Monster Integration

"We should reach the grove in two hours," said Wanya, and I nodded as we traveled through the deadland.

It looked like a scene from some horror movie. 

With the shriveled and dead trees and silent surroundings, not even the voice of an animal could be heard. What makes it even more spooky is that people traveling through this region are also being oddly silent.

They are not being silent intentionally, but the environment here is like this, that nobody wants to make more sound than they need to.

This place is not only spooky but also dangerous.

There is poison everywhere, and it is potent enough to kill anyone below the Sovereign and we have yet to reach the grove itself.

We traveled through the spooky place, and soon, we reached a place that had intense vibrancy. There was a dense forest in front of me and it had an exuberant vibrancy.

Olis Grove.

It is no grove, but a forest and it is not a small place. It is a dangerous place that has killed many Sky Sovereigns and what makes it dangerous is shifting poisons.

We didn't stop and entered inside, and I began to feel the dangerous poison. Where things are dangerous enough, that a Sovereign would think about a hundred times before entering.

It is dangerous for them, and it would become more dangerous with every step they take.

I collected many samples, and my clone is already studying them.

Though, currently, the poison is not strong enough to do us any harm. It will be when we reach deeper enough into the forest and, look at the things, we might need to do.

Wanya didn't share the exact location of the mission, nor did anyone ask.

Another half an hour passed, and we reached the meeting point, where Gamin and Elra were already waiting for us.

"Let's go," she said without stopping, and both of them joined us.

Five hours passed, and the lethality of poison around us continued to increase. I also noticed how vibrant each tree is becoming as we head deeper into the poison region.

It is not surprising to survive in this place. These trees need immense vitality and also need to develop an antidote of their own to protect themselves.

That is why I am collecting samples of them as well.

It is not just trees from which I have collected the samples, but also the monsters.

My teammates gave me the look but didn't say anything.

This place is tricky to deal with, because there is not a single poison, but thousands of them. These poisons change every year because of new factors, creating a perfect antidote for them too hard.

That is why I am focusing more on the samples. If I learn how they deal with the poisons. Then, creating an antidote wouldn't be a problem.

A few more hours passed, and things started to get really dangerous. The poison had reached the level that it could harm us, even Earth Sovereigns.

"Everyone, be careful." cautioned Wanya.

She didn't have to say it; everyone could sense how dangerous things had become. They have activated their specialized methods and also enhanced the protection of their armor.

I didn't do anything but make it look like I did.

It is not like I am overconfident, but my current protections are enough to deal with these dangers. I am looking at them in real-time, with my meta-scan in front of my clone, looking at every small change.

Fifty minutes later, I increased my defenses, activating the formation that protected me against the poison.

As I activated them, a smile couldn't help, but appear on my face. The formations are working better than I had imagined them to be.

The smile had only lasted for a few seconds before I became cautious again. It wouldn't be wise for me to get too confident in my abilities and find out I have been poisoned.

Many people get overconfident in their abilities and pay the price for it. I myself had done it many times and didn't want to repeat it again.

Another hour passed and when Wanya had stopped.

"We are only four hours away from our destination; activate your stealth abilities," she said, and we did and resumed our journey, which had started to get dangerous.

I became more careful and activated more of my defects and spread my soul sense further.

I am not using any forbidden power, not even a speck of it.

Though that doesn't mean, I am not using any. I am using the forbidden power, one that is merged into me. It is part of me and is extremely hard to detect.

Even specialized tools won't be able to detect this forbidden energy. They might be able to do the one I use outside.

Rip!

A monster sensed us and attacked sneakily, but before it could even reach halfway, it had been cut in two.

It had disappeared, along with every drop of blood. Leaving no trace behind.

The monster was powerful, but Wanya was more. She was faster, I was quite surprised seeing her speed and, more surprising, how she killed the snake monster without using her weapon.

We moved as if nothing happened. 

Time passed before we finally stopped, and I was a little confused. So there are two beside me.

It is clear we have reached our destination, but we are not seeing it or sensing it.

"Look at that small hill," she said mentioning the hill, not far away from us. It is also not too close; our soul senses would have reached there, if not for us, using our stealth methods.

Mine could still reach there, but I didn't do it; I kept my behavior as normal as possible.

"The cultists are there; they are using the poison vein, for their dark deeds," she informed, making the expression on our faces serious.

A moment later, we moved toward it, with our stealth methods active at full power.