A figure dashed in the woods. This was the nightmare forest. A place with no animals, just all kinds of plant more poisonous than the next.
You might not believe it but no animal with flesh has ever survived in the nightmare forest.
Even the most peculiar creature has met it's demise here.
From laxatives bearing plants, to plants bearing medicine.
So, for the locals, this place became both a haven and a graveyard.
Doctors and the desperate would come to this place to scavenge new or rare medicinal plants for new plagues or rare illnesses.
Until Grimvalders and the Elderspires, took it upon them to make the largest greenhouse housing almost all the plants they scavenger from that forest. Naming it the medicinal valley, one of the peaks in their mountainous terrain.
Got it! I'll tone down the smugness to keep Doctor Sue confident but not overly arrogant.
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I studied in that country for years and eventually became my master's favorite.
It felt like I was finally soaring. But the higher you get, the harder people try to bring you down.
I was on the verge of a breakthrough in my research—just one last ingredient to find. So I set out, but then… ambush. No guards, no protection. There were two of us and we weren't ready for it. We panicked.
We fought hard against their encirclement but, my partner and I got separated. He went one way, and I ran straight into the forest.
At least I had those five bars of compressed food and water pills. Picked them up in the capital last week. Never thought I'd actually use them. But thank God I did. I patted my chest where I've kept them. Thank God.
This forest might seem peaceful, but it's doing nothing for me right now.
I'm tired, on edge.
Gasping to take a breath, I flopped down.
My back against the tree.
I keep looking over my shoulder, waiting for those guys to show up again. I don't believe that ambush was random. Something's off.
And to top it all off—I stink. Haven't washed in days, and I'm a mess. My hair's a greasy disaster, and my clothes are filthy and wrinkled. I know.
I survived and that's what matters, but seriously—looking like this? I can't stand it.
I mean: Man really, I shouldn't have to deal with this.