Free Web NovelChapter 12: Lands of Horror [1]
Two weeks had finally passed and today was the day I would venture into the forest.
After packing my things into a spatial ring I had found in one of the drawers, I stood up and walked towards the mirror.
"Damn, mana really does feel like some kind of growth drug."
My height had increased by five centimeters, so I was now standing at 1.65 meters.
I could already tell that in a year, I would be past 1.7 meters, something I could never have dreamed of in real life.
I was a short guy.
I also checked my body’s progress: my muscles had become firmer and stronger with mana running through them. My bones too had hardened, thanks to that bastard Ezio who took great pleasure in breaking them every single day so they could heal and be broken again.
It was torture, but it was worth it.
I now had a body that would help me survive out there.
After checking my appearance one more time, I strapped my katana to my waist and walked down the stairs and out of the mansion.
It took about 7 minutes to reach the gates. The mansion was big as hell.
There, at the gates, the Laurent Knights stood with Commander Lee at the front.
They were probably there to see me off.
As I approached, I heard Commander Lee’s voice:
"Are you sure you don’t want us to accompany you?" He asked, concerned.
I waved my hand. "No, there is no need."
I looked at my shadow and pointed a finger at it. "After all, I have my Shadow Guardian with me."
The shadow wavered slightly.
"Oh, has the young master finally earned the respect of his guardian?!" One of the knights said in surprise.
"Most likely. After what he did the day he awakened, it wouldn’t be surprising for the guardian to acknowledge him." Another said.
Unlike the others, Commander Lee showed no reaction as he looked at me.
"I don’t mean to be forward, young master, but could you at least prove to me that your Shadow Guardian is accompanying you? I have never seen the guardian myself, but I need to confirm that someone is going with you for your protection." Lee said with a serious tone.
It was understandable. After all, if something happened to the son of a Duke, every subordinate meant to protect him would be executed.
So I couldn’t blame him.
"Alright. Ezio, come out." I said.
I felt Ezio’s reluctance, but after a few seconds he materialized out of my shadow, stunning the knights while Commander Lee’s eyes went wide.
"Did you really have to call me out, kid?" Ezio said with an irritated voice. freewёbnoνel.com
"We greet the guardian." All the knights said, bowing their heads alongside Commander Lee.
Ezio looked at their gesture and coughed a couple of times before speaking.
"Ahem, thank you. There is no need to worry. I will be accompanying him and making sure he returns with all his limbs intact."
"If that is what the guardian says, then we will not stop you any longer. We wish you a safe trip and a safe return." The knights stepped aside and we walked past them.
If I had told them where exactly I was going, they would have probably called me insane. But sometimes a little insanity is needed to get things done.
The guards at the gates pulled open the large metal doors and we walked through.
Outside, a road led towards the city. It would have been nice to take a look, but I had monsters to deal with and no time to sightsee.
I felt Ezio’s gaze on me, which prompted me to look back at him.
"What?"
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue. "Why did you copy me?"
"Copy...?" I followed where his finger was pointing, at my clothes.
I was wearing plain black trousers and a shirt that were comfortable enough to move freely in battle, with a black hooded cloak on top, the hood currently lowered.
I was basically a man in black.
Then I looked at Ezio, who wore almost the same thing, the only difference being that his cloak had no hood.
"Come on, why would I copy you? Black is obviously the best colour for staying hidden in a forest. I don’t want to die." I scoffed.
"If you really didn’t want to die, you wouldn’t be going to that place at all!" He shook his head.
"Why are you acting like taking me there wasn’t part of our deal?"
"You said to take you into the wild, not to one of the deadliest places on this earth!" He shot back.
"Same thing."
Ezio just groaned and muttered. "If the Duke finds out, I’m dead."
"Stop whining and let’s go. Time is money." I said as I pulled a pocket watch out and tapped it with my finger.
Ezio massaged his temple before placing his hand on my shoulder.
Shadows enveloped us both and we disappeared from in front of the gates.
Where we were going was quite far, all the way at the border of the Laurent duchy. The forest we were headed to shared a border with it, so Ezio had to teleport in several stages using checkpoints he had set up beforehand, since jumping straight to the border would have drained too much mana.
It took about 30 minutes to reach the border, a journey that would have otherwise taken days.
We appeared inside a dark alley where sunlight did not reach.
I was immediately struck by the sight of walls that towered hundreds of meters above me. I could sense many strong presences spread out across them. These were the ones responsible for guarding the northern side of the Gloria Empire, or more specifically, the Laurent family who oversaw it.
In the middle stood two enormous gates made of some kind of obsidian black metal, covered in glowing purple runes that parted whenever someone was coming in or going out.
The people passing through were mercenaries and adventurers heading out on missions.
"Hey, are you sure you won’t get spotted?" I asked in a whisper.
"Yes. I am a man of my word. Why would I lie? I have done this many times."
A group of five adventurers talking cheerfully passed by the alley we were in and headed towards the gate.
Just before they moved too far, I felt myself sink into the shadows alongside Ezio and slip into one of theirs.
Honestly, being inside a shadow felt pretty strange, like being crammed into a tight space where you could not move at all.
I wondered what would happen if Ezio left me in here.
I already knew the answer.
You would be trapped forever, losing your sense of self until you became one with the shadows.
Quite creepy.
"Seriously, Lucas, we are going to hunt giant spiders today? They are so disgusting!" The girl whose shadow carried us spoke with a look of revulsion on her face. She had short brown hair and blue eyes.
"Mia, you complain about everything. If you didn’t want to come, you could have stayed back." A tall, broad man with a greatsword strapped to his back said.
"You know I can’t, I need that moneyyy!" Mia said, rubbing her fingers together.
The other two in the group laughed at her.
"Mia would do absolutely anything for money." A woman with a crown of orange hair said with a disapproving tone.
"You know it is true. For those of us not born with golden spoons, it is everything." Mia said, her expression darkening for a brief moment before snapping back to her usual playful look as she hugged the woman.
They were most likely commoners or people from modest backgrounds, since few nobles ever became adventurers.
"Well, I just hope nothing goes wrong on this mission." Mia said.
Soon they reached the gates where the guards were posted.
"Identification, please." The guard said.
Each of the five produced a token and a paper that was most likely their mission document.
After a short verification, the guards let them through and signalled to the men posted up on the walls.
Runes lit up across the obsidian gates and they began to open slowly, producing a low, deep, heavy rumble as they glided apart.
"Stay vigilant." Lucas said as he walked ahead of his party.
They all followed and then the heavy gates closed behind us.
We were no longer in the Laurent duchy.
We were now in the Lands of Horror.
