Chapter 103 - The crumbling forest

As Kaiser continued towards the howling in the distance they noticed not only that the mist was slowly disappearing the more they traversed the island but also that the land mass that they had set foot on was much larger than they had expected earlier. Although Kaiser had questioned both Gaia and Cirb on it they had told him that they had arrived on a path just a little bit further from where his had ended on this island so both knew not a lot more than him especially since fog clouded their vision most of the time and they had hurried towards him in the fastest way possible.

Going further and further they soon encountered a large birch forest, the treetops covered in mist that in some places even reached down and hovered over the wet ground. When they approached they noticed that most had few leafs, were covered in various fungi, were mostly rotten and had grown in strange forms, all futilely trying to gain at least a small amount of pure sunlight.

Hearing that the howls come from within it or at least behind it after some debate they decide to enter. If the misty muddy marshland they had traversed before had been absolutely disgusting, the scent, low visibility and slippery muddy ground not aiding that in the least then this new forest was horrid in another manner.

The mist that laid between the trees was not still but instead moved by winds passing through, creating howling shadows and twisted forms that seemed to stalk the ones that attempted to traverse the forest, constantly playing tricks on the mind of the traveler. The further they continued the more of the birch trees became rotten and fowl, though most of them remained upright as though nothing here could destroy them. Although it was rare through the weak contrast in color it occurred from time to time that one of them hit a tree, causing others in it's surrounding to fall as well like tall domino stones. Luckily for the forest most twigs and branches had already broken off from the rotten trees which saved the entire forest from falling down at once. The strangest experience with these trees however was that although one felt a slight impact upon collision the trees put up almost no resistance like the many branches on the ground overgrown with mosses and fungi that simply crumbled once hit. Even if a tree would fall upon him or his companions it would not feel much worse than getting smacked with a large pillow.

All in all their journey through the forest was rather strange and Kaiser honestly thought that the entire region he had traversed until now felt more like it belonged to a horror film rather than to the great tournament and battle royal show the capitol usually presented. Perhaps the Gamemakers wanted a more interesting genre? Over the twenty minutes they had spend walking straight through the forest, leaving a clear trail of destruction behind them as everything they touched besides the dirt underneath their feet turned to dust it was rarely that they saw fresh trees grow back to replace old ones. The lack of sunlight probably didn't aid them in their endeavors.

Seeing that the forest didn't seem to end Kaiser decided to check on the map but before doing that he remembered a certain promise he had given some time ago. Sitting down on the cold ground, carefully avoiding any potentially collapsible structures he began to speak to the system inside his mind.

[Open System settings.]

[I'm not making too many grand chances and just making sure that you won't hinder me in the future. Now let's see.]

[I think I can live with that]

[Enough of that. The troubles I already have are enough.]

- Help

- Status

- Shop

- Multiverse Travel

- AI

- Advanced Options

[All seem rather interesting. I definitely need to take a closer look at some. For now just open AI settings]

- Voice – male –

- Character – default –

- Freedom – default –

- show more -

[Hahaha! You're a default character.]

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[No, definitely not. Stay how you are. Although you're a bit annoying from time to time. Open the Freedom settings]

- allowed to make shop purchases – permission needed –

- allowed to use host skills – when deemed necessary –

- allowed to access multiverse travel – host's life threatened –

- allowed to adjust system design – when deemed necessary –

- show more -

[What is "necessary"? That definition is really loose.]

[Ok, then set that to "host's life threatened"]

Seeing that his goal for now had been achieved he decided to dive into his memories and brood over the map for a while.