The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

'I can't see anything.' Oscar stepped carefully, wafting through the dangling branches and sturdy trees. His feet barely made a sound on the cold ground. 'Is there not a single blade of grass on the ground? It's different. A wet, slippery ground.'

It didn't feel like the usual plant; it crumbled apart under Oscar's boot like a rotten tomato but was firmly rooted into the ground. Oscar's attempts to push it aside failed unless he exerted more strength. He wanted to bring out his book to get the information, but it was futile in this darkness.

"Oscar!" Emily said close to his ear. "I see something glowing."

Oscar squinted his eyes and saw a faint bluish-silver light like the moon in the distance. A most welcome sight in this veil of darkness.

"Be ready to fight. It may not be safe. Could be a trap." Oscar whispered and tugged on the cloth to indicate for them to move ahead. He took out his buckler as Emily gripped her staff.

"Can't your Prinstyct work here?" Emily winced from the nauseating squishy feeling her feet felt with each step. If Oscar could see through this place, they could find a better way to navigate this darkness.

"Honestly, I tell you, I learned a way to see future movements, yet you think it's a lot of other things." Oscar grumbled as they came closer to the source of the light.

"This is what was giving off the light." Oscar slowly approached until he was within the light. It was a large blue mushroom with a flat cap around the size of a bush. It gave off a luminous light, extending only a meter around it.

Within its glow, Oscar faintly made out his hands with a blueish sheen. Emily also entered the area with relief that she was out of the darkness. She wondered if she should have learned a spell to see in the dark.

"What is it?" Emily stared at the mushroom but did not dare to touch it. Her face gaped in disgust when she stared down. The ground was littered with mushrooms and moss, the sources of the wet feeling and the unusual crumbling plants.

"Here it is." Oscar had been reading his book, his eyes glued close to the page to make out the words. "The Forest contains certain mushrooms that provide a bit of light. Due to the darkness, mushrooms and moss grow the only things that grow here."

"The willow trees smelled rotten because of damp moss covering them." Oscar put away his book. To Emily's horror, he wrapped his hands in Ein and cut at the blue mushroom. The piece in his hands was still glowing blue.

"We can move with this. I can see about half a meter in front. This is useful. Here." Oscar held out a piece toward Emily.

Emily looked around in disgust; she turned to Oscar in haste and took it, feeling the dampness and odd texture of the mushroom. "Let's find Frederick and get the hell out of it." She said the words in a low growl, angered at Frederick for making them come all the way here.

Their journey was much easier. With these natural torches, they scanned their immediate surroundings for any traces of Frederick. Emily was a good tracker, but she could not find any tracks on these strange grounds.

"Hey, Oscar."

"Hmm? What is it?"

"The mission details said that the Moonblossom fruit grows from the Luna Willow. It was listed as a solo mission because all you had to do was find the tree and get the fruit." Emily asked for affirmation.

"Yes, that was Frederick's mission." Oscar nodded.

"And to find it, you needed to look for a specific root that sometimes went above ground with a silvery vein pattern." Emily asked again for affirmation.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Yes."

"Is this it?" Emily directed Oscar's stunned gaze to an arched root that stuck out above the mushrooms. It looked withered but had silvery veins lining it. It was incredibly lucky, but they had found the root already in this vast forest.

"It is! Can you believe our luck? If Frederick found this, then he would have followed its traces toward the Luna Willow."

"That's great!" Emily smiled and tore through the mushrooms and mosh without care. She uncovered the root to reveal more of its features. She analyzed the root despite her hands being covered in disgusting fungi. "From the difference in the width of the root at certain points, it should be connected further that way."

"Here. You did well." Oscar gave her a handkerchief.

Emily finally noticed the rotten, squishy pieces covering her hands and nearly barfed.

SWISH

Oscar and Emily quickly put their backs together, looking out into the darkness beyond their blue light. Something was moving around them. Emily had dropped the handkerchief but not was no time to mind her dirty hands.

