Edward was woken up by the hubbub made by the members of the expedition who were already awake. They were already eating breakfast and packing their blankets. What time is it? Edward thought groggily while opening his eyes and attempting to glance at the sky through the branches. It was still early in the morning, and faint traces of mist could be seen close to the ground here and there.

　　I can`t believe I slept like a log when I`m in the middle of a dangerous forest with wild beasts and monsters roaming inside. I didn`t even have dreams this time. Well, at least it seems we weren`t attacked during the night, that`s a plus. Let`s get ready for a new day of adventure.

　　Edward quickly ate his breakfast and packed his blanket, he then went to Adrien who was also up and packing his belongings.

　　"How was your night? Anything I missed?" Edward asked him

　　"I wasn`t on guard duty either, so I had a restful night. I tried to enjoy it as much as I can because it means I will be on guard duty next night. I actually asked Arnold who was on watch duty." He paused. "I don`t think you have met him yet. Anyway, he didn`t notice anything amiss. Only some howls in the distance. As long as the beasts stay outside of the beaten path and don`t come near it`s fine by me." he answered.

　　A few moments later Marc made an announcement.

　　"Everybody listen up, I want all of you ready in five minutes. We don`t have time to waste as we are only able to travel during the day. If we continue at this pace, we shouldn`t be far from the site by the end of the day. Tonight, we will make our last camp on the path and tomorrow we are leaving it to find the ruins. We will then have the whole day to secure the ruins and make a camp inside. If you are too slow today, we won`t wait for you, I don`t want to make a camp outside the path in the thick of the forest."

　　Marc then picked up his bag and gathered his guards to have another more detailed briefing with them.

　　Adrien and Edward looked at each other. They didn`t say it this time, but they didn`t need words to express their thoughts. How can this dude be such a bastard? Would it kill him to make a speech without making everyone who is listening to him want to punch him in the face?

　　*****

　　The day went quickly, the members of the expedition weren`t talking much to each other and the walking pace was faster than the day before. Edward was fine but he could see that some people were starting to feel tired. It was exhausting to walk at a fast pace for a whole day without much of a break while carrying a full backpack.

　　However, none of the guards seem tired, only the carriers were having trouble following the pace. I wonder if that`s one of the effects of the blood. All the guards should be at the quiescent stage like me. Normally after a whole day walking at this pace, I should feel tired as well yet I feel perfectly fine. You can start to notice the differences between the folks at the quiescent stage and the guys who weren`t exposed to blood.

　　This society must be even more unequal than on earth. All you have to do is consume blood and get stronger and then you can behave like a prick without anybody daring to tell you anything by fear of retaliation.

　　When the time came to make the night camp, Marc once more assigned the tasks. He shifted the roles so that it wasn`t the same person as yesterday doing the same task. However, he still didn`t take the effort to learn the name of the villagers and just designed them by "you" to give them guard duty. Clearly, he didn`t regard Agripin`s inhabitants as important, barely considering them as people. Once again, the night watch consisted of a pair of one of his guards and one villager. This time Marc didn`t participate in the guard duty and Adrien was assigned as a lookout for the first part of the night.

　　The expedition was more nervous than yesterday, it was the second day within Vipin Forest, and the tension was slowly building. They knew monsters lurked in the woods, and the lack of confrontations only exacerbated the pressure, as they wondered when savaged beasts would attack them. Additionally, it was also the last night before having to quit the path and tread in the thick of the forest to find the ruins Marc was searching for.

　　As if to echo their fear, the night was more agitated this time. There were no attacks but that didn`t prevent them from hearing paws trampling leaves nearby. Sometimes the guards could even see yellow eyes glowing briefly through the dark. To complicate things further the mist was getting thicker compared to the previous night. Luckily, for now the beasts stayed hidden outside the path and didn`t dare to attack the camp.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

　　Most of the company wasn`t able to sleep much this night, too nervous with both the beasts roaming nearby and anxious thoughts echoing in their minds. They would be outside the path the next day, and being encompassed within the forest made some reconsidered dark tales that they previously had dismissed from with the warmth of their home. Who knew what would happen when they left the path? The beasts would lose most of their restraints and as they had already spotted their group an attack seemed unavoidable. A few were starting to doubt their choice, what was the point of money if you were dead and couldn`t spend it?

