Chapter 203: Time to Leave This Place

“Yeah… guess we need to start searching beyond it,” Caspian said, then paused. “But what about that boy? Amon Vale.”

When Caspian asked about Amon, Galahad’s expression turned thoughtful.

It had been five days since he received the order from Empress Celestia to search for Amon Vale in the surrounding area.

He knew that boy. The same young man who had been on a mission with his youngest son, Jareth. His son died while saving him.

Thinking that the boy was now stuck in even greater danger than before, Galahad couldn’t help but pity him. He might already be dead.

He sighed. “We have already checked this side, and there was no trace of him here.”

He rubbed his chin. “As you know, we are going to move beyond the mountains. So once we settle our base there, we will search for him as well. Though I do think he is already dead, we can still look for him while exploring this place.”

Caspian listened calmly and attentively. He nodded.

He could guess why Galahad was considering Amon dead. It would be a miracle if he survived after so many days here.

They were still in the outer region of the island, which was much safer. But if Amon was deep inside the island, then only his luck could save him.

“Anyways, how are the preparations going? We are moving tomorrow,” Galahad asked with the same calm gaze.

“They are going well. Robin and the others are working on it. They have already packed all the important things and machines,” Caspian responded immediately.

They were going to move the entire base beyond those mountains. It would take a few days to cross the whole mountain range, but they were already prepared for this. This time, they would focus on finding demons.

One of the soldiers had mentioned seeing a demon a few days ago during an exploration. But that was the first and last time they ever got any trace of one.

Many said it must have been a mistake, that he didn’t actually see anything. But that didn’t matter. If there was even a chance of demons being here, they would try to find out.

The result was the same as always.

They found nothing.

“It’s night. Let’s eat something,” Galahad said as he got up from his seat.

“Yes, sir,” Caspian replied, following him as both of them left the tent.

—

Another three days passed quietly.

Time moved strangely in this place. Days blended together, marked not by dates or bells, but by exhaustion, hunger, and the slow rhythm of survival.

For Amon, those three days were no different.

From morning until his body could no longer respond, he trained.

The ruins became his world.

At dawn, when pale gray light slipped through the broken ceilings, Amon was already awake.

He stretched his sore limbs, tied his sword at his waist, and moved to the largest open hall. There, among fallen pillars and cracked stone, he practiced his swordsmanship again and again.

The First Form came naturally to him now. His swings were smoother, his footwork steadier. Each slash carried intent, not hesitation.

The Second Form. Shadow Fang, was still unstable.

Some days, the shadow responded for a brief instant, forming a false strike that almost felt real.

Other days, it refused entirely, collapsing into useless darkness around his feet. His head often throbbed from overusing his shadow ability, forcing him to stop and sit in silence until the pain faded.

Still, he didn’t give up.

When his body demanded rest, he explored.

Carefully.

Never too far. Never too deep.

He walked along familiar paths, memorizing broken trees, strange rocks, and faint monster trails.

He avoided places where the forest felt too quiet. Too heavy. Whenever the air grew thick and his instincts screamed danger, he turned back without hesitation.

He hunted small monsters near the river and cooked their meat over weak fires. He drank from the stream he had found, grateful every time the cool water touched his throat.

At night, he always returned to the ruins before darkness fully fell.

Night was still something he feared. It was horrifying.

When the sun disappeared, the forest changed.

The screams returned. Distant, warped, sometimes sharp, sometimes dragging like claws against stone.

They echoed through the trees, crawling into his ears even through thick walls. Amon never went outside during those hours.

The screams felt like they belongs to ghosts. Not some monster.

He sat with his back against stone, sword close, eyes half-open until sleep finally claimed him.

He didn’t know what screamed. And he didn’t want to know. For some reason thinking that it might be ghost made him more fear. It was weird how he felt more fear towards Ghosts compare to monsters.

It was shameful.

