Chapter 25: Obvious Trap
Just saying "Obey your heart." was easy but applying was not.
What even 'obeying your heart' meant?
Ashy wasn't a hedonist and wasn't planning to become one either.
But the problem was, these words were uttered by a power house who was sealed instead of being killed. This was a 'request' in Helen's words but to Ashy, it was more like an advice for the future.
'I am not a fool. She must be definitely planning something.'
Although Ashy had fun talking with Helen, he didn't put his trust in her more than necessary. He didn't talk much about himself or give his real name, just a nickname.
Maybe true names had some kind of power, who knows? Ashy wasn't going to risk it.
'However, I don't think she will get me killed. Maybe use me to free her or something?'
Helen's purpose was currently shrouded in mystery but it was highly possible. Who was content with being sealed for years anyway?
"The worrying thing is her second request. She said I will at least survive if I go to the City of Hope after I leave the Wall City, right?" Ashy massaged his forehead.
All of this magic bullshit was causing him nothing but headaches.
Fortunately, he didn't have any thought of leaving Wall City yet.
"However, this also means that I will decide to leave Wall City in the future. How frustrating… this is not a help but a burden." Ashy sighed as he pushed the branches in front of him.
More than two days passed after Helen disappeared, but because of her advice for the future, he couldn't focus on leaving the forest.
Truly, all time related powers were annoying.
"Or maybe she is merely a delusional hag. Being sealed away might cost her her sanity, if she was sane in the beginning. Heh…"
Chuckling to himself, Ashy continued his way.
…
A towering stone wall was covered in moss and cracks, crushed here and there. Its one part completely crumbled to the inside as if it got a blow from a giant a long time ago.
Around the hole in the wall were a few dozen corpses without any limbs, long turned into undead. They were donned in dark colored armor, trashing around. Most had rank badges on them engraved with Torches, Lanterns, and even Laurel Wreaths.
'Holy fuck!' Ashy cursed, after all, he knew what these badges meant.
The Torches represented Walkers, Lanterns represented Seekers, and Laurel Wreaths represented Champions…
'Where the fuck I am?'
The place he should be in was supposed to be a beginner training ground for trainee Walkers but here there were Champion corpses that died and turned into undead.
'I mean I think I can kill them, they don't have limbs after all, but…' Ashy found it dubious. 'It screams trap.'
Ashy stepped back into the forest, deciding to apply Helen's first request.
'Then what my heart says?'
"..."
'It says I should get to fuck out here before I turn one of these limbless undead.'
Was there even a chance to win against something that killed a dozen Seekers and Champions while he was merely a Walker?
Of course not.
'Time to obey my heart.'
There wasn't even a guarantee that he could kill a Champion just because it didn't have limbs.
So, Ashy cautiously and quietly stepped back until he felt like it was safe enough.
He was certainly greedy for the free 'Exp bags' but his greed wasn't great enough to prevent him from noticing an easy trap.
'Fuck my map reading skills. Where the heck am I? How the fuck there are undead Seekers let alone Champions?'
Lost in the wildly grown forest, Ashy didn't have much to do other than walking away from the Champion ranked undead and finding a shelter.
Fortunately, there were many large trees and their hollows were also big enough for him to squeeze rather easily.
'Though willingly entering inside of an undead is uncomfortable, even if it is an undead tree.'
Well, it couldn't be helped.
It is said that when the Beacon of Darkness appeared, most living beings died and became undead. So, there was barely anything that could stop the growth of the trees and them turning into undead.
So, the continent was mostly covered in dead, eternally thick forests, barren lands, swamps, and freezing cold areas.
"That is why I need to learn reading this fucking map, or else I will get lost myself to death." Ashy cursed before murmuring. "Well, at least I know proceeding south will eventually lead me to Great Wall. I wonder why those guys didn't burn this forest down?"
Ashy didn't know much about the undead. All he could guess was that turning into undead lifted the limits of the body and slows down the rotting process. Hence, a normal undead human was stronger than a normal human.
However Ashy didn't have the knowledge of what limits plants and any other living beings other than animals had.
"Well, the abnormal growth and way of growth must be one for the plants." Ashy whispered and yawned.
Although his need for sleep was lesser than other people and he could endure some sleepless nights, he still needed to sleep. Because instead of trusting his safety to Helen, he chose to stay awake.
But now, he needs to rest.
'At least I can…*
As long as he had his compass, he could always return to Wall City, this eased his worries as his eyelids fell over to hid eyes.
Truly, humans did it best to take the whole southernmost part of the continent for themselves.
He could always return with some time.
****
"If you become a Listener, then you are one step closer to becoming a Champion but you will hear things you normally couldn't hear.
"Fortunately for you, brat, you can choose to shut your Awareness and open it back whenever you need it. We humans can't do that, instead, we need to endure the insanity of seeing, hearing, and realizing things we shouldn't, and get used to it before we go insane."
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