Chapter 173: Reaching the Forest of Death

Once the squad reached the other side of the Great Wall, the heavy doors closed behind them. The cold here was on a completely different level from that of the campus. It was difficult to imagine that there could be such a temperature difference on the two sides of the wall. The air was bone-chilling, and the ground beneath them was covered in a sheet of white snow. The dense forest they had seen from the top of the wall was barely visible as a horizontal line on the horizon.

"Everyone, group up," Seraphina ordered as she dismounted from her Qilin.

The others also dismounted from their beasts and gathered around her in a circle. From her storage ring, she drew the map that Aldric had given her.

She sat on the soft ground in a squatting position and spread the map before her. It showed a line of wall on one side and a vast forest on the other. Nearly eighty percent of the map was covered by the forest. There was a small open area between the wall and the forest. In truth, this was the very land where they currently stood.

Only then did Vlad realise how gigantic this forest really was. Even the academy campus felt like a rock in front of a mountain compared to this forest. Not to mention, the map did not even contain the entire forest, so it might as well have been even wider than this.

"Currently, we are here," Seraphina began, zooming in on the map.

The small open area between the wall and the forest expanded beneath the movement of her finger, causing Vlad to widen his eyes in bewilderment. It was not actually a map but a foldable screen displaying the map. Still, Vlad kept his curiosity to himself and listened carefully to what Seraphina had to say.

"Our mission is to investigate the forest and find the source that is attracting the monsters."

With a slide of her fingers across the map, she moved the screen toward the forest.

"However, as you have already realised, the Forest of Death is endless. If we begin our search randomly, it would be like trying to find a needle in an ocean. Naturally, we need to narrow down our search area."

Her finger moved across the map, drawing a line that separated more than half of the forest.

"The deeper we go into the forest, the higher the ranks of the monsters will be. I have separated the region that harbours Rank Five or higher monsters, which has narrowed our search down to thirty percent of the explored forest."

The Forest of Death was divided into two regions: the explored forest, which had already been explored by the professors and senior students, and the unexplored forest.

The map they had only showed the explored forest.

"Still, even this thirty percent is about three times larger than the campus of our academy," Seraphina revealed, her eyes focused on the map. "With trees this dense, it is still not possible for us to search for the source in a single lifetime."

Now Vlad began to understand why this mission was classified as S-Rank. Not only was the forest full of dangers, but the area they needed to search was far too vast.

A faint smile formed on Seraphina’s face as she continued, "That is why we will take advantage of the clear-out missions our professors and seniors have carried out."

She further zoomed into the forest, revealing dozens of checkpoints marked on it.

"These areas are marked by the teams where they found unusual number of monsters during their last clear-out missions."

Raphael adjusted his monocle in admiration of Seraphina’s intelligence as he understood what she intended to do.

"The clear-out teams are sent to the Forest of Death on the day of the Academy Tournament. Since it has already been more than half a month, more monsters must have already appeared in the areas cleared by the seniors. If we simply investigate those areas, we might be able to find some leads," Raphael finished her words with a faint smile on his face.

"Precisely," Seraphina nodded. She marked the checkpoint closest to them and declared, "Our mission for today is to set up camp near the closest checkpoint, only far enough away to not alert the monsters."

She slightly moved back, straightening her back as she asked, "Now then, does anyone have any doubts?"

"Everything is clear as crystal, leader," Alisha replied, giving her a thumbs-up.

"All clear to me," Hugo answered with a nod.

Seraphina put the map back into her storage ring and ordered as she mounted her Qilin, "Well then, we shall begin our adventure."

The others climbed onto their beasts as well and began moving towards the Forest of Death.

"You wish to ask something, commoner?" Seraphina asked Vlad, who had seemed strangely quiet since she revealed her plan to the team.

The duo moved towards the forest on their beasts at a moderate speed. Hugo and Alisha were behind them, while Raphael was in the air atop his griffin.

"Hmm, I understand that we might be able to find the monsters using your method," Vlad said, holding his chin in thought. "But how would that help us find the Genesis Artifact? Are we supposed to follow them or something?"

"No, that is not how it works," Seraphina sighed at Vlad’s lack of knowledge. "Do you know why the monsters are attracted to the Genesis Artifacts?"

"It couldn’t be because they want to claim the artifact for themselves," Vlad murmured, rubbing his chin. "If that were the case, all the artifacts would have already been taken by the monsters before humans could even find one. Then what could be the reason? Do they just gather around the Genesis Artifact like moths are attracted to light?"

"Close, but not correct," Seraphina replied, shaking her head. "The Genesis Artifact is formed by the natural reactions of mana with heaven and earth. The monsters are also beings of mana. They can evolve by absorbing the energy released by the Genesis Artifacts. Naturally, the stronger monsters claim the spots closer to the artifact, and the farther you move from it, the weaker the monsters will be. So, in simple words, the monsters act as bodyguards for the artifact and prevent any outsiders from claiming it."

"Oh, now I understand," Vlad nodded. "If we find a flock of monsters, we can use them as a trail to find the stronger monsters until we reach the Genesis Artifact."

"Exactly," Seraphina replied with a wink. "Any more questions?"

"Not for the moment," Vlad shook his head. "By the way, thanks for the explanation. It felt as if I were in a lecture."

"Oh~ Why not try calling me Teacher Sera then?" Seraphina teased with a playful smile.

"Sure, Teacher Sera," Vlad replied with a straight face.

"O-on second thought, just stick with Sera," she muttered, coiling the strands of her crimson hair around her finger.

It took them two hours from there to reach the border of the forest. They could have reached it much sooner at the full speed of their beasts, but they avoided exhausting them while the dangers ahead were still uncertain.

They waited outside the border while Raphael scanned the nearby part of the forest from atop his griffin.

Meanwhile, Vlad silently scanned the forest before him. The endless rows of towering trees stretching beyond his sight, uneven terrain covered in a dense sheet of snow, and the utter silence within sent an ominous feeling through Vlad. The air was completely still, to the point that not even a leaf was moving.

It was as if there was no sign of life in the forest at all.

"Are you scared?" Seraphina asked, noticing the grim look on Vlad’s face.

"No," Vlad shook his head. "It’s just that this forest is giving me an uncomfortable feeling."

"It is called the Forest of Death for a reason," Seraphina explained, her tone serious. "This forest has claimed the lives of countless beings. The presence of Umbra is dense here. But isn’t your elemental power also Umbra? You should feel at home here."

"I shall take it as you joking," Vlad sighed at her words. "I have already reached the limit of my understanding of the Umbra element. I can only control and manipulate Mortal Grade Umbra. And the elemental power that I can sense from the forest is beyond that level. It might be Tempest Grade... or even higher."

"Well, you always manage to come up with surprises," Seraphina shrugged, her voice laced with casual confidence in Vlad. "This mission might as well be a blessing in disguise for you."

Her words made Vlad’s gaze linger on the deeper part of the forest for longer than necessary.

After a few minutes, Raphael returned and revealed, "No monsters for the next five kilometres."

"Alright, everyone, let us move ahead," Seraphina ordered, waving her hand forward. "Stay on your guard. Fauna monsters aren’t the only things you need to be careful about."