Ten days passed since Jacob started searching for another route around the Gray Land Tree Forest, but this damn gray forest was endless no matter how far he traveled!
With a grim look on his face, he looked at the grayness in front of him. He had wasted ten whole days and much less founding the end of this forest. He didn't even encounter an undead, much less a living being.
'Here goes nothing!' Jacob took a deep break and directly jumped on the roots of the Gray Land Tree.
In these ten days, he had already noticed that there wasn't a single life form out here, as if everyone was avoiding this place, which was nothing but good news.
Because as long as blood won't touch that gray weeds, he didn't have to worry about being burry in that forest.
So, he started his journey in the gray land forest while being fully alert, and Jacob didn't want to even a twitch escape his ears.
The moment he sensed something, he would summon Immortika!
As he moved deeper and carefully moved from tree to tree, he couldn't help but notice the roots were growing larger and larger, and so did the weeds in the ground. He assumed it was the sign of higher tier Gray Land Trees.
The forest was filled with gloomy silence, and the weeds made it harder to see anything on the ground. It was simply a heaven for sneaky predators!
Jacob's breathing was also controlled while his steps were silent. This was the benefit of practicing meditation and learning the control of his fluid acceleration.
A whole week passed without any incident, and right now, Jacob was resting amid 50-meter gray land tree roots, and the weed below was 3 meters long. The darkness of night gave this place even spooky vibes.
Jacob didn't sleep and only rested with his eyes closed while his senses were focused entirely.
The next day, Jacob continued his journey and wanted to leave this forest as soon as possible. However, he didn't like the feeling of having his life at the mercy of someone else.
But the silence of the Gray Land Tree Forest was proof that other beings knew the risks of messing in this place, so it was a kind of relief.
However, after two weeks, while carefully treading on the web of long gray roots, Jacob found the roots were still growing, and the weeds were not any different, which made him even more restless, and not to talk, he was mentally exhausted.
He wasn't a machine, and every living being needed sleep to function normally and restore mental fatigue.
Jacob understood that if someone knew about the terror of this forest, just being in this forest was torture. Anyone with a sane mind wanted to leave this forest as soon as possible, but that was where true despair lay as well.
One would start to doubt their direction senses after constantly seeing the same kind of surroundings, and those routes were almost connected, making a web of a maze.
It was harder to tell north from south in this kind of setup, especially when you're focusing on being vigilant all the time.
If Jacob wasn't keeping track of the sunset and sunrise, he might really have been lost long ago.
On his twentieth day, Jacob finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to sleep since nothing was around besides this gloomy grayness. But he still didn't let his guard down.
However, he was too tired, and the moment he tried to sleep, he fell into deep darkness and completely lost track of his surroundings.
---
"Little Jack, son, you're too impatient." A benevolent voice chided the Young Jacob, who was walking hurriedly toward a colossal building wearing clean white clothes.
"Old Man, it's you who's slow!" Young Jacob retorted, but he still slowed down to match the step of an old man in priest robes walking with the spot of a cane with a benevolent smile on his wrinkled lips.
"That's not what I mean, though you're right nevertheless." The Old Priest chuckled while looking at the tall, handsome youth.
"Then what do you mean?" Young Jacob questioned in perplexity.
"My boy, you're excellent in every aspect, even I didn't imagine you would get a chance like this. But you have a terrible flaw, impatience! You like acting first and then worrying about the consequences later.
"This is a terrible habit, my boy. People could easily exploit this flaw of yours without even you realizing it. Where you're going having this flaw is fatal. Especially with your fiery nature, I'm worried you might break someone's teeth before you even think about how it will affect you." The old Priest thoughtfully stated his worries.
Young Jacob chuckled coldly, "I don't care about those damn scions. If I didn't place him in their place, they would only think I'm easy to suppress!"
"See? You like violence too much. But if you really want to realize your dream of becoming the richest in this world, impatience will be your biggest enemy. Are you willing to succumb to it just because you didn't want to control it?" The old Priest sternly questioned.
Young Jacob finally fell into silence as if he was mulling over something before he said thoughtfully, "I understand. I'll try to be more tolerant and only mind my own business. I still wanted to reply to you for showing me the right way. I won't let this chance slip through my hand."
The old Priest smiled again while shaking his head, "I don't need you to repay me anything. We are all pitiful children of the Lord, and I did what the Lord demanded from me. I'm already gratified by the blessing he sent us in your shoes."
Young Jacob's face fell as he retorted, "Why are you always giving credit for your hard work to something that didn't even exist?! Those other children and I are only grateful to you since you are the one who feeds us and shelters us, not that stone idol!"
The Old Priest sighed ruefully as his eyes were filled with the vicissitude of life, "My Boy, when you conquer your impatience and realize your dream, you'll understand why I serve the Lord.
"When you understand, I want you to build a temple. That would be my salvation if I didn't exist that day." The Old Priest smiled leniently as he looked at young Jacob's frowning face.
---
Jacob's eyelids snapped open, revealing his amber eyes filled with melancholy before clarity returned to them. He found himself lying over a thick root and the familiar grayness around him.
'It's been a while since I had a dream of the past and that Old Senile appeared again, still haunting me with his strange religious beliefs.' Jacob lamented, but his lips curled up, revealing a rare respectful smile.
But it was only for a fleeting moment as he returned to his usual cold self, but that memory was still clear as day in his head.
'Impatience, huh? But it was exactly this impatience that made me what I was. Too bad you weren't around at that time to see that, or I would have a good laugh for finally getting one over you, Pops.' Jacob sneered inwardly before a hint of grief appeared deep within in eyes.
'I still built that magnificent temple of yours, though, and instead of your Lord, I place your statue, and you were even more famous than your Lord who gave you nothing but hardship. Instead, by praying to you, no one goes home empty-handed, and I make damn sure of it!
'Even those arrogant pricks have to bow their head to you if they want something from me, and I bring down the whole world down into your knees. Is that what you mean by faith, that can be created by strong and so easily manipulated?
'I still don't understand even when I tried so hard at the end of my life, I really tried to, but there was nothing for salvation, only despair. Hope died, and I followed her footsteps, but I was alive and given a chance to achieve something I longed for.
'Impatient or not, I'll achieve Immortality, and I'm pretty impatience to get it!'
Jacob scoffed and stood up as he was completely restored. He ate two slices of raw but fresh meat and started his journey again.
It was already noon, but today there were dark clouds covering the sky, and the rain might start at any minute.
To not get lost, Jacob trivial slow since the sun was his only compass in this damn forsaken forest.
Thereupon, with a booming rumble, the rain started to fall over the spooky forest, and the only comfort was everything was normal except for the sound of rain and Jacob's unhindered footsteps.
But after moving a few miles, Jacob's heart skipped a beat, and he was stopped in his tracks because even in that rain, sounds of metal crashing together were reverberating over a hundred meters away!