　　Edward didn`t sleep much either this time, he was alternating between waking up and periods of agitated dreams. He dreamed he was walking in a park back on earth, when without noticing how, he realized he was now in the middle of a forest in this world. This dream was turning into a nightmare with wolves howling nearby when suddenly a huge pair of bright yellow eyes opened in the sky and Edward woke up short of breath.

　　What a way to wake up. I probably won`t be able to sleep again after a dream like that.

　　He looked around him, the night was reluctantly giving way to the day with the first rays of dawn piercing through the thick canopy. Most of the people seemed awake. Edward saw that was also the case for Adrien and he stood up to join him.

　　"How was guard duty?" Edward asked.

　　"Don`t tell me about it, it`s getting on my nerves. You know those beasts are nearby, you can hear them, see them furtively from time to time, but they won`t attack. I swear they should make up their mind, just attack or leave us alone. But no, they are just turning around us, probing and playing with us. I wasn`t even able to sleep once even when my guard duty was over. Each time I closed my eyes, I could hear them running nearby."

　　"Yeah, it`s tough" Edward answered with a frown. "Hey, are those beasts intelligent, do you think they do it on purpose to exhaust us?"

　　"After what happened tonight, I wouldn`t put that beyond them. But I think it`s more likely they are trying to probe us to see how we react, to see if we are dangerous or simply a prey."

　　Seeing that the sun was rising and that the majority of people were awake, Marc announced an early departure to search for the ruins. He ordered his guards to wake up the few lucky ones who hadn`t had any trouble falling asleep and who were still asleep right now.

　　Once the path was left the ambiance felt different, the ambient light decreased and the trees became bigger and taller. Moreover, the ground turned uneven with entangling roots everywhere and bumps here and there. You had to be careful where you walked so as not to stumble. It wasn`t that important for a leisurely walk but it could turn vital if a fight broke out.

　　At one point Edward couldn`t see the path from where they came from anymore, every direction he turned looked the same. Everywhere you looked it was massive trees, leaves covering the whole ground and clusters of ferns. Edward hoped that Marc knew where he was going, even if he had a map, it was of no use if you didn`t know where you were. If the expedition got lost, they would have to spend the night outside of the path within Vipin Forest, and Edward wasn`t sure if they would be able to survive that.

　　Speaking of him, Marc didn`t seem very pleased, the afternoon had already begun and the ruins were nowhere to be seen. The expedition was tired after having to accelerate yesterday and then not getting a proper night of sleep. Edward himself was starting to feel the first signs of fatigue, it was a lot worst for the people who had never gotten in contact with monster blood. You could hear them pant to keep up with the group, they did their utmost as not to lag behind. If you lost the group and ended up isolated in the forest at nightfall it was a certain death sentence.

　　By evening the villagers were complaining between themselves.

　　"Do you think those ruins really exist? We were supposed to reach them before nightfall and it has already started to get dark."

　　"Shit they better exist, we are too far from the path to go back now. I don`t want to spend the night here. "

　　"I`m sure that asshole will flee giving up on us if that happens. Humph, as an Awaken he can run faster than us, he will probably leave us behind while he run back to the path."

　　As the night was falling, howls could be heard from behind the group.

　　It was at this moment that Marc`s face abruptly illuminated.

　　"I can see the ruins, everyone follow me!" He shouted with excitement and relief in his voice, which made Edward realized that Marc may have been not as certain as he told them about the ruins existence.

　　The villagers looked at each other not seeing anything, but left without a choice they had to follow Marc.

　　After running for thirty meters, they finally saw the first glimpse of the ruins. They weren`t that tall, with only a single level visible above the ground. The roof was made of several layers of stones, each one lying on top of the other, forming something akin to stairs. The walls were still mostly intact even if green moss was growing on them. Edawrd wasn`t sure how old those ruins were but there were no breaches nor collapsed parts. Some glowing lines could be seen on the parts that moss hadn`t managed to grow onto. Edward was shocked when he saw that those lines were glowing from inside the walls. If there is light, it means there has to be some kind of energy powering it.

　　What is this? This world is not technologically advanced, I don`t think some advanced civilization discovered electricity and put LEDs into their walls before disappearing. And those ruins don`t seem particularly high-tech. Is it working with magic? There is already monster blood, it wouldn`t surprise me at all if there was also magic in this world.

　　They soon manage to find an entrance, a dark rectangle of shadow waiting for them to enter. Marc was the first to enter with his guards accompanying him. Having to choose between staying in the forest and entering those ruins the group didn`t hesitate much and followed Marc inside.