Stor and the other hunters were still isolated despite the druid finding nothing wrong. The issue was that the others were still acting strange. It was clear that they had been influenced by something within the forest.

  It had taken some time for Stor to realize that he had been changed. He had become more nervous and fidgety, and constantly had the feeling like something was always watching him. He had become much more timid and scared of his own shadow.

  No wonder they weren’t letting him out. He tried his best to correct the change in his behavior, but the influence of that damned cave had gotten to him too much. It was like he was trying to learn how to be himself again, as strange as that thought was.

  Eventually, the village meeting was done. There were going to be more trips into the forest to collect the food from the deeper parts. However, the cave was off limits. None of them were allowed to be by themselves without someone else to watch them. None of them were allowed to be alone.

  Stor was glad. With other people watching, he was able to slowly calm down and distract himself from the strange situation he had been in.

  Several teams made trips into the slowly decaying Aseth forest to retrieve whatever food they could find. The druid and herbalist studied what they found and, for the first time in weeks, they had a decent dinner that night.

  Stor had dreams about the cave. It was odd, he couldn’t remember much about the dreams. There were no omens of misfortune or anything, he just recalled the image of that cave whenever he woke up. He wondered if he had a normal dream or was trapped in the memory of that place.

  In either case, he threw himself back into work. He kept himself busy to prevent himself from thinking too much. From dawn till dusk, he kept working. He brought several bags of food back from the forest, helped with cooking, and when he started to run out of things to do, he started fixing things both on his land and others.

  His family and neighbors were worried about him, but his diligence and hard work won many people over.

  The others were not so lucky. Many of them slowly recovered thanks to the distance, but a couple of them became more delusional. The druid and herbalists tried to help them with a lot of different medicines, powders, and tonics to help them recover their sanity. Some of it helped, but it only helped for a little bit of time.

  The cave had become taboo. The location was hidden and any talk of the place punished. He didn’t mind, but he did feel this wasn’t the best way to handle it.

  Taboo things always have the most allure.

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  Jacob watched as one of the eggs for the new ants hatched. The young ant slowly squirmed its way out of the egg before eating it. The deer helped it grow faster by repeatedly spamming its blessing.

  Within the ants was a pouch near their stomach that assisted in breaking down and absorbing crystal blooms. This pouch was also where the crystal bloom seeds developed and gestrated before being planted. By using the trace mana within the ants, the seed will stockpile its power to help it start generating mana crystals as fast as possible.

  Using some of the leftover scarlet teeth to help feed the ant, it was now a waiting game for the crystal blooms and the crystal ants to become established.

  The dungeon fairy was busy changing the dungeon layout. The tunnels and pits were dismantled and filled in, and he made something simple in case more humans found this place.

  He spent the rest of the time improving his ability to create complex architecture and geometry through the system and dungeon fairy. He hated being bored, he wished that the timeframe of this place was closer to the game instead of being more ‘realistic.’

  He calculated in his head that the crystal ant would take around a day to develop enough for the crystal bloom seed. Then it should take a few more days for the seed to be ready to be planted.

  Jacob sighed and resigned himself to his dull fate.

  Jackal felt his sword against his hip as he was led into the manor. He never had a good experience with nobles, and had heard rumors about adventurers being killed under suspicious circumstances. He didn’t know what he had done to this noble family, but he was a pig waiting to be slaughtered in this place.

  After he was brought in, his fear became confusion. With him were several adventurers from the region, a couple he had seen before. They were as confused and uncertain as him, waiting together in a small room.

  “You all may enter,” said a voice from the adjacent study, and they all were welcomed in by several guards.

  Within the study was not only the baron of this city, but also the regional guild master of the adventurer’s guild.

  “Welcome,” said the guild master with a performant smile. “I am sure that you all are confused, so we will be quick.”

  The baron grimaced before speaking, “You all were selected for an important mission. I am sure that you all know about the Aseth forest.”

  Jackal and the other adventurer’s paled at the mention of that cursed place. While the monsters and beasts that leaked from that place were their main source of income, from the barges or caravans that tried to reach the kingdom on the other side, none of them were grateful. It took teams of them working together to handle just one of the monsters.

  “We have just received news from the villages within the forest. Something had happened.”

  Jackal wanted to run out and flee the area. Those barbarians were freaks of nature. Whatever problem they were dealing with was well outside of his power. Even with a crack team, only the adventurers from the big cities were qualified to go there.

  “Now,” began the guild master, “I know that the forest has a bit of a…reputation. I simply want to clarify that you are not going into the forest to deal with some monster eating sheep. No, the situation is a bit more strange.

  “You see, the Aseth forest has gone silent.”