Chapter 161 - Meeting with the Experiment.

Following the Ghost sure became a mental hassle. It kept screaming in an ear splitting matter and kept offering the same fortune over and over, however overtime it raised the treasure's value. Which of course gave a strong sense that this Ghost is lying, hard even. Just to survive or the 7 Sources know for what else.

The Ghost became so loud as they got closer to the tree, that Chan had to cover his ears here and there. Stress and Anxiety arose uncontrollably because of those screams. It was a sacrifice he was forced to put up with in order to complete the task. But lucky for him, he finally arrived close enough to what he has been sleeping in the cold for. The Ghost Tree. He stopped on his spot and just watched the Ghost being sucked to it's inevitable fate, as if saying goodbye to it. Quite frankly, he was glad to finally get some peace. His head hurts from all of the screaming.

He was about 30 feet away but he could see the Tree's Dark Aura. The Grand Leader's words were proven right in every aspect. The Tree is exactly how he described it. How could the Grand Leader even get that close to the tree without being sucked into it?! How would he know all of this information?

Now, the only thing that was in Chan's mind is the special word providing protection from this horrible experiment. At first, he got distracted by the Ghost Tree enough to forget that special word. Forget it again! Imagine it. At the very beginning, he forgot it but the Ghosts from the Dark Forest Kin dug him out of that hole. Now he forgot it because of the tree secondarily and because of the Ghost who has been violently getting to his every nerve. 

Thankfully! He remembered. The special word remembers him of that ten foot tall Ghost lady, she isn't someone easy to forget. Thanks to that lady, he has it a bit easier to remember this special word now since it's linked to her in a way. A rather smart move from Chan when you think about it, but at least he knows it and that's what matters the most in this case. But it also can be considered rather odd that he forgot it again just a while ago, because he repeated it quite a few times before he got distracted by that loud Ghost. I suppose stress tends to mess with memory often.

"Azr.a.p.etos" is the word of course, and Chan is sticking to repeating it even though he is only partially sure that this is the actual word. It's better to try what he thinks is sure instead of keeping quiet. The situation forced him to those measures. I mean what was King Xakro ill.u.s.tratio lll even thinking? Chan is in no condition or qualifications to complete this task, not to mention the whole Staff mission. He could have hired highly skilled Soldiers to aid his plans. But he ordered him. Why Chan? Why?

The tree though, when glanced upon without the Paranormal vision, it would be extremely difficult... actually next to impossible to tell it apart from a normal tree. It was just a simple oak tree. The only difference is that it is bigger, considering that it's over three eras old. It could explain how it claimed so many human victims who tried to chop this evil beauty down and possibly how it increased its suckage ratio over time. It is quite a possibility that the more souls this Tree feeds on, the further it can spread it's death trap. What Lumberjack could resist a straight thick tree.

But now, there is no time to waste or think(Which works to his advantage for once.). He got a better grip of his axe, approached the tree in caution and was ready to cut the first branch. Setting a strong pinpoint to his task. It's what he came here for after all.

Lifting the Iron Axe at first, wasn't heavy even though just the Iron of the axe weighs ten Kilograms. No no, he was at the heat of the moment, feeling as ready as ever. He hit the closest and most straight branch he could find. The branch itself was arm thick, and considering Chan's strength, he couldn't chop it off at first shot but he sure caused some damage.

He lifted his axe again, tried to maneuver the axe's 2 meter long tail enough in mid air to not cause an accident, and hit the branch again instead of accidentally hitting his legs. 

Even though Chan hit the Branch in a straight line instead of hitting it narrowly which would help cutting it down easier, he still managed to chop it off because the front (Heavier) part of this medieval axe, managed to do most of the work for him. It was sure a strong hit even though he had no idea what he was doing, no technique.

Noticing that he is alive, or at least not possessed. He reached for the Branch he just managed to cut down, trying to put it aside as it appears to be the best branch on the tree for his interests. This is the main part of his task here. He would need to put the branch on a safe spot before stripping this tree out of it's branches. What nerve would he have to find an appropriate branch after cutting down so many?

The moment he bent down, he felt the tree's suckage effect. He was forced to crawl for a couple of feet forward because of the tree. Luckily, this weird dragging effect didn't last long and as the Grand Leader pointed out, it's quite harmless. It let go of him.

Now, he felt more and more confident to continue with his second task, cutting the rest of the branches down! He feels more than capable to help the Dark Forest Kin. He felt truly useful for the first time. So it sure caused a spike on his motivation.

He lifted his axe, aimed for a bigger branch and struck with all of his might. Seeing it not being cut off by that strike, he struck again. Then again, and repeated so, for a few times until the branch fell off! But lifting that 10 Kilogram Iron sure took a lot of his energy. 

...

Meanwhile at Gaster Kingdom where the gang was enjoying watching Marixha catching rabbits using her... abilities. Mogranius fell on his knees. I'd like to call because of physical pain. But that's not the case here, it's something quite different.

First he fell on his knees, then he ran out of breath abnormally quick, and at last he got knocked out. He was behind the group so it took a few seconds for everyone to notice this silent fall. But when Commander Alia turned around, her heart sank in panic and she wasn't able to move a muscle. She tried to speak but she couldn't fill a proper sentence.

"Mogranius!"

"Mentor!"

King Michael and Eric yelled in panic. It's not easy to see such a self proclaimed "tough man" going down this easily. It's a nightmare to watch.

"Sire! Should we take him to the Castle?" Approached and yelled out the Guard nearby in concern. He didn't know Mogranius personally, but he sure learned to value Fire Controllers. He feels that they are the future of Ignis.

"Yes yes good idea. We need to check what's wrong with him where it's a bit more comfortable." Answered King Michael swiftly but in panic, even forgetting about the Chicken project. Imagine! He forgot about such a future changing project for the sake of his friends. He turned his head towards Commander Alia and yelled. "Alia, please help me carry him to the Castle!"

Noticing that she was conscious but wouldn't respond, her face quite frozen in fear. He approached her with a sprint and shook her shoulder. Calling her name, "Alia. Alia! Commander Alia!" But all she could do was stare at King Michael in fear, unable to reply to anything he is saying. She wanted to speak, but she couldn't. Noticing that issue, he whispered. "Great. Now we have two problems on our hands!"

...

Guard Commander Chan however, found himself taking a long break, with 6 branches near his feet. Each one was either bigger than the other or similar to the first cut down branches, in size. Each one however had a different difficulty when cutting down.

Using such a heavy axe of course came with consequences. The first and probably the most important one, is the fact that Chan got tired in a short time no matter how much he pushed through, he used all of his capabilities but at this rate it will take a lot longer. He never worked so hard on his life, but it wasn't enough to completely accomplish the secondary task. To everyone's surprise, he wasn't even thinking about quitting.

The second issue would of course be safety. If he misses the branch while swinging, slowing down the heavy axe's momentum can be more than difficult. For Chan, almost impossible even. It's fine if the axe hits the ground or any nearby rocks. The sharp side of the axe facing a few cracks isn't a big deal for him who will only use this axe for a day from the looks of it. But what if the axe hits his flesh?!

If such a momentum wouldn't break his leg, death from blood loss or Hypothermia is almost certain. Because if he covers the wound with his clothing, the cold would get the best out of him. And with a fresh wound, he can't really walk out of this forest as fast as he walked in to.

"Time to get back to work!" He murmured to himself as he stood up with the axe on his hand, with his mouth parched for water, and his muscles aching for a day long break. "For the Dark Forest Kin!"