Sometimes, Alnea missed the silent, eerie fog, casting a gloomy air around him, making him doubt himself, the bloodthirsty Oren Beasts, lurking in the shadows, ready to tear his throat and eat him alive, and even the simple, creepy trees, watching all his movements and murmuring in his head, asking for his help. Back then, exploring the forest used to be far too easy.

  All that he had to do, was to restrain themselves from destroying the forest while fending off some Oren Beasts and subduing the Wanderers they met along the way, without worrying about where they were stepping. At least not every step of their way. Just ensuring that they were not stepping into some traps, or into those poisonous bogs was enough. Even if he made some mistakes, he had the rest of his teammates watching his back anyway. With just Zain accompanying him though…

  Alnea paused in his thoughts, and glanced at Zain, following behind him, humming an annoying tone, with a wide grin on his face. A grin. The man was grinning, while exploring the forest alone with him. There was definitely something wrong with his head. Then again, who was he to question the sanity of other people? Especially after killing himself with his own hands… But that should have made him more normal… right?

  Regardless, the point in question at the moment was not his sanity, but the forest. The strange forest, that was becoming even weirder with each passing moment. First, it was the water, then ground, and at the moment, even the trees had turned against them. What was next, the fog? Or the entire forest itself? No, why stop at that point? Why not also call the abomination sealed—

  Alnea crushed that thought before it could even take shape, afraid that he would jynx himself. Though, given the Curse of Fate, it was probably already too late. Right, the Curse. He had almost forgotten about it. Was the change in the forest also part of that Curse? After all, technically, it was still Inkah’s month. And the God of Death did seem to have a grudge against him. As did some Origin Beasts in the lineage of Death. Though that was probably due to Inkah’s influence. So, in the end, everything came back to the God of Death.

  Alnea could never figure out that part. Why was the God always after him? It was not as if he was the one who had defied Death. It was his namesake. And even then, he had not truly defied Death. At best, he had only managed to send his memories away. Besides, why was the God so free as to stare at a False Wanderer like him anyway? Did he not have some strange purpose or enemies for which he left the world? Why was he not focussing on those enemies? Why was he being so pe—

  Cursing an Origin God, that too, in his own month… How stupid could he be? Thankfully, he did not complete his thoughts. The God should not mind him for such a little slip of tongue. Probably. Still, he should probably hold a Ritual to ask for the God’s forgiveness anyway. Maybe even use the opportunity to tell the God that he had already killed the man who dared to go against his Domain. That should get the God off his back…

  Who was he kidding? If the Curse of Fate was so easy to get rid of, why would his master be so troubled by it? And why would a Supreme Wanderer—No, not just a Supreme Wanderer. It was the Fate Supreme himself, who had fallen to the Curse of his master’s Fate. Or at least that is what she said. Yuri had another story to tell. In any case, one thing was certain. Even if he could get the God of Death off his back, the Curse would still not let go of his Fate.

  Fortunately, Fate was not going to devour him anytime soon. Not under his master’s watch. That would give him plenty of time to deal with the Curse in the future. The Final Trial, however, was going to end soon. And there was still quite a bit of forest left to explore. So, Alnea quickly subdued his thoughts, Clearing the irrelevant ones while suppressing the rest into the depths of his Heart, before focussing back on the task at hand. Something that he should have been doing all along.

  Though, in his defence, half an hour was far from enough to prepare himself. Especially since it was Zain whom he was exploring the forest with. Not to mention that he had to readjust his Heart, while maintaining the Path of Stars. In retrospect, he should have waited until they were about to separate to cast the Path of Stars. Hopefully, the girls were not facing the same problem as him. On second thought, Cecilia and Vestia were probably faring even worse than him. Only Yuri should be doing better. But not by much. Maybe, next time—

  “This is fun,” Zain said, blasting his Aspects through his feet to jump, escaping the claws of the loose mud trying to grab his ankles, while weaving his way through the web of roots and branches springing up around them, going out of their way to ensnare them in its traps. “We should do this more often.”

  …Do what? Dance with Death?

  “…Let’s just focus on exploring for now,” Alnea said, suppressing his urge to scold the man. “If we miss some region because of your inattention, then all our efforts would be in vain.”

  “Would it not be alright if we just explored a bit further to compensate for the areas we missed? We just have to explore about a thousand square kilometres or so, right?”

  “…The goal of our Trial is to explore at least everything within a hundred kilometres of our starting point, not a fixed amount of area. So, you better not mess up now, Zain. We do not have the time to come back and make up for your mistake.”

