World Online

Everyone stared at Ganshin, waiting him to finish what he was about to say.

"Alright. The evil god knows this, and that is why he is pursuing us in the first place." Ganshin sighed.

"This is a divine material. And not just any divine material. While some divine material are used to help supplement a divine weapon, there is one particular metal, one particular ore that you will need to build the weapon itself."

"That one single material is much more precious than any other divine material, and it is also the rarest to find. That is the reason the only few divine weapons that exist are the ones used by the gods."

"This is one such divine weapon. Surely, you know how much stronger our god can get if he has another divine weapon in his arsenal." Ganshin said.

"If you told us how important this was at the very beginning, then we all would have tried to finish the mission much faster!" the sword master who spoke previously, Harold, nodded.

"That is why we must move. As much as I would love to stay here and mourn the death of a beloved companion, we must keep moving." Ganshin said.

With this, the tone of the adventuring party was set.

The pace had almost doubled, with everyone speed walking. While no one was stupid enough to actually start running, lest they lose all of their stamina, they knew that they had to pick up the pace so that they could get to where they needed to.

Looking up, Jake saw that they had already come up to the clock tower, and were passing by it.

The deserted houses to the sides loomed over them, each one threatening to be teeming with monsters. And yet, considering it was the middle of the day, with the day not even close to ending, many of these monsters wouldn\'t come out.

But then again, these were the lowest of the low, and they wouldn\'t be a problem to a crew that was much stronger, and were incensed.

Jake glanced at the city walls that went high and beyond. The city gates were almost visible, but some of the buildings blocked the view.

Ganshin knew where he was going though.

All of the previous conversations that happened with Father Joseph and the guardian beast gave Jake a clear idea of Ganshin\'s true identity.

And it was an identity that most here seemed to be aware of, considering that everyone wasn\'t surprised by the declaration that the Guardian beast gave.

It was obvious that Ganshin was a prince of the kingdom that they were all currently on, but since the evil lands and devoured this land as well, Ganshin was no longer royalty.

But Father Joseph and the guardian beast were both so sure and confident that the kingdom could be recovered soon enough, which confused Jake slightly.

"The city gates! We are here!" Jake realized as he looked at the high city walls that were straight ahead of him now, and the city gates that were knocked over.

The dirt road that led straight to the forest was visible as well. This was another path that they would probably have to take.

Ganshin got the city gates and hesitated for a split second, before shaking his head and stopped.

"We will not take the same path that we came through." He declared with a loud voice.

"I know most of you won\'t like it, considering that the path that we took was easy and we didn\'t have a problem. But things aren\'t the same anymore."

"Last time, when the Evil Mage arrived, Father Joseph was with us and took care of the evil mage with ease. We cannot expect that once again, in a math of similar difficulty. And we have another change. We no longer have a carriage that has to have a proper road to be towed on. That means that we can try to take a faster and shorter route." He said.

"A faster and shorter route? But a route such as that will cut into the forest. We have no idea what beasts are within the forest." One of the mages said.

"While that is true, we do not need to fear. No beast will expect the party to cut into the forest unless the evil god himself is watching our every move, and is reporting to his subordinates, which would be humiliating." Ganshin said.

"And even if we do face stronger opponents within the forest, it is better than staying in the danger of being flanked on every single side. Do remember that we will not have the high ground if we walk along the road. But if we walk along the forest with the road right next to us, that is one side that we will not need to worry about too much." Ganshin pointed out.

"We shouldn\'t argue right now. Even if we took the same road that we went through, we will face the same opponents. Better take the shortest and fastest route instead." Someone else said.

There were a few shouts of approval, and fewer dismissing it.

The decision was set in stone, and Ganshin turned to the left.

The forest trees were darker, but at the least, they were alive. They were not like the trees that inhabited the holy grounds.

They had a dark green color to them, and all of them felt like they were hiding a story behind them.

Ganshin took the first step, approaching one of the trees. His palm grazed the bark of the tree, and as it did, the bark gained five claw like marks.

"If you see an unmarked tree, then mark it. We do not want to fall into a single illusion at this point. And make the mark unique, so that no one can copy it but you."

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