For the next three hours, they trekked through the forest. Every so often, Li would sense a creature, usually some dangerous insect of some kind, and bid it to retreat. They did not encounter Darkbeasts, but at a certain point, the terrain of the forest shifted quite drastically.
"The forest floor is wet," observed Li as he took a step forward, boots squelching as he stepped into grimy, muddy dirt. "And yet, there hasn't been rain."
The mud was no ordinary mud either. It rang with the same static interference that Darkbeasts emitted, meaning that they were most definitely in Darkbeast territory.
"A sign that we are in the depths of the forest," said Launcelot. "None ever travel here for the threat of the Darkbeasts is far higher here."
Third chapter of the day! A longer one, too, to make up for the fact that I had to end the previous chapter shorter to have the chapter ends flow naturally