Sunlight tried to penetrate the forest but only cast shadows on the surface. The sound of wild beasts could be heard from afar, marking that those who entered this place were now in a realm where the law of the jungle was literally in effect. Aldrian stood on a tree branch, surveying his surroundings. He had been inside the forest for more than an hour and was nearing the inner section, moving at a mind-blowing speed that only an emperor stage cultivator could achieve.
Strangely, the spirits that everybody had warned him about were nowhere to be seen since he entered the outer section. "Maybe they are in the inner section?" he thought. Using his movement technique, which relied on wind energy to accelerate, he avoided teleporting to save his energy. This test also served as an experiment ground to check his limits. He reviewed his information:
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Aldrian Aster
Domain : The secret realm and Balin city
Age : 12 years
Cultivation : High Viscount
Current energy : (Replenishment mode) 240,124 (+5/s) || (Halt) 253,672 (+1.3/15m)
Energy needed for the next stage : 270,001
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"I have to be careful outside my domain, but my energy consumption is good despite using my movement technique and teleportation for more than an hour. 240,124 (+5/s)? So my energy replenishment speed is now 5/second? Well, that's quite fast. If only my cultivation speed could be as fast as this. And my original energy is 253,672 (+1.3/15m)? Then I can advance to peak viscount in a little more than 4 months." He pondered.
"But since when did my cultivation increase rate become (+1.3/15m)? Hmm, was it when I had that little epiphany while talking with the imperial teacher?"
He continued his journey towards the inner part of the forest, where emperor stage spirits dwelled. Moving at a fast speed, he eventually reached what appeared to be a river. "Across the river is the inner section of the forest," he thought. He looked at his wrist, now adorned with a bracelet, a device used to locate and detect his position.
At this moment, his position was being transmitted in real time to the tents of the watchers—in this case, the emperor and his group. With this, they could keep an eye on him. Aldrian couldn't remove the bracelet because it would transmit a signal if it ever detached from his wrist.
The inner part of the Forest of Despair was a special place because any individual who stepped inside would be automatically detected by the spirits. Emperor stage spirits would come after them. If the intruders turned out to be elves, they would mostly be chased away.
For other races, it depended on the circumstances, they might be chased out or killed. Humans, however, were mostly hunted down, except in very rare cases. But if they saw a devil cultivator, they would kill them on the spot, regardless of who they were.
Logically, a viscount stage cultivator shouldn't be able to reach this part of the forest. Even before reaching this area, Aldrian should have encountered a duke stage spirit. What Aldrian doesn't know is that even reaching the test area in the inner section is an impossible task for someone at the viscount stage, because they would almost certainly meet a duke stage spirit or, in very rare cases, a grand duke before reaching the river.
However, he hasn't encountered anyone or anything at all, just trees and occasionally the sound of wild beasts. In fact, he really wants to meet some spirits and try to battle them to test his ability.
Without much thought, he started running on the water's surface, hoping something might appear from beneath. But nothing happened until he fully crossed the river. "What is wrong with this place?" he wondered, feeling that something strange was going on as he hadn't encountered any spirits or beasts.
He dashed into the inner section, hoping to meet something, and kept moving until he finally saw a little movement in a bush. He teleported to it and found a small creature with wings hiding among the leaves. The creature looked at him with trembling eyes and a scared expression.
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Vin
Age : 60.260 years
Race : Sylphid (Spirit)
Cultivation : Low Duke.
Techniques : Bellowing Wind, Tornado, Wind Storm, Wind Pillar, Wind Sword, Wind Slash, Wind Net.
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"A Sylphid?" Aldrian thought, recognizing the spirit of air with a humanoid shape and insect-like wings on her back. The creature, the size of his thumb, looked at him with trembling eyes and a scared expression, which puzzled him. "Why are you so scared when you are a low duke stage spirit?" he wondered.
