Somewhere in the Dark Woodland,
Inside a concealed manmade underground cave, a ground of nine wearing fighting gears was sitting around a round stone table.
Eight of them were demi-humans belonging to different species.
The Demi-Humans were famous for their elvish and animal features. Nevertheless, they were still not a match for the elves in looks. They were not like Orcs with humanoid torsos and beast heads, albeit they were still related.
Lastly, there was a tall, burly, green scale long lizard face creature with a pair of small horns on his forehead and a pointed horn over his nose. It was a Kobold.
Kobolds were also small in numbers and were one of the few races that could rival the top species of rare freedom plains and one of the overlords of Iron Sierras.
The Kobold coldly looked toward the demi-human with cheetah skin and asked in his raspy voice, "Are you sure this person you encountered didn't belong to any hunting teams or four powers hunting bases?"
The cheetah skin man coolly replied, "Yes, he wasn't wearing any emblem, nor he seemed to know about where he was going. If my guess is right, then like all the newcomers, he was clueless about the Dark Ruins and wants to leave the Dark Woodlands."
The Kobold thought for a moment before speaking, "Even if your institution is right and this person was indeed a newcomer on this side, he's already gone, so it's meaningless now.
"Besides, if he can Overspeed you in reflexes, I don't think he'll easily join us misfits. He might even be some hidden talent sent here for training from one of four powers or, even worse, someone from the three hegemonies."
"Leader has a point. There are only three kinds of people who tread alone in these parts of dark woodlands, Misfits like us who don't want to get controlled by those manipulated organizations.
"Then those army men who were forcibly sent here to collect resources and buy back their citizenship.
"Then there are those who come here on their own accord for either adventure or training, and both types of persons are simply arrogant madmen who had too much confidence in themselves and were spoiled by their backing." A woman with delicate features and cat ears snorted disdainfully.
Everyone couldn't help but nod their heads.
The cheetah skin man sighed ruefully, "I know this, but that man didn't rub me as someone who could be controlled or arrogant in the least. I still couldn't understand how he drew his swords. It was like they appeared out of thin air.
"Lastly, he didn't want to fight me and quickly left despite getting the upper hand. Since he was loitering in area-232 without any crewmate, I thought he was a newcomer and wanted to report to the leader.
"Inviting him in the crew was another matter, but if he's a newcomer, he'll soon stumble on the dark ruins and meet his death. What a pity."
"Heh, if he's really a newcomer and a misfit at that, then if he managed to survive, he'll surely make a name for himself in the dark woodlands. We'll think about inviting him to the crew then.
"It's not easy to leave the dark woodlands, my friend, and everyone learned it the hard way. We can't break the tradition, right?" An old man with a pointy nose chuckled.
The Kobold's eyes shimmered darkly before he nodded, "Let's not distract ourselves anymore. We have a foray into worrying about. I received a message from the Killer Skull Society's Base!"
Everyone's face turned somewhat pale when he heard this, but a tingle of madness flashed past their beastly eyes!
---
Jacob had no idea that a famous crew of misfits in the Dark Woodland had a small discussion about him. Even if he knew he wouldn't care about it except for whatever these Dark Ruins were.
He was moving further and further away from the Dark Pass.
Especially after his vague encounter with the cheetah skin man, he wanted to leave the Dark Woodlands as soon as possible before he met a group from one of the four powers or some vagabonds.
But how could it be so easy to leave the Dark Woodlands?
A week later, Jacob entered an area filled with creepy gray bark trees that looked wilted entirely, but the ground beneath them was covered with gray weeds.
First, Jacob was vigilant as he tried cutting the ground and those weeds, even trees, but they were completely normal except for their crimson phloem.
Furthermore, there wasn't any information about this area, and the map he had was the cheapest one he could find and only revealed the general directions because the fully detailed map of Dark Woodlands cost 10 ZC, which was simply too ridiculous for a price tag.
Moreover, there weren't any maps of wild nations or the rare plains, the freedom plain was simple at the edge of the vast rare plains, and no one had ever managed to gauge the area of the wild nation, let alone the entire rare plains.
So, Jacob was on his own, and spending 10 ZC on a single area map was simply not worth it.
Since this area was on its way toward the exit of the dark woodlands, Jacob knew he had to swallow this bittersweet pill. But for some reason, he felt strange from the woods ahead, like he would regret it if he entered.
Gritting his teeth, he summoned Immortika, wasting his chance to summon the book for 24 hours.
After his encounter with the golden elf, he knew just how precious Immortika's ability to detect high-level species around it was, and he started to cherish this chance more and more.
"What are the strongest species around me?" Jacob asked darkly.
"Hahahaha… I don't know if you're plain stupid or simply too daring. Nevertheless, I like it out here!" Immortika manically wrote while ignoring the actual question.
Jacob's squinted his eyes, "It seems you have something to say to me."
"Being too smart can be a cursed sometimes; that's why ignorance is bliss." Immortika wrote, "All I have to say is you're the latter in this situation but not far away from being former."
"I don't have time to play riddles with you nor the forbearing. So just say what you have to say or answer the damn question!" Jacob coldly uttered in exasperation.
Sometimes, he wonders if being selected by this book was the real curse or talking with Immortika.
"Hahaha… did I say something just now? Too bad, I already forget. As to answer your question, there is nothing besides some Anthropophagy Trees. The Gray Land Trees rank between Tier-1 Rare to all the way up to Tier-2 Extraordinary.
"These trees grew upside down. Simply put, the wilted branches you're seeing are actually their routes, while the tree core is hidden deep underground. Without destroying that tree core, getting rid of this Gray Land Tree is impossible.
"As for those long gray weeds on the ground, they're their sensory receptors. All you need to know is as long as you didn't bleed on that grass or didn't try to dig to a certain depth, you'll be fine. Those trees didn't have intelligence and only reacted on instincts.
"Or trust me, if a Gray Land Tree had intelligence, you'd be long dead after you try cutting those trees and grass, even their soil, hahahaha…."
Jacob's heart skipped a beat when he read this as he looked at the gray forest with fear.
'Ignorance is really bliss.' He smiled bitterly and finally understood why Immortika wrote that strange phrase.
He also took a mental note not to try to cut anything if he had no idea about what it was, even harmless-looking trees.
"So, if the blood didn't spill on that grass, I can cross this forest?" He questioned, just to be sure.
"That's pretty much it. But even if someone else bleeds while you're deep within the gray land tree forest, it will be the end of you because once the gray land tree forest awakens, it will kill anything which is not a gray land tree within! Hahahaha, that would be incredible to watch."
Jacob couldn't help but reevaluate the danger of that seemingly harmless dry forest.
Still, if he wanted to move forward, he needed to cross this place, and he had no idea if taking a detour would be the right choice since he didn't know just how far these trees were spread.
Nevertheless, he still decided to check. He preferred wasting some days searching for a new route than risking his life to cross that dreadful forest. He wouldn't try to cross it unless he had no choice.
Moreover, that place might teem with skeletons since they don't bleed, and battling with them will only worsen things.
Done deciding, Jacob headed in the east direction, hoping to find the end of this gray land tree forest.
Ten-day passed, and Jacob's expressions were as grim as they could get because that damn gray forest was simply endless no matter how far he traveled!