Two days later, they were still in the Forest of Darkness. Adara was impatient. She wanted to get to the swamp, where she knew the Dead Mana was. She hadn't told Cale yet, as they haven't had a moment alone since they came into the Forest. They would find out eventually, but it would be highly suspicious to the Whale Siblings if she suddenly knew where to find Dead Mana, which the mermaids use.
She sighed, raising her gleaming sword and bringing it quickly down to remove the blood. They had just entered the inner region, and a group of monsters had come to greet them. But they were dead now.
She walked over to Cale, who was holding the kittens. She put her sword in her scabbard, wanting to move along already. Dead Mana can be found in places with a lot of death, like a graveyard—mostly places where beings have died. In the swamp, there must either be so many corpses they overflow or a corpse from a being with a lot of mana.
She had a pretty accurate guess on which it was.
"Adara!" Witira said, suddenly appearing at her side. Her face was bright, and she was smiling widely. "You can really swordfight! Where did you learn?"
Adara was definitely better at sword fighting than a human should be, and she wasn't a Swordmaster, Witira knew for certain. She was fast and precise; her strikes were always aimed at weak points she could discern in seconds. She could definitely be a Swordmaster, so why wasn't she?
Adara shrugged, taking her curly hair out of the high ponytail she put it in when she heard the monsters walking. "Oh, no one in particular. An old mentor of mine."
Witira stared at her further, eyes lingering on the scars on her face and the one she saw on her chest when she raised her arms. Adara and Witira were wearing masks to prevent any airborne poison from getting to them, but Witira knew what the scars looked like. Did she get those while training? Or in a brutal duel? She's a Noble, right? Do they still do duels? Witira wondered. She hadn't been on land in a while.
She tilted her head, not staring at her scars, but this time at her eyes. They were dark. Witira always assumed they were just dark brown; after all, no human could have pitch-black eyes. But no, Adara's eyes were pitch-black, so dark that Witira could not see her pupil. And those dark eyes were now staring at her.
Cale interrupted the stare-down. "This is now the start of the swamp region," he said.
Witira flicked the blood off her whip, taking her eyes off Adara. "Let us keep moving," she responded.
Adara immediately went to Cale's side, On jumping onto her shoulder as soon as she was close enough. She knew they were close to the swamp. She could almost taste the dead mana. And she knew there was so much of it.
"Adara, slow down," she heard from behind her. She stopped, turning to see Cale and the Whale Siblings behind her. She sighed; she was too excited about so much Dead Mana.
She sobered up as she waited for the others to catch up, realising that the whole swamp was probably Dead Mana. But this swamp was in the Forest of Darkness. It was probably poisoned. She couldn't drink it. She cursed violently in her head, most of the curses directed at the God of Death.
She felt the chill of a godly hand trying to calm her down. She would need to find a way to cleanse it, but she certainly couldn't do it unless the amount was much less than a wineglass, and it was too much work for the Black Dragon. It would be a waste not to use it.
They were next to her by now, and they continued walking, this time in sync. Adara did not let her thoughts wander as she walked, staying close to the group. She barely noticed when the Whale Siblings suddenly stopped walking, tightly holding onto their masks. She barely even noticed the poisonous and rotting smell that quickly surrounded her.
What she did notice was the big lake a bit further from them. It was big and wide, the water pitch-black. Her eyes gleamed as she looked at it. All of it was Dead Mana—a whole swamp full of stuff that could scarcely be found anywhere else. And it was in front of her, only a few steps away.
I could risk it, she thought, eyes on the swamp. I could risk it. I could take a sip. The Vitality of the Heart will save me, won't it? If I take a sip... I won't die.
Cale frowned from next to her. She had been acting oddly since they arrived in the Forest of Darkness. She seemed distracted, thinking hard. Witira and Paseton hadn't seen it, but he did. He could easily tell that something was wrong— and if not wrong, then odd.
Even now, he had to hold her back to wait for the Whale Siblings. She didn't seem to have noticed, still staring at the swamp with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "Adara—?" he asked, his voice getting caught off-guard when she snapped her head towards him.
She was excited. He could tell that. Before he could ask again, a voice spoke. Adara's voice, but it wasn't out loud. 'The swamp is filled with Dead Mana,' she said.
