Magic Of Mana Book 1: The First Tragedy
Chapter 6: Northern Forest (Part 4)

Chapter 6 (Part 4)

Northern Forest

“What other creature is this?” shumi asked in her heart.

Shumi immediately got up and saw what appeared. It was a giant frog! They are about five times the height of normal humans and appear to be twice as tall as spiders. The body is very fat, the skin is full of nodules and slimy disgusting.

Now, Shumi and Shukoi are quite separate. The north side of them is a large frog, while the south of the herd of spiders is ready to attack. Shumi gives Shukoi the code with a head movement to overcome the frog and he will try to restrain the spiders.

Shukoi immediately ran towards the frog who was still silent. Simultaneously Shumi also jumped back and forth jumping over the branches of the fallen tree while directing his arrows at the spider.

Zaaap. Shumi glued her arrows. “Wind Respiratory Techniques : Circle Blow!” abugn. His dart swiftly twisted and created a transverse whirlwind then passed through several spiders. The wind was strong enough to make some crash to the right and left. When the arrow hit a stone covered with moss and shrubs, Syuuut…! Suddenly a circle of wind formed, from small to enlarged to look like pieces of tornado wind and ravage the surrounding. Quite a number of spiders bounced around or at least were bothered by the whirlwind.

As Shumi turned around and was about to run, he saw Shukoi trying to dodge the big frog's tongue attack once again. “It looks like the frog is hard to cut, huh?” he said, observing the mucus that enveloped the whole body of the creature. He was sure it wasn't ordinary slime.

Shumi ran to help, preparing to throw his arrow again. His gaze this time led to a large, vertically-striped eyeball that was darker than its surroundings. He quickly pulled his bowstring and blasted his weapon, “Wind Respiration Technique: Sharp Shot!”.

Shumi's arrow shot out almost imperceptibly and hit the big frog's left eye. However, unfortunately the arrow was like slipping and turning continues to accelerate and then stuck on the ground. Shumi widened in disbelief his attack was also not effective and without him realizing it, there were several spiders trying to approach him.

Luckily, Shukoi knew about it. He hurriedly jumped over the back leg of the frog and ran towards Shumi. “Awas, Miss! Behind you!” his yell.

Shumi looked back a little and found a spider was about to attack him again with something he had prepared from his fang gap. Quickly, Shumi jumped while turning to his right trying to dodge.

Simultaneously, the frog did not let Shukoi escape. He turned around quickly and threw out his long tongue again. Shukoi found out through her dacht instinct. Just as the tongue was about to hit it, Shukoi jumped up and turned around, then she slashed it with the back of her two katanas. “Soil Breathing Techniques: Hard Slash!”.

The frog's tongue turned towards the spider that attacked Shumi earlier. The thick, slippery mucus causes Shukoi's attacks to just make her turn. Shumi, who had managed to dodge the spider attack, prepared to strike back with his arrows and stood on a small tree branch.

Plaque… . The frog's tongue hit one of the spiders that couldn't escape. Seeing that, Shumi immediately retreated by jumping backwards but his gaze remained wary of the spider before him. Shukoi also did not waste the opportunity. His plan seems to be working and he also goes after Shumi.

“Good idea, Shukoi! At least we can run back!” praise Shumi while turning her body and running beside Shukoi.

“Thank you, Miss!” reply Shukoi with a flat expression and a straight forward gaze.

Shumi tried to look back, slowing down his steps a little. He found that the spiders were now dealing with the frog because one of his friends had entered the mouth of the owner of the tongue who caught it. Shumi. He turned back to face forward and continued to run.

They kept running for a few minutes until Shukoi felt safe enough. “We're safe, Miss!” says slowly.

They stopped their footsteps slowly. Shumi immediately sat down on a small rock beside him. He's exhausted. While resting, he took a bottle of water from his waist bag.

“Mau?” shumi is still trying to catch her breath.

“Thank you, Miss! Let you go first,” replied Shukoi.

You don't look too tired, do you? Though it has been seven years you separated from the military,” praise Shumi, “ I admit, quite rarely do dacht techniques for too long, so my energy is too much wasted.” He drank the bottle in his hand slowly.

“Yes, there is indeed a decline, Miss! But I think, my practice every night can still be enough to take care of it,” reply to watch his employer drink the water he took before, “ fresher is not it?!”

“Aah,” Shumi finished drinking, “not only fresher, but make the body cool!” Shumi felt such an effect that made her seem incredulous. The water quality is very much better with the water in his kingdom, “ini, drink, Shukoi! Don't hesitate!”

“No need, let it be!” Shumi recaptured the bottle, “This is my mother's gift, I need everything in this one bag! But, thanks for the offer, Shukoi.” He stood back up and said, “ayo, we continue!”

“What is the lady not tired? We can rest even longer if that is the case, let me look around first, so as not to attack like that.”

“No, Shukoi! We can rest when the sun has passed through this forest. Traveling at night can actually make the risk of danger higher, right?”

“Good, Miss! Hopefully we can find a good enough place to rest later.”

“There must be! And the deeper, the more dangerous it seems to be this forest?”

“It looks like so, Miss.”

“Alright, let's continue, Shukoi!” Shumi walk.

“Ready, Miss!” sahut Shukoi walked along.

This time the bush is getting fewer, but the trees are getting more and more sputtering and the size also varies. Shumi walked while enjoying the surrounding atmosphere. “The tree is very different, maybe this is the northern forest on a different side,” he said in his heart. Even small insects now look very beautiful, butterflies are playing, dragonflies are the size of a human palm also occasionally passing above them, and sometimes the fire ants lined up neatly made a scene of its own that amazed him.

As soon as they walked, Shukoi again found something before them.

“Shortly, Miss! Let's hide there!” he pointed at a thick bamboo grove coupled with tall bushes.

Shumi followed him and hid behind those bamboo sticks, “what's up. Shuko?”

“That's Miss!” Shukoi pointed towards the back of the bamboo grove where they were hiding.

Shumi tried to peek out from the cracks of the bamboo stems. He saw four large creatures, resembling humans but three to four times larger than ordinary humans, roughly as large as the frogs that had previously attacked Shumi and Shukoi. The creature was dark green, almost black. It has hair but only a few strands and is up to their neck. From this angle, Shumi could only see his back. They were preparing with a big wooden club in one of their hands, like they were waiting for something to come.

“Ogre?" shukoi said slowly.

Shumi immediately imagined a huge fanged giant growing from the lower teeth until it came out almost parallel to their noses. Its ugly face and small cranium made it look creepy. But, that shadow he had only seen in the pictures on the books in the royal library.

“What are they?” shumi Sahut.

“Entah.”

Before long, another creature appeared that directly attacked one of the ogres with an arrow and hit the upper left arm of the target. It made Shumi turn and open his mouth and make a sound without him noticing. Unfortunately, his voice might sound louder than his expectations.

* * *

- Chapter 6: The North Forest

- Finishes

(to be continued to Next Chapter)