"Let's move fast."
We left in a hurry. After going through all that trouble to hunt a Carnivaro in five minutes, there was no time to rest.
"So, are you okay now?"
"Now that I've rested a bit, I feel better. Thank you. But how long did I sleep?"
"Probably about three hours." It was a lie. In reality, it couldn't have been more than one.
"S-so long? No wonder..." In technical terms, it was called a placebo. Thinking like that would be more beneficial for his mental and physical health. Although now it was starting to be the problem. "Bjorn, your complexion doesn't look good."
Having slept, Missha was no longer lagging behind. However, my speed was quite slow. That was to be expected. Just because my natural regenerative power was high didn't mean fatigue disappeared.
"I'll take you. Why don't you rest for a while?"
I mean… thanks for the offer, but what's the point?
"Okay, I can handle it." Of course, I was tired. I'd probably pass out in a second if I lay down right now. But… "Let's pick up the pace a little more."
Again, there was no other option. A cold analysis of my current condition revealed that even if I pushed myself to the limit, I only had a few hours left. After that, mental strength or not, my body wouldn't be able to endure any more.
"Accelerate?"
"Yes, it's the only way."
We needed to find a safe place while I still had my stamina. Such a place generated randomly in the Witch's Woods at regular intervals and lasted for eight hours. Field effects were nullified there, and no monsters appeared. In other words, you could sleep safely.
"But what if we can't find it?"
Well, then things will get much worse.
Even so, the last time we found the safe zone was two days ago. At this point, it was likely to reappear.
I don't know, but she seems to have some luck on her side…
Just look at the last time we found a safe zone. We were taking a break because she was complaining of leg pain when a safe zone created itself right next to us.
"From now on, you take the initiative."
"I?"
"Go wherever you want. Not that we know our way, anyway."
I didn't believe in superstitions, but I put Missha in charge just in case. We advanced quickly, destroying only the proactive mobs we encountered.
How much time has passed?
"Huh? Bjorrn! Look over there! Isn't that it?"
"…It seems so."
Some people seemed to have all the luck. To our surprise, in less than 30 minutes, we found an unusual tree. It looked similar to the other trees, but a purple glow flowed gently from its bark. It was proof that this was a means that would lead us to safety.
"Good job, Missha."
«¡Hehe! ¡Puedes prrrprrendeme más!»
What was he saying? After stroking his hair to indicate that he had done a good job, I approached the tree and with Missha, we placed our hands on the bark.
[You have entered the Witch's Cabin].
The moment we put our hands on the tree, a purple mist enveloped us. Soon, a warm wind reminiscent of spring blew to disperse the fog that had been covering the surroundings.
¡Shaaaaa!
Finally, when all the fog disappeared, the gloomy forest was nowhere to be seen. The ground was a lawn in full bloom. The thin thorns covered with rotting vines were now filled with abundant leaves.
"Bjorn! Look at this! Aren't the flowers pretty?"
Yes of course. But as I saw it last time...
«Don't do anything useless and go to rest.»
«Hnng, unromantic barbarian!»
Romantic? That's only for people with free time. Being romantic while you're about to starve, you'd just pretend to be a poor self-deceiving person.
Crujido...
Leaving Missha behind, who was strangely animated, I opened the door to the central cabin. There was a bookshelf, a dining table, a rug and a stove. Contrary to the name of the Witch's Hut, there was nothing special about the interior. It was an ordinary cabin that anyone could imagine.
Still, I think Raven or Dwalkie would have liked it.
Magicians loved unusual spaces like this. There were also books on the shelf, so they would have taken a look at them as soon as they arrived.
But I was a barbarian, and also very fatigued.
Down.
So I went straight to bed and collapsed on top of her. Then I buried my face in the pillow and murmured: «This time you sleep in the chair».
«Very good! You must be tired, so get some rest».
Reaching my physical limit, I sent Missha to the rocking chair I slept in last time.
Crujido.
As I closed my eyes, I heard the sound of wood burning in the fireplace. Missha seemed to have sat down too, because I could hear the sound of creaking at regular intervals.
Crujido, crujido.
« ...Good Evening, Bjorrrn. »
Consciousness gradually faded.
***
Was it because I was very tired? I dreamed for the first time in a long time.
As always, I was at work. I was working on administrative things and once I was done, my ex-girlfriend had come to greet me.
...He was wearing black stockings.
Anyway, we went back to my house, we ordered chicken and everyone did their own thing. I played and she read a book quietly in a corner. A peaceful silence followed. When it was time to go to bed, we hugged each other naturally and fell asleep.
That was all that happened in the dream.
As soon as I realized that all this was nothing more than a dream, I kicked back to reality. A small cabin found while wandering through the Witches' Forest. An old bed there. A big barbaric body filling her. Once that barbarian woke up from his slumber, he took his monstrous body to face monsters to survive. This was my reality.
...So let's do what we have to do.
I didn't look like I could fall asleep again, so I turned my head towards the fireplace. The fire that had been burning brightly before I fell asleep had lost its strength and was almost going out. That meant the cabin was about to close. I checked my watch to see how long I had slept.
Still, I slept almost seven hours.
It was quite fascinating that my body had woken up at the right time without even an alarm. I forced myself to open my eyes and looked at the ceiling. As I slowly woke up, a severe headache erupted from the back of my head, as if my brain was whining at me that I needed more sleep.
I knew that if I felt sorry for such a weak heart, there would be no end to it. So I sat up.
When had he arrived?
I didn't know why, but Missha was sleeping with her body on top of me, using my torso as a pillow. At the same time he drooled. She seemed quite comfortable, because she even purred with every breath.