He grabbed her hand, remembering a conversation they had a while ago. He could communicate with her if he made skin-to-skin contact, though it used up quite a bit of Dead Mana.
He felt the electric hum go through his wrist and could feel the synchronised beating of their hearts. 'All of it?' he asked.
She gave the tiniest of nods.
That certainly changed a bit.
And answered a few questions.
"It's pretty fitting for the Forest of Darkness, isn't it?" he spoke, letting go of her hand and pretending he heard nothing of it. He continued. "It's a pretty large lake. It's large enough for multiple huge ships to fit," he said. And all of it is Dead Mana, he thought.
Witira looked at the swamp with admiration and fear. "I didn't expect it to be so big." Her eyes lingered on the plants near the swamp. They were all black and brown but clearly alive and thriving. "It must be poison."
Adara was putting on her gloves as she responded. She's never been this far inside the Forest of Darkness. Nobody has. But she had a fairly good idea of what happened. "Unlike the plants in the outer region," she started, tightening her mask, "these have grown with the poison from before the monsters arrived. These mutated to survive in this environment."
The Whale Siblings followed suit; as Witira was tightening her gloves, she looked at Adara who seemed to be an expert on the ecology aspect of the Forest of Darkness, while Cale was the one who knew where to go. "What type of poison is it?"
Adara shrugged, crouching down to a black plant near her. "I have no idea. I've never been this far in the Forest of Darkness. I'm only hypothesising on what is logical. But don't let it touch your skin."
Witira stared at her, surprise in her eyes. "What?" But she knew so much; how could she not have visited this far?
Cale was next to Witira; he, too, shrugged. "It's not that surprising. Adara has at least been in the Forest of Darkness a few times. This is my first time."
That made Witira even more shocked. Even Paseton, who was making sure not a single bit of his skin was showing in fear of a poison similar to the mermaids' poison, paused in shock.
But both of their surprise was interrupted when Adara beckoned Hong to her. To the Whale Siblings' surprise, he took a bite out of the black plant. Witira immediately looked at Adara and Cale, but neither of them seemed to be surprised.
"Delicious!" he exclaimed, chewing some more.
Adara inspected the plant. "What type of poison is it?"
Hong stopped chewing. "It's just a paralysing poison, but it is tangy! Almost sweet."
Adara nodded, picking up an identical plant next to the one that Hong was eating.
"Slow down, you might choke," Cale said. "Eat slowly, but eat a lot."
Hong nodded excitedly. "Okay! I feel like I am getting stronger."
She looked up at the Black Dragon, the plant still in her gloved hands. "Can you store this for me until I return to the Thornwin Territory?"
The Black Dragon nodded, suddenly wordless. He didn't want her to leave. This was an odd way to remind him. But he took it regardless. He'd give it to her when she needed to... leave.
Adara was not paying attention to what the Black Dragon was thinking. She turned back to Hong. "Taste all of the plants you want; tell me if one of them is powerful or deadly."
Hong nodded, already running around.
Adara stood up, seeing the look on the Whale Siblings' faces. She shrugged. "I'm not going to poison anybody. My Family makes money by selling poison." It's the reason our Treasury is so big, Adara thought, choosing not to say that out loud. As Cale would say, it is such a vicious world.
Witira frowned, suddenly realising the implications. "Your family makes a profit on the deaths of others." It wasn't a question, but it wasn't exactly a statement either.
Adara didn't look back as she walked closer to the swamp. "Yes." Her blunt answer surprised Witira and Paseton. "And a few times, the Thornwin Family almost made a profit on my death."
Witira frowned even more at that. But they slowly followed along, not as self-assured as Cale and Adara walked. She frowned again. They were Whales, and two humans had more confidence to walk in this poisonous environment—two very odd humans.
Cale looked around, noticing something odd on the ground. Adara had sharper eyes, but she was too busy staring at the large amounts of Dead Mana. "Paseton," he started. He saw Adara become aware of her surroundings again. His voice had brought her out of it.
Paseton stood stiffly, as far as he could be from the black swamp. He hadn't noticed Adara's strange actions. "Yes?"
