Barbarian Ruin did not have many chances to mess with Abel during this 2 days journey. He needed to maintain the mounts’ battle mode with his body energy and the mana he was lacking.
Therefore Barbarian needed to rest most of the day to recover his mana.
The past 2 days, they made their way through towns and cities, but they arrived at a patch of scattered rocks after passing through a mountain peak. People were nowhere to be seen, and a forest soon appeared.
It was noon. The sun was blazing on the trees with patches of purple fog in the mist. The place looked mysterious and beautiful.
However, Abel did not think that way as he sat on the back of Black Wind. That forest gave him an unbearable sense of danger.
“Wizard Abel, that’s the purple fog forest. From now on, things will start to get dangerous any time. Be careful!” The priest pointed at the forest upfront and said.
Abel remembered the purple fog forest marking on the map. It was on edge. There were no markings beyond it.
“Sir priest, what dangers are there?” Abel asked.
He was the only one in the team never been to this place. He didn’t know a single thing, but the others looked quite prepared.
“The fog in the purple fog forest can hypnotize you, and there are many poisonous creatures and spiritual beasts romancing around. It’s best not to let your defense spells stop!” The priest explained.
“If you can’t even make it through, then it’s best for you to go back. You’ll just be killing yourself in the ancient sight!” Barbarian Ruin chuckled.
“Ruin, we are a team. Don’t say that!” Half-elf Leon interrupted and turned to Abel, “Just be careful. The hypnotizing fog and the poisonous creatures are much more dangerous than spiritual beasts!”
Afterward, he affected a wind armor on him and summoned his Oak Sage, Raven, and Poison Creepers.
The priest added a bone armor on himself, and 3 bone energy shields surrounded him. He then twisted his body, and 8 skeletons emerged beside him.
Seeing everyone was getting prepared, Abel first used an energy shield and then an ice armor. If he didn’t want to keep it low key, he would have added bone armor.
Barbarian Ruin didn’t do much. He only roared 2 more times and further strengthened the battle mode.
Abel was feeling great. The roar of Barbarian Ruin increased his defense, and the Oak Sage had increased his energy, mana, and stamina. He felt like his body had leveled up in all aspects.
Barbarian Ruin gently tapped on his mount wolf and speeded into the purple fog forest as he took out a battle ax.
Half-elf Leon, the priest, and the 8 skeletons followed, so Abel did the same.
Abel stayed at the very back and took out his leaf magic staff.
At first, there was still sunlight sifting through, but as they got deeper, the trees got bigger. On top of the dense purple fog, the place was getting eerie.
“Die!” Barbarian yelled as he chopped a light green poisonous snake who tried to attack him from a branch in half. He was a big guy, but his speed should be underestimated.
Although it was a little ridiculous to see a Barbarian chopping a little snake with a shield size ax, you could get a sense of how much control Barbarian Ruin had over his ax. The head of the snake was effortlessly sliding off.
“Ruin, you are more experienced when it comes to things like this, I’ll leave them to you!” The priest said.
“Wizard Abel, Barbarians are born with good senses. They grow up in harsh environments, so it’s easy for them to deal with poisonous bugs. Also, Ruin is an expert in weapons. His battle-ax is amazing, so he will open up a path for us!” Half-elf Leon quietly explained to Abel. Unlike Barbarian Ruin, he was very friendly with Abel.
“Druid Leon, how much longer until we can make it through the purple fog forest?” Abel looked around and asked.
“If everything goes smoothly, it might take a daw!” Half-elf Leon replied.
“Wizard Abel, do you have any poison antidotes on you?” The priest suddenly interrupted.
“Yes!” Abel replied.
“Good, I forgot to remind you before we set off. You need to use one every hour. Otherwise, you will be affected by the fog. If you don’t have enough on you, I can lend you some!” The priest twitched his face and said in a sorry tone.
Abel rolled his eyes. This priest really was cunning. He knew why he didn’t tell him about the poison antidote earlier. If he ran out of poison antidote in the most crucial moment, he would have to get it from the priest, and then he would owe the priest a favor.
If he didn’t see how this priest was during the last battle, he would definitely develop some positive feelings towards him.
Abel then ignited his soul speaker ability as he looked around the trees. The trees around began to shake, making the others in the team suspicious for a moment.
Abel carefully controlled his soul speaker ability and began to communicate with the trees. From the trees, the sensation began to spread throughout the forest.
Half-elf Leon looked back at Abel. To his surprise, Abel almost looked like he was in one with the forest.
He almost gasped. Abel was a soul speaker. Soul speakers were rare even among elves, let alone humans.
Although half-elf Leon was an elite druid, he could only communicate with animals. He could not communicate with plants. That’s why being a soul speaker was the best gift a Druid could have.
Abel realized half-elf Leon was looking at him, but he didn’t care. The soul speaker ability was not really worth hiding for him anyway.
However, half-elf Leon kept his mouth shut. He knew Abel was not lying when he said he was close with the elves. Abel was a soul speaker, after all.
