The flickering light of burning wood danced faintly in the darkness of the night.
Dorgan jolted awake, its gaze falling on the campfire before it. A moment of bewilderment clouded its eyes.
Then, it snapped to attention, its head whipping up to meet Adam's gaze. He sat nearby, a faint smile on his face.
"H-Human."
Dorgan's voice trembled, the lingering pain in its neck confirming the reality of the moment. Its green pupils contracted sharply.
Instinctively, Dorgan curled its legs, its fur-covered face tense with wariness as it stared at the human before it.
During the day, when its mind had been clouded, Dorgan had fought this human without hesitation, driven only by the urge to kill.
But now, with its consciousness clear, Dorgan realized something extraordinary. This human could not only summon angels, creatures tied to the human world, but also wield formidable combat prowess. Even more astonishing, he could use the "Shrink Spell," a skill exclusive to Dorgan's race.
Most terrifying of all!
This human bore the power of a curse, yet it seemed to have no adverse effect on him.
"You seem awake now." Adam remarked, noting the Forest Gnome's eyes. The bloodshot hue had faded, and the manic, unstable emotions had stabilized.
"No need to be so tense. I mean no harm."
"For now, let's fill your stomach, then we can talk."
Adam lifted a piece of golden-brown wild boar meat from the campfire, its sizzling fat dripping, and offered it to the wary Dorgan.
While Dorgan had been unconscious, Adam hadn't been idle.
[Experience Gauge: 9632/10000]
His experience points had climbed to over 9000. Had the angels not been limited by their summoning duration, he might have maxed out his experience today.
Though this forest was far smaller than the Great Forest of Tob, it was still vast. The ten Archangel Flames had only managed to clear the monsters in this area within their time limit.
He still held 15 Archangel Flame summoning scrolls. To prepare for unforeseen threats, he refrained from using them further.
Beyond experience gains, the curse energy within Adam's body had grown denser, though the overall increase was modest.
Initially, Adam wondered if the distance between him and the angels prevented him from absorbing the curse energy released by slain monsters.
To test this, he ventured into the forest himself, slaying a few monsters. The curse energy gained was indeed minimal.
One thing was certain: the amount of curse energy varied greatly between monsters. The stronger the monster, the more curse energy it contained.
"Don't eat that!" Dorgan's expression shifted at the sight of the wild boar meat, its body recoiling.
Adam paused, puzzled, and looked at the gnome.
"This forest is cursed. Everything living here is poisoned!" Dorgan's eyes flickered with fear, then realization dawned as it stared at Adam. "Right, right. You control the curse. You're not afraid of this forest."
"Where's Pasha? Is he okay?"
Dorgan's emotions surged again, though it didn't lose control this time.
Poisoned?
Adam's hand froze mid-motion, still holding the boar meat. He had eaten plenty before Dorgan woke, yet felt no discomfort.
"Ahem."
Adam coughed lightly, returning the meat to the fire.
The "poison" Dorgan mentioned was likely the curse energy within the beasts and monsters. Since Adam wielded this power, it didn't affect him.
"Pasha, the Forest Gnome who left years ago, is living well in our human empire." Adam said with a smile, mixing truth with embellishment. "Your race is rare, after all. In the empire, the most famous non-human is a troll called the 'Martial Lord,' quite popular."
Dorgan fell silent briefly, then exhaled heavily. It wiped its eyes with a trembling arm, murmuring hoarsely, "Alive is enough. Alive is enough."
"Can you tell me what happened?" Adam asked, seizing the moment of calm. "A friend of mine, like you, suffers from a curse. I want to understand this to find a way to cure it."
Dorgan looked up, its fur-covered face betraying shock. "Even you, who wields this power, can't solve it?"
Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't fully understand this power myself."
"By the way, should I take you back to your tribe?"
He sensed Dorgan's mental state was still fragile. If he could find other Forest Gnomes in its tribe to speak with, it would be ideal.
"The tribe... the tribe is gone."
"All dead."
Dorgan's shoulders shook, its hoarse voice thick with remorse and despair. "I am a sinner."
Before Adam could respond, Dorgan's head snapped up, its green eyes locking onto him. "It's the Abyss!"
"Something went wrong in the Abyss!"
Dorgan scrambled to its knees before Adam. "Take me to the Abyss! Only someone who wields the curse, like you, can approach that place!"
"Alright." Adam said after a brief pause, nodding.
The next day, at dawn's first light, Adam and Dorgan set out toward the deepest part of the jungle.
The "Abyss" Dorgan spoke of wasn't a mythical realm but a bottomless valley at the boundary where the forest met the mountain range.
The Forest Gnome tribe had long called this place the "Abyss."
Dorgan hadn't shared the full story, but through subtle probing, Adam pieced together a rough outline.
The events traced back further than the time Leinas acquired her curse.
Long ago, Dorgan's tribe had dealt with toxic monsters that occasionally emerged from the Abyss valley. These creatures bore black corrosion on their bodies and carried poisonous curse energy.
The tribe would slay them and burn their remains. Such monsters were rare, so it hadn't been a significant issue.
But a few years ago, an incident occurred, seemingly tied to a magical ritual passed down in the tribe.
Rustle.
The forest's branches swayed, leaves brushing against each other with soft whispers.
The two moved swiftly through the jungle. Adam's "Forest Rift" Magic item and Dorgan's natural agility as a Forest Gnome made them adept at navigating the terrain.
Along the way, perhaps due to Dorgan's presence, no monsters attacked. Even so, it took half a day to reach the forest's deepest edge.
The valley ahead was as if cleaved by a single stroke.
One step lay dense jungle; the next, a sheer drop into an unfathomable abyss, as though the forest had been sliced in two, a piece of it vanished.
***
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