Cale pointed to a few marks in the ground— footprints and the like— ones that did not come from them. "Looks like someone was here recently, doesn't it?" He knew what made the mermaids get stronger, now he just needed to guide Witira and Paseton to the same conclusion.
Paseton nodded, knowing the monsters did not dare go near the swamp. It couldn't be the monsters, and it definitely wasn't them. "I will investigate it."
He walked away. Adara followed his movements with her eyes until Witira came next to her. "If the footprints are near the swamp, then it's either the plants near the swamp or the swamp itself, right?" she asked, sending a wary glance at the pitch-black water. To stand next to Adara, she needed to be very close to the swamp, on the very banks of it, one step away.
She noticed that Adara was the most comfortable standing beside the swamp, Cale was half a step behind her, and Witira wanted to be further away. But she was a Whale. The Future Queen of the Whales. Why was she hesitating when a human was not?
So she stayed near the swamp. Not even a step away.
Hong came running back, stopping at Adara's feet, his mouth dirty with the plants. "All of the plants there are strong! And most of them are deadly!"
She nodded. Even if they weren't deadly, they could always make it fatal. She looked up at the Black Dragon. "Can you get me a sample of each poisonous plant?"
The Black Dragon huffed. With a flick of his claw, a few plants suddenly floated towards him, which he stored in his spatial dimension.
"I want to try drinking the swamp, too," Hong said.
Adara's eyes widened slightly as she stared down at him. It was a good thing he had asked. He would have died. "Let's wait until you start drinking from the swamp," she said, her voice showing none of her horror at the thought.
But Cale was staring at her. Cale knew. He always seemed to know.
Hong was upset. "But I want to get even stronger."
Cale raised an eyebrow. "Why?" Hong was still young. He didn't need to worry about anything.
Hong was looking at the Black Dragon, his younger brother, and On, his older sister. Adara caught on immediately. She crouched down again, petting Hong.
Cale started to speak. "Don't think about useless things, and take it slow. You're already stronger than I am."
Hong looked up at Cale, purring at Adara. "But everyone is stronger than you are."
Adara laughed at his words. She patted his head one last time. "Go eat some more plants. That's a slow way of getting stronger."
Hong nodded, running to the bushes of plants he missed.
Cale turned away from him, instead looking at the Black Dragon. Adara, he knew, was staring at the swamp again. But the Black Dragon was acting weirdly as well, he kept tilting his head to the left and the right, staring out at the swamp as well.
Only Witira and Paseton were acting normally, and even they were more uncertain than usual.
Paseton approached, the uncertainness in his footsteps. "There have been no recent signs of digging up any of the nearby plants. However, there are many signs that they are doing something with the swamp itself. Based on the marks, I would say they were here two weeks to a month ago."
Cale nodded, a glance at the big swamp. He needed to state the obvious. "It looks like they gathered up some of the swamp."
Witira agreed. "That does seem to be the case."
The Black Dragon made its way towards them. But he had taken off his mask. Cale frowned. "Why did you take the mask off?"
The dragon ignored him. "It was not a familiar scent, but a familiar scent of mana." The Black Dragon pointed to the swamp with a sharp claw. "There is a familiar scent of Mana here."
Cale's eyes widened in fake surprise. The Black Dragon can be the one to figure it out then. It's not obvious if he does it.
"There is a scent of Dragon Mana in the swamp," the Black Dragon continued. "Of course, there is no sign of life in the Mana. It is just a very weak trace."
Adara pulled her eyebrows into a frown, now realising the Black Dragon's role. He would be the one to state the obvious. "Is it Dead Mana?" she asked, seeing Witira and Paseton's eyes widen. It's a good thing I said nothing to them, she thought, seeing their horrified reactions.
The mermaids use Dead Mana, she thought. I am unsure about their opinions on other beings that have the darkness affinity. Until then, I can keep quiet.
The Black Dragon nodded, staring at the swamp. "I think so. Choi Han was reading a book on Dark Elves, I learned about Dead Mana from that book. I think the swamp is made out of Dead Mana."
Adara would have frowned. What was Choi Han doing reading a book on Dark Elves? But she ignored it. She had more pressing things to think about.
