Sanctus Forestus
A priest of the past who spoke latin, named the holy ground of Natura or otherwise known as Goddess Nature this specific name
But this name did not make any sense
How could a forest be holy?
And if Natura was the Goddess Nature, shouldn't every existing forest be holy in her name?
Why should there be only one blessed land that garners the Goddess's favor?
That is why Natura herself changed the name, turning her sanctus into the 'Sabe Serotifio'. The great priest's name and the greatest honor she could bestow on a devout follower as pure as him.
'F-Fuckโฆ'
Iye cursed, muffling her footsteps as much as she could by taking off her heels
However the faint rustling that came from her bare feet made itself known throughout the entirety of the malformed silent forest
Normally, Sanctus Forestus would not be difficult to traverse through, for the teachers anyway
Students on the other hand who accidentally stepped their dirty feet on the holy ground of Natura would be faced with misery
Iye looked back
"...."
A translucent green wall appeared out of thin air, preventing her return back to Gardenia.
She could not escape
This was what the students faced when traversing the forest
Their only escape route would be cut off from the world itself, they would have to survive by killing the wild 'animals' that turned this holy ground as their home, most water in the rivers would send one into shock and eventually serving them to predators who await a feast
And if that didn't kill the students desperately surviving? Then their immune systems would have to deal with a zombie parasite that uses the brain as soil for it to grow
Now that Iye Idiyele had been stripped of any authority as a teacher, she was forced to face the same threats that the students would normally face when entering the holy forest of Natura.
For reference, the teachers gain access to a 'backdoor' when entering the forest, allowing them to avoid all danger and even getting tea and some snacks along with a massage.
'My penalty-based Insight isn't well suited for this'
She grumbled, annoyed at the crazy antics of Natura, her bare feet tangling with the overgrown roots.
'This is so not worth doin-'
"Ow!"
Thorns pricked her from below, stealing drops of blood from her feet, a glance was equally stolen at the thorns
'Ah, they're poisonous, aren't they?'
Tsk
Her tongue twisted against her teeth, hands rummaging through her pockets till she found a spray bottle with cute doodles drawn on it.
She sprayed it against her feet, the sprayed liquid solidified quickly, turning into soft soles for wear
Just because Iye was a teacher at Gardenia did not suddenly mean she was strong
'It would be fine if it were just a few enemies, but in this abomination filled landfill?'
She would die, not even being capable of defeating 20 of those creepy disturbing creatures
Her abilities were limited and niche to mobility after all, attacks would drain her too much with how her ability worked
Tump!
Tump!
Loud steps rumbled off in the distance. Iye had already hid behind a giant weirdly shaped tree that looked to be attempting to resemble a horn
20 blocks away from the 'Ohrn Tree', a giant cat that oddly resembled a Saber-Toothed tiger of the past appeared, steps surprisingly soft despite its huge size, its gray fur swayed against the wind that brushed past it
Its fangs curled up to his giant rabbit like ears that flailed against its body
'Let's not make this difficult and stay reeeeallllyyyy quiet'
Staring at the animal, seeing its bloodied mouth, playing with the corpse it held tightly in its mouth
It didn't eat it, the big cat simply played with the now deceased student's corpse
"..."
'That one was very talented I heardโฆ'
Sabe Serotifio was also known for its low survival rates. It didn't matter if your ability was strong, if one of those apex predators found you, you're dead, they sense you? They play with you till you faint, think you got away from them? Nope they would even follow you home through their amazing nose that secret services would dress up as maids for, not even needing to keep track of you, though that would only happen if they register your scent as 'noteworthy'.
It was not a lie to say that insight here mattered like dirt. After all, why would power matter when you don't even have the stamina to wield that power?
The giant cat left, its figure leaving Iye's peripheral vision completely
However Iye did not move an inch, her body tranquil with not even a single fear of tremor spreading through her
'Chances are, that platys already found me and is waiting to confirm'
Platys was the name of one of the greatest predators that lurked within the Sabe
But what was the characteristic that made it such a successful predator in the first place?
Its five senses.
It could hear better than most animals, being capable of even hearing a heart beat if close enough to the living prey, your heart is beating hard out of fear? It knows your fear.