"Do you see anything?" Emily asked once again, referring to Oscar's Prinstyct. Since something was moving around them, he should be able to lock onto it, unlike the ground. She kept her staff up with one hand because the other was bound to Oscar's. However, her staff anima twirled around, floating in wait.

In his inner world, the indifferent and lofty third eye on Oscar's forehead gazed everywhere in the area of light provided by the mushroom piece. If the creature showed a slight bit of itself in his blue light, he could predict where it would move next and instantly catch it.

"Whatever it is, it's not approaching. Let's continue looking for the other roots. The moment it steps in our light, we can catch it." Oscar gestured for Emily to match their steps, similar to a three-legged race.

"OOOO." A low and slow groan sounded in the darkness. It was akin to the noise of a whimpering puppy. Oscar and Emily could not help but stare in the direction of the sound.

Suddenly, A claw entered Emily's blue light from the other side. It was as large as a bear's claw but completely pale with hardly any flesh; the skin was so sunk in the bones were clearly outlined. Its fingers were so thin and long with long sharp claws extending to the size of a newborn baby.

Emily reacted fast with her 'Rock Barrier' to stop the claw, but another claw came in. The two pale claws swiped down and diced the 'Rock Barrier' into pieces, continuing on toward Oscar and Emily.

Emily swung her weapon briskly with her staff anima shooting through the air. Her staff clashed against the sharp claws; they were unexpectedly dense and tough. She invoked 'Heavy Impact' to stop them in place.

"Oh no!" She realized their target wasn't them but the cloth connecting her and Oscar. She stopped the claws from advancing, but they got close enough. They swiped down, cutting apart the cloth, and then swiped to the sides.

"Oscar! Behind you!" Emily shouted.

This ordeal took only a few seconds. All the while, Oscar had been tucked with his buckler to block the incoming claws when he suddenly felt his hand feel loose, followed by Emily's warning.

'Steel Scales'

Oscar put his buckler toward the surprise attack. The claws could not scrape past his buckler, but he was thrown into the darkness. He could only watch as Emily grew fainter in the distance until he could not make out her light.

"Frederick!" Emily shouted.

"Klein!" Oscar responded.

Oscar cursed inwardly. Their high alert had backfired on them, compounded by the nervousness brought on by the darkness. That brief moment when they both turned to the source of the groan was the worst mistake.

'Most likely, these creatures move in pairs. They're incredibly coordinated, separating the two of us.'

"Frederick!" Oscar shouted.

"Klein!" Emily's voice responded in the darkness.

Another claw entered Oscar's light and slashed down. He still could not make out the creature's form, but he could still see its movements through Prinstyct. Every time he tried to close in, the creature would evade showing itself.

"Frederick!"

"Klein!" Oscar shouted and ran in the direction of Emily's voice. All the while evading and blocking the attacks of the unknown assailant. Eventually, he saw a blue light in the distance. It must be Emily!

"Emily?" However, as Oscar got close, he could not see Emily in the blue light. On the mossy ground was a fragment of a mushroom glowing. "Frederick!" He shouted into the void.

"Klein!" Emily's voice responded, but Oscar raised his buckler with sweat covering his forehead. This voice was close. So close that it was not possible for Emily to not step into the light.

"Who are you?!" Oscar shouted.

"Klein!"

Two sharp pale claws entered the blue light. Unlike before, the creature stepped forward, revealing itself at last.

The rest of its body was pale, with a light spread of fur from its chest to its legs. The face was similar to a person except for how little flesh was on its cheeks, resembling a skeleton head. Its mouth was wide and extended to its ears, sporting many rows of needle-like teeth.

The creature tilted its bald, pale head slightly and said, "Frederick."

"Klein." Something responded.

Oscar turned to find another creature entering the light. It repeated Frederick's last name like a loop. The creatures laid this trap, and Oscar fell straight into it.

"Wendigos!" Oscar took a step back with his back wet from cold sweat.

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