Chapter 222: Bone Forest

Chapter 222: Bone Forest

{Perfect Me!}

As I walked through the mind maze, I deftly picked the lock on any abilities that held sway over my mind. The sweet scent enveloped me, dominating my thoughts. But the entrapment was broken, and instead of it smelling sweet the mist turned heavy and tried to push me down.

My mind raced at breakneck speeds, deciphering the Dream Maze and breaking through its illusions. It felt strange, like solving calculus while writing a creative novel.

I surveyed the surroundings, using more than just my eyes to navigate the maze. Illusions shattered, and new paths opened. Then, as suddenly as it began, I opened my eyes, finding myself in a field of black grass.

Undoubtedly, some creature had cast the Dream Maze upon us. However, trying to locate the caster would be futile. The Dream Maze's range was vast, limited only by the boundaries of this island. Outside Avalon Island, its power would diminish significantly.

At least now I knew our location, a zone I was quite familiar withthe Black Tear Grass Field, where a special type of grass induced absolute despair when eaten.

What would absolute despair feel like? Would it engulf me suddenly, or would it reveal things that would break my spirit? Could Perfect Me defend against such a thing?

Though I considered myself relatively safe against Avalon Island's weaker phenomena, I wasn't reckless enough to test the grass on myself. I wasn't about to become my own lab rat.

"We should keep moving," I urged, stretching my shoulders and wincing at my injured arm. I knew I had to tend to it soon; the pain was becoming distracting.

Sei asked Is it safe to just walk in random directions like this?

"It doesn't matter much, I replied. In this place, even moving forward or backward could lead to the same destination. The logic here defies the norm."

Someone attempting to apply logic in this place would find themselves in deep danger, for nothing here made sense.

As we ventured through the field, the trees gradually took on a white hue. As we walked further, the trees transformed into bone-like structures, reminding me vividly of the Death Bone Forest. Here, a colossal skeleton demon resided. Normally a high-class demon, within the bone forest, it gained control over all the bones, making it as formidable as fighting Carpy on the sea akin to confronting an Ultimate Class Demon. Its home-field advantage was almost unmatched.

It should have already sensed that we were here, and despite its home-field advantage, it was still just a high class. The giant skeleton had no special dangerous abilities that would counter any of our own as far as I knew, so we should be able to deal with it relatively easily after that. Though the key point of the battle would be for Sei to drag the skeleton into his mirror.

Perfect Me wasn't inherently a healing ability, but it facilitated rapid cell division to accelerate my healing process.

I would have been more conservative with my healing if it came with a substantial cost. However, my contract ensured that if I were to lose a significant portion of my lifespan, my bargain would weaken, and the boost from Ord would diminish as well.

When I had aged myself up, I faced such a consequence. Fortunately, I still had over a hundred years of lifespan, mainly due to Ord maintaining my health in optimal condition and not having any kind of dangerous sickness. At least my Ord had grown through training, so the loss was minimal.

"Either way, you must have trained rigorously to attain a body like that," the Strength Exorcist snorted.

Oh, right. I almost forgot how this guy was. He was still a top Special Exorcist, and they were all quite strong-headed.

Sei and Anika exchanged weird looks, and the latter asked, "Why do you speak as if training is the most dreadful thing in the world? Everyone does it."

The Strength Exorcist removed his helmet, revealing his face with a long scar running along it, and his disheveled green hair. "Training and creating special abilities are for losers. I would never do something like that. I only rely on the strength God has bestowed upon me."

Like most other Special Exorcists of his power, the Strength Exorcist's statement was entirely hypocritical.

Sometimes, Ord was really unfair. This guy had never trained a day in his life and didn't even create a special ability. Yet, he managed to reach the position of the 7th strongest exorcist. One could only imagine how strong he would be if he had actually put in the effort to train.

"Not training at all? Isn't that just being lazy?" Anika retorted. It took considerable courage to speak back to one of the strongest exorcists.

The Strength Exorcist shook his head. "While I do not engage in formal training, I maintain a healthy lifestyle. My body is a temple, blessed and molded by God. There is no way I will ever taint something so sacred! Training is the coward's way out; real men rely on their God-given strength!"

Anika appeared ready to counter his statement, but I had no desire to challenge him. To me, he was simply another fervent special rank exorcist. They were the sort of individuals so set in their beliefs that attempting to sway them was futile.

I shook my head and let out a sigh. Trying to reason with people in this peculiar world was an exercise in frustration. Dealing with those who held such entrenched views was not worth the effort.

After all, most special exorcists seemed to be endowed with incredible power but were also, unfortunately, somewhat unhinged. I knew of someone who would kill people just for insulting their pet demon.