Chapter 402 402. THE FOREST THAT BLED

Noah turned with curiosity filling his mind. He had never noticed those unique presences in the forest of equanimity. Then again, he didn't spend too much time there, to begin with.

The 25 figures were tall, very tall. The tallest amongst them towered 10m in height. Their bodies were also black and they had skinny arms and legs but broad, almost rectangular-like torsos.

'What peculiar beings,' Noah thought, not feeling an ounce of fear. The strongest according to him was also a higher stage, but he felt stronger.

All twenty-five figures eventually arrived a few meters before him, and they didn't hesitate to circle his tiny figure.

The tallest among them which was also the strongest stepped forward and stayed silent for a while.

"I don't have much time," Noah remarked at some point, already annoyed by their appearance. Now that they had gotten far closer than before, he could now experience their presence to its fullest.

Their auras were diabolical. He would argue that they were worse than the Exalted imp. Their eyeballs being completely red held black intelligent eyes.

He couldn't tell much of the difference between them since their weirdly shaped almost square heads all looked relatively the same, with minor qualities that could be used to differentiate them.

The last detail that he noticed about them was the red patterns that filled their body. If not for the moonlight illuminating the area he would not have seen it. Which was a surprising detail.

"We greet you, human of the Cusk nation." A deep voice, capable of instilling fear into the hearts of many, bellowed out rather calmly, and the thing even bowed. The others doing the same.

"We had noticed your presence a couple of days ago and had wanted to speak with you since then. But could not."

"I am Gorno, the strongest of we the Guardians," the thing announced. "We welcome you to not the forest of equanimity, but the forest that bled."

There was silence for a few seconds after that announcement, but Noah had pulled up the inspection panel after its words.

[Gorno]

[Race: Unidentified]

[Title: Head guardian of The Forest that Bled]

[Tier: 4[Higher]]

[Affinity: [Unavailable]]

[Level of danger: Unknown]

An eyebrow rose on Noah's face at the sight of the inspection panel, but he didn't show any more emotion than that.

"I am Aiden," Noah announced unsure whether his real name would pose any trouble for later.

"We are glad to see that you returned. But your explosion in power has left us stupefied. Is there an explanation for this," Gorno pointed out, even if his voice lacked the tone of surprise a normal human would have.

"Are you the things people said they saw?" Noah ignored the question and pressed on with his.

"Affirmative," Gorno replied. "We have revealed ourselves to only a few humans in hopes that none ever return. But more of you continue to. And the ones that look promising, we offer a chance of transformation."

"That's just plain stupid. Who scares people from powerful forces away, expecting that no one ever comes back," Noah shook his head in awe. 'Are they dumber than I thought,' he wondered inwardly.

"We already have an agreement with the stronger humans, and our forest is not to be disturbed by them. But it seems that information has not been passed down to the lower ranks," Gorno revealed, seemingly unmoved by Noah's words. "It's okay as long as they don't cause too many problems."

Needless to say, the revelation left Noah partially stunned. The pieces of the puzzle soon began to fit, and he quickly understood why the story of that place did not seem much. The rest was probably highly classified.

"What did you say about transformation?" Noah changed the topic. He lacked any regard for the beings around him. Even Gorno. He would kill them if he had to.

At that train of thoughts, did Noah realize that his coming there had been for a wrong and outdated chance.

He had come there in hopes of killing the beasts in the pool and leveling up, but he had come to that conclusion while inside the dungeon. Being outside the dungeon did not give him that chance.

'How did I make such a mistake!' Noah grimaced inwardly. 'Too much excitement?' he considered feeling his excitement drain rapidly. After that state ended he would need to return to looking for beasts to kill and fill his dungeon with.

'How many months will that take,' he sighed seeing that Gorno was about to talk. His series of thoughts had barely lasted a second.

"Yes the transformation," Gorno started. "We have come to offer you the chance of becoming one of us in this glorious state," Gorno announced spreading his thin arms and causing Noah to eye them suspiciously.

"Why do you think I would do that?" Noah frowned now finding that interaction a waste of time since his true goal would be unable to be achieved.

"Because we have noticed in your battle with the bear, that you are a man who values power. And you can achieve even more if you surrender to the one who bled," Gorno explained making Noah's eyes turn cold.

He was already ready for a battle. If he wouldn't be able to get levels, at least he wanted to experience; firsthand, a battle in the fourth tier.

"There's a price isn't there?" Noah spoke after a few seconds of silence. "And that's your lack of affinities." He arced an eyebrow.

"You are once again correct. However, you gain more. No need for a path that limits many, no need for cultivation, all you have to do is drink the blood of the powerful, and your power increases."

"I don't want that," Noah quickly cut in. "But I do want one of those beasts down there," he added glancing at the blue crocodiles. His gaze was heavy and applied a weird pressure on the water. So much so that it compressed visibly!

"We would like you to stop that," Gorno commented, his voice containing a hint of hostility for the first time.

"What are you gonna do?" Noah teased, still down for a fight.

"The master does not like it," Gorno spoke and Noah felt even more astonished.

"The master?" He asked losing himself to his curiosity and also gaining caution.

"Yes, the master," Gorno replied seeing that Noah had done as he said.

'There's someone stronger here,' Noah thought sweeping his consciousness on the area but found nothing. He gave up on that task when he recalled that he had been unable to sense them when he initially came there.

"Are you certain about your decision not to join our ranks?" Gorno asked, not appealing completely to Noah's curiosity.

"I don't want anything to do with you," Noah replied rather calmly, but his aura flared making sure they understood that he meant his words.

The middle stage tier 4 and lower stage tier 4 beings almost lost their consciousness at the pressure he was capable of releasing, and that event made Gorno annoyed.

"Then I will ask you to leave this forest at once. Your presence has already caused too much destruction which is already against the promise we were made by the stronger humans," Gorno declared glancing at the burning region in the forest. Noah had done a good measure of damage there.

Noah frowned at the hostility, but was understanding. Yet he wouldn't leave so easily.

"I'd like one of the beasts first, but I'm not leaving until I get one of them," he announced with a cold smile.

The truth was that the forest or even Gorno posed no real threat, he could always escape them.

"Then I will have to take forceful actions," Gorno announced, as an aura so dense that it bathed the entire forest in its red light.

Noah watched himself get pushed back by the aura. But enforced his a moment later.

The other tier 4's unfolded their dense aura's and a cacophony of roars reached their ears. The weaker beasts below them were getting agitated.

The Crocs also crawled out of the pool ready to attack him, and their emergence caught his eyes.

"You have one last chance," Gorno announced, his voice now threatening, as the red patterns on its body had intensified in their blood-red light.

"I refuse," Noah declared with a wide grin, as a spectacular-looking battle armor made from all three of his elements came to life on his body, and his figure exploded forth with a destructive aura.