It could smell bodily fluids of any living creature if it stayed in one spot long enough, so scared were you that beads of sweat formed? It smells your nervousness.
It could taste any kind of deadly poison instantly and tell how dangerous it is to its body. However, instead of avoiding such dangerous things, it eats the poison to get drunk like how alcohol is to humans or inject it by drowning its prey with waves of poisonous liquid, just to see it squirm and make it more delicious to eat later on.
Not only that, its eyesight is so good that it could zoom more than any mobile phone, and just like any mobile phone, it could control how much it wants to zoom.
And there is more where that's coming from. Capable of sensing muscle contractions that make its long fur hairs stand on end and point to the direction of its prey that quaked in fear, then it pretends it doesn't know and lets its 'guard down' by sleeping next to a weapon like a giant wood stake to make the prey come out and try to kill it, but when it does that, it sneers and opens its gaping mouth for the starving prey wanting to eat anything since the platys is one of the weakest animals on the turf of Sabe Serotifio.
If the hairs pointed at you like a compass, it knows where you are, it just pretends it doesn't notice you because of an inherent nature implanted by Natura to play with food before chewing and eating it
A truly blessed animal, so blessed that it makes its short lifespan of 6 hours truly one incredible cruel joke that Natura played with life
Iye glanced at the fading Cale
'There is no time, he will disappear in a day at this rate'
In order for the resurrection granted by the merciful Natura to hold any meaning, the physical body had to be present no matter what
Otherwise there is no point in reviving the individual with no body.
It was a just law of the world, created to loosen slightly the contradiction between resurrection and death
This was also why resurrection could only be done once for individuals, and why a price had to be paid on top of that
'Not only that, the price that needed to be paid has specific requirements that had to be fulfilled first or else Natura will decide on an appropriate price that can be paid herself'
The platys had seemed to have disappeared completely, allowing for careful movement to be made
'Guess it's a pretty old one'
If it weren't old. Iye would not be calmly treading through the forest as if it were nothing and would instead run for her life
'Then, by now. It must be ready for birth'
The body of the Platys was unique, it resembled more of a chimera than a saber-toothed tiger mixed with a dog
Their appearance entirely depend on what is eaten because the moment the platys is born, its body is already the size of a polar bear and it also is pregnant the moment it leaves the womb of its dead mother, usually feasting on the corpse to calm the raging hunger of the baby inside of the stomach of a newborn Platys
After that, it experiences exponential growth and becomes as wide and tall as small trees and monster trucks
'It should be fine right now then, as long as I don't make a sound, I can pass their preferred habitat easily'
Her steps were soft and weightless despite carrying a person behind
However, Iye did not lose focus and kept edging closer to her destination, ignoring the gore that occasionally appeared every now and then in the meantime
The fading body of the young boy grew more and more as time passed the longer it took
Thankfully, right now was the weekend and Cale wouldn't suddenly be 'cleaned' spotless, so there was still a lot of time left, just not enough that would make one breath a sigh of relief out
'Why is this the shortcut damn it'
Currently Iye was at the 'pelvis' of the Sabe, she needed to reach the head of the forest, but she also needed to cross the 'heart' the strongest organ that continually pumps 'blood' to every crevice and vein of the body.
'I need to be quick before the baby from that platys is born'
At best, only an hour remained before birth.
She kept walking the 'vein' to the 'heart', movements delicate and careful, missing poisonous plants by an inch, making small detours to avoid paralytic fog and even hiding high up in a hole that seemed to be punctured by a woodpecker, the space inside of said tree big enough for a family of four to house it easily. Shortly after awaiting for potential danger to pass Iye moved after a wildfire occurred in the vicinity.
The branches twirled upwards in a spiral like staircase format, creating a rather peculiar shape otherwise impossible for normal trees
'So it does connect, that encyclopedia proves to be still useful even in these times'
Following the giant branches, it eventually overlapped with another Ohrn Tree's branch, below the branches a thick fog flooded the ground, every creature that required breathing to survive remained paralyzed in place, unable to even shed tears of fear as they get eaten by the 'Oksi'. Creatures of the shadows that only attack at your weakest moment, this environment marked as their playground.
