[[ Good. Now, child. I do not have anything more to say. If you want, you can rest here for the day. ]]

,m The willow tree offered with a warm voice but, I had to decline this offer.

"No. I can't waste any time now that I know where I have to go. But..." I hesitated for a moment and after gulping a mouthful of saliva, I continued.

"Now that I have received the fruit... I know it's rude but, can I have the nectar, flowers, and that soul drop thing if you possibly have it?"

I scratched my head, but then I heard a burst of quiet laughter from behind me.

[ "You sure are something, little monkey. Even after receiving the greatest gift from my master, you ask for small things like them?" ]

Ace, the black panther that was quite far away from the start, walked close and laid down before the tree.

[[ Hohoho. Ace, this is indeed surprising to me, too. ]]

This would indeed be surprising to hear, but then again, I should get whatever I can.

And I knew the willow tree won't deny it.

[[ Very well. You can have these flowers and nectar too. As for the soul drop, ancient trees mostly infuse them with fruits that they grant, meaning you already have it as the fruit. ]]

With that, small needle-like flower branches slowly descended... or spiders took them down with their threads.

In a small container made of wood, a darker shade of nectar than the great baniya tree also fell with them.

This was an immense gain and if I try, even I might be able to make low-quality medicine with these flowers too.

Though they were fantastic materials, I knew nothing about making the medicines mentioned in the books.

I knew the basic process like smashing it, mixing some other things, and things like that.

Few books recorded the use of these flowers in detail and it was a trade secret more than anything, so information about it wasn't disclosed to just anyone outside the capital.

It was good, and I had gained even more resources to use in the dark forest.

That place was a nightmare in this hell and from what I heard regarding it before I departed from the willow tree, it wasn't something good at all.

[Corruption]

A natural phenomenon that occurred because of extreme negative emotions.

When any being with such emotions that possesses a unique type of energy like Mana loses themselves and malignant energy overwhelms them.

This energy was something that I saw on the skeleton knight before Fern cured it.

Mainly, only divine power could cure the initial stages of corruption, but Fern's abilities were special.This chapter's initial release occurred on the N0v3l-B1n site.

The divine energy would work on the whole body and soul, but the ability Fern had worked on emotions themselves.

And, more than anything, the divine energy was death to undead creatures, so even if they wanted to, they can't cure them.

So, once again, Fern was special.

With a sigh, I looked at my new pendant.

============

[Ancient Willow's Gift.]

-A gift received from an ancient tree upon acknowledgment.

-Increases Mana regeneration, Mana pool, strength, agility, and concentration by 30%.

-Summons a protective shield every time the owner (Axion) is in a critical situation. (Once every year. The count stacks as the gathered energy in the core increases.)

-It contains a seed of an ancient tree inside it and only the owner (Axion) can call it out.

-When released in authentic form, increases Mana and the natural healing speed of creatures within a ten-meter radius.

============

"If this isn't a cheat item, I don't know what is." I smiled as I jumped on a tree branch.

I had checked many things from my inventory after getting the appraisal skill and it shocked me to see just what things I had picked up.

I was right with most of them as they were herbs that would be useful to me, but... many of them were dangerous poisons.

This wasn't as potent as the pink mushroom, but many normal-looking flowers and plants were highly poisonous when processed or ingested.

Some were very special flowers that I will need on some special occasions in the future.

And, the nectars that I received from both trees only showed normal information that I knew.

Well, everything was wonderful, and I finally found out that the core I got from ghost was actually (Yellow) ranked.

This was some of the greatest things for me as it meant I had killed a (Yellow) ranked being with that low power.

Having light attributes was some of the best things.

Now, I had everything I would need in that forest of darkness and I knew one thing...

"Let's go Celes," I said as I stepped on the dark soil.

This was strange and interesting as the two different color soli were being divided by a dark red line of grass.

This was as if the two parts of the forest had agreed that this was their area.

And stepping into this place also meant that I was stepping into a hell that might be the last place for me..

Jumping on a tree branch, I started moving forward like I always did.

The trees in this area were smaller compared to the green forest but, this area was thicker with trees and all of these trees were of dark colors.

Mostly black, dark brown, gray, dark blue, and some were darker shades of red.

I had never seen or read anything about these trees and the 'creatures' weren't in sight either.

In the green forest, there were always tiny insects, birds, and animals but, this place was devoid of that.

I was only able to see thanks to my (Night Vision) spell of (tier-1).

Thanks to the golden fruit, or golden nut would be the name I would call it, I was much stronger than I was yesterday before receiving this fruit.

Well, calling this thing a fruit was something quite not right.

It was a solid thing, like the pearl that perry the hippo gifted me.

It would be most appropriate to call this an artifact than a fruit.

Just seeing the detailed status window of this cheating thing was enough to warm my heart.

That was it, but the cold air in this forest was the creepiest thing.

A slow, icy wind produced a creepy melody that seemed like something crying.

It was almost as if someone was really-

-Waaaaaaa...

'This one wasn't wind.' I stopped and Celes understood it.

We turned into a black tree branch and stayed still to see what that thing just now was.

-Whaaaaa!

It was getting closer, and it was getting more human-like and, most probably, it was a female cry.

I had a bad feeling about this one and, after a moment, I understood why the ancient willow was also called this forest: a forest of death.