Several minutes later, the Cohort was finally moving as a unit through the Wildes, having settled into an uncomfortable silence. Johnathan led from front, hacking and slashing as needed through the sometimes unpassable thickets of roots.

After getting some time to lose himself in the trek and really think, Wayne realized he had already made a crucial mistake during the Assessment, one that may have gotten him killed if not for Jayna. Cursing himself for not using the tools he actually had at his disposal, Wayne tried to activate the Dragon’s Eye Form.

It took him a moment, but Wayne was able to create his Shaping Space while moving without much issue. Wayne actually had more trouble making sure he didn’t trip over the rough terrain than holding his Space together.

Remembering that image of a different version of his own eye was easy now. Maybe this is what Klaw had meant when he had said Wayne was ‘acclimated’ to the Shaping. He then prepared the Shaping’s Form Space, and aligned it the metaphysical eye with his own.

Instantly his vision was awash with brilliant colors that overwhelmed him and forced Wayne to close his eyes. His eyelids offered relief, but deprived him of the ability to see the tangleweed that clung to the ground and tripped him up.

Thankfully, Wayne fell into a root directly in front of him and managed to keep his feet, but Homer still noticed from right behind him.

“Are you alright, Lord Aouris? Need any assistance?” The other Legionnaire asked, breaking their ban on speech.

Wayne hid his face and replied back as confidently as he could project.

“No, I’m fine, thank you.”

“Alright, if you say so, but it looks like you’re stumbling around drunk! One time, my uncle came home so drunk that he tried to organize a dance with the whole household, but couldn’t dance himself because he kept stumbling around and leaning like that! Ah, good memories. You would like my uncle, he’s a really interesting guy.”

“Ah, sure. If you say so.”

Wayne was only half listening as he slowly opened his eyes and let them adjust to the impressive waves of mana he could see with the Form active. It was of a different magnitude than what he had seen at Klaw’s cell. Here, every plant radiated the same light as the Rune engraved steel door had, making it difficult to discern the environment around him.

“Yeah, he’s somewhat of a genius, but he does have a bit of an alcohol problem. That makes him fun though! A real hoot at parties, both official and unofficial, of course. Knows something about everything, and is a surprising font of knowledge on certain points of interest.”

Wayne did not really care about anything Homer was saying. He had never been drunk, only drinking a single glass on holidays at the orphanage, which were the only parties he had ever attended. Still, he didn’t want to be rude, so he continued to show at least some interest while he tried to stop squinting like a fool.

“Wow, he does sound like quite the man.”

Unfortunately, the other Legionnaire took that as an invitation to keep blathering on.

“Oh yes, another time he-”

“Homer, please. Focus.” Johnathan called from up front, interrupting Homer and saving Wayne.

“Yes, of course, Johnathan.” Homer instantly accepted, smiling throughout the whole exchange.

Wayne put the conversation out of his mind and continued to focus on his Form, finally fully adjusting to the bright lights and being able to move forwards without risk. Although the mana was bright in his vision, it still paled in comparison to when he had seen Luminos’ light with his own eyes.

In relation to that, these were little more than soft glows, and Wayne forced himself to push through the early discomfort. Once he did, the glow from the roots and vines made it just as simple to avoid them as if he wasn’t using the Form. Still, right now, it didn’t seem that beneficial with so many mana prescenses cluttering his sight.

Still, he made sure that he held the Form active as they continued to hike through the jungle. The Form Space made maintaining it almost effortless, and the extra information couldn’t hurt.

Wayne continued viewing the world through his Form for another half a bell before Johnathan spoke up from the lead again.

“Alright, the documents mention an Elvish ruin ahead, and recommend ascending a layer at this point.”

Wayne’s eyebrows creased in confusion.

“Ascend?”

Johnathan gazed at him smugly, and pointed upwards.

“Yes, Lord Aouris. We will be climbing a layer of the jungle, and going above the ruins. This is still the least dangerous territory for us to transverse. There are other dangers around that we are insufficient to avoid with anything other than distance.”

Wayne craned his head upwards, looking through the dense interweaving of tree, root, and branch that extended twenty strides above before the next layer of trees. Then he looked back at Lord Heirdt.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, remembering his earlier words and promise.

“Alright, then. Lead on, Lord Heirdt.” Wayne said.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The other man gave him a quick shake of his head to show his disapproval, and then began climbing a nearby root hand over hand. Jayna and Homer quickly followed suit, finding their own trees to scale. August was less enthused, muttering something under her breath, but she too began scaling upwards, though she used the same route as Johnathan.

Unwilling to be left behind, Wayne found another suitable tree and began pulling himself upwards. It was hard work, but for the first time in a while Wayne was able to use a skill he had developed back at the orphanage. Climbing trees had never been his favorite pastime, but enough of the other children had enjoyed it that it was still a frequent occurrence for Wayne.

The trees here in the jungle were tall and bent at strange angles, but their overall thin branches and trunks made them more simple to climb than Wayne would have initially thought. It wasn’t more than a few minutes of effort before he had reached the top of his tree, and a tangle of roots kept him from climbing further.

Casting his eyes around, Wayne saw the others had reached a similar point, and that Johnathan was gesturing for their attention.

“Imitate and follow me.” He said authoritatively before beginning to swing from vine to root with just his arms.

Wayne watched the other boy easily make his way across the open air, before pulling himself onto a conveniently placed root tendril with access to the next layer. The others started copying the maneuver, and Wayne realized he would need to do it too.

Letting out a quick sigh and trying not to look down, Wayne reached overhead and grabbed the nearest branch. Then he kicked off, and swung out and away from a solid foothold.

The air whistled past his head as he extended his other arm to grab the next root in his path. Then he did it again, repeating the motions twice more before the arms of his Cohort pulled him up onto the next layer.