By the end of the third day, his body was covered in small injuries. Cuts, bruises, sore muscles stretched beyond comfort.

They were from battles with monsters. He didn’t use healing potions, since the injuries were normal and not too dangerous.

His hands were rough, his palms hardened, his grip stronger than before.

But his mind was clearer.

More than a week had passed since he arrived here.

And nothing had changed.

There was no rescue. There was no sign of people. There was no answers.

Amon sat on the edge of a broken wall, staring at the forest beyond the ruins. The wind rustled black leaves softly, as if whispering secrets meant only for itself.

He was staring at the same gray sky which was darkening slowly.

“I can’t stay here forever,” he muttered.

This place had helped him survive. It had given him shelter and time to grow stronger. But it was also a cage.

If he stayed, he would stagnate.

If he stayed, nothing would change.

He thought of the academy. Of Arcadia. Of familiar faces and distant voices. Of a world that kept moving while he remained stuck.

“I need information,” he said quietly. “I need people.”

And to find either, he had to move.

Fear twisted in his stomach at the thought of leaving the ruins behind. Out there, beyond familiar paths, the forest grew denser. Darker. More alive.

But fear alone wasn’t enough to stop him anymore.

He stood up slowly.

That night, Amon prepared.

He checked his sword carefully, wiping the blade clean. He counted his remaining potions. Few, but enough if used wisely. He packed dried meat wrapped in cloth and filled a container with river water.

He stood at the entrance of the ruined building, staring into the dark forest ahead.

For the first time since arriving here, he wasn’t waiting for morning just to survive another day.

He was planning to leave.

Amon Vale took a deep breath.

“Tomorrow,” he said to the silence, “I move on.”

The forest did not answer.

But somewhere deep within it, something stirred.

—

Amon was lying on the bed comfortably. It was early morning.

He stared at the ceiling.

“Okay, let’s recount everything that I know.”

He thought deeply.

The real question came– which direction should he go?

“Should I go in the direction of the river flow…?”

That was the most common thing to do. But again, if he went in that direction, the chances of him confronting monsters would increase by a lot.

So he wondered whether it was a good decision or not.

He got up from his bed.

He started walking outside the ruined building.

Click. Click.

His footsteps made a clicking sound against the floor.

“Shit, I am wearing the same outfit for so many days.”

Yes. Amon was still wearing the same academy uniform. Though he had a spare one in his ring, he didn’t bother to change it.

The current one was torn in some places, so it was better to use it until it was no longer usable.

After getting outside, Amon looked up at the gray sky.

The same sky he looked at every day.

No sun. No bright light.

“Hah…”

He moved toward the tallest tree and started climbing it to check his surroundings again, to see if he could spot anything far away.

Once he reached the top, what he saw was the same scenery as on the first day.

The dark black forest stretched endlessly.

He narrowed his eyes. “Damn. There is nothing.”

He had decided to leave this place, but he had never thought about which direction to go.

Just then, he saw something he had missed before.

Far away, in the same direction where huge mountains spread with their tops covered in gray clouds.

Amid the countless black trees, something rose unnaturally. At first, it was barely noticeable. Just a sharp point piercing through the canopy. Its triangular tip stood rigid and still, like the peak of a long-forgotten building, watching silently from within the forest.

“What’s that?” Amon questioned, but there was no one to answer.

“That is… that’s not too close… well, it’s actually far away. No wonder I didn’t see it before.”

Even now, it was barely visible.

Amon didn’t stay there for too long and climbed down.

’There was something…’ He thought.

Amon couldn’t be sure if anyone was living at that place.

Or if it was just another ruin like this one.

But despite that, curiosity rose inside him.

An ancient ruin in a place like this.

That meant a possibility of finding new information there. Some secrets. Some new mysteries.

And Amon…for Amon, it felt like they were calling him. Telling him to go there, to visit that place.

“Hehehe~ then it’s decided. I will go there.”

Thus, Amon’s true journey here was going to start today.

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