Chapter 32: 32. Forest of Lost Souls

The young men quickly turned around, only to find Prince Arkana suddenly standing among them.

"Prince Arkana?" Kairav exclaimed.

"'Artificial pets' like these are common in regions where the Darkconian Empire once built secret structures. These creatures were created as small traps to protect those buildings from intruders," the young prince explained.

At that moment, Casildo crept up to his friend with an annoying grin. "Bro, how was your warm-up? Easy, right? Fighting such a defective monster?" he teased. "Why did it take you so long to kill it? Didn't I already tell you to just chop off its head?"

Prince Arkana, already too irritated, could only glare at the infuriating man, secretly plotting his revenge. "Since when has your advice ever been reliable?"

"Are you okay?" Kairav asked, approaching Arkana with a concerned expression.

Arkana quickly turned to his childhood friend and gave a small smile, nodding. "I'm fine," he said.

Gavin suddenly stepped forward, his face filled with curiosity. "Excuse me, Prince Arkana. Earlier you mentioned dragon serpent blood—what exactly is that? Is it blood taken from a dragon serpent?"

"It's a special type of blood possessed by Astral Conjurers who host the spirit of a dragon serpent," Arkana answered briefly.

Hearing this, Kairav furrowed his brow. "Casildo said earlier that I also have special blood. Is that the same kind?"

Arkana shook his head. "No, it's different. Your blood is healing and grants extended life, while dragon serpent blood is poisonous and dangerous."

"In the world of Astral Conjurers, there are three types of conjurers who possess special blood. Those who host the spirits of dragon serpents, phoenixes, and unicorns like you," he continued.

"A dragon serpent host has poisonous blood, a unicorn host has healing blood that extends life, and a phoenix host has blood that can bring the dead back to life."

"Blood that raises the dead? How extraordinary!" Baron remarked, amazed.

"What's so special about it? Sure, it can raise the dead, but it can't even keep the host from dying," Arkana said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Kairav asked, confused.

"You'll find out when you meet the person later," Arkana replied as he walked toward the corpse of one of the treasure hunters.

Kairav seemed deep in thought as he followed Arkana. "You said my blood can heal others. So, if I get sick or injured, can my blood heal me as well?"

Casildo quickly jumped in with a teasing grin. "That's the irony. Your blood works wonders for others, but it's useless for yourself." He laughed as Kairav's face soured.

"Why is that?!" Kairav asked, frustrated.

Casildo stuck out his tongue mockingly. "How should we know? Ask the person who produced you."

"You won't even tell me who my real father is. Are you expecting me to ask a rock?!" Kairav snapped.

Gavin stepped in, throwing his arm over Kairav's shoulder. "Don't bother responding, he's just trying to test your patience."

"Think of him as a goat learning how to bleat," Baron chimed in.

Kairav let out a slow breath, considering his friends' words, which had some truth to them.

"Did the girl survive?" Arkana asked suddenly.

The others quickly turned to look at Prince Arkana, who was crouched, examining the condition of the corpse before him.

"Girl? You mean Trisha?" Kairav guessed, as she was the only girl he'd encountered in this place.

Seeing Arkana nod, Kairav asked again, "Do you know that crazy girl?"

The young prince nodded once more. "Yes. She's commonly referred to as 'the little boss' because she's the right-hand woman of Gama Sujiwa, the leader of the Mystic Plunder Circle, based in the Bentala Kingdom," he explained.

His finger pointed to an old compass tattoo carved into the palm of the dead man's hand. "See this tattoo? It's the membership mark of that organization. They engage in illegal activities, stealing treasure and looting ancient sites, then selling everything to high-end collectors."

"Is this a new organization? I've never heard of them before," Kairav asked, puzzled.

Arkana shook his head. "The organization's been around for a long time, but they operate like ghosts. Their movements and existence are extremely difficult to track. Even the government has a hard time tracing them."

"On top of that, until recently, they mostly operated within the Bentala Kingdom. But for some reason, they've expanded into our country over the past few years," Arkana explained, frowning deeply as he thought.

He then turned to Kairav. "But how did you get involved with these people?"

