I looked towards the other two. They both seemed slightly tired, but we needed to push on. The princess, the tallest among the three of us, was wearing the cloak we had pillaged from the dead bandit earlier. The oversized cloak was of good quality, but the dragging cloak might become a hazard ahead.
“Hey Princess, before we enter, can you do something about your dragging cloak?” She understood the dangers of having her cloak caught in the jungle ahead; there was no need to prattle on about it. “Also, are you any good with the bow?”
“No… I’ve never learnt how to shoot with one.”
“Then Shiara, you’ve been carrying the quiver from before, can you pass that over and instead carry some of my supplies? I’ll warn you two right now though, I’m not a great shot; so don’t expect much out of me. Also, once we enter the Jungle of Illusions, I want you two to be armed at all times with your dagger. A lot of wildlife in there like to ambush and surprise prey and when we are not fighting, the daggers can help clear the path. The other note is that you should try to follow in my footsteps in the jungle as much as possible as well as refrain from using any magic unless it’s an absolute emergency.” That should be all the warnings for now. There was no need for me to explain to them about the holy mana, only what was needed to survive. We exchanged supplies and patched ourselves up with a bit of hard mouldy bread along with some berries and nuts, before heading down into the Jungle of Illusions.
Most of the time we had been travelling recently had been quite quiet apart from the necessary comments. Even excluding Shiara’s attitude towards me, we were all really tired from the continuous trekking. The slums may have been tough and toughened us up, but that was nothing compared to our current journey and it would only get harder from here. I had no idea how Princess Sarratina was still coping, but I really respected her for it. We were all really tired from the walk as well as constant state of alertness and emotions running wild.
I looked towards the two giant trees ahead, peeking up above the mist like floating islands. Maybe at one time they were floating islands. Maybe they weren’t. Either way, it could be said that so much of our village’s history and belief surround those two trees, even maybe our very existence. Not that there were many others left. I think I will pay a visit to her grave. Wait, wait, wait! Now wasn’t the time to be reminiscing about this and getting distracted.
I quickly flipped my head around to check where we were and that we were going the correct way. Good, we were going the right way. Shiara and Sarra gave me weird looks when I looked back at them.
We passed through the layer of mist, and entered the Jungle of Illusion. Once inside, the sunlight became dim, and only became dimmer once we passed by the layer of upper canopy. The sunlight occasionally reached the jungle floor, but was invisible in most places creating a dark damp atmosphere. When the sun set, the jungle floor would often be pitch black even with the blue moonlight trying to shine in from above.
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I couldn’t help feeling chilled returning to this environment. We couldn’t get near the village anymore and I had no Yallisha on me, which meant we were on a timer. Not a timer to exit the jungle, but a timer to reach the capital.
I decided to pick up the pace as we started walking at a speed nearing a jog. I rapidly scanned the ground and surroundings as I walked, not forgetting to measure the dampness of the ground with my toes. The other two seemed to have kept quiet in fear of disturbing my concentration.
We were still on the outer edge of the jungle and the giants trees, and their hanging vines were mostly normal, but it didn’t take us long before we encountered our first strange plant life.
“Hey what is that?” Shiara was standing behind me pointing at a mushroom up ahead to our right. The mushroom was a disgusting dark yellow colour with yellow bulges all over it including both the stem and cap giving it a grotesque and deformed look. I felt disgusted seeing it, but couldn’t also help feeling elated. Suddenly, as if sensing our presence, all the bulges over its body opened revealing different sized eyeballs.
I turned around while pulling both of their heads around. They obediently let themselves be tugged before Shiara shakily asked, “What was that… thing?” The princess face was also a bit pale.
“That is a Hundred Eyed Paralysis Mushroom. If you look into any of their eyes for more then three or so seconds, you will have your whole body paralysed for over an hour. Because it can’t move, it will then attempt to scatter spores into your body, which will act as food for their newborn, and you will be eaten alive. As you can see, they’re often not very successful and are one of the bottom feeders of the food chain.” 1*
I took a quick peek around to see if the mushroom had its eyes open still. Yup. they were closed.
“I had thought you two realised it already, but this jungle is really dangerous. Anyways, it’s closed its eyes now and it won’t be able to open them for a while. Besides I have something good to show you two.”
“Something good? I don’t remember father or his advisors ever mentioning finding anything good in here…”
I should have warned them about the mushroom when I first saw it, but I was too happy looking for something else. There! On the jungle floor nearby there were some light brown cubical blocks. Green and red flecks could be seen inside. I went forward and got down and grabbed all the ones I could see. Where there was one, there should be more. I ended up collecting about 14 blocks. I couldn’t help but laugh evilly inside. This would be a good show.
“Hey Shiara, Sarra, come here.” They obediently came over. “If you guys ever see any of these, make sure to tell me.”
“What are these?”
“Have some and you’ll know. Here.” I passed the two of them each a block. The two carefully analysed the strange cubic block before them.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen this before, what is it?”
“It’s edible. Just eat some and you will know.” I ate one I was still holding. Mm, it tastes great. Ahhh… the memories. Giving me dubious stares, the two proceed to eat them.
…
“What is this?! It’s delicious! I’ve never had anything like this before. It looks like that chocolate I once had, but it’s salty and also has a slight spicy meaty flavour. It’s really nice!”
“Yeah I know what you mean! It tastes so great! Can I have another one please?”
“Sure.” I passed another to Shiara who had greedily wolfed the first one down.
“So what is this? I’ve never had it or heard of it before.“
Since Shiara was in the middle of stuffing her face with the second one, now seemed like as good a time as any. Carefully watching both of their reactions, I replied “Faeces. Strictly speaking toukou bird faeces.”