundreds of years, and was so strong that Farrel could only make an equal partnership with it despite the dozens of other strong ghosts at his disposal.
If Farrel could make a contract with that kind of ghost again and gain their strength, then he wouldn't be afraid to deal with another bandit camp alone head-on.
Which means that his survival was at least guaranteed in this second life unless he was ambushed by dozens of religious leaders at the same time again.
Farrel just hoped that the ghost was actually a ghost and not a demon.
No matter how desperate he became, Farrel didn't want to make a deal with those entities. There's only one price that they want, and it was none other than his soul.
He would rather become a wandering ghost rather than a rotting soul in the hands of demons.
So in order to make that possibility become true, Farrel made his preparations, and that was to bring the boar's blood with him.
He didn't know how the ghosts in this other world acted.
But considering his spells worked just fine and the ghosts still acted the way they should be after following his chant, Farrel would bet on the chance that the ghosts here would have a similar preference to the ghosts he knew back on Earth.
And one of their favorite things back on earth was blood.
Human blood was preferred, but animal blood could also work albeit the result wouldn't be as effective.
Not all ghosts would like an offering of blood, just like how Joy would probably look at him weirdly and fly away instead if he gave the kid human blood.
But from hearing the stories of the violent nature of the ghost, Farrel could only guess that it would also like the things that violent ghosts on Earth liked.
Some evil ones liked a fetus as an offering, but that kind of ghost was the one that was probably worshiped by a cult and had been 'pampered' by those cultists with such extravagant offerings.
"Just think of the blood as a friendly gift," Farrel said to the floating ghost boy beside him.
"Besides, with your ability, I think it could go smoother than I expected."
With the offering and Joy's ability that could somehow make the souls, even the vengeful ones, to be welcoming to him, Farrel was quite confident in making the contract with the powerful ghost.
Such a ghost wouldn't easily be affected by external influences, but Joy's ability could surely give a little push that he might need.
The duo and the cursed sword continued their journey in the direction in which Farrel felt the most negative energy in the forest, and they finally stopped when Farrel raised his hand.
"What is it?" Joy asked.
Farrel pointed in a certain direction before answering, "Try focusing and give your full attention there."
Joy did as he was told to, and soon, Joy instinctively jumped backward with his body shaking.
"Farrel…? What is this feeling…?"
Feeling the dense negative energy that practically drowned the two of them, Farrel replied with a single sentence,
"Fear and suppression,"
Farrel's eyes were locked in the direction his finger was pointing at, his feet didn't move an inch as his eyes squinted.
"Whatever the hell it was residing over there, it was strong enough to envelop us with his energy."
Farrel then stopped and took a deep breath before continuing,
"From hundreds of meters away…"