12th day of the 356th Avagast Month

After sneaking past the Aonian guards protecting the edges of the Black Mountain, I reached the Maze Forest. Rumored to have caused the deaths of hundreds of soldiers and adventurers, going inside the forest wasn’t the wisest thing to do. However, I detected a massive surge of undeath around these areas so I resolved myself to take my first steps into the dark, gritty forest.

Other than the fact that the forest was too quiet, there was nothing remarkable about the Maze Forest. I spent about a day walking, relying on my sense of undeath to find… whatever I was looking for.

There were no animals to be seen, and I didn’t even see any leaves fall onto the ground. It was almost as if time had frozen. At this thought, I almost suffocated from a sudden hit from existential depression. So many thoughts popped up in my mind. Was I still alive? Where was I? Would I ever get out?

Luckily, a strong scent of the restless dead pinched me back to reality. After following a pathway, I found the resting ground of five unburied skeletons. They wore the armor of an old powerful kingdom, called Brysing Kingdom, that broke down almost two hundred years ago. The Brysing Kingdom sent an army into the Black Mountain after hearing reports of a large undead gorilla manbeast rampaging across the kingdom which originated from the mountain. Many libraries in Brysing Kingdom were ransacked so they assumed the beast took it back into its lair inside the mountain.

They claimed that since they were the strongest nation in the continent, they had nothing to fear. Alas, a thousand brave knights never came back which weakened the kingdom, causing its downfall.

Inspecting the armors worn by the Brysing knights, they were chopped up pretty badly. One of the skeletons’ head was also missing. What kind of creatures lurked in the Maze Forest to overpower these well-trained warriors?

After burying the skeletons and saying prayers, I continued my trek.

13th day of the 356th Avagast Month

As I approached closer to the source of undeath, I witnessed a lot of strange phenomenons. Large patches of ground were corrupted and decayed. There were no edible plants to be found. Using magic, I inspected the ground and found out that elven magic was used a lot in these parts of the forest. What made this discovery more absurd was the fact that this was druid magic. Had the desert elves travelled this far? The last of the druids should have been killed by the Sayitsins… or were we all mistaken all along?

I spent a few hours concentrating on breaking down the magic traces found in the forest and discovered that the forest was subjected to ‘Regrowth’ magic countless of times. In fact, it was so used to being regrown through magic that the plants wouldn’t even grow naturally anymore.

The ground wasn’t corrupted or decayed. It was enchanted; evolved. It breathes, it sees, it lives. But who did this? Had druids manage to escape and form an enclave around here? If so, how could I sense the essence of death so strongly in this forest?

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It had only been a day since I entered the forest, yet the number of questions was already piling. I came here for answers, not questions...

14th day of the 356th Avagast Month

I thought it was just a trick of the Maze Forest, but the hooded man I stumbled upon was a real person. He wouldn’t tell me anything about him other than the fact that he was a writer and that he ‘had forgotten something’. He was relatively skinny, and a glint of the blade around his waist showed that it was extremely high quality - a heavenium sword.

As expected of people trying their luck in the Maze Forest, they’re all well-geared. But what does ‘forgot something’ mean? Did he forget his purpose and was trying to find it in the Black Mountain? Did he and his adventurer friends ventured into the forest too far, causing him to be the only remaining survivor? Was he trying to recover their body?

I tried to get more information about the Maze Forest from him. However, he would either not respond or simply mutter something related to bass… or boss? Could he be referring to Bahas? Why would he whisper the name of the God of Death here?

His eccentricness and attitude caused me to be wary about him, but eventually he gave me a book. I thought it would be useful information, but it was just a fantasy fiction about a world without magic.

At the very least, he was really telling the truth about being a writer.

17th day of the 356th Avagast Month

Incredible! I couldn’t believe it!

During the night before, the writer said that he needed to respond to ‘nature’s call’, but I caught him getting his bag as well. I suspected that he knew something and was trying to leave me behind, so I followed him.

He navigated through a series of turns, pathways and forest clearings flawlessly until it lead him to a large stronghold built into a mountain; the Black Mountain. The writer went inside and I waited for him to come out patiently.

After coming out with a bag, the writer started making his way back into the forest. I hid in the bushes to avoid him and when he was out of sight, I went into the stronghold. The air was dry and full of dust, the floors were cracked, and there were ancient runes inscribed everywhere. How old was this fortress?

The essence of death has reached its strongest here, which caused my spine to tingle with fear and excitement. The writer went through the stronghold so surely there were no undead in here, right?

Surely enough, the stronghold was abandoned. There were traps, but that was expected. Stone statues lined the hallways of the ancient stronghold, and some corridors were blocked by piles of fallen rock. Continuing onwards, I descended down the floors through stairs which had noticeable footprints.

The deeper I go down, the more the place was starting to look clean. The air was almost unbreathable (or perhaps there was too little), so I had to use magic to keep myself from suffocating. But I nearly suffocated when I reached one of the deepest floors.

I pushed through the doors leading into the main corridor of the floor, and noticed that there were used torches hanging everywhere. Although much of the stronghold was empty except for the statues, this floor obviously had furnitures not long ago.

The dust markings on the floor was proof. Odd squares of light dust accompanied footprints across the room. It was almost like the inhabitants packed all the furnitures for safekeeping.

But why? And who were these ‘inhabitants’?

No, I knew who. These ‘inhabitants’ were the source of the undeath flooding the area. Now, the only question remained: Where are they?

The only reason anyone would pack furnitures would be that they were too bulky to carry around for travelling…

Travelling…

Oh my Goddess...