Was the chair uncomfortable?
I raised her head and moved it to the side, then got out of bed. Waking her up early would help her be in good physical condition, but I decided to let her sleep for now.
¡Crack!
I stretched my stiff body and left the cabin to sunbathe. To be honest, I was in a much better mood.
... Is this why Missha liked to look at flowers?
When I thought about it like that, I could understand Missha's emotions, but it was still difficult to empathize with her. Not that it was bad, but it was just a matter of taste. Exposing yourself to the sun at least gave the sensation of receiving some vitamin D. Looking at the flowers was not even self-hypnotic. It was less effective as a placebo.
But anyway, I should probably wake her up now.
«Missha, despierta.»
«Mmmm, five more minutes...»
«Get up. We have to leave this place soon.»
«Then only until then...»
What was this boy talking about? She seemed unable to think rationally because she was asleep, so I forcibly lifted her by the waist. Then I shook her up and down.
«Ahh! Agh! O- Good! I'm awake! Stop!!!»
«Clear.»
«Ignorant barbaric!»
That's why you should have woken up when I told you.
I gave a canteen to a snorting Missha. I knew she might be growling, but not because she was really angry.
«...Oh, thanks.»
Now that I was awake, we sat next to each other and chewed some bread and jerky. Although I had no appetite after we just woke up, I knew I wouldn't have time to eat once we got out.
«If you're done, you should stretch. Only a few minutes left».
«Okay.» Soon, Missha slowly stretched and awakened the senses in her body. As he was an agility character, his body was incredibly flexible. I was organizing my backpack meanwhile when Missha spoke to me as she stretched. «Uh, Bjorn...»
«What's happening?»
«Sobre Hikurod, Dwalkie, y Brrrown…»
«Spit it out.»
«What do you think happened to the three of them? Do you think they are still alive?»
Oh, that was you question.
I figured you'd ask about that. Humans had a tendency to wonder other things when their bodies recovered. I responded without hesitation. «I don't know».
«Yes, but you can make a guess».
It wouldn't be an assumption, but a wish. Before I started an unnecessarily long speech, I cut it off. «Anything you predict won't change anything».
Whether they were alive or not made no sense. Even if they had found themselves in a difficult situation, what could we do if we were lost in the Witch Forest? First we had to focus on surviving. After all, we would inevitably know the outcome once we returned to the city.
«So, if you have finished stretching, check your equipment». Because that was all we could do now.
Crujido.
The last remaining log had gone out.
[The Witch's Cabin is closed. They will move to the Witch Forest.]
It was time to leave.
***
[Witch's Eye status abnormality rises to level 6.]
***
[Abnormal status Witch's Eye is updated to level 7.]
***
[The Witch's Eye has risen to level 8.]
***
[The Witch's Eye has risen to level 9.]
***
Day 11 of exploring the maze. In other words, it had been almost eight days since I was left behind in the Witch's Forest.
[Witch's Eye status anomaly has risen to level 10.]
Now we really didn't have time to catch our breath. We had to keep walking. Witch's Eye should have entered the highest stage now. According to my calculations, a Carnivaro should appear if we stayed in place for even three minutes.
Still, the lucky thing is that... for now, there is nothing that can get worse from here. That is, assuming that no other variables arise.
Of course, there was also the possibility of a positive variable. For example, an essence, or an essence, or an essence...
Joder.
Wandering through the Witch's Forest, we had to hunt many monsters, whether we wanted to or not, but no essence appeared. It was very unfortunate. Any essence would increase our fighting power at this time, plus some essences were effective enough to change this situation 180 degrees.
To elect a representative, this bastard.
«Bjorn! It's a Witch's Lamp!»
«Let's hunt him down quickly and move on.»
The Rank 9 Spirit-type monster, the Witch's Lamp, resembled a fire goblin. Its combat power was poor, so it could be dealt with easily using elemental treats. Its active skills were also useless, except in the Witch's Forest.
[The Witch's Lamp has launched Witch's Light].
The Witch's Lamp summoning ability, surprisingly, summoned a Witch's Lamp. Yes, this bastard summoned itself. In other words, if you ate its essence, you could also summon a Witch's Lamp.
"Come to me, essence!" Missha chanted that incantation and swiftly defeated the Witch Lamps that had grown from one monster to six. However, once again, there was no essence.
Dang… getting an essence of this bastard to use as a guide will ensure our escape from this forest… I guess we have no other option but to hold out until the last day.
Realistically, that was the most likely scenario since the third floor was closing that day. If we could survive the next four days, we could return to the city. The problem was, though, that I couldn't be sure we'd even survive those few days.
"Missha, how's your stamina?"
"Mm, I'm quite tired, but it's not bad since we took that break earlier."
Last night, we were lucky enough to find another cabin where we could rest for a while. It was a welcome discovery and a breath of fresh air after almost 50 hours. In short, we couldn't sleep, we couldn't eat properly, and we were constantly on the move.
Furthermore, we discovered it quite late, so we only had four hours to rest.
Finding a cabin was pure luck. If we hadn't been lucky, we might not have found a single cabin in the remaining four days. This was also why we had been hunting for the Witch's Lamp whenever we could; it was better to try everything.
"Bjorn." Missha stopped suddenly while leading the way, so I stopped too and looked ahead. "An explorer."
For the first time since they left us behind, we encountered a being that was not monstrous.
"A barbarian and a beastwoman? Is it just the two of you?"
We still couldn't be sure whether this was a positive or negative turn of events.