The threat worked!

* * *

It seemed like at least half an hour had passed already.

Lumen strode through the forest with a disgruntled look on his face. No matter how far he walked, he kept seeing the same paths and the same trees, and it made him feel sick.

Because of that uncomfortable feeling, his five senses became twice as sharp as usual. The small noise of grass blades sweeping, the direction the wind blew, the fishy smell of damp moisture. His sharpened senses sensed everything.

However, he couldn't feel the presence of Cadel, who he was looking for all along.

‘....He's alive, right?’

After the promised 10 minutes, Cadel did not set off any fireworks. He stayed for a few more minutes, wondering if his sense of time had gone erratic, and continued his search, but it was fruitless waiting.

No matter how long he waited, Cadel didn't fire the signal. He had his watch with him, so he couldn't have lost track of time.

So, there was only one conclusion he could draw. Cadel was in such dire straits that he couldn't sent the signal.

He didn't have to think too long. In the first place, this place was the ‘Forbidden Forest’. Cadel's plan to hit and run for 10 minutes seemed pretty plausible on the surface, but it wouldn't be enough to escape all the dangers of the forest.