I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE

The ancient beast snake didn't need to sleep too much, but it also didn't like being disturbed during its sleep. The Zokline is actually a very temperamental beast, especially when they wake up.

In ancient times, it even destroyed countless mountains because a rock hit its head and woke it from its long slumber. The snake beast has a unique habit of slumbering for a long time and goes on a rampage when it wakes up.

There is even a Myth in a few places. A gigantic disaster snake will appear if they disturb nature. The only reason it tolerates the couple and does not kill them is that Anna will hate Onyx if he hurts them even a little bit.

He knows how the black staff artifact was reprimanded and punished by Anna after releasing a wave and indirectly throwing Angus and Jayna.

Although it looks like Anna only hit the artifact a few times, the ancient snake beast could perceive that the artifact is almost getting destroyed by Anna. As one of the ancient beasts, Onyx never fears anything.

Even when he fought against the monstrous tentacle creature, he wasn't afraid of dying and was convinced he could withstand the gigantic tentacle.

However, when he meets Anna, he instinctively fears and wants to serve her despite Anna being many times weaker than him or his previous master. When he looks at Anna's pitch-black eyes for the first time, he knows she is his queen and needs to serve her.

Unlike people, Beast and Monster have some sort of hierarchy. This hierarchy comes from their bloodline and ancestry. Using this bloodline, the one with a higher hierarchy could suppress the lower one even if their strength is lower.

Some races also have this kind of character, but only beasts and monsters that have a significant bloodline suppression to the point it could kill the lower one with just thought.

After resting for an entire day, Angus and the others finally continue their journey to the Nirvas Kingdom. At first, they planned to stay at the Windshire Fort for a few days. But, they decide to advance their departure since the Humnia Grassland situation is very unpredictable.

Moreover, the Nergal and King Andvari were also preoccupied with the disappearance of Vitas mercenary and strange nasty rumors around his kingdom. Angus knows this world strongly believes in superstitious things, especially for lower-grade people.

Otherwise, there will not be many religious organizations spread around the world. Unlike in his previous life, the Firuman people weren't dominated by only a few prominent religions but had more diverse beliefs and faiths.

It is similar to ancient Rome, where people worshiped some Gods and created their religious group. Therefore, Angus knows that people in Firuman still believe superstitious things and decide to use them against the Nergal Kingdom.

He didn't know whether the rumor would be successful, but Angus was sure King Andvari would be busy calming the rumors before they escalated. Usually, this kind of bad rumor is useless in front of the might of a seventh-grade combatant.

However, King Andvari couldn't just use force to prove the rumor was wrong since it is difficult to gain any advantage in this war with two seventh-grade combatants on the Heart Kingdom side.

Any reckless movement will only escalate the rumor further and give a bad impression to the Nergal kingdom. In the end, King Andvari needed to handle this matter carefully.

Using this buffer time, Aunt Extalia decides to continue their journey and finish their business as soon as possible. After a few days of travel in the Humnia grassland, they finally find a small settlement not far from them with lush, misty forest behind it.

"Are we there yet?" asked Anna a thousand times.

"Hmm… Technically, we have not entered the Nirvas Kingdom. But, you could say we are finally arrived, right?" asked Angus to Aunt Extalia.

"Right. The Nirvas kingdom is located inside that misty forest." replied Aunt Extalia, pointing at the forest from the carriage's window.

Soon, they arrive at the settlement and find it is just a group of travelers and merchants camping outside the forest. They decide to camp outside the forest to rest before venturing inside the forest.

Still, the camp is huge, almost like a small village from far away. Aunt Extalia ignores these people and commands the others to make a camp on their own, far from the others. While the others build their camp, Angus, Jayna, and Anna look at the misty forest not far from them.

"Hmm… This forest is a bad place." said Angus.

"Is there something wrong with the forest?" asked Jayna.

Before Angus could answer, "Is this your first time trying to enter Twilbo Woods?" asked a person with mercenary attire nearby.

"Yes. Is there anything wrong with it?" asked Angus.

"Nope. It just you come at a bad time." said the mercenary.

"Bad time?" asked Angus confusedly while giving a first-grade monster core to the mercenary.

"Twilbo Woods is a bizarre misty forest. This lust forest has many names like a deceitful forest, misleading forest, the forest of no return, etc. One thing is certain is that this forest is very cunning and often misguides travelers using mist. Then, leads them to dangerous beasts inside."

"Currently, the mist is so thick that you couldn't even see one meter in front of you. Traveling inside this thick mist is very dangerous and you could end up dead without even noticing." explained the mercenary as he appreciated Angus's core.

"I see… So, all these people are waiting for the mist to become thinner. Does this kind of phenomenon often occur?" asked Angus while giving another first-grade monster core.

"Yes. You are right. This kind of phenomenon randomly appears throughout the year. No one knows how long it will occur. Sometimes it could happen in a few days, but there are times it could happen in a few months." replied the mercenary.

"I also hear from some old merchants. There are times it happens for a whole year." added the mercenary.

After that, Angus asks more about Twilbo Woods since the mercenary knows much about the misty forest. Although they have some information about Twilbo Woods, they are still not a regular traveler of the Twilbo Woods.

All their current information comes from their guide, old journal log, reports, and books. They didn't know any details or the present situation in the Twilbo Woods. It is important to ask someone regular like the mercenary in front of Angus.

During this time, Anna looks intently at the misty forest, which Jayna notices.

"Anna, is there anything wrong?" asked Jayna.

"It's close." said Anna.

"close?" asked Jayna confusedly.

"Yeah, Anna's friend is close." replied the black-haired girl.

"Your friend?! Emmm… Who is this your friend?" asked Jayna as she was intrigued by it.

"Anna doesn't know. But, Anna could feel Anna's friend will be inside this forest." replied Anna.

"Hmm… Does your instinct tell you?" asked Jayna again after she understood what Anna's word meant.

"Yup. Anna feels like Anna will be able to meet friends inside this forest." said Anna with a happy smile.

Seeing Anna's genuine smile, Jayna couldn't help but smile on her own and pat the little troublemaker. Before continuing their journey to Nirvas, Jade and Aunt Extalia are debating whether to let Anna come to the Nirvas since she could make trouble inside Nirvas.

But, Angus and Jayna are adamant about not leaving Anna alone. They even said if someone could stop her, it would be them. As for separating Angus and Jayna, it is practically impossible.

Currently, the couple is closer than twin siblings. In the end, they let Anna come with them as long as she behaved and didn't do ridiculous stuff like attracting a seventh-grade colossal beast.

After getting more information from a few other merchants and travelers, they go back to their camp. Angus also hears Anna and Jayna's conversation, but he chooses to stay silent and doesn't say anything to Aunt Extalia.

Anna's friend. This is a new word for Angus and Jayna. Since they met Anna, she has always liked creating a nickname for everyone. They find Anna gives everyone nicknames based on their strength compared to her.

For most people, she will add bubbles in their nicknames since she feels they are like a bubble that could burst with just a strong poke. For strong people like sixth-grade combatants or above, she will give unique nicknames without bubbles.

For example, Aunt Extalia gets the nickname Speedy Red or Meanie Old Brute when she punishes Anna. At the same time, King Leon called Scary Stone-face Uncle. There are also a few exceptional cases, like always calling Angus by his name and Jayna as Big sis.

However, she never mentions something like a friend. If Anna didn't bring up this topic, Angus may have thought Anna couldn't comprehend the meaning of friend. He didn't know what kind of friend Anna would be, but he knew they would not be an ordinary person.

'In the worst case, it may be a monster overlord or something similar.' thought Angus as he recounted the information he got.