After walking for a good while, Maeyurai finally reached the outskirts of Gangumen.
He could see the vast forest that surrounded Gangumen in the distance. It looked like bushes due to Gangumen's elevated foundation.
The venue of The Hunt was located on the west, and Maeyurai was heading in that same direction.
Meaning, he was heading towards the same place where Huizen and Ugina had died, the same place where Shienne and Mhiya went missing.
For Mhiya, it was understandable that she merely ran away. May it be due to guilt or other intentions. Either way, Maeyurai didn't understand her purpose.
As for Shienne, it was strange that she just randomly went missing. Maeyurai couldn't recall anything about her being taken away by some third party, or anything of the sort.
But it was indeed possible that Wency took Shienne. But for what purpose?
It was all so confusing due to the lack of information.
"Once I'm deep into the forest... will I meet the same General-Level Hell's Spawns, or even stronger?" Maeyurai asked himself, concerned about what's beyond the forest and the unknown.
Soon, Maeyurai was walking the path outside of Gangumen. It was the same path that led to the venue of The Hunt.
Seeing as there was a path this way, Maeyurai was curious about one thing.
Is The Hunt held in the same venue every year?
Or does the location change?
Maybe it does change. I'll come to know once I return next year.
He passed through the forest, some trees familiar to his eyes. After a while, he could see the dry blood stains on the grass, left uncleaned by the corpses of the participants.
Maeyurai lifted his head, looking at the cloudy sky. It was slowly darkening.
Perhaps it was going to rain.
But that's fine since Maeyurai never hated the rain.
After a few minutes of walking through the forest, he felt the first drop of rain.
It started to rain lightly. Maeyurai was under several trees, so the light rain didn't really hit him.
A Walker was in sight—two of them, in fact. However, Maeyurai kept a still face, not reacting at all. He continued walking as if they were never there.
Passing by the two Walkers, they finally noticed him and rushed their way to attack.
It was probably because Maeyurai had grown stronger, but he wasn't threatened at all.
He turned his head towards the two approaching Walkers and raised his hand. A fireball formed, and he launched it their way.
The fireball hit one of the Walkers on the navel. The fireball exploded and killed the Walker.
Maeyurai did the same for the other, killing it easily.
"Did I get stronger? I didn't even train that much in the barracks," Maeyurai muttered under his breath. "Maybe mana grows stronger based on emotions."
The concept of a person's innate mana growing stronger based on how intense their emotions are is quite intriguing.
But which one would have more effect? Positive emotions? Or negative emotions?
Intense hatred, despair, and anger against love, determination, and bliss. Who knows? Maybe it depends on the individual themself.
I wonder, am I in grief?
I don't really feel anything...
I feel like I'm supposed to be sad.
But there's nothing in my heart, like it's hollow.
Now that I think about it...
Why did I go on this journey alone? I could've invited Naguta, Maru, and Dokgak.
Oh well, nothing will change the past.
I could just make friends in the other nations and invite them on my journey.
Maeyurai continued his long strides, listening as the light rain hit the leaves of the trees.
It was peaceful, even if the environment was gloomy. A perfect match for Maeyurai's current state of mind.
The bushes rustled, a sign that a creature was around. Was it an HS? (Hell's Spawn)
Maeyurai immediately looked to his right. Since he didn't know what it was, he had to be cautious, or he would suffer the consequence of acting oblivious.
He closely observed. The bushes rustled, but there was nothing that seemed to move it. Was it the wind?
No, something came out.
Oh, what's this? This animal is adorable.
Its white fur looks so pristine...
The way that its ears droop over its face is so adorable!
My day is made!
Maeyurai didn't know, but the animal that stood in front of him was a bunny. He knew the existence of animals, but he never knew what they looked like. Except for cats and dogs, of course.
He approached the bunny. It immediately ran away in fear.
Oh, it ran.
That sucks.
Watching the bunny go back in the direction it came from, Maeyurai didn't bother chasing it.
He shrugged and went on to his business once more.
*
It's been 2 hours, and Maeyurai still wasn't out of the forest.
I've been walking for 2 hours. He sighed, feeling impatient.
I must've misunderstood the distance between Jinsang Bay and Gangumen.
I should've borrowed a map of the Paltheoma Continent or the Baofuming Region.