'At least it is somewhat balanced'
If the Ohrn trees did not exist within the 'stomach' of the Sabe, it would have been deadly and hard to even consider this as a route worth taking at all.
The poisonous fog served as the sole proof as to why it garnered difficulty to traverse the stomach. A spray bottle exactly like the one Iye used might have some sort of effect.
'But that is like telling me to sew my mouth shut'
The spray bottle she had struck out as a very convenient item so Iye kept it on her person 24/7, but it could not be the sole silver hope even if useful.
[SPRAY AWAY THE POISON THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO HAVE DIARRHEA EVERY TWO SECONDS. NOW AT A LIFETIME DISCOUNT OF 38% OF ITS ORIGANAL PRICE]
"They couldn't have used a better label? Well it hooked me so I guess it worked?"
It felt like a scam when reading it but it proved to be very effective against bees, wasps, mosquitos and even deadly poisonous snakes
Iye took a piece of old parchment from her bosom. Elegant calligraphy making it so hard to make out that she had to squint to read it
[๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐.๐น๐๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ '๐ฎ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐๐' -๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐]
The last lines left even Iye stunned, she didn't experience the 'Clause Events' herself but the way everyone gossiped about it, truly shook her to the core when first hearing about it.
'I just have to pass this and get to the edge of the area, its less crowded there even if it borders to the habitat of the platys'
"Anyway, this spray bottle only works when the target is either poisoned or poisonous itself, if it isn't either it burns you instead"
Premise and reason why it existed in the first place were simple, but Iye found an interesting fact trying it out
'It weakens poisoned blood and drinks it to sustain its solidifying, surprisingly delaying the effects of the poison from an estimated minute to days'
Taking something in order to do something, like payment
"Shit"
Iye stared at the wildfire inching closer, a burning bird hovered above the inferno, its form remaining a silhouette in the blazing tornado
Air burned and made breathing feel like torture, glancing at the swaying giant branch a glint of hesitation showed but eventually she leaped and pounced at it, the spiral branch was climbed down in an instant, at times Cale's weight made Iye lose her balance but she still made it safelyย to the other hole of the Ohrn tree a woodpecker dug out, smaller and more compact than the one she sat in beforehand.
'Because of this walking disaster, it's making my life harder by forcing me to hide in a hole like an insect'
By now, she should have already been to the 'edge' or at least close to it, but Iye purposefully slowed herself down due to the inferno swirling towards her.
'It's kind of crazy to think that this is the quickest and safest route to take now that I am here with my own two feet'
Other riskier paths did present themselves, but not worth the overall trouble it would cause to take
'They also take too much preparation just to ensure you won't die in the first two hours'
And what do you know? They whipped Iye into this kind of place completely unprepared!
'I could have at least taken my bloodline equipment but nope. I just had to take this adopted animal for resurrection because if I don't he'll disappear the next day'
Soon enough, she reached the hole that she decided to nestle in for an hour and gently placed Cale's corpse inside like how cults would offer a sacrifice to their evil god
Only the 'god' here to be
GididiGuk!
Digigi!
Gugugugu!
"Ah"
A bunch of Oksi, bipedal creatures that had the head of an extinct Dire wolf, arms like a Bear's and tusks like a baby Elephant, its legs oddly human and feet like a platypus.
Truly, an image so defile and cursed even Natura herself said she'd never go and make something like this on a whim again.
"We cool?"
'Yeah sure!'ย Is the usual response to humans, so what about the Oksi?
Well, they have a very amazing greeting to first timers, first they bend their heads unnaturally sideways.
Crack!
Check.
They also apparently stick out their long tongue that is always lubricated and coated in their very, very paralytic saliva and apply that to their claws for god knows what reason, knock a platys out cold, the silhouette inside the inferno and basically anything and everything that has a heart pumping blood in their system.
And the best part? They have the lowest tolerance to poison, so the Oksi in irony paralyze themselves to their predators and prey alike.
"Aha, so I'll get going and you three can have whatever orgy party is going on here, 'kay?"
Fuck you
"...."
'They speak English?'
Speech was not mentioned in the encyclopedia, nor the fact they could swear.
The three Oksi readied themselves for wrestle. Iye equally readied herself in kind.
The inferno inched closer and closer, prompting Iye to finish her business quickly and shelter herself.