[2] A Wrong Choice [Edited]

“You see no one truly knows where he originated from, some say he was a fallen noble, others say he was a pointblank commoner who led a VERY shitty life

But who even care about that, the only thing ‘I’ care about, is THE money aspect of his life.

He was the leader of an outlaw ring, a very notorious ring, one which was well-known for looting itinerants on wayside, abducting women and children and selling them off as slaves.

He was already quite wealthy with what he earned on their day-to-day operations, but he was a rather covetous fellow who wanted more.

So he devised and orchestrated a plan, a heist of a sort, one which he and his ring had to sneak into the empire, and through a myriad of guises and shapeshifting, the were able to get to the colossal palace where the emperor resided.

After two years of meticulous preparations, they finally stormed the palace. They took advantage of the confusion in the capital, and through the rather enfeebled defensive measures, they got into the treasury with ease.

But that was when they discovered the cold hard truth, they had been set up. The porosity of the security safeguarding the treasury was lessened deliberately, a seamless plan the Royal knight’s commander had devised to put an end to Oden.

And this was only feasible due of the existence of a mole in their ranks. On this finding, Oden went into a frenzy and actuated a forbidden spell no one predictable.

With that spell he absconded with half of the treasury, leaving no trace to trail. But unfortunately FOR HIM, he used up all his lifespan and even had mana pool combustion, leaving him with little time to live

With that in mind, he produced several false maps leading to dead-ends, more than a hundred thousand of them.

Then he spread them around the empire.

Since then, no one was able to find the treasure, and with the passage of time, it turned into a forgotten meth”

“So… this map is ONE, out of the HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of SIMILAR MAPS, in the empire!?” Leo inquired, frankly pissed by his wasted time.

*Huff* I wouldn’t be having this conversation with this fatness, if my map hadn’t been stolen

And even now, I still can’t believe it occurred

On that very day, due to my body being all sweaty and sticky, I decided to cool off in the nice glistering chill spring I spotted on my way, and also take a quick nap.

Just a quick nap and nothing more, a nap which didn’t even take up to a minute

But waking up, my only map gone!

“This isn’t JUST any of those, it’s THE map”

“And how are you sure?”

*Exhales*

“In all my eons as a merchant, I have crossways with a plethora of this maps.

Back then, I even hired mercenaries to survey the location on many.

Hoping to find something at least

But never, never did I get that lucky

Well, not till a month ago…”

“what happened?” The young man asked, suddenly enthralled.

“I sent out a group of mercenaries with this same type of map, but, they never came back!” He exclaimed with overwhelming excitement, transitioning his facial expressions so swiftly, leaving me dumfounded.

‘Oh no, this fatness seems a tad bit crazy’

“Why exactly are you happy?”

“Don’t you get it? THEY NEVER AGAIN RETURNED! That means they didn’t hit a dead end this time, and well, most likely died”

*Sighs*

“What if the just left without taking on the mission in the first place, what if you got duped?”

“Haa… There is no way that’s likely, if there is one thing I know about mercenaries, it’s that the never forget their balance”

“So in conclusion, you want ME to undertake THIS suicidal mission?”

“… It’s your choice okay? But if you do decide to survey the location and report back to me, you won’t have to pay for this well detailed map”

“……”

“I mean it’s a reasonable d…. Hold on!”

“what?”

“That ring, if you hand me that, then you can take the map without paying” Gawking at the ring on the young man’s middle finger, an unsightly grin etched on his face.

Though the bewildering look on the fat man’s face was repressed, Leo could already smell a foul play, and he frowned his brows slightly.

“There is no need for that, I will take the mission” He said, appearing rather resolute.

I can just take all the treasures for myself, then return with a gold coin for him, haa… my generosity sometimes scares me.

“….” On getting his reply, the obese man couldn’t hold back his displeasure from projecting on his face. “Fine” He added.

__________________________

As it turns out, taking on this mission was the worse decision Leo had ever made.

With his bad sense of direction, he couldn’t even retrace his steps back to the merchant’s place, and that wasn’t even the worst of his worries.

It was food!

He couldn’t find food, whether it be a normal animal, a beast, or even a monster.

What the heck happened to all the all the animals! Was the only thought that kept tormenting me for the past five days now. Even those werewolves which were typically EVERYWHERE, where now nowhere to be found.

I mean you could literally find them hiding under rocks and boulders, or occasionally you could wake up and find a werewolf trying to chew off your leg.

But now, nothing.

Though the forest is still swathed in an intense sun bath, and the wind still recurrently grace the leaves and even the green blades of grasses, I now couldn’t care less.

If this keeps up, then I might as well meet those mercenaries in a day or two.

…..

Sat beneath a huge shade of branches, was a young man wailing piercingly, disturbing the serene atmosphere. There was no longer a way out, the whole forest seemed the same, like he was in a loop of some sort.

No matter what path he took, he always ended back at this tree which had a lot of intricate carves coated on it, and he had no more strength left.

As they say, a hungry man is an angry man, but wait, what if the angry man kept on starving until his hunger, transcends the realm of normalcy, what then would the man be…?

Yes, that was the dilemma Leo found himself in.

…..

It felt weird that he still couldn’t succumb to the warm embrace of death even after so long.

Instead, he felt in full force, the cool sensation of hunger.

HOW LONG!!!

How long do I have to keep enduring this dreadful pain, I feel like something is churning my innards, I can’t take it anymore!

I even tried summoning a mana beast for food, but I just couldn’t. it seems like am really destined to perish here.

“….”

Wait, what if…

Compelling his torpid limbs to standing, he extended his arm and smeared the intricate carvings on the trunk, as an idea suddenly came to mind.

He then closed his eyes whilst he emptied his mana pool into the tree. In a split second, something bizarre occurred.

The entire forest suddenly transmogrified into night time, and the huge tree was no longer present, instead, there stood a mighty soaring cave at least a thousand feet tall, and it gave off an aura that could scare even the hungriest of orc’s away.

Deluded by his own hunger, he saw an illusion of food right inside the cave.

But…

in a way, it wasn’t just delusion.

In fact, there was ample food to satisfy a horde in there. But the problem still remained, that HE, was also food.