"Excuse me, miss?" He bent his knees to be more aligned with her, trying to appear friendly and polite. The little spirit still looked at him with trembling eyes and a scared expression, but she managed to speak.
"Y-yes?" she asked, trembling.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I want to ask, do you know what happened to the other spirits? Why haven't I seen them on my journey here?" Aldrian asked, noticing her hesitation to answer. He waited patiently for her response.
"They... they're hiding," she said.
"Hiding? Hiding from what?"
The Sylphid now looked like she was about to cry, making Aldrian feel bad even though he hadn't done anything. If someone saw them at this moment, they would misunderstand the situation and think Aldrian was bullying the little spirit.
"They... they are hiding from you."
"....." Aldrian was speechless, hearing the answer.
"How am I dragged into this?" Aldrian thought, wanting to drag his palm across his face. "I'm sorry, why are they hiding from me when they've never met me? I also did not come here with bad intent."
"It's... it's his majesty's notice that a 'higher being' will come to this place and venture inside it."
"His majesty? Ah, it must be the king of this forest. Is it possible for Dahan to still be alive after millions of years? Also, higher being? Me?" Aldrian thought. He considered other reasons and realized that his appearance seemed to have a more severe effect on other spirits than on the world tree spirit. He needed to meet other spirits to draw the correct conclusion.
"Why do they think I'm the 'higher being'?"
"It's because your presence, I mean your excellency's presence, even from afar, feels like we are in front of a being we have to worship."
"Is that so? Do you feel my energy then?" He asked, making sure he had concealed his energy and aura before coming here.
"No, but my body and soul react outside of my control."
"This means it's their innate instinct reacting to my presence." Aldrian thought. Initially, he believed Olivia's attraction to him was due to his energy and aura, but it seemed that was not the case here, even when he had concealed his energy and aura.
"Then may I know where his majesty is?"
"He is in the core section, inside his dwelling place."
"Alright, thank you, miss." Aldrian then disappeared, leaving the Sylphid alone. The little spirit, ensuring Aldrian was gone, sighed and stumbled down onto her butt. A few moments later, a few more Sylphids suddenly appeared from thin air and looked at her.
"Vin, I already told you not to peek. Really, your curiosity can kill you," one of them berated her.
"But his presence is really beyond my comprehension. Is he really human?"
"Whatever, just looking at him from afar causes my body to tremble uncontrollably and my feelings to be a mess." Not only them, but many other kinds of spirits also appeared one by one, even small wild beasts came out from their hiding.
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Back at the main tents of the nobles, they watched Aldrian's movement with amazement. A giant paper map of the forest hung in front of them, showing a red dot moving at an incredible speed.
"Is he always using teleportation? How can a viscount stage move that fast? What technique is he using?"
"Incredible, as expected of the chosen one."
"Why does it look like he's smoothly crossing the forest without any hindrance?"
Many voiced their opinions based on the dot's movement on the paper. Emperor Ladwin and Imperial Teacher Elthar looked at the map with anxious and doubtful expressions.
"He's already in the inner section of the forest, but he seems to have met no hindrance. And his movement—oh no, is he heading to the core area?" Emperor Ladwin sent a voice transmission to Elthar.
"I don't know, but it's really strange. He seems fine after arriving at the inner section. Maybe there's something we don't know, but he must understand the danger if he moves deeper and even heads to the core area. I really don't know what he's thinking." Elthar replied.
They showed worried faces and kept looking at the map. Meanwhile, the nobles from the conservative faction felt doubtful, but when they saw Aldrian moving deeper into the core area, they grinned wickedly.
"Fool, what an arrogant bastard. You keep challenging us, and now you'll be dead for sure." Marquess Andra thought.
The idea of serving a human infuriated him. For an elf of his status to follow a human? He clenched his fists tightly, trying to contain his rage. While the others from the conservative faction felt thrilled by Aldrian's move, one elf watched the map without expression: Grand Duke Maelis.