Lucien knew where he was… The Ayana Forest one of the largest forests on the Elarin Continent. It cut through several states, but the largest part was in The Shattered Plains.
The Shattered Plains.
The Shattered Plains was a story on its own. From tales and stories he heard around, the Shattered Plain had once been a mighty empire. United, rich beyond measure, and feared by all.
Its legions had marched like storms, its mages had bent the world to their will, and its capital... now lost to time... was said that the tallest buildings had touched the skies.
But then, without warning, the emperor vanished.
No war. No assassination . No poison in his cup. No aging. No sudden death.
No, he simply disappeared.
He left no heir. No will. No body. Just an empty throne with his family gone as well.
The ministers, generals, and nobles each claimed a right to rule. What followed was not just a war, but a thousand wars. Civil war broke out in every corner of the empire.
The empire was divided into City-states, and leaders of said City state rose and fell in the span of weeks. Brother turned on brother.
Governors fortified their lands. Even minor barons declared themselves kings of their territory.
A neighbouring kingdom, viewing the empire's collapse as a sign from the gods, seized the moment and sent its armies across the border. They expected a swift and effortless conquest.
They were gravely mistaken.
You see civil war brings many cons... but one unexpected pro was that the entire empire had transformed into a battlefield. Survival demanded skill in arms so every citizen, from farmer to noble, was forced to fight just to see another day.
Battle became a way of life.
So when the invaders came not only were they stepping into a nation of warriors where fighting happened every other day but they were also fighting on so many fronts.
They faced several warlords everyday so much so that they were tired out and got wiped out. And then betrayal.
One of the invading kingdom's own dukes, seeing which way the wind blew, turned on his king. The royal family was slaughtered in a single night.
The invaders were wiped from history. The empire they sought to claim remained… even if only in name.
People from the west of the continent don't even bother trying... while it was easy enough to send a few groups for training in the Shattered Lands an army big enough to actually make a meaning fully impact never made it far in the forest talk less of getting to the other side.
The Ayana Forest was no ordinary forest.
Every tale Lucien had ever heard called it cursed but it wasn't cursed by any spiritual phenomenon like other cursed lands but at the same time the word "cursed" didn't even begin to cover it.
People may call it cursed, but the truth was simpler and worse. The forest didn't need magic to kill you. It only needed time.
Venturing into it was not like marching into battle or riding into enemy lands. In war, you saw your enemy, In Ayana you didn't.
The deeper one went, the less the world seemed to follow its own rules. The canopy was so thick that you could barely tell day from night. Sometimes, even the sun vanished for days.
There are so many maps of the same place that using random maps was nothing but a fast track to the grave.
Food spoiled quickly and because of the diversity and similarity of the plants it wasn't advised to eat them since misidentifying means sickness or death.
Trails disappeared overnight, and men lost their sense of direction so easily that they sometimes walked in circles for days without knowing it.
Logistics was a nightmare especially since you can't tell where you are most of the time... not to mention the unforgiving changes in climates.
Insect carrying diseases were so common and a simple sprained knee could become a death sentence and deep cut can lead to fatal infection.
Not to mention the number of predators ambushes every day which wears out the armies within days
Worst of all the races that live in the forest that hate visitors especially the ones in large numbers as they are often signify threat to them.
While they were usually of low numbers their absolute advantage in the terrain was nothing short of a nightmare.
Several groups had also tried to send an expedition into the Ayana forest but it always failed for various reasons.
***
We move back to Lucien, who was huffing crazily as he ran for his life within the forest.
Two vipers chased after him with bloodshot eyes in a zigzag manner.
In his mind, he was cursing himself. 'Why did I have to encounter two vipers at Rank 2?!'
He didn't even try to fight as his body was only moving because of fear. Besides, he didn't think he stood a chance against them at his peak talk less of now.
The only reason he was even able to escape from them is because he was lucky.
Suddenly, as Lucien was running, he heard a loud roar. It was a roar that scared him, freezing him on the spot before he immediately picked up speed again.
Instinctively, he knew that this was the roar of a tiger!
'Oh shit! I can't escape from such a beast! If only I had more mana, I would be able to escape.'
Suddenly, he remembered the two threats who chased after him. He turned around and almost breathed in relief as he found those two vipers nowhere.
It appeared that this roar didn't just startle him, but it had also scared off those vipers.
"Well, this is one good thing, at least."
Soon, he felt a drop of water hitting his head. Lucien raised his head with a frown and observed the clouds.
The dark clouds had covered the entire sky.
"Just great… Now comes the rain." He grumbled unhappily and jogged towards the east.
He left the tiger's territory and found a safe place to rest until he could recover his mana.
As he was jogging, he soon found a dark cave.
A cheerful look appeared on Lucien's face as he muttered, "Great. I even found a cave. Let's hope this is not the residence of some beast. If it is… That would be tragic."
Lucien cautiously approached the cave while picking up two stones.
He also looked at his surroundings and was soon familiar with them. Without any hesitation, he threw the first stone into the cave.
Lucien heard the stone strike the walls of the cave.
Soon enough, Lucien was nowhere to be seen. Currently, he was hiding behind a tree while concealing himself as best as he could.
He didn't feel any presence from that cave. But still, from that same spot, he threw another stone. The stone hit the outer walls this time. And Lucien continued to conceal his aura with a unique technique.
After waiting for 5-10 minutes, Lucien concluded that the cave should be safe. If a beast did reside in this cave, it was probably in a deep sleep.
As long as he was careful, he shouldn't wake it up and would have a chance to escape.
Taking one more look at the dark cave from outside, Lucien mustered up whatever bits of courage he had and entered the cave.