After half a day, Barbarian Ruin struck countless times with his ax. Besides poisonous creatures, he also chopped off many weeds and creepers along the way.
“I’m tired. Wizard, since you are doing nothing, you take it from here!” Barbarian Ruin suddenly stopped his mad wolf and turned to Abel.
He had been killing things for half a day while concentrating on the direction and surroundings.
As for the priest, he had been guarding the team with the skeletons. He also threw out spells from time to time to kill off the poisonous creatures Barbarian Ruin left out. Those weak creatures could not escape the eyes of a skeleton.
Half-elf Leon was also killing off poisonous creatures with his iron cane. His wind armor could only protect him from elemental attacks. It was helpless against the bite of bugs.
They didn’t dare to let their guard down during the past 3 and a half days. The roar and battle mode of Barbarian Ruin was carefully maintained. He would replenish or as soon as it began to fade. The priest also did the same with his bone armor and half-elf Leon with his wind armor.
Abel had done too little to do compared to the others. At first, he still replenished his ice armor and energy shield, but he began to get lazy as he kept going. In the end, he was just walking without any defense.
This was all because no poisonous creatures had attacked him.
Barbarian Ruin and the priest both realized this. They didn’t know if Abel was really this lucky or he had his reasons, but half-elf Leon knew it was because of the soul speaker ability.
However, half-elf Leon couldn’t figure out how Abel could maintain it for so long. As far as he knew, the soul speaker ability drained a lot of power of the will.
Abel also realized that it was almost like he had merged to one with the forest ever since he ignited the soul speaker ability.
He was like a member of the forest, so no bugs or creatures would attack him.
Yes, the soul speaker ability was very draining to the power of the will. But with Abel’s strong foundation, sustaining the soul speaker ability for a few days shouldn’t be a problem.
The priest did not reject Barbarian Ruin’s request. This might not be the case when they first enter the forest, but what was happening to Abel was too strange. Maybe Abel had some kind of special ability in the forest.
“Ok, but I don’t know the direction!” Abel agreed.
“I will point it out. Just follow my guide, and you’ll be fine!” Barbarian Ruin moved away and said.
Abel gently padded Black Wind, and they arrived at the front of the team.
“Wizard Abel, let’s go!” The priest spoke again, seeing everything was set.
Abel led the team forward, but he didn’t take out any weapons.
Barbarian Ruin looked at Abel with a cold smile and kept quiet. The priest also did not warn Abel. He wanted to see what ability Abel had.
Half-elf Leon knew a soul speaker didn’t need any weapons to open up a path in a forest. A soul speaker was born to be loved by the forest.
Black Wind was noticeable faster than Barbarian Ruin, and no creepers and thorns appeared along the way as though they had all disappeared.
Even poisonous bugs had avoided Abel, but Barbarian Ruin behind Abel would need to block the bugs with his ax from time to time. He just wanted to rest.
Although it was not as bad as him opening the path, he was still being attacked continuously.
The priest saw the team was speeding up. He gazed up at the purple fog and said to Abel, “Wizard Abel, we can’t stay overnight in Purple Fog Forest; we have to get out even when the sky gets dark!”
“Mr priest, as long as the direction is correct, I can go faster!” Abel smiled.
“There’s no need. The speed is good. Just tell me if you need some rest. I’ll swap with you!’ The priest quickly added.
If Abel sped up again, more poisonous bugs would hit him. Although his bone armor had given him an easier time, half-elf Leon and Barbarian Ruin were not having too much fun.
He was very curious about what power Abel has. How come the bugs had avoided him. Those bugs were not as powerful as spiritual beasts, but they were much scarier than normal ones. It wasn’t easy making it through the purple fog. In order to do so, they needed to have a good understanding of the forest and elite level of fighting skills.
Suddenly, Abel came to a halt. Barbarian Ruin following closely behind him, almost crashed onto Black Wind.
“Wizard Abel, why do you stop? Are you tired?” Barbarian Ruin said in irritation.
“Ruin, quiet!” He gently yelled at Barbarian Ruin and turned to Abel, “Is there danger?”
All Elite wizards had an impressive power of the will. They were very sensitive to danger, so Abel’s sudden stop immediately alerted the others.
“Ruin, I don’t know the adventure rules of the Central Continent, but if you keep messing with me, I will leave, and we will forever become enemies!” Abel had his eyes fixed on Barbarian Ruin with a murderous scent sifting out as he lowered his voice.
He and Barbarian Ruin did not get along ever since the start of the adventure, but he just couldn’t tolerate it anymore since they were in the midst of danger.
The priest had asked him to join because he needed a force like Johnson to defeat whatever that was in the ancient. It must be extremely dangerous. Abel was not going to risk his life with a teammate that despised him.
“Abel, you!” Barbarian Ruin wanted to say something, but the priest quickly stopped him.
“Wizard Abel, Barbarian Ruin was hurt by humans in the past, so he doesn’t get along well with humans. But don’t worry, he is a very experienced fighter. He won’t affect our adventure!” The priest explained to Abel.