Rising to his feet, Wayne stood on the root and looked around him. The second layer of the Western Wildes looked eerily similar to the first, with the same colorful and bright plants and weeds sprouting from the ground.

Except, it wasn’t ground, and every here and there Wayne could see through the gaps in the foliage to the open air below. The huge roots supported another layer of flora, but there was no earth underneath. Wayne gulped, and vowed to pay extra attention to where he was stepping from here on.

Still, the Johnathan didn’t pause, and after consulting with the item in his pocket, set their new course. They continued to blaze forwards through their new terrain, moving a tad more carefully and methodical as they tested their footing.

That’s why it wasn’t long before Johnathan whispered more instructions to the group.

“The ruins are just ahead and below us, if you look through the roots. There are no records of them being sound activated, but remain quiet for this duration regardless.”

He then continued to move forwards, although Lord Heirdt slowed their pace to a crawl. It gave Wayne plenty of time to peer down between his feet at the ancient structure below.

“Woaahh…” Wayne softly intoned, drawing a few harsh looks, but he couldn’t help it.

Deep colored slate had been hewn from what appeared to be a single stone into a decently sized compound. Branches and vines covered the exterior, but seemed to have grown in tune with the structure, preserving its majesty instead of causing it to fade.

There were places where the trees perfectly grew through the structure, and Wayne was certain the building had been made around them. It spoke of craftsmanship beyond what Wayne could comprehend.

The ruin was clearly something not crafted by human hands, with soft angles and intricate stone work that defied explanation and the ravages of time. Intricate Runes still covered the surfaces Wayne could see, although most had lost their internal mana over the years.

The ruin reminded Wayne of the architecture of Light’s Reach. It was a work of art in the shape of a building, and Wayne felt a pang of regret that the Elves were an extinct Race. Wayne would have liked to be able to the people who had shaped such wonders.

Still, it wasn’t the size of a palace, and within minutes the Cohort had passed the structure, leaving its majesty for the return trip. The group continued without pause, trekking ever closer to their destination.

* * * * *

Hours later, they were still blazing across the Wildes’ second layer, nothing notable having happened since the Elvish ruin. As the time had worn on, their pace had declined due to the harsh heat and terrain but they were still making a strong pace through the dense root layer.

Sweat hung heavy on Wayne’s brow as he drew further upon his stamina than the others due to his lower Stats. But he wasn’t as far behind them as he was just this morning, as the exertion and tension of being in the Western Wildes was already providing reward. Wayne casually glanced at the notification he had gotten an hour ago.

Luminos welcomes your subservience, and graces you with his power.

Statistics:-

+1 Speed

+1 Strength

+1 Spirit

Whenever Wayne thought about asking for a break, he just looked at the notification again. He could push through this and keep up. He ignored when he stumbled on a root, then again when he almost tripped on a vine. Wayne didn’t ignore when the others noticed these things, he was just too focused on keeping his feet moving.

So Wayne didn’t realize that the ‘food’ break Johnathan called was promptly after he almost sprained his ankle on a fist sized gnarl in the wood.

Breathlessly, Wayne asked, “How can I help?”

August just softly told him to rest and catch his breath while they got the rations ready. Wayne found a nearby cluster of tangled roots to lean against, and let himself plop to the ground. He watched as Homer extracted a smaller box from the pack with a collection of the brown ration cubes.

“Alright everyone, food is served.”

The other boy dutifully doled out five, and then made his way among the rest of the Cohort, ending with Wayne.

“I hope everyone enjoys their meal! I prepared each of them to the limits of my culinary capabilities.” Homer said with a smile.

Then he threw the small cube up into the air and caught it in his mouth.

“Clop- Oh my this- Clop- is delicious!”

“Can you at least try not to talk when you chew? It’s perturbing.” August scolded Homer.

“Clop- I can’t- Clop- help it. Gulp. We walked a lot already and I’m hungry!” He responded, looking offended.

“Then don’t talk. Luminos knows everyone has been waiting for you to stop for once in your whole life.” She sarcastically spat back with an eyeroll.

“Both of you. Not the place.” Johnathan said, finishing his own ration.

At that, the group returned to silence as they rested, the only noise was that of the wall of sound the jungle constantly provided. Strangely though…

As Wayne examined the jungle around him, he could barely notice any insects, or small creatures. Only one beetle could be spotted climbing a stem, and there were no birds sitting on the vines above. It appeared to almost be just them and the twisted tangle of trees known as the Western Wildes.

But what was making the noise?

Wayne couldn’t find any discernible source. Starting to get frantic, he twisted and turned, but nothing he could see was making the ever present humming noise that had filled his ears for hours now.

Rushing to his feet, Wayne looked for answers from his Cohort.

“What makes the noise here in the jungle? I haven’t seen any bugs, or animals, or even remnants of them. I just… how?” Wayne asked openly.

Jayna gave a soft chuckle before saying, “Life here knows that if something can see you, it can kill you. Any method you possess of detecting them, some other predator here also has. They have adapted so that it’s not enough. Still, I doubt they will be so cautious come the night.”

She looked off in the distance at that, a strange look on her face. Wayne nodded his understanding.

“That makes sense. Thank you for the explanation.”

She just grunted in response, and tossed her own ration in her mouth ending the conversation. Wayne was grateful for her help, but still wished Jayna was a little easier to speak to.

It wasn’t long before they were moving again, Johnathan setting their bearing using the object he kept taking from his pocket. Wayne was curious as to what it was, but not to the point of seeking out a discussion with the other boy.

Instead, when the young lord pointed the direction for them to travel, Wayne simply followed along, content to let the other boy lead the way.