Chapter 51: Choosing the right path

Both of them decided to take a more stealthy approach this time, they walked a few hundred meters away from their last entry point and this time Ethan crawled over the ground. The moment he laid down he could feel the water soak into his robe, the ground was muddy and wet, grass constantly took his vision away and the bushes and shrubs that covered the forest floor ripped his clothes open. He even lost his hat at one point and had to crawl backwards to retrieve it.

Overall it was exhausting and not something he wanted to repeat for quite some time, sadly he already knew the disadvantage he had in this jungle so he didn't have too much hope, because that got crushed into a pulp the moment he looked at the so called village.

When Nora told him she found a village or frontier outpost he expected thrown together huts, some palisades and a few soldiers on guard duty. More like the situation he encountered at the goblin camp. But he wasn’t at the goblin camp anymore, that felt to him like a lifetime ago.

In front of him was a fucking fortress, high in the trees it rested on thick intertwined vines that formed a complex next, a floor was laid out on the vines and offered stable footing. Surrounding the platform were walls covered in thorny bushes, guards were posted on the wall and Ethan would bet all his non-existent money and more of them hiding in the trees.

The construction of such a behemoth was only possible because of the eight trees that grew in a perfect circle around it. Tall and thick as redwood trees, they pierced the sky and looked more like silent guardians than plants, watching over the forest and judging those that would harm the plants under their protection.

Lying there, covered in mud, torn by branches and thorns, he thought about the possibilities he now had. A frontal attack was plain suicide, something he would have accepted back then but now he wanted to live. He blamed the system for his chance in behavior and continued with his train of thought.

While poison or more specific plagues were an option he didn’t know how successful his attack would be. Getting the plague inside would be the first challenge, the height alone made every attempt a lot more difficult. The best would be insects but he wasn’t an Entomancer, or whatever you call an insect summoner.

The third method could be the slow and steady approach, winter wasn’t something you rushed and maybe Ethan should do the same, using his magic to lower the temperature, followed by snow and a stubborn frost that had the tendency to be very slippery. It could be amusing but would it be worth his time?

Actually the best method would be to just leave, thinking about it Ethan realized he didn’t need to pick a fight here, sure they shot at him but he wasn’t a monster out for the blood of intelligent creatures. Even if you could argue those elves were only tutorial monsters he could still walk away.

Crawling backwards he managed to sneak away the same way he came here, with Nora’s guidance of course, because while his aura ability gave him benefits, perception wasn’t one of them.
When he finally emerged from the tree line he felt relieved, a tightness in his chest he didn’t know was there vanished and his breathing was instantly more relaxed. Standing up he followed the edge of the jungle, further away from the elves and their hideout.

“You know, I think I dodged a bullet just now. The last circle was so full of violence, military tactics, diplomacy and fighting in general. The ending was just a bloodbath.

Nora wrapped around his shoulder, the tip of her tail hugging his neck as she sent Ethan her thoughts on the matter.
The constant fighting had you on edge, even I felt like that and you know how little my emotions usually affect me. I would be worried if you didn’t think about defending yourself.

“I think you’re right, still that would be the first step to becoming something less than human.” he stopped walking and looked to the clear blue sky.

Nora sent him a weird sound, something that sounded like a mixture between a hiss and chuckle.

As long as you don’t try to play the hero I’m fine, so don’t go off now rescuing maidens from towers or try to kiss them while sleeping. Leave that to those goody two shoes that fumble around with their swords.

“Are you really laughing at me? You know I had a moment here, also how do you even know that stuff? We never talked about something like that.” With a huff he continued on his path. He would try to find a gap between the elves' outpost. He was sure there must be more of them, maybe all around the circle.

You should learn how to shield your thoughts even when distracted, especially when you think about your precious runes or about magic. You’re my companion so I thought I would learn more about you that way, it’s a lot easier than talking about everything when we don’t have much time to just sit down.

Ethan sighed and shook his head, a smile on his face when he looked at Nora.
“Can’t really blame you, huh? Well as long as you keep it to yourself I’m fine with that. I already know you for your whole life after all.”

He stopped walking again and looked into the jungle, this time he had a good feeling and walked into it. Maybe he finally had some luck, the start of this circle wasn’t the worst out of the four but the most annoying for sure.

Finally Ethan got lucky, his feeling served him right and he managed to go deeper into the forest. For him it felt like he wandered half a day, which each meter you needed to walk was a conquest in of itself.

After the first few hundred meters he formed a machete from ice, sharpened it with his magic and hardened it with a breath of frost. It was so simple and elegant and when he cut through the bushes and vines, it was also effective.

During his hike over roots and through the undergrowth he found no animal, no monster, no elves. It was like the forest was dead, well not quite. Insects were plenty and constantly buzzing around him but after some angry stares and his aura they left him alone. The hundreds of insect corpses were a good reminder to them.

When evening slowly approached he looked for a suitable hideout, while he could just make a hideout with his ice even a blind person could see that it didn’t belong here. So Ethan spent the rest of the day looking for a hiding place. In the end, he crawled into an abandoned burrow that must have become too small for the previous owner; claw marks were scattered around the entrance where it had been enlarged.

Sitting there against the wall he froze the entrance shut, making sure to leave some holes for air to travel to, a more embarrassing death couldn’t be possible after all he’s been through.

With his finger he drew some runes into the dirt, he had gotten used to doing this every night to not only practice them but also to unlock some new runes, it was becoming harder each day. He could feel them, lurking on the edge of his perception but they still eluded him every time. It seemed like his advanced ritualism wouldn’t offer him more.

Ethan laid down, his staff resting on the burrow’s wall and the hat served as a thin pillow, his eyes wandering one last time to Nora.

“I think you should go out tomorrow and look for animals, having me stomping around like some fool won’t work in the long run and the chance that I become an expert ranger in a few hours is very slim. Not even divine intervention could help us out.”

It already did in a way, Ethan thought, his wounds healed a lot faster than expected. His mana channels in particular should have taken months to recover instead of days. The system was meddling with their lives and he was angry and relieved at the same time

Nora lifted her head from the coils off her body and looked at him.

Sure, I wanted to suggest it in the morning but you beat me to it, just leave a bigger hole for me on the edge of the entrance and I will go scouting. But now I wanna sleep, good night Ethan.

Good night, he answered and closed his eyes. This might not be the best day of the tutorial but right now, in this one moment, he was glad to be here.