"Everybody, do not separate from the group." Gary gave his warning to the team.

They transverse the purple forest cautiously.

However, it was eerily quiet. Only sound of the leaves rustling from the slight breeze could be heard. Gary thought that it was weird. He raided many towers before, but nothing quite like this. From his previous experience, monsters roamed around endlessly. The minute he entered, he would encounter a monster or two.

"Just because there is no danger present, does not mean that there will be one."

The others took Gary's warning seriously. Beside Lyden, the rest had entered a tower before, thus, they all knew the danger of the towers.

After several minutes of walking, Lyden could not help feeling that something was out of place.

'How strange… There is no trace of the previous team.' Lyden thought. He observed his surroundings, but he found no trace of anyone from the ground to the trees. It was like no one have steps inside this forest ever.

'With no sign of anybody traveling by ground, can they fly through the air? Or were the previous team able to teleport.'

Lyden thought of many possibilities as he could, but he realized his mistake when he couldn't think of anything concrete.

He knew nothing about the previous team members aretisites' abilities, which led him to jump to exaggerated conclusions. He did not even know the limit of an aretisite's ability.

He came with little to no preparation and he did not gather any information. If they encountered danger in this forest, he had nothing to defend himself with.

Lyden broke out in a cold sweat. He felt a sudden chill as he thought about something.

'If they found out that I am a hunter without an aretisite, they would abandon me. The chance of surviving if they do is slim.' A small tug on his heart pulled him into a state of panic.

Lyden had experienced a life and death situation before when he was 10 years old.

He and his siblings were exploring the mountain late at night one day behind the orphanage.

However, he fell down a cliff because he could not see where he was going.

It was not until sunrise until Lyden was found.

His siblings did not know what happened after Lyden fell, but he never forgot that moment.

On that eventful day, he almost got eaten by a large wolf that day, but luckily for him, he was trapped between two large rocks when he fell, but small enough so that the wolf could not fit in.

Lyden never slept that night as the wolf stared at him between the gap.

It was not until the wolf heard the adults, who were looking for him, that it left. Till this day, it had traumatized him.

Its teeth, breathe, eyes, and the bloodlust hunted his dreams for many years till this day.

Even though it was a bad memory for him, it also became his strength. A reminder of what terror was and what can he do to not put himself in a similar situation.

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'No, I should not rely on them,' Lyden gave a firm look. He came to find an aretisite.

Lyden feared his future. He did not want to feel powerless. He wanted the strength to protect what he deemed worthy.

He had no talent. He never did well in school. He did not have any passion, unlike many others.

Nonetheless, he wanted to put great effort into something.

As they walked in one direction without any sign of real danger. The other members began to relax a bit.

"Cindy, do you know anything about the previous team?" Lyden struck up a conversation with her. He wanted to gather more information to understand what was going on.

"The previous team? I don't know much about them. Why do you want to know?" Cindy did not care for gathering information because she felt that it would not be as much help.

"Just wondering."

"Hmm, let me ask Jai," Jai was Cindy friend. He was somewhat a reserve type and have not talked to anyone besides her.

"Do you know anything about the team who enter before us, Jai?"

"Not really. Why do you want to know?" Jai looked at Lyden. It was easy to overhear each other in such a quiet forest.

"Don't you think that something is off here, Jai? There are no traces of the previous team." Lyden replied.

"You are correct. I was already suspicious as soon as we got here. I already activated my aretisite to find any traces of the team before us, but I discover very little."

"Your aretisite?"

"My aretisite, naked ruby eyes, which allow me to see smells. I had it activated until but there was nothing. The smell probably became to faint to be noticed by my aretisite." Jai was concerned about this purple forest the whole time. He explored other towers before, but nothing like this.

So far, Jai experienced with other towers were straightforward. He would only need to defend himself against monsters until the barrier opens up. He did not need to do more than that since hunters do get a lot of money just from entering the tower by the government or private corporation. Many hunters would gather materials so they can sell it, but Jai would never do that if the risk of death is highly present.

With his naked ruby eyes, he can see any monster approaching him. Thus, he can escape or warn his teammates before anything happen.

The other team members, who were taken the forest lightly, heard Lyden and Jai conversation. The two reminded the rest of them to not loosen their guard in the tower.

After two hours of walking, Gary decided to head back. He did not know what was going on in this forest, but he knew something was not right. He felt little confidence in solving the mystery of this purple forest and as team leader, he did not want to put his teammates in unknown risk.

Also, Gary wanted to use Jai's ability to find his way back. He was afraid the further he went, the harder for Jai to guide the team back to the exit.

It was a good thing that the forest was not windy or else it would be heard for Jai to see the smell.

They agreed, however, Lyden was reluctant. If he leaves this tower, there will be no second chance. But he could not say anything and nodded his head in agreement.

With Jai's aretisite, it was easy to retrace their steps back to the barrier.

"The barrier still won't open up for 6 more hours," Gary said.

"That is so long! What a waste of time..." Terry complained. "We should just explore deeper into the forest and look for the other team."

"No, we will stay here. The only team member who has a utility skill here is Jai, and he can only do so much." Beside Jai, the other aretisites were mostly battle oriented.

Gary did not know Lyden aretisite, but he did not ask about it. He guessed that Lyden was the type of hunter that kept his aretisite a secret until needed.

"Why don't you cut those trees with your sword if you want to find them so much." Maina retorted. She thinks that Terry did not care about the safety of the previous team and just wanted to find something to bring back to sell.

Terry glared at Maina before walking away. He did not want to argue with her again.

Cindy and Jai shared their food supplies with Lyden while they waited. The two shared their stories of being a hunter and what they have experienced inside the tower.

More than five hours have passed.

Lyden was getting impatient as he thought about leaving this place with no gain. Of course, he would get money from the government, but it was not enough for an aretisite. For him to buy one, he would need a valid hunter permit.

Of course, there were black markets that sells aretisites, but that was highly illegal.

However, Lyden only heard about it on the internet and does not know anybody with connection about the black market.

'I'll have to risk it. I'll enter the forest by myself. But I have to wait until the barrier opens up. I don't want to have them risk their lives to look for me.' Lyden thought. This was his first team and he liked them. He did not want to see his teammates harm because of his selfish reason.