Chapter 199: Strange Forest

Waking up, Alice pushed herself up off the ground, stretched, and looked around, seeing the large man sitting by a fire, his sword leaning against his shoulder. Opposite her, the scarred woman lay on the ground, with closed eyes, taking shallow breaths, peacefully sleeping. Sniffing the air, she looked towards the fire and saw a few sticks with strange vegetables on them roasting and couldn’t help but inch towards it, finding the smell quite appealing. As if in agreement, her stomach grumbled at her.

"You’re finally awake." Rubbing her face, Alice gaped towards the fire, pulling a stick of black vegetables before she was burnt and took it. Biting into the vegetable, she moaned in delight at the taste. It was bitter at first, a nutty bitterness that morphed into a sweetness that was similar to a peach. Greedily devouring the first stick, she grabbed a second and quickly ate, reaching for a third, stopping when she heard the large man clear his throat. "We need to eat as well. We don’t have enough stock to indulge."

"But I’m hungry."

"These vegetables are filling. Don’t be greedy." Alice’s eyes didn’t look away from the crackling fire. Over it, she heard a sigh. "You’re interested in runes, right?" The words caught her attention, and looking up, she saw the man pull out a small knife and threw it her way, the blade sticking in the ground. "Play with that."

Snatching it, Alice stared at the blade, dragging a hand along it and couldn’t help but quickly get lost in it. Reaching into her satchel and pulling out her glasses, she activated the translation runes and stared at the blade as they deciphered, finally letting her read them properly.

’It’s not that confusing. Mainly maintenance runes to keep the blade in perfect condition.’ Her fingers moved across it. Sighing, she chucked the blade to the side, uninterested in it, realising many of the runes were boring, only useful for the maintenance of the knife and nothing more. Her eyes instead went to his sword, and she could tell that many of the runes on it were different.

"You Magi use the arcane, right?" The man said, taking Alice’s attention off the sword. Pulling her glasses off, she happily nodded as he walked over, took his knife back, and retook his seat. "I’ve always wondered why you bother to learn it." Alice tilted her head and stared at him in confusion. Trying to find the right words, he paused for a moment before speaking, "I mean, you are scholars, aren’t you. The arcane’s best purpose, however, is to be used as a weapon; at least here it is."

"You have Magi here?" Alice asked with interest.

"No, no, no no." Quickly shutting it down, he carried on, "Those born with potential in the arcane are trained and serve the Lords in matters with the land. They are not Magi, just people who use the Arcane. Which brings me back to my questions: why do you guys bother with the arcane? It’s not like it’s very much used for a scholar."

"You’re an idiot," Alice said, making the man furrow his brow. "The arcane is needed for runecraft; it makes alchemy easier, and most importantly, only those with arcane power can travel the MadHouse." Stretching, Alice fell backwards and looked into the sky. "It also provides protection when learning more knowledge. Teacher said there is some knowledge that is dangerous to learn if you do not have the right protections. For a magi, the arcane is the protection of the soul but also something to be studied, allowing us to delve deeper into the world’s mysteries."

"I see." The large man quietly said, "But you do learn how to use it in ways that are offensive, right?"

"I guess, but it’s not the point. We just learn to help us. As for me, it’s not hard at all." Sitting back up, Alice held her hands out. Mobilising the arcnae, two fires formed from her hands. "I learnt that using the arcnae is a lot like runecraft. Make the correct sequence, and you get what you want. This is a simple fire, obviously, but." Bringing her hands before her, the fire began to dance, changing shape until it took the form of a book. "In my studies, I learnt that once outside of the body, you can use the arcane to manipulate the shape and whatnot. Not the core structure; this won’t become an inferno if I don’t add to it, but the shape is very easy." The fire changed again, turning into an arrow. Pointing a hand to the sky, she let it fly off, the fire dissolving into nothingness a few seconds later.

"After enough practice, it becomes as easy as breathing to change the shape." Mobilising the arcane again, a ball of water formed in her hand. Once more, it danced and changed shape, becoming the shape of a person. More details were refined until it looked like a very poor imitation of herself. The water figure of herself began to move, waving her hands towards the large man before collapsing into a puddle when Alice closed her fist. "I don’t really know about other Magi; they might be good, but not as good as me. Teacher said I’m one in a million after all."

