Joe was surprised by how easy they made it past the exit gate of Perina. Unlike the entrance gate, the guards there were a lot more lax and casual and allowed them to pass without checking for anything. They went as far as wishing them well on their journey. It was strange, but maybe it was due to them having faith that the guard at the entrance gate did his job diligently.

The two pressed forward without an issue, the sun's intensity was still there but Joe was starting to adapt to it. That didn't stop sweat from accumulating on his forehead, but at least he wasn't taking breaks or panting for air.

Joe and Shelly didn't talk much on the way. Despite having spent a lot of time together during the past few days, there were still a lot of awkward silences between them. Joe decided to break the ice and throw a question at Shelly. “So how long do you think it will take us to reach the capital?” Joe wanted to get the conversation going, but he was also genuinely curious.

“If we keep going at this pace, maybe 8 or 9 days it's hard to say?”

“9 days?” Joe asked in surprise, he didn't expect the capital to be that far away. “Won't the tournament be over by then?” Sophia said the competition would start in one week so they were most likely going to miss it.

“Well yes, but I have a plan.” Shelly said, in a relaxed tone. “There are 3 ways to get to the capital. We could do it on foot and go thorough 2 towns before we arrive, but if we take this option we won't make it in time.”

“Then what are the other 2 options.” Joe asked, his eyes shifting to a forest in the distance.

“Well one of the other options is unavailable to us. If we had enough money we could have hired a carriage that would take us directly to the Capital. But those things are expensive, I don't have enough even for myself, and I don't need to explain your current financial situation. That leaves us with one viable option. We go through the Infernal Cave Dungeon.”

Joe let the comment addressing his financial status slide, he instead focused on what Shelly said after that. “The Infernal Cave Dungeon?”

“Yes, it's a Main Dungeon that we should reach in a day if everything goes according to plan. The Dungeon is a shortcut of some kind, if we take the Dungeon and clear it we will arrive at the capital with a few days to spare.”

Joe's face lit up. ”That's awesome. Then where's the problem? We'll just clear the Dungeon and make it to the capital In record time. You had me worried there for a second.”

“There's a reason people avoid the Infernal Dungeon. Even adventurer's would rather take the long way around. It's a dangerous dungeon. If we were not under this time constraint I would've advised us to avoid it entirely.”

“You worry too much.” Joe said, casually. “This is an opportunity for us to get stronger before The Hunt. If we clear it, we'll be several times stronger than we are right now.”

Shellt sighed, she wasn't surprised in the slightest by Joe's response. “Well before we reach the Infernal Cave, we'll have to go past the Forest of Nightmares.” Shelly gestured to the forest ahead

Joe wasn't quite fond of the name. “Why would they call it the Forest of Nightmares?” He asked, with a hint of cautiousness in his tone.

“Trust me you don't want to know.” Shelly said. “If we're lucky the forest may not be active today and we could pass through it peacefully. But I wouldn't count on it, just make sure to stay alert at all times.”

“You got it.” Staying alert was his specialty [Outsider’s Perspective] made sure of it.

As the two got closer and closer to the forest, the conversation died once again. Not only that, Shelly's demeanor changed. Something seemed to be bothering her, but she chose to stay quiet. Joe didn't want to pry so he kept his lips closed with occasional worried glances. If something was wrong, Shelly was going to tell him about it when she was ready to open up. For all he knew, she could still be sorting out her emotions after she lost her entire party.

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It didn't take much longer however before Shelly spoke. “Hey, Joe. What happened exactly during your battle with Mikey?”

Joe was surprised to see her bring up something about Mikey, “what do you mean?”

“Back when you fought Mikey. What did he do to those kids? I know they all ended up dying during the fight. But something more was done to them, what did he do?”

Joe was getting concerned, “Something more?”

“After your battle, I took some of the older kids and we went to check on you, since you weren't coming out after several minutes. We found you unconscious and we saw the bodies of all the children who died that day.” Shelly's arms trembled slightly. “I went up to the kids to perform my skill, to at least ensure that they would find peace in the Soul Realm. But something was wrong, not a single one of them had a soul. All of them were left to be nothing but hollow corpses…. what happened Joe? What did that monster do to them!” Tears fell down Shelly's face as she looked Joe straight in the eyes.

