Solo Cultivation in The Apocalypse

The idea of taking the woods to get somewhere did not bother Hitori. What bothered him was the place they were going. Akira said it was a lair– sort of– but it was totally safe.

He was not sure about being safe in the Forbidden Forest. But he followed others with Reon; she was walking by his side, and he was making sure she was alright from time to time.

They reached the borders pretty soon– sooner than it takes for Hitori to reach the borders. Since Hitori and Akira had been to the other side frequently, they could teleport everyone to the other side.

With every step he took, the trees rustled and he felt someone or something was watching him from the dark woods. The Akira had chosen was a straight path to the lair, but it was in the fog-covered part.

The thick, blur fog blinded their vision till Kyo conjured wind and cleared the path for a few minutes before it filled back again.

"Stay on your guard," Kakashi said as he drew his wand, "we are in the deep part of the forest, anything can get you in this area– but of course,e nothing more dangerous than a boss monster from a dungeon– if you encounter one."

"We will reach the destination in a few minutes, so keep up the footwork," Kyo said, leading the way. "And you, Akira, prepare to open the shield."

Kamiya's wand was on his right side, and the legendary wand was in his hands. Reon had kept Kamiya's gun with her (along with the bullets), and her gun was with her for extra defense.

"Listen, everyone," Kyoryu said, "we will sprint to the lair from here." Then he looked at Akira and indeed.

Leaves jumped off the ground as Akira ran cutting through the fog. Hitori thought spriting was a joke– but Kyo was serious. He took a step back and took his running stance.

"Are we really doing it? What if a monster—"

"Just look out for the river, focus on the path ahead, and everything will be alright." With that, Kyoryu took off.

Kakashi followed him with Eya running just behind. Hitori lowered his wand and clenched his teeth. "What is the hurry?" he muttered, then took off.

After running through the fog, following Eya's silhouette, for a minute, he realized Reon was left behind. He stomped his feet on the ground and came to a stop. He spun around and saw nothing in the fog.

This forest was alike the woods in his backyard– not a single ray of the sun ever broke through the cloud of thick fog– perhaps it never even hit the ground. It was summer, let the trees were healthy. Or was it a monster keeping the trees alive?

He shuddered at the thought of the guardian being the same monster keeping the trees alive.

Then the fog moved, Hitori raised his eyes, and finally saw Reon approaching him. But she failed to notice him and ran past him– only to know later.

She stopped a few feet away from Hitori and turned. "Hitori?" she frowned.

Hitori smiled, then took off in her direction. "Come on, let us go." Then he maintained his pace to run along with Reon, and keep Eya's silhouette in his sight.

After another minute, he frowned when he could not find Eya's silhouette. He increased his pace due to the fear of the unknown so deep in the forest.

Reon tried to keep up with him, but the distance increased from a foot to two feet and still increasing. "Hitori!" she shouted. The air filled her lungs and made it hard for her to breathe.

Hitori felt a whoosh against his face as if he walked past something. But he had no time to turn around and check. Something shone in the distance– an orange flame. It was not in the distance, the glowing flame was right in front of him.

The fog cleared around the area and he heard someone. "Hitori-san, hurry up!"

He slowed down and looked for the voice's owner. He could not find her, but he found the cave with torches lit at the entrance. He had found it. He turned to tell Reon when the truth hit him.

Reon was not standing behind him, he realized he had left her behind. He was never a runner, but he ran faster than ever due to the fear of being lost in the forest full of monsters.

Now he can not find Reon. He walked back, taking steady steps when he heard Eya again. "Where are you going? Come back!"  But he ignored her and continued walking.

"R-Reon!" he shouted. He could not believe he stuttered. "Reon!" No stutter this time. He walked faster, and the fog started getting thicker than it was near the cave with every step he took.

"Re—"

"Hitori?" she said.

Hitori glanced to his right and found Reon staring up at him. One hand over his shoulder and her chest heaving. "W-Where were you?"

"What happened to you? You suddenly increased the pace and left me behind…"

"T-That…" He could not say he was scared– no way. "I-I found the lair," he said instead. Hitori pointed his thumb at the cave behind him.

Reon lifted her eyes and looked past Hitori, but she saw nothing. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I even heard Eya-nee. Come on now." He turned and started walking.

Although Reon followed him, she said, "'Heard' her? What do you mean?"

"The fog was thick, so I could not see her, but I heard her. She was calling me—"

"Eya-nee!" Reon shouted at the top of her lungs. She cupped her hands over her mouth and shouted again, "Eya-nee—"

"I am right here, god! Why are you shouting?"

Hitori jumped back– he did not even see her– but now he saw her standing in front of him at a yard's distance.

"We are waiting for you," she said, then looked at Hitori. "And where were you running off?"

Hitori did not reply. He cleared his throat and said, "Show me the place, Eya-nee, I need to check if it is safe."

"Safe? It is like a fortified lair."

"But will anyone running around the forest furiously just find his path to the lair?"

She laughed. "No, Hitori-san, no. They will burn down to ashes before they can even get into the fifty feet radius."