The next day, she wakes up and sits on the bed.
'Well that is one of the best sleeps I've had in a long time.'
The next second, someone knocked on the door.
'Good morning, the king has invited you to have breakfast with him.'
She frowned.
'I see. I will get changed and come out in a sec.'
She stood up from the bed and went to get changed. After some time, she exited the room wearing the same dress she wore yesterday. Outside the room, a maid stands in front of the door waiting for her. The maid then proceeds to lead her to the dining hall. After a short walk, they reached the dining hall. A large door was opened which revealed the royal family seating at the long table that spread out through the entire room. She went to the closest seat and sat down at the other end of the table.
The king glanced at her and said:
'Good morning, How are you?'
She said with a cold voice:
'Fine.'
The king frowned.
'Good. Well anyways, I will have one of my soldiers tell you all you need to know about the forest and teach you how to awaken your memory core later.'
She looked at him and said:
'Okay then.'
The king smiled.
'Well then, let's have breakfast.'
A few maids, came into the room pushing trays full of foods and placed them in front of every person. There were many different kinds of food on the table. Having not eaten anything so delicious in years, she devoured every dish in front of her in matter of minutes.
After they finished eating, she got up.
'I will excuse myself now, I will return to my room to rest for a little while.'
She then left the dining hall and returned to her room. She sat on her bed and thought:
'There isn't many soldiers that has ventured into the forest and returning alive, this soldier isn't just an average soldier. I don't know much about The Forest of Ashes but I do know a small amount of information about it. The trees of the forest is corrupted by the hollow prince and turned from a lush green into an ashy white. The forest has a mind of its own, nothing is safe in the forest. It is filled with creatures known as memory beasts. They are created by memories from humans that once died in the forests. That is pretty much all any citizen would know about the forest.'
'Well I guess i will know more once i meet the soldier.'
'Memory core though. That is something that only a small amount of people in the kingdom is able to awaken. Not many people know about how it works. I only know that it has something to do with memories. Well of course it does, it's in the name isn't it. Not that it matters right now, I might as well get some more rest before meeting the soldier.'
She laid on the bed and took a short nap. Soon after, a knock came from the door. She woke up and went to open the door. A tall man with a muscular build stood in front of the door and stared at her.
'Good afternoon, my name is Martin. I am a captain from the army of Velharin. I will be teaching you how to awaken your memory core and teaching you about The Forest of Ashes. May I come in?'
She glanced at the tall soldier and said:
'Sure, come in.'
The soldier sat on a wooden chair close to the bed and signaled her to sit in front of him. She sat down on the bed in front of him. The soldier then began explaining the forest to her.
'You should already know some stuff about the forest. So I will skip the known stuff and move on to the more less known stuff about the forest. Firstly, you should already know about memory beasts. Memory beasts are split into five ranks, each being increasingly stronger than the other. The first and least harmful rank is dormant, the creatures of this rank are formed from the weakest memories of the forest, thus not holding much strength and intelligence. The second rank is cursed, cursed beasts are formed from weak memories, thus gaining much more strength than a dormant beast but still lacks intelligence. From the third rank onward is where the beasts start getting a lot more dangerous compared to the lesser ranks. The third rank is sinister, sinister beasts are made from median memories, thus having immense strength and a slight intelligence. The fourth rank is unholy, unholy beasts are made from strong memories, thus having immense strength and almost average intelligence. The fifth rank is the most dangerous. The fifth rank is corrupted, they are created from the strongest memories, thus having immense strength and intelligence equal to humans.'
'Next, the forest is split into three different areas. The Outer Ring, the Center Ring, and The Inner ring. The Outer Ring mostly contains dormant and cursed beasts. It is the least corrupted area of the forest, so you will be able to see a few normal trees still. The Center Ring contains dormant, cursed, and sinister beasts. In that area of the forest, everything is already corrupted, making the forest much more dangerous than The Outer Ring. The Inner Ring contains entirely of unholy and corrupted beasts, thus making it the most dangerous area of the forest. The center of the ring contains a big castle, which is where The Hollow Prince is contained. I am not sure whether if he is there or not since no one has ever been able to venture that deep into the forest. But we are pretty certain that's where he is contained. That is pretty much all we know about the forest until now.'
'Oh my, it is getting quite late already. Well, I will take my leave now. Meet me at the courtyard tomorrow. I will teach you how to defend yourself and awaken your memory core.'
He stood up and left the room.
She then laid on the bed and thought:
'Well, that certainly doesn't make anything better for me.'