A sense of dread washed over Emilio as he looked upon the land before him, his mind raced with thoughts of the worst.
This place looked like it was straight out of a soulslike game, or a place where he'd get an unknown disease
As he looked around, he noticed that the area around was seemingly empty, no monsters, no wildlife, no nothing; it all just looked really dead and decaying.
Emilio looked back behind him, to the calm forest, and then back to the wasteland. He knew there was most likely a "Boss" or "Monster" that may pop out the moment he enters the area, which may either kill him or make him run into a different part of the forest he had never been before.
However as he was about to turn around and leave, he noticed a golden glint from a pile of dead branches and roots, just in the distance
Just from the mere sight of it, a possibility crossed his mind: 'What if there's loot or treasure here?' he thought to himself
The glint was very.. Tempting, to say the least. However, his body began moving towards the pile, as if on its own.
"...Just a quick, in and out" he said trying to convince himself as he walked over to the glinting light, passing over the boundary of the two areas
As he got closer to the pile, the area around definitely smelled of mold and rot, it was unpleasant to say the least, but he had to see what was buried underneath the branches
Finally, he stood right in front of the pile, and it looked indeed like the hilt of a sword, all golden and shiny. He reached down and tried to pull it free, but as he did; Emilio jolted back as something wriggly touched his hand when he was pulling, it was just a centipede that had been nesting inside the branches... 'Oh hell no' He thought scared
He didn't like reaching into dark or old places and something living touching his hand; why did he reach his hand inside in the first place?
'...Wait' His thoughts raced. why DID he reach his hand inside of that hole? or cross the boundary between the forest and this area in the first place? This area screamed that it was dangerous, yet he walked in, without a plan and in pursuit of a golden glint.
Suddenly the pile of branches itself began to shake and move, as the decaying roots formed together, and within there were bones seemingly of both monster and human origin, and once they combined, it didn't have eyes (that could be seen) but he felt as if it was just... Watching and waiting
Then the roots near the middle of its body opened up; the glimmering sword once again began to shine at him
Despite the terror Emilio felt at seeing this, it faded away as his eyes eyed the glowing sword; and his body began moving on its own towards it, despite his mind yelling at him to stop
'STOP! THATS A MONSTER!' he yelled at himself internally, but his legs kept moving. Then the decaying roots of the monster coiled around his body, pulling him even closer.
He had to think of a plan, and fast.
'Maybe I could try to run?.. No, my legs are trapped... What if I struggle?... or maybe when it gets close I try to yank the sword out?.. Or what if I try to pull it off as I reach the mouth?.. Or maybe-" This was a glimpse of what was running through his mind, as he kept trying to think of a way out of the situation
However, as his thoughts kept racing and racing, the monster's body began to shake more and more until finally it's body gave out and collapsed into a heap, the roots around him collapsing too, then Emilio felt his legs stop and he snapped out of his thinking
"W-what?" he sputtered out as he felt his legs, and he moved them around a bit to check if they were back, which they indeed were.
"how?-" but his words were cut off as the Monster began to reshape itself, but then it began slithering itself away, looking almost like a wounded animal
This was as best a time as any, Emilio immediately turned and began running back to the edge of the forest, as fast as he could
It only took a minute for him to run back into the forest and once he was back in it, he thought to himself 'nope, not going back in there' and he collapsed by a tree.
He caught his breath for a little while and pondered what just happened, the monster just collapsed and fell apart right before his eyes. It almost felt like he was saved by Plot armor something like you would see in movies or anime
It clearly pulled him closer using some kind of supernatural ability, but he couldn't figure out exactly what.. Maybe some sort of Mind control or Domination ability, 'that would be pretty cool to have' he thought
Emilio was already planning to come back later, especially if there's a chance he could get whatever ability that monster used. However, the only problem was: "Where to go now?" he said to himself out loud.
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{Meanwhile, in another part of the forest}
Northeast of Emilio's location, Magic swirled around in and around a small cabin. Within the walls was a chaotic display of magic, where an older woman with long black hair, and wearing blue-green robes, a circlet on her head with a red gem embedded in the middle, and holding a worn book, stood nearby to the round table in the middle, watching her student attempt to conjure a perfect vision
"Focus Ayris, don't let it slip away" She instructed her student carefully
The girl now known as Ayris nodded, and kept her crimson eyes closed and arms outstretched to the ball; determined to make a clear vision appear in the crystalline sphere
As she poured Mana inside it, a faint image appeared within the surface, but in order to make it clearer, she had to pour more mana into it carefully, otherwise the ball will fizzle
'Come on, come on' She thought determinedly, since this would mark the 3rd time she'd be able to show a perfect vision, without fainting from mana exhaustion
Slowly the picture within the crystal ball began to clear, and it showed:
Her teacher was impressed with the quality of the vision and the location being seemingly nearby "Keep that form Ayris, your doing perfect" She said with a smile
Ayris kept her eyes closed and arms outstretched towards the ball, and then the vision shifted, showing:
Finally she ran out of Mana and slumped forward on the table, panting and out of breath, her short silver hair a bit tattered and near pale skin beading with sweat
However despite how exhausting it was, Ayris peeked up nervously, hoping she didn't fail "How did I do, Master Rayne?" She asked in a soft yet very slightly deep voice
Her Master known as Rayne looked at the crystal ball that now held Ayris's vision within, and she gave a proud smile and showed her
"See for yourself" she said while presenting the ball to her
Ayris looked at the ball as Rayne poured some of her own mana into it, getting the vision to play for her
She watched the fruits of her hard work play out in front of her, the vision was clear and understandable... she had done it!
A small smile crossed her face as she watched it play. Divination was always an interest for her, since her family specializes in it back in Linera, it was only a matter of time before she followed suite
Rayne then spoke "Great job Ayris, you did the spell correctly. Now if the crystal ball holds true, this event will occur sometime tomorrow, during mid-day" (she got that through the blue sky and sun shining within the vision)
Ayris nodded and stretched, it was starting to get late and tomorrow was the second step of her perfect vision test: Seeing if the events will play out as foretold, and maybe aid the family inside the wagon
Ayris gave a tired yet satisfied smile "Yes Master" then she headed off to get ready for bed, excited about seeing if the vision comes true.