Before Kairav could answer, Baron cut in, raising his voice. "Kairav tried to do the right thing again. He was insistent on helping and treating those people, not realizing it was a trap set by that psycho girl," he explained, visibly annoyed, while Kairav shot him a sharp glare.

"That's not kindness, that's stupidity," Casildo mocked instantly.

"You should be careful around that girl. She's very sly and quick," Arkana warned Kairav. "The authorities of both nations already have her identity, as well as the big boss's, but they're still incredibly hard to catch."

Kairav nodded as if he understood the advice, though his rebellious spirit was saying otherwise.

At that moment, Casildo glanced at his watch. "You can continue your story later. We need to go now. Look! We're running out of time!" he complained.

He turned to Kairav with a deeply bored expression. "But ... what about this creature? Are we going to keep dragging this dead weight?" he added. "Tsk! That damn nameless young man really tricked us!"

The young prince smiled and teased back. "I figured as much. It was odd that he suddenly handed over something as valuable as the Crimson Begonia to you."

Casildo held back his irritation. "You think I don't deserve something valuable?!" he snapped. "Wow, it looks like I'm the only one totally clueless here."

Arkana ignored him and walked over to his childhood friend, throwing his arm around Kairav's shoulders. "The nameless young man knew you'd come here, and he didn't even try to stop you. So, I'm sure he has a reason for letting you come," he said, smiling.

"With that in mind, why don't we invite Kairav to join us on this adventure?" he suggested, which brought a satisfied smile to Kairav's face.

However, Casildo was less than thrilled. "Huh... whatever," he grumbled, filled with frustration.

Arkana turned to Baron and Gavin. "What about you two? As you've seen, this journey will be dangerous. Do you still want to come?"

Gavin quickly answered for them. "Hm, we knew it would be dangerous, which is why we decided to stick with Kairav."

"Alright," Prince Arkana replied, nodding.

Meanwhile, Casildo scoffed as he walked ahead of the group. "Huh, such a touching friendship."

They continued walking, making their way through the cave's corridors. Time passed without them realizing it, as countless steps were taken.

Finally, far in the distance, they saw a warm orange glow from the twilight sky, piercing the darkness of the cave.

The sound of birds chirping and insects buzzing gradually reached their ears, accompanied by the cool mountain breeze gently brushing against their tired bodies as they approached the cave's exit.

The fresh, moist air immediately hit their senses. The damp and cold atmosphere enveloped them as they stepped outside.

"Is this the legendary Forest of Lost Souls?" Kairav asked in awe as he gazed at the expanse of the mysterious tropical mountain forest before him.

"Stay focused. Don't get lost," Arkana warned Kairav and the others.

The young men nodded in understanding. Casildo then asked, "Where is the nameless young man waiting for us?"

The young prince shook his head. "I don't know, he didn't tell me the exact location. He just said to keep walking once we left the cave."

"He told us to be careful, yet he's the one leading us astray," Casildo muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Since we're already here, we should just follow his instructions," Arkana suggested.

He then turned to Kairav and explained, "For safety, we should walk single file. I'll go in front, you and your friends follow behind me, and Casildo will take the rear."

"Huh... as usual, I get the short end of the stick," Casildo grumbled, his face a mix of annoyance and resignation.

None of his friends paid any attention to his grumbling. They stuck to the plan and moved forward in formation, in silence.

From the tops of the mountain pines that dominated the area, the songs of forest birds echoed from the branches. The buzzing of insects also came from all directions, filling the forest with a mysterious yet peaceful atmosphere.

From the state of it, this tropical mountain forest seemed largely untouched by human hands. Ferns grew wildly, spreading out like a sea of green. Fallen pine needles and branches were decaying underfoot, and thick wild moss covered the rocks, ready to trip them at any moment.

Yet everything had seemed normal up until then. The five young men continued their trek through the forest when something strange suddenly occurred, and Kairav was the first to notice.

"Why did it suddenly get so quiet?" he asked, looking around with a mixture of confusion and concern.

Kairav's words immediately caused Arkana to stop in his tracks. The young prince turned to face his friend, a puzzled expression on his face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"The birds, the insects... even the wind stopped!" Kairav said, his eyes scanning the surrounding trees warily, as if the pines were hiding some unseen danger.