Like how the Black Dragon could sense the Dead Mana.
Cale was thinking along the same lines because he looked up, confused. "How can you feel the scent of Dead Mana?"
Only beings with the darkness affinity could use Dead Mana, it was one of the reasons everyone hated them. Beings with Dead Mana could sense Mana, but no being who used Mana could sense Dead Mana. She was sure of it.
"I think it is because of the swamp," he answered. "The swamp is dominating the Mana and preventing it from dissipating."
She frowned. That wasn't how it worked. How was the swamp dominating the Mana? But before she could ask a question out loud, the Black Dragon's voice spoke inside her head.
'I am very perceptive,' he was saying. 'I feel a power similar to your shield and wind inside the swamp.'
Adara's eyes gleamed again as Cale let out a gasp of laughter. Not only might she get a whole swamp of a dead dragon's Mana, but an Ancient Power as well? This was one Cale had not told her about, and judging from his reaction, he hadn't known about it either.
Cale immediately began praising the dragon. "You are very smart."
Adara nodded along. "Smartest dragon I have ever met."
The Black Dragon accepted the praise. "Correct. I am smart."
The rest of the group felt as if they had missed a page. Witira, especially. "Young Master Cale and Young Mistress Adara, can you tell me what is going on? What do you mean by the scent of a dragon's Mana?"
Adara turned around, smiling at her. She could tell Witira had a pretty good idea of what was happening, but she was still asking. "As I'm sure you've guessed, there's a pretty high chance there's a dragon corpse inside the swamp."
Witira blinked. She hadn't quite expected a corpse. "A corpse?"
Cale nodded. "Yes, but it is most likely very old and probably mummified."
Adara knew from the scrolls back at the Thornwin Territory that there was never a ruler in the Forest of Darkness. This was the reason it was a fight for survival, which meant that for as long as the scrolls existed, the dragon was already dead.
It must be a very old corpse, she thought.
Hong, however, was disappointed. After hearing about the dragon's corpse, he no longer wanted to drink the water. "I guess I can't eat the swamp water." He looked at the Black Dragon. "I'm sorry. I thought it would be delicious."
The Black Dragon shrugged. "I do not care. The thing inside the swamp and I are different. We are not related."
Dragons did not think of other dragons much, which must have been an odd thing to Hong, who grew up with familial bonds that tied you to a tribe.
Witira had stepped back from the swamp after hearing it was filled with Dead Mana. This made it all the more complicated. "I was hoping the mermaids were getting stronger from the poison in the swamp. Then, we could have made an antidote. But if it's the Dead Mana in the swamp, there's no hope for an antidote."
"Oh, but there's poison in the swamp as well," Adara helpfully added. "So they might be getting stronger from either the poison or the Dead Mana—or both."
Witira did not think that was very helpful. "I'm not sure what we should do. It's not like we can prevent anyone from entering the Forest of Darkness or stay here protecting this swamp at all times."
Adara looked at her for a moment. It must be very disappointing for her, they were able to find out the source of the mermaids' strength, but could not find out how to deal with it.
Cale's voice broke her melancholy. "It's simple." Witira turned to look at him. "First, take as much of the swamp water as you need. And then we make another deal."
Confusion appeared on Witira's face. "Deal?"
Ever since Dead Mana was in that swamp, the situation had changed. Adara and Cale were planning on leaving the Whales to deal with it, but they couldn't anymore—not when something so valuable was a step away from them.
Plus, Dead Mana is poison to everyone without the darkness affinity, so why not do them a favour and deal with it? In exchange for helping them out, they might get Ancient Power and the dragon's bones.
Adara nodded. "Yes. You will make another deal with us."
Witira frowned softly. "And how does a deal help in this situation?"
Cale shrugged, his manner nonchalant, his face serious. "We will take care of it for you."
Witira wasn't convinced. "How?" she asked.
"If we tell you how, will you think us suspicious?" Adara asked, an edge to her voice.
Witira looked at her, hearing the snide remark. Was she just like this during deal negotiations? But no, Witira could see a gleam in her eyes that wasn't there before. She was joking. "No," she said. What an odd joke.
Adara smiled widely, excitement now showing in her manner. "We're going to drain it."