The ends of the earth

“This spot should be good enough for us to land.” Flying over the forest, Aurora pointed at a tall, flat hill. Turning toward the location, they both slowed down.

Carefully landing, they closed their grimoires to reserve mana for the next flight out.

Schulz took his binoculars from his leather bag, zooming in to take a look at the vast forest downhill.

“Aurora, what do they call this spot? Vestigia Deorum, right? The land here is massive. Grab your compass just in case we get lost.” He closed his binoculars.

“Still, I don’t know why the royal decree sent only us two to explore and map the land. Why didn’t they send more of us as backup?” Aurora’s brows furrowed.

“Don’t question it. We shouldn’t waste mana. We don’t have exact knowledge of this place, especially at night. It’s too risky to stay until dawn.” Schulz returned the binoculars to his bag.

He opened his grimoire and jumped down, slowly descending the hill. Aurora followed. Wind blew underneath their feet, and they landed softly.

They couldn’t afford to waste time because this wasn’t a normal, safe expedition. The Capital Kingdom of Imperium Aurelia reported that the forest had already taken fifteen lives, and it was confirmed by the royal investigators that all were killed at night based on the estimated times of death.

“Just as we planned. Sensory magic, compass locked in place, and checkpoints.”

Aurora did as instructed, opening her grimoire and enabling sensory magic. She levitated her compass in front of her and locked it in place. Then she crouched, planting a needle filled with magic for checkpoints.

“Ready? Keep in formation. I’ll write down the entire journey. We move.” Schulz went first, and Aurora followed behind, sensing everything within a one-meter radius.

As they passed the checkpoint, they began moving toward the tall, dark trees. Behind them, unaware, the needle began to fluctuate before it eventually died off.

“…? I felt something strange. Six o’clock.” Aurora looked left and right.

Schulz looked behind Aurora while noting down every piece of information. The trees looked like the same kind found within the capital, but every plant, flower, and tree root was completely new.

“Keep guard. In ten meters, place another checkpoint. We will rest after the next three checkpoints. I think the center will have enough information for us.” They continued through the dark forest, leaving footprints as they proceeded.

Ten meters later, they halted. Aurora squatted and inserted the same needle into the alkaline soil. Standing up, she activated her sensory magic, checking her surroundings. Aurora stood still to focus and closed her eyes.

But nothing was being picked up.

“Three more checkpoints, then we can get out of here. I calculated the distance, and—” Schulz looked behind to check on Aurora. “Aurora? Is there something you’re sensing?”

“I’m picking up nothing. There’s nothing in my range. No animals, no nothing. It’s all just empty space.” She opened her eyes.

“Fuck. Worst-case scenario, there could be monsters lurking around, or something could ambush us at any moment.” Schulz’s stomach began to ache. He held his mouth, almost vomiting from a strange scent in the air.

“What is that smell? This is bad. We’ll end our expedition here.” He signaled Aurora to move quickly.

Both turned around and ran back toward the path they had entered from. That smell, Schulz’s gut feeling, had been almost too primal. Back to instincts. The smell was like rotten pork.

“Aurora! Checkpoints! Activate one every ten meters, reserve mana for flight!” Schulz raised his voice.

She squinted her eyes, opening her grimoire.

“To the left. Then left again.”

After ten meters, they turned left. Another ten meters later, they turned left again, passing the final checkpoint.

They slowed down.

Schulz and Aurora’s eyes widened.

The hill they had descended from wasn’t there.

Did they take the wrong path?

It couldn’t be the case. The grimoire pinpointed the exact location of the checkpoint without fail.

Both took deep breaths, resting their hands on their knees and panting before standing upright.

“Aurora, are you sure this is where we first descended?” Schulz looked at her.

She brought the grimoire closer to her face. The page showed that it was still continuously flashing at this exact spot. But judging by how they ended up here, it must have been a trap.

Aurora held her grimoire and squatted down to check for the needle she had planted. Looking around, she found it.

She pulled the needle from the ground and stood up to inspect it. Schulz moved closer to Aurora, taking a better look at the needle in her hands. Squinting his eyes, he noticed it contained no magic.

“….SHIT, I KNEW IT!” Schulz shouted, holding his head.

He had forgotten about mana-disabling crystals. It was possible the forest had them mixed into the soil.

“It could be mana-disabling crystals. Most likely the needle came into contact with one, or it was within range of one that disabled it.”

Aurora squinted her eyes. It was true. She could see faint traces of blue powder mixed into the soil.

“So, in other words, we’re in deep shit. Staying on the ground won’t get us anywhere at the moment. I’ll go up first to check the best route to fly out of here.” Schulz opened his grimoire and tried to fly.

