Instead of returning home, Zion thought it would be better to search for the map right away so he took Lacey and Ginger with him while sending the rest of his men home.
The three of them arrived on the outskirts of the forbidden forest, not entering just yet and assessing the situation.
"Before we go in, could you cast some protection spells on us Lacey?" Zion asked
She nodded and a green magic circle appeared right under their feet. The spell was to protect them from the corrupted mana and stop it from harming them.
"This will last about five hours, but it won't stop the corrupted mana from limiting our own mana. We'll still be slightly weaker upon entering."
The forbidden forest is called that because it was a scar left from the Demon War thousands of years ago. The mana in the forest became corrupted which harmed anyone who entered it. And to make matters worse, it was always nighttime there.
"That's good enough. Let's go."
"On your left!" Ginger shouted as a large flaming wolf charged at Zion.
Extending his hand, Zion wrapped his mana around the wolf and crushed it under the pressure of his mana.
Lacey soared through the sky, slaying any monster foolish enough to challenge her. Channeling all the elements, she unleashed a barrage of spells that obliterated everything in its path.
A massive bear, its body adorned with crystals, charged at Ginger. Sword and shield in hand, she effortlessly blocked the attack, sending the bear stumbling back. She hurled her shield, severing the bear's front and hind legs before it returned to her.
Fearing for its life, a burst of purple energy shot toward Ginger from the bear's mouth. Instead of dodging, she charged her sword with lightning, slicing through the energy and the bear in one swift motion.
"There are fewer mana beasts in this area than the area we were at before three hours ago." Lacey noticed
"The stronger the beasts, the fewer there are when traversing in the forest. This means that there is a strong mana beast here that doesn't have any predators." Ginger informed everyone.
"And the compass is telling us to venture deeper into the forest." Zion hoped this wouldn't happen.
Mana beasts are wild animals that developed mana, making them larger and stronger than their normal counterparts. They're completely different from monsters, which are born from the world's negative energy—essentially, the result of the world's own corruption.
Venturing further and further, the group finally made it to the spot where the map was. How did Zion know? It was because the compass needle started spinning like crazy.
"We're here! Lacey, mark this circumference, the map should be within this area."
Doing what he said, Lacey made a large circle in the ground and the three of them searched for the map. After two hours of searching, they found nothing other than dirt and rocks.
"I don't understand, the compass says it's in this area," Zion complained
"Maybe it stopped working from all the corrupted mana?" Ginger thought
"Or maybe we're not looking in the right places," Lacey said.
"The only explanation would be that the compass is broken, the map is buried underground, or it's somehow flying in the sky-" Zion paused as he looked up to the sky.
A massive snake slithered through the treetops, its maw large enough to swallow houses. Its black scales blended with the dark sky, providing perfect camouflage, while its dark purple eyes locked onto Zion as if peering into his very soul.
He slowly looked down at the compass which was pointing at the giant black snake.
"Oh, you gotta be fucking KIDDING ME!!!" Zion lept out of the way as the Snake lunged at him.
"Holy fuck that's one big ass snake!" Zion shouted, but before he could even regain his footing, the snake—despite its massive size—slithered toward him at an unimaginable speed, ready to swallow him whole.
"Young Master!" Ginger appeared in front of Zion, blocking the snake's strike. Poison dripped from its fangs, landing on her shield and causing it to melt slightly.
"Stand back!" Charging lightning into her hands, Lacey created a large purple bident lightning bolt and threw it with all her might at the snake.
The lightning struck the snake, followed by a thunderclap as deafening as a crying baby on a sleepless night. Dust swirled through the air, crackling with electricity. Silence fell, and the three stood, wondering if they had taken down the snake.
"Did we get it?" Ginger asked
"Noooo!! Why would you ask that?! Now it's going to come back and eat us!" Zion watched enough movies in his previous life to know that asking such a question would only lead to a worse outcome.
Appearing from the dust cloud, the snake sprang forth with immense speed. Reacting the fastest, Zion used his Aura force to push the two women out of the way as he blocked the snake himself.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Zion found himself holding the snake's fangs and stopped it from closing its mouth. He wrapped mana around his hands to stop the venom from touching him, but his mana started burning from the venom.
"God fucking dammit Ginger!" He shouted, struggling to keep the poison away from his body.
"Hold on!" Lacey created multiple fireballs that lit up the night sky and bombarded the snake in the same spot she hit with her lightning.
Ginger lept onto the snake's head and using her sword, stabbed it in the eye.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEECH!!!!!!" It screeched, opening its mouth just enough for Zion to free himself.
"Lacey, keep shooting it in the same spot!" Zion yelled as he jumped onto the snake's head, stabbing its other eye.
The snake screeched and writhed, but the three didn't back down. Dodging its frantic attacks, Zion and Ginger focused on striking, doing their best to wound the beast. Its scales were tough, but they were slowly breaking through.
"I broke through the scales!" Lacey shouted.
"Nice!" Zion replied as he dodged the snake's tongue, cutting it off in the process.
Leaping onto the snake's back, he ran to the exposed flesh. "Here we go!" Putting all his power into his sword, he stabbed the snake, purple blood splattering all over him.
Extending one hand upward, a magic circle appeared on it which was Lacey's doing. "Everything you got!" Zion informed her.
"Got it!" Lacey shouted, channeling her power into the magic circle, amplifying Zion's strength. Mana swirled around him as his strength surged. With his sword in the snake, its insides were bombarded by elemental power, but it wasn't enough.
"Ginger!" He shouted.
"Right here!" Thunder roared as lightning crackled. Electricity coiled around her sword, forming a massive greatsword. With a battle cry, she swung it down, splitting the snake in half as the air trembled with the force of the strike.
"Holy fuck! That was awesome! We should do that again, young master."
"I agree! Your lightning sword is always awesome to see!"
"Hey! I did good too!" Lacey pouted
"Hell yeah, you did! High five!" Zion and Lacey high-fived, then he looked at the snake.
"Welp, time to get down and dirty." Zion looked at the compass to locate the map, which pointed in the direction of the lower half of the snake.
So without a second thought, Zion dove into the snake's insides and searched it until he found the map.
"Young Master!" They both shouted in fear.
"Haha! Don't worry, I'm fine. It's really warm in here. Oh! I think I found the-pff pfff ew gross, something went in my mouth."
After a minute of searching, Zion found the map and exited the snake's body. It was a brown paper with pastel paintings on it of places he assumed the relics were hidden.
"Now that we have the map, let's get out of here. I don't want to stay another minute in this disgusting area." Zion put the snake in his ring and left with his companions.
Further in the distance, far from where Zion would be able to sense, an imp hid behind a tree watching the entire battle Zion had partaken in.
'I need to inform the others!' The imp took off, carrying crucial information for his masters.