Chapter 155 - Nope!

Guard Commander Chan still remained puzzled about the scene he encountered before, the one with his father, of which fate forced him into. It wasn't pleasant, it hurt his heart, it hurt his spirit even though he had actually had the strength to put that situation behind him. Because now, that wasn't his main goal, not his main motive. This task has to be completed and he didn't want to let past traumas stop him. 

Of course he could think about it all day if he wanted too, but it wouldn't fix anything in particular. It would just result in wasted time, possible brain damage(Ironic for him i know!) and further frozen toes(Which could lead to amputation if the situation got to intense).

Counting the negative sides was easy for him, now due to it he is able to focus on his main motive.(Which now due to the special Word of which that Ghost Leader provided him with, made this task a whole lot safer). All he wants to do is get that Ghost Branch and rush the hell out of here.

There is a saying, "Don't let the cold enter through your feet, or else you won't be able to get it out." The cold in this case, is bashing all around him, not just his feet! Wasting time here is a deathwish or toe loss at least. He doesn't want Hypothermia, he doesn't want to experience amputation and he definitely doesn't want to spend another night on these god forsaken woods. But he lost his bag, which also contained his tent. So what will his fate be even if he gets that Ghost Branch?

First he uttered a last goodbye to the Ghost Kind who helped him towards his own task more than anyone else would (Or would be genuinely willing too.), they even equipped him with a strong heavy axe, they sure proved useful and dangerous at the same time. He then made his way towards the ghost tree. There is no time to waste, especially with time and weather not standing by his side at all!

Now, even though the Grand Leader assured safety with that special word (Azr.a.p.etos), Chan still was sure of the possible Danger in front of him. I mean, if there wasn't any danger then why did the Leader provide Chan with such a helpful vision? His fate can't really be certain now, that's why he kept repeating "Azr.a.p.etos" frantically. If a Ghost with good intentions can be tremendously dangerous, what could a corrupted evil Ghost do? And for some reason he thought that this word keeps wild animals away too, I guess he wasn't thinking straight(Not rare.) at this part.

Through the dense forest, he saw various shapes and sizes of Ghosts, each one seemed different to the point of uncertainty. There were likely many species or subspecies of Ghosts on his sight, he had a lot of trouble recognizing the Ghost species but he didn't bother to know too much about them, it's not like he would write a book about them or plan to spread Wisdom to the wiser. He just wants to survive and get this task over with.

However he did notice that the Ghosts from the Dense Forest Kin, tried to mimic a large set of animal forms for fun, or training? He wasn't exactly sure about their purpose with this shapeshifting. It is fair to say that most were doing a good job, while some were almost there. But they all seem to have trouble mimicking human forms! If one Ghost can perfectly mimic any animals, why would a Human be more complex to mimic 100%, or at this point, impossible! These spirits used to be Human after all! So why is it impossible to shapeshift into a Human? Are they cursed with an eternal afterlife, stuck on this god forsaken planet without ever having the Chance to be their former selves?

Half of these types of attempts led to Human forms with left Goat legs! Freaky! I know. But having a Chicken leg seems even more disturbing. I wish to not become too graphic with this explanation, since it already is freaking me out as an Author. I spooked myself out, story of my life.

If you had the chance to ask Chan, he would straight up tell you that he would rather take the chance to chop down each tree and hope for the best, instead of having this temporary paranormal vision and witness beings far from the ordinary, Chicken feet on Humans don't mix well. This says a lot because as you've read this far, he can talk it up with Ghosts, not even carrying much fear towards them.

Putting that part aside. If it wasn't for the fact that these former Humans didn't have different auras, Chan would never be able to tell them apart from actual animals. These specific Tribe of ghosts seem to have a grey smoke like aura. Now Imagine a possessed Wild Boar chasing you while you have this paranormal vision active! The smoke following the Wild Boar wouldn't make the situation lighter or less terrifying. 

While small to medium big animals were easier to mimic, these Ghosts seem to fail to mimic larger animals. Such as a Titanoboa. It is acceptable. I mean Titanoboas grow around 15 meters long, maybe more! That's a lot to mimic, a lot to recreate. Some were able to make half of a Titanoboa, while some just ended up making smaller snakes instead who didn't quite specify as a Titanoboa but didn't fail to appear intimidating (Half of a Titanoboa included.).

It isn't certain where these Ghosts found a Titanoboa to mimic, but it seems very recent. Chan just hoped to not run into one of those, it would be worse than running into another Source Bear. He put that thought behind rather quickly and just tried to focus on finding the Ghost Tree, or he would lose his sense of direction.

As mentioned before, even though these Ghosts could shapeshift into different shapes and sizes, their original form is a white faded bloob like figure who floats above the ground, rather stereotypical. The Ghost kind are originally shaped like that(Or at least this Tribe.).

But what about the unliving who are simply souls of dead animals? Well. They appeared different. Each animal species seem to have a single or a mix of colours instead of a grey one as their aura. In this way, true animal spirits were defined by this tribe of ghosts or any other tribe in particular. They were more colorful.

Due to his granted temporary paranormal vision, he was also able to predict which living breathing animals would approach towards his direction, maybe Humans too, a lot earlier before it actually happens. But even Hunters don't go to this part of the woods at any season, unless they aren't informed of the terrible unusual dangers. So Humans can be crossed off the list. It isn't unusual to run into Bandits in the forest either, but not this one. No one spreads rumours better than Bandits (Especially those who are Criminals in one faction and unknown on another one.), so they know of the Dangers here(Most at least.).

Being able to predict upcoming creatures could be a life saver at this point. Because at this cold brutal season, who would come out of hiding for food? Animals of course! And not those who prefer plants. No no, Herbivores are fairly rare to see now. Unless you consider Hungry Squirrels as a threat(If you do, i ain't judging.).

Predators! Big strong Carnivores would walk upon this cold ice and snow. Animals of which couldn't simply feed themselves enough throughout the warm season to pass this Winter. And since the food resources here aren't at all scarce throughout those warm months, it can only mean that bigger animals would be roaming. Those unusual to see types, who break the average size, who need more, who devour more, who are a lot more Dangerous!

Thanks to this paranormal vision, Chan was able to predict a large animal making an appearance. That large animal? What he feared the most! A Source Bear! A freaking Source Bear! Why does he run into these rare species?

He was able to see a preview of a huge Source Bear breaking likely over a ton in weight, bashing through the trees and standing 8 feet tall in front of him before letting out a soul trembling Roar!

Knowing this valuable piece of information, Chan played it safe and made sure that he won't met this Source Bear Tonight. He took a sharp right turn and dashed through the Dense forest, while still attempting to have a sense of direction. Trying his best to Stand close to the way he was directed towards. Rather hard to do with his heart pounding as if he already faced the Source Bear.

Although the preview of the possible encounter didn't portray the Bear in great detail, showing a bit of fur here, the claws there and the jaws being the most detailed. Chan was able to figure out that its a Source Bear simply by its size and its shorter face (Which is considered the key feature by most who were able to see a Source Bear (And Live).). He was able to tell the species even though it was hard to do so because of the faded preview.

One thing that assured him that he didn't lose sense of direction, is when he noticed how there were less Ghosts to see now. It can be a sign that he is closer to the Ghost Tree, or it could be a sign that he is far away! First he got confused and started getting frustrated. Carrying the heavy Iron Axe didn't help him relieve his stress, but one thing of which aided him assure his direction helped.

What was it? Well... He saw a Ghost being dragged through the air, crying for help and not being able to resist the pull, impossible to do so. Chan has reached the Ghost Tree's suckage Radius.