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  “I know, I know.”

  “Also, be on the lookout for any strange and unusual movements.”

  “Strange movements? What kind of strange movements?”

  “Any kind. As long as you think it might be a sign of the Lotus clan’s presence—

  “How about that tree uprooting itself? Does that count?”

  “…Zain—

  “Relax, Captain. Stop worrying so much,” Zain said, waving his hand to dismiss his Captain’s needless worries. “Trust me. I know what I am doing.”

  “…I hope so,” Alnea said, returning his attention to the path ahead, before habitually probing the location of the girls through the ‘Path of Stars’. They were all within five kilometres of him, sweeping through the forest in irregular paths. Though they were not completely irregular.

  Rather, the paths moved in zigzag patterns, just with a curve to their arms. And since there were five such paths, all moving in the same relative direction, with a distance of no more than six to seven kilometres between the two furthest to each other, it was only natural for some of them to meet every now and then. But that was how they had planned their exploration in the first place, ensuring that each group had at least one other group within two kilometres of itself at all times.

  With such a close distance between them, even if a group was ambushed, or fell into a trap, it should be able to hold on until the other groups rushed to their rescue. There was just one problem. Sticking so close to each other and repeatedly covering some part of the forest two or three times, caused their rate of exploration to not increase as drastically as they had hoped it would, defeating the purpose for which they split in the first place.

  Still, despite voices of concern from some of his teammates, and declaration of bravery and self sacrifice from others, Alnea stuck to his decision, and chose a safer approach. For him, his team’s safety was always his first priority. Everything else came second. Even the Final Trial. Except, maybe the gospels of his master. What she said, always superseded other things, no questions asked.

  Unfortunately, his master was not exactly by his side. Had not been for quite some time. The only time he had even heard her words in the past few months was when she used her Roots to save him from backlash of his own Roots. And she did'nt give any specific instructions for him back then. So, for the moment, it was indeed his team’s safety that came first. And that of the girls. They were all a part of his Heart, after all. Even Vestia.

  Besides, he had done his calculations. Although they had lost some time in their indecision, it was not much. They still had over two days in their hands, while there was only a little over four percent of the forest left unexplored. That was just a little over a thousand square kilometres. With their current pace, they should not have any problem covering that area in two days. At worst, they would just have to keep exploring until the last hour. But they should be able to finish their Trial on time. Hopefully.

  …Maybe he had been relying a little too much on hope lately. Was it because things had been going his way for a change? Did he not know what happened to people who took things for granted? Or was getting stabbed once not enough to teach him a lesson? Maybe, it really was not. Not when he still used to be reckless. But he was not the same anymore. He was Alnea Oathkeeper. He was…

  “What happened?” Zain said, coming to a stop, when he noticed Alnea stop in his tracks. “Did you find something?”

  “…No,” Alnea said, Clearin—No, the waves were far too large to be cleared. They could only be suppressed. “I just thought of something, but it is not important.”

  “…Really?”

  “Do you not believe me?”

  “I want to, but the look on your face just moments ago said otherwise.”

  “…Alright, maybe the thing is important. But it is not related to you. Or to the team. It does not even have anything to do with the Lost City.”

  “Do you need my help?”

  “…It is a personal matter.”

  “So? How does that change anything?”

  “Fine. I will tell you about it. But not now. Let’s finish our Trial first.”

  “But—

  “We do not have time to waste standing around, Zain. My matter can wait, but our Trial will not.”

  “…Are you sure?”

  “Do you think I would lie about something so important?”

  “…If you think that it may help us in finishing our Trial, or keep us from danger, then yes.

  “…You sure have changed from how you were when I first met you.”

  “Really? You noticed it too?”

  “…Noticed what?”

  “How handsome I have become.”

  “…I was talking about the change in your behaviour. In how you handle things, and how you talk to other people.”

  “Huh.”

  “…Huh?”

  “I mean, I do not feel any different. Maybe it is just your imagination.”

  “…Maybe,” Alnea said, hoping once again. “Alright, that’s enough for out little break. Let’s get going now, or the rest will think that we got into some trouble.”

  Alnea turned back to the path ahead, and was just about take his first step, when Zain reached out and grab his left hand, forcing him to turn back towards the white robed man once again.

  “What?”

  “…What you just said about the rest…”

  “What about it?”

  “…Well, they might not be wrong,” Zain said, glancing solemnly at the roiling fog around them. “We really are in some big trouble.”