Joe was taken aback, his heart pounded. What was she going to tell her? Was it better to come clean and just tell her what happened? But then….

Joe bit his bottom lip before saying. “I don't know. He must've used some kind of weird skill. I have no idea what he did to those kids.” Joe cursed himself inside. He wanted to rip his own heart to shreds for lying to Shelly's face.

But if she knew he used the souls of those kids to fuel himself would she understand? If she skew he destroyed their souls and that they would most likely not make it to the afterlife, would she understand? And if she told her the truth, she'd find out he was an Outsider. If she knew that, would their relationship stay the same? Would he lose his only friend in the world? There was too much uncertainty to risk it. He hated himself for it, but if it meant keeping his only friend… then he would say anything.

He knew he couldn't lie forever, they were party members. It would be foolish to think Shelly would not find out eventually. But Joe wanted to keep everything to himself, at least untill he was ready to tell her the truth.

“What a monster! They were just kids.” More tears streaked down Shelly's face. Her hands were clenched forming two tight fists. “They didn't live long in our world but now they won't even get a chance in the after life! Only a demon would destroy the souls of children!”

Joe felt a needle stab straight through his heart. He didn't say anything, but look at Shelly with shattered eyes.

The heavy mood between them persisted long after their conversation ended. Shelly had stopped crying but remained quite. Joe didn't say anything until they reached the Forest of Nightmares.

The trees of the forest casted long shadows and their scale reminded Joe of the Black Forest. When they stepped inside the forest, they were immediately met with darkness. The chilly breeze was a starc contrast to the heat outside. It was like stepping into a different realm all together. The leaves were grey which was strange to Joe, and everytime they rustled he couldn't help but be on edge. Despite how much stronger he had gotten since the Black Forest, Joe exercised caution. And almost immediately the reason for that caution was justified.

“Shelly, stay sharp. We're not alone.”

Shelly was immediately on high alert and Joe retrieved the Black Blade from his inventory. His eyes located the signature instantly, it was feint almost as if trying to hide its presence but Joe saw it. A flickering humanoid light jumping from tree to tree. It came from the left and Joe waisted no time. His figure blasted towards the source, a single leap took him to the top of the tree and he caught a glimpse of the individual.

[Speed: 94]

They wore a black hooded cloak but Joe could not get a clear view. An orange light emmited from above forcing Joe to look up.

He found another hooded figure with their cloak flapping wildly as they descended on Joe. They wore black gloves and they were immediately put to good use. The cloaked figure clenched their right hand into a fist, flames erupted and crackled. They surrounded their fist and they threw firry jab targeting Joe's figure. [Skill Activation: Fire Fist]

Joe responded quickly to shield himself, the foe's hot fist struck the solid and sturdy black blade. But even with a block, a wave of fire that burst on contact and sent Joe plummeting to the earth. His figure drifted along the ground before he crashed into a tree trunk next to Shelly.

“Joe!” Shelly shouted, with a staff in hand.

A hooded figure jumped off the tree Joe was laying against. They had their fingers pointed at Joe and Shelly. Their finger tips glowed as they looked to activated their skill. But something was wrong, Shelly had moved.

The figure’s head made a sharp turn and they found Shelly already next to them. Her staff soared through the air as she looked to sandwich the figure's skull with the tree.

The hooded figure twisted in mid air. Their feet touched tree and used it as platform. They then catapulted themselves out of harm's way by flipping over Shelly and her staff.

The bark splintered when Shelly struck the tree with thunderous force, but the figure had dodged.

Shelly touched down on the ground, frustrated. Joe was back on his feet and dusted himself almost as if nothing had happened. They both faced the two hooded figures who stood a few meters away from them.

Joe could see one of their mana signatures grow now that they revealed himself. With his grip on the black blade. He confronted them head on. “Who the hell are you?”