CHAPTER 485: A BOSS IN THE MAKING

With a final look back at the two ’sleeping’ figures, Kellen, Gwen and Bree made their way into the denser forest. Kellen was prepared for when the density of the poison hit his clothes, his suit and his mask but he could tell that the girls tied to him from behind struggled a bit.

They had decided on a flipped formation since Kellen knew this area better compared to Gwen and Bree. They were also quite tight to each other, unlike before. Gwen was just supposed to get through this, as was Bree.

Kellen was fairly certain that once they got through the forest they would be able to breathe with relative ease. He was viewing the forest itself as a deterrent from coming into this area. The ’rough terrain’ before a boss battle.

The first little bit while everyone adjusted to how to breathe and what had to be the new normal was rough, but after about an hour of walking through the eerie silence, everyone adjusted.

Bree was quiet, reserved. Kellen kept glancing at her to make sure she was still there as Kellen could pick out Gwen’s stomps from anywhere. He was worried that she’d either cut herself free or disappear on him, even though he knew the second thought wasn’t possible with how they were tied.

He just chalked it up to the poison that was filling his system and moved on.

By hour two, they were still following Kellen’s marks but they were getting near to where he had to stop the day before. The breathing behind him was becoming more laboured, but there was nothing Kellen could do. They could turn around, but Kellen just knew that they were getting close to the end. Still, as a good leader, he turned and offered them the choice.

Turn back, or keep going.

The girls both got this determined look on their face and declared that they were continuing. Kellen didn’t ask again.

He marked every third tree as they continued on, slowing down their progress but he was fast, efficient. Kellen could tell by the way that Bree watched him do it that she was a bit envious of his speed, but that came with years and years of practice. She would get there eventually.

It was at the four hour mark that the forest began to thin out for the first time. Kellen went onto high alert. He turned to the girls, who were stumbling over their feet, their gazes a little distant. He needed to speak to them before they continued.

"We are getting to an edge." Kellen told them and they straightened immediately at hearing that.

"What? Are we?" Gwen asked, her voice a little too loud. Kellen glared at her.

"Quiet, Gwen! We don’t know what’s on the other side." Gwen looked a little upset at Kellen’s harsh tone. His own anxiety was getting to him, and he felt bad immediately. He gentled his tone when he spoke next. "With that being said, hold on just a little bit more." Kellen told them and Bree nodded her head once, like she was drunk. It would have been cute in any other situation. Gwen wasn’t far off. When she raised her arm and gave Kellen a salute, he knew that he’d seen her do that when she was out drinking before, and was pretty sure she’d done that a few times at his apartment too. Kellen sighed.

He turned, getting grim as he became cautious. Out of protection, self preservation, and experience. He was half expecting a bunch of monsters to jump out, attack as soon as they came near the edge. Like a bunch of minions for the Boss.

He’d seen it happen in lesser gates, it wasn’t completely off the table.

What he wasn’t expecting was how nothing happened. As if the forest itself couldn’t believe that he had gotten close enough to get to the boss. Like it was holding its breath, shocked that the annoying little humans had gotten close enough to get to the core, to the Boss.

If the gates could communicate with each other, Kellen was sure that this gate type would have that kind of confidence. That kind of cocky attitude where it believed nothing could harm it. The reality of the situation was that they had Carlos, and without him, they would have declared the whole city dead and would have evacuated everyone at this point.

Kellen gulped as they broke through the tree line and came face to face with a blank, grassy area.

The night sky glistened above them, bright, beautiful, and covering an area that looked undisturbed. Unbothered.

Kellen held his breath. If this was what he thought it was, they were in luck. They were so fucking lucky that Kellen wanted to cry.

His guess for a Boss monster had been two fold. It could have been something big, loud, abrasive. Something that would crush the forest around it in defense of its home. There were plenty of Boss monsters like that. So many that the book had two volumes chronicling all of them.

The second option was one he had been hoping for. A monster who was built from the environment of the gate, something that had probably mutated and become a bigger version, a protector, a Boss monster. While Kellen would not want to see the creature, this was a good thing for them.

