18. The Forest of Eyes

18. The Forest of Eyes “It keeps on going.” Frost’s voice broke the stagnant air. They had been walking for 2 days now. The Accused steadily rose in numbers, but after the next day they almost completely vanished. It was just them now; all alone in this slanted abyss. Frost had to wonder if they were getting closer at all. It was impossible to tell. The glowing forest never grew any closer. But she had no other direction to follow other than to descend. During these silent days Frost took the time to teach Jury some new words. Expanding her vocabulary was the first step to understanding her better, as well as to allow her to express herself. Because as good as Frost was at reading faces, she was far from perfect. “Eat.” “Tired.” “Good.” “Bad.” “Hurt.” “Jury.” These were the few words Jury managed to nail down. The context and meaning were still a work in progress since there weren’t many examples to use in this empty place. As expected, it occasionally resulted in a mass jumble of words like how she rearranged the words of her signature phrase. The silence was deafening. Even the ruffling of their feathered ‘clothing’ was lost in the thick of the silence. The days passed by in a way that made little sense to her. It felt like her sense of time was finally being skewed the longer she stayed here. Days are passing in the blink of an eye. Do dungeons or these Corrupted areas usually take days to complete? “It ultimately depends on the Corrupted and whoever has the misfortune of wandering into their domains. If you sent someone to the bottom of a highly ranked dungeon, then years becomes the second likely answer. Death is the first.” Makes sense. There wouldn’t be a way for them to get out normally. Iscario probably thought the same thing when he brought me here. Tch... He must have been confident I would either die or be stuck in an endless loop of suffering. Not that this is much different anyway. Frost mentally spat; yearning for the day to claim that thing’s life. * * * Jury’s ration of Accused shells and innards were long gone now. It only took a single glance to tell just how starved she was. Never mind Frost herself, who constantly quarreled with her hunger until the eve of the next day. A total of 5 days passed before the scenery began to shift for the better. The black canopy of an endless forest sprawled as far as the eye could see. These trees carried thick bouquets of black leaves on their branches, creating an incredible ceiling that shimmered with one thousand glowing lights. The slope eventually returned to a flat plane. Looking back the way they came Frost imagined that they were in some sort of valley. The trees of the forest were distributed evenly to an uncanny degree. It hardly felt natural. But then again, what was natural about this place? She took a deep breath and moved onwards, knowing that there was only one thing to do. “Jury. Let’s find something to eat.” Frost said as they approached the tree lines. “Eat bad skewered.” She nodded, clutching her stomach with one hand. In due time the creatures then disappeared as the trees began to express signs of combat. Giant, one-meter-long thorns littered many of these trees along the bark that faced the light. Upon closer inspection Frost realized that these thorns did not grow directly from the trees but were lodged in by an external force. No. It was more than that. They looked like projectiles. “[Appraise Object].” < Level is too low > Frost clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was frankly impossible to progress Appraise Object in this place. Everything was too high levelled to appraise. She kept her eyes glued to the direction of the light, assessing every movement ahead for any signs of danger. Nothing but the light could be seen. Step after step, minute after minute – the group of two eventually made it to what appeared to be a large clearing. One of the burnt trees from the previous forests stood erect in the center. But what was attached to it caused Frost’s heart to sink. “J-Jury? That’s... another Jury?” Frost was unable to believe her eyes. “I-I thought you were the only one? Ugh... Shit. F-fuck...” She nearly hurled. She thought Jury was the only one of her kind in this forest. But that was at the fault of her own naivety. She realized now that she should have known one thousand more of them existed. The beacon of light that shone brightly like a star were in fact its eyes. Frost’s hand fount itself onto Jury’s arm. She wanted to know if this Jury was still here. Thankfully, the warmth was real, and Jury even grasped onto her hand to assure her of this. Of all the things that hit her the hardest, it was this. The sight of seeing the child-like Jury hung along its branches caused unspeakable levels of emotion to brew in her chest. It was despicable. Hanged Jury LEVEL : 65ORIGIN : TraumaHP : 0 ATT : 0 MAG ATT : 0AGI : 0 < CONDITION : Cannot be killed or damaged > < DEFEAT REQUIREMENT : Set it free > < Frost... the Will of the Amalgam’s about to hit the first state again > “So be it... let me destroy whatever the fuck that tree is.” However, the Hanged Jury was not the only creature present. In the corner of her eye, she saw it. A giant four-legged bird donned in a thick layer of long feathers. But that was not all. Its chest suddenly split open like the petals of a flower, revealing a layer of teeth similar to the thorns they passed earlier, and a black eye that sat deep in its abyssal maw. Righteousness LEVEL : 70ORIGIN : DisorderHP : 5,000 ATT : 500 MAG ATT : 500AGI : 2