Ren after a long run finally reached his destination. Right in front of him was a forest with thick trees, and dense fog. The aura he felt from within the forest was ominous. This was probably one of the reasons no one approaches the forest of mist. Ren finally got a bit more excited as he stepped forward into the forest.
The moment Ren entered the premise of the forest, he felt something was off. He also noticed that as he walked forward the fog seems to get denser the deeper he goes.
"Silika what do you make of this?"
"There is a thick mana flow surrounding the forest. It's very similar to that of the inside of a Dungeon."
"Do you think that the forest is the Dungeon?"
"It could be, but the mana I feel surrounding the place is much thicker than a young dragon's mana."
"Are you suggesting, a real fully grown Dragon made a nest here in the forest?" While Ren was saying this, he couldn't help but make that vicious smile of his. The thought of fighting a Dragon without any distractions was making him extremely excited.
"I'm not sure... This aura and mana flow is indeed stronger than a young Dragon's but, it's not as strong as a fully grown one either. It's actually quite weak, the intensity of a Dragon isn't there."
"Then what do you think it is?"
"I don't know."
"Whatever it is, will find out, once we get to the source."
...
After his talk with Silika, Ren continued to walk deeper into the forest, but no matter how long he walked, it didn't seem like he was going anywhere. Also, he's been in here for half an hour and there was still no signs of monsters.
Based on the information given to him by Nezard, the last time anyone went into the forest was a hundred years ago. of course, all of this information given to him was only rumors since no one from the last expedition into the forest was alive at this point.
Ren getting a bit irritated jumped on some trees and tried to look overhead, but the fog wouldn't let him see anything. He then jumped upward and tried to go above the trees, but the moment he did so he hit something hard and got blown back.
Ren who was falling from a great height tried to grab onto some branches. Yet as he grabbed them they broke, and his back hit the ground.
Feeling a bit hurt, Ren stood up while rubbing his back and shoulders.
"What was that?" Ren looked above his head and saw nothing not even sunlight because of the fog.
"I think there is a barrier cast all over the airspace of the forest. I'm not sure since the fluctuation of mana is messed up in here." Silika gave her opinion, which made Ren sigh.
"Do you think if we attack the barrier will be able to break it."
"No, that's impossible at the moment. If you could have wielded the scythe even about twenty percent of its power you could have a number of ways to break the barrier or leave this forest. But with your current strength, you won't even be able to use a tenth of the scythe's true power."
Ren already knew that the current him was weak, but hearing it from Silika just made it even more real for him.
"So the fog distorts our senses making us unable to know where we are, it also makes us unable to go forward or even retreat from this forest. Now there's even a barrier above us, making us unable to escape from above. So Silika what do you suggest we do in this situation?"
"How about using this opportunity to increase your mana capacity and your affinity with the water and earth element. Like I said before this place has a very thick amount of mana, especially water and earth mana elementals gather here in droves."
Ren who wasn't able to think straight ever since entering the forest decided to just do what Silika suggested since there was nothing else he could do.
"Silika please defend my body while I try to absorb some of the mana in the area." Hearing Ren's order Silika appeared in her human form beside him and answered.
"As you wish my master."
Ren nodded at Silika and went into a lotus position and went into a deep meditative state. Ren's body then started to emit a blue glow as his body became one with his surroundings.
"No matter which incarnation, your ability to improve always surprises me." Silika who was watching at the side, smiled gently under her veil.