If it were any other time, Jacob would've taken a detour while minding his own business. However, in this deadly forest where just a drop of blood could decide his life and death, any fight in this place was his business.
Soon, Jacob was looking at the four-meter-tall weeds sea, which was getting hacked like water splashes and stomped by hundreds of skeleton soldiers!
Right in the middle of this siege was a 6-meter-tall giant who was stomping those skeletons like bugs under his menacing war hammer!
Jacob's eyes widened ever so slightly since it was his first time seeing a living member of the giant race, and he had to admit that just watching this giant swinging his giant war hammer and creating small tremors gave him the frights.
The Iron Giant Tribe had no match when it came to brute strength, and to make others resentful even more, some giants even had magic resistance, and they were also one of those races with connate magic talent.
They were dreaded by any intelligent race on the freedom plains, and even elves think twice before provoking these dark stars.
Nevertheless, Jacob was still worried about this giant getting wounded and bringing everyone's doom.
But he was somewhat relaxed when he saw just how helpless those skeletons were. However, he knew this many skeleton soldiers wouldn't lay siege on a Giant. There had to be a mastermind.
And just as he thought, amidst those hundreds of skeleton soldiers, skeleton warriors suddenly appeared holding spears and halberds and shot toward the giant like arrows!
However, when Jacob was about to warn, the giant suddenly pulled an icy smile on his giant iron color face, and the next moment his war hammer suddenly started to shimmer in dark sheen.
Jacob's heart palpitated, and without wanting to find out, he ran in the opposite direction.
The next moment, the giant roared while swinging his glowing war hammer, "Iron Hammer Smash!"
"Boom…"
The entire area around the giant rumbled as a terrifying shockwave blasted those skeletons into smithereens, even the gray land trees and weeds weren't speared, and the over twenty meters area around the giant had become a no man's land.
Jacob, who barely managed to avoid the worse of that ghastly shockwave with the shelter of a thick gray root, looked in the giant direction again with a lingering fear.
That was simply too powerful, and he was even more sure there was magic involved in that strike.
"Humph, a bunch of bones wanted to kill the Great Elbio. Go born as a giant first!"
The Iron Giant named Elbio coldly sneered as he retracted his war hammer, which left a small five-meter-deep crater behind, and in this crater were strange blade shape gray leaves!
Jacob knew he wasn't the other party's match and found his notion of protecting the fellow ridiculous since no one without skill dared to enter this place.
"And you little fellow, come out!" Elbio coldly looked at the exact tree root where Jacob was hiding.
Jacob knew he might not be able to get rid of this fellow as he did with the cheetah skin man since those giants were also freighting fast as well. Moreover, he didn't want to test his strength with this fellow in the middle of Gray Man Tree forest.
Therefore, calming himself, he came out.
Elbio looked at Jacob's hooded figure and coolly said, "I saw you wanted to help him, so I won't persuade you to sneak up on me. But what are you doing in this gray shithole?"
Jacob looked at Elbio nonchalant expression and then at the destruction he had just caused. He answered, "I'm naturally headed toward the exit of the Dark Woodlands."
Elbio's eyes shimmered as he suddenly pulled a mocking smile, "You're new in Dark Woodlands, aren't you?"
Jacob was caught off by this strange question but still answered, "I'm indeed new. May I inquire why you think so?"
Elbio coolly stated, "Only newcomers would say they wanted to leave these god-forsaken woodlands."
Jacob frowned, "Is it not possible?"
Elbio shook his head, "It's not impossible but not far from it either. Forget it since you tried to help me. I'll tell you, if you cherish your life turn around and leave. Unless you're a Tier-6 Extraordinary, don't even think about passing this forest, or Dark Ruins will be the grave of you just like any other."
Done saying his piece, Elbio turned around his giant body.
Jacob was now even more perplexed by Elbio's sublet warning and had many questions. He could tell this terrifying giant wasn't lying. He simply didn't need to with his prowess.
"Wait, tell me about these Dark Ruins, and I'll pay any price." Jacob tried another method.
Elbio's lips curled into a mocking smile while his back was still facing Jacob, "Little fellow, if you want to know about Dark Ruins, then cross this forest, and you'll naturally know. If you manage to return alive, find me in area-892, the name is Elbio."
The next moment, his figure suddenly turned blurry, and Elbio's giant figure faded like a ghost.
Even for Jacob's eyes, that giant was terrifyingly fast, making his heart skip a beat. If that Elbio wanted to kill him, he was afraid he wouldn't even have the chance of retaliation!
'What are the Dark Ruins?' Jacob squinted his eyes and wasn't in the mood to stay in this area. He left before more skeletons were drawn by the commotion. He still didn't change his direction, though.
Elbio's figure appeared a few meters away from where Jacob was standing.
A huge cold grin was spread on his giant face when he saw Jacob still continuing on the same path.
He mumbled while he faded into the rain.
"I never thought while hunting that skeleton. I'll meet a newcomer. If you survive, you'll be one of us, a caged slave. A pity that the chance of that happening is almost null…."
---
However, Jacob didn't continue to head in that direction blindly anymore. He could tell something was wrong with all of this after hearing Elbio's ambiguous warning.
First, he had no idea what area-892 was; he didn't even know if there were dividends in this place.
Then he thought about the map and the scope of information about the Rare Plains. Except for Dark Woodlands and general directions, there wasn't any information about this forest or these Dark Ruins.
Lastly, the four nations weren't too worried about the Dark Beings swamping this place, which was relatively peaceful, unlike what was mentioned in the information he gathered.
There was even terrifying existence like that giant residing in this place, and they seemed to be not from the four powers' military.
Why didn't these people leave the Dark Woodlands and remain in these god-forsaken woods?
Something was strange about all this; the answer lies in the Dark Ruins.
So, Jacob tried to search the Star Network for information on Dark Ruins, but to his dismay, nothing appeared, even in the Alliance Server.
Afterward, he could only give up and decided to sleep over it.
The next day, besides some clouds, the sky was clear, and Jacob decided to move on with his journey. He at least wanted to see what these Dark Ruins were. Even if he had to go back afterward, he would know about what he was dealing with.
After making his decision, he didn't stop and continued to move while being vigilant of skeletons. He didn't have the destructive power of Elbio, so he wanted to avoid fighting in this forest.
Unknowingly, Jacob had been traveling in the Gray Land Tree Forest for over two months, and besides the growing roots of gray land trees, Jacob didn't encounter anything.
However, on this day, as the night descended, Jacob suddenly felt a strange sensation when he stopped to rest for the day, and his eyes were closed. It was like he was… moving, or, more accurately, the roots beneath him were moving.
Jacob's eyes sprang open. Quickly, he jumped to his feet, but when he looked around, he was flabbergasted because the entire forest around him had… vanished!
Yes, there was nothing around, below or above. He was just sliding forward in the darkness.
Horrified, Jacob tried to run back, but something even more ghastly was waiting for him. No matter how much he ran, he didn't feel like he had moved forward.
'Not good!' Jacob was simply spooked as he continued to slide forward.
"Cursed Immortality, what the fuck is going on?!" He quickly summoned Immortika while looking around for an escape route.
He knew something had happened while he was resting, and whatever happened was out of his comprehension. Only Immortika might be able to shed some light on this situation.
Immortika appeared in front of Jacob and wrote, which sent a shiver to Jacob's entire being when he read it. Somehow, he knew he was screwed!
"Welcome to the Rare Trail Plain, hahahaha!"