With a smug smile, she tapped her chest with her fist and nodded. Getting only silence in response, she sighed and looked around. Unlike when she first entered, they were on a flat piece of land, the closest thing being the forest in the distance. Unlike the trees she first saw, these were slightly different, with white leaves glowing under the moonlight. Her eyes lit up, and she jumped up, staring at them with excitement.

"Don’t." The man said in a sharp voice, "We are resting."

"I already slept." The man narrowed his eyes and stared at Alice, a deep annoyance in his gaze.

"Will you go no matter what?" Alice turned and blankly stared at him. The large man sighed and rubbed his face. "You have your whistle, right? I won’t be moving from here unless I hear it." Fumbling around in her satchel, Alice quickly pulled the whistle out and went to blow. "Stop. You’ll wake her if you blow it. Seeing it is enough."

"Good." Taking a few steps, the man called out again.

"Wait." Spinning around, Alice stared at him for a moment as he fell into thought. Opening and closing his mouth a few times, he took a deep breath and met her gaze. "What’s my name?" Looking at him, Alice smiled.

"You never told me." Turning back around, she marched off. With a racing heart, she couldn’t help but feel it was too slow and mobilised the arcane again. Facing her hands to the ground, she began to run and shot a massive gust of wind from her hands, leaping across a large distance in one go. With a playful laugh, she held her hands foward and another gust of wind shot out to break her fall. Over and over she repeated the same movements until she was outside the forest.

Unlike before, there wasn’t silence; rather, the cool breeze that hit her when she took her first step carried the sound of quiet whispers, all of them sounding like they came from people miles away. They were playful, young, and full of joy. Closing her eyes, Alice let the arcane spread from her and touched the wind. Within it, there was the same usual power that corrupted every part of the land, but it carried no other hints of another power.

"They are real voices?" Questioning herself, she slowed her pace and casually walked through the forest. No matter how far she got, the whispers never got louder, only the intensity of them. The quiet playfulness became ravenous, as if it sensed a new person to play with; the excitement in the voices almost matching Alice’s own. Looking around, she saw no sign of life, just the serene glow of the white leaves, lighting the forest up like it was still the middle of the day.

Minutes dragged, the whispers getting louder until Alice saw ahead a tree that differed. Unlike the rest, it was wide, wider than any she had ever seen, the roots bulging out of the ground like massive arms. The area around it was cleared, with a field of flowers surrounding it. Each petal glowed as the tree leaves above, but was purple in colour. The tree itself, had different leaves aswell, a faint blue tint to them.

The whispers finally got louder, and Alice could clearly make it out.

’Closer.’

’Come’

’Friends.’

’Almost here.’

’Come.’

’Play.’

Hundreds of voices spoke, and Alice picked up her speed at hearing their warm welcomes until she broke past the tree line into the small patch of flowers. Taking a deep breath, the air was cleaner, with the fresh scent of nature in it. The breeze that was cold suddenly warmed, and as if greeting her, the flowers shook from side to side.

Alice’s eyes widened as she walked foward, having to come to a stop and spin around, looking at the sight. From every flower, a small blue orb flew up. Hundreds littered the air as they danced around Alice and the sky itself, welcoming her, their voices clear in her mind.

’Friend.’

’Guest.’

’Play.’

’Play.’

’Play.’

’Ask mother.’

’Friend.’

The blue orbs flew with greater intensity before retreating, creating a path towards the large tree in the centre. Sitting on the ground before it, leaning against the root, Alice saw a humanoid figure looking at her. Her body was black, black like the bark of the trees, with dents and grooves to complete the resemblance. She had no eyes; rather, two large leaves, white with the same blue tint, wrapped around her face, only revealing an opening which could only be her mouth. Atop her head, smaller white and blue leaves formed a crown.

"Child." Her voice was rough, but warm. "Would you please play with my children?" Alice stepped foward looking at the woman with amazement, having never seen something so strange in her life. The blue orbs continued to float around and pester her, speaking in a broken language, each one young and full of wonder.