"You're a new student, right?"
"I am, I just awakened this week."
"And you already want to challenge a Cursed Land? Boy..." The senior student put a hand to his forehead. "You start at the bottom and end up at the top. Don't try to start at the top because you could die."
"Thanks for your advice, senior."
"But still..." The student sighed, realizing that even though he had thanked him for the advice, this new student had no intention of backing down. He was determined to go there.
'At least I have the opportunity to try to save him,' he thought and looked at Edward.
"Follow me."
Edward walked behind him as he crossed the few houses and buildings in this small village, heading towards the back of the village.
As they approached, Edward began to see a whitish glow that, despite the sun, was easy to see.
Every step they took increased the pressure he felt, until there were no more houses in front of them and only... an amazing view remained.
It looked like a huge root from a leafy tree rising from the ground and spreading out around it, with white energy emanating from it, staining the roots with a monotonous gray hue.
This strange root rose and fell to create a perfect round hole in the center, from which the whitish energy emanated.
'A Portal of a Cursed Land...' Edward swallowed hard.
The white energy indicated that the portal was rank E, the lowest of all. Its size indicated it was not for very tall beasts, but the hardness of the root suggested powerful beings emerged from there.
Although the hardness did not actually indicate the strength of this portal at present, it rather indicated the strength it had before it became a defective portal.
It was the white energy that indicated its strength.
And even though it was the lowest rank, it was remarkably dangerous.
"Can you feel it?" asked the student as he looked at the portal. "It's a Cursed Land, not a dungeon. The difference is often debated at lower levels, but for those of us who have challenged both, we know there's no debate. A Cursed Land is significantly more dangerous."
"So." He turned to look at him. "Do you still want to try?"
His question was met with an immediate response, one that Edward didn't even have to give.
He already had his sword in his hands and had covered the unprotected parts of his body with bandages.
"Do I need to answer?"
"Tsk." The student shook his head and motioned for him to go ahead. "Go on, then. I'll wish you luck."
He was annoyed that they wouldn't listen to his advice, even though he had repeated it, so he didn't want to watch any longer; he turned around and left.
Edward was left alone, staring at the huge portal in front of him.
One of the most dangerous things in the world stared back at him, waiting for the moment he stepped into its territory to flood him with its evil energy.
For a brief moment, he felt all the pressure that the enormous portal exerted. He felt small.
'This is going to be a difficult mission.'
He clenched his fists and began walking toward the portal. With each step he took, the pressure he felt increased, but he did not falter or hesitate.
He approached and soon crossed the portal...
His eyes went dark for a brief moment, and when he could see again, he was in a completely different world.
CRUK-
CRUK-
He looked down at his feet, where a sound came from as if he had stepped on something dry. Then he saw a few bones at the entrance to the portal, corroded by the cursed energy, break in two under his foot.
In front of him, large trees greeted him.
'A jungle...' he thought.
The trees were large, with thick, imposing trunks. Their green leaves were painted black and white with the constant ash that fell; something was burning in the distance.
There were no signs of beasts for now, but he knew immediately that he was in the Jungle Region, where he could find one of his targets.
He allowed the fire caterpillar to emerge from his body, and it began to circle him happily, as if it wanted to dance with him. Its joy was transmitted to him in the form of spiritual energy, protecting him from the cursed energy that was trying to strike him.
Seeing that the cursed energy was being repelled, he smiled.
'It's not very strong at the entrance. I guess it will become more dangerous soon.'
His feet began to move when he realized that he could resist this cursed energy with only his beast, deciding not to eat the pill yet; it would be more efficient to do so later.
KIII~
KIII~
The sound of birds in the sky and in the trees, alerted by his presence, quickly enveloped him in this jungle, allowing him to dissociate a little; thus, he passed through a large piece of jungle without realizing it.
It was his senses that woke him up.
He gripped his sword tightly and immediately turned around.
CLANK-
His sword clashed against another, engulfed in flames. A strange zombie, whose saliva was fire, let out a disgusting, hot roar in his face.
"Groarr!"
'Fire Mouth Zombie.' Edward took a step back, moving his sword to the side so that his opponent's sword slid over it, causing the zombie to lose its balance and stumble forward.
He took advantage of the movement to swing his sword forward, seeking to cut off its head. But the zombie, though it seemed slow, was quite quick and dodged the attack; the sword still cut part of its mouth and neck.
The zombie staggered backward, completely dizzy and bewildered by what had happened.
'The weakness of these beasts is in their mouths,' he remembered.
The core of these beasts was in their mouths, which was why they breathed fire. Therefore, attacking the mouth or neck was the best way to kill them.
Seeing that his attack on the neck had failed, but that he had managed to wound it and leave it stunned, he remembered its other weakness: although they appear fast, their attacks tend to be much slower than they seem; therefore, attacking them frantically is the most effective way to kill them.
So he stepped forward, ready to attack it ferociously.