Only to stand frozen for a whole minute, unable to do anything.

“…..I can’t fly. Magic is disabled…” Schulz looked at Aurora with an uncanny expression. “I have a bad feeling about this… We have to leave. Staying here any longer is dangerous.”

“Magic is disabled?! But I’m still using my grimoi—” Aurora took a closer look at her grimoire. “No way.”

She turned the next page only to find the original checkpoint magic page. She flipped back, and the page was gone. Aurora stood frozen, unable to move.

“It was fabricated. But we were able to use magic a while ago.” Her face grew pale.

“That’s crude. This isn’t caused by natural phenomena.” Schulz sniffed his fingers, catching the lingering scent from earlier. “I think I understand it now, Aurora.”

Aurora turned to him, her face still disturbed.

“We’re not alone.”

Her eyes widened, and little by little, her bones began to shake.

“How are we supposed to call for backup? We can’t fight without magic!” Aurora’s voice cracked.

“Stay calm for now. We don’t have any weapons, any way to call for help, nor any way to escape. We can’t fly up, or even use the compass. The forest is vast. We need to hide and survive.” He looked around the horizon, but everything was blocked by trees. “I guess our plan, though improvised, is to stay alive until backup arrives. Be it days or weeks.”

Aurora’s body didn’t listen to her. In her entire life, she had never been exposed to a situation like this.

“Schulz, we are only mage journalists! Keep that in mind! How do you expect us to survive without fighting?!”

“Calm down…. We’re not necessarily going to separate and scout. We will hide when ther—”

Crunch… crunch…

In an instant, Schulz grabbed Aurora’s hand and hid inside a large bush behind a tall tree. He covered her mouth, his face dripping with sweat.

As the footsteps grew louder, he heard a voice.

“Hmm~~~ Hmmm~~~” A person hummed gracefully.

Schulz peeked through the gaps in the bush.

He saw a man wearing a large white hat decorated with patterns. A white robe draped around his shoulders, while a navy-blue robe was worn underneath. Long gold-colored fabric hung from his hat, covering both of his ears. An eye-shaped sculpture concealed his real eyes.

The man was tall and intimidating. His skin was pale white, yet he possessed a handsome face.

Yet merely being in the man’s presence made Schulz’s abdomen grumble. He wanted to vomit from the sight of him alone.

The man stopped by a flower, kneeling down and picking it up to sniff its aroma.

“Stay silent, Aurora, and don’t move. If you do, we will die,” Schulz whispered into Aurora’s ear.

Her whole body was shaking… She gripped his arms tightly, her eyes glistening.

“I can’t wait to meet my two new visitors! I’m so happy to invite them over, don’t you think?” The man’s voice was filled with excitement.

They had been set up by him.

“I’m so grateful! I’ve prepared a welcome gift. My family can’t wait to see them. Gosh! I can’t stop smiling.” The man softly chuckled, covering his mouth.

Aurora was on the verge of breaking down, while Schulz was reaching his limit trying to calm her. She tightened her grip on his arm.

“Right! You must be tired? Oh, silly me. The visitors are relaxing somewhere,” He clasped his gloved hands together. “I wonder if my lord will be pleased with the two lambs I’ve prepared. But I’m sure the two visitors will love the meal that I prepared myself.”

The man stood up, gathering the flowers he had picked before turning around and walking away.

After he disappeared from sight, Schulz double-checked to make sure the man wasn’t still lurking nearby.

He removed the hand covering Aurora’s mouth, and her composure immediately shattered.

She hugged her legs, wrapping her arms around her knees.

“Mom, Dad. I’m scared, I’m scared. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.” Her voice shook so badly it almost sounded like gibberish.

“Aurora, it’s okay. We’ll find a way out of here. We need to survive, so hold on just a little longer, okay?”

“Schulz, I don’t want to die. Please, stay by my side.” Aurora begged, gripping his sleeve.

“I need to check the surroundings first. Don’t worry, I’m still here.”

Schulz stood up and peeked over the bush. He tried checking his footprints, trying to determine which direction they had come from. His gaze drifted toward the flowers.

Wait.

Flowers?

“The flower? But didn’t I see the man pick it up earlier?” He squinted his eyes. Could it have been his imagination?

Schulz turned around to look at the defenseless Aurora, who was still quietly sobbing.

His mind began to race.

Schulz needed to make a decision if they were going to survive. He couldn’t afford to do anything irrational.

Schulz closed his eyes and exhaled, slouching and lowering his head.

He opened his eyes.

And there was an eye drawn in the soil.