Chapter 516: The Shadow Forest Their travel to the Shadow Forest was surprisingly not as smooth as they thought it would be. Bandits tried to rob them not twice but thrice, which made Ron wonder if the trouble in the northern border had spread to the southern frontier. Fortunately, the bandits weren’t too skilled and mainly relied on their superior numbers. The Dawnseekers easily defeated them and made sure that they wouldn’t be able to steal from others again. After being delayed for a day, they finally reached the outskirts of the Shadow Forest. There, several tents had already been pitched. Most of the people here were from the military of the kingdom. The adventurers’ camp accommodation was at least a hundred meters away from here, as if to say they didn’t want to mingle with the soldiers if possible. "I’ll first ask if there is any news about Sean and his party members," Ron said as Carlo directed the horses to keep walking till they reached the other adventurers. "Medina, feel free to make a makeshift camp for now. It’s already getting dark." "I understand." Medina nodded. "Come along, you two. Make sure not to cause any trouble." Alex and Fran could feel the tension in the air, so they nodded obediently after hearing the beautiful elf’s words. Carlo took the carriage to the parking area before joining Medina to help set up their two tents. There were a few familiar faces among the Adventurers, who readily called out to them when they passed. Carlo took the chance to chat a bit with them and asked if they had news of the Hero Party. Sadly, no one had heard or seen anything relevant. Carlo frowned. They had been on the road for eleven days, and many things could have happened during that time. As there were a few cities near the Shadow Forest, the first batch of Adventurers might have already conducted a search. It meant that if there was still no news of the Hero and his party, the likelihood that they were dead or captured by the Demon Race was high. Ron returned to the camp. The information he had gathered was similar to Carlo’s. "Five Rank S Parties and eight Rank A Parties have started a wide-area search since two days ago," Ron reported. "While they didn’t find any signs of the Hero Party, they did clash with High-Level Demons inside the Shadow Forest." Carlo’s frown deepened. "Then this means one thing. The Forest is teeming with Demons and their allies. However, since they haven’t made an announcement to boast about capturing or killing Sean and his party members, there is a chance that they are still alive." Ron and Medina nodded in agreement. ’The Demons will definitely want to lower the morale of the human army by showing them the corpses of the Hero and his party,’ Alex thought. ’This means that the Hero Party might have encountered trouble but were not too deep within enemy lines that they couldn’t have made a safe retreat. ’There is also a chance that some of them are seriously injured, preventing them from leaving. The most logical answer is that they have found a good hiding spot and are simply waiting until all of them are fit enough to escape together.’ Alex kept this thought to himself because this was just his own assumption. Voicing it out would also be dangerous. If someone deemed his reasoning accurate, they would have no choice but to head deeper inside the forest. "What’s the plan, Leader?" Carlo asked. "We rest today. Tomorrow, we will venture inside the forest," Ron replied before showing everyone a map that was filled with markings. "The places with an ’X’ are the places that have already been searched by the Adventurer Parties. The one with ’M’ has already been searched by the military.’ After looking at the map, the Dawnseekers noticed something peculiar. "Is it just me, or are they avoiding the Eastern Part of the forest?" Medina frowned. The map showed markings up to a few miles from the entrance of the forest, but the eastern part was left alone." "I also asked why there are no search parties in the east, and they said it’s because of the thick mists blanketing the area. Reports of Shades appearing in that place have been confirmed by the Army’s Scouts, so they have decided to leave that part while searching for other locations." Medina suddenly thought of something before looking at Ron with a solemn expression. "Don’t tell me... you plan to search that place, first?" Medina asked. "Yes," Ron replied firmly. "What?!" Carlo looked at his leader in disbelief. "Why should we go there?! There are shades there! Have you already forgotten?!" "Of course, I didn’t forget," Ron replied calmly. "Isn’t that right, Medina?" Everyone shifted their gaze at the beautiful elf, who was looking at the map thoughtfully. "Carlo, let me ask you a question," Medina said without lifting her head to look at the biggest person among their team. "Since the last time we fought against that Shade, have you not procured things that are effective against them?" "Of course I have!" Carlo exclaimed. "I swore to myself that I would not allow myself to feel so helpless again. I asked a blacksmith to forge me gauntlets made from cold iron and had them blessed with Holy Water. If I see another Shade again, I’ll tear it apart with my own hands!" Ron nodded and took out a sword from his storage ring. The sword had a blue blade that shone faintly in the darkness. "Spirit Blade!" Fran’s eyes widened in shock. "Hey! This thing is very rare. Where did you get it? This is very effective against ethereal beings, as well as those without a true body like Shades and Specters. "I have my ways," Ron replied. Medina on the other hand, took out several arrows that were specially made to fight against Shades. "It seems that we’re all ready for payback." Carlo chuckled after seeing that he wasn’t the only one who had prepared for the possibility of encountering shades once more. "As you can see, we are now different from our previous selves," Medina stated. "We will go to the east tomorrow and see if our luck will help us accomplish a great feat." "Also, if we go there at least once, we will be able to gain merits from the Military," Ron commented. "That’s not so bad, right?" The members of the Dawnseekers nodded in agreement. After their meeting ended, Alex helped Medina cook their dinner. However, just as he was cutting up the vegetables, he sensed someone gazing at him. Thinking that it was just an Adventurer, he glanced in the direction where the gaze was coming from. However, there was no person in that direction, and he was looking straight to the forest. ’This feels familiar.’ Alex’s expression became serious when he realized that it was the same sensation he had felt in the forest where they had camped out before reaching Arian City. However, Alex forced himself to become calm, thinking that it was impossible for the same creature to also be in the Shadow Forest at this time. ’I might be getting paranoid,’ Alex thought. ’It’s impossible for that thing to have followed us all the way here.’ Suddenly, Medina lightly patted his shoulder, which made him almost jump in fright. "Alex? What’s wrong?" Medina asked. "You’re sweating." "I-I am?" Alex wiped his forehead and realized that he was indeed sweating. "Is there something wrong?" Medina asked. "Come on. You can tell me anything." For a brief moment, Alex hesitated. However, since Medina treated him like a family member, he decided to tell her what he felt, even though it seemed impossible. "Is it still looking at you?" Medina asked in a volume that only Alex could hear. "No," Alex replied. "I can no longer sense it, so it might have left." Medina nodded. "I’ll inform Ron and Carlo, just in case." "You’re not doubting me, Medina?" Alex asked. "I might just be feeling paranoid, you know? It’s impossible for that creature to have traveled all the way to this place." The beautiful elf smiled before patting Alex’s head. "Did you forget, Alex?" Medina asked. "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. While we haven’t confirmed that your assumption is correct, being prepared for anything will not be a bad thing for us, right?" Alex felt something warm spreading inside his chest. Being trusted was truly a wonderful feeling. "Thank you, Medina," Alex said. Medina then brought out a dagger from her storage ring and gave it to Alex. "Take this dagger," Medina stated. "It’s very effective against Shades and Creatures without true forms." Alex didn’t have any weapons effective against Shades, so he wouldn’t reject a dagger that worked against them no matter what. He just hoped that he was just being affected by the tension in his surroundings. Of course, he didn’t know that from a place where he couldn’t see, a shadow creature was heading deeper toward the eastern side of the forest, where the Dawnseekers would be going the next day. —------