He let out another long sigh. He thought traveling was fun, but it was actually a tedious and time-consuming process. The journey itself wouldn't be fun if there weren't any stunning landscapes.
After looking for a good while, Maeyurai noticed something.
In the distance, it was as if the path ended. Like there was nothing after that certain point.
He raised an eyebrow. "That's weird; why does the forest look like it got cut off?"
Approaching the weird area, Maeyurai was shocked to see what lay beyond.
He reached a cliff and stood at the very edge. The astonishing sight of the horizon left him speechless.
Underneath the cliff was another forest, with a large river cutting it in half. The river was stretched out really far, to the point that Maeyurai couldn't even see where it came from.
Though he could finally see the sea at a great distance. The vast blue color in the distance wasn't the sky; it was the sea.
Between the sea and land was a shore that carried on into the faraway distance, much farther than the river did.
Due to how far it was, Maeyurai decided to use his eye's ability.
Focusing his sight, he could see several buildings on the shore, spread apart with a dock at the water.
He knew what that place was.
The long shore that he's looking at is the incredibly lengthy Jinsang Bay. And the area that had buildings was the Port of Jinsang Bay.
Thud-thud-thud!
Several loud footsteps could be heard behind Maeyurai.
Alarmed by the sudden noise, he immediately turned around, taking hold of his bow from his back.
There were four Crawlers and three Walkers running towards his way. But he turned around too slowly and was tackled by one of the Crawlers.
He fell off the cliff with the Crawler. If estimating the height of the cliff from the ground, it was around 40 meters. Maeyurai would die if he were to land flat on the ground.
"Damnit! You stupid Crawler!" exclaimed Maeyurai, trying to push away from the Crawler.
However, the Crawler's grip was powerful, its nails grinding on Maeyurai's neck.
"Urgh...!" Maeyurai groaned, bringing his feet up to kick the Crawler's face.
His foot made contact with the Crawler's face, and he managed to push away.
Two seconds have passed, and he was near the ground.
Luckily enough, he landed on several tree branches from pushing away from the Crawler, which absorbed most of his momentum and reduced the impact of his fall on the ground.
Rustle-rustle, crash!
"Agh!" Maeyurai yelped in pain, feeling the shocks of the impact, air knocked out of his lungs. The longbow that he held was hanging on a tree branch.
"Goh—!" he gasped for air as he turned his body around to breathe much easier, supported by his knees and hands.
Behind him, the Crawler fell flat on the ground, but it didn't die. It recovered immediately after and was accelerating towards Maeyurai.
Maeyurai gritted his teeth in frustration.
His hand shivered, and he conjured a lightning bolt.
He stood up slowly and anticipated the approaching Crawler.
The Crawler charged forward, attacking with its sharp claws. However, Maeyurai managed to avoid this by ducking.
With a sharp exhale, "Ssh!" Maeyurai lunged the lightning bolt directly to its chest, impaling it.
"Grrh!" he grunted.
A hole formed in the Crawler's chest, indicating that it died. At the same time, the lightning bolt in his hand dissipated.
Maeyurai sighed in relief after killing the Crawler.
"Hah..."
The Crawler tackling him off the cliff was a terrifying experience. If he hadn't reacted faster, that would've been the end of him.
"Now," he said breathily, clutching his back. "Where's my bow...?"
He looked around and noticed that his bow was gone. Not aware that it was hanging on the branch above him, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Tch."
For the next few minutes, he kept looking around the place.
"What the hell? Where is it?!" he exclaimed, baffled by the sudden disappearance of his bow.
He checked the bushes, near the trees, and even the corpse of the dead Crawler.
Finally, he looked above him and saw his longbow hanging, waiting for him to catch it.
He paused, staring at the object he's been looking for with a stone face.
"Damn," he muttered, calmly taking the bow from the branch.
*
He walked through the next part of the forest, passing by the river and several places that gave an impression to him.
The path to the Port of Jinsang Bay was utterly dull, full of the same, identical trees and rocks scattered around the place.
The Baofuming Continent really was boring and bland, as written in the description by the map that he looked at two weeks ago.
"I really should've borrowed a map. I'm so underprepared," said Maeyurai, walking across a plain.
Soon, he could see the sea up close. The blue shine of the water was easily noticeable.
After a long while of walking, he reached the port.
Stepping foot on the packed dirt, he looked at the surrounding buildings.
"Is anybody around?" he called out.
No answer was heard.