It meant that as long as they didn’t touch that center, that grassy area, there was a higher chance that they would be able to get to the core with very little danger to them. That, and fire would be a perfect weapon against it.

The Boss monster was one of those vine creatures, just on a larger scale. Kellen’s knife hand twitched, almost excited to hear that. While it did feel like the gate was going easy on them because holy hell was the rest of the gate hard to exist in, Kellen also knew that this monster wasn’t easy to kill. He hadn’t killed the smaller version he’d attacked, and he hadn’t even been sure if he’d attacked the main body of that thing.

Hell, they could all be connected back to this monstrosity and it was supposed to be a kill all the small guys to get to the big guy kind of Boss fight. While that did matter, Kellen took the time to observe the area.

He was right when he said that it was easier to breathe as soon as they broke through the main area. He was finding it much easier to inhale, exhale, and some of the poison that had fogged his mind faded.

He could tell that the girls were feeling the same way. Gwen let out a soft exhale, relief in her breath. Bree shuddered, coming to stand next to Kellen, and Gwen next to her.

"What is this?" Bree asked softly, quietly, and Kellen felt a slightly delirious smile touch his lips.

"Are you familiar with the clearings we’ve come across in the gate so far?" Kellen asked quietly as he took off his bag to grab his little journal to make a note on his findings. Bree nodded, her gaze growing serious while Gwen scanned the wide circular clearing.

It would have looked like a perfect place to set up a large operation if Kellen didn’t know better. A safe place.

In the middle of a poisonous forest so dense it nearly killed the two unconscious members of their party.

"I am. Are these...linked?" Bree asked and Kellen wondered how much of the monsters that made this place their home they knew about. Given the level of toxins in their blood, they might have thought they were illusions.

"They are. My guess currently is that the Boss monster is a larger version of one of the smaller monsters. The vine monster that has been following us around." Kellen told the two girls and Gwen made a thoughtful noise in her throat.

"Huh. I just thought those were random vines." She said, before turning a smile to her brother. "Man. Goes to show what experience can mean, hmm? You’re so damn smart." She bragged and Kellen felt his face warm. He wasn’t smart, he was observant. Those were two different things, but now wasn’t the time to correct her.

"While it is obvious, I am going to say it. Don’t step on the green. We don’t want to alert it that we’re here. We’re just observing right now. We are looking for the core. Usually it’s on a thin stone uh...stick is the easiest way to describe it, with a glowing white orb about the size of a soccer ball balanced on it." Kellen told them, knowing that both of them would have seen it in videos and pictures, but they wouldn’t have seen it in person yet.

They were both new to the scene, and no one in their right mind would bring them there while training. Not even Hill or Brent. Kellen clearly wasn’t in his right mind.

"Thank you for saying so. The pull to step on it is pretty serious." Gwen told him quietly and Kellen felt a cold shiver run down his spine. That wasn’t something he was feeling. He looked at Bree, trying to see if she was feeling the same. She glanced at Kellen, gave a brief nod, and that was when Kellen noticed how tightly she was gripping her hands.

So that was what this forest was dense for. It was a giant lure. A giant pull. If they made it through, they willingly walked into the mouth of the beast.

"Should I tie you two to a tree for safety?" Kellen asked, meaning his words. The girls shared a look, before they both looked at him. They had a determined look in their eyes.

"Now that we’re out of the forest proper, it feels...better." Bree admitted. "I can think a little clearer. I don’t think I will go. I can resist." She confirmed, and Gwen gave a thumbs up behind her.

"We’ve got this, and I think I spotted what you were talking about." Gwen said, and Kellen jerked. That quickly? Kellen looked at Gwen, his gaze serious and she pointed to a spot not a quarter of the clearing away. On the outskirts of the clearing. Kellen thought his heart was going to jump out of his mouth.

The core wasn’t in the center of the clearing since the Boss monster was so large and underground so it would need to come up through the clearing itself. So, they had put the core off to the side. Close to Kellen, Bree and Gwen.

It was tantalizing, and dangerous. What was the catch here? Why did this feel like a